Costa Rica received 3,817 stopover arrivals in September.
According to the Costa Rica Institute of Tourism ICT, Costa Rica saw the volume of stopovers drop by 97.6% in September 2020, falling from 160,206 stopovers in September 2019 to just 3,817 stopovers in September 2020.
The number of stopovers from the USA fell by 97.2% in September 2020, falling from 53,237 stopovers in September 2019 to 1,473 in September 2020 while the number from Central America declined by 99.1%, from 50,204 in September 2019 to 444 in September 2020.
After declaring a state of emergency, Costa Rica closed all borders to foreigners on April 18th 2020. The Central American nation resumed flights and started admitting international travellers as of September 1. However, only travellers arriving from a set list of countries were allowed in. It included Canada, certain countries in the European Union and the UK. Visitors from the USA were not permitted entry until September 1st and then only from six states.
The volume of stopovers decreased by 62.7% in the first nine months of 2020, falling from 2,380,844 stopovers in 2019 to 889,218 stopovers in first nine months of 2020. The number of stopovers from the USA dropped by 65.4% in the first nine months of 2020, from 1,035,201 stopovers in 2019 to 358,379 in 2020 while the number from Central America declined by 63.3%, falling from 522,786 in the first nine months of 2019 to 192,045  in the same nine months of 2020. 

Hawaii’s hotels report a 59.4 percentage point drop in average room occupancy in September to 19.6%
According to the Hawai‘i Hotel Performance Report published by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA), statewide hotel room occupancy fell by 59.4 percentage points from 78.9% in September 2019 to 19.6% in September this year. ADR fell by 39.5% from $246.00 to $148.80while revpar fell by 85.0%, from $194.20 in September 2019 to $29.15 in September this year.
HTA’s Tourism Research Division issued the report’s findings utilizing data compiled by STR, Inc., which conducts the largest and most comprehensive survey of hotel properties in the Hawaiian Islands. For September, the survey included 85 properties representing 20,600 rooms, or 38.4 percent of all lodging properties and 67.7 percent of operating lodging properties with 20 rooms or more in the Hawaiian Islands, including full service, limited service, and condominium hotels
In September, Hawai‘i hotel room revenues statewide fell by 91.4 percent to $26.6 million. Room demand was 85.8 percent lower than the same period last year. Room supply fell by 43.0 percent year-over-year. Many properties closed or reduced operations starting in April.
During September, all passengers arriving from out-of-state were required to abide by a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine. On August 11th, a partial interisland quarantine was reinstated for anyone traveling to the counties of Kaua’i, Hawai’i Maui, and Kalawao.
For the first nine months of 2020 statewide hotel room occupancy fell by 38.8 percentage points from 81.3% in 2019 to 42.5% in the first nine months of 2020. ADR fell by 2.8% from $280.51 in 2019 to $272.54 while revpar fell by 49.2%, from $227.96 in the first nine months of 2019 to $115.85 in the first nine months of this year.
In the first nine months of 2020, Hawai‘i hotel room revenues statewide fell by 64.9% from $3.360 billion in 2019 to $1.179 billion this year. Room demand fell to 4,325,200 room nights, down 63.9% compared to a year ago. Room supply fell by 31.0% and fell to 10,175,100 available room nights.

Spared by Covid-19, Seychelles suffers dearth of tourists
VICTORIA, Seychelles: The Seychelles, with its idyllic white beaches and luxury resorts, has had only 149 cases of Covid-19, but the global crisis caused by the pandemic has ravaged its vital tourism industry.
The Indian Ocean island nation, famed as a honeymoon destination, took swift action against the virus in March, banning cruise ships and international flights and implementing a lockdown.
But even though the archipelago re-opened to tourists on Aug 1, the global downswing in travel and devastation wrought by the virus in major tourist-providing countries in Europe and elsewhere, has led to little improvement.
"Since the re-opening of the airport we have tried to re-open our establishment, but it is a catastrophe, we are running at a loss because there is no one," said Sybil Cardon, who had to let go of 10 percent of her staff at her hotel on Praslin, the second-largest island.
In Beau Vallon, the most touristy part of the main island Mahe, the Equinox scuba diving centre once did three or four excursions a day, taking tourists to see bountiful fish and marine life around the granite cliffs and coral reefs.
Now, in what is usually peak season to see the world's largest fish, the whale shark, there are "only a few tourists a day," said Manuela Alcaniz, who runs the centre.
She has kept her six staff on board using state assistance, and some of her own money.
Tourism contributes around 25 % to the Seychelles GDP, according to official statistics, and along with the tuna fishing industry is the main earner of foreign currency.
In 2019, the archipelago welcomed more than 330,000 tourists, two-thirds of them from Europe. This represents more than three times the population of the islands.
In the first three quarters of the year, the country recorded the arrival of only 75,000 tourists.
According to the national statistics agency, the second and third quarter saw an 83 percent drop in numbers from 2019.
And government figures show more than 700 people lost their jobs in the hotel and tourism industry, increasing unemployment from 4.8%t to 6.3%.
Since July 1 the government has put in place the Seychelles Employee Transition Scheme (Sets) to assist workers, paying their salaries in exchange for them following a training course.
"Currently, if I didn't have this help, I don't know what situation I would find myself in to pay back my loans and take care of my children," said Sheila Marie, who used to work as an accountant in a hotel and is now following a course in payroll management.
"It should give me enough credentials to find another job" if tourism doesn't pick up by December 31, when the programme ends.
The government has not said whether the programme will be extended.
Authorities hope tourists will be back in December at high season, but those in the sector are pessimistic.
"The airlines who are coming only have 50 people onboard, I am afraid they will stop coming," said Cardon who is also the president of the Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Association.
Most tourists to the Seychelles, a high-end destination, come from Europe which is facing a second wave of the virus, prompting new curfews, lockdowns and movement restrictions.
Only travellers from a select list of countries are allowed to enter, with a Covid-19 certificate of less than 72 hours.
However, since Oct 1, travellers from hard-hit countries like France, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, must now have a test less than 46 hours old, and must spend five days with restricted movement in a government-approved hotel.

The Maldives estimates tourist arrivals to drop from 2019 record of 1.7 million to 725,000 in 2021
October 23 2020
Minister of Tourism Dr. Abdulla Mausoom revealed Thursday that tourist arrivals are projected to nosedive by 55.4% to only 725,000 tourists in 2021, compared to Maldives' record high of 1,702,887 in 2019.
Speaking on a television programme broadcast on local channel SanguTV, the minister stated that the estimate was drawn up from research conducted by industry experts regarding the state budget for the next year.
Although he noted that both local and international veterans anticipate a sluggish pick up for the travel and hospitality field amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, he expressed personal hopes that Maldives could attract at least a million visitors in 2021.
Furthermore, he stated that Maldives' tourism would improve comparatively this year, highlighting that over 50 percent of tourist beds in the country are currently in operation.
However, several travel experts remain skeptical that numbers would increase significantly in light of the few airlines presently operating to the island nation.
Maldives reopened its borders to international passengers on July 15, after nearly four months since the state halted issuing on-arrival visas on March 27. Guesthouses were permitted to resume operations and kick start local tourism on October 15.
Despite the lifting of restrictions, Maldives has noted a significant reduction in tourist arrivals compared to pre-COVID figures. While a total of 382,760 tourists were recorded before Maldives closed borders in July, the daily average stood at 4,206 arrivals from January to March.
However, statistics indicate a gradual increase in visitors on a monthly basis. The latest figures by Maldives Immigration show that a total of 27,217 tourists arrived in Maldives between July 15 and October 15.
According to Immigration statistics, 8,350 holidaymakers visited Maldives within the first 15 days of October, representing a 56 percent increase compared to the same period in the previous month.
The Ministry of Tourism previously revealed that the daily average number of visitors increased from 117 in July to 246 in August, 318 in September and 628 in October.
Minister Mausoom had earlier also expressed hopes for the industry's recovery, estimating that 100,000 tourists would visit Maldives before the end of 2020.
The tourism ministry estimates a total of 500,000 arrivals for the year, down 70.6% compared with 2019.
 
In September Cancun saw its hotels achieve an average hotel room occupancy of 32.4%.
Sedetur, the Department of Tourism of the state of Quintana Roo, recently released the hotel occupancy numbers for the hotels in Cancun/Puerto Morelos and Riviera Maya for all nine months of 2020.
In September Cancun/Puerto Morelos saw a 28.4 percentage point drop in average hotel room occupancy from 60.8% in September 2019 to 32.4% in September of this year. Cancun’s hotels saw an average occupancy of 25.9% in August, 23.7% in July and 15.2% in June.
The hotels in Riviera Maya saw their average room occupancy fall by 33.9 percentage points from 60.9% in September 2019 to 27.0% in September this year. The hotels in Riviera Maya saw an average occupancy of 21.8% in August, 19.9% in July and 11.0% in June.
Through the first nine months of 2020 the hotels in Cancun/Puerto Morelos have achieved a 36.3% average room occupancy, down 40.9 percentage points from the 77.2% achieved in 2019.
For the same nine months the hotels in Riviera Maya have achieved an average room occupancy of 33.4%, down 45.7 percentage points from the 79.1% achieved in 2019, also for the first nine months of 2020.
Riviera Maya has 46,958 hotel rooms while the Cancun/Puerto Morelos area has 40,835 hotel rooms. During September approximately 75% of the region’s hotel rooms had re-opened.

Interest in 2021 Travel is on the Rise
Travel Pulse – October 18 2020
Finally. Travelers are preparing to pack their bags and take to the air, road and sea again, according to anecdotal reports from travel advisors, who said bookings are gaining momentum for 2021 and beyond.
“Interest for 2021 travel began to rise in the past few weeks for myself and for my colleagues,” said Becky Lukovic of Bella Travel Planning, a Travel Experts affiliate. “The requests are still pretty all over the place: Hawaii, Caribbean, Colorado, Italy and Greece. A number [of clients] have started actually booking their plans with refundable arrangements or cancel for any reason insurance.”
What comes as less of a surprise is that agents are seeing strong sales to destinations in Mexico and the Caribbean. “Most of the vacations that I have booked for 2021 have been tropical beach vacations,” said Jemica Archer of TruBlue Travels. “People want to rest and relax after such an intense year. Mexico, Antigua and the Dominican Republic have been popular for us.”
Although James Berglie of Be All Inclusive said he continues to receive a few cancellations from guests within groups that were already booked before the pandemic struck, there is nonetheless some good news. “At the same time, we are now seeing an equal number of guests requesting to upgrade their stays to higher-end room categories, and/or requesting to lengthen their stays,” he said. “Additionally we’ve seen a big increase in last-minute reservations, [for those] traveling within the next one-to-two months,” he said.
Berglie, too, noted that clients are expressing interest in Mexico and Caribbean destinations.
“Mexico and the Dominican Republic remain at the top of our guests’ lists as they are honestly narrowing down destinations by the number of hoops they have to jump through with regard to COVID restrictions,” he said. “Our guests are ready to vacation, and don’t want to have to worry about travel authorizations and test requirements.”
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Bookings to Mexico & the Caribbean look promising
Forward Keys: October 15, 2020
The global pandemic has wreaked destruction on the travel industry, with total international arrivals in the third quarter of the year down by 94% compared to the same period in 2019.
But now, research undertaken by ForwardKeys, a leading travel analytics company, reveals that there may be a glimmer of hope immediately south of the US border. Bookings for travel to holiday hot spots in Mexico and various Caribbean islands in the last quarter of the year are looking better than other regions in the world during Covid-19.
As of 19th September, flight bookings globally for Q4 of 2020 were 83% behind where they were at the equivalent moment last year. However, bookings (in order of market size) from all international markets to Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and Aruba were behind by 52%, 59%, 56%, 47%, and 50% respectively.
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Jamaica received 28,648 stopover arrivals in September 2020, 19.8% of the total received in September 2019.
According to the Jamaica Tourist Board, Jamaica received 28,648 stopover arrivals in September 2020, 20.4% of the total received in September 2019, when the island received 144,583 stopover arrivals.
The September 2020 total was 34.6% lower than the 43,813 stopovers Jamaica received in August 2020.
Jamaica re-opened its borders to international visitors as of June 15th 2020.
Stopover arrivals from the USA fell by 75.3%, from 95,650 visitors in September 2019 to 23,600 visitors in September 2020.
Cruise arrivals fell by 100%, from 60,416 cruise visitors in September 2019 to zero cruise visitors in September 2020 as Jamaica remained closed to cruise ship arrivals.
Through the first nine months of 2020 Jamaica saw a 65.6% decline in the volume of stopover arrivals, falling from 2,020,508 stopover arrivals in the first nine months of 2019 to 695,721 arrivals in the same nine months of 2020.
Arrivals from the USA declined by 65.5% in the first nine months of 2020, falling from 1,395,590 arrivals in 2019 to 481,201 arrivals in the same nine months of 2020.
The number of cruise visitors declined by 60.0% in the first nine months of 2020, falling from 1,121,934 cruise visitors in 2019 to 449,271 cruise visitors in 2020.

Mauritius announces it received 369 stopover visitor in September.
The Mauritius Government’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Development recently announced that total stopover arrivals fell by 99.6% in September 2020, from 100,837 arrivals in September 2019 to 369 arrivals in September of this year. This number includes both air and sea stopover visitors.
Mauritius closed its border to all international visitors indefinitely as of March 19th 2020 and plans to re-open its borders to visitors from a limited number of countries as of October 1st 2020.
In the first nine months of 2020 Mauritius saw a 68.6% decrease in total stopover arrivals, falling from 973,642 arrivals in 2019 to 305,612 arrivals this year. Total stopover arrivals from France, the number one market, fell by 60.9% from 201,717 arrivals in the first nine months of 2019 to 78,775 arrivals in the same nine months of 2020.

Aruba reports it received 14,697 stopover arrivals in September.
According to the Aruba Tourism Authority, Aruba saw the volume of stopover arrivals fall from 73,628 stopovers in September 2019 to 14,697 in September of this year, that is to 20.0% of the total achieved in September 2019.
The number of stopovers received in September was down 15.6% compared with August 2020. Aruba received 17,420 stopovers in August 2020 and 12,921 in July 2020.
Aruba reopened its borders to traffic from the Dutch Caribbean as of June 15th, to Canada and Europe as of July 1st and from the USA as of July 10th.
Of the 14,697 total stopovers received in September 92.1% were from the USA, with 5.3% (784) coming from Europe. The number of visitors from the USA declined by 74.2% compared with September 2020, falling from 52,401 in September 2019 to 13,535 this year.
In the first nine months of 2020 Aruba saw a 67.7% decrease in the number of stopover visitors, falling from 848,841 visitors in 2019 to 273,790 visitors this year. The number of stopovers from the USA declined by 66.5% during the first nine months, from 638,459 in 2019 to 213,985 through September 2020.
There were no cruise visitors in September as the island remained closed to cruise traffic.  Through the first nine months of 2020 the number of cruise visitors to Aruba fell by 52.9%, from 555,525 visitors in 2019 to 255,384 cruise visitors this year.

Turks and Caicos Hoteliers hoping for 40% - 50% plus occupancy for the coming winter season.
President of Turks and Caicos Hotel and Tourism Association, Todd Foss said the group is projecting 40 to 50 percent occupancy rate for the upcoming high tourist season.
"The Turks and Caicos Hotel and Tourism Association are hopeful that Christmas time we can reach occupancy levels of between 60 and 80 percent, but we feel that many of those bookings will be made not too far in advance.”
Foss said hotel occupancy has naturally been down this year, given the Covid-19 pandemic and closure of borders.
But now that borders have reopened and the spread of Covid-19 is being arrested, he said the big resorts have expressed satisfaction with a 65 to 75 percent occupancy during the peak season. 
"If we could average about 60 percent from January to April I think people would be happy with that. That’s the expectation for this season after what we’ve been through.”
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Punta Cana received 16,029 tourists in September, down 89.6% compared with September 2019.
According to the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic, saw the volume of non-resident stopover arrivals decrease by 89.6% in September, falling from 153,841 arrivals in September 2019 to 16,029 arrivals in September 2020. Stopover arrivals from the USA fell by 64.4% in September, from 33,715 arrivals in September 2019 to 12,016 arrivals in September 2020.
The Dominican Republic reopened its borders to visitors as of July 1st 2020 with limited controls on arrivals but changed its policy on July 30th requiring all visitors to show evidence of a negative RT-PCR test taken prior to arrival. As of September 15th 2020, this requirement was eliminated and was replaced by random breath tests being administered to 3% - 10% of all arriving visitors.
The 16,029 stopovers received in September was 7.9% fewer than the 17,405 visitors Punta Cana received in August 2020.
During the first nine months of 2020 Punta Cana saw a 71.8% decrease in the volume of stopover arrivals, falling from 2,813,328 arrivals in 2019 to 793,402 non-resident arrivals in the first nine months of 2020.
Arrivals from the USA fell by 80.2% in the first nine months of 2020, falling from 1,197,541 arrivals in 2019 to 237,550 arrivals in the same nine months of 2020. Arrivals from Russia fell by 46.3% in the same period, from 41,931 in 2019 to 22,508 in 2020. Traffic was also down 73.6% from Germany, down 70.6% from Brazil, down 74.9% from Argentina, down 77.8% from the U.K., down 66.6% from France and down 51.8% from Canada.
In the first nine months of 2020 stopover arrivals to Punta Cana made up 45.5% of all non-resident arrivals to the Dominican Republic.

The Dominican Republic received 103,942 non-resident visitors in September, down 5.8% compared with August 2020.
According to the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, the Dominican Republic received 103,942 non-resident stopover arrivals in September 2020, down 5.8% compared with the 110,284 stopovers it received in August.
The Dominican Republic reopened its borders to visitors as of July 1st 2020 with limited controls on arrivals but changed its policy on July  30th requiring all visitors to show evidence of a negative RT-PCR test taken prior to arrival. As of September 15th 2020, this requirement was eliminated and was replaced by random breath tests being administered to 3% - 10% of all arriving visitors
The 103,942 stopovers received in September were 67.9% fewer than the 323,662 stopovers received in September 2019.
Stopover arrivals from the USA fell by 49.2%, from 72,689 arrivals in September 2019 to 36,961 arrivals in September 2020. 54.9% of the non-resident arrivals in September were Dominicans living abroad and returning to the Dominican Republic.
In the first nine months of 2020 the Dominican Republic saw a 65.0% decrease in the volume of stopover arrivals, falling from 4,987,698 arrivals in 2019 to 1,743,475 non-resident arrivals in 2020. Non-resident arrivals from the USA decreased by 73.8% in the first nine months of 2020, falling from 1,830,385 arrivals in 2019 to 479,845 arrivals in 2020.

Preflight Covid-19 testing is on the rise — the question is whether it works
CNBC PUBLISHED WED, OCT 14 20201:33 AM
Can preflight testing get people flying again?
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) thinks so. Last month, the trade association, which represents some 290 airlines around the world, called for the "development and deployment of rapid, accurate, affordable, easy-to-operate, scalable and systematic" Covid-19 testing for all passengers as a way to restore passenger confidence, bypass quarantines and reopen borders.
Within weeks, United Airlines, American Airlines and JetBlue announced plans to launch preflight testing programs to places such as Hawaii, Costa Rica and the Caribbean, depending on the airline.
By that time, Italy's largest airline, Alitalia, was already operating two flights between Rome and Milan for passengers who tested negative before boarding.
The problem with a single test
Panama reopened its borders this week to travelers who arrive with a negative Covid-19 test in hand, or who test negative after taking a rapid test upon landing.
But testing isn't quite that simple. Just ask Iceland. 
When Iceland reopened on June 15, the country exempted travelers from a two-week quarantine if they tested negative for Covid-19 upon arrival. Cases started rising less than a month later.
In August, Iceland revised its policy. It now requires two Covid-19 tests — one upon arrival and another five days later — with mandatory quarantining in between.  
In one of the most high-profile testing fails of the pandemic, a Covid-19 outbreak erupted at the White House this month due in part to its practice of relying on rapid tests to screen visitors. The tests are known to miss up to a third of asymptomatic infections.
Speed vs. accuracy
In calling for preflight testing last month, the IATA said that "deployable solutions are expected in the coming weeks." Medical experts say that may be premature.
Polymerase chain reaction tests, also called PCR, can more accurately diagnose positive cases, said Dr. Peter Gulick, an infectious disease expert at Michigan State University. But those tests, which rely on a nasal swap, throat swab or saliva, "are run in a lab so it may take days to come back, and a patient may get infected during that time," he said.
That is the rub with PCR tests. Test too early, and a person's chances of being infected after the test increase. Test too late, and the results may not be ready by departure time.
Starting Oct. 15, American Airlines' passengers traveling from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to Hawaii and Costa Rica can take Covid-19 tests at one of three places: the airport, local urgent care facilities or at home via a virtual meeting with a medical professional.
Rapid antigen tests can solve the timing problem, but "they can result in 20% to 40% false negatives," said Gulick. That makes those tests better suited to confirm infections, rather than to give an "all clear" indication of no infection.
Rapid PCR tests exist, but their production hasn't yet matched demand, said Dr. Shira Doron, infectious disease physician and hospital epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center.
"At this time, there are a few companies making rapid PCR tests," she said. "These are sensitive and have few false positives."
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Cancun saw a 65.8% decrease in international air passenger movements in September.
According to ASUR, which manages many of Mexico’s airports, Cancun Airport saw a 65.8% decrease in international passenger movements in September 2020, falling from 889,419 movements in September 2019 to 304,003 movements in September 2020. Domestic passenger movements fell by 21.7%, from 701,857 passenger movements in September 2019 to 549,834 movements in September 2020.
September saw international passenger movements increase by just 6,614 (2.2%) compared with August, moving from 297,389 movements in August to 304,003 in September, while domestic passenger movements increased by 27,858 (+5.3%) moving from 521,976 in August to 549,834 in September.
In the first nine months of 2020 the volume of international air passenger movements  decreased by 60.3%, falling from 12,671,072 movements in 2019 to 5,032,366 movements in 2020 while the volume of domestic air passenger movements fell by 47.8%, from 6,703,534 movements in the first nine months of 2019 to 3,500,852 in the same nine months of 2020.

San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU) saw a 47.9% decrease in air passenger movements in September.
According to ASUR, which manages many airports in Mexico, Colombia and which also manages the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, SJU saw a 47.9% decrease in passenger movements in September 2020, falling from 571,010 movements in September 2019 to 297,505 movements in September 2020.
September 2020 saw passenger movements decrease by 4,732 (-1.6%) compared with August  2020 moving from 302,237 movements in August to 297,505 in September.
In the first nine months of 2020 the overall volume of air passenger movements decreased by 50.4%, from 7,072,180 in 2019 to 3,505,793 in 2020.

