French and British rivalry over Martinique ended in 1763, when France recognized Britain's possession of Canada and withdrew its claims on Louisiana and parts of India in exchange for the island, which is now an overseas region of France.
In California, San Diego is picking up steam as a cruise homeport. America’s Finest City is primed to receive 83 calls during the 2017-2018 season.
While the total number of scheduled cruise ship visits is nearly the same as last year, the projected passenger count is up. Approximately 242,000 are expected over the previous 224,000.
The season officially began on September 15 with the arrival of Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Wonder before departing on a two-night Halloween on the High Seas sailing to Ensenada, Mexico.
A transformative vote in Malta, where a majority of Celebrity’s cruise ships are registered, has transformed its onboard weddings program.
A referendum on the legality of same-sex marriages has opened the door to LGBTQ+ couples looking to wed onboard its ships. The cruise line can now recognize same-sex marriages performed onboard and have the captain of the ship officiate ceremonies.
Dominica is still reeling after being devastated by Hurricane Maria last month. Now, the Caribbean island nation renowned for its natural beauty, has the support of the United Nations.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made a historic visit to Dominica earlier this week to survey the damage and offer the intergovernmental organization's support for the destination's recovery.
"I have never seen anywhere else in the world [with] a forest completely decimated without one single leaf on any tree," said Guterres.
Delta Air Lines has reported adjusted pre-tax income for the September 2017 quarter of $1.7 billion, a $182 million decrease from the same period last year.
Pre-tax income includes a $120 million reduction from the operational disruption following Hurricane Irma that hit the Caribbean, Florida, Georgia and, specifically, Delta’s hub in Atlanta.
To assist customers and employees in affected regions, Delta operated nine humanitarian flights, added more than 12,000 additional seats to impacted cities and shipped more than 600,000 pounds of relief supplies.
Airberlin will cancel all flights from October 28th “at the latest” as it formally declares bankruptcy.
The German carrier began insolvency proceedings in August, seeking protection from its creditors.
A temporary solution was found when airberlin was bailed out by a £137 million loan from the German government, which has kept planes flying until now. However, these funds have now been exhausted.
Jamaica Inn, a luxury boutique hotel based in Ocho Rios, has been in business for decades, but the past few years have been challenging.
Business was sluggish, even though the hotel has been part of the Expedia network since 2002.
Still, its operators decided that the Internet travel company could be the answer to their turnaround and reached out to them for help.
Now, even Expedia appears surprised at the results of the collaboration, which has paid off for Jamaica Inn.
Royal Caribbean has unveiled the new dining concepts and family activities that will feature onboard the line’s biggest ever ship, Symphony of the Seas.
Symphony of the Seas will be largest cruise ship in the world with a capacity of 5,500 guests when it makes its debut in April 2018 for an inaugural summer season sailing around the Mediterranean.
Cuba is bracing for the impact of a one-two punch from the Trump administration: stricter travel rules and an official warning about visiting the island.
The U.S. is expected to soon publish new regulations that will make it tougher for Americans to travel to Cuba. President Trump announced the rules over the summer, keeping with his campaign promise to crack down on the Communist government.
The El Embajador, a Royal Hideaway Hotel in the Bellavista neighborhood of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, has completed a two-year, $40 million renovation.
The property, which did not close during the renovation, was acquired by the Barcelo Hotel Group in 2015 and is under Barcelo’s Royal Hideaway Luxury Hotels & Resorts brand.
Amadeus today announces a partnership with Air Canada, to implement the Amadeus Altéa Suite in addition to a renewed distribution agreement.
Air Canada has signed for the full Amadeus Altéa Suite passenger service system (PSS) including reservations, inventory, and departure control solutions. The Altéa Suite will help Air Canada achieve closer integration with its codeshare partners and within the Star Alliance – more than two thirds of which are also Altéa carriers.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan explained on Friday that his nation does not maintain any sort of external interference in South America, talking after the meet up with Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro.
Maduro and Erdogan supervise the signing of five agreements in terms of cooperation on tourism, air travel, culture, agriculture, and international crime. The two talked about different methods to intensify the financial and energy ties and discovered the opportunities for military cooperation, as explained by the Turkish leader.
French hotel group AccorHotels launched a $920 million bid to acquire Mantra Group, Australia's second-largest hotel company, according to Reuters.
Paris-based AccorHotels is already the leading hotel group in Australia while Mantra operates 125 hotels across Australia, Hawaii and Indonesia under the Mantra, Peppers and Breakfree brands.
American Airlines will operate flights between Miami and St. Maarten beginning Oct. 10 when Princess Juliana Airport reopens to commercial flights.
The one-way fare is capped at $99 in economy and $199 for premium cabins through Oct. 29. The $99/$199 one-way fare also is in effect for all American service to San Juan and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The carrier is waiving bag fees for up to two checked bags up to 50 pounds each, also through Oct. 29.
Prior to Hurricane Irma, American had flown to St. Maarten from Miami, Charlotte and Philadelphia.
ASTA members aren’t seeing a wave of concern over travel to Cuba following last week’s State Department warning advising Americans not to travel to the island nation.
Eben Peck, ASTA senior vice president of government & public affairs, said “It would be a shame,” if the situation that triggered the State Department warning were to impact the momentum of the last few years in opening Cuba up to travel from the U.S.
Jamaica’s Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett will travel to Grenada this week where he will meet with key members of the Jamaica-led “UNWTO Disaster Recovery Working Group for the Affected States in the Caribbean” hammer out a recovery action plan for tourism-dependent islands recently ravaged by Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
Royal Caribbean International has revealed figures showing that the average age of new-to-cruise family passengers is 13 years younger than the UK cruise industry average.
The line unveiled research at the Abta Travel Convention in the Azores showing that 42 was the average adult age of a new-to-cruise family guest, compared with the overall cruise industry average age of 55.
Families now account for one quarter of Royal Caribbean’s guests with the line set to increase passenger numbers by another 63% over the next five years.
Travel agents and industry suppliers were focused on the recovery of their favorite Caribbean islands at the recent New Jersey ASTA chapter fall trade show and dinner, sharing stories of rebooking guests, and the extensive measures they and the industry are taking to educate consumers on vacation options in the region.
French and British rivalry over Martinique ended in 1763, when France recognized Britain's possession of Canada and withdrew its claims on Louisiana and parts of India in exchange for the island, which is now an overseas region of France.
