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    Portuguese Travel & Tourism sector set to reach record-breaking high this year, says WTTC

    The World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) 2023 Economic Impact Research (EIR) today reveals the Portuguese Travel & Tourism sector is projected to exceed the 2019 peak this year.According to the report, the sector is set to contribute €40.4 billion to the Portuguese economy by the end of 2023, surpassing the 2019 pre-pandemic high of €40.1 billion.
    WTTC is also forecasting that the sector will create around 30,000 jobs this year, only 68,000 jobs below the 2019 level of just over one million, to reach 950,000 employed by Travel & Tourism.
    A look back on last year
    Last year, the Travel & Tourism sector’s GDP contribution grew 61.6% to reach nearly €38 billion, representing 15.8% of the Portuguese economy.The sector also created 83,000 more jobs from the previous year to reach 921,000 jobs nationally.
    The latest report from the global tourism body shows that the sector has now recovered to more than 90% of the pre-pandemic level of jobs. ADVERTISEMENTLast year also saw the return of international travellers heading to Portugal, with Spain (16%), France (12%), UK (11%), and Germany and U.S. (both 8%) leading as source markets for international arrivals in Portugal.
    According to the data, in 2022, international visitor spend contributed €21.7 billion to the national economy, representing a striking year-on-year growth of 80.4%, and just 7.7% behind 2019 levels.
    Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO, said: “The Travel & Tourism sector in Portugal is recovering strongly with high visitor demand.
    “The future for the sector is very optimistic. By the end of this year, the sector’s contribution will surpass 2019 levels, and over the next decade, growth will outstrip the national GDP and create 248,000 new jobs over the decade, representing one in four jobs.”
    What does the next decade look like?
    The global tourism body is forecasting that the sector will grow its GDP contribution to €56.4 billion by 2033, representing more than one fifth (21.1%) of the Portuguese economy.
    Over the next decade, Travel & Tourism could employ more than 1.2 million people across the country, with one in four people working in the sector.
    Europe
    In 2022, the European Travel & Tourism sector contributed €1.9 trillion to the regional economy, just 7% below the 2019 peak. WTTC forecasts the regional sector’s GDP contribution will reach €2.04 trillion in 2023 and be within touching distance of the 2019 highpoint.
    The sector employed 34.7 million people across the region in 2022, an increase of 2.9 million from the previous year, but still 3.2 million behind the 2019 peak. WTTC forecasts the sector will fully recover the jobs lost during the pandemic by the end of 2024.

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    Saudi takes presidency of IATA aviation security committee

    The announcement was made in the sixth session of the organization council’s 229th session, held in Montreal, Canada, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
    The most important tasks of the committee of the ICAO Council are to submit its recommendations to the council on policies, strategic directions, priorities, and planning activities related to aviation security, in addition to providing consultation to the council on international standards and security recommendations.
    The committee will assess new and emerging threats to international civil aviation and will take the necessary measures to protect civil aviation from acts of unlawful interference
    Saudi Arabia has been playing a more pivotal role in supporting the air transport industry regionally and internationally, and it reflects the Kingdom’s position in international civil aviation forums as well as in regional organisations. Kingdom representatives chair several committees in the Arab Civil Aviation Organization (ACAO), including the aviation security committee.
    According to SPA, the Kingdom continues to support civil aviation globally by launching several programmes and initiatives, in addition to dispatching Saudi experts to work in specialized organizations, hosting the permanent headquarters of the Cooperative Aviation Security Program Middle East (CASP-MID) of ICAO, and the permanent headquarters of ICAO’s Regional Safety Oversight Organization for Middle East and North Africa (MENA RSOO).ADVERTISEMENT

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    Czech Tourists Visited Poland in Record Numbers in 2023

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    Czech Tourists Visited Poland in Record Numbers in 2023

