8 UPDATES
Strongest Sales Month Since the Pandemic Started for G Adventures
G Adventures has recorded its highest sales month since the pandemic began, with January bookings from the UK exceeding expectations. Despite the uncertainty caused by Omicron in the new year, the adventure operator saw confidence grow throughout the month, with travellers booking a broad range of travel experiences across the operator’s 11 travel styles. Brain Young, managing director EMEA, G Adventures said January’s performance is a great indicator that traveller confidence is growing and the flood gates of pent-up demand, generated by the pandemic, are starting to open.
“January is renowned for being one of the most important sales months for travel, and this year it definitely didn’t disappoint. We’ve seen the highest sales since the pandemic started, with many travellers are booking tours set to depart before the end of April, showing the huge desire among British travellers to get back on the road. We’re expecting to see this intent to book increase as more destinations, in particular Asian favourites such as Thailand and Vietnam, relax restrictions for British travellers. We’ve seen strong sales across all our travel styles, in particular our Classic, 18-to-Thirtysomethings and Active styles, with travellers clearly encouraged by the variety of product we have on sale and the experience we’ve gained since we relaunched our tours in September 2020. Having safely run thousands of trips, it’s fantastic to see an increase in our customer satisfaction in 2021, as travellers recognise all the extra measures we have put in place to ensure their safety,” Young continues. Here are the top January booking trends and traveller insights from G Adventures:
Travellers looking to travel as soon as possible: The uncertainty around travel caused lead times to rise throughout the pandemic as travellers were unsure when they would be able to enter different destinations. G Adventures has seen these lead times reduce in their January sales, with 40% of bookings from UK travellers being made for trips departing before the end of April. It’s clear that travellers are eager to hit the road as soon as possible and are looking to destinations with lower entry requirements such as Mexico, Costa Rica and Peru as well as Europe in the short term. Young travellers are among top bookers: As the last to receive vaccines and many being forced to work or study from home, there is huge pent up
Emirates Expands UK Service
EMIRATES have announced that they have expanded service from London Gatwick. From the beginning of 2022, Emirates have report- ed that UK bookings from Gatwick have doubled. In response to this demand, Emirates have resumed their double daily flights schedule from Gatwick. Currently, London Gatwick is served by the Boeing
777 and A380 wide body aircrafts, which gives passen- gers a choice between booking First, Business Class or Economy tickets for their journey.
Richard Jewsbury, Divisional Vice President at Emir- ates UK spoke about this expansion, “We have seen a considerable uptick in demand for international travel in recent weeks, particularly from the South East and are pleased to be expanding our operations from Gatwick,” Continuing to add that, “The route has also carried billions of pounds worth of cargo into and out of the re- gion – supporting UK businesses of all shapes and sizes” This introduction of a second daily service from Lon- don Gatwick brings the total of Emirates’ weekly UK
flights to 91.
March 2022 Travel News
Air Canada Turns Red For Latest Aircraft
Holidays are on the up for 2022
demand among youth travellers, who are hungry to travel and reconnect with other young travellers. With an incredible selection of adventures on offer for young travellers as part of the 18-to-Thirtysomethings travel style, combined with the newly-launched ‘Roamies’ collection, G Adventures is seeing huge demand from travellers aged 18 to 35, with a small increase in young travellers opting to travel alone.
A study undertaken by G Adventures in 2021 showed that the need for social connection amongst young travellers was stronger than ever, with 64 per cent* of UK respondents aged 18-34 saying they were likely to try a hostel experience following the pandemic. The launch of the new Roamies collection, developed in partnership with Hostelworld has catered to this trend, with the UK being the top booking region for the new travel style in January.
Human contact helps build confidence: With the need to navigate entry requirements, border restrictions and testing, travel can still seem overwhelming for some travellers. G Adventures has seen a larger percentage of bookings through ‘offline bookings’, with travellers choosing options where they have interaction with an expert or agent over booking online. Pre-pandemic two thirds of bookings came through online channels, but the adventure specialist is reporting closer to 50% in January 2022 as travellers turn to experts to feel confident in their booking. G Adventures increased its contact centre headcount by 70% ahead of January to support agents and travellers, which saw call and live chat wait times reduce to pre- pandemic levels.
