Tourism, Organisations & Operators,

NYC & Company, New York City’s official destination marketing organization and convention and visitors bureau, in partnership with Mastercard®, today announced that the fall iteration of NYC Broadway Week will return for the first time since 2019, offering 2-for-1 tickets to 21 Broadway shows, available for purchase now at nycgo.com/broadwayweek. The popular biannual program, now in its 11th year, will run September 6–25, 2022.
“Since its launch in 2011, NYC Broadway Week has offered visitors and locals alike the world’s best theatrical experiences at a remarkable value,” said NYC Company President and CEO Fred Dixon. “After a three-year hiatus, we are proud to bring the fall edition of our signature NYC Broadway Week program back to audiences September 6–25. With choices ranging from Tony Award winners and kid-friendly favorites to new productions and beloved classics, there is something for everyone.”
Participating shows in NYC Broadway Week fall 2022 include:
1776** Aladdin A Strange Loop** Beetlejuice The Book of Mormon Chicago Come From Away Cost of Living** Death of a Salesman** Funny Girl* ** Hadestown Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Into The Woods** The Kite Runner** The Lion King MJ: The Musical Moulin Rouge! The Musical The Phantom of the Opera The Piano Lesson** Six** Wicked

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The Hong Kong Exhibition & Convention Industry Association (HKECIA) welcomes the decision of the HKSAR Government to reduce hotel quarantine for inbound travellers from seven to three days, followed by four days under medical surveillance at home.  Reducing the number of days for hotel quarantine will help ease the burden on Hong Kong residents returning to the city and incoming international travellers.
However, inbound visitors are not allowed to attend any exhibitions held in event premises, e.g. trade fairs, exhibitions, conferences, etc, during the four days of medical surveillance.  The new arrangement and the reduction of number of days for hotel quarantine thus will make no difference for the exhibition industry.
Mr Stuart Bailey, Hong Kong Exhibition & Convention Industry Association (HKECIA) Chairman, commented that while the HKECIA appreciates Government’s direction of relaxing restrictions, our members and the exhibition and convention industry urge the Government to implement quarantine-free travel as soon as possible. During this interim period, they hope the Government to relax restrictions for business travellers and allow overseas exhibition organisers, exhibitors and buyers with the Amber Code to run and attend exhibitions at event premises with their face masks on and appropriate social distancing and preventive measures.
With decades of effort by the Hong Kong Exhibition & Convention Industry Association (HKECIA) members, Hong Kong has attained its hard-earned reputation as the Trade Fair Capital of Asia.  Some 140 exhibitions were held in a ‘normal’ year at the AsiaWorld-Expo and the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, drawing millions of trade buyers and exhibitors from all over the world.  These high-spending business travellers generated tremendous tourism receipts for hotels, restaurants and shops, and hence created tens of thousands of jobs.  The exhibition industry has been an important pillar to Hong Kong’s economy and will be a core engine for the economy rebound.

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Mark Warner has added a resort in Lesbos, Greece to its portfolio for summer 2023.
The Aeolian Village Beach Resort will undergo a €2 million refurbishment this winter, with bars and restaurants upgraded and childcare facilities added to the hotel infrastructure already in place.
Watersports and cycling centres will join the existing facilities, along with Mark Warner’s first padel tennis courts – where players use paddles instead of rackets.
Holidays to the resort, near Skala Eressos village, will go on sale “in a few weeks’ time”, the specialist ski and sun operator said.
Managing director David Hopkins said: “After a successful summer this year, we’re delighted to be growing the programme next year with the addition of the Aeolian Village Beach Resort, which we know will quickly establish itself as a Mark Warner customer favourite.ADVERTISEMENT“We’re particularly excited by the new partnership we have formed with the resort owners who run a portfolio of quality properties in Cyprus, with Aeolian Village being no exception, as can be seen in the excellent customer satisfaction ratings they are achieving this summer.
“We are looking forward to a long and fruitful partnership with owners who really understand the business.”

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WTTC welcomes the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and its numerous business-smart clean energy tax incentives expansions and extensions.
“The Travel & Tourism sector is a catalyst for meaningful climate action and emissions reduction, as evidenced by our groundbreaking Net Zero Roadmap supporting our sector’s drive toward net zero. This bill will help accelerate our Members’ climate commitments with provisions like the sustainable aviation fuel credit, energy efficient buildings deduction, and zero-emission port equipment and technology investments.
“While these are important building blocks for meaningful change, we call on the U.S. to continue putting climate change front and centre of everything they do to help protect life on our planet. We also urge world leaders to give more support to the global Travel & Tourism sector as it continues its journey towards net zero.

