Organisations & Operators,

Tour operator TrekAmerica has become the latest victim of the slump in travel caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The company earlier said it would cease trading as part of a wider restructure of the adventure division at owner Travelopia.

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A statement from the company explained: “We’re incredibly sad to say that due to ongoing uncertainties from Covid, TrekAmerica won’t be continuing to run trips.
“This has been an incredibly difficult decision to make.”
No further bookings will be taken, while refunds will also be offered.
Those still looking to travel can transfer bookings over to other Travelopia brands, including Exodus Travels or Exodus Edits.

A sad announcement today… pic.twitter.com/J3tSFUV9hf
— TrekAmerica (@trekamerica) September 7, 2020
TrekAmerica said it would be in touch with holidaymakers to work through the changes.
A statement added: “For almost 50 years, we’ve been honoured to be part of your incredible travel stories.
“Even though we’re driving off into the sunset, we hope the friends and memories our Trek community have made will live on in our Trekkers for many more years to come.”
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After a quarter century of handcrafting trips of a lifetime, California-based tour operator Classic Journeys is tailoring its signature approach to private and small group trips to British tastes and mores.
“English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish guests, guides and staff have been a hugely important part of the Classic Journeys story over the last 25 years.
“And as we celebrate our first quarter century, we felt it was time to branch out properly into the UK,” said founder Edward Piegza.

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“We are delighted to launch our new UK website and team to assist British guests as they research, plan and book their holidays.”
One of the many factors that have long made Classic Journeys’ tours unique is that each is led by guides local to the area being visited – thus adding a level of in-depth knowledge unavailable on most commercial tours.
Classic Journeys’ itineraries are available both on fixed dates or customised to individual needs and dates.
To kick off the expansion in the UK, Classic Journeys has curated several new bespoke itineraries, tailor-made for British travellers, to complement their regular roster of tours.
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WTTC unveils guidelines for safe return to adventure tourism

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The World Travel & Tourism Council has unveiled the latest set of measures designed to rebuild global consumer confidence.
The latest protocols for the global tourism sector focus on measures to ensure the reopening of adventure tourism, which should see an increase in popularity as travellers seek more unique experiences post Covid-19.
WTTC held detailed discussions with key stakeholders and organisations to ensure maximum buy-in, alignment and practical implementation.
The measures help to set clear expectations of what travellers can experience in the ‘new normal’ which offer safe environments as travel restrictions are eased.
Backed by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), the WTTC protocols also consider guidelines from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Centre for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC).

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Within these protocols, the adventure tourism industry refers to a wide variety of adventure tourism experiences including cycling, rafting, trekking, skiing, snowboarding, wildlife safaris and culinary tours, among others.
Not only are these activities mostly outdoors, thus limiting time spent in indoors; but group sizes can be managed to allow for physical distancing.
It is expected that this type of tourism will see growth in the post-Covid landscape.
Gloria Guevara, WTTC chief executive, said: “Adventure tourism is becoming increasingly popular amongst travellers and will represent a key component to travel in the new normal.
“According to our recently launched Covid-19 travel demand recovery dashboard, it is also one of the fastest growing segments, which is why it is vital to establish measures allowing safe travels for adventure travellers.
“Consumer confidence is crucial for tourism to resume.
“We know travellers will want to explore the world around them once more, so long as they are confident in their safety.”
WTTC divided the new guidance into four pillars including operational and staff preparedness; delivering a safe experience; rebuilding trust and confidence; and implementing enabling policies.
Measures include:
Reduce participant capacity limits for activities as appropriate to allow for physical distancing.
Ensured activity difficulty levels do not exceed guest ability and skill, thus decreasing the need for a possible rescue.
Provide clear, consistent, and up-to-date communication on new health protocols.
Promote contact tracing apps if required by local legislation.
Inform guests about support available if questions or concerns arise.
Encouraged guests to purchase tickets online if possible.
Keep the same households, families, or members of group bookings together for all activities to lower risk of exposure for those outside of that unit, wherever possible.
Ensure, where possible, that each guest can handle their own equipment and gear for the duration of the trip.
Limited physical contact and queuing where possible.
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TUI Group has cancelled all holidays to a party resort on a Greek island because of customers failing to follow coronavirus safety measures.
The travel giant said it would no longer be offering trips to the resort of Laganas, on Zante, from tomorrow.
It comes after six clusters of cases were linked to flights from the island.
The decision comes as both Scotland and Wales reintroduce quarantine measures for guests returning from Greece over fears they may bring Covid-19 cases back.
The Scottish government announced all travellers arriving from Greece would be asked to self-isolate for 14-days after 04:00 on Thursday, while Wales’ health minister has asked those arriving from Zante to quarantine.

