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CELEBRATION: Five years flying from Dublin


Icelandair


Celebrates Five Years of Flying from Dublin


ICELAND AIR celebrated


five


years since it first began flying from Dublin, with the airline’s inaugural flight taking place on 8th May 2018. Since then, Iceland


has


become a popular destination for Irish people and vice versa, as the route has seen sustained commercial success. Launching with


six flights weekly in the inaugural schedule, the service has seen an increase to nine flights a week for summer 2023 (starting from June).


The addition to Icelandair’s network has provided Irish travellers the option to fly direct from Dublin to Iceland, offering &


domestic Greenland


connections, as well as onward journeys to 15 destinations in North America, helping


consolidate


and strengthen the connecting flight service to and from the USA + Canada.


Dublin Airport Among Top European Airports Beating Pre-Covid Passenger Levels


INDUSTRY figures from Airports Council International Europe show that Dublin Airport is among a handful of leading European airports to have beaten pre-Covid passenger traffic in the first three months of this year. The council’s latest traffic report shows


that Dublin was one of five “group one” airports


– those handling 25 million


passengers or more a year – to beat pre- pandemic traffic totals in the first three months of the year.


The Irish gateway handled 1.9 per cent


more passengers in the first quarter of this year than during the same period in 2019. The others were Lisbon, Istanbul, Palma de Mallorca and Athens.


Heathrow, a


popular airport for Irish travellers, was 5.7 per cent below 2019 numbers, though the council noted that the hub re-established itself as Europe’s busiest. Among Europe’s five biggest airports, only Istanbul, which was up 5.9 per cent on 2019, and Madrid, where first-quarter traffic equalled that year, had fully recovered from Covid curbs.


IT’S OVER! WHO Says Covid No Longer a Global Health Emergency


THE World Health Organisation has finally declared an end to Covid as a global


health emergency. The WHO declared Covid an emergency in late January, 2020


however WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recently announced that they were downgrading the pandemic, confirming cases and deaths have been on a downward trend for over a year now.


Mr Tedros said: “It’s therefore with great hope that Covid-19 over as a global health emergency.” He did however urge travellers to remain vigilant. “This virus is here to stay and still changing,” he said. “It has been so much more than a health crisis.


“It has caused severe economic upheaval, disrupting travel and trade, and plunging millions into poverty.”


Tourism Big Business for Ireland THE number of visitors flying to Ireland from the USA this summer is expected to reach 96% of pre-covid figures, according to Tourism Ireland.


Tracing Your Roots: Genealogy


thousands to research their roots.” “The


year


The Irish tourism marketing body says that demand among Americans for holidays in Ireland this year is high, with the strong performance of the US dollar working in our favour. A spokesperson for Tourism Ireland said: “The United States is the second-largest


source


market for tourism to the island of Ireland. In 2019, we welcomed 1.7m American visitors. The United States is our most important market in terms of revenue, responsible for 27% of all tourist revenue. Revenue generated by American visitors in 2019 was €1.6bn.” Denise O’Leary, programme co- ordinator with Ireland Reaching Out said: “Genealogy tourism is huge in the States, and it’s massive for Ireland. They’re coming in their


before covid we


welcomed 600 visitors,” said Ms O’Leary. “During covid we stopped completely, so we’re just building it back up. Last year we welcomed 100 visitors. This year we’re hoping to double that again. “It’s all volunteers, there’s no money changing hands. This is all done on the back of local volunteers wanting to say: ‘Your ancestors lived here, you’re part of this community’. There’s nothing like meeting a local person. It’s so important to them.” “They’re looking to experience the locality, to sit down with a local person and hear the history of the town. They’re looking for the social context of the place that their ancestors lived in, to get a feel for it. “Their


Irishness is of huge


importance to them. But it’s not recognised. So meeting with a local, and a local seeing them as a local, that is hugely powerful for them.”


www.nitravelnews.com


EUROPEAN TOURISM REGAINS LOST GROUND


EUROPEAN tourism demand entered 2023 on a strong footing despite ongoing challenges, with international tourist arrivals 18% below 2019 levels. This is according to the latest edition of the ‘European Tourism Trends & Prospects’ quarterly


report from the European Travel


Commission (ETC), which monitors Europe’s tourism recovery, macroeconomic developments and other major factors having an impact on the European tourism outlook. Year-to-date data shows that almost one third of reporting destinations have surpassed 2019 levels of tourist arrivals, while one fourth are 10% below. In arrival terms, Serbia (32%) and Türkiye (21%) outperformed other destinations, mostly due to the influx of Russian travellers taking advantage of the visa-free regime in both countries. Similarly to Türkiye, Bulgaria also saw a strong performance (+27%), supported by its perception as a good value holiday destination in times of rising travel costs. Despite increasing demand, flight volumes


have continued to plateau, signalling that supply constraints are still stalling recovery. Data from Eurocontrol indicates that European air traffic remained down 14.4% in January 2023 compared to January 2019. Other challenges from 2022 are expected to spill into 2023 in terms of elevated food and jet fuel prices, as well as higher operating costs for airlines and hospitality establishments. Commenting following the publication of the


report, Luís Araújo, ETC’s President, said: “It is encouraging to see healthy levels of recovery as we hurtle towards the summer peak season. However, many challenges still hinder the travel industry. From battling inflation, to dealing with the fallout from the war in Ukraine, the travel industry has its hands full at the moment. Nonetheless, we must also focus on tackling longer term challenges. To preserve the sector for future generations, tourism businesses, policymakers, and destinations must strengthen their efforts to encourage responsible tourism practices, minimise negative impacts on the environment and create positive impacts on the wellbeing of our populations.”


Ukraine War Fallout Continues to Impact Markets


A year on from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the war and its geopolitical consequences weigh on the travel industry and the recovery of some European destinations. Travel restrictions on Russian arrivals continue


to redirect travel flows to other destinations across Europe. Türkiye, for instance, has seen a strong influx of Russian visitors, ranking as the most popular destination for this market so far this year. As one of the few destinations in Europe that does not have sanctions in place, Türkiye is garnering the benefits of a reduced selection of destinations for Russian travellers. In contrast, the absence of Russian travel has been a factor slowing down tourism recovery in some Northern and Eastern European destinations. This has mostly been felt in Finland and the Baltic states. Some Eastern European countries are also being impacted by perceptions that they are closer to the conflict zone than they are. Krakow, Budapest, and Riga are all cities reporting visitors showing hesitancy due to the war in Ukraine.


Britons Brave Travel Disruptions


The most recent data suggests that two in five reporting countries have surpassed 2019 levels of British tourist arrivals. Whilst the cost-of-living crisis is not deterring Brits from travelling, it is causing price-sensitive travellers to choose more cost- effective travel alternatives. Türkiye saw the fastest growth in British tourist arrivals, up 69% compared to 2019, helped by the declining value of the Turkish lira over major currencies, including sterling. Croatia (64%) and Montenegro (54%) also attracted sizable numbers of British arrivals. It is predicted that the rapid recovery of UK travel demand will continue to pressure Britain’s airports, ports and railways as they try to meet demand and minimise delays. Indeed, over Easter, Britons were challenged by travel chaos at UK ports and airports brought on by strikes, understaffing, delays and more thorough post-Brexit border controls. Industry experts predict that summer 2023 could see a similar level of disruption to summer 2022.


June 2023


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