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July marked the fifth straight month in which Ontario International Airport (ONT) recorded passenger volumes higher than the same month in 2019, as the Southern California gateway continues to post one of the most impressive post-pandemic recoveries among airports across the United States.
More than 520,000 airline passengers traveled through ONT last month, an increase of 8.8% over July 2021 and 5% higher than July 2019. The number of domestic and international travelers totaled more than 502,000 and 17,000, respectively, in July. Domestic passenger volume increased by 7.4% compared with July 2019 and 8.7% over July a year ago.
From January through July, ONT welcomed 3.1 million passengers, 3% more than the same period in 2019 and 48.8% higher than last year.
The July totals also represented the third straight month in which ONT has exceeded a half-million travelers, and were the most in a single month since at least 2008 – years before the airport’s return to local control.
“Ontario International continues to deliver strong results as demand for air travel in Southern California rebounds. We expect the trend will continue through the summer travel season and into the fall,” said Alan D. Wapner, president of the Ontario International Airport Authority (OIAA) Board of Commissioners and Mayor pro Tem of the City of Ontario. “The statistics underscore the high level of confidence our guests have in our facilities and services.”ADVERTISEMENT

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The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced passenger data for June 2022 showing that the recovery in air travel remains strong.
Note: IATA have returned to year-on-year traffic comparisons, instead of comparisons with the 2019 period, unless otherwise noted. Owing to the low traffic base in 2021, some markets will show very high year-on-year growth rates, even if the size of these markets is still significantly smaller than they were in 2019.
Total traffic in June 2022 (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) was up 76.2% compared to June 2021, primarily propelled by the ongoing strong recovery in international traffic. Globally, traffic is now at 70.8% of pre-crisis levels.
Domestic traffic for June 2022 was up 5.2% compared to the year-ago period. Strong improvements in most markets, combined with the easing of some Omicron-related lockdown restrictions in the Chinese domestic market, contributed to the result. Total June 2022 domestic traffic was at 81.4% of the June 2019 level.
International traffic rose 229.5% versus June 2021. The lifting of travel restrictions in most parts of Asia-Pacific is contributing to the recovery. June 2022 international RPKs reached 65.0% of June 2019 levels.
“Demand for air travel remains strong. After two years of lockdowns and border restrictions people are taking advantage of the freedom to travel wherever they can,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.
Air Passenger Market in Detail – June 20221) % of industry RPKs in 2021   2) Year-on-year change in load factor   3) Load Factor Level
International Passenger MarketsAsia-Pacific airlines had a 492.0% rise in June traffic compared to June 2021. Capacity rose 138.9% and the load factor was up 45.8 percentage points to 76.7%. The region is now relatively open to foreign visitors and tourism which is helping foster the recovery.ADVERTISEMENTEuropean carriers’ June traffic rose 234.4% versus June 2021. Capacity rose 134.5%, and load factor climbed 25.8 percentage points to 86.3%. International traffic within Europe is above pre-pandemic levels in seasonally adjusted terms.
Middle Eastern airlines’ traffic rose 246.5% in June compared to June 2021. June capacity rose 102.4% versus the year-ago period, and load factor climbed 32.4 percentage points to 78.0%.
North American carriers experienced a 168.9% traffic rise in June versus the 2021 period. Capacity rose 95.0%, and load factor climbed 24.1 percentage points to 87.7%, which was the highest among the regions.
Latin American airlines’ June traffic rose 136.6% compared to the same month in 2021. June capacity rose 107.4% and load factor increased 10.3 percentage points to 83.3%. After leading the regions in load factor for 20 consecutive months, Latin America slipped back to third place in June.
African airlines had a 103.6% rise in June RPKs versus a year ago. June 2022 capacity was up 61.9% and load factor climbed 15.2 percentage points to 74.2%, the lowest among regions. International traffic between Africa and neighboring regions is close to pre-pandemic levels.
Domestic Passenger Markets1) % of industry RPKs in 2021   2) Year-on-year change in load factor   3) Load Factor Level
China’s domestic RPKs fell 45.0% year-on-year in June but this was a substantial improvement compared to May’s year-over-year performance as lockdown measures were eased.
Japan’s domestic traffic was up 146.4% in June, compared to June 2021.
Air Passenger Market overview – June 2022
The Bottom Line“With the Northern Hemisphere summer travel season now fully underway, predictions that the lifting of travel restrictions would unleash a torrent of pent-up travel demand are being borne out. At the same time, meeting that demand has proved challenging and likely will continue to be so. All the more reason to continue to show flexibility to the slot use rules. The European Commission’s intent to return to the longstanding 80-20 requirement is premature.
“Just look at the issues that airlines and their passengers at some hub airports are being confronted with. These airports are unable to support their declared capacity even with the current 64% slot threshold and have extended recent passenger caps until the end of October. Flexibility is still essential in support of a successful recovery.
“By capping passenger numbers, airports are preventing airlines from benefitting from the strong demand. Heathrow Airport has tried to blame airlines for the disruption. However, Service Level Performance data for the first six months of this year show that they have failed miserably to provide basic services and missed their Passenger Security service target by a massive 14.3 points. Data for June has not yet been published but is expected to show the lowest level of service by the airport since records began,” said Walsh.