Los Cabos saw a 39.5% decline in international air traffic movements in September.
According to Aeroportuario del Pacifico , which manages many of Mexico’s airports, Los Cabos Airport saw a 39.5% decline in international passenger traffic in September 2020, that is enplanements and deplanements, falling from 168,700 international passenger movements in September 2019 to 102,000 international passenger movements in September 2020. Domestic traffic declined by 19.8%, falling from 143,600 passenger movements in September 2019 to 115,100 passenger movements in September 2020.
Regarding the operations of the Los Cabos airport in Mexico, the Government of Mexico has not issued any flight restrictions, however, it has strongly recommended that only essential activities are performed and for persons to avoid as much as possible to leave home, which has caused the cancellation of a large volume of national and international flights.
In the first nine months of 2020 the volume of international air traffic decreased by 55.4%, falling from 2,764,600 international passenger movements in 2019 to 1,259,500 in the first nine months of 2020 while the volume of domestic air traffic fell by 45.8%, from 1,447,600 movements in 2019 to 784,500 in the first nine months of 2020.
 
Montego Bay Airport saw 48,000 total passenger movements in September, down 81.3% compared with September 2019.
According to Aeroportuario del Pacifico, which manages many of Mexico’s airports and which also manages the airports in Montego Bay and Kingston, Jamaica, saw the total number of passenger movements, that is both enplanements and deplanements, at Montego Bay Airport decrease by 81.3% in September 2020, falling from 256,900 movements in September 2019 to 48,000 movements in September 2020. Montego Bay Airport handled 58,800 passenger movements in July and 67,700 in August.
Jamaica reopened its borders to international visitors as of June 15th 2020
In the first nine months of 2020 the overall volume of passenger movements decreased by 63.4%, from 3,622,200 passenger movements in 2019 to 1,325,000 passenger movements in the first nine months of 2020.

The Seychelles received 1,575 visitor arrivals in September.
The Seychelles Government’s National Bureau of Statistics recently announced that total stopover arrivals decreased by 93.7% in September 2020, from 24,860 arrivals in September 2019 to 1,575 arrivals in September of this year. This number includes both air and sea stopover visitors.
The Seychelles closed its borders to cruise ships as of March 9th 2020 and to international air visitors as of March 30th. The main airport reopened to limited traffic as of June 1st and to scheduled international flights as of August 1st 2020.
In the first nine months of 2020 The Seychelles saw a 66.1% decrease in total stopover arrivals, falling from 274,823 arrivals in 2019 to 93,269 arrivals this year. Total stopover arrivals from Germany, the number one source market, fell by 58.1% from 49,516 in the first nine months of 2019 to 20,740 arrivals in the same nine months of 2020.
The number of cruise visitors decreased by 16.2%, from 23,397 in the first nine months of 2019 to 19,609 cruise visitors in the same period of 2020.

Central Bank of Aruba revises its economic forecast for 2020.
Central Bank of Aruba: Press release: October 7, 2020
Based on available data and considering the significant level of uncertainty regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on economic recovery, the CBA updated its estimates for the economic output based on different scenarios for the year 2020. This update follows new information on public consumption and the expectations regarding the recovery of the tourism sector. More specifically, public consumption was adjusted downwards to more accurately reflect actual government consumption in the respective scenarios. In addition, a slower recovery of tourism activity is assumed in comparison to the previous forecast (of July 2020).
Due to measures to protect human lives from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Aruban economy continues to be severely affected despite the reopening of our borders to tourism and travel. The depth and extent of the economic crisis depend largely upon the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent tourism recovery trajectory in addition to future government financing arrangements.
Consequently, for 2020 the real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for Aruba is currently projected to contract between 25.4 percent (Scenario A: no significant tourism activity for 3 months) and 32.3 percent (Scenario C: no significant tourism activity for 9 months), compared to an estimated growth of 2.8 percent in a scenario where, among other things, the pandemic would not have occurred. The revised forecasted economic contraction is the result of a deep drop in tourist arrivals, private consumption (and related imports), and, in scenarios B and C, investment. 
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Aruba’s Airport handled 16,818 Revenue Generating Passengers in September 2020, 19% of the amount handled in September 2019.
ORANJESTAD - In September 2020, the third month of operations after the removal of the lockdown, the Queen Beatrix International Airport (AUA Airport) handled 16,818 Revenue Generating Passengers (RGPs) departing to various markets. This was 19% of the total RGPS handled in September 2019 and 23.1% less than the 21,868 RGPs handled by the airport in August 2020. The figures for September 2020 were 27% less than what was forecasted for this month.
In September 14,713 passengers (pax) travelled to the US, 1,663 pax departed to Europe and 74 pax departed to the Netherlands Antilles. The latter market only allows for essential travel with borders currently being closed with Curacao and Bonaire. 368 pax also departed on repatriation flights to Caribbean and Latin American destinations.
The average outbound load factor (number of seats of the total seats on board an aircraft that were occupied when departing from AUA Airport) for September 2020 for the USA Market was 59%, while the load factor for flights to Europe was 41%. 
During September, AUA Airport averaged 7 flights per day, down from about 32 daily flights from the same month of 2019.
For October 2020 AUA Airport has forecasted handling approximately 26,500 departing passengers. This estimate however could yet be affected as a result of travel restrictions that continue to apply in for example European countries, the Netherlands Antilles and Canada. The fact that borders have not yet been opened with Latin and Central America will also have a negative impact. Nonetheless, it is estimated that the volume of RGPs in October will be 30% of the total RGPs handled in October 2019.
“The ever evolving and changing restrictions on travel ranging from border restrictions to required quarantine restrictions upon a visitor’s return to their home country could affect the figures for the last quarter of 2020. There are a lot of other factors that have yet to be decided on which will have a further effect on airlift, such as for example the CARES Act in the US, further quarantine restrictions in US states, and the fact that worldwide second waves or even third waves of the virus spread are expected. Nonetheless, we remain cautiously optimistic for the last three months of operation of 2020 when we enter our busiest time of the year, our winter season,” said Aruba Airport Authority N.V. CEO Mr. Joost Meijs.

Aruba Airport Authority foresees its traffic to recover to 90% of 2019 total by 2025.
ORANJESTAD - Based on the most recent insights it is expected that by the end of 2020 the Aruba Airport (AUA) will see its total number of Revenue Generating Passengers (RGPs) to be 37% of the total number of RGPs handled in 2019, that is a projected 473,215 RGPs for 2020 compared with 1,265,965 RGPs for 2019.
The Airport indicated it then used these same insights obtained from its various stakeholders, especially the airlines operating into AUA Airport, to look further ahead which allowed it to estimate its recovery path for the coming five years.
The Airport concluded that recovery will be slow but steady during the coming years and estimated that, as of October 2020, it will achieve 37% of the 2019 RGP traffic in 2020 (473,315 RGPs), 52% in 2021 (659,117), 68% in 2022 (856,852), 78% in 2023 (985,380), 84% in 2024 (1,059,283) and 90% in 2025. (1,138,729).
Various aviation industry associations such as ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization), IATA (International Air Transport Association) and ACI (Airports Council International) have also provided their projections and estimate that it will take the international aviation industry at least 3 to 4 years to recover and hopefully reach pre-COVID traffic numbers worldwide by 2025.
“Every day we are in contact with our partners in the aviation and tourism industry. This forecast is based on the insights and information we have today. We know that the impact of this crisis will be felt for years. A multiyear outlook under the current uncertain circumstances, however, remains fluid. Therefore, from now on, we will prepare an update of our multiyear forecast every quarter. We will continue to do our utmost to help Aruba in its much-needed recovery,” said Joost Meijs, CEO of Aruba Airport Authority N.V.

Aruba reports it received 17,420 stopover arrivals in August.
According to the Central Bank of Aruba, in August 2020 Aruba saw the volume of stopover arrivals fall from 96,100 stopovers in August 2019 to 17,420 in August of this year, that is to 18.1% of the total achieved in August 2019.
In July 2020 Aruba received 12,921 stopovers, 12.5% of the total received in July 2019.
Aruba reopened its borders to traffic from the Dutch Caribbean as of June 15th, to Canada and Europe as of July 1st and from the USA as of July 10th.
Of the 17,420 total stopovers received in August 88.1% (15,342) were from the USA, with 7.9% (1,383) coming from Europe. The number of visitors from the USA declined by 78.4% compared with August 2019, falling from 70,990 in August 2019 to 15,342 this year.
In the first eight months of 2020 Aruba saw a 66.6% decrease in the number of stopover visitors, falling from 775,213 visitors in 2019 to 259,093 visitors this year. The number of stopovers from the USA has declined by 65.8% during the first eight months, from 586,058 in 2019 to 200,450 through August 2020.
There were no cruise visitors in August as the island remained closed to cruise traffic.  Through the first eight months of 2020 the number of cruise visitors to Aruba fell by 52.9%, from 555,525 visitors in 2019 to 255,384 cruise visitors this year.

Curacao reports it received 10,418 stopover arrivals in September.
According to the Curaçao Tourist Board, Curaçao saw a 68.0% decrease in stopover visitor arrivals in September, falling from 32,510 stopovers in September 2019 to 10,418 in September of this year.
Curacao had closed its borders to international arrivals as of March 17 2020 and re-opened to visitors from the Caribbean as of June 16th and from Canada and Europe but not the United States of America as of July 1st. The Government limited the number of visitors to no more than 10,000 for the month of September.
Stopover visitors from the Netherlands fell by 38.0%, from 14,003 visitors in September 2019 to 8,646 visitors in September 2020. The 8,646 visitors comprised 83.0% of all stopover visitors to Curacao in September.
In the first nine months of 2020 Curaçao saw a 60.3% decrease in the number of stopover visitors, falling from 346,464 visitors in 2019 to 137,699 visitors this year. The number of stopovers from the USA declined by 62.7% during the first nine months, from 57,332 in 2019 to 21,361 through September 2020. The number of stopovers from the Netherlands has fallen by 53.2% during the first nine months, from 143,048 in 2019 to 67,001 through September 2020.
There were no cruise visitors in September as the island remained closed to cruise traffic.  Through the first nine months of 2020 the number of cruise visitors to Curaçao fell by 52.7%, from 541,621 visitors in 2019 to 256,033 cruise visitors this year.

Antigua and Barbuda received 3,673 stopovers in September 2020, 26.0% of the total received in September 2019.
According to the Ministry of Tourism and Investment, Antigua and Barbuda saw a 74.0% decrease in stopover visitor arrivals in September 2020, falling from 14,124 stopovers in September 2019 to 3,673 stopovers in 2020. The number of stopover visitors from the USA fell by 60.5%, from 5,767 in September 2019 to 2,278 in September 2020 while the number of stopovers from the U.K. fell by 80.5%, from 3,920 stopovers in September 2019 to 764 in September of this year.
Antigua and Barbuda reopened its borders to receive international visitors as of June 4th 2020.
Through the first nine months of 2020, Antigua and Barbuda saw a 54.5% decrease in the number of stopover visitors, falling from 216,257 stopovers in 2019 to 98,483 stopovers in 2020. The number of stopovers from the USA fell by 49.8%, from 91,334 in 2019 to 45,833 in 2020 while the number of stopover visitors from the U.K. fell by 57.3% from 52,714 in 2019 to 22,489 this year.

IATA - now expects full-year 2020 traffic to be down 66% compared to 2019.
(Geneva, September 29 2020) - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) downgraded its traffic forecast for 2020 to reflect a weaker-than-expected recovery, as evidenced by a dismal end to the summer travel season in the Northern Hemisphere.
IATA now expects full-year 2020 traffic to be down 66% compared to 2019. The previous estimate was for a 63% decline.  
August passenger demand continued to be hugely depressed against normal levels, with revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) down 75.3% compared to August 2019. This was only slightly improved compared to the 79.5% annual contraction in July.
Domestic markets continued to outperform international markets in terms of recovery, although most remained substantially down on a year ago. August capacity (available seat kilometers or ASKs) was down 63.8% compared to a year ago, and load factor plunged 27.2 points to an all-time low for August of 58.5%.
Based on flight data, the recovery in air passenger services was brought to a halt in mid-August by a return of government restrictions in the face of new COVID-19 outbreaks in a number of key markets.
Forward bookings for air travel in the fourth quarter show that the recovery since the April low point will continue to falter.
Whereas the decline in year-on-year growth of global RPKs was expected to have moderated to -55% by December, a much slower improvement is now expected with the month of December forecast to be down 68% on a year ago.
“August’s disastrous traffic performance puts a cap on the industry’s worst-ever summer season. International demand recovery is virtually non-existent and domestic markets in Australia and Japan actually regressed in the face of new outbreaks and travel restrictions. A few months ago, we thought that a full-year fall in demand of -63% compared to 2019 was as bad as it could get. With the dismal peak summer travel period behind us, we have revised our expectations downward to -66%,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.
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Las Vegas saw a 6.9% increase in visitors in August compared with July 2020.
According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Las Vegas saw the volume of visitors increase by 6.9% in August 2020, growing from 1,438,000 arrivals in July 2020 to 1,537,400 in August of this year. The 1,537,400 arrivals in August 2020 was 57.0% lower than the 3,579,00 visitors received in August 2019.
Las Vegas had a weighted average of 127,657 open hotel rooms in August 2020 (down 14.3% compared with August 2019) and achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 42.7% (down 45.0 percentage points compared with August 2019), an ADR of $99.24 (down 18.0% compared with August 2019) and a RevPar of $42.38 (down 60.1%) also compared with August 2019.
Through the first eight months of 2020 Las Vegas saw a 55.3% decrease in the volume of visitors, falling from 28,404,400 arrivals in the first eight months of 2019 to 12,708,200 visitors in the same eight months of 2020.
Las Vegas achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 42.8% in the first eight months of 2020 (down 46.6 percentage points compared with the first eight months of 2019), an ADR of $129.19 (down 2.4% compared with the same eight months of 2019) and a RevPar of $55.29 down 53.3%, also compared with the same eight months of 2019.
Gaming revenue fell by 41.4% from $6.842 billion in the first eight months of 2019 to $4.006 billion in the same eight months of 2020.

In August Cancun saw its hotels achieve an average hotel room occupancy of 25.9%.
Sedetur, the Department of Tourism of the state of Quintana Roo, recently released the hotel occupancy numbers for the hotels in Cancun/Puerto Morelos and Riviera Maya for all eight months of 2020.
In August Cancun/Puerto Morelos saw a 46.9 percentage point drop in average hotel room occupancy from 72.8% in August 2019 to 25.9% in August of this year. Cancun’s hotels saw an average occupancy of 23.7% in July and 15.2% in June.
The hotels in Riviera Maya saw their average room occupancy fall by 53.3 percentage points from 75.1% in August 2019 to 21.8% in August this year. The hotels in Riviera Maya saw an average occupancy of 19.% in July and 11.0% in June.
Through the first eight months of 2020 the hotels in Cancun/Puerto Morelos have achieved a 36.8% average room occupancy, down 42.5 percentage points from the 79.3% achieved in 2019.
The hotels in Riviera Maya have achieved an average room occupancy of 34.2%, down 47.2 percentage points from the 81.4% achieved in 2019, also for the first eight months of 2020.
Riviera Maya has 46,958 hotel rooms while the Cancun/Puerto Morelos area has 40,835 hotel rooms. During August approximately 75% of the region’s hotels had re-opened.

Mexico received 337,656 international air arrivals in August, up 14.4% compared with July 2020.
According to the Government of Mexico’s SECTUR (Department of Tourism) Mexico received 337,656 international air arrivals in August 2020 up 14.4% compared with the 295,207 arrivals received in July 2020 while the 295,207 international air arrivals received in July were 151.8% higher than the 117,257 international visitors received in June 2020.
The 337,656 international air arrivals received in August 2020 were 75.7% less than the 1,390,432 received in August 2019.
 The volume of air arrivals from the USA fell by 62.0% in August, from 759,207 in August 2019 to 288,704 in August of this year, with the volume from Canada falling by 94.6%, from 83,374 in August 2019 to 4,491 this year. The 288,704 visitors received from the USA in August was 9.3% higher than the 264,184 visitors received from the USA in July 2020.
Cancun Airport saw a 76.0% decrease in international air arrivals in August 2020, falling from 593,846 arrivals in August 2019 to 142,416 arrivals in August 2020, while Los Cabos saw a 61.3% decrease falling from 118,914 international arrivals in August 2019 to 46,009 international air arrivals in August 2020. Puerto Vallarta saw a 75.8% decrease, falling from 65,357 international arrivals in August 2019 to 15,869 in August 2020.
In the first eight months of 2020 the volume of international air arrivals to Mexico fell by 59.4%, from 13,177,126 in 2019 to 5,344,563 in the first eight months of this year. The volume of air arrivals from the USA fell by 58.7% in the same eight months, from 7,408,045 in 2019 to 3,058,714 in 2020 while the volume from Canada fell by 44.3%, from 1,604,769 in 2019 to 893,988 in 2020.
Cancun Airport saw a 60.8% decrease in international air arrivals in the first eight months of 2020, falling from 5,581,318 in 2019 to 2,185,200 in 2020 while Los Cabos saw a 56.3% decrease falling from 1,240,230 international air arrivals to 542,224 air arrivals in 2020. Puerto Vallarta saw a 50.4% decrease, falling from 1,066,222 international arrivals in 2019 to 529,201 in the first eight months of 2020.

Orlando saw a 58.3 percentage point decline in average room occupancy in August to 28.7%.
According to STR Orlando had 128,000 hotel rooms in August 2020 and achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 28.7% (down 58.7 percentage points compared with August 2019), and an ADR of $83.25 (down 22.2% compared with August 2019).
According to Visit Orlando, Orlando saw the volume of air passenger enplanements decrease by 73.1% in August 2020, falling from 2,290,962 enplanements in August 2019 to 616,637 enplanements in August 2020. This includes enplanements at both Orlando International and Sanford airports.
In the first eight months of 2020 Orlando achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 45.0% (down 42.6 percentage points compared with 2019), and an ADR of $118.26 (down 7.4% compared with 2019). 
In the first eight months of 2020 Orlando saw a 55.9% decrease in the volume of air passenger enplanements, falling from 18,440,059 enplanements in 2019 to 8,130.754 enplanements in the first eight months of 2020.

Mauritius announces it received 317 stopover visitor in August.
The Mauritius Government’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Development recently announced that total stopover arrivals fell by 99.7% in August 2020, from 107,275 arrivals in August 2019 to 317 arrivals in August of this year. This number includes both air and sea stopover visitors.
Mauritius closed its border to all international visitors indefinitely as of March 19th 2020 and plans to re-open its borders to visitors from a limited number of countries as of October 1st 2020.
In the first eight months of 2020 Mauritius saw a 65.0% decrease in total stopover arrivals, falling from 872,805 arrivals in 2019 to 305,243 arrivals this year. Total stopover arrivals from France, the number one market, fell by 57.8% from 186,602 arrivals in the first eight months of 2019 to 78,708 arrivals in the same eight months of 2020.

Costa Rica received 2,357 stopover arrivals in August.
According to the Costa Rica Institute of Tourism ICT, Costa Rica saw the volume of stopovers drop by 99.0% in August 2020, falling from 225,299 stopovers in August 2019 to just 2,357 stopovers in August 2020.
The number of stopovers from the USA fell by 99.7% in August 2020, falling from 94,568 stopovers in August 2019 to 261 in August 2020 while the number from Central America declined by 98.6%, from 51,547 in August 2019 to 742 in August 2020.
After declaring a state of emergency, Costa Rica closed all borders to foreigners on April 18th 2020. The Central American nation resumed flights and started admitting international travellers as of August 1. However, only travellers arriving from a set list of countries were allowed in. It included Canada, certain countries in the European Union and the UK. Visitors from the USA were not permitted entry until September 1st and then only from six states.
The volume of stopovers decreased by 60.1% in the first eight months of 2020, falling from 2,220,638 stopovers in 2019 to 885,401 stopovers in first eight months of 2020. The number of stopovers from the USA dropped by 63.7% in the first eight months of 2020, from 981,964 stopovers in 2019 to 356,906 in 2020 while the number from Central America declined by 59.5%, falling from 472,582 in the first eight months of 2019 to 191,601  in the same eight months of 2020. 

Apple Leisure Group on Booking Trends, Hotel Development and the 2020 Election
The leadership team at Apple Leisure Group (ALG) sees a light at the end of the tunnel.
The company has spent the past five months in a state of adjustment due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but has recently reported a rise in group bookings, an increased interest in all-inclusive hotels and international travel, and new products designed to help travel advisors emerge from the crisis.
“We’ve seen some great ramp up and — knock on wood — we haven’t seen any issues at all,” said Ray Snisky, president of ALG Vacations, during a Sept. 29 press conference. “I think you’re seeing people who want to travel, and there is certainly pent-up demand.”
Clients are increasingly looking at shorter booking windows, he said, with 40% of company bookings going toward trips to Cancun due to the destination’s flexible flight options, new hotel inventory and appealing price point.
“The fact that things are going well, and customers have a desire to travel, is very optimistic for us moving forward,” he said.
Groups Bookings Are Driving Travel’s Return
New group reservations contracted in the past four weeks have surged, with a 75% increase in bookings year-over-year. Cancun, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic are currently leading the sector, according to Mike Ehlers, vice president of groups for ALG.
ALG is “very bullish on groups moving forward,” said Snisky, adding that he is “pleased with the number of groups [ALG] has been able to recapture.”
“Many of the groups were kept on the books and rescheduled for later time periods, he said. “That part of our business has become so powerful over the last few years. [Group trips have] an emotional connection with clients, and [are] a big driver of their return.”
That part of our business has become so powerful over the last few years. Group trips have an emotional connection with clients and is a big driver of their return.
Five-Star Hotels ‘At a Four-Star Price’
Five-star hotels are top of mind for international travelers, with some being sold at “four-star prices,” Snisky said.
“Guests want to stay at a place they trust, and they want brands they know are going to follow the protocols and not cut costs in any way, and where the safety of the customer is paramount,” he said. “The top of the quality chain is winning the market share battle.”
All-inclusive options are also a popular choice right now, while “independent and non-branded hotels are going to need more help than ever before,” said Alex Zozaya, executive chairman for ALG.
And when it comes to hotel developments within Mexico and the Caribbean, those that were in the early stages of planning and construction have been put on hold, because “nobody wants to add supply to already contracted demand,” Zozaya added.
However, he predicts there will be immense change in existing hotel portfolios, including more renovations, consolidations and ownership changes.
Rhetoric Surrounding the 2020 Election
Adding to the uncertainty of travel’s future is the upcoming U.S. election.
“This particular election is  very important,” Zozaya said. “The way it’s going to influence [travelers] depends on what the discourse will be right after the election. If the rhetoric becomes more unified — less in the sense of increasing or tightening borders and restrictions and more about a united global effort — that’s going to help the mindset of the consumer.”
Zozaya added that he doesn’t anticipate travel policies changing in the short term, regardless of who wins the presidency, because policies are likely to remain until a COVID-19 vaccine is made widely available.

