Tourism, Organisations & Operators,

With Wales proposing the introduction of a tourism tax in autumn 2022, possibly causing travelers to boycott Welsh holidays, this has the potential to disrupt the overall post-pandemic recovery of the UK’s travel industry, found GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
Craig Bradley, Travel & Tourism Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The proposal for a tourism tax seems a little of out sync with what’s going on in the UK travel industry, particularly in the staycation market, given the current economic situation and ongoing issues with the pandemic. The tourism industry is showing positive signs of recovery and the local businesses in Wales have worked hard to attract tourists throughout 2021.”
According to a GlobalData Q3 2021 Global Consumer Survey, 48% of UK respondents said affordability was the leading influencing factor for booking holidays. This sentiment is likely to grow in 2022 due to the increased living costs and the current energy crisis gripping households across Britain. A recent GlobalData poll* from January 2022 revealed that 43.2% of UK respondents said they would consider taking a domestic trip this year. However, the tourist tax levy in Wales could now force tourists to travel elsewhere due to increased costs.
Bradley continues: “If the tax levy does go ahead, initial projections for Welsh domestic tourism figures could fall. GlobalData projects that domestic trips to Wales were expected to reach 12.6 million this year, exceeding pre-pandemic levels. However, those figures could be under threat.”
While the tourist tax will avoid the summer peak, which will be a relief for many tourists, October and November are still popular months for domestic trips. In 2019, November was the third most popular month for domestic travel in the UK, followed by October in sixth position. This is motivated by the lower cost of travel which has proven to be popular with many British travelers. Unfortunately, families with children are most likely to be affected, as the tourist tax is often applied on a per-guest basis.ADVERTISEMENTBradley concludes: “Introducing a tourist tax in 2022 seems to be counter-productive, especially with growing concerns surrounding increased living costs and the need for UK tourism to recover as quickly as possible.”

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Desert & Delta Safaris, founded in 1982 as one of the original safari operators in Botswana has nine camps in Botswana’s famous game reserves and national parks and is delighted to announce the appointment of MC as their new Group Managing Director. 
Lempheditse Odumetse, or MC as he is known to his colleagues, has revolutionised the hospitality industry in Botswana during his role in management for more than 10 years at Desert & Delta Safaris. Under his leadership, Desert & Delta Safaris has kept its roots firmly in Botswana, promoted female empowerment and implemented innovative environmental conservation practices, that consequently became one of the first luxury safari companies to be managed exclusively by local citizens in 2014. 
From his humble start in life as a descendent of Basarwa (traditional ‘water bushmen’), MC was spotted in a bar wearing an aviation hat and goggles by a Desert & Delta Safaris manager and was instantly hired as a bartender at the Camp Moremi, celebrated for his incredible zest for life and captivating personality. He later qualified as a professional safari guide hosting international guests throughout the pristine wildlife areas of the Okavango Delta and soon after was offered a position in management. Through hard work, determination, and an incredible vision, MC has created an illustrious career at Desert & Delta Safaris and has transformed the company and the local communities. 
“The development of MC’s career from barman to Group Managing Director shows how responsible tourism in developing countries is paying dividends. More than just creating jobs such as chefs, guides, or general staff, we are seeing a genuine growth in careers within management and share of ownership. However, it is important to say that although Chobe Holdings Ltd Group provides the opportunity to grow, MC’s journey to being promoted to Managing Director is down to exceptional hard work and dedication to learning and growing as an individual within the company. I cannot think of a better person to have at the helm as we look ahead to the next chapter of Desert & Delta’s future!” Enthuses James Wilson, Desert & Delta Safaris’ Marketing Director. 
Beginning his leadership career as one of two native Botswana managers, MC instantly saw the importance of tourism in empowering the local community. This awareness resulted in him successfully leading a group localisation tourism initiative to identify young talent and guide more than 20 staff members into senior lodge management positions. He has also ensured that women develop their potential and now more than 50% of staff and management at all nine Desert & Delta Safaris lodges are women. This helps reassure solo female travellers of a safe and welcoming environment whilst providing a stable, secure income for local women and their families – a fantastic achievement for any company! ADVERTISEMENTCommunity empowerment has not been MC’s only priority, under his guidance the environment has flourished! Being a Botswana resident himself, MC recognises the beauty of the diverse wildlife and understands the responsibility Desert & Delta Safaris has to ensure its conservation. He also deeply understands the needs of the local farmers and traditional landowners and has successfully led collaborations with the shared purpose to provide aid in line with protecting the unique wildlife of Botswana. As a result of MC’s exceptional efforts, Desert & Delta Safaris successfully raised approximately £20,000 in funding in 2020 for vital toolkits for communities where solar-powered systems have helped reduce human-elephant land conflicts.
Due to his admirable hard work, determination, and uniquely wonderful character, MC’s story shows how creative innovation and significant sustainable developments can benefit local rural communities, empower women, and revolutionise the hospitality industry – all while providing every guest with an unforgettable safari adventure!

