Eliana Willis

Contiki has introduced Detour, a new series of 18 locally hosted, short break adventures to its range of 2021/22 worldwide trips.
In a recent survey of its UK youth audience, over 90 per cent of respondents cited unique experiences as something they wanted to do to make their 2021 holiday count, following a year of ongoing lockdown and travel restrictions.
The same survey also showed over 40 per cent saying the biggest lesson they have learnt from the pandemic is to appreciate travel more.
Detour Mini Adventures by Contiki is a new travel style comprising small group, immersive breaks, often with an opportunity to learn something new.
The trips will bring together an average of just eight people and have one of a range of themes, from active and adventure to foodie and wellness.

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Each one is hosted by a local who will invite travellers into their lives or homes and share their passions, allowing them to ‘detour’ beyond the ordinary.
Donna Jeavons, sales and marketing director for Contiki UK & Europe, said: “This new range of mini adventures is all about travel that connects you, teaches you and changes you, and it’s another example of Contiki innovating to anticipate and meet the needs of our diverse millennial and Gen Z audiences.
“Called Detour as it is designed to be a ‘detour’ from the ordinary, it’s immersive travel at its very best as each one is hosted by a local and has been carefully curated to showcase a different side to the destination, one that appeals to different passions or interests from food to photography, or wine to wellness.”
There are 18 new worldwide Detour trips, bringing to life some of the unique experiences available in Austria, Botswana, Costa Rica, Croatia, France, Italy, Morocco, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Uganda.
The short breaks have been created to form easy add-ons to some of Contiki’s longer holidays, enabling travellers to combine the epic with the immersive, and extend their stay in destination, as well as being a great alternative to individual day tours.
There are also a number of new short domestic breaks in the UK, aimed at Brits who want to explore on their own doorstep, in the hands of a local.
Some 71 per cent of its surveyed UK audience said they are making more plans to travel domestically in 2021 with 38 per cent of these respondents naming Scotland as a destination they planned to visit, and almost 15 per cent wanting to experience the English National Parks such as the Lake and Peak Districts.
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The Pacific Asia Travel Association has predicted, that even in the base case scenario, visitor numbers to the region will still be below 2019 levels in two years’ time.
The finds are included in the just-released Asia Pacific Visitor Forecasts 2021-2023 report.
The document includes three growth prospects for international visitor arrivals into and across the 39 Asia Pacific destinations between 2021-2023 and cover mild, medium and severe scenarios.
The report shows that even under a mild scenario, the Asia Pacific region in 2023 is likely to still have around four per cent fewer arrivals compared to 2019.
The medium scenario suggests that foreign visitor numbers in 2023 could be only three-quarters of the 2019 volume, while under the severe scenario, that proportion is predicted to reach less than half of the 2019 volume of international arrivals.
The results are very uneven as well, not just under each scenario but also for the major destination regions of Asia Pacific.
The Americas for example, after reaching a total of 45.36 million foreign arrivals in 2020 into the four destinations covered by this region, is unlikely to see any annual increase in international visitors until 2022.
Calendar year 2021 in particular, is projected to be another difficult year for the Americas.
A further annual decline in foreign arrival numbers is expected, with annual losses ranging from 3.59 million to as much as almost 23.76 million, depending upon the scenario conditions at the time.

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Visitors into and across Asia on the other hand, are expected to show an increase in 2021 over the 70.64 million received in 2020, but only under the mild scenario.
From 2022 onwards however, annual increases are forecast to gradually improve in volume under each of the three scenarios.
The only differing characteristic is the volume of the annual increase in each case.
PATA chief executive, Mario Hardy, explained: “While growth in international visitor arrivals into and across Asia Pacific remains difficult in 2021, there are promising signs for 2022 and 2023.
“A return to near pre-Covid-19 levels of arrivals, while possible by 2023, appears now to be feasible, at least if conditions as they are now, abate quickly and permanently.
“Much however, will depend on events during this present northern winter and the arrival and management of the more traditional flu season.”
He added: “Given the speed with which conditions can change, the PATA forecast report this year does not have the same destination-specific detail as previously published in the past, but rather focuses on regions and sub-regions.
“They are however more flexible as they will be updated twice over the coming 12 months, to factor in developments, as and when they occur.”
The Pacific is expected to be in a similar position as the Americas in 2021, with visitors falling from the 5.85 million received in 2020 under each of the three scenarios.
While that decrease may be relatively minor under the mild scenario, it could still represent a contraction of almost five million visitors under the severe scenario.
Calendar years 2022 and 2023 however, show some return to annual growth under each of the scenarios.
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Saga will require cruise and holiday customers travelling in 2021 to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19, the company has confirmed.
Potential customers must have received both shots of a vaccine at least 14 days before departure.
A spokesperson said: “The health and safety of our customers has always been our number one priority at Saga, so we have taken the decision to require everyone travelling with us to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
“Our customers want the reassurance of the vaccine and to know others travelling with them will be vaccinated too.
“To allow our customers time to get vaccinated, we are moving the restart date for our travel businesses to May.