Active travel trend is here to stay:
Early on in the pandemic, G Adventures recorded an increase in web searches for Active adventures, including Everest Base Camp Trek and Mt Kilimanjaro. As travel restarted, this interest translated into sales, which the operator coined the ‘Carpe Diem Effect’. It was clear that travellers were eager to lock in those achievement based holidays, which they may have put off in previous years and made them feel they were making the most of their holiday time. This trend has continued in 2022, as the Active travel style moved up
Madeira Islands Joins Neighbouring Portugal in Covid Restriction Lift
THE Portuguese islands of Madeira have joined main- land Portugal in liſting covid travel restrictions for the UK. From Monday (14 February) UK travellers arriving in
Madeira will only be required to fill out an entry form prior to arrival. Te island will welcome all visitors, regardless of vac-
cination status, and without any needed testing. Restrictions such as mask wearing will remain in
place.
France Ease Testing Requirements
Te French Government have announced that they are set to scrap Coronavirus tests for fully vaccinated British travellers. Currently when arriving in France, fully vaccinated travellers must show a negative lateral flow or PCR re- sult, taken no more than 48 hours prior to their arrival, Tis testing requirement has costly for families travel- ling to the region, with the costs of testing being well
over £100 for the average family of four. Jet2 Confirm Face Mask Removal Onboard Flights
STEVE Heapy hinted at the possible removal of face masks onboard Jet2 aircraſts in an exclusive interview with NI Travel News back at the beginning of February. Te airline confirmed last night (1 March) that face
masks will be removed onboard certain flights within the UK. Released on the
Jet2.com website, they have said: “England and Northern Ireland It’s no longer a legal requirement to wear a face mask
at our airports or onboard our planes. However, as per UK Government guidance, we recommend that you continue to wear a face mask in these spaces, and you will need to wear one when you get to your overseas destination.
Scotland It’s still a legal requirement for everyone aged six years
and over to wear a face mask at our Scottish airports and onboard our planes travelling to and from those airports. Tis is the case even if you’re fully vaccinated. If you’re unable to wear a mask, you must let us know
in advance to be able to travel – please provide proof of your exemption to our Special Assistance team on 0800 408 5591 so we can authorise your travel. We’ll ask you for specific medical evidence to confirm this, as we don’t accept downloaded exemption cards or lanyards as proof of exemption. And if you fail to wear a face mask without our agreement, you’ll not be allowed to board your flight.”
to third place for bookings made in January 2022 versus 2019. Destinations such as Nepal, Tanzania and Peru are most popular as travellers look to seize the day and complete a challenge of a lifetime.
New restrictions haven’t impacted traveller experience: Having operated trips since September 2020, G Adventures has safely run thousands of trips over the past 18 months. With increased safety protocols in play as part of the operator’s Travel with Confidence policy, which includes mask wearing and increased sanitisation, the operator recorded a 5% increase in its NPS score in 2021, showing these increased measures were not negatively impacting the overall traveller experience.
High potential for Asia:
Despite many popular destinations, including Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia being closed or heavily restricted for travellers, Asia continued to be G Adventures’ second most popular region in January, with particular interest from travellers aged 50 to 70 years. While travellers are booking with longer lead times, this data shows the intent and desire among British travellers to get back and explore this part of the world, and G Adventures anticipates a high surge in short-lead bookings as soon as destinations announce the reopening of their borders.
Touring offers huge opportunity for travellers: While travellers look to destinations that are open now, touring offers an incredible range of options to suit all travellers. Whether it’s trekking the iconic Inca Trail in Peru, discovering the incredible biodiversity of the Galapagos or sailing along the southern coast of Sri Lanka and unwinding in the sunshine on a dhoni boat in the Maldives, there’s something to suit all travellers. G Adventures will operate over 750 trips in February and March alone, ranging from closer to home adventures such as hiking in Madeira and the Canary Islands to long-haul options in Costa Rica, Tanzania and Mexico.
For more information on G Adventures, please visit
www.gadventures.com.
Philippines Lift Foreign Travel Ban
THE Philippines have moved to open its borders for foreign travellers after a strict two years ban. The Asian country had imposed one of the strictest lockdowns across the world which seen the country fall into severe recession with hunger and unemployment rising daily.
Opening the borders has been seen as a lifeline for the economy and tourism industry as the country moves to welcome visitors again.
Foreign visitors to the Philippines will be granted
entry as long as they hold a full vaccination certificate and a negative PCR test for coronavirus.