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First-time solo travelers are pulling out all the stops – they are heading to Africa on their very first solo trip. Overseas Adventure Travel has revealed that African destinations are the top 4 of its most popular adventures for first-time solo travelers through 2023.
“Many people who dream of visiting Africa don’t want to put it off any longer. They’ll take that leap and travel solo to make their dream come true,” said O.A.T. Vice Chairman Harriet Lewis.
“On average, half of the group on O.A.T. adventures will be traveling independently, helping first-time solo travelers feel right at home.”
Fifty-three percent (53%) of all O.A.T. travelers are solo travelers. Of those, 80% are women. Connecting with other women who are venturing out into the world as solo travelers is appealing, especially for first-timers. Solo women travelers on small group adventure can tailor how much time they would like to spend on their own and with others.
O.A.T. has seen a 19.5% jump in the number of solo travelers since 2019. In 2022 and 2023, 41,444 solo travelers are booked to travel with the company. Over 120,000 solo travelers have traveled with O.A.T. between 2015 and 2021.
Top 4 Adventures for First-time Solo Travelers:
Ultimate Africa: Botswana, Zambia & Zimbabwe Safari—17-day O.A.T. Small Group Adventure
Travelers reserved through 2023: 3,132
Solo travelers: 1,594
Morocco Sahara Odyssey—16-day O.A.T. Small Group Adventure
Travelers reserved through 2023: 2,629
Solo travelers: 1,415
Egypt & the Eternal Nile by Private, Classic River-Yacht—16-day O.A.T. Small Group Adventure with 5 nights aboard a privately chartered 16- passenger river-yacht
Travelers reserved through 2023: 3,495
Solo travelers: 1,739
Kenya & Tanzania Safari: Masai Mara to the Serengeti—19-day O.A.T. Small Group Adventure
Travelers reserved through 2023: 1,568
Solo travelers: 760
Other O.A.T. Top 10 destinations for first-time solo travelers include Japan, New Zealand, Iceland, Australia, and Italy.

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U.S. Travel Association Executive Vice President of Public Affairs and Policy Tori Emerson Barnes issued the following statement on the Biden administration’s announcement that the federal mask mandate will not be enforced on public transportation and in transportation hubs at this time:
“The current decision to halt enforcement of the federal mask mandate effectively returns the choice of mask usage on planes and other forms of public transportation to travelers and travel industry workers, a further step toward endemic management of Covid.
“We also continue to urge the administration to immediately end pre-departure testing for vaccinated inbound international passengers, which discourages travel and provides limited public health benefits.”
U.S. Travel Association is the national, non-profit organization representing all components of the travel industry. In 2020, travel generated $1.5 trillion in economic output and supported 11 million jobs, a drastic decline from pre-pandemic figures. U.S. Travel’s mission is to increase travel to and within the United States. Visit ustravel.org for information and recovery-related data.

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GBTA applauds the bipartisan effort to end the current testing requirement for all vaccinated inbound travelers to the United States. Moreover, GBTA calls on the Biden Administration to immediately end the testing requirements and move to allow vaccinated travelers to fly into the U.S.
The current rule requires all U.S. inbound travelers present a negative COVID-19 test within one day before boarding their flight into the U.S. and regardless of their vaccination status or citizenship.
Exempting fully vaccinated travelers, including almost 215 million Americans, from the order would be consistent with the scientific consensus that widespread vaccinations are the single most important element of the fight against COVID-19 while allowing the travel industry’s recovery to accelerate.
As business travel and travel at large struggle, many in GBTA’s business travel recovery surveys cite government requirements such as testing as a major, if not the greatest, barrier.
Yet, it is unclear whether at this stage in the pandemic the current testing rule is having any meaningful impact on the spread of COVID-19 from overseas destinations to the U.S. As of today, more than 78 million people have contracted COVID-19 in the U.S., meaning that at least 23 percent of the population has had the virus—though this figure is almost certainly underestimated due to the number of asymptomatic infections and limited testing early in the pandemic.ADVERTISEMENT