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index Increased in September
NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® increased in September, after declining in August. The Index now stands at 101.8 (1985=100), up from 86.3 in August. The Present Situation Index – based on consumers' assessment of current business and labor market conditions – increased from 85.8 to 98.5. The Expectations Index – based on consumers' short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions – increased from 86.6 in August to 104.0 this month.
The monthly Consumer Confidence Survey®, based on a probability-design random sample, is conducted for The Conference Board by Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and analytics around what consumers buy and watch. The cutoff date for the preliminary results was September 18.
"Consumer Confidence increased sharply in September, after back-to-back monthly declines, but remains below pre-pandemic levels," said Lynn Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board. "A more favorable view of current business and labor market conditions, coupled with renewed optimism about the short-term outlook, helped spur this month's rebound in confidence. Consumers also expressed greater optimism about their short-term financial prospects, which may help keep spending from slowing further in the months ahead."
Consumers' appraisal of current conditions rebounded in September. The percentage of consumers claiming business conditions are "good" increased from 16.0 percent to 18.3 percent, while those claiming business conditions are "bad" decreased from 43.3 percent to 37.4 percent. Consumers' assessment of the labor market also improved. The percentage of consumers saying jobs are "plentiful" increased from 21.4 percent to 22.9 percent, while those claiming jobs are "hard to get" decreased from 23.6 percent to 20.0 percent.
Consumers were also more optimistic about the short-term outlook. The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions will improve over the next six months increased from 29.8 percent to 37.1 percent, while those expecting business conditions will worsen decreased from 20.7 percent to 15.8 percent. Consumers were more positive about the outlook for the labor market. The proportion expecting more jobs in the months ahead increased from 29.9 percent to 33.1 percent, while those anticipating fewer jobs decreased from 21.2 percent to 15.6 percent. Regarding their short-term income prospects, the percentage of consumers expecting an increase improved from 13.0 percent to 17.5 percent, while the proportion expecting a decrease declined from 16.0 percent to 12.6 percent.
 
Antigua and Barbuda projects average hotel occupancy to be about 47% in the first four months of 2021.
The Antigua Barbuda Hotels and Tourism Association (ABHTA) recently surveyed its hotels to determine their projections for average hotel occupancy for the first four months of 2021. Based on eight responses from key hotels the ABHTA is projecting an average hotel room occupancy of 48% for the first four months of 2021 compared with 78% for the same four months of 2019.
ABHTA rightly notes forecasting is unpredictable even into the winter of 2020/21 and that the market remains too volatile to project with any measure of certainty. It further notes some resorts are highly dependent on the UK market and occupancy levels will be aligned with the increase in service from this source market, that some resorts may cap guest numbers to accommodate social distancing, and that some resorts will adjust room inventory available for sale, in line with demand.

Destination Analysts Report for week of September 28th 2020.
Every week since March 15th, Destination Analysts has surveyed 1,200+ American travelers about their thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and behaviors surrounding travel in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and explored a variety of topics. The findings presented below represent data collected September 25th-27th.
It’s officially Fall, and Americans are increasingly hearing predictions and plans for the coming months while we remain in a global pandemic. After a month-long period of the lowest levels of concerns since May, the number of Americans with high degrees of concerns about contracting the coronavirus rose this week. Similarly, after a stable period in expectations for the virus’ course, the percent of Americans who feel things will get worse in the U.S. in the next month increased to 43.0% from 38.3% the week prior, and the percent who feel things will get better decreased to 21.3%.
Key Findings:

• After a month-long period of relatively lower levels of anxiety, the number of Americans with high degrees of concerns about contracting the coronavirus rose this week. Similarly, after a stable period in expectations for the virus’ course, the percent of Americans who feel things will get worse in the U.S. in the next month increased.
• These rising concerns appear to be affecting confidence that travel can be done safely and perceptions of travel. The percent in a “ready to travel” mindset fell to 52.2% after being above 54% for the last month.
• Nevertheless, three-quarters of American travelers continue to report having at least tentative trip plans—primarily over the next 6 months—as well as exhibit a perception of travel as a means to meet their emotional needs. The percent that agree price cuts and discounts can motivate them to consider a new trip is as high as it has been during the pandemic.
• Looking at American travelers’ specific expectations for Fall, nearly two-thirds expect to travel this season, and these travelers anticipate taking 1.7 overnight trips on average. The top motivations for these Fall trips are relaxation, spending time with family and escapism, although younger travelers are also likely to be seeking connecting with nature and having new experiences.
• 26% say they plan to travel by airplane this fall, little changed from previous weeks.
• Nearly 40% of likely Fall travelers say they will visit a small town or rural area on their Fall trips, with beach visitation less likely than in the summer months and urban travel increasing.
• American travelers’ comfort with enjoying their own communities for leisure activities and having tourists visit their regions are at pandemic period highs.

  
Hawai‘i received 22,344 visitors in August 2020.
HONOLULU – The COVID-19 pandemic considerably impacted visitor arrivals to the Hawaiian Islands in August 2020. Visitor arrivals dropped 97.6 percent compared to a year ago, according to preliminary statistics released by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority’s (HTA) Tourism Research Division.
All passengers arriving from out-of-state during August were required to abide by a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine. Exemptions include travel for essential reasons like work or healthcare. On August 11, a partial interisland quarantine was reinstated for anyone traveling to the counties of Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i, Maui, and Kalawao (Moloka‘i). The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continued to impose the “No Sail Order” on all cruise ships.
In August 2020, a total of 22,344 visitors traveled to Hawai‘i by air service compared to 926,417 visitors during the same month a year ago. Most of the visitors were from U.S. West (12,778, -97.0%) and U.S. East (7,407, -96.3%). Only 220 visitors came from Japan (-99.9%) and 100 came from Canada (-99.7%). There were 1,839 visitors from All Other International Markets (-98.4%). Many of these visitors were from Guam, and a small number of visitors were from the Philippines, Other Asia, Europe, Latin America, Oceania, Puerto Rico and the Pacific Islands.
Total visitor days1 decreased 91.3 percent year-over-year.
A total of 179,570 trans-Pacific air seats serviced the Hawaiian Islands in August, down 85.2 percent from a year ago. There were no direct flights or scheduled seats from Canada, Oceania, and Other Asia, and very few scheduled seats from Japan (-99.7%), U.S. East (-89.6%), U.S. West (-80.3%), and Other countries (-56.5%).
In the first eight months of 2020, total visitor arrivals decreased 69.0 percent to 2,201,141 visitors, with significantly fewer arrivals by air service (-69.1% to 2,171,349) and by cruise ships (-61.3% to 29,792) compared to the same period a year ago. Total visitor days fell 65.1 percent.
Year-to-date, visitor arrivals by air service declined from U.S. West (-69.6% to 953,559), U.S. East (-66.9% to 538,703), Japan (-71.4% to 294,568), Canada (-58.0% to 156,015) and All Other International Markets (-72.9% to 228,504)

Covid-19 And Tourism: Assessing the Economic Consequences: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant disruptions in the global economy. By the end of the first quarter of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had brought international travel to an abrupt halt and significantly impacted the tourism industry. For many developed and developing countries, the tourism sector is a major source of employment, government revenue and foreign exchange earnings. Without this vital lifeline, many countries may experience a dramatic contraction in GDP and a rise in unemployment.
Using a computable general equilibrium model (GTAP), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)  assess the implications of the COVID-19 crisis on the tourism sector. Depending on the duration of the global lockdown, the paper estimates the direct and indirect costs of the shutdown for 65 individual countries and regions and 65 sectors, covering the global economy. In some countries, unemployment could rise by more than 20 percentage points and some sectors could nearly be wiped out if the duration of the tourism standstill is up to one year. Further the paper puts forward policy recommendations for governments to avert the worst effects and facilitate recovery.
For full report click here
 
Why local communities are important to the future of Japan's ailing tourism industry
The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated local economies in Japan, pushing a number of businesses in rural areas to the brink of insolvency, if not outright bankruptcy.
Hot-spring towns and ski resorts such as Nozawa Onsen in Nagano Prefecture, which are reliant on inbound tourism, have been hit hardest, and there simply aren’t enough local customers to sustain operating facilities deep in the mountains.
The immediate problem these local economies face is the polar opposite of overtourism, and, for as long as the pandemic lingers, there’s never been a better time for rural destinations to consider developing more sustainable forms of tourism.
For consumers, sustainable travel tends to evoke notions of lowering their environmental impact, whether that be by minimizing one’s carbon footprint, avoiding single-use plastics or staying at eco-friendly lodgings.
Sustainability itself is a complex issue, and yet, as far as tourism is concerned, a unifying factor appears to lie at the heart of any initiative’s success: the local community.
One might argue that such communities lie at the cornerstone of tourism: For why do people visit places if not to experience local flavor, and who suffers the adverse consequences of tourism but those who live there?
Indeed, people close to the tourism industry often speak of the need to balance commercial interests with the needs of the local residents in those communities.
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The travel industry turned upside down: Insights, analysis, and actions for travel executives: Report from McKinsey/Skift.
September 22, 2020 | Report
For many players in the travel industry, navigating the COVID-19 pandemic has been like sailing into a hurricane. Six months in, many are trying to right themselves—realizing that their navigational charts are no longer adequate.
Although the travel industry is no stranger to hardship and has been seriously damaged by the pandemic, we have already seen strong leadership actions that are keeping companies and their people above water while remaining focused on long-term growth. Many players have acted quickly to retain customer goodwill, tap into new sources of liquidity, and work effectively with unions to agree on voluntary redundancy programs. We have also seen innovation and a focus on customer experience. These examples illustrate the travel industry's strength that will help it chart a way forward through these challenging times.
Key insights of the report
To see how the industry has been affected by COVID-19 and how it might thrive in the future, we have synthesized ongoing Skift and McKinsey analyses and interviewed travel executives and major corporate-travel buyers. In so doing, we observed five, perhaps counterintuitive, themes:
We see signs of latent demand for travel. Customers are interested in traveling again when restrictions lift, even willing to do so before a vaccine is available at scale. China—which, as of the time of writing, has effectively controlled the spread of the virus—is seeing both the leisure and business travel segments recover domestically. And led by Germany, Europe shows encouraging first signs of recovering travel demand. Other geographies, including the United States, have not yet effectively controlled the spread of the virus; even so, we see a considerable increase in searches and advance bookings.
Travelers are keen to travel but feel restrained. Indeed, due to necessary public-health measures and safety precautions—such as quarantines, closures, and other restrictions—the leisure space may be curbed by the inability to do anything meaningful at a destination. Similarly, many business travelers who are ready to fly again may be limited by corporate travel policies and companies’ understandable focus on duty-of-care obligations to employees.
The working-from-anywhere trend could permanently blur the lines between leisure and business travel. Digital nomads and “bleisure” travel predate COVID-19. However, the pandemic and the rise of remote work seem to accelerate growth of these travel segments. Players across the travel value chain—including destinations, corporate travel managers and hotels —need to think through key implications.
Nonprice factors have become more important to customers. The industry needs to cover other terrain before “demand stimulating” its way out of the crisis and instead restore traveler confidence. The travel industry is only as strong as its weakest link, so customers need to be comfortable with all touchpoints in their journeys.
Self-reported sentiments may not accurately reflect preferences or behavior, despite being easy to gather, and especially in the depth of a crisis. For this reason, travel companies cannot rely only on stated preferences; they need to improve the way they keep a pulse on travelers’ actions through leading indicators.
Grow your way out of the crisis: Four actions for travel companies
This report culminates with a set of four critical actions for travel companies to take, regardless of sector. With these four actions, we believe, travel companies can emerge from this period not just intact, but better than before.

1. First, travel companies should seek to understand their customers as microsegments, not monoliths. Travel is, after all, deeply personal.
2. Second, travel companies should widen their view of what constitutes the customer journey and design the next set of thoughtful customer-experience interventions.
3. Third, companies should design new—perhaps unconventional partnerships—that restore travelers’ confidence and set this global, fragmented, capital-intensive industry on track to financial sustainability.
4. Lastly, travel companies should seize this reset moment to embrace and preserve their crisis-induced agility and nimbleness for the long trip ahead.

While the coming months bring with it a lot of uncertainty, opportunities remain for those who can make sense of the noise and seize the reset moment accordingly. Whatever your interest in the industry—from investor to concerned travel enthusiast—our collective findings tell all you need to know about the state of travel: the roadblock it hit and how players can find their way to recovery.
Download the full report, click here mckinseyskift-report.html

The Bahamas reports the islands received 3,643 stopovers in August.
According to the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, The Islands of The Bahamas received 3,643 stopover visitors in August 2020, a 97.5% decline in stopover visitor arrivals compared with August 2019 when The Bahamas received 144,820 stopover visitors.
In July 2020, The Bahamas received 21,284 stopover visitors.
In response to the Covid 19 pandemic on March 24th, the Bahamian border was closed indefinitely to incoming visitors and returning residents with the border officially reopening to international travel as of July 1st. However, due to a spike in cases, on July 19th flights from the USA were suspended. On July 24th, all visitors were required to quarantine for 14 days in a government facility. On August 3rd this was changed to the 14-day quarantine taking place in the guests’ hotel. The Bahamas has announced it plans to reopen its borders as of October 15th 2020 although a number of major hotels have not yet indicated when they will reopen.
During the first eight months of 2020 The Bahamas saw a 72.7% decline in the number of stopover visitors, falling from 1,412,633 stopover visitors in 2019 to 385,345 stopovers in the first eight months of 2020. Nassau/Paradise Island saw a 70.9% decrease in stopover traffic, falling from 1,051,679 stopovers in 2019 to 306,068 stopovers in the first eight months of 2020, while Grand Bahama Island saw an 81.6% decline in stopover traffic, falling from 79,542 stopovers in 2019 to 14,630 in 2020. Stopover traffic to the Out Islands decreased by 77.0%, from 281,412 visitors in 2019 to 64,647 in the same eight months of 2020.
The number of visitors from the USA fell by 73.6% in the first eight months of 2020, from 1,163,621 visitors in 2019 to 307,158 in 2020. The number of visitors from Canada fell by 56.7%, from 98,707 in 2019 to 42,718 in 2020, while the number of visitors from Europe fell by 74.7%, falling from 90,523 in 2019 to 22,894 in 2020.
There were no cruise visitors in August as The Bahamas remained closed to cruise ships. During the first eight months of 2020 the number of cruise visitors to The Bahamas fell by 66.1%, from 3,666,112 visitors in 2019 to 1,327,084 cruise visitors in the first eight months of 2020.

After A Long Chill, Survey Of Travel Advisors Shows Clients Are Warming Up To Deals And Interest In International Travel Is Stable.
KANSAS CITY, MO - MMGY Myriad, a leader in international destination marketing, and Travel Market Report, a news publication that serves as the voice of travel advisors in North America, have released the latest findings of the Travel Advisors COVID-19 Sentiment Barometer (Wave III). This online survey, designed and analyzed by MMGY Travel Intelligence, monitors the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on travel agencies.
Since the survey began in June, advisors have consistently reported interest in international travel is accounting for about 25% of customer inquiries, showing that the ever-changing restrictions on travel and headlines about the spread of COVID-19 internationally are not causing up or down swings in consumer interest for international travel. For comparison, international travel accounted for 40% of advisor inquiries prior to the pandemic.
Travelers are also looking far ahead for international travel, as there was an increase in the percentage of international travel, cruises and group tour vacations being booked within the next 12 months. Domestic travel continues to be the most attractive type of trip for customers at the moment, accounting for 40% of all inquiries. Additionally, advisors reported in August that 20% of incoming North American travel bookings are for the next 30 days, up from 16% in July. It's important to note that at the same time there was also a sizeable increase in the number of advisors who believe promotional offers would impact booking decisions, which rose from 39% in July to 44% in August.
A look at advisors' most popular destination inquiries shows travelers are seeking out sunshine and the great outdoors for domestic trips. The most inquired about U.S. destinations are Alaska, Florida, California, Hawaii, Las Vegas and Colorado, while the top Canadian destinations are Vancouver, British Columbia and the Canadian Rockies.
Inquiries for Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe are predictably for familiar and historically popular destinations, while certain long-haul, bucket list trips continue to be of interest as well. The Riviera Maya/Cancun, Los Cabos and Jamaica are at the top of the list for travelers looking to visit Mexico and the Caribbean, while Greece, Italy, London, Croatia, Ireland and France were the most inquired about European destinations. Australia, Tahiti, Hawaii, Japan and Thailand are most popular with travelers looking to explore long-haul destinations.
The following are additional key findings from Wave III of the Travel Advisors COVID-19 Sentiment Barometer, which surveyed 440 travel advisors in the U.S. and Canada from August 24-September 8, 2020.
North American beach and mountain destinations continue to be of most interest to clients, with clients' interest in North American mountain destinations higher than in June and July.
Clients continue to feel more comfortable staying in smaller, more private accommodations in lieu of larger hotels or short-term rentals, though all accommodation types show rising interest.
Advisors report the majority of clients are interested in couples vacations, followed by family vacations - both with their immediate family and multigenerational trips.
Health concerns related to COVID-19, government advisories/restrictions and concerns about the visitor experience continue to be the primary barriers to travel, though they are all down compared to July.

Panama Embraces Transformation with Approval of Five-Year Sustainable Tourism Master Plan
The Panama Tourism Authority (ATP) announced the unanimous approval of its Master Plan for Sustainable Tourism 2020-2025 (PMTS for its acronym in Spanish) by the National Tourism Council, the main public-private body for the management of the tourism sector in Panama.
The five-year plan outlines ATP’s strategy for the relaunch of the country as a tourism destination, following its post-pandemic reopening on October 12.
“The Sustainable Tourism Master Plan is a differentiation strategy, through innovation and sustainability, highlighting the natural and cultural heritage of Panama,” said Panama’s Minister of Tourism Ivan Eskildsen.
“Our heritage offerings lead as an invaluable asset in the midst of an uncertain global environment, proving to be a competitive edge with strong authenticity that our country can confidently stand by.”
The plan reactivates Panama’s Tourism, Conservation and Research (TCR) strategy applied in Panama over 20 years ago by the prestigious ecologist Dr. Hana Ayala. The TCR Strategy positions the country's conservation and sustainability efforts at the forefront, along with its unique nature, culture and historic offerings, capitalizing in the overall safety that Panama offers.
The updated TCR Heritage Routes strategy now features three focus areas: Cultural Heritage, Green Heritage and Blue Heritage. Comprised of 19 circuits that tell the stories of Panama, the plan was developed through thorough analysis and research conducted in multiple workshops with the help of local and international consultants, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), the academic team of the Biomuseo (Biodiversity Museum), the Ministry of Environment, and the Ministry of Culture, the Panamanian travel industry, and other key organizations.
Read more/...

International Tourist Numbers Down 65% In First Half Of 2020, UNWTO Reports
International tourist arrivals plunged 93% in June when compared to 2019, with the latest data from the World Tourism Organization showing the severe impact COVID-19 has had on the sector.
According to the new issue of the World Tourism Barometer from the United Nations specialized agency, published on September 15 2020, international tourist arrivals dropped by 65% during the first half of the year. This represents an unprecedented decrease, as countries around the world closed their borders and introduced travel restrictions in response to the pandemic.
The Caribbean saw a 57.7% decline in international tourist arrivals in the first six months of 2020 compared with the same six months of 2019. Arrivals were down 21.6% in the first quarter and down 98.5% in the second quarter compared with 2019 while global arrivals were down 27.8% in the first quarter and 95.2% for the second respectively.
According to UNWTO, the massive drop in international travel demand over the period January-June 2020 translates into a loss of 440 million international arrivals and about US$ 460 billion in export revenues from international tourism. This is around five times the loss in international tourism receipts recorded in 2009 amid the global economic and financial crisis.
Looking ahead, it seems likely that reduced travel demand and consumer confidence will continue to impact results for the rest of the year. In May, UNWTO outlined three possible scenarios, pointing to declines of 58% to 78% in international tourist arrivals in 2020. Current trends through August point to a drop in demand closer to 70% (Scenario 2), especially now as some destinations re-introduce restrictions on travel.
The extension of the scenarios to 2021 point to a change in trend next year, based on the assumptions of a gradual and linear lifting of travel restrictions, the availability of a vaccine or treatment and a return of traveler confidence. Nonetheless, despite this, the return to 2019 levels in terms of tourist arrivals would take between 2½ to 4 years.

Click here for full UNWTO Tourism Barometer Report Volume 18 Issue 5 August/September 2020.
international-tourist-numbers-down-65-in-first-half-of-2020-unwto-reports.html

Hawaii’s hotels report a 62.4 percentage point drop in average room occupancy in August to 21.7%
According to the Hawai‘i Hotel Performance Report published by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA), statewide hotel room occupancy fell by 62.4 percentage points from 84.1% in August 2019 to 21.7% in August this year. ADR fell by 45.5% from $289.94 to $157.94 while revpar fell by 85.9%, from $243.93 in August 2019 to $34.30 in August this year.
HTA’s Tourism Research Division issued the report’s findings utilizing data compiled by STR, Inc., which conducts the largest and most comprehensive survey of hotel properties in the Hawaiian Islands. For August, the survey included 89 properties representing 21,887 rooms, or 40.8 percent of all lodging properties and 72.1 percent of operating lodging properties with 20 rooms or more in the Hawaiian Islands, including full service, limited service, and condominium hotels
In August, Hawai‘i hotel room revenues statewide fell by 92.1 percent to $32.3 million. Room demand was 85.5 percent lower than the same period last year. Room supply decreased by 43.8 percent year-over-year. Many properties closed or reduced operations starting in April.
During August, all passengers arriving from out-of-state were required to abide by a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine. On August 11th, a partial interisland quarantine was reinstated for anyone traveling to the counties of Kaua’i, Hawai’i, Maui, and Kalawao.
For the first eight months of 2020 statewide hotel room occupancy fell by 36.8 percentage points from 81.5% in 2019 to 44.7% in the first eight months of 2020. ADR fell by 2.3% from $284.56 in 2019 to $277.91 while revpar fell by 46.4%, from $232.01 in the first eight months of 2019 to $124.33 in the first eight months of this year.
In the first eight months of 2020, Hawai‘i hotel room revenues statewide fell by 62.2% from $3.048 billion in 2019 to $1.152 billion this year. Room demand fell to 4,146,500  room nights, down 61.3% compared to a year ago. Room supply fell by 29.5% and fell to 9,268,600 available room nights.