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Commenting on the move, a TUI spokesperson said: “Following the recent positive cases from customers retuning from Zante, we have taken the decision to no longer offer holidays in the resort of Laganas from Thursday.
“Laganas is a popular resort with young people who traditionally holiday in large groups of friends.
“The health and safety of our colleagues and customers is our primary concern and recent cases shows that some customers are not following social distancing and Covid-19 safety measures.
“It is therefore the right thing to do to protect and reduce a now identified potential risk to others by no longer offering holidays to this specific resort.”
Nearly 200 people faced self-isolation after at least 16 passengers on a Tui flight from Zante to Cardiff Airport tested positive for the virus earlier this week.
Passengers on board subsequently claimed others were not following Covid-19 rules.
The spokesperson added: “The recent cases in Wales have highlighted a demographic of customers that have recently returned from Zante and subsequently tested positive .
“As the only airline that flies between Cardiff and Zante it has allowed us to understand trends that may also be seen in other areas of the UK.
“We believe that with good track and trace processes, testing at airports and a nuanced approach to regional travel corridors, customers can continue to travel safety.”
TUI said customers due to travel to Greece from Scotland will be able to amend or cancel their holiday in light of the quarantine announcement.
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Titan Travel has pushed back the restart all of operation until February 1st next year.
The decision impacts on land tours, as well as river and ocean cruises.
Clients affected by the decision can receive up to £100 per person off a rebooked tour departing before the end of January 2022.
Andy Squirrell, managing director, Titan Travel, commented: “We have listened to and understand the concerns some travellers have been feeling ahead of their upcoming holiday due to the ongoing outbreak of Covid-19.
“With this in mind, and acknowledging the fluidity of travel advice at this time, Titan has taken the decision to restart all operations from February.”

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He added: “By doing so, we hope to provide travellers and our trade partners with clarity and reassurance in Titan by not cancelling our tours at short notice while providing affected clients with a choice of next steps in advance to find the best solution for them.
“We are confident that our new policies’, including Peace Of Mind, Flexi-Deposit and Protection Promise gives agents and their clients the control, flexibility and assurance they seek to book and travel with confidence.”
Earlier this year Titan introduced a Peace Of Mind policy to provide travellers with the option to postpone or transfer onto another holiday at a later date should they wish.
Titan said it would continue to monitor the situation closely until operations resume and will keep all agents updated on the status of clients’ holiday alongside the latest health and safety protocols on its tours.
All agents with clients affected by the extended suspension of are expected to be contacted by a member of the sales team explaining next steps.
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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 organisation added.
Mark Tanzer, ABTA chief executive, explained: “With the government’s stop start measures, the restart of travel has not gone as hoped for the industry, and sadly businesses continue to be adversely affected and jobs are being lost at an alarming rate.
“Coming towards the end of the traditional period for peak booking, we have hit a critical point as existing government measures to support businesses begin to taper off, the consequence of which, according to this survey of ABTA members will be ruinous for more people’s livelihoods.