    Travel agencies and local governments have collected data showing that Czech tourists are particularly flocking to Poland’s Baltic Sea beaches.SchengenVisaInfo.com reported that the Czech portal for appointments Slevomat has seen a 50% increase in sales in Poland compared with 2022.
    Other travel agencies have also shown a high level of interest in booking holidays in Poland. Dovolena.cz, one of the travel agencies, has seen a 158% increase in bookings for holidays to Poland since January 2023.
    Invia, a travel agency that represents more than 150 Czech as well as foreign travel agencies, has also noticed a doubled attention of Czech Republic tourists regarding their holidays on Polish soil.
    Jirina Jiruskova from Invia told Forbes that Poland attracts many visitors due to its historical monuments, beautiful cities, and natural beauty, including the sea, mountains, and lakes.
    She says that Poland is popular not only because of its attractiveness, but also due to the affordability. In 2023, one week in Poland in nomad style will cost EUR191,24. Budget travel is EUR224,25. Mid-range travel is EUR341,28. Luxury travel costs EUR736,24. Accommodation, whether it is in a hotel or an apartment, costs between EUR35 and EUR40 per night.ADVERTISEMENT“Most services, whether it is accommodation, restaurants or entertainment attractions, are cheaper in Poland than [in Czechia],” Jiruskova said.
    Due to price increases and inflation, many Czech tourists are now choosing to travel to Poland rather than Croatia.
    Sopot, a Polish seaside resort town, has become a favorite among Czechs.
    “Already last year, Czechs were among the top three nationalities of tourists visiting tourist information points in Sopot during the holidays,” Bartlomiej Barski, stated.
    Barski says that the increase in the number of Czech tourists can be attributed to improved transportation, such as the motorway connecting the two countries. Through this, Czech citizens are able to reach the Polish coastline within a couple hours.
    Ryanair also operates flights from Prague, near Sopot, to Gdansk.
    Barski, and other members of the Polish tourism industry, are pleased with the increase in travellers from the Czech Republic. They call it an important market for the Polish sector.
    “We cannot just limit ourselves to the Germans or Scandinavians. Any new market that is interested in our region is welcome,” Barski said.
    Statista is a German platform that collects data. According to Statista’s findings, in 2022, the largest number of visitors to Poland will be from Germany (5 219 400), followed by Ukraine (3 462,000) and Belarus (73 4900). The United States was the country with the most visitors outside of Europe (452,800).
    The data from the arrivals at the airport confirms the increased interest of travellers in Poland. It was reported that over 6.5. millions passengers have been recorded since January 2023. Chopin Airport is the busiest airport in Warsaw. This year, 63 percent of passengers traveled within the Schengen Zone, and 37 percent chose non-EU destinations within the Schengen Area.

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    New Global Heat Warning By Experts

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    New Global Heat Warning By Experts

    The United States’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently reported that the world’s oceans had their warmest June on record, making it the third consecutive month that global ocean temperatures had broken records.According to NOAA, June’s worldwide average temperature of 61.79 degrees made it the warmest June on record.
    Ahira Sanchez-Lugo, a climate scientist at NOAA, referred to the rise over last June’s record as “a very substantial leap,” since worldwide monthly records are typically so broad that they frequently move by hundredths less than quarters of a degree.
    Climate scientist Natalie Mahowald of Cornell University, also stated that the recent unprecedented temperatures, as well as the dramatic fires, pollution, and floods are exactly the phenomena expected to happen in a warmer environment, as we are only experiencing a tiny fraction of the consequences that are predicted to become more severe as a result of climate change.
    The land and sea temperatures set new records for the month of June. Scientists report that the North Atlantic has been abnormally warm since the middle of March, and that monthly high temperatures were established all across the world’s sea surface in the last three months. The United Kingdom and the Caribbean areas both broke records.
    Robert Rohde, a researcher at Berkeley Earth, has also said that his team anticipates an 80% possibility that 2023 would set a new global temperature high.ADVERTISEMENTIn an unofficial and early research, the Climate Reanalyzer at the University of Maine found that eleven of the first twelve days of July were hotter than any previously recorded day. According to the globe Meteorological Organization and the Japanese Meteorological Agency, the globe has recently experienced the warmest week on record.
    According to Russ Vose, the head of NOAA’s global analysis division, the record-breaking heat of June can be attributed to two main factors: (1) long-term warming due to heat-trapping gases emitted by the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas; and (2) El Nino, which heats parts of the Pacific and changes weather patterns across the globe.
    However, since El Nino continues to be regarded as mild to moderate at this point, most of June’s warming was attributable to long-term human factors. According to NOAA and other predictions, 2024 will be considerably hotter than this year since it will reach its peak then.
    El Nino and its counterbalance, La Nina, are natural climate fluctuations that have a huge influence on year-to-year temperatures, but their impacts are far lower over the long term than human-caused warming, according to climate scientist Zeke Hausfather of Berkeley Earth and the technology startup Stripe. Every decade, global warming caused by humans contributes as much heat to the atmosphere as a persistent El Nino.
    According to NOAA, both the Arctic and Antarctic sea ice levels reached historic lows in June.
    Moreover, the global warming is expected to continue, even if many ecosystems and human populations have reached their threshold for heat stress.