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“Our new vaccination policy will be in addition to the detailed arrangements we have already put in place for when cruises and other holidays restart.”
The British government is currently hoping to offer everybody over the age of 50 at least one shot of vaccine by the end of April, with the second to follow within two weeks.
Currently, Saga hopes to return to service with Spirit of Adventure’s inaugural voyage continuing as planned on May 4th, with Spirit of Discovery to return on June 2nd.
The Saga holidays programme will begin on May 1st with hotel stays, escorted tours and river cruises.
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WTTC forecasts return of 100m tourism jobs in 2021

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More than 100 million jobs could return to the global tourism sector during 2021, as the world recovers from the crippling Covid-19 pandemic.
That is according to the latest research from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).
A strong summer of travel is expected as the sector begins its road to recovery from late March onwards, with many major travel companies reporting a significant rise in forward bookings.
The revival is backed by the latest economic forecasts from the WTTC, which give further hope for the year ahead to businesses and millions of people employed in the sector worldwide.
Last year, during the height of the pandemic, WTTC warned 174 million global tourism jobs were at risk.

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However, in its latest analysis, the body’s most optimistic scenario predicts as many as 111 million jobs could be revived – but this would still be 17 per cent below 2019 figures, accounting for 54 million fewer jobs.
This best-case scenario, with travel recovery starting from late March, factors in widespread vaccination programmes and a swift adoption of comprehensive test-and-trace regimes, together with continual, strong international coordination from the private and public sectors.
However, the forecast’s more conservative outcome would still see a return of 84 million jobs, but this would be 25 per cent below 2019 levels, with 82 million fewer jobs recovered.
Under this scenario, the recovery of international travel is pushed to the second half of 2021.
Vaccines would be rolled out more gradually, slowing down the removal of worldwide travel barriers and restrictions currently in place, while depressing demand to travel and reducing consumer confidence.
Gloria Guevara, WTTC chief executive, said: “We are looking forward to a strong summer of travel, thanks to a combination of mask wearing, the global vaccination rollout and testing on departure unlocking the door to international travel once more.
“Our latest research supports this and shows there is definitely hope on the horizon for the global tourism sector in the year ahead, with the possible recovery of up to 111 million jobs.”
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The executive council of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has expressed its continued support for secretary general Zurab Pololikashvili.
Meeting in Madrid, members nominated him to continue leading the agency for four more years.
At the end of the 113th session of the executive council, held as a hybrid event in Spanish capital, members voted in person and in secret for their choice of leader for 2022-2025.
Incumbent Pololikashvili won 76 per cent of the votes in a process where the kingdom of Bahrain also put forward a candidate for the position, Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa.

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Her excellency congratulated Pololikashvili on his win and the government of Bahrain expressed its support for UNWTO.
Pololikashvili had based his campaign for re-election both on the progressive institutional and policy reforms undertaken during his first term, and on his clear leadership of global tourism throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
The recommendation will be carried forward to the 24th session of the UNWTO general assembly, due to be held in Marrakesh, Morocco, towards the end of the year.
In Madrid, both the president of the government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, and king Felipe VI expressed their support for UNWTO and its leadership.
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The tourism industry is calling on the government to give more detail on how travel restrictions will be lifted if Covid-19 is brought under control in the UK.
ABTA chief executive, Mark Tanzer, said: “As news continues to emerge of new variants of the virus developing overseas, along with the significant number of cases and deaths in the UK, it is understandable that the government wants to take every step necessary to prevent the spread of the virus.
“The pre-departure testing for passengers entering the UK, originally due to come into force tomorrow but now delayed for England until Monday, is a clear example of this.
“It joins a myriad of other measures which if still in place when more people start to travel would be confusing, expensive and logistically difficult for customers.
“It would also serve as a barrier to travel putting many people off booking in the first place.”

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Authorities earlier confirmed pre-departure Covid-19 testing would not begin until Monday, while also announcing arrivals from South America will be severely curtailed. 
However, the restrictions are worrying for the tourism sector in the longer-term, Tanzer said.
He added: “It is worth pointing out that the government hasn’t given any confirmation that pre-departure testing will be removed once international travel opens up more widely – only that it will be reviewed as we come towards the end of this lockdown.
“What the industry needs to hear from government is a clear plan for recovery.
“We currently have travel corridors, quarantine, testing on departure to the UK, testing to reduce quarantine and advice against travel to whole countries all in place – not to mention the various restrictions overseas countries place on UK tourists. 
“This situation is not a viable way to open up the travel market and get people travelling again.”
Tanzer, and the wider travel industry, are now calling on the government to use existing structures to plot a course out of the shutdown.
He added: “We are asking the government to use the global travel taskforce structure to convene specific working groups to look at these very issues, as well as what the rollout of the UK vaccine will mean for future overseas travel.
“We hope this will lead to a roadmap which can be used to drive future policy for business and leisure travel and get people moving again.
“We also continue to press the UK government on the need for tailored financial support for the sector and are speaking to destinations about their plans, including regarding UK travellers who are vaccinated, as well as their own country vaccination programs.”
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