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“Travel desperately needs the government in its next review to provide tailored support or tens of thousands more jobs will be lost.”
In response to potential job losses, ABTA has written to the chancellor of the exchequer, Rishi Sunak, to ask for tailored support in the form of a package of measures to support businesses.
The organisation found the job retention scheme has been a significant help for businesses in the travel industry, with nine in ten businesses taking part in the scheme to support staff.
However, 65 per cent of businesses have either had to make redundancies or have started a consultation process.
Despite this, there is optimism that the travel industry can recover, if offered the right support by government, with four in ten businesses confident travel can return to 2019 levels by 2022.
To do this, according to a plan put forward by ABTA, the government should adopt a regionalised approach to quarantine rules.
In the absence of a regional approach to Foreign & Commonwealth Office travel advice and quarantine rules the association argues it will be hard to reopen travel to critical trade partners, including the United States, in the foreseeable future.
At the same time, if the travel industry is to retain the maximum number of jobs, it is vital that consumers are incentivised to book holidays.
With the peak booking season starting from December, ABTA is therefore urging the government to use the Autumn Budget to announce an air passenger duty holiday covering Summer 2021.
If the government does not act with tailored support for travel, as it has for other sectors, 83 per cent of firms estimate that it will have a critical or serious impact on their business.
There are also calls to introduce a testing regime, echoing requests from officials at Heathrow.
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STA Travel has ceased operations in the UK, further illustrating the economic plight faced by many companies in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The company grew out of a student travel business and specialised in trips for young people, including gap years and volunteer projects.
Before the news was confirmed, STA Travel had more than 50 shops in the UK.
A brief statement on the STA Travel website read: “Please be assured that if you had a previous booking with us, or hold a live booking, you will receive further communication in the coming days.
“We are sorry for the inconvenience and the limited information available to you at this time.”
Around 500 jobs are likely to go following the closure.

pic.twitter.com/CzRK5NJ4SH
— STA Travel UK (@STATravel_UK) August 21, 2020
A statement from ABTA added: “The news that STA Travel, which was a long-standing ABTA Member, has ceased trading will send a shockwave through the industry, bringing to life the very real pressures that travel is under at the moment.
“STA Travel will be a name that is familiar to most people who will have used them to travel or been aware of their name on the high street, and this distressing news will sadly affect the livelihoods of hundreds of employees.”
ABTA added many customers would have used STA Travel to book package holidays as well as individual air tickets.

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The majority of holidays sold were flight inclusive packages, which are protected by ATOL, while scheduled airline ticket bookings should proceed as normal.
Non-flight-based packages will be protected, said ABTA.
“If customers booked a package holiday through STA Travel, and the holiday is provided by another tour operator, they will need to contact the tour operator who should be able to confirm that their booking will go ahead as normal,” said the spokesperson.
STA Travel, which originally stood for Student Travel Australia, but was later rebranded Student Travel Association, was founded in 1971, and specialises in long-haul, adventure and gap year travel.
The firm said: “Over recent months, the company took decisive measures to secure the business beyond Covid-19.
“However, sales have not picked up as anticipated, due to consumer uncertainties, further restrictions and renewed lock-down measures, which are expected to largely continue into 2021.”
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A new in-depth data dashboard highlighting the recovery of travel demand across flights and hotels has been launched by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).
The technology also examines the shifting intentions of travellers through online travel searches.
The one-stop data shop or Interactive Covid-19 Travel Demand Recovery Dashboard was alongside McKinsey & Company.
This unique tool provides users with easy access to qualitative and quantitative travel data at the global and regional level as well as for 33 major countries around the world, by revealing travel demand since the beginning of the year and is updated on a fortnightly basis.
The dashboard offers a useful way to navigate through a vast array of data as travel demand around the world changes, in response to the gradual reopening of borders as travel restrictions are across the globe are eased.

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Free to all WTTC members and non-members, it presents two distinct views based on Google trends and searches, and bookings via research partners in the project.
ForwardKeys provide flights data, while STR shares hotel occupancy levels.
Gloria Guevara, WTTC chief executive, said: “We have created a unique dashboard featuring qualitative and quantitative data to provide the insights which could be crucial to help the tourism sector re-start and map out the path to its recovery.
“Our dashboard will enable decision makers to track the impact of public policies by monitoring the positive and negative fluctuations of flight and hotel bookings and also online travel searches, as well as consumer confidence.
“Data is essential for businesses, government and other organisations to make informed choices and drive the policy which will revive a sector that has suffered disproportionally due to the pandemic.”
More Information
Take a look at the dashboard here.
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