The Maldives reports it received 7,628 visitor arrivals in August after re-opening its borders to international visitors on the 15th July 2020.
The Maldives Government’s Ministry of Tourism recently announced that The Maldives received 7,652 stopover visitors in August after having reopened its borders on July 15th  2020. This was just 5.5% of the 139,338 stopover visitors the country received in August 2019.
In the first eight months of 2020 The Maldives saw a 65.4% decrease in total arrivals, falling from 1,134,071 stopovers in the first eight months of 2019 to 392,176 so far this year.
The Maldives has seen the overall number of accommodation establishments in operation fall by 81.3% from 878 in August 2019 to 164 establishments this August. The number of beds fell by 59.2% from 47,102 last August to 19,223 this year. Through the end of August overall average room occupancy had fallen by 38 percentage points from 64.0% in 2019 to 26.0% for the first eight months of this year.
Of the 164 establishments in operation 65 were resorts which offered 16,214 beds (84.3% of the overall number of beds). These resorts achieved a 29.6% average room occupancy through the first eight months of 2020 down from 75.7% for the first eight months of 2019. In August 2019 there were 149 resorts in operation offering 33,422 beds. 

Grenada reports it received 86 stopover arrivals in July, just 0.6% of the total received in July 2019.
According to the Grenada Tourism Authority, Grenada saw the volume of stopover arrivals decrease by 99.4% in July 2020, falling from 15,230 stopover arrivals in July 2019 to just 86 arrivals in July 2020. The number of visitors arriving by yacht decreased by 82.6% falling from 1,653 visitors in July 2019 to 288 in July of this year.
Grenada initially planned to reopen its borders to visitors as of July 15th but postponed the re-opening until August 1st 2020.
In the first seven months of 2020 Grenada saw a 61.7% decrease in the volume of stopover arrivals, falling from 97,629 arrivals in 2019 to 37,359 arrivals in 2020. Arrivals from the USA decreased by 61.9 % in 2020, falling from 44,936 arrivals in 2019 to 17,122 arrivals in 2020 while arrivals from the U.K. declined by 56.9% in 2020, falling from 15,933 stopovers in 2019 to 6,860 stopovers in 2020.
The number of cruise visitors declined by 27.2% in 2020, falling from 223,251 cruise visitors in 2019 to 162,517 in 2020.
The number of visitors arriving by yacht decreased by 44.5% in the first seven months of 2020, falling from 16,971 arrivals in 2019 to 9,425 this year.

Antigua and Barbuda received 4,761 stopovers in August, 26.9% of the total received in August 2019.
According to the Ministry of Tourism and Investment, Antigua and Barbuda saw a 73.1% decrease in stopover visitor arrivals in August 2020, falling from 17,668 stopovers in August 2019 to 4,761 stopovers in 2020. The number of stopover visitors from the USA fell by 55.8%, from 7,251 in August 2019 to 3,203 in August 2020 while the number of stopovers from the U.K. fell by 76.0%, from 3,699 stopovers in August 2019 to 889 in August of this year.
Antigua and Barbuda reopened its borders to receive international visitors as of June 4th 2020.
Through the first eight months of 2020, Antigua and Barbuda saw a 53.1% decrease in the number of stopover visitors, falling from 202,133 stopovers in 2019 to 94,810 stopovers in 2020. The number of stopovers from the USA fell by 49.1, from 85,567 in 2019 to 43,55 in 2020 while the number of stopover visitors from the U.K. fell by 55.5% from 48,794 in 2019 to 21,725 this year.

Jamaica received 43,813 stopover arrivals in August 2020, 20.4% of the total received in August 2019.
According to the Jamaica Tourist Board, Jamaica received 43,813 stopover arrivals in August 2020, 20.4% of the total received in August 2019, when the island received 214,780 stopover arrivals. The August 2020 total was just 4.5% higher than the 41,941 stopovers Jamaica received in July 2020.
Jamaica re-opened its borders to international visitors as of June 15th 2020.
Stopover arrivals from the USA fell by 75.9%, from 152,458 visitors in August 2019 to 36,719 visitors in August 2020.
Cruise arrivals fell by 100%, from 80,986 cruise visitors in August 2019 to zero cruise visitors in August 2020 as Jamaica remained closed to cruise ship arrivals.
Through the first eight months of 2020 Jamaica saw a 64.4% decline in the volume of stopover arrivals, falling from 1,875,925 stopover arrivals in the first eight months of 2019 to 667,073 arrivals in the same eight months of 2020.
Arrivals from the USA declined by 64.8% in the first eight months of 2020, falling from 1,299,940 arrivals in 2019 to 457,601 arrivals in the same eight months of 2020.
The number of cruise visitors declined by 57.7% in the first eight months of 2020, falling from 1,061,518 cruise visitors in 2019 to 449,271 cruise visitors in 2020.

Hotel performance recovery remains a challenge for Curacao.
Since reopening the border to a list of specific countries, the Curacao Hospitality and Tourism Association (CHATA) has been monitoring hotel occupancy on a weekly basis among its members and the month of August was of no exception.
Based on an average of 9 hotels, preliminary figures indicate a 25.2% hotel occupancy for the month of August 2020. Compared to hotel occupancy figures of August 2019 (75.7%), this is a decrease of 50.5 percentage points.
Previously published tourist arrival figures for August indicate that Curaçao welcomed a total of 9,227 visitors of which 7,518 (89%) were from Europe. Of these 7,518 European visitors, 19% stayed in a large hotel, while 45% stayed in some form of alternative accommodation.
Tourism recovery remains a challenge. With hotel occupancy figures in August ranging from 17% to 33% and some even at 0% occupancy, hotels are still experiencing booking cancellations and postponements.
According to CHATA’s weekly hotel performance monitoring an average of 248.5 booking cancellations were registered in the month of August. This is an average of 56 more booking cancellations than booking postponements in the same month. The top three reasons for cancellations are: closed border for USA travelers, overall travel scare and a combination of the mandatory PCR test and ticket prices.
Even though the above-mentioned hotel performance figures are preliminary, as not all properties have reported yet, it already gives a clear indication on the situation and CHATA does not expect to see much change. This is an indication that hotel performance remains a challenge and does not even reach break-even. Consequently, some properties are still not able to open for business and are postponing their opening date.
September and October tend to be challenging months, as they are considered to be months of low season. Hotels now must lower projections even more for the remainder of 2020, as there is no clarity yet on how the market will develop.
It can be concluded that as long as the visitor capacity to our island remains limited to 10,000 visitors per month and we remain open for limited countries, two key factors, the road to recovery may be longer than anticipated. CHATA will continue to monitor the situation closely and will keep the community informed on all developments in this regard.

Saint Lucia received 3,261 stopover visitors in August, down 91.0% compared with August 2019.
According to the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, Saint Lucia saw the volume of stopover arrivals decrease by 91.0% in August 2019, falling from 36,342 arrivals in August 2019 to 3,261 arrivals in August 2020.
Stopover arrivals from the USA fell by 84.1%, from 14,964 visitors in August 2019 to 2,380 visitors in August 2020 and by 89.7% from the U.K., falling from 5,398 arrivals in August 2019 to 557 arrivals in August 2020.
Saint Lucia reopened its borders to international visitors as of June 4 2020.
In the first eight months of 2020 Saint Lucia saw a 67.7% decline in the volume of stopover arrivals, falling from 298,723 arrivals in 2019 to 96,619 arrivals in 2020. Arrivals from the USA decreased by 67.5% in the first eight months 2020, falling from 139,406 arrivals in 2019 to 45,287 arrivals in 2020 while arrivals from the U.K. fell by 66.6%, falling from 55,048 stopovers in 2019 to 18,392 stopovers in 2020. 

Antigua and Barbuda reports stopover arrivals fell by 82.6% in July.
According to the Ministry of Tourism and Investment, Antigua and Barbuda saw an 82.6% decrease in stopover visitor arrivals in July 2020, falling from 23,031 stopovers in July 2019 to 4,002 stopovers in 2020. The number of stopover visitors from the USA fell by 67.2%, from 10,221 in July 2019 to 3,355 in July 2020 while the number of stopovers from the U.K. fell by 95.0%, from 5,378 stopovers in July 2019 to 267 in July of this year.
Antigua and Barbuda reopened its borders to receive international visitors as of June 4th 2020.
Through the first seven months of 2020, Antigua and Barbuda saw a 51.2% decrease in the number of stopover visitors, falling from 184,465 stopovers in 2019 to 90,049 stopovers in 2020. The number of stopovers from the USA fell by 48.5%, from 78,316 in 2019 to 40,352 in 2020 while the number of stopover visitors from the U.K. fell by 53.8% from 45,095 in 2019 to 20,836 this year.
 
Barbados Government Looking at Tourism Recovery Plan.
The Government of Barbados has announced a tourism recovery plan as the island seeks to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
This was disclosed by Minister of Tourism and International Transport Lisa Cummins as she addressed the third quarterly general meeting of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA), on Wednesday.
Under the theme Adapting to the Changing Tourism Landscape – Cummins said part of the forward planning is for the establishment of private hanger services and an overall new business strategy at the Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA) to attract new business, increase air traffic and “benefit from the high-end luxury segment”.
She explained that in order to position Bridgetown as the southern hub for air travel, there would be deepening and expansion of partnerships and relationships in existing markets, as well as the formation of new partnerships in new markets.
The tourism minister also said the island was on its way to becoming a cruise hub and the local authorities are currently in negotiation with cruise line partners to make Barbados a homeport for traffic in the southern Caribbean.
She added, that new itineraries have been developed that would see cruises beginning and ending in Barbados when they resume.
“More importantly for the hotel sector, we have integrated a pre-and post-stay into the marketing efforts around that new product that we are negotiating.”
A major part of the overall tourism recovery plan will be the forecasting of international air traffic and trends in order to come up with models for worst- and best-case scenarios so that proactive steps could be taken.
Meanwhile, the authorities are looking at the possibility of implementing a test before departure initiative with the Heathrow Airport that would see travellers coming from London receiving a test for COVID-19 just prior to boarding their flight to Barbados.
Cummins said her ministry has been having regular meetings with airline partners, airport representatives and other stakeholders to find ways of limiting transmission of the COVID-19 illness during travel.
“Aside from the PCR testing and efforts being made here in the ministry, we will be having a meeting either Tuesday or Wednesday with Heathrow International’s leadership. I have reached out to Heathrow International and we have had a good preliminary meeting with their leadership and with their COVID-19 response task force and they are working with us to pilot a model which has already been implemented with the UAE, where they have a facility on-site at Heathrow international,” said Cummins.
“You now know that there are airlift coming out of Heathrow on British Airways and we are looking to see if we can collaborate with them to have that rapid testing – if it is so approved by our Ministry of Health and is consistent with the respective World Health Organisation standards, – at the point of origin,” she explained.
Cummins said this would address issues relating to confidence among potential travellers to Barbados.
“If we are able to successfully get this partnership with Heathrow and then roll it out with Gatwick and then simultaneously we are also able to open up opportunities to partner with the other gateways from which visitors are arriving, then we would have hopefully what we expect to be something significant that gives confidence in travel to persons who are flying into Barbados,” she said.

Florida tourism could take up to three years to recover.
Florida's tourism industry will remain sluggish for up to three years, says the state's chief economist.
Tourism in the Sunshine State will not return to pre-pandemic levels at least a year following the launch of a vaccine.
And that could be at least two years from now, said Florida Chief Economist Amy Baker.
"Our belief is that tourism is going to take two to three years to recover, and it will be the longest-recovering sector that we have," Baker told lawmakers in Tallahassee.
Baker was presenting the state's Long Term Financial Outlook, which is used to set its state budget.
Baker's presentation showed unemployment reached a 50-year high during the height of tourism industry lay-offs in April and tax revenue is down by at least $3.4 billion this year.
Florida tourism sank 68% during the second quarter of 2020 compared to a year earlier.
It has exposed Florida's heavy reliance on tourism.
"We've always talked about tourism and the sensitivity of our economy to tourism as being an important concern and a potential downside risk if anything were to happen," Baker said.
"With the outbreak of coronavirus, we actually did see probably the worst that we will ever see in terms of that downside risk materializing."
Gov. Ron DeSantis has spent days traveling across the state promoting a new tourism campaign aimed at local in-state travel.
 
The Maldives reports 1,752 visitor arrivals in July after re-opening its borders to international visitors on the 15th July 2020.
The Maldives Government’s Ministry of Tourism recently announced that The Maldives received 1,752 stopover visitors in July after having reopened its borders on July 15th  2020. This was 98.7% less than the 132,144 stopover visitors the country received in July 2019.
In the first seven months of 2020 The Maldives saw a 61.3% decrease in total arrivals, falling from 994,733 in the first seven months of 2019 to 384,548 this year.
The Maldives has seen the overall number of accommodation establishments in operation fall by 92.9% from 872 in July 2019 to 62 establishments this July. The number of beds fell by 78.5% from 47,174 last July to 10,125 this year. Through the end of July overall average room occupancy had fallen by 36.4 percentage points from 64.2% in 2019 to 27.8% for the first seven months of this year.
Of the 62 establishments in operation 42 were resorts which offered 9,484 beds (93.7% of the overall number of beds). These resorts achieved a 31.6% average room occupancy through the first seven months of 2020 down from 76.4% for the first seven months of 2019. In July 2019 there were 148 resorts in operation offering 33,400 beds. 

Cancun saw a 77.1% decrease in international air passenger movements in August.
According to ASUR, which manages many of Mexico’s airports, Cancun Airport saw a 77.1% decrease in international passenger movements in August 2020, falling from 1,301,415 movements in August 2019 to 297,389 movements in August 2020. Domestic passenger movements fell by 39.8%, from 867,640 passenger movements in August 2019 to 521,976 movements in August 2020.
August saw international passenger movements increase by 76,315 (+34.5%) compared with July, moving from 221,074 movements in July to 297,389 in August, while domestic passenger movements increased by 126,018 (+31.8%) moving from 395,958 in July to 521,976 in August.
In the first eight months of 2020 the volume of international air passenger movements  decreased by 59.9%, falling from 11,781,653 movements in 2019 to 4,728,363 movements in 2020 while the volume of domestic air passenger movements fell by 50.8%, from 6,001,677 movements in the first eight months of 2019 to 2,951,018 in the same eight months of 2020.

San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU) saw a 62.9% decrease in air passenger movements in August.
According to ASUR, which manages many airports in Mexico, Colombia and which also manages the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, SJU saw a 62.9% decrease in passenger movements in August 2020, falling from 815,043 movements in August 2019 to 302,237 movements in August 2020.
August saw passenger movements decrease by 61,698 (-16.9%) compared with July  moving from 363,395 movements in July to 302,237 in August.
In the first eight months of 2020 the overall volume of air passenger movements decreased by 50.7%, from 6,501,170 in 2019 to 3,208,288 in 2020.

Orlando saw a 62.0 percentage point decline in average room occupancy in July to 29.7%.
According to STR Orlando had 128,000 hotel rooms in July 2020 and achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 29.7% (down 62.0 percentage points compared with July 2019), and an ADR of $89.78 (down 21.8% compared with July 2019).
According to Visit Orlando, Orlando saw the volume of air passenger enplanements decrease by 72.2% in July 2020, falling from 2,396,541 enplanements in July 2019 to 667,228 enplanements in July 2020. This includes enplanements at both Orlando International and Sanford airports.
In the first seven months of 2020 Orlando achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 47.4% (down 40.5 percentage points compared with 2019), and an ADR of $121.29 (down 6.9% compared with 2019). 
In the first seven months of 2020 Orlando saw a 53.6% decrease in the volume of air passenger enplanements, falling from 16,182,790 enplanements in 2019 to 7,511,993 enplanements in the first seven months of 2020.

Punta Cana received 17,405 tourists in August, down 93.3% compared with August 2019
According to the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic, saw the volume of non-resident stopover arrivals decrease by 93.3% in August, falling from 258,457 arrivals in August 2019 to 17,405 arrivals in August 2020. Stopover arrivals from the USA fell by 84.8% in August, from 90,044 arrivals in August 2019 to 13,647 arrivals in August 2020.
The Dominican Republic reopened its borders to visitors as of July 1st 2020 with limited controls on arrivals but changed its policy on July 30th requiring all visitors to show evidence of a negative RT-PCR test taken prior to arrival.
During the first eight months of 2020 Punta Cana saw a 70.8% decrease in the volume of stopover arrivals, falling from 2,659,487 arrivals in 2019 to 777,373 non-resident arrivals in the first eight months of 2020.
Arrivals from the USA fell by 80.6% in the first eight months of 2020, falling from 1,163,826 arrivals in 2019 to 225,334 arrivals in the same eight months of 2020. Arrivals from Russia fell by 40.0% in the same period, from 37,471 in 2019 to 22,464 in 2020. Traffic was also down 71.5% from Germany, down 68.2% from Brazil, down 72.7% from Argentina, down 74.9% from the U.K., down 65.3% from France and down 50.2% from Canada.
In the first eight months of 2020 stopover arrivals to Punta Cana made up 47.4% of all non-resident arrivals to the Dominican Republic.

The Dominican Republic received 110,284 non-resident visitors in August, down 18.4% compared with July 2020.
According to the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, the Dominican Republic received 110,284 non-resident stopover arrivals in August 2020, down 18.4% compared with the 135,163 stopovers it received in July 2020.
The Dominican Republic reopened its borders to visitors as of July 1st 2020 with limited controls on arrivals but changed its policy on July 30th requiring all visitors to show evidence of a negative RT-PCR test taken prior to arrival.
The 110,284 stopovers received in August were 77.8% fewer than the 497,390 stopovers received in August 2019.
Stopover arrivals from the USA fell by 73.6%, from 155,913 arrivals in August 2019 to 41,237 arrivals in August 2020.  55% of the non-resident arrivals in August were Dominicans living abroad and returning to the Dominican Republic.
In the first eight months of 2020 the Dominican Republic saw a 64.8% decrease in the volume of stopover arrivals, falling from 4,664,036 arrivals in 2019 to 1,639,533 non-resident arrivals in 2020. Non-resident arrivals from the USA decreased by 74.8% in the first eight months of 2020, falling from 1,757,696 arrivals in 2019 to 442,884 arrivals in 2020.

Curacao reports it received 9,227 stopover arrivals in August.
According to the Curaçao Tourist Board, Curaçao saw a 76.3% decrease in stopover visitor arrivals in August, falling from 38,933 stopovers in August 2019 to 9,227 in August of this year.
Curacao had closed its borders to international arrivals as of March 17 2020 and re-opened to visitors from the Caribbean as of June 16th and from Canada and Europe but not the United States of America as of July 1st. The Government limited the number of visitors to no more than 10,000 for the month of August.
Stopover visitors from the Netherlands fell by 53.0%, from 15,860 visitors in August 2019 to 7,518 visitors in August 2020. The 7,518 visitors comprised 81.5% of all stopover visitors in August.
In the first eight months of 2020 Curaçao saw a 59.5% decrease in the number of stopover visitors, falling from 313,954 visitors in 2019 to 127,281 visitors this year. The number of stopovers from the USA has declined by 60.6% during the first eight months, from 53,832 in 2019 to 21,228 through August 2020. The number of stopovers from the Netherlands has fallen by 54.8% during the first eight months, from 129,045 in 2019 to 58,355 through August 2020.
There were no cruise visitors in August as the island remained closed to cruise traffic.  Through the first eight months of 2020 the number of cruise visitors to Curaçao fell by 49.1%, from 503,419 visitors in 2019 to 256,033 cruise visitors this year.

The Seychelles received 2,072 visitor arrivals in August.
The Seychelles Government’s National Bureau of Statistics recently announced that total stopover arrivals decreased by 93.8% in August 2020, from 33,536 arrivals in August 2019 to 2,072 arrivals in August of this year. This number includes both air and sea stopover visitors.
The Seychelles closed its borders to cruise ships as of March 9th and to international air visitors as of March 30th. The main airport reopened to limited traffic as of June 1st and to scheduled international flights as of August 1st.
In the first eight months of 2020 The Seychelles saw a 63.3% decrease in total stopover arrivals, falling from 249,963 arrivals in 2019 to 91,694 arrivals this year. Total stopover arrivals from Germany, the number one source market, fell by 53.5% from 44,265 in the first eight months of 2019 to 20,566 arrivals in the same eight months of 2020.
The number of cruise visitors decreased by 16.2%, from 23,397 in the first eight months of 2019 to 19,609 cruise visitors in the same period of 2020.

Hotel occupancy in Cancun will reach 60% by the end of the year, predicts the CPTQ
CANCUN, MX – The Tourism Promotion Council of Quintana Roo (CPTQ) predicted that in the last months of the year there will be an average hotel room occupancy of 60 percent and in 2021 most of the jobs lost in the tourism sector will be recovered, thanks to the hard work carried out with campaigns and programs, among other strategies with national and international impact.
Director Dario Flota Ocampo announced the activities they have been carrying out since before the state’s reactivation began, one of which was from Caribe Mexicano Travel’s own site. He predicted a good future for the destination.
Currently, he said that Cozumel, Riviera Maya, and Cancun report an occupation close to 30 percent and, once the epidemiological traffic light goes to yellow, a faster improvement will come. “September and October are the low occupancy months, but some hotels report more reservations than last year because travelers who couldn’t come in April, May, and June rescheduled for those dates. From the usual 30 percent, we are going to reach 60 and we will stay that way until the end of the year,” he said.
Supported by statistical data, he showed in a comparative study that from January to June 2019, 1,226,224 passengers arrived at the state’s airports, of which 758,470 were foreigners. In this same period, this year 322,035 arrived, that is, there was a variation of 73.44 percent.
The countries that contributed the most tourists in the first semester of 2019 are the United States, with 417,980; United Kingdom, 52,674; Canada, 46,215; Argentina, 15,830 and Colombia, 18,816.
In the last four weeks there has been a constant reactivation of flights, with more than 100 daily operations, with a little more than 50 percent national, and the rest from the United States and a few from Canada.

