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Aug. 20, 2020

CVOA MEMBER NEWS

HVS

Join us as our HVS CEO and HVS Regional Presidents share their latest global insights on hotel performance and their forecasts for each global region.

Marriott believes worst is over, global occupancy at 30%

PhocusWire

Marriott International saw global RevPAR drop 84.4% in the second quarter, with Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson telling investors that the three months through June "will mark the bottom, and that the worst is now behind us." "Since April, occupancy levels have increased each month in every region around the world, albeit at varying rates," Sorenson said during Marriott's Q2 earnings call on Monday.

Canada-U.S. border closure extended again amid tension over restrictions

BC Hotel Association

Canadian and U.S. officials have agreed to keep the border between the two countries closed to non-essential travel for another month. This comes as both countries are still working to stop the spread of COVID-19, and as tensions continue to flare between Canadians and prospective American visitors.

Rick Antonson: Immediate financial assistance needed to save B.C. tourism sector

BC Hotel Association

Let’s talk about 2023. That’s the year British Columbia’s tourism industry could be fully recovered. To make it so, government must act today.

State of Tourism in Canada during COVID-19 Dashboard 2.0

TIAC

The ‘State of Tourism in Canada during COVID-19’ Dashboard 2.0, compiled by Twenty31 analysts, provides a monthly snapshot of recent global, regional and domestic tourism health and economic updates, and insights on the impact of COVID-19 on the travel and tourism industry’s path to recovery. Insights are derived from a review of myriad global and Canadian media sources, associations, consultancies, and expert opinion from the tourism industry and government. We analyze the current state and future potential of key drivers of tourism recovery, including the most important tourism channels — source markets, airlines, accommodations, tourism businesses, tour operators, OTAs, and travellers.

V-O & TRAVEL INDUSTRY NEWS

Canadian airlines, airports endorse Ottawa's COVID-19 plan

Travel Pulse

Canada's two largest airlines and two largest airports are welcoming Transport Canada's long-awaited Flight Plan for Navigating COVID-19 as a major step forward in restarting Canada's air travel industry by confirming the country's biosafety standards. The document is a clear endorsement of biosafety programs already put in place by Air Canada, WestJet, the Greater Toronto Airports Authority and the Vancouver Airport Authority.

Air Canada Vacations' First Virtual Product Launch August 28

Travel Pulse

Air Canada Vacations recently announced its first ever virtual Product Launch celebrating the 2020/2021 Sun Collection brochure. Travel professionals from across the country are invited to join in on the fun on August 28, 2020, from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. ET.

ASTA urges Congress to get back to work

Travel Pulse

Zane Kerby, president of the American Society of Travel Advisors, delivered a stern message this week, asking members of the travel industry to urge Congress to get back to work and pass a second stimulus package. Congress is on its traditional August recess but left without coming to an agreement on additional COVID-19 relief, as it did in March.

Jamaican government backtracks, will keep tourists confined to hotels

Travel Pulse

A trio of key stakeholders in Jamaica are taking their own government to task, questioning leaders for backtracking on a promise to let tourists to the Caribbean country off hotel properties to visit approved attractions. In a joint letter sent Friday, August 14, John G. Byles, chairman of the COVID-19 Resilient Corridor; Omar Robinson, president of the Jamaica Hotel & Tourist Association; and Marilyn Burrowes, president of the Association of Jamaican Attractions, all expressed disappointment in the government.

Canada’s hotel pipeline expands year over year

Canadian Lodging News

According to analysts at Lodging Econometrics (LE), Canada’s hotel construction pipeline continued to expand at the close of Q2 2020 with 296 projects/ or 39,645 rooms. The construction pipeline is up 8 per cent by projects and 11 per cent by rooms, year-over-year.

Air Canada promoting ‘leisure’ travel to U.S. despite advisories warning against non-essential trips

Global News

Air Canada is promoting the availability of both “leisure and business” flights to the United States even as that country continues to record explosive growth of coronavirus cases and as federal travel advisories continue to warn against any non-essential travel out of the country.

RANDOM BITS & NEWS BITES

Travizory lands $2 million investment for its traveller identity tech platform

PhocusWire

Atlantic Labs is behind an investment round of just under $2 million into Switzerland-based Travizory. The company's platform allows countries to obtain passenger details, biographic, biometric, itineraries and health information, so that airports and border officials can validate entry requirements.

Google adds hotel and flight availability data and ‘free cancellation’ filter

PhocusWire

Google is adding new content to its travel search results. In the coming days, Google will display the percentage of open hotels with availability and percentage of flights operating at the city or county level, along with trendlines for both categories.

Choice adds 3 hotels to Ascend Collection

Canadian Lodging News

Choice Hotels Canada has added three new properties to its Ascend Collection — Calabogie Peaks near Ottawa, the Fort Garry Hotel in Winnipeg and Hotel Penticton in Penticton, B.C. The fast-growing Ascend Hotel Collection is a network of upscale resorts, historic properties and boutique hotels that offer guests a uniquely local experience. Ascend now has 22 properties here in Canada and there are nearly 370 globally. The brand has been on a tear, adding seven properties in 2019 and five so far this year. The other two properties added this year include The Parlour in Stratford, ON, and Hotel Les Suites de Laviolette in Trois Rivières, QC.

Higher prices? Non-refundable reservations? How COVID-19 might change restaurants

Global News

The novel coronavirus pandemic has restaurants stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard platter. On the one hand, the health emergency has caused supply-chain disruptions that sent food prices soaring. It also added new line items to the list of restaurants’ costs, such as hand sanitizer and personal protective equipment (PPE) for staff. On the other hand, social distancing means half-empty dining halls (if that) and considerably less revenue.

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