Author: Buy2Greece

More countries are now ready to follow the US lead on eased visa requirements for Chinese tourists. Outbound travel from the mainland is tipped to become the major driver of growth for airlines based in the region. And international traffic for Chinese carriers will increase more than 15 % this year on the outbound tourism boom, outpacing an expected 10-12 % rise on domestic routes, Citi forecasts in a report.

According to report, “The US recently loosened visa requirements for Chinese visitors. The UK, Japan and South Korea also promised to relax the visa application process. We expect more countries to follow this trend in the near future, which should significantly boost international traffic.”

The White House says, in 2013, 1.8 million Chinese visitors added US$21.1 billion to the US economy. A meeting of Apec leaders in November resulted in an agreement between China and the US to extend the visa validity for business and tourism from one year to 10 years.

Air China leads the mainland carriers on North American routes, followed by China Eastern Airlines. Both are expected to secure more growth than their competitors.

UBS Asia transport research analyst Eric Lin estimates Cathay Pacific accounts for up to a quarter of traffic on China-US routes factoring in transits via Hong Kong. Cathay Pacific expects increased demand on its US flights arising from the visa moves.

Commercial director for Hong Kong and Macau at Texas-headquartered American Airlines, Victor Lee, said: “Relaxed US visa requirements will not only bring more Chinese visitors to the US, but also to Latin America”, as a US tourist visa gives entry to various other countries including Mexico and Panama. Chinese airlines’ share of seats on China-EU and China-US routes was below 50 percent, which makes them a promising bet.”

“There will be earnings growth for sure, but revenue growth will be below volume growth,” he said, as carriers vying for market share may compete at the expense of ticket prices.

Relaxed visa policies will bring in more travelers, but most of them will not be corporate travelers, which are the real profitable passengers for airlines,” he said.

According to Japan it would announce the details of its new visa policy for Chinese citizens in the spring after promising to loosen requirements in November.

圣诞快乐和繁荣的新的2015年！

メリークリスマスと豊かな新年2015！

Ryanair, Europe’s favourite airline, today (5 Jan) released its December traffic and load factor statistics as follows:

Traffic grew by 20% to over 6m customers.

• Load factor increased 7% points to 88%.
• Rolling annual traffic to December rose 6% to 86.4m customers.

Ryanair’s Chief Marketing Officer, Kenny Jacobs said:

“Ryanair’s traffic grew by 20% to over 6m customers in December, while our load factor rose by 7% points to 88%, thanks to our lower fares, our stronger forward booking strategy and the continuing success of our “Always Getting Better” customer programme, which is delivering better than expected load factors in our significantly expanded winter schedule. With our new routes, increased frequencies, improving customer experience and Business Plus service, Ryanair continues to deliver so much more than the lowest fares in every market we operate in.”

Source:- Ryanair

Robots that service hotel guests, the emergence of marijuana tourism and the rise of several Midwest destinations – these are some of the trends that marked the year in U.S. travel.  As 2014 draws to a close, Hotels.com® has compiled an analysis of search data, survey findings and data from the Hotel Price Index™ (HPI®) to come up with the Top 10 Travel Predictions for 2015.

 1. Detroit’s resurgence will continue and the city (currently ranked the 28^th most popular domestic destination according to HPI) will join Chicago (ranked sixth) as the only other Top 25 U.S. destination in the Midwest. After emerging from two years of bankruptcy, new hotel openings, such as the Aloft Detroit at the David Whitney, and the addition of new downtownentertainment and nightlife options will help the ongoing revitalization of Detroit.

2. The travel industry will continue to see robust growth in mobile hotel bookings in 2015 as hotel and travel companies continue to find new ways of reaching millennials – the fastest growing segment in travel. Easier online payment methods – the use of more mobile payment services, hotel gift cards and the emerging smart watch market – are making the booking experience more convenient.

3. Denver’s tourism will continue to surge, making it a Top 15 domestic destination. In 2014, Denver (currently ranked 17^th) enjoyed a record year in business travel according to the Colorado Convention Center, while Colorado’s legalization of marijuana sales sparked travel interest.

4. More Americans will flock to mid-size beach towns, such as Key West, Fla., Ocean City, Md. and Palm Springs, Calif., and at least one will become a Top 50 domestic destination. All three beach towns were among the most searched destinations on Hotels.com in 2014.

5. Bangkok will once again become a Top 20 international destination for Americans following a steep drop-off in 2014 (from 14^th to 21^st) due to political unrest. Bangkok’s Department of Tourism reported an increase in airport arrivals for November 2014, which were up 2.5 percent compared to November 2013 when the protests began.

