This message was sent to ##Email##. To advertise in this publication please click here.

Aug. 27, 2020

CVOA MEMBER NEWS

Last chance to register for Air Canada Vacations virtual product launch

Travel Pulse

Air Canada Vacations recently announced its first ever virtual Product Launches to celebrate the 2020/2021 Sun Collection brochure. Travel professionals from across the country are invited to join in on the fun on Aug. 28, 2020, from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET.

Tourism Advocacy Update — Aug. 20-24, 2020

TIAC

Dear Tourism Stakeholders, The TIAC Team is pleased to provide you with this update on the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, including the steps government is taking to address the situation. We are working hard to make sure the industry’s voice is heard by government, and that you have the information you need to keep your business going in these uncertain times. Please find the latest updates on official announcements and a recap of TIAC’s advocacy work on behalf of Canada’s Visitor Economy.

Save the Date! ARDA Fall Business Forum: Sept. 24-25, 2020, the Hilton Bonnet Creek, Orlando, FL

ARDA

The ARDA Fall Conference scheduled for November 2020 at the Conrad, DC has been cancelled and will return in its traditional format in 2021. Instead, please SAVE THE DATE for the ARDA Fall Business Forum, September 24-25, 2020 at the Hilton Bonnet Creek, Orlando, FL. This gathering will connect member volunteers who participate on key committees, councils and task forces for ARDA, AIF and the LPC.

V-O & TRAVEL INDUSTRY NEWS

RCI unveils the ‘New Shape of Travel™’

Resort Trades

RCI, the world’s premier vacation exchange company under the Panorama portfolio of leading travel membership brands, announced today it is launching a new suite of travel services and experiences for its members and affiliates as part of a new brand profile. RCI, which pioneered the timeshare exchange concept more than 45 years ago, is reinventing itself for the new shape of today’s travel with enhanced product offerings for its nearly 4 million members around the world.

Enough is enough — global travel brands make desperate plea for state help with pandemic recovery

Phocus Wire

“Who is in charge of getting us out of this crisis and will lead the world to save the jobs and secure the futures of the many millions of people globally?" — a question that over 100 leaders of the world's travel brands say they know the answer to: nobody.

Extended stay offers from top hotels and resorts

Travel Pulse

With many people working and attending school from home amid the COVID-19 pandemic, hotels and resorts around the world are offering travelers convenient extended stay packages featuring discounted rates and elevated services and amenities allowing them a welcome and safe change of scenery. Here are some of the properties rolling out special promotions.

Accor rumoured to be considering move for InterContinental Hotels Group

Breaking Travel News

Rumours of a potential merger between accommodation giants Accor and InterContinental Hotels Group continue to circulate. In France, Le Figaro reports the COVID-19 pandemic has created space for both companies to consider the deal, though the Financial Times in the UK considers any move less likely.

RANDOM BITS & NEWS BITES

ABTA warns travel jobs being lost at alarming rate

Breaking Travel News

As many as 39,000 jobs have already been lost or placed at risk across the outbound travel sector since the COVID-19 crisis started, according to new research. Surveying members, the Association of British Travel Agents found around 90,000 people could have impacted in total once supply chains are considered. The situation has reached a “critical point,” the organization added.

How to stay safe while staying open

Resort Trades

Deciding to close or remain open during a pandemic can be one of the most difficult decisions a hotel company will ever have to make, especially if multiple assets are involved. Many factors need to be analyzed, including the financial, brand, and human resources sides of the business to determine which action is the most fiscally responsible. At Sixty Hotels, we are “Always Open” to show our customers that we are there for them in good times and bad, no matter what. This is especially challenging considering that our hotels are in the heavily populated tourist destinations of New York City and Los Angeles.

Airbnb is set for a blockbuster IPO — here's why

Phocus Wire

Even a stopped watch is right twice a day. No finer proof of this exists than my prescient prediction of a blockbuster IPO for Airbnb two months ago. But at what price? Airbnb hit a lofty $31 billion valuation at its peak, but was forced to accept an $18 billion valuation in a panicked fundraise in early April - with onerous terms that would certainly bring that valuation down if it was just common equity. So what could Airbnb hope for?

Cancun, Isla Mujeres preparing to reopen beaches with restrictions

Travel Pulse

Popular destinations in Mexico have announced plans to enforce restrictions on tourists when the country’s epidemiological light allows for the reopening of beaches. According to the Riviera Maya News, Cancun mayor Mara Lezama and Isla Mujeres mayor Juan Carrillo Soberanis announced that when health officials in the region change the epidemiological light from orange to yellow, the beaches will reopen with limitations.

B.C. tourism: A so-so summer for some regions, a dire one for others

Vancouver Sun

If you’re looking for a rose-coloured view of the province’s $21.5 billion a year tourism industry six months into the COVID-19 pandemic, don’t call Walt Judas. “We’re still an industry that by and large has been decimated,” the Tourism Industry Association of B.C. CEO said by phone during a conversation that was punctuated with words like dire, bleak and desperate.

How hotel F&B pivoted in response to COVID-19, and what the future holds

HVS

Global tourism has been expanding rapidly over the past few decades, and this was a primary factor driving the hospitality industry before the coronavirus outbreak. Growth projected by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), set the expected number of tourist arrivals across the globe at more than 1.5 billion by 2020. COVID-19 had other ideas, however, and 2020 has turned out to be the year everything changed. Hotel food and beverage (F&B) operations are among some of the most-affected industries.

Does somebody keep forwarding you this email? Get your own subscription.
It's free! Sign up here.

ADVERTISE

PAST ISSUES

7701 Las Colinas Ridge, Ste. 800, Irving, TX, 75063