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    The death of the bargain holiday?

    New research by The PC Agency reveals that only a quarter of Brits planning to take a summer holiday this year have actually booked a trip abroad, as inflation and economic uncertainty confront the UK.
    While the majority of Brits are keen to travel at home or abroad this summer (76%), only 25% have committed to an overseas trip, with 19% delaying and still considering their options for a summer escape.
    Nearly 24% are not intending to go anywhere this summer. Among those not intending to have a holiday this year, two-thirds (65%) cited the cost of living crisis and lack of affordability as the key reasons to put their suitcase away.
    The research was carried out for The PC Agency by market intelligence firms AudienceNet and Thrive, and was conducted among 1,017 UK adults between 3rd and 5th July 2023.
    The survey revealed that whilst confidence in travel has resumed to pre-pandemic levels, the cost of living crisis has led to more hesitation than expected in bookings, as consumers are faced with significantly higher costs for holidays across all the popular holiday hotspots including Spain, Greece, France, Italy, and Türkiye.ADVERTISEMENTOf consumers who are intending to travel this summer, more than half (52%) expect to pay more or the same as they did in 2019, with only 29% expecting to pay less than their equivalent pre-pandemic trips, deliberately holding back their spend.
    Paul Charles, consumer travel expert and CEO of travel consultancy The PC Agency said: “It’s clear that consumers are seeing the demise of the bargain holiday this summer, as prices have risen sharply in every part of the travel sector.
    “The escalating costs for holidays at all price levels are the real sticking point for those yet to book, with many people hedging their bets hoping that prices fall just before their ideal departure date. It’s no longer just a case of increased demand driving price hikes but the harsh reality of the cost of living crisis which has really started to bite. Fuel prices that have a big impact on airlines have reduced somewhat but persistently high inflation has sent operational costs across the travel supply chain skyrocketing.
    “Every part of the hospitality industry is affected from hotels to villas and apartments, with all other providers including car hire, spas and tourist attractions also passing on their increased costs to consumers.”
    Against the backdrop of substantially increased demand for summer holidays which is on a par with 2019, it is now cost rather than concerns over Covid-19 that is the new barrier to bookings.
    Fears around Covid-19 have significantly dissipated, with just 7% of respondents saying they would not take a holiday because of concerns over hygiene, and only 2% expressed concerns over airport and airline safety and security.

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    Flutterwave Joins With IATA to Simplify Payments for Airlines Serving Africa

    Flutterwave, Africa’s leading payments technology company, has joined the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) payment orchestration platform to facilitate travel to sub-Saharan Africa. With this integration, airlines across the world are able to process payment from customers through cards, bank transfer, mobile money, alternative payment methods and other payment modes available on Flutterwave.
    IATA Financial Gateway (IFG) is an omni-channel payment orchestration and management platform fully dedicated to the airline industry and has been designed to allow airlines to receive local payments from local markets through all their distribution channels. IATA has some 290 international airlines; this partnership enables them to easily expand their operations in Africa while receiving bookings and payments from customers in Africa using local and international payments methods.
    Airlines and travel agencies can use Flutterwave via IFG to accept many forms of payment from customers when booking airline tickets. Instead of having to manage multiple complex connections to payment service providers in Africa, IFG offers a single global connection, with full end-to-end control on payment and settlement processes and seamless integration with ticketing systems and distribution channels.
    Global airlines looking to collect local currencies through cards and indigenous methods of payments will find this integration useful, as it makes payments seamless for their millions of customers in Africa and other markets where Flutterwave operates.
    Olugbenga “GB” Agboola, Flutterwave CEO & Founder, said, ADVERTISEMENT“According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Africa is set to become one of the fastest growing aviation regions in the next 20 years with an annual expansion of nearly 5%. How can we further accelerate this growth? One way is to ensure airlines can easily set up operations across the continent and seamlessly receive payments from their customers. This partnership with IATA solves the problem of payments for global airlines venturing into Africa. We hope that this encourages more global airlines to expand into Africa.”
    Muhammad Albakri, IATA’s Senior VP, Financial Settlement and Distribution Services, said, “The IATA Financial Gateway supports the availability of new payment options in many markets. We welcome Flutterwave’s participation to bring secure and innovative payment methods to airlines, travel resellers and the traveling public in Africa.”