AIR Canada has unveiled an aircraft with a themed livery and other surprises for its customers in celebration of the highly anticipated release of Disney and Pixar’s Turning Red, an animated film that is set in Toronto and directed by Academy Award winner and Canadian Domee Shi. “As Canada’s largest airline and the country’s flag carrier, our collaboration with Disney and Pixar for Turning Red, directed by award-winning Canadian filmmaker Domee Shi is a wonderful opportunity to showcase Canadian talent and bring the best of Canada to the world,” said Andy Shibata, Vice-President, Brand at Air Canada. “We wanted customers of all ages to be able to enjoy the special livery and be a part of the excitement around this very special Canadian moment.” “I’m absolutely stoked about this collaboration with Air Canada,” said Domee Shi. “I made Turning Red a love letter to Toronto and everything Canadian, and now to see the film celebrated on the airline that literally brought my family and me over from China when I was little is especially meaningful to me. I cannot wait for Canadian audiences and people around the world to see the film, and hopefully fall in love with Canada just like I have.”
“We are very proud of this unique collaboration with
Air Canada and it shows how important this film is to our country,” said Quincy Kelman, Vice-President of Marketing, Walt Disney Studios Canada. “Together we are able to transcend this film beyond the screen. Turning Red is set in Canada, directed by a Canadian and will be treasured by Canadians for years to come.” Disney and Pixar’s Turning Red introduces Meilin
Lee, a confident, dorky 13-year-old torn between staying her mother’s dutiful daughter and the chaos of adolescence. Her protective, if not slightly overbearing mother, Ming, is never far from her daughter—an unfortunate reality for the teenager. And as if changes to her interests, relationships and body weren’t enough, whenever she gets too excited, she “poofs” into a giant red panda! Turning Red will premiere exclusively on Disney+ across Canada on March 11, 2022. Air Canada will be promoting the film through
a themed livery that will fly across the country on a Canadian built Airbus A220.
Starting this month, passengers onboard Air Canada aircraft will enjoy a special Turning Red video, inspired by the film’s trailer. On select aircraft, passengers can discover director Domee Shi’s favourite places in Toronto by exploring Air Canada’s seatback city guide, and on aircraft destined for Toronto, an animated landscape of the city will be featured on seatback screens as passengers board.
Next month, the March issue of Air Canada enRoute magazine will feature a custom-illustrated cover of Toronto with Meilin Lee as the panda gazing across the city, as well as a feature interview with director Domee Shi.
The airline is also launching Air Canada’s Contest Celebrating the Release of Disney and Pixar’s Turning Red, offering five prize packages, each featuring a trip for four people to Toronto to attend the Canadian premiere special event of the film on March 8. The contest begins today and runs until February 20 for residents of Canada.
To enter the contest, please visit https://www.
aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home/book/special-offers/
disneypixar.html.
£7 Billion Lost Due to Travel Restrictions- WTTC
INEFFECTIVE travel restrictions imposed by the UK government to combat Omicron caused an estimated £7bn loss to the UK economy last year, due to a massive drop in contributions from the country’s embattled Travel & Tourism sector, according to WTTC. The restrictions on Travel & Tourism at the end of
last year until January 2022 proved ineffective at halting Omicron, yet devastated the sector. The new figures come from research carried out by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), which represents the global Travel & Tourism private sector and has been at the forefront in leading the private sector in the efforts to safely restart international travel. WTTC also revealed that the global Travel & Tourism sector’s contribution to the global economy lost an estimated £25.7bn – due to the impact of worldwide travel restrictions introduced to combat the spread of the new variant.
The £7bn loss in contributions from the sector to
the UK economy comes as the country finally begins to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO, said: “Imposing unnecessary travel restrictions to ‘deal’ with Omicron was not backed by science and cost the UK economy £7bn in lost revenues.
“Travel is opening up worldwide. If the UK is going to start to repair its economy, it needs to keep borders open.”
The Travel & Tourism sector is a vital component of the country’s economic well-being, responsible for creating much-need jobs and a significant contributor to the treasury.
The impact of nearly two years of worldwide travel restrictions on both the sector in particular, and the economy generally, has continued to linger. According
to WTTC’s 2021 Economic Impact Reportthe number of those employed in the UK Travel & Tourism sector fell from 4.27 million in 2019, to 3.96 million in 2020 – a fall of 7.2%.
In 2019, before the pandemic stopped travel in its tracks, the worldwide Travel & Tourism sector generated nearly $9.2 trillion to the global economy. The following year, the pandemic brought the sector to an almost complete standstill, causing a massive 49.1% drop, representing a severe loss of nearly $4.5 trillion. However, the rebound of the sector means losses have narrowed, with WTTC research showing the global Travel & Tourism sector could grow to $8.6 trillion this year, just 6.4% behind pre-pandemic levels.
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