London’s Heathrow airport, Britain’s busiest, saw its lowest number of passengers since 1972 last year and suffered wider losses as the coronavirus pandemic slashed demand for business travel and holidays. Passenger numbers fell to 19.4 million in 2021. Heathrow also recorded a pretax loss of 1.79 billion pounds ($2.43 billion) for 2021, taking total loses during the pandemic to 3.8 billion pounds due to the drop in passengers and high fixed costs. Chief Executive John Holland-Kaye said Heathrow expected to meet its target of more than doubling passengers to 45.5 million this year, although demand would be “quite peaky” and focused on British school holidays. Passenger numbers were currently 23% behind forecast, but he said there were signs of recovery, with the airport seein...
Read MoreTag: COVID pandemic
In 2021 the air transport industry has been forced to adapt nearly all operations to adhere to rapidly changing regulations and travel requirements, from health status verifications to fluctuating border controls based on virus hotspots and emerging new COVID-19 variants like Omicron. It has also been a year punctuated with extreme weather events, including an unprecedented deep freeze in Texas and record heatwaves in Canada. The year ended with the COP26 summit articulating a vast volume of work that needs to happen immediately to avoid climate catastrophe. Sebastien Fabre, CEO, SITA FOR AIRCRAFT, examines the five critical travel technology trends emerging from the pandemic and set to transform the industry in 2022 and beyond. He calls for sustainability to be baked into today...
Read MoreRising COVID cases can jeopardize domestic travel recovery in UK, Australia
Despite staycation demand in the UK being strong, the rise in COVID-19 infections and the requirement to self-isolate if ‘pinged’ could jeopardise summer plans, and tourism operators could miss out on much-needed revenue this summer, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. Similarly, with Australia also battling a rise in COVID-19 cases, domestic travel has reduced there drastically. According to a live GlobalData poll, domestic holidays are set to be the most popular in the coming 12 months, with 30%* of UK respondents opting for this type of trip, marginally lower than the 32% of global respondents preferring domestic travel. With restrictions continuously changing for international travel, domestic holidays seem a safer bet in the immediate term. FILE PHOTO: Travel...
Read MoreDestination Capital (DC) has signed a collaborative arrangement with the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) of the United Nations to support the rejuvenation of the hotel industry. The arrangement supports the relationship DC has with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to promote investment in green and sustainable tourism accommodation and to stimulate re-employment, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The collaboration between UNWTO and Destination Capital is based on DC’s adoption of best practices aimed at reducing carbon emissions and operating hotels in a manner consistent with IFC’s environmental and social criteria. Against this backdrop, DC acquires and repositions freehold hotels of 150-250 rooms in Thailand and across South-East Asia with the aim ...
Read MoreWTTC Economic Trends Report reveals dramatic impact on Travel & Tourism around the world Asia Pacific was the region hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic according to the new annual Economic Trends Report from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). The report reveals the full dramatic impact of travel restrictions designed to curb COVID-19 on the global economy, individual regions, and its job losses worldwide. Asia-Pacific was the worst performing region, with the sector’s contribution to GDP dropping a damaging 53.7%, compared to the global fall of 49.1%. International visitor spending was particularly hard hit across Asia Pacific, falling by 74.4%, as many countries across the region closed their borders to inbound tourists. Domestic spending witnessed a low...
Read MoreIndonesia's government will wait until COVID-19 cases fall significantly before opening Bali to foreign tourists, the country's tourism minister said in an interview. The coronavirus pandemic has devastated the economy of Bali, for decades a magnet for holidaymakers thanks to its spectacular beaches, vibrant nightlife and distinctive Hindu culture. "We were targeting end of July, beginning of August, but we just have to be mindful of where we are in this recent spike (in coronavirus cases)," Indonesia's Minister for Tourism and the Cultural Economy, Sandiaga Uno, told Reuters in an interview on Monday. "We will be waiting for the situation to be more conducive." Coronavirus infections have surged across Indonesia in recent weeks, including in Bali, where there has been a f...
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