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    IATA and Aviation Impact Accelerator Partner to Accelerate Aviation Sector’s Path to Net-Zero

    The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the Aviation Impact Accelerator (AIA), an international industry-academia partnership based at the University of Cambridge, announced a collaboration to accelerate the aviation sector’s transition to net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050.
    The two organizations will assess the financial implications of reaching aviation’s 2050 net-zero CO2 goal. Building upon existing work, this collaboration will support the development of scenario-based tools to help airlines analyze and evaluate different decarbonization pathways.
    The purpose of this collaboration is to support better-informed decisions by airlines and policy-makers in the transition to net zero. The collaboration will set a solid foundation for IATA and AIA to develop a wider, long-term partnership.
    AIA is an international group of experts drawing on a broad range of expertise convened by the University of Cambridge. Its aim is to accelerate the journey to sustainable aviation by developing evidence-based tools that allow people to understand, map, and embark on the pathways towards sustainable flight. Over the last three years a world class network of experts has been assembled and the underlying system modelling capability developed.
    “We are excited to launch this new collaboration between AIA and IATA, investigating realistic pathways for aviation’s transition to net zero emissions by 2050. IATA has a strong track record of fostering cooperation between airlines and other stakeholders and driving change in the sector. We believe that by bringing this together with AIA’s unique modelling capability we have an opportunity to unlock change,” said Prof. Rob Miller, Director of the Whittle Laboratory, University of Cambridge, and AIA lead.ADVERTISEMENT‘’We are delighted to join forces with the Aviation Impact Accelerator with a view to enhance our understanding of the many potential pathways to achieve air transport‘s sustainable future. The development of different technological pathways will have an influence on the long-term outlook of our industry, and our collaboration will notably explore this intersection,‘’ said Marie Owens Thomsen, IATA’s Senior Vice President Sustainability and Chief Economist.
    As part of the future collaboration, AIA and IATA also aim to collaborate on the future development of IATA’s Recommended Practice Per-Passenger CO2 Calculation Methodology, amongst other areas of work. Used in combination with verified airline operational data, the methodology provides the most accurate calculation results and transparency to everyone interested in understanding the carbon footprint from flying activity.

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    UNWTO Highlights Tourism’s Role in Sustainable Development at UN High-Level Political Forum

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    UNWTO Highlights Tourism’s Role in Sustainable Development at UN High-Level Political Forum

    This week will bring tourism back to the United Nations headquarters to emphasize the sector’s unique position to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
    Reflecting the unprecedented relevance of tourism on the UN agenda, UNWTO together with the Ministry of Tourism and Sport, Republic of Croatia and support from Ministry of Tourism, India, Chair of the G20 Tourism Working Group will gather leaders from the public and private sectors for a high level roundtable at the official side event on “Economic, Social, and Environmental Sustainability in Tourism” which will be held on Friday 14 July within the framework of the UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.
    Inspiring and Guiding Action
    The high-level event will further advance UNWTO’s work in making tourism a key pillar of sustainable development, most notably through enhanced public-private partnerships.
    In New York, UNWTO together with partners will:ADVERTISEMENTProvide a better understanding of the SDGs from the perspective of tourism and inspire further action among both government and private sector stakeholders.Present the Goa Roadmap for Tourism as a Vehicle for Achieving the SDGs developed under India’s G20 Presidency.Raise awareness about a crucial development that is mobilizing the power of data by forging a global consensus for harmonized data on the economic, social and environmental performance of tourism at international, national and destination levels:  the forthcoming Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (MST).Outline the benefits that private sector can bring to, and draw from, the development of harmonized Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Framework for Tourism Businesses.Share the key points of the recently launched “Achieving the SDGs through tourism: Toolkit of Indicators for Projects (TIPS)” developed in partnership with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) as a comprehensive resource designed to guide users in aligning tourism development projects with the SDGs.
    Connecting leading stakeholders
    The Forum side event is aimed at inspiring common action between the public, private and academic sectors for the tourism sector to achieve real sustainability by focusing on the economic, social and environmental aspects in tourism as well as governance. Discussions will count on the insights of public, private and academic sector leaders from every global region, as well as key figures from within the United Nations itself.
    Csaba Kőrösi, President of the United Nations General Assembly will join Lachezara Stoeve, President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in officially opening the event.Moderated by UNWTO’s Executive Director Zoritsa Urosevic, the high-level roundtable discussion will count on the participation of Ministers of Tourism of Croatia, India, Jamaica, Spain and Dr. Ivan Šimonović, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Croatia to the United Nations.Representing the private sector will be Matt Callaghan, Director of Customer & Operations at easyJet holidays, while Edward Brooks, Executive Director and co-Founder of Oxford SDG Impact Lab, will provide the academic perspective.

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