In August 2020 AUA Airport handled 21,868 outbound passengers, 19% of the departure figures of August 2019.
According to the Aruba Airport Authority, the airport handled a total of 21,868 outbound Revenue Generating Passengers (RGPs) in August 2020.  This was 10,692 (95.7%) more than the 11,176 outbound passengers handled in July 2020, and 1.8% less than what was forecasted for August, but just 19% of the total outbound passengers for the same month last year. Outbound passengers include both tourist returning to their homes and Arubans departing for trips overseas.
In August 17,546 passengers (pax) traveled to the USA, 3,700 pax to Europe and 202 pax to Canada and 386 pax to the Netherlands Antilles (34 pax departed also on a repatriation flight to Latin America).
The average outbound load factor (number of seats of the total seats on board an aircraft that are occupied when departing from AUA Airport) for the month of August for the US Market was 49%, and for the European, Canadian and Netherlands Antilles markets were 73%, 36% and 68% respectively. The average load factors for August 2019 in these markets were 94% (US), 93% (Europe), 95% (Canada), and 67% (Netherlands Antilles).
During the month of August, AUA Airport averaged 9 flights per day, down from about 35 daily flights compared with the same month last year.
For September 2020 AUA Airport has forecasted handling approximately 23,000 departing passengers. This estimate however could well be negatively affected due to the current travel restrictions that apply in European countries, the Netherlands Antilles and Canada.
TUI has cancelled all operation for September and Canadian carriers have moved up their operations to restart in October of this year. The fact that borders have not yet been opened with Latin and Central America countries as was originally hoped will also have a negative effect on the forecasted numbers. Consequently, the airport is forecasting a total of 20% of AUA Airport’s outbound traffic handled in September of 2019.

Los Cabos saw a 62.4% decline in international air traffic movements in August.
According to Aeroportuario del Pacifico , which manages many of Mexico’s airports, Los Cabos Airport saw a 62.4% decline in international passenger traffic in August 2020, that is enplanements and deplanements, falling from 260,500 international passenger movements in August 2019 to 98,000 international passenger movements in August 2020. Domestic traffic declined by 46.8%, falling from 201,300 passenger movements in August 2019 to 107,100 passenger movements in August 2020.
Regarding the operations of the Los Cabos airport in Mexico, the Government of Mexico has not issued any flight restrictions, however, it has strongly recommended that only essential activities are performed and for persons to avoid as much as possible to leave home, which has caused the cancellation of a large volume of national and international flights.
In the first eight months of 2020 the volume of international air traffic decreased by 55.4%, falling from 2,595,900 international passenger movements in 2019 to 1,157,500 in the first eight months of 2020 while the volume of domestic air traffic fell by 48.7%, from 1,304,000 movements in 2019 to 669,400 in the first eight months of 2020.
 
Bermuda received just 31 air stopover visitors in June.
According to the Bermuda Tourism Authority, Bermuda saw the volume of total air arrivals decline by 99.9% in June 2020, falling from 34,833 air arrivals in June 2019 to 31 arrivals in June 2020. There were no cruise arrivals in June 2020.
Through the first six months of 2020 Bermuda saw an 81.3% decline in the volume of total air arrivals, falling from 127,969 arrivals in the first six months of 2019 to 23,939 arrivals in the same six months of 2020. Arrivals from the USA decreased by 83.4% in the first six months of 2020, falling from 95,344 arrivals in 2019 to 15,824 arrivals in the same six months of 2020.
The number of cruise visitors declined by 96.0% in the first six months of 2020, falling from 231,495 cruise visitors in 2019 to 9,366 cruise visitors in 2020.

Costa Rica received 1,022 stopover arrivals in July.
According to the Costa Rica Institute of Tourism ICT, Costa Rica saw the volume of stopovers drop by 99.6% in July 2020, falling from 269,376 stopovers in July 2019 to just 1,022 stopovers in July 2020. The number of stopovers from the USA fell by 99.8% in July 2020, falling from 126,041 stopovers in July 2019 to 200 in July 2020 while the number from Central America declined by 99.0%, from 56,051 in July 2019 to 567 in July 2020.
After declaring a state of emergency, Costa Rica closed all borders to foreigners on April 18th 2020.
The volume of stopovers decreased by 55.7% in the first seven months of 2020, falling from 1,995,339 stopovers in 2019 to 883,044 stopovers in first seven months of 2020. The number of stopovers from the USA dropped by 59.8% in the first seven months of 2020, from 887,396 stopovers in 2019 to 356,645 in 2020 while the number from Central America declined by 54.7%, falling from 421,035 in the first seven months of 2019 to 190,859 in the same seven months of 2020. 

Mexico received 295,207 international air arrivals in July, down 82.3% compared with July 2019.
According to the Government of Mexico’s SECTUR (Department of Tourism) the volume of international air arrivals to Mexico fell by 82.3% in July 2020 from 1,669,954 in July 2019 to 295,207 in July 2020. The volume of air arrivals from the USA fell by 75.0% in July, from 1,054,807 in July 2019 to 264,184 in July of this year, with the volume from Canada falling by 95.5%, from 76,226 in July 2019 to 3,398 this year.
The 295,207 international air arrivals received in July 2020 were 151.8% higher than the 117,257 international visitors received in June 2020.
Cancun Airport saw an 84.0% decrease in international air arrivals in July 2020, falling from 703,613 arrivals in July 2019 to 112,431 arrivals in July 2020, while Los Cabos saw a 71.6% decrease falling from 149,804 international arrivals in July 2019 to 42,603 international air arrivals in July 2020. Puerto Vallarta saw an 81.3% decrease, falling from 87,835 international arrivals in July 2019 to 16,395 in July 2020.
In the first seven months of 2020 the volume of international air arrivals to Mexico fell by 57.5%, from 11,786,694 in 2019 to 5,006,907 in the first seven months of this year. The volume of air arrivals from the USA fell by 58.3% in the same seven months, from 6,646,838 in 2019 to 2,770,010 in 2020 while the volume from Canada fell by 41.5%, from 1,521,395 in 2019 to 889,497 in 2020.
Cancun Airport saw a 59.0% decrease in international air arrivals in the first seven months of 2020, falling from 4,987,472 in 2019 to 2,042,784 in 2020 while Los Cabos saw a 55.7% decrease falling from 1,121,316 international air arrivals to 496,215 air arrivals in 2020. Puerto Vallarta saw a 48.7% decrease, falling from 1,000,685 international arrivals in 2019 to 513,332 in the first seven months of 2020.

The Maldives reports zero visitor arrivals in June 2020 as a result of the continued closure of its borders.
The Maldives Government’s Ministry of Tourism recently announced that total tourist arrivals fell by 100% in June 2020, from 113,475 arrivals received in June 2019 to zero arrivals in June of this year as a result of the closure of the country’s borders as of March 27th.
The Government of the Maldives prohibited visitors from China effective February 4, from Iran as of February 26, from South Korea as of March 3, from Italy as of March 8, from Germany, Spain and France as of March 15, from Malaysia as of March 17, from the United Kingdom as of March 19, from Sri Lanka as of March 21 and from Bangladesh as of March 24. As of March 27, all foreign nationals were prohibited entry to The Maldives.
In the first six months of 2020 The Maldives saw a 55.6% decrease in total arrivals, falling from 862,589 in 2019 to 382,760 this year.
The Maldives has seen the overall number of accommodation establishments in operation fall by 96.9% from 866 in June 2019 to 27 establishments this June. The number of beds fell by 88.2% from 47,477 last June to 5,580 this year. Through the end of June overall average room occupancy had fallen by 35.5 percentage points from 66.1% in 2019 to 30.6% for the first six months of this year.
Of the 32 establishments in operation 26 were resorts which offered 5,506 beds (98.7% of the overall number of beds). These resorts achieved a 35.0% average room occupancy through the first six months of 2020 down from 77.8% for the first six months of 2019. In June 2019 there were 146 resorts in operation offering 33,581 beds. 

Hawaii reports the state received 22,562 out-of-state tourists in July.
According to the Hawaii Tourism Authority, Hawaii saw the volume of air arrivals decrease by 97.7% in July 2020, falling from 995,210 arrivals in July 2019 to 22,562 arrivals in July 2020.
The state of Hawaii imposed a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine for incoming out of state visitors on March 26th , which was extended on April 1 to include interisland travelers. Neither quarantine is slated to end before July 30.
Air arrivals from the USA fell by 97.1%, from 706,174 in July 2019 to 20,406 in July 2020, fell by 100.0% from Japan (from 134,587 arrivals in July 2019 to 54 air arrivals in July 2020). Air arrivals fell by 99.6% from Canada (from 26,939 to 94 air arrivals).
Through the first seven months of 2020 Hawaii saw a 64.7% decrease in the volume of air arrivals, falling from 6,089,357 arrivals in the first seven months of 2019 to 2,149,005 air arrivals in the same seven months of 2020. Air arrivals from the USA decreased by 64.5% in the first seven months of 2020, falling from 4,150,848 air arrivals in 2019 to 1,472,076 air arrivals in the same seven months of 2020, fell by 66.1% from Japan (from 868,821 arrivals in 2019 to 294,348 air arrivals in 2020) and fell by 54.5% from Canada (from 342,474 in 2019 to 155,915 air arrivals in 2020).
The Hawaii Tourist Authority was unable to collect any visitor expenditure data during July 2020.

In July Cancun saw its hotels achieve an average hotel room occupancy of 23.7%.
Sedetur, the Department of Tourism of the state of Quintana Roo, recently released the hotel occupancy numbers for the hotels in Cancun/Puerto Morelos and Riviera Maya for all seven months of 2020.
Cancun/Puerto Morelos saw a 58.6 percentage point drop in average hotel room occupancy from 82.3% in July 2019 to 23.7% in July 2020.
The hotels in Riviera Maya saw their average room occupancy fall by 64.5 percentage points from 84.4% in July 2019 to 19.9% in July this year.
Through the first seven months of 2020 the hotels in Cancun/Puerto Morelos have achieved a 38.4% average room occupancy, down 41.8 percentage points from the 80.2% achieved in 2019.
The hotels in Riviera Maya have achieved an average room occupancy of 35.9%, down 46.4 percentage points from the 82.3% achieved in 2019, also for the first seven months of 2020.
Riviera Maya has 46,958 hotel rooms while the Cancun/Puerto Morelos area has 40,835 hotel rooms. During July approximately 75% of the region’s hotels had re-opened.

Las Vegas saw a 61.0% decrease in visitors in July.
According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Las Vegas saw the volume of visitors decrease by 61.0% in July 2020, falling from 3,685,900 visitors in July 2019 to 1,438,000 arrivals in July 2020. The number of visitors in July 2020 was up by 35.0% compared with June 2020.
Las Vegas had a weighted average of 123,684 open hotel rooms in July 2020 (down 16.9% compared with July 2019) and achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 42.5% (down 48.6 percentage points compared with July 2019), an ADR of $104.39 (down 17.8% compared with July 2019) and a RevPar of $44.37 (down 61.6%) also compared with July 2019.
Through the first seven months of 2020 Las Vegas saw a 55.0% decrease in the volume of visitors, falling from 24,825,400 arrivals in the first seven months of 2019 to 11,170,800 visitors in the same seven months of 2020.
Las Vegas achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 42.8% in the first seven months of 2020 (down 46.8 percentage points compared with the first seven months of 2019), an ADR of $133.32 (down 0.6% compared with the same seven months of 2019) and a RevPar of $57.02, down 52.5%, also compared with the same seven months of 2019.
Gaming revenue fell by 43.6% from $6.409 billion in the first seven months of 2019 to $3.412 billion in the same seven months of 2020.

The Bahamas reports they received 13,736 stopovers in July.
According to the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, The Islands of The Bahamas received 13,736 stopover visitors in July 2020, a 93.1% decline in stopover visitor arrivals compared with July 2019 when The Bahamas received 198,394 stopover visitors.
In response to the Covid 19 pandemic on March 24th, the Bahamian border was closed indefinitely to incoming visitors and returning residents with the border officially reopening to international travel as of July 1st.
During the first seven months of 2020 The Bahamas saw a 70.6% decline in the number of stopover visitors, falling from 1,267,813 stopover visitors in 2019 to 373,311 stopovers in the first seven months of 2020. Nassau/Paradise Island saw a 67.7% decrease in stopover traffic, falling from 937,316 stopovers in 2019 to 302,908 stopovers in the first seven months of 2020, while Grand Bahama Island saw an 82.3% decline in stopover traffic, falling from 72,650 stopovers in 2019 to 12,893 in 2020. Stopover traffic to the Out Islands decreased by 77.7%, from 257,847 visitors in 2019 to 57,510 in the same seven months of 2020.
The number of visitors from the USA fell by 71.7% in the first seven months of 2020, from 1,046,331 visitors in 2019 to 295,692 in 2020. The number of visitors from Canada fell by 53.0%, from 90,931 in 2019 to 42,697 in 2020, while the number of visitors from Europe fell by 70.3%, falling from 76,854 in 2019 to 22,793 in 2020.
There were no cruise visitors in July as The Bahamas remained closed to cruise ships. During the first seven months of 2020 the number of cruise visitors to The Bahamas fell by 59.2%, from 3,255,026 visitors in 2019 to 1,327,084 cruise visitors in the first seven months of 2020.

Covid-19 Worse for Puerto Rico Tourism Than Maria, Official Says

• Hotel occupancy on the island is at 20%-30% of normal levels
• Puerto Rico instituted one of strictest lock-downs in the U.S.

How bad has the Covid-19 crisis been for Puerto Rico’s tourism industry? Worse than Hurricane Maria, the 2017 monster storm that was seen as a once-in-a-generation disaster, according to one top official.
“Covid will likely have three times the impact on the local tourism industry than Hurricane Maria had,” said Brad Dean, the chief executive officer of Discover Puerto Rico, the island’s tourism promotion agency. “That was unimaginable six months ago, but those are the circumstances we face today.”
Before the coronavirus decimated global travel, tourism was a small but growing piece of Puerto Rico’s economy. (According to WTTC tourism generates 7% of Puerto Rico’s GDP). It was also seen as one of the key motors to pulling the U.S. commonwealth out of a deep recession and a historic bankruptcy.
For the first few months of 2020, the island of 3.2 million people was on track to have its best tourism season in a decade, Dean said in a telephone interview.
But since the virus was first detected on the island in mid-March –- triggering a series of broad lock-downs on bars, beaches, businesses and other attractions –- the industry has been hammered.
Hotel occupancy is running 20% to 30% of normal and July air traffic was down 62% versus a year ago. Thirteen air-routes onto and off the island have either been scaled back or cut entirely.
The streets of Old San Juan -- usually crawling with cruise ship passengers -- are feeling sleepy.
“During the first week of August we welcomed 32,000 passengers, which is just a fraction of what we would be seeing this time of year,” Dean said.
And yet, Puerto Rico has some clear advantages.
Almost every country and territory in the Caribbean has barred international visitors, particularly Americans. That has made Puerto Rico -- a U.S. commonwealth and therefore a domestic destination -- one of the few tropical paradises that vacation-starved main-landers can still visit.
For those who had to cancel trips to Europe and South America due to Covid-19, Puerto Rico provides most Americans “the international flair and allure of visiting other cultures” without using a passport, Dean said.
With more than 30,600 confirmed and probable cases of the coronavirus, and 390 deaths due to Covid-19, the island has taken some of the most forceful steps of any U.S. jurisdiction to stop the outbreak.
Residents are required to wear masks in public. There’s a curfew in place, a ban on public gatherings and a mandatory 24-hour lock-down on Sundays. Arriving passengers are required to prove they’re Covid-free or quarantine for 14 days.
Those measures make visiting a drag but might eventually bring dividends, Dean said.
Serious Covid-19 controls “are the price of admission for meetings and conventions now, as meeting planners have to look out for the health safety of their attendees,” Dean said.
For the moment, however, Dean says his job is to make sure that visitors know the local rules and can be part of the solution.
“The priority right now is to win the battle against Covid,” he said, “and then the next battle is the economic recovery that lies ahead.”

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index fell 7.5% in August to 84.8.
 The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® decreased in August, after declining in July. The Index now stands at 84.8 (1985=100), down from 91.7 in July. The Present Situation Index – based on consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions – decreased sharply from 95.9 to 84.2. The Expectations Index – based on consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions – declined from 88.9 in July to 85.2 this month.
The monthly Consumer Confidence Survey®, based on a probability-design random sample, is conducted for The Conference Board by Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and analytics around what consumers buy and watch. The cutoff date for the preliminary results was August 14.
“Consumer Confidence declined in August for the second consecutive month,” said Lynn Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board. “The Present Situation Index decreased sharply, with consumers stating that both business and employment conditions had deteriorated over the past month. Consumers’ optimism about the short-term outlook, and their financial prospects, also declined and continues on a downward path. Consumer spending has rebounded in recent months but increasing concerns amongst consumers about the economic outlook and their financial well-being will likely cause spending to cool in the months ahead.”
Consumers’ assessment of present-day conditions receded in August. The percentage of consumers claiming business conditions are “good” declined from 17.5 percent to 16.4 percent, while those claiming business conditions are “bad” increased from 38.9 percent to 43.6 percent. Consumers’ appraisal of the job market was also less favorable. The percentage of consumers saying jobs are “plentiful” declined from 22.3 percent to 21.5 percent, while those claiming jobs are “hard to get” increased from 20.1 percent to 25.2 percent.
Consumers were also more pessimistic about the short-term outlook. The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions will improve over the next six months declined from 31.6 percent to 29.9 percent, while those expecting business conditions will worsen increased slightly from 20.2 percent to 20.5 percent. Consumers’ outlook for the labor market was also less positive. The proportion expecting more jobs in the months ahead declined from 29.6 percent to 29.1 percent, while those anticipating fewer jobs increased from 21.3 percent to 21.9 percent. Regarding their short-term income prospects, the percentage of consumers expecting an increase declined from 14.8 percent to 12.7 percent, while the proportion expecting a decrease rose from 15.8 percent to 16.6 percent.
Source: August 2020 Consumer Confidence Survey®
 
Aruba’s airport saw 11,176 passengers depart in July, 9.2% of the total for July 2019.
ORANJESTAD - In July 2020, a total of 11,176 Revenue Generating Passengers (RGPs) traveled out of the Queen Beatrix International Airport (AUA Airport) to various markets. Revenue Generating Passengers include both tourists returning home and Arubans departing to travel abroad. In July 2019 Aruba’s airport handled 121,926 departing RGPs.
Aruba reopened to traffic from the Dutch Caribbean as of June 15th, to Canada and Europe as of July 1st and from the USA as of July 10th.
Of the 11,176 departing passengers 7,042 passengers flew to the US, 2,566 passengers flew to Europe and 1,548 passengers flew to the Dutch Caribbean (20 passengers departed also on a repatriation flight to Latin America).
An average outbound load factor (number of seats of the total seats on board an aircraft that were occupied when departing from Aruba Airport) for the US Market was 40% for the period of July 10 to July 31, 2020. The average load factors for the entire month of July for the European and Dutch Caribbean markets were 56% and 55% respectively. The average load factor for these three markets in July 2019 were USA 95%, Europe 95%, and the Dutch Caribbean 68%.
During the first week of August, AUA Airport averaged nine flights per day, down from about 37 daily flights from the same week in August 2019.
For August 2020 AUA Airport forecasts that it will be handling approximately 16,000 to 19,000 departing passengers. This would be approximately 17% of the traffic handled in August of 2019.
AUA Airport is still cautious about forecasting the volume of revenue generating passengers for the remainder of 2020 and expects the final total of RGPs for 2020 to be  between 35% - 40% of the amount of RGPs handled during full year 2019.
“We are glad that we are back in business since July, but the path towards air traffic recovery will be long and challenging. Airlines face a prolonged uphill climb before air travel demand recovers to pre-pandemic levels, but air travel numbers have been steadily increasing as was recorded during the past few weeks.” – Joost Meijs, CEO AUA Airport.
 
Jamaica received 41,941 stopover arrivals in July.
According to the Jamaica Tourist Board, Jamaica received 41,941 stopover arrivals in July 2020, 15.5% of the total received in July 2019, when the island received 270,642 stopover arrivals. 
Jamaica re-opened its borders to international visitors as of June 15th 2020.
Stopover arrivals from the USA fell by 81.5%, from 201,721 visitors in July 2019 to 37,348 visitors in July 2020.
Cruise arrivals fell by 100%, from 77,560 cruise visitors in July 2019 to zero cruise visitors in July 2020 as Jamaica remained closed to cruise ship arrivals.
Through the first seven months of 2020 Jamaica saw a 62.5% decline in the volume of stopover arrivals, falling from 1,661,145 stopover arrivals in the first seven months of 2019 to 623,260 arrivals in the same seven months of 2020.
Arrivals from the USA declined by 63.3% in the first seven months of 2020, falling from 1,147,482 arrivals in 2019 to 420,882 arrivals in the same seven months of 2020.
The number of cruise visitors declined by 54.2% in the first seven months of 2020, falling from 980,532 cruise visitors in 2019 to 449,271 cruise visitors in 2020.

​Hawaii’s hotels report a 64.4 percentage point drop in average room occupancy in July to 20.9%
According to the Hawai‘i Hotel Performance Report published by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA), statewide hotel room occupancy fell by 64.4 percentage points from 85.3% in July 2019 to 20.9% in July this year. ADR fell by 42.7% from $303.93 to $174.03 while revpar fell by 86.0%, from $259.16 in July 2019 to $36.39 in July this year.
HTA’s Tourism Research Division issued the report’s findings utilizing data compiled by STR, Inc., which conducts the largest and most comprehensive survey of hotel properties in the Hawaiian Islands. For July, the survey included 88 properties representing 20,241 rooms, or 37.7 percent of all lodging properties and 68.6 percent of operating lodging properties with 20 rooms or more in the Hawaiian Islands, including full service, limited service, and condominium hotels
In July, Hawai‘i hotel room revenues statewide fell by 92.3 percent to $33.3 million. Room demand was 86.6 percent lower than the same period last year. Room supply decreased by 45.4 percent year-over-year. Many properties closed or reduced operations starting in April.
During July, all passengers arriving from out-of-state were required to abide by a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine. The quarantine order was expanded on April 1 to include interisland travelers; the interisland quarantine ended on June 15.
For the first seven months of 2020 statewide hotel room occupancy fell by 34.2 percentage points from 81.2% in 2019 to 47.0% in the first seven months of 2020. ADR grew by 0.3% from $283.66 in 2019 to $284.56 while revpar fell by 42.0%, from $230.22 in the first seven months of 2019 to $133.64 in the first seven months of this year.
In the first seven months of 2020, Hawai‘i hotel room revenues statewide fell by 57.4% from $2.641 billion in 2019 to $1.124 billion this year. Room demand fell to 3,951,200  room nights, down 57.6% compared to a year ago. Room supply fell by 26.6% and fell to 8,413,300 available room nights.
 