6. Innovation will continue to be a point of differentiation for new hotel properties. While many properties won’t go the way of arobot concierge or drone delivery service, smart innovations such as keyless mobile entry and automated check-in kiosks will begin to become standardized.

7. Latin American countries will account for one-third of Top 50 international destinations for Americans. While the majority of top international destinations remain European cities, Latin American destinations have been on the rise, with Mexico, Brazil and Puerto Rico accounting for nearly 20 percent of the Top 50.

8. Pop culture tourism will be a boon for small towns following a year in which Albuquerque, N.M. rose in popularity after being portrayed as a key character in a popular TV series. Montauk, N.Y. and Cape Girardeau, Mo. also garnered recent attention and next year’s TV and film releases should bring other destinations into the spotlight.

9. There will be more demand for complimentary breakfast. Free WiFi has long been the most important hotel amenity, but complimentary breakfast was also recently named at the top of the list.

10. Venice and Florence will see more American visitors. The Hotels.com Winter Holiday Travel Survey found that Italy is the second most popular 2015 travel wish list destination for Americans (after Hawaii). Both cities have been popular international destinations for Americans (ranked 12^th and 13^th, respectively), but may see a boost as a result of heightened interest due to some big celebrity weddings in 2014.

Source:- Hotels.com

Sabre Red App Centre, the world’s first B2B travel app marketplace and innovation showcase, has exceeded 1 million downloads by travel agents worldwide.

1,206,898 downloads to be exact.  That’s 1.2 million downloads by nearly 118,000 users across 119 countries. The Top Five Red App downloads in the past 60 days include Clipboard App, SeatGuru, Command Translator, Dynamic Calendar and Airport Search.

Red App Centre has attracted developers and agencies from around the world, building creative tools and solutions travel agents use to extend the capabilities and customize the Sabre Red Workspace to meet the unique needs of their business and workflow.

“The success of Sabre Red App Centre has exceeded our expectations,” said Greg Webb, president of Sabre Travel Network. “By providing developers the ability to use Sabre’s APIs and Informational Services through Sabre Dev Studio so they can create solutions that are not only making travel buying easier but more personalized and dynamic, the App Centre has brought fresh ideas to the travel marketplace and we’re proud to be part of that. Sabre Red App Centre has served as an important platform to feature and enable innovation.”

Using Sabre Dev Studio, which includes a powerful portfolio of APIs, Informational Services, Notification Services and a variety of other tools and resources, developers and travel agencies are building apps that are taking the travel buying experience to new levels.

“By consuming apps through Sabre Red App Centre, travel agents are in the driver’s seat when it comes to shaping their business to meet the varying needs of travelers,” Webb said. “Red App Centre is a great way for us to bring innovation to the marketplace quickly and gives us the opportunity to work with creative thinkers to help reinvent travel.”

Red App Centre was launched in 2012 and quickly became a hub for agents to find and use trusted solutions. Today there are more than 100 apps in the Centre.

With over 1.1 billion international tourists travelling the world in one single year, international tourism is on track to end 2014 with record numbers. According to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, during the first ten months of 2014, the number of international tourists grew by 5%, rising above expectations.

The number of global tourists reached 978 million, 45 million more than in the same period of 2013 between January and October 2014. With an increase of 4.7%, international tourism continues to grow well above the long-term trend projected by UNWTO for the period 2010-2020 (+3.8%), and is set to end the year at over 1.1 billion.

The strongest growth was registered in the Americas (+8%), followed by Asia and the Pacific (+5%) and Europe (+4%). By subregion, North America (+9%) and South Asia (+8%) were the star performers, as well as Southern and Mediterranean Europe, North-East Asia and Northern Europe (all +7%).

Arrival in Asia and the Pacific is increased by 5% (through October). The best results came from South Asia (+8%), led by India (+7%), and from North-East Asia (+7%). Arrivals in Oceania grew by 6% owing mostly to the increase of arrivals in Australia and New Zealand. In South-East Asia (+2%), growth slowed down compared to 2012 and 2013 as a result of the decline in arrivals registered in Thailand.
Europe posted a 4% increase in global tourist arrivals through October, with strong results in Northern Europe and in Southern Mediterranean Europe (both +7%). International tourism grew at a more modest pace in Western Europe (+2%) and was stagnant in Central and Eastern Europe (0%), in stark contrast with the last three years, during which arrivals grew at an average of 8% a year.

In the Middle East global tourist arrivals are estimated to be up by 4% (in the first ten months of 2014), recovering the declines registered sinc 2011.

In Africa international tourist numbers grew by 3% (through October) with North Africa consolidating its recovery (+2%). Subsaharan Africa’s arrivals were up by 3% despite the challenges of the Ebola Disease Outbreak in a few West African countries.