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In a meeting with senior directors and advisors of the Commonwealth Secretariat, Minister of Tourism for Jamaica, Hon Edmund Bartlett called for the use of tourism convergence to reposition the Commonwealth. The Minister’s call comes as destinations globally continue their recovery efforts from the fallout caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Tourism is a confluence of many economic activities and social engagements and is driven by consumption. Tourism also has the fastest convertibility rate of all industries, so it is the fastest way to generate foreign exchange outside of grants.
So, I think that the Commonwealth, which has 56 countries, 2.5 billion people and large group of highly tourism dependent countries plus large countries, is an enormous opportunity for tourism convergence as an instrument of recovery,” said Minster of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett.
The Commonwealth is an association of 56 countries working towards shared goals of prosperity, democracy and peace. The Commonwealth Secretariat is the intergovernmental organisation which co-ordinates and carries out much of the Commonwealth’s work, supported by a network of more than 80 organisations.
“Now is the time for us work together within the Commonwealth to help the recovery of tourism through strategic approaches like harmonizing visa protocol, increasing air connectivity; development of multi destination experiences and human capital development to build capacity.ADVERTISEMENTWe have enough people and ideas within the Commonwealth to strengthen our tourism activities in these countries,” added Minister Bartlett.
Minister Bartlett also suggested that there be a meeting of Ministers of Tourism within the Commonwealth to discuss these strategies as part of the recovery efforts.
Sandals Montego Bay, Jamaica will host World Travel Awards Caribbean & The Americas Gala Ceremony 2022 on 31 August.

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A new analysis of staff shortages by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has revealed a labour shortfall in Portugal, with nearly 50,000 Travel & Tourism jobs across the country predicted to be unfilled.
The research looked into labour shortages across Portugal and other major Travel & Tourism destinations, such as the U.S., France, Spain, the UK, and Italy.
The data shows Portugal is forecasted to see a shortfall of 49,000 workers in the third quarter of 2022, with one in 10 vacancies expected to remain unfilled this year, making it the least affected country of those analysed.
Before the pandemic, in 2019, more than 485,000 people were employed in Travel & Tourism in Portugal. But 2020 saw the loss of over 80,000 jobs.*
Portugal saw the beginning of the recovery in 2021, with a 32.6% growth to the sector’s contribution to the national economy. However, staff shortages have been prevalent in the country, with thousands of vacancies that remain unfilled, putting the sector under pressure.ADVERTISEMENTWTTC analysis shows Portugal’s hotel industry is expected to be the worst affected, as both hotels and food and beverage segments are forecasted to have 13% (one in eight) and 12% (one in eight) of job openings unfilled, respectively.
Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO said: “The Portuguese government has always put Travel & Tourism at the forefront of their agenda, and is already addressing this issue with strategic measures.
“The Ministry for Tourism in Portugal is very proactive and has introduced a flexible visa policy to attract talent. They are doing a great job.
“The future of Travel & Tourism in Portugal looks bright, and in order to ensure a full recovery of the economy and the sector, we need to fill these vacancies to guarantee Portugal can meet the long-awaited travellers’ demand.”
Last week WTTC revealed that up to 1.2 million Travel & Tourism jobs across the EU will remain unfulfilled, with hospitality, aviation, and travel agencies being the most affected.
Some of the key measures identified in the report for both governments and the private sector to address the talent gap are:1.  Facilitate labour mobility across international borders, with more favourable visa policies 2.  Enable flexible and remote working where feasible – allowing part time or contractor-based opportunities, where possible3.  Ensure decent work and competitive employee benefits and compensation packages4.  Attract talent by improving the perception of jobs and promoting viable career paths with growth opportunities5.  Develop and support a skilled workforce through comprehensive educational programs, as well as upskilling and reskilling current talent6.  Adopt innovative technological and digital solutions to alleviate pressure on staff, improve daily operations and an enhanced customer experience.
The global tourism body believes by implementing these measures, Travel & Tourism businesses will be able to attract more workers.
This in turn would enable the sector to meet the ever-growing consumer demand and further speed up its recovery, which is the backbone to generating economic well-being across the country.

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