United States tourism falls 73% in Quintana Roo due to pandemic
​Due to the pandemic, the United States market had a decrease of 73.78 compared to last year, but it was also the first to present “a slow but stable recovery,” said Darío Flota Ocampo, director of the Tourism Promotion Council of Quintana Roo (CPTQ), at a press conference held on Monday, August 17th, organized by the General Coordination of Communication of the state government.
The statistics for July 2020 report that 109,615 US citizens visited Quintana Roo, against the 417,980 who did so in that month of 2019; however, receiving more than 100,000 people in the midst of a health contingency such as the current one is remarkable, “especially if we consider that we are starting from scratch,” said Flota Ocampo.
From January to July of this year, Quintana Roo has received 1,074,815 visitors from the United States, which corresponds to 40 percent of the amount received in the same period last year, when 2,660,544 tourists arrived at the state.
The official explained that the Latin American and European markets suffered a drastic fall compared to 2019. That year, 12 percent of the tourists who came to Quintana Roo came from Latin America and 7.8 percent from Europe; after the pandemic, both segments reached barely one percent.
National tourism fell 57.43 percent, from 467,754 Mexican tourists in July 2019 to 199,118 in July 2020.
After the tourist reopening, in July and August, the number of domestic and international flights has grown, currently, there is a sustained growth”, mentioned Flota Ocampo and highlighted that on Sunday, August 16th, the Cancun International Airport reported 104 arrivals, 40 of them international.
 
​Bahamas Looking To An October Upturn
THE Bahamas Ministry of Tourism is eyeing late October as the return of its global marketing strategies, hoping by then the country is ready to reopen, Tourism Parliamentary Secretary Travis Robinson said yesterday.
“We are looking at around late October for phase one (of the reopening) and the early part of November, if everything pans out, for the final phase as we go back out and infiltrate the market with the tourism brand of The Bahamas,” he said.
He said about $13 million in ads were put on hold when Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis implemented restrictions last month to again slow the spread of COVID-19. “Since the country readjusted by going back to a lockdown, the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation halted all our marketing overseas to understand what’s happening globally and locally,” he said. “There was a need to ensure the message we were selling about The Bahamas being open for business is unified across all our marketing areas. We have some nine different offices all around the world so there is a need to ensure we are sending unified messages in terms of what people can expect with respect to the restrictions and protocols put in place by the competent authority.
“The situation has been fluid in the country. At one particular time there was the COVID-19 negative test that was required, then there was the 14-day quarantine requirement and then adjustments were made again so hotel properties have been deemed quarantine sites. To ensure we are not back and forth to the global community about our message that The Bahamas is open for business, we are holding our ads. We have been meeting on a regular basis discussing the new marketing campaign that will involve every island of The Bahamas in our new market going forward.”
Mr. Robinson said when the country is ready for business again, tourism officials want visitors to get their travel visas quicker than they did when the country last reopened.
“We’ve been meeting with a local company to adjust the process for accepting COVID-19 negative tests from guests,” he said. “One challenge we experienced when guests submitted their tests was the turn around time to issue them their travel visas. “You can have anywhere up to 2,000 to 3,000 visitors coming to The Bahamas each day, even more. The demand to have those negative tests processed manually by individuals at the command centre became strenuous so we are at the table negotiating with a local company about participating in that work. We are looking at the possibility of an automated system and artificial intelligence so when we do reopen, tourists who submit their test can receive their travel visa within ten to 15 minutes. We will ensure we prevent false tests from being approved.”
Mr Robinson also said those who want to give input or suggestions can email him at trobinson@bahamas.com.
 
US travelers are still not very interested in international travel.
Destination Analysts recently released the results of their Wave 23 Coronavirus Travel Sentiment Index Report for surveys conducted between August 14th and August 16th. The survey was of a sample of 1,203 adult American travelers. The results are accurate within plus/minus 2.8%.
More than three quarters are unlikely to take an international trip anytime soon.
Question: I will be unlikely to travel outside the United States until the coronavirus situation is resolved.

• Strongly Agree/Agree 78%
• Strongly Disagree/Disagree 6%
• No opinion either way 15%

The number who agree/strongly agree that they are unlikely to take an international trip is little changed since March when the number stood at 82.1%
However, of those who are interested in international travel:-

• For the upcoming traveling months, this group is much more likely to have at least tentative travel plans for January and February of 2021
• They are much more likely to have traveled outside the U.S. (70.4% vs. 41.7%) and much more likely to have stayed in a 5-star hotel (46.5% vs. 24.1%) in the past two years
• They skew Millennial or younger (60.9%) with an average HHI of $108,606 and who live in urban areas (47.8%)
• They are slightly more likely to say they will avoid travel until the Coronavirus situation blows over (67.8% vs. 59.2% for all travelers)
• Travel discounts and price cuts are much more attractive to this group (72.8% vs. 39.0%)

For the full report click here 

​Hawaii pushes back tourism reopening again
(August 20 2020)
Hawaii is still not ready to welcome tourists and its already delayed September reopening plan has been pushed back even further.
Hawaii Governor David Ige said the general tourism ban will last until at least 1 October, which is a delay of another month. "We will continue to monitor the conditions here in Hawaii as well as key markets on the mainland to determine the appropriate start date for the pre-travel testing program," he said.
Ige said there is no confirmed new date for reopening yet, but there will be sufficient notice given so hotels, restaurants and tourism operators have time to prepare and rehire workers. "We cannot deny that Hawaii is seeing a surge in positive Covid-19 cases. There are numerous clusters and wide community spread.''
The plan was to reopen to tourists to allow access without a mandatory quarantine period with proof of a negative Covid-19 test on arrival.
Up until early July, Hawaii had seemingly contained the virus pretty well, with less than 1,000 cases. Since then cases have surged with more than 5,300 people now tested positive.

Florida saw an historic 60% drop in tourist arrivals in the second quarter of 2020.
Visit Florida’s Research Department recently announced that the state of Florida saw a 60.5% decline in the number of tourist arrivals in the second quarter of 2020, with total arrivals falling from 32,407,000 in the second quarter of 2019 to 12,801,000 arrivals in the second quarter of 2020. Domestic arrivals were down by 56.4%, while arrivals from Canada fell by 99.0% from 931,000 in the second quarter of 2019 to just 9,000 in the same quarter of 2020. Arrivals from overseas fell by 91.1% from 2,646,000 arrivals in the second quarter of 2019 to 235,000 in the same three months of 2020.
Through the first six months of 2020 Florida saw a 35.2% decrease in the number of tourist arrivals with total arrivals falling from 68,198,000 in 2019 to 44,188,000 arrivals in the first two quarters of 2020. Domestic arrivals were down by 32.9%, falling from 60,442,000 arrivals in 2019 to 40,536,000 in 2020, while arrivals from Canada fell by 47.8%, from 2,362,000 in 2019 to 1,234,000 in 2020. Arrivals from overseas fell by 55.2%, from 5,394,000 in 2019 to 2,418,00 in the same six months of 2020.

​The United States Virgin Islands saw a 63.0% decline in air arrivals in June 2020.
According to the USVI Bureau of Economic Research, the USVI saw the volume of air arrivals decrease by 63.0% in June 2020, falling from 61,982 air arrivals in June 2019 to 22,929 air arrivals in June of this year.
The USVI officially reopened its borders to tourists as of June 1 but due to a spike in Covid19 cases has closed its borders to visitors as of Wednesday August 19th.
Through the first six months of 2020 the USVI saw the volume of air arrivals decrease by 41.4%, from 354,973 air arrivals in the first six months of 2019 to 208,167 air arrivals in the first six months of 2020.
There were no cruise visitor arrivals in June.

Mauritius announces stopover visitor arrivals fell by 100% in July as its borders remained closed.
The Mauritius Government’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Development recently announced that total stopover arrivals fell by 100% in July 2020, from 115,448 arrivals in July 2019 to 45 arrivals in July of this year. This number includes both air and sea stopover visitors.
Mauritius closed its border to all international visitors indefinitely as of March 19th 2020.
In the first seven months of 2020 Mauritius saw a 60.2% decrease in total stopover arrivals, falling from 765,530 arrivals in 2019 to 304,926 arrivals this year. Total stopover arrivals from France, the number one market, fell by 52.3% from 164,770 arrivals in the first seven months of 2019 to 78,645 arrivals in the same seven months of 2020.

The Seychelles announces stopover visitor arrivals fell by 98.4% in July.
The Seychelles Government’s National Bureau of Statistics recently announced that total stopover arrivals decreased by 98.4% in July 2020, from 29,319 arrivals in July 2019 to 475 arrivals in July of this year. This number includes both air and sea stopover visitors.
The Seychelles closed its borders to cruise ships as of March 9th and to international air visitors as of March 30th. The main airport reopened to limited traffic as of June 1st and to scheduled international flights as of August 1st.
In the first seven months of 2020 The Seychelles saw a 58.6% decrease in total stopover arrivals, falling from 216,427 arrivals in 2019 to 89,622 arrivals this year. Total stopover arrivals from Germany, the number one source market, fell by 48.8% from 39,966 in the first seven months of 2019 to 20,469 arrivals in the same seven months of 2020.
The number of cruise visitors decreased by 16.2%, from 23,397 in the first seven months of 2019 to 19,609 cruise visitors in the same period of 2020.

​U.S. Virgin Islands Closes to Leisure Travelers Due to Spike In COVID-19
The U.S. Virgin Islands is closing to leisure visitors in an effort to contain the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). The decision is effective Wednesday, August 19, and will last for a period of at least one month.
Effective immediately, hotels, villas, Airbnb accommodations, guest houses, temporary vacation housing and charter vessels and similar businesses have been ordered not to accept or book any new reservations for 30 days.
As of Wednesday, August 19, 2020, accommodations providers are barred from admitting or checking-in any guests for 30 days unless the order is lifted sooner. Reservations may only be accepted for business travelers, flight crews, emergency personnel, and government workers with written authorization from the relevant government agency they are visiting.
Virgin Islanders in the territory and abroad are encouraged to travel only for urgent matters to help limit the contagion into and out of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Governor Albert Bryan Jr. additionally announced Thursday that the territory will revert to the “Stay-at-Home” (Orange alert) phase of its COVID-19 response, for the next two weeks, at which time it will be reevaluated. According to the territory’s chief executive, on Monday, August 17, all non-essential businesses and churches are ordered to cease operations and the public, including non-essential public sector workers, are ordered to stay at home.
Beginning Monday, August 17 and lasting until August 31 unless lifted earlier, all restaurants in the territory can offer only takeout, delivery or drive-thru service. All bars, nightclubs and cabarets are to remain closed as long as the Territory remains in a State of Emergency.
The U.S. Virgin Islands reopened for leisure tourism on June 1. From May 10 to June 20, there had only been six new confirmed cases of coronavirus, according to Our World in Data. By August 12, that spiked to 92 new cases.
 
Cruise ships banned until 2021
Cruise tourism will not be returning to the Cayman Islands until next year.
Acting Port Authority Director Joseph Woods confirmed that the Cayman Islands government was extending its ban on cruise ships until 31 Dec.
Woods issued a notice of the government’s decision to the islands’ cruise industry partners, informing them of the new date “so that they could plan according”.
“I sent it to the major cruise lines, the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association, local shipping agents and tender operators,” he told the Cayman Compass in a telephone interview Thursday evening.
In his brief notice, Woods said, “After careful consideration, the Cayman Islands Government has taken the decision that in the current global environment with respect to the coronavirus pandemic, it cannot allow the resumption of cruise tourism in the Cayman Islands for the immediate future.”
He added that Cayman would remain closed for cruise tourism until the end of the year.
The Cayman Islands government stopped allowing cruise ships to dock here on 16 March.
Cayman has not had a new positive COVID-19 case since 13 July, and on Wednesday the Pan-American Health Organization moved its transmission level rating for the country from ‘sporadic’ to ‘no cases’.
Premier Alden McLaughlin welcomed the PAHO status change, saying, “I am gratified that Cayman has now been declared COVID-19-free by PAHO, one of a very few countries in the world to have achieved that status. This is testament to the careful thought, expert advice and effective execution of the Government’s strategy, coupled with the cooperation of the general public.”
The cruise industry has been struggling in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, after several ships reported an outbreak of the virus on board.
In Cayman, the first recorded case of coronavirus involved an Italian passenger from the Costa Luminosa cruise ship who came ashore for medical treatment after he suffered a heart attack. He was later diagnosed with COVID-19 and died at Health City Cayman Islands.
The decision to shut out cruise ships until year’s end follows a Cabinet decision last Friday to extend Cayman’s border closures until 1 Oct.
Government said that decision was taken after “having continually monitored the rate of infection in other countries, particularly in the United States where the pandemic is still widespread”.
Last month, a phased reopening of borders was announced and it included requiring travellers who have tested negative for COVID-19 three days prior to arriving on island to wear a BioButton monitoring device and self-isolate for five days, or, if they choose not to wear the device, quarantine at a government-managed facility for 14 days, officials said in a press release.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently imposed a ban at American ports, blocking cruise ships from docking.
Recently, Royal Caribbean Group posted second-quarter losses of US$1.6 billion and Carnival Corporation reported an adjusted net loss of US$2.4 billion for the same period.
However, despite that outlook, industry leaders, in a recent interview with the Compass, appeared optimistic about the future of cruise tourism.
  
Cayman Islands’ economy is expected to contract by 7.2% in 2020
"The Cayman Islands’ economy is expected to contract by 7.2 per cent in 2020 before recovering partially by 6.4 per cent in 2021," projects Finance Minister, Roy McTaggart.
McTaggart, in his presentation at the Chamber of Commerce Virtual Economic Forum, suggested that these projections would have been worse, had government not gone to great lengths to contain the virus as it had.
"Without these measures, the projections presented today would be bleaker, and we need not look far across the sea to appreciate what could have been," he said.
The main driver of the 2020 contraction is of course the hospitality and restaurant sector, which is expected to suffer a decline of 74.6 per cent in 2020. Tourist Accommodation Charges alone were $14.8 million lower than budget.
The transport, storage and communication sector is projected to contract by 14.7 percent-- the second-largest decline for the year, despite a moderate growth in communication. 
The most resilient sectors to the pandemic have been the financing and insurance sector which is projected to decline by a modest 3.8 per cent and the business services sector, comprised mainly of legal and accounting services, which is expected to decline by 1.7 per cent. Given workers' ability to work remotely and the use of online banking by customers, these sectors have been able to maintain some level of success.
On a positive note, the Minister indicated that "additional spending by the Government on health and other essential services is expected to boost economic activity in health and social services and other Government services.  Additionally, with more individuals working remotely and resumed office activities, consumption of electricity and water is expected to remain robust for the year."
Other economic highlights:
Unemployment: The unemployment rate in 2020 is forecasted at 6.9% of the labour force, due to a fall-off in demand from the labour-intensive tourism sector among others. The unemployment rate in 2021 is projected at 5.1%.
Output: The contraction in output for 2020 is precipitated by reductions in economic output associated with recent restrictions and low demand for some of our services in the coming months. International demand for our services will be impacted by the continuing closure of our borders and expected contractions in the US and other advanced economies.
Inflation: the consumer price index (CPI) inflation rate is forecasted at 0.4% in 2020, lower than the high of 5.7% observed in 2019.   Falling international commodity prices are expected to support stability in the consumer basket and relieve most inflationary concerns from policy decisions in the near term. Inflation in 2021 is projected at 1.6%.
In a May 27 press briefing the Minister of Finance indicated that "measures implemented to date by our government are expected to boost GDP value-added by approximately $184.9 million in 2020, an improvement on the GDP contraction from -11.4 per cent to -7.3 per cent. This translates to roughly 36.0 per cent of the projected falloff in real GDP. As a result of the measures implemented, more jobs will be saved, an estimated 1,468 jobs, of which 678 are likely to go to Caymanians."
The Finance Minister stressed that growth in the months and years to come would be driven by strong collaboration with the private sector.
 
Punta Cana received 17,871 tourists in July, down 94.3% compared with July 2019.
According to the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic, saw the volume of non-resident stopover arrivals decrease by 94.3% in July, falling from 311,038 arrivals in July 2019 to 17,871 arrivals in July 2020. Stopover arrivals from the USA fell by 90.6% in July, from 128,941 arrivals in July 2019 to 12,136 arrivals in July 2020.
The Dominican Republic reopened its borders to visitors as of July 1st 2020 with limited controls on arrivals but changed its policy on July 30th requiring all visitors to show evidence of a negative RT-PCR test taken prior to arrival.
During the first seven months of 2020 Punta Cana saw a 68.3% decrease in the volume of stopover arrivals, falling from 2,401,030 arrivals in 2019 to 759,968 non-resident arrivals in the first seven months of 2020.
Arrivals from the USA fell by 80.3% in the first seven months of 2020, falling from 1,073,782 arrivals in 2019 to 211,687 arrivals in the same seven months of 2020. Arrivals from Russia fell by 35.9% in the same period, from 35,036 in 2019 to 22,448 in 2020. Traffic was also down 68.6% from Germany, down 65.0% from Brazil, down 69.4% from Argentina, down 70.0% from the U.K., down 60.4% from France and down 46.7% from Canada.
In the first seven months of 2020 stopover arrivals to Punta Cana made up 49.7% of all non-resident arrivals to the Dominican Republic.

The Dominican Republic received 135,163 non-resident visitors in July, down 77.1% compared with July 2019.
According to the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, the Dominican Republic saw the volume of non-resident stopover arrivals decrease by 77.1% in July, falling from 591,348 non-resident arrivals in July 2019 to 135,163 arrivals in July 2020. Stopover arrivals from the USA fell by 78.8%, from 218,041 arrivals in July 2019 to 46,207 arrivals in July 2020.  60% of the non-resident arrivals in July were Dominicans living abroad and returning to the Dominican Republic.
The Dominican Republic reopened its borders to visitors as of July 1st 2020 with limited controls on arrivals but changed its policy on July 30th requiring all visitors to show evidence of a negative RT-PCR test taken prior to arrival.
In the first seven months of 2020 the Dominican Republic saw a 63.3% decrease in the volume of stopover arrivals, falling from 4,166,646 arrivals in 2019 to 1,529,249 non-resident arrivals in 2020. Non-resident arrivals from the USA decreased by 74.9% in the first seven months of 2020, falling from 1,601,783 arrivals in 2019 to 401,647 arrivals in 2020.

Cayman Islands Extends Border Closure to October 1
Citing a rise in the rate of coronavirus infections in other countries, including the U.S., the Cayman Islands government announced it will keep its borders closed another 30 days, until October 1.
The situation will be evaluated again at that time.
In a statement, the government said “that having continually monitored the rate of infection in other countries, particularly in the United States where the pandemic is still widespread, Cabinet has taken the decision to extend the Islands border closure for an additional 30 days, until 1st October 2020, at which time a further decision will be made.”
Just two weeks ago, the Cayman Islands said it would reopen on September 1.
The government said it is aware that some airline websites are offering flights to the Cayman Islands and accepting future bookings. But as long as the borders are closed, the Caymans have not granted approval for the operation of any commercial flights. Travelers who make reservations directly with any airline while the Islands' borders are closed do so at their own risk.
Repatriation flights by Cayman Airways will continue to operate on an ad hoc basis, and the air bridge between the United Kingdom and the Cayman Islands will also remain open as the Caymans look to bring its citizens home.
Cayman Airways is providing a series of repatriation flights to Miami, Kingston, Jamaica and Le Ceiba, Honduras, which are scheduled to depart the Cayman Islands on September 1, 4, 11, 18 and 25 to Miami; September 2, 16 and 30 to Kingston; and August 19 and September 23 to Le Ceiba.
 
Maldives to reopen 94% of resorts by October 2020
Following the reopening of Maldivian borders to international visitors on 15 July 2020, Maldives Marketing and PR Corporation (MMPRC) has announced that 146 of its 156 resorts in operation will reopen to guests by the end of October 2020 following health and safety measures set out by the Ministry of Tourism.
An impressive 43 resorts have already opened in the Maldives, including Kudafushi Resort & Spa, Lily Beach Maldives, LUX North Male Atoll, OBLU by Atmosphere, Soneva Fushi, Angsana Resort & Spa, VARU by Atmosphere, Jumeirah Vittaveli, Velaa Private Island and both properties owned by Four Seasons.
In August, a further 28 resorts will open their doors to the public, including Joali Maldives, all four properties in Coco Collection and Centara’s Maldivian portfolio of resorts, as well as the recently launched Emerald Maldives Resort & Spa all of which reopened on 1 August.
Budget-friendly guesthouses situated on local inhabited islands in the Maldives are also permitted to open to guests as of 1 August 2020. During September, 29 Maldivian resorts will safely welcome back tourists, including Hideaway Beach Resort & Spa, four of Aitken Spence Hotels’ Maldivian properties and The Nautilus.
An additional 46 resorts will open in October, including Outrigger Konotta Maldives Resort, Reethi Faru Resort and Niyama Private Islands Maldives. This will mean 94% of resorts in the Maldives will be open for business ahead of the key ‘winter sun’ travel months when many UK holidaymakers traditionally escape to warmer climates.
In line with the comprehensive COVID-19 safe tourism guidelines and hygiene certification programme issued by the Maldivian Ministry of Tourism in June 2020, all 156 resorts situated in the island nation will be required to take protective measures, ensuring the safety of tourists and also staff working in the industry.
Thoyyib Mohamed, managing director of Maldives Marketing & PR Corporation (MMPRC), said: “Following the issue of detailed COVID-19 safe tourism guidelines and the reopening of our international borders on 15 July, the Maldives is now fully prepared to welcome back tourists to our island nation, with safety being the destinations’ top priority. Over 40 resorts in the Maldives are already open to guests and a further 103 will reopen before the month of November, so we look forward to welcoming back UK holidaymakers to our beautiful islands.”

The Bahamas reports stopover arrivals fell by 97.9% in June.
According to the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, The Islands of The Bahamas saw a 97.9% decline in stopover visitor arrivals in June, falling from 186,992 stopovers in June 2019 to 3,935 in June of this year.
In response to the Covid 19 pandemic on March 24th, the Bahamian border was closed indefinitely to incoming visitors and returning residents. Extremely limited travel was allowed in June with the border officially reopening to international travel as of July 1st.
During the first six months of 2020 The Bahamas saw a 64.7% decline in the number of stopover visitors, falling from 1,069,413 stopover visitors in 2019 to 377,931 stopovers in the first six months of 2020. Nassau/Paradise Island saw a 59.7% decrease in stopover traffic, falling from 742,406 stopovers in 2019 to 299,522 stopovers in the first six months of 2020, while Grand Bahama Island saw a 79.9% decline in stopover traffic, falling from 79,812 stopovers in 2019 to 16,011 n 2020. Stopover traffic to the Out Islands decreased by 74.8%, from 247,195 visitors in 2019 to 62,398 in the same six months of 2020.
There were no cruise visitors in June as The Bahamas remained closed to cruise ships. During the first six months of 2020 the number of cruise visitors to The Bahamas fell by 52.2%, from 2,773,560 visitors in 2019 to 1,327,084 cruise visitors in the first six months of 2020.