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Julia Simpson, President & CEO, WTTC
Travel and tourism businesses around the globe have come together to support Ukraine with millions of hotel rooms for refugees escaping the conflict, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).
WTTC members such as Accor, Airbnb, Carnival Corporation, the European Travel Commission, Expedia, Hilton, InterContinental Hotels Group, Internova Travel Group, Marriott International, MSC Cruises, Radisson, and Uber to name just a few, have opened their doors to refugees in neighbouring countries donating rooms, transport, clothing, food, shelter, urgent supplies and financial contributions.
In Ukraine, hotels have continued to stay open offering a base to charities, journalists, and those stranded by the conflict. Businesses across the global Travel & Tourism sector including airports, airlines, cruise lines, and tour operators, are going to extraordinary lengths to help alleviate the suffering of those affected.
This invasion has caused the biggest displacement of people in Europe since the Second World War.
In addition to providing urgently needed accommodation, businesses large and small have made multi-million-pound donations to disaster relief funds which have been supplemented by individual fund-raising initiatives. ADVERTISEMENTJulia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO said: “There has been an outpouring of support from Travel & Tourism companies across the globe.
“Hotels have opened their doors receiving refugees, and in Ukraine, teams on the ground are keeping hotels open for aid agencies, journalists, and those stranded and desperate.
“Cruise lines and airlines have transported supplies, and across the board the response has been incredible, and I salute the courage of teams on the ground.
“WTTC and our Members stand for peace and respecting the national sovereignty of every nation and our hearts go out to all those who are suffering from this brutal invasion.”
Many companies around the world have generously matched their employees’ contributions to support charities providing help through emergency aid and essential supplies.Temporary accommodation has been arranged thanks to generous Travel & Tourism employees opening their homes to provide emergency shelter. Airbnb also devised creative solutions to get money into the hands of local people.
In addition, much needed medical and hospital supplies have been provided by businesses’ donations through various charities around the world.
WTTC and the Global Travel & Tourism sector are united in providing help to those affected by this crisis.

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The global tourism market is expected to reach $637 billion this summer, an increase of 50 per cent, according to forecasts by ITB Berlin and Statista. The study says long-term changes in travel behaviour due to Covid will not affect decision-making and destination choices, whilst the war in Ukraine is unlikely to severely impact the travel industry.
The ITB Berlin and Statista study, Statista’s Mobility Market Outlook (MMO), forecasts that the global travel industry will grow by a projected 48 per cent, reaching $637 billion in 2022. In 2023 it will overtake pre-pandemic levels by around five per cent, reaching almost $756 billion. In 2022, the highest growth rate is forecasted for the cruise industry (180 per cent year-on-year) and the hotel trade (57 per cent). The hotel trade represents the largest tourism market segment and will likely exceed private accommodation and holiday apartments as well as package tours. At the same time, the MMO predicts that the market for private accommodation and holiday apartments will exceed $81 billion in total turnover, only two per cent short of the market volume in 2019.
War in Ukraine unlikely to severely impact the travel industry
As these forecasts do not take the impact of the war in Ukraine into account, the question is whether it will affect the global travel and tourism industry in the long term – and if so, in what ways? According to an analysis by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), apart from the coronavirus pandemic, the events with the biggest long-term impact on global civil aviation were the combination of the dotcom bubble bursting in 2000 and the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. In 2001 and 2002, global air passenger numbers declined year-on-year by one per cent, briefly interrupting the growth trend in air travel, before returning to and exceeding pre-crisis levels in 2004. According to data received from the UNWTO, in 2019 Russia and Ukraine, the two countries currently at war, accounted for three per cent of global tourism spending on international travel. Assuming the war does not spread to other regions, it is unlikely that it will severely impact the global travel industry. However, it is possible the crisis could have a bigger impact on individual markets. In Cyprus, according to the finance minister Konstantinos Petridis, Russian tourists account for around 25 per cent of international visitors. Their absence could cost the country up to two per cent of GDP. According to Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, last year his country was host to more than 4.5 million Russian tourists and two million from the Ukraine – together almost 30 per cent of the foreign visitors holidaying there. Unlike Cyprus, the Turkish government has yet to impose sanctions on Russia, so it is unclear how heavily Turkey’s tourism industry will be affected.
Holidays are back: airlines can expect record business this summerADVERTISEMENTDespite the crises, Germans appear to have rediscovered their lust for travel and holidays. According to Statista’s Global Consumer Survey (GCS), more than 62 per cent of Germans are planning at least one trip over the next 12 months. In an interview with the trade magazine watson, Dr. Bernd Eisenstein, director of the German Institute for Tourism Research, interpreted this as the market catching up again: “During the period of wide-ranging restrictions there was a pent-up demand for travel which is now really asserting itself.“ This effect is noticeable in a different segment of the market too. According to the German Aviation Association, the number of passenger seats now available to the tourism market has risen by three per cent compared with summer 2019. In an interview with Deutsche Presseagentur, Jens Bischof, head of the market leader Eurowings, said: “After two years of the pandemic, millions of people finally want to catch up on their holidays or meet important business contacts face-to-face again.“ That was why, starting in March, his airline would be flying to more destinations than ever before. According to Eurowings, the focus of holidaymakers is on the Mediterranean. Among the most popular destinations are Spain, Portugal, Greece and Italy. European destinations are generally high on the list of German holidaymakers. According to the GCS, 54 per cent of people travelling this year plan to holiday in Europe and 18 per cent in Asia, which ranked in second place.
Covid has changed a lot – but not everything
It is no secret that the pandemic has fundamentally changed holidaymakers’ travel behaviour on both the domestic and international markets. According to the GCS, the pandemic has influenced the travel behaviour of 90 per cent of travellers in Germany, the UK and the USA. This impact would seem to be long-lasting: only 31 per cent of interviewees do not believe that the changes in travel behaviour will be permanent.
However, some things will stay as they are. As the flight schedules of Eurowings in Germany and the findings of the GCS seem to show, the reasons for choosing a destination have hardly changed. In 2022 as in 2019, the five most important criteria listed by Germans for a holiday destination are the weather, nature, personal safety at one’s destination, local attractions and the price. As far as prices go, 36 percent of interviewees in Germany want to spend more on holidays than before the pandemic, 31 per cent the same amount, and 31 per cent aim to spend less. Specifically, 50 per cent of travellers plan to spend more than 2,000 euros on themselves and, where applicable, their family, while 17 per cent actually plan to spend over 3,000 euros. Ultimately, the tourism industry can expect business to return during the summer, and in some markets and at some destinations it will already reach pre-pandemic levels.
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The Australian adventure travel company, Aurora Expeditions has recently completed its return season to Antarctica and is celebrating a 100% success rate for its first season in almost two years.
Hundreds of adventurous expeditioners from around the globe joined Aurora Expeditions on the Greg Mortimer across eight voyages, ranging between 10 and 23 days from January to April 2022. The mix of passengers included passengers from Australia, the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Singapore and more.
“Aurora Expeditions is thrilled with the success of our return season to Antarctica, getting back to what we do best in our 30th year of operation,” commented Aurora Expeditions’ VP of Operations, Tomas Holik.
“Our exceptional safety record and lack of interruptions during this season is a testament to our team’s commitment, planning, and expertise in ensuring that our expeditions were as safe and enjoyable as possible for our passengers. It was undoubtedly a combination of our strengthened health and safety measures and the fantastic cooperation of our passengers that ensured our incredibly successful return to operations.”
“We are honoured to have received so much remarkable feedback from our expeditioners who joined us this season. No one comes back from Antarctica the same, it changes them,” commented Hayley Peacock-Gower, Chief Marketing Officer for Aurora Expeditions. ADVERTISEMENTShe continued, “We know that travellers are increasingly returning to their ultimate travel wish lists and looking to make up for lost time, explore and push their own personal boundaries. Expedition travel is a type of travel like no other, taking passengers on true adventures to some of the wildest and most remote reaches of our planet.
Aurora Expeditions has been leading perspective-altering expeditions for thirty years, and with our successful return to operations and the imminent launch of our second ship, we are incredibly well placed to meet the increasing desire for people to take that once in a lifetime trip.”
Aurora Expeditions’ 22-23 Antarctica season commences in October 2022, and forward bookings are in high demand, with many voyages close to being sold out. Expeditions still upcoming for this season include voyages to Costa Rica & the Panama Canal, Ireland, Scotland, Norway, Greenland, The European Arctic and Canada’s Northwest Passage.
The company also recently released its 2023 Arctic season with new itineraries including the Jewels of Coastal UK, Across the Arctic Circle, and an expedition to the Canary Islands, Cape Verde and the Azores, all of which have so far seen an overwhelmingly positive response.
Aurora Expeditions’ second purpose-built expedition ship, the Sylvia Earle, is due to debut in late 2022.

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