Cancun saw an 85.1% decrease in international air passenger movements in July.
According to ASUR, which manages many of Mexico’s airports, Cancun Airport saw an 85.1% decrease in international passenger movements in July 2020, falling from 1,484,897 movements in July 2019 to 221,074 movements in July 2020. Domestic passenger movements fell by 56.7%, from 914,987 passenger movements in July 2019 to 395,958 movements in July 2020.
July saw international passenger movements increase by 176,656 (+398%)  compared with June, moving from 44,418 movements in June to 221,074 in July, while domestic passenger movements increased by 264,957 (+202%) moving from 131,001 in June to 395,958 in July.
In the first seven months of 2020 the volume of international air passenger movements  decreased by 57.7%, falling from 10,480,238 movements in 2019 to 4,430,974 movements in 2020 while the volume of domestic air passenger movements fell by 52.7%, from 5,134,037 movements in the first seven months of 2019 to 2,429,042 in the same seven months of 2020.

San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU) saw a 62.4% decrease in air passenger movements in July.
According to ASUR, which manages many airports in Mexico, Colombia and which also manages the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, SJU saw a 62.4% decrease in passenger movements in July 2020, falling from 968,319 movements in July 2019 to 363,935 movements in July 2020.
July saw passenger movements increase by 149,927 (+70.0%) compared with June moving from 214,008 movements in June to 363,935 in July.
In the first seven months of 2020 the overall volume of air passenger movements decreased by 48.9%, from 5,686,127 in 2019 to 2,906,051 in 2020.

Curacao reports stopover arrivals fell by 78.0% in July.
According to the Curaçao Tourist Board, Curaçao saw a 78.0% decrease in stopover visitor arrivals in July, falling from 37,249 stopovers in July 2019 to 8,195 in July of this year.
Curacao had closed its borders to international arrivals as of March 17 2020 and re-opened to visitors from the Caribbean as of June 16th and from Canada and Europe but not the United States of America as of July 1st. The Government limited the number of visitors to no more than 10,000 for the month of July.
Stopover visitors from the Netherlands fell by 61.0%, from 16,456 visitors in July 2019 to 6,370 visitors in July 2020. The 6,370 visitors comprised 77.7% of all arrivals in July.
In the first seven months of 2020 Curaçao saw a 57.1% decrease in the number of stopover visitors, falling from 275,021 visitors in 2019 to 118,054 visitors this year. The number of stopovers from the USA has declined by 55.5% during the first seven months, from 47,522 in 2019 to 21,138 through July 2020. The number of stopovers from the Netherlands has fallen by 55.1% during the first seven months, from 113,185 in 2019 to 50,834 through July 2020.
There were no cruise visitors in July as the island remained closed to cruise traffic.  Through the first seven months of 2020 the number of cruise visitors to Curaçao fell by 45.4%, from 468,888 visitors in 2019 to 256,033 cruise visitors this year.

Las Vegas saw a 70.5% decrease in visitors in June.
According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Las Vegas saw the volume of visitors decrease by 70.5% in June 2020, falling from 3,607,400 visitors in June 2019 to 1,065,100 arrivals in June 2020.
Las Vegas had a weighted average of 95,396 open hotel rooms in June 2020 (down 36.2% compared with June 2019) and achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 40.9% (down 50.8 percentage points compared with June 2019), an ADR of $104.07 (down 13.6% compared with June 2019) and a RevPar of $42.56 down 61.5% also compared with June 2019.
Through the first six months of 2020 Las Vegas saw a 54.0% decrease in the volume of visitors, falling from 21,139,700 arrivals in the first six months of 2019 to 9,732,700 visitors in the same six months of 2020.
Las Vegas achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 42.9% in the first six months of 2020 (down 46.4 percentage points compared with the first six months of 2019), an ADR of $137.53 (up 1.7% compared with the same six months of 2019) and a RevPar of $59.00, down 51.1%, also compared with the same six months of 2019.
Gaming revenue fell by 46.0% from $5.187 billion in the first six months of 2019 to $2.799 billion in the same six months of 2020.

Montego Bay saw an 86.7% decrease in air passenger traffic in July.
According to Aeroportuario del Pacifico, which manages many of Mexico’s airports and which also manages the airports in Montego Bay and Kingston, Jamaica, saw the total number of passenger movements, that is both enplanements and deplanements, at Montego Bay Airport decrease by 86.7% in July 2020, falling from 443,100 movements in July 2019 to 58,800 movements in July 2020.
Jamaica reopened its borders to international visitors as of June 15th 2020
In the first seven months of 2020 the overall volume of passenger movements decreased by 59.2%, from 2,963,800 passenger movements in 2019 to 1,209,300 passenger movements in the first seven months of 2020.
​
Los Cabos saw a 73.4% decline in international air traffic movements in July.
According to Aeroportuario del Pacifico , which manages many of Mexico’s airports, Los Cabos Airport saw a 73.4% decline in international passenger traffic in July 2020, that is enplanements and deplanements, falling from 316,200 international passenger movements in July 2019 to 84,200 international passenger movements in July 2020. Domestic traffic declined by 61.5%, falling from 217,300 passenger movements in July 2019 to 83,600 passenger movements in July 2020.
Regarding the operations of the Los Cabos airport in Mexico, the Government of Mexico has not issued any flight restrictions, however, it has strongly recommended that only essential activities are performed and for persons to avoid as much as possible to leave home, which has caused the cancellation of a large volume of national and international flights. These measures were extended until July 30 2020.
In the first seven months of 2020 the volume of international air traffic decreased by 54.6%, falling from 2,335,400 international passenger movements in 2019 to 1,059,500 in the first seven months of 2020 while the volume of domestic air traffic fell by 49.0%, from 1,102,700 movements in 2019 to 562,300 in the first seven months of 2020.

Belize Suspends Border Reopening After COVID-19 Cases Surge
The government of Belize announced a delay in the re-opening of Philip Goldson International (PIGA) due to a “spike in the number of COVID-19 cases in three districts,” said Dean Barrow the country’s prime minister, in a statement. The airport opening “will be announced at a later date,” Barrow said.
Preliminary results in Belize’s popular San Pedro district resulted in 14 new potentially positive cases of COVID-19, but government health officials are “currently undergoing the confirmation process,” said Barrow in a statement.
Although the airport will not reopen, weekly repatriation flights for Belizean nationals will continue, with all returning residents subject to mandatory 14-day quarantine upon arrival.
As of August 8th Belize, has reported a total of 114 positive cases, of which 80 are active, with just two deaths. However, the number of cases has grown by 137% since August 1st when Belize had reported a total of 48 cases.
Barrow had threatened earlier this week to postpone the airport reopening if contract-tracing on Ambergris Caye revealed more positive COVID-19 cases. The prime minister assailed the behavior of residents whom he said "have not exactly been following the ongoing guidelines," according to a breakingnews.com report. The transgressions include a local wedding attended by 500 people, "jammed water taxis" and other violations.
Belize had been scheduled to open its borders to international visitors on August 15, announcing a series of health and safety measures to control the spread of COVID-19. Under the announced protocols, travelers will be required to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of their departure or undergo testing on arrival, according to Belize Tourist Board officials.
Travelers will also be required to download the Belize Health App before boarding their flight. The app can be utilized for contact tracing should traveler develop symptoms or test positive. Arriving guests must also undergo a temperature check at the airport and wear a mask while traveling.
Airport capacity and additional health measures, including barriers and sneeze guards, have also been mandated, and luggage will be sanitized before being transferred into the terminal. New guidelines for tour groups, tourist sites and hotels will also be instituted.
Hotels will be required to attain the country’s “Tourism Gold Standard Certificate of Recognition” to operate. Under the program, operators will be required to maintain an array of hygienic amenities and services.
Check-in and check-out procedures will be performed online, and masks will be required in public spaces. Both guests and employees will undergo daily health checks, and properties are required to establish “isolation/quarantine rooms” for guests who may have contracted the virus.

Expedia’s second quarter bookings drop 90 per cent on 2019 figures
US: Expedia Group has announced an 82 per cent drop in revenue for the second quarter of 2020, as total gross bookings for the three-month period up to 30 June also saw a 90 per cent decline on the equivalent period in 2019, to $2.71 billion.
The plummeting figures for the Seattle-based online travel agency are one of the clearest illustrations yet of the overall impact of the coronavirus on the global travel sector.
Bloomberg said the latest revenue figures of $566 million were the lowest reported by Expedia in roughly a decade, in the fallout of the global financial crash in 2008, widely considered to be the worst economic disaster since the 1929 Great Depression. On current estimates, the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic threaten to eclipse that, as initial analyst predictions for revenue and adjusted losses [before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation] fell way short of the actual figures.
In a statement, CEO Peter Kern said: “The second quarter of 2020 represented likely the worst quarter the travel industry has seen in modern history and Expedia was of course not spared.”
One upside for Expedia is the steady recovery of bookings in May and June seen by its vacation rental unit Vrbo, following the group’s decision to phase out its HomeAway brand in the United States and elevate attention for Vrbo instead. Domestic vacation rentals in non-urban locations, such as mountains, lakes and national parks have seen a significant rise in interest among families who reside in cities.

Orlando saw a 67.4 percentage point decline in average room occupancy in June to 25.4%.
According to STR Orlando had 128,000 hotel rooms in June 2020 and achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 25.4% (down 67.4 percentage points compared with June 2019), and an ADR of $79.43 (down 34.2% compared with June 2019).
According to Visit Orlando, Orlando saw the volume of air passenger enplanements decrease by 78.2% in June 2020, falling from 2,298,777 enplanements in June 2019 to 501,952 enplanements in June 2020. This includes enplanements at both Orlando International and Sanford airports.
In the first six months of 2020 Orlando achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 50.1% (down 37.3 percentage points compared with 2019), and an ADR of $124.18 (down 6.5% compared with 2019). 
In the first six months of 2020 Orlando saw a 50.4% decrease in the volume of air passenger enplanements, falling from 13,786,249 enplanements in 2019 to 6,844,765 enplanements in the first six months of 2020.

Aruba reports 26% increase in reported cases of Covid19 since reopening its borders on June 15th.
On Wednesday July 29th, the CEO of the Aruba Tourism Authority (ATA) announced that Aruba would receive about 14,000 visitors during the whole month of July, down 86% compared with July 2019 when Aruba received 103,464 visitors.
Aruba re-opened its borders to Curacao and Bonaire on June 15th, to Canada and Europe on July 1st and to the USA on July 10th.
The CEO said that the ATA projected Aruba would receive  between 19,000 – 25,000 visitors during August, down 74% - 80% compared with August 2019 when Aruba received 96,100 visitors.
The CEO went on to say that for 2020 overall the ATA expected to receive between 335,300 stopovers (30% of the 2019 total) and 447,000 stopovers (40% of the 2019 total).
Given that the ATA estimates that Aruba will receive about 267,000 stopovers in the first eight months of 2020, this means the four months of September through December 2020 could see a total of between 68,400 visitors, assuming an overall decline of 30% for the year and down and 180,100 stopovers, assuming an overall decline of 40% in stopovers for the year. These result in an 80% decline compared to the 342,447 stopovers received in the same four months of 2019, and a 47% decline, respectively.
As of August 4th 2020 Aruba, has reported a total of 127 positive cases of COVID 19 with 113 being residents and 14 being visitors and a total of 12 active cases of which eight were residents and four visitors.
Since Aruba re-opened its borders on June 15th the country has seen the total number of cases increase by 26 (25.7%), from 101 to 127, with the number of active cases growing from zero to 12.
The Government reported that between 75% - 80% of all arriving visitors had presented evidence of having been tested prior to departure from their country of origin while between 20% - 25% were tested on arrival at Aruba’s airport. 

Cancun saw a 63.8 percentage point drop in average hotel room occupancy in June to 15.2%.
Sedetur, the Department of Tourism of the state of Quintana Roo, recently released the hotel occupancy numbers for the hotels in Cancun/Puerto Morelos and Riviera Maya for all six months of 2020.
Cancun/Puerto Morelos saw a 63.8 percentage point drop in average hotel room occupancy in June 2020 to 15.2% compared to 79.0% for June 2019.
The hotels in Riviera Maya saw their average room occupancy fall by 69.8 percentage points from 80.8% in June 2019 to 11.0% in June this year.
Through the first six months of 2020 the hotels in Cancun/Puerto Morelos have achieved a 40.8% average room occupancy, down 39.1 percentage points from the 79.9% achieved in 2019.
The hotels in Riviera Maya have achieved an average room occupancy of 38.6%, down 43.4 percentage points from the 82.0% achieved in 2019, also for the first six months of 2020.
Riviera Maya has 46,958 hotel rooms while the Cancun/Puerto Morelos area has 40,835 hotel rooms.

Costa Rica saw a 97.1% drop in stopover arrivals in June.
According to the Costa Rica Institute of Tourism ICT, Costa Rica saw the volume of stopovers drop by 97.1% in June 2020, falling from 248,696 stopovers in June 2019 to 7,210 stopovers in June 2020. The number of stopovers from the USA fell by 99.7% in June 2020, falling from 133,102 stopovers in June 2019 to 361 in June 2020 while the number from Central America declined by 87.8%, from 53,943 in June 2019 to 6,596 in June 2020.
After declaring a state of emergency, Costa Rica closed all borders to foreigners on April 18th 2020.
The volume of stopovers decreased by 48.9% in the first six months of 2020, falling from 1,725,963 stopovers in 2019 to 882,002 stopovers in first six months of 2020. The number of stopovers from the USA dropped by 53.2% in the first six months of 2020, from 761,355 stopovers in 2019 to 356,445 in 2020 while the number from Central America declined by 47.9%, falling from 364,984 in the first six months of 2019 to 190,292 in the same six months of 2020.

International air arrivals to Mexico fell by 92.8% in June.
According to the Government of Mexico’s SECTUR (Department of Tourism) the volume of international air arrivals to Mexico fell by 92.8% in June 2020 from 1,638,139 in June 2019 to 117,257 in June 2020. The volume of air arrivals from the USA fell by 90.7% in June, from 1,076,346 in June 2019 to 100,526 in June of this year, with the volume from Canada falling by 98.0%, from 72,747 in June 2019 to 1,485 this year.
Cancun Airport saw a 96.6% decrease in international air arrivals in June 2020, falling from 673,352 arrivals in June 2019 to 23,036 arrivals in June 2020, while Los Cabos saw a 91.5% decrease falling from 153,732 international arrivals in June 2019 to 13,084 international air arrivals in June 2020. Puerto Vallarta saw a 92.5% decrease, falling from 92,749 international arrivals in June 2019 to 6,978 in June 2020.
In the first six months of 2020 the volume of international air arrivals to Mexico fell by 53.4%, from 10,116,740 in 2019 to 4,711,700 in the first six months of this year. The volume of air arrivals from the USA fell by 55.2% in the same six months, from 5,592,031 in 2019 to 2,505,826 in 2020 while the volume from Canada fell by 38.7%, from 1,445,169 in 2019 to 886,099 in 2020.
Cancun Airport saw a 54.9% decrease in international air arrivals in the first six months of 2020, falling from 4,283,859 in 2019 to 1,930,353 in 2020 while Los Cabos saw a 53.3% decrease falling from 971,512 international air arrivals to 453,612 air arrivals in 2020. Puerto Vallarta saw a 45.6% decrease, falling from 912,850 international arrivals in 2019 to 496,937 in the first six months of 2020.

Hawaii saw a 98.2% decline in air arrivals in June.
According to the Hawaii Tourism Authority, Hawaii saw the volume of air arrivals decrease by 98.2% in June 2020, falling from 950,931 arrivals in June 2019 to 17,068 arrivals in June 2020.
The state of Hawaii imposed a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine for incoming out of state visitors on March 26th , which was extended on April 1 to include interisland travelers. Neither quarantine is slated to end before June 30.
Air arrivals from the USA fell by 97.7%, from 692,273 in June 2019 to 15,745 in June 2020, fell by 100.0% from Japan (from 126,592 arrivals in June 2019 to 40 air arrivals in June 2020). Air arrivals fell by 99.7% from Canada (from 19,239 to 57 air arrivals).
Through the first six months of 2020 Hawaii saw a 58.4% decrease in the volume of air arrivals, falling from 5,115,051 arrivals in the first six months of 2019 to 2,126,443 air arrivals in the same six months of 2020. Air arrivals from the USA decreased by 57.7% in the first six months of 2020, falling from 3,433,689 air arrivals in 2019 to 1,451,670 air arrivals in the same six months of 2020, fell by 59.9% from Japan (from 734,247 arrivals in 2019 to 294,295 air arrivals in 2020) and fell by 49.8% from Canada (from 310,248 in 2019 to 155,821 air arrivals in 2020).
The Hawaii Tourist Authority was unable to collect any visitor expenditure data during June 2020.

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index Decreased in July
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® decreased in July, after increasing in June. The Index now stands at 92.6 (1985=100), down from 98.3 in June. The Present Situation Index – based on consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions – improved from 86.7 to 94.2. However, the Expectations Index – based on consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions – decreased from 106.1 in June to 91.5 this month.
The monthly Consumer Confidence Survey®, based on a probability-design random sample, is conducted for The Conference Board by Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and analytics around what consumers buy and watch. The cutoff date for the preliminary results was July 17.
“Consumer Confidence declined in July following a large gain in June,” said Lynn Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board. “The Present Situation Index improved, but the Expectations Index retreated. Large declines were experienced in Michigan, Florida, Texas and California, no doubt a result of the resurgence of COVID-19. Looking ahead, consumers have grown less optimistic about the short-term outlook for the economy and labor market and remain subdued about their financial prospects. Such uncertainty about the short-term future does not bode well for the recovery, nor for consumer spending.”
Consumers’ assessment of present-day conditions improved in July. The percentage of consumers claiming business conditions are “good” was relatively unchanged at 17.3 percent, while those claiming business conditions are “bad” decreased from 42.5 percent to 39.1 percent. Consumers’ appraisal of the job market was more favorable. The percentage of consumers saying jobs are “plentiful” increased from 20.5 percent to 21.3 percent, while those claiming jobs are “hard to get” decreased from 23.3 percent to 20.0 percent.
Consumers, however, were less optimistic about the short-term outlook. The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions will improve over the next six months declined from 42.4 percent to 31.6 percent, while those expecting business conditions will worsen increased from 15.2 percent to 19.3 percent. Consumers’ outlook for the labor market was also less favorable. The proportion expecting more jobs in the months ahead declined from 38.4 percent to 30.6 percent, while those anticipating fewer jobs in the months ahead increased from 14.4 percent to 20.3 percent. Regarding their short-term income prospects, the percentage of consumers expecting an increase was relatively unchanged at 15.1 percent, while the proportion expecting a decrease rose from 14.1 percent to 15.0 percent.

Jamaica saw a 97.0% decrease in stopover arrivals in June.
According to the Jamaica Tourist Board, Jamaica saw the volume of stopover arrivals decline by 97.0% in June 2020, falling from 238,888 stopover arrivals in June 2019 to 7,188 arrivals in June 2020.
Jamaica re-opened its borders to international visitors as of June 15th 2020.
Stopover arrivals from the USA fell by 96.3%, from 186,707 visitors in June 2019 to 6,458 visitors in June 2020.
Cruise arrivals fell by 100%, from 66,552 cruise visitors in June 2019 to zero cruise visitors in June 2020 as Jamaica remained closed to cruise ship arrivals.
Through the first six months of 2020 Jamaica saw a 58.2% decline in the volume of stopover arrivals, falling from 1,390,683 stopover arrivals in the first six months of 2019 to 581,319 arrivals in the same six months of 2020.
Arrivals from the USA declined by 59.4% in the first six months of 2020, falling from 945,761 arrivals in 2019 to 383,534 arrivals in the same six months of 2020.
The number of cruise visitors declined by 50.2% in the first six months of 2020, falling from 902,972 cruise visitors in 2019 to 449,271 cruise visitors in 2020.

The USVI saw a 100% fall in the number of cruise visitors in June 2020.
According to the USVI Bureau of Economic Research, the USVI saw the volume of cruise visitor arrivals decrease by 100% in June 2019, falling from 113,557 cruise visitors in June 2019 to zero cruise visitors in June 2020 as the territory remained closed to cruise ship arrivals. The number of cruise ship calls fell from 27 in June 2019 to zero in June 2020.
During the first six months of 2020 the number of cruise visitors decreased by 42.2%, falling from 761,833 in 2019 to 440,398 in the first six months of 2020 with the number of calls falling from 300 in 2019 to 163 in 2020.

The United States Virgin Islands saw an 87.0% decline in air arrivals in May 2020.
According to the USVI Bureau of Economic Research, the USVI saw the volume of air arrivals decrease by 87.0% in May 2020, falling from 56,220 air arrivals in May 2019 to 7,311 air arrivals in May of this year.
Through the first five months of 2020 the USVI saw the volume of air arrivals decrease by 36.8%, from 292,991 air arrivals in the first five months of 2019 to 185,238 air arrivals in the first five months of 2020.

Lessons from the German travel recovery
July 24, 2020 | Report McKinsey Consulting
Eight trends shaping the post-COVID-19 travel market
While there are several individual anecdotes and even more opinions about how the crisis has shaped the travel market, data and empirical evidence have been limited so far. That said, observations from recovering travel markets may demonstrate early patterns, giving travel players a head start. We chose Germany as a reference point due to its position as the largest European and third-largest global international travel market, and the fact that its metrics are commonly seen as leading the recovery curve.
Eight important—and, in part, mutually reinforcing—trends that have emerged during the COVID-19 crisis can be observed.
1. Travelers are showing increasing appetite for and confidence in travel
2. Domestic travel is outperforming international travel for the first time
3. Last-minute bookings are gaining in importance
4. German travelers stick to their favorite pre-COVID-19 destinations abroad
5. Travelers are turning to German seaside alternatives
6. Longer trips gain in popularity
7. Demand for vacation homes nearly doubled during the crisis
8. Despite a drop in prices, travelers’ willingness to pay for nature-oriented destinations remained almost unchanged
For more detail and full report click here

Cuban Tourism minister says winter vacations on sale soon.
Cuba’s Minister of Tourism, Juan Carlos García, has told Cuban television viewers that the sector is ready to begin selling vacations in the northern cays to international visitors for the coming winter season. He noted however that some source countries remained conservative, delaying the resumption of international flights, and noted that most insurance agencies were not assuming pandemic related risks.
The first international visitors in significant numbers are expected to come from Russia on a weekly basis in the second half of August. After that, it is hoped that opening by the EU (see Europe below) would enable Cuba to receive visitors from its principal visitor markets in Spain, France, Italy, Germany, as well as the UK. In the case of Canada, the main sender of tourists to Cuba, flights are expected to resume in September.
Cuba's strategy is to guarantee safe tourism by testing all arriving visitors and having, in each hotel, a team of doctors.

For tourism, recovery expected to be slow in Cancún, Los Cabos
Los Cabos hotel occupancy at about 20% but it's 'better than zero'
Recovering from the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis looks set to be a long and difficult process for the tourism-dependent locales of Cancún, Quintana Roo, and Los Cabos, Baja California Sur.
Hotels and other tourism-related businesses such as restaurants and night clubs were closed for more than two months in both destinations due to nationwide coronavirus restrictions that were put in place between late March and the end of May.
As a result, between US $3 billion and $3.5 billion in tourism revenue was lost in Quintana Roo, according to preliminary estimates by the state Tourism Ministry.
Hotels in the Caribbean coast state began reopening on June 8 but occupancy levels remain low, ruling out any possibility that losses will be quickly recouped.
Cancún’s hotel zone looks like a ghost town, the newspaper El Universal reported, noting that arrivals and departures at the city’s airport are up compared to May and June but still well below pre-pandemic levels.
Today, the beaches are largely empty – they remain closed to locals – and hotels and restaurants are operating well below their capacity due to both coronavirus restrictions and a lack of tourists.
But visitor numbers are expected to gradually increase in coming months, according to the Quintana Roo Tourism Minister Marisol Vanegas, who said hotel occupancy levels are predicted to reach 60% in December.
The tourism recovery is also progressing slowly in Los Cabos and La Paz, Baja Califoria Sur (BCS), where the coronavirus lockdown caused the industry to lose an estimated 21 billion pesos (about US $1 billion).
During the shutdown period, international passenger numbers at the Los Cabos International Airport declined 96% and domestic traffic fell 80%, said manager Francisco Villaseñor.
Around 600 mainly domestic and United States tourists are now arriving at the airport each day, compared to just 20 or 30 in April and May, but hotel occupancy levels are still only about 20%.
Lilzi Orcí Fregoso, president of the Los Cabos Hotel Association, acknowledged that the recovery has been slow and difficult – BCS hotels began reopening in the middle of June – but noted optimistically that 20% occupancy is better than zero.
She said that 72 of 84 member hotels have reopened but added they are currently only accepting guests in 7,000 of 17,500 rooms.
Agustín Olachea Nogueda, president of the La Paz Hotel Association, said that occupancy levels are just 17.5% compared to 80% at the same time last year.
Tourists braving the pandemic in Los Cabos, La Paz other BCS destinations now have a wider array of activities in which they can partake after 1,500 tour companies were given the green light to get back to business last week providing walking, diving, snorkeling, kayak and glass-bottom boat tours, among other activities.
Meanwhile, the federal Tourism Ministry last week launched an 11.4-billion-peso (US $507.6-million) loan program for the hotel, travel agency and ground transportation industries to help them through the coronavirus-induced tourism downturn.

Dominican Republic hotel occupancy could exceed 50% at the end of 2020
Hotel occupancy in the country could exceed 50% at the end of the year, although it will depend on the local evolution of the pandemic and the program to open tourist rooms.
This was estimated by the executive vice president of the Association of Hotels and Tourism of the Dominican Republic (Asonahores), Andrés Marranzini, who stated that the key to the recovery of the sector is effective communication of the health actions and protocols that are being implemented in that activity.
Marranzini announced that this month the country will receive more than 900 flights, equivalent to about 20% of the flights the country had before the pandemic “and we expect a gradual recovery, slower than expected.”
“We have been surprised by the demand in the last week, despite having a declared state of emergency. A level of demand continues from the markets that are open,” he highlighted.
Speaking during the virtual panel “SMEs: successful transition to the new normality,” organized by the American Chamber of Commerce of the Dominican Republic (AMCHAMDR), the executive clarified that it will take 18 to 24 months for national tourism to recover to levels hotel occupancy recorded in 2018.
“For the recovery of the sector, we have proposed economic measures to the outgoing and incoming authorities. We have seen that in other countries fiscal and monetary measures have been applied that guarantee to take the industry to what was its moment of glory, which in our case was 2018,” he declared.

The Seychelles announces stopover visitor arrivals fell by 99.5% in June.
The Seychelles Government’s National Bureau of Statistics recently announced that total stopover arrivals decreased by 99.5% in June 2020, from 25,761 arrivals in June 2019 to 140 arrivals in June of this year. This number includes both air and sea stopover visitors. The number of visitors from Germany, the number one market, fell by 100.0%, from 4,087 arrivals in June 2019 to zero arrivals in the same month of 2020.
In the first six months of 2020 The Seychelles saw a 52.4% decrease in total stopover arrivals, falling from 187,108 arrivals in 2019 to 89,147 arrivals this year. Total stopover arrivals from Germany fell by 42.6% from 35,640 in the first six months of 2019 to 20,468 arrivals in the same six months of 2020. The number of cruise visitors decreased by 16.2%, from 23,397 in the first six months of 2019 to 19,609 cruise visitors in the same period of 2020.

Hawaii’s hotels report a 68.3 percentage point drop in average room occupancy in June to reach 15.6%
According to the Hawai‘i Hotel Performance Report published by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA), statewide hotel room occupancy fell by 68.3 percentage points from 783.9% in June 2019 to 15.6% in June this year. ADR fell by 42.4% from $280.51 to $161.51 while revpar fell by 89.3%, from $235.44 in June 2019 to $25.28 in June this year.
HTA’s Tourism Research Division issued the report’s findings utilizing data compiled by STR, Inc., which conducts the largest and most comprehensive survey of hotel properties in the Hawaiian Islands. For June, the survey included 79 properties representing 19,200 rooms, or 35.8 percent of all lodging properties and 65.3 percent of operating lodging properties with 20 rooms or more in the Hawaiian Islands, including full service, limited service, and condominium hotels
In June, Hawai‘i hotel room revenues statewide fell by 94.2 percent to $22.3 million. Room demand was 89.9 percent lower than the same period last year. Room supply decreased by 45.6 percent year-over-year. Many properties closed or reduced operations starting in April. 
Since March 26, all passengers arriving from out-of-state were required to abide by a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine. The quarantine order was expanded on April 1 to include interisland travelers; the interisland quarantine ended on June 15.
For the first six months of 2020 statewide hotel room occupancy fell by 30.8 percentage points from 80.5% in 2019 to 49.7% in the first six months of 2020. ADR grew by 3.9% from $279.99 in 2019 to $290.80 while revpar fell by 35.9%, from $225.27 in the first six months of 2019 to $144.49 in the first six months of this year.
In the first six months of 2020, Hawai‘i hotel room revenues statewide fell by 50.6% from $2.206 billion in 2019 to $1.091 billion this year. Room demand fell to 3,750,800  room nights, down 52.4% compared to a year ago. Room supply fell by 22.9% and fell to 7,548,700 available room nights.

Belize reports stopover arrivals fell by 99% in June.
According to the Belize Tourism Board, Belize saw a 99.0% decrease in stopover visitor arrivals in June, falling from 42,938 stopovers in June 2019 to an estimated 50 stopovers in June of this year.
During the first 19 days of March foreigners who had been in a European country, China, Hong Kong, Iran, Japan, or South Korea in the previous 30 days were not allowed to enter Belize. On March 20th Belize closed its borders to all visitors.
In the first six months of 2020 Belize has seen a 56.3% decrease in the number of stopover visitors, falling from 284,566 stopover visitors in 2019 to 124,262 stopovers in the first six months of this year.
The number of cruise visitors fell by 100% in June, from 55,012 cruise visitors in June 2019 to zero cruise visitors in June this year.
Through the first six months of 2020 the number of cruise visitors to Belize has fallen by 50.8%, from 697,772 cruise visitors in 2019 to 343,099 cruise visitors this year.

Cancun, Riviera Maya tourism continues to rebound with the arrival of travelers
According to data from the Ministry of Tourism (SECTUR), Cancun showed a positive trend in hotel occupancy during the week of July 6 to 12, obtaining 5.7 percentage points more than the previous week, reaching a 22.5 percent hotel occupancy.
This gradual recovery of productive activities, such as tourism for Quintana Roo, is the result of the commitment and responsibility of those who make up the tourism industry to qualify for the Certification in Health Protection and Prevention in Tourist Facilities.
Governor Carlos Joaquín has been pending state affairs and explained that this certification provides security both for workers and visitors, to advance the plan to recover the economy and the more than 84,000 lost jobs after the closure of more than 97 percent of the hotels due to the pandemic.
There are already more than 6,620 companies from varying tourist branches that have registered on the certification platform, which contributes to the recovery of the economy without neglecting people’s health.
The positive trend in the gradual recovery of tourism, with the latest data provided by Governor Carlos Joaquín is reflected in the current hotel occupancy rate and the resumption of between 130 and 150 daily flights, all within health protocols.
Carlos Joaquín, announced that Cancun and the Mexican Caribbean were the first destinations chosen by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) to be granted the Global Safety Stamp, precisely because of the sanitary protocols that have been registered and applied by tourism companies to protect tourists.
The figures were announced by Miguel Torruco Marqués, Secretaría de Turismo (SECTUR), who reported that during week 28, from July 06 to 12, Cancun showed a positive trend, obtaining 5.7 percentage points more than the week previous, reaching 22.5 percent hotel occupancy. In his comment Friday, he said that “the preliminary hotel occupancy percentage for week 28, which includes the period from 06 to 12 July 2020, shows an occupancy percentage of 15.6 percent in 12 selected destinations, that is, 4.0 percentage points additional compared to the previous week.”
The Cancun International Airport has already registered more than 150 operations, the highest number since the health crisis began.

Top factors travellers will consider before planning a trip – what hard-hit countries can consider.
New surveys show that tourists are weighing new factors when planning travel, such as how well the virus is being controlled in different localities.
Countries hard-hit by COVID, like those in some parts of Latin America and other regions, will need to take travellers' new concerns into account to build back tourism.
Brand strategies will need to account for travellers’ fears regarding the virus, touting hygiene and safety.
As lockdowns lift and the pandemic slows in many parts of the world, quarantine-weary countries have one question: When can tourists travel again – and where will they chose to go? The answer, like the COVID-19 crisis, will be complex, blending both fact and emotion.
For some countries, such as those in hard-hit parts of Latin America and other areas, it may also depend on an individual country’s ability to control the virus’ spread. Some countries have seen rapid rates of transmission and, in some cases, infections have spread from big cities to small towns. Where countries are planning to reopen to tourists, officials from the World Health Organization have urged countries to reconsider until infections are under control.
Of course, some countries have managed to contain the virus, but these countries will still face barriers to building back their tourism industries given tourists' new reluctance to travel.
As countries navigate their particular challenges, here are some factors to consider:
Understanding travellers’ new needs
A study by Bloom Consulting and D2-Analytics (Data from April 2020) assessed people’s potential behaviours for the coming year by proposing a range of different scenarios for travel. (While this poll was taken in the Spring, the virus continues to bring uncertainty to travellers and will until it is completely eradicated.)
In the first scenario, respondents were told the virus was controlled and has become a part of our lives. Although travel restrictions would not require quarantines when entering chosen destinations, 45% said they still wouldn’t be ready for a leisure trip.
In the second scenario, the virus was nearly eradicated, but a treatment had been developed. Despite access to the medication, 35% polled said they’d stay in.
In the third and last potential scenario, the virus was fully eradicated. In this case, there was no risk of infection from COVID-19 and no restrictions to navigate. Despite these facts, 15% of all tourists polled said they still would not leave their homes for a trip.
read more/...

Cruise lines are figuring out passenger capacity and other safety measures
There's disagreement within the cruise industry about whether ships can sail profitably with fewer passengers.
Though it may not have been their intent, airlines have started competing on safety protocols. Delta and JetBlue have blocked out middle seats, while American Airlines announced that it would be walking back its limit on passenger capacity.
In the cruise industry, the conversation about safety is beginning to drift toward what passenger capacity will be when ships are allowed to resume sailing. Unlike airlines, which were never grounded, cruise lines haven’t been able to welcome guests since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention instituted a No Sail Order in March.
Virgin Voyages—which hasn’t even held its first cruise yet—was among the first brands to lay out its Covid-19 protocols in June, saying it would limit passenger capacity but declining to share exact figures.
Although the company won’t be sailing until at least October, Carnival’s Aida brand, which caters to European audiences and is headquartered in Germany, is expected to set sail the first week of August. Guests will be required to stay 1.5 meters apart (about 5 feet) and will only have to wear a mask when social distancing isn’t possible, and not outdoors or in dining rooms.
Passenger capacity will be “adjusted.”
“We’re going to start slow,” said Arnold Donald, Carnival’s CEO and president, during the brand’s earnings call last week. “Initially, we’ll probably start at less than 50% occupancy as we work out the details.”
The company noted that a ship’s break-even point is somewhere between 30% and 50% capacity. Even with less than half of its normal passenger count, Carnival could still make a “significant” amount of money, according to Donald.
read more/...

CDC extends ban on cruise ships
July 17 2020
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States has extended the ‘no sail order’ on cruise ships as a result of the continuing global spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The original order banning ships from the seas was imposed in March and has been extended for the second time until 30 September. The CDC said that as of 10 July, almost 3,000 cases of COVID-19 or COVID-like illness have been recorded on cruise ships, including 34 deaths.
The CDC said its data revealed 99 different outbreaks on 123 ships, which the experts said meant that 80% of ships within the US jurisdiction have been impacted by the pandemic. Currently, nine have ongoing virus outbreaks on board and much more needs to be done before passengers can return, the CDC said in a press release Thursday.
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Nearly 200 people arrested for violating Hawaii’s 14-day mandatory quarantine
Nearly 200 people have been arrested for violating Hawaii's 14-day mandatory quarantine during the Covid-19 pandemic since the state implemented the rule in late March.
According to a release issued Friday by the state's Hawaii Covid-19 Joint Information Center, a total of 182 people have been arrested by state or county law enforcement on Oahu, Kauai, Maui and Hawaii Island. (The figure includes arrests on Oahu made by the attorney general’s office, but the Honolulu Police Department groups statistics on quarantine violations together with violations on all emergency orders.)
“It’s a monumental effort to keep track of everyone who should be in quarantine and it involves a hui of law enforcement agencies, representatives of Hawaii’s visitor industry, state transportation workers, and the community generally,” the release said.
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Cruise Lines Reopening: The Complete List With Dates
As of July 17 2020
Cruise Line Scheduled Reopening Dates:

• AIDA Cruises – August 5th, 2020
• AmaWaterways – September 3rd, 2020
• American Queen Steamboat – August 15th, 2020
• American Cruise Lines – July 22nd, 2020
• Avalon Waterways – July 20th, 2020
• Bahamas Paradise -August 28th, 2020
• Azamara – September 19th, 2020
• Carnival Cruise Line – September 25th, 2020
• Celebrity Cruises – August 1st, 2020
• Celestyal Cruises – Mach 6th, 2021
• Costa Cruises – August 13th, 2020
• Crystal Cruises – October 1st, 2020
• Cunard – November 4th, 2020
• Cruise and Maritime Voyages – August 26th, 2020
• Disney Cruise Line – October 4th, 2020
• Dream Cruises – September 2nd, 2020
• Emerald Waterways – September 5th, 2020
• Fred Olson Cruise Lines – September 1st, 2020
• Holland America Line – September 27th, 2020
• Hurtigruten Cruises – June 16th, 2020
• Jalesh Cruises – September 21st, 2020
• Marella Cruises – August 28th, 2020
• MSC Cruises – August 16th, 2020
• Norwegian Cruise Line – October 1st, 2020
• Oceania Cruises – October 4th, 2020
• Paul Gauguin Cruises – July 29th – 2020
• Ponant – July 18th, 2020
• P&O Cruises – October 16th, 2020
• Princess Cruises – September 19th, 2020
• Regent Seven Seas Cruises – October 4th, 2020
• Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection – April 22nd, 2021
• Royal Caribbean – October 2nd, 2020
• Seabourn – October 14th, 2020
• SeaDream Yacht Club – June 20th, 2020
• Scenic Luxury Cruises – September 15th, 2020
• Silversea Cruises- September 5th, 2020
• Uniworld River Cruises – August 16th, 2020
• Viking Ocean – September 1st,
• Viking River – September 29th, 2020
• Virgin Voyages – October 16th, 2020
• VIVA Cruises July 10th, 2020
• Windstar Cruises –September 9th, 202

Important Reminder: These dates are scheduled reopening dates and can change at anytime. We do NOT recommend traveling against health and government advisories. 
For more information click here

Hotel occupancy in Dominican Republic after reopening is less than 10 percent
July 17th 2020
The reopening of the tourism sector has been partial. Not all hotels opened on July 1, when the closure of borders was canceled to stop the spread of COVID-19, so the occupancy levels of these establishments have been low.
Therefore, the vice president of the National Association of Hotels and Tourism (Asonahores), Andrés Marranzini, said that hotel occupancy was close to 10%.
He explained during an interview in the program “The Morning Sun” that between 50% and 60% of the passengers of the planes that have landed since the reopening are Dominicans who return to the country or who come to visit. The other 40% of passengers are foreign tourists.
It is recalled that in February, a month before the pandemic was declared and the tourism sector had to cease its activities, the occupancy of rooms in hotels was 79.5%, according to data from the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic.


Most Consumers Expect to Book a Leisure Trip Within the Next Six Months
While consumers are still just as likely to take a domestic leisure trip within the next six months as they were at the same time last month, most say they expect to book a leisure trip within the next six months, according to the latest data from MMGY Travel Intelligence.
MMGY released the sixth wave of its Travel Intentions Pulse Survey (TIPS) on Monday July 13th and, while a lot of data from the previous survey remained consistent, there were some important changes in the data.
One finding that is good news for advisors — two-thirds of the 1,200 respondents expect to book a leisure trip within the six months, with 15% of those saying they expect to do so within the next 30 days and 22% saying they expect to do so within the next six months. Only 4% said that they have no leisure travel expectation and 12% said they only expect to book more than 12 months from now.
Travelers who were already hesitant to travel are becoming even more cautious—21% of respondents said they wouldn’t take a leisure trip over the next six months, up from 13% in Wave Five.
Travelers are still much more likely to travel to a destination via car (67%) than any other method of transportation, including by airplane (31% for domestic and 20% for international). Though, overall, more than half of consumers are as likely (29%) or more likely (23%) to travel this fall compared to previous years—48% are less likely, according to the survey.
And, while leisure travel is still struggling, consumers are still more likely to take a leisure trip than they are to travel for business. In the Wave Five survey, 41% expected to take a domestic business trip while 40% expected to take a domestic leisure trip, while Wave Six found business desire drop to 33% and leisure remain the same.
Leisure travel, in fact, has remained essentially unchanged, with 36% to 40% of consumers since March reporting they are likely or extremely likely to take a domestic leisure trip, according to the survey.

Jamaica reports that between June 15th and July 12th it imported 125 new cases of COVID 19 with a Test Positivity Rate of just 0.4%.
The Jamaican Ministry of Health reports that as of Monday July 13th Jamaica has had a total of 759 positive cases of Covid19 of which 241 cases were imported (31.7%). Jamaica re-opened its borders to visitors as of June 15th at which point the country reported a total of 621 cases of which 116 (18.7%) had been imported. Consequently, the country has seen the total number of cases grow by 138 during the 28 days between June 15th and July 12th of which 125 were imported (90.6%).
At the same time the Ministry of Health reported that as of July 12th Jamaica had 101 active cases, down from 181 reported on June 15th.
Between June 15th and July 1 all arriving visitors either had to produce a negative test result or were tested on arrival using RT-PCR equipment. From July 1 onwards Jamaica required a negative test result from a number of high risk US locations and implemented screening of all arriving visitors followed by a RT-PCR test of those visitors deemed high risk.
Many of the imported cases were Jamaican residents returning to Jamaica on flights from the USA with a relatively small number of imported cases being tourists.
Between June 15th and June 29th, it is reported that Jamaica received 14,600 arrivals of which 9,300 were returning residents and 5,300 tourists. During that period Jamaica reported 84 imported positive cases, that is a Test Positivity Rate (TPR) of 0.6%.
A further 20,160 visitors were expected to arrive between June 30 and July 12th. During those 13 days Jamaica reported a further 41 imported cases yielding a TPR of just 0.2%. For the full 28 days between June 15th and July 12th a total of 34,760 visitors arrived, yielding an estimated resultant TPR of 0.4%.

Punta Cana received 126 tourists in June.
According to the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic, saw the volume of non-resident stopover arrivals decrease by 100% in June, falling from 331,503 arrivals in June 2019 to 126 arrivals in June 2020 consequent upon the closure the Punta Cana airport to all foreign visitors. 89 of these arrivals came from Chile. Stopover arrivals from the USA fell by 100% in June, from 179,322 arrivals in June 2019 to zero arrivals in June 2020.
The Dominican Republic closed its borders to visitors as of March 19th 2020.
During the first six months of 2020 Punta Cana saw a 64.5% decrease in the volume of stopover arrivals, falling from 2,089,992 arrivals in 2019 to 742,097 non-resident arrivals in the first six months of 2020.
Arrivals from the USA fell by 78.9% in the first six months of 2020, falling from 944,841 arrivals in 2019 to 199,551 arrivals in the same six months of 2020. Arrivals from Russia fell by 33.3% in the same period, from 33,665 in 2019 to 22,444 in 2020. Traffic was also down 65.3% from Germany, down 59.8% from Brazil, down 64.6% from Argentina, down 63.0% from the U.K., down 55.2% from France and down 41.9% from Canada.
In the first six months of 2020 stopover arrivals to Punta Cana made up 53.2% of all non-resident arrivals to the Dominican Republic.

The Dominican Republic received 1,021 non-resident visitors in June as its borders remained closed.
According to the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, the Dominican Republic saw the volume of non-resident stopover arrivals decrease by 99.8% in June, falling from 587,143 non-resident arrivals in June 2019 to 1,021 arrivals in June 2020. Stopover arrivals from the USA fell by 100%, from 270,102 arrivals in June 2019 to 167 arrivals in June 2020. 
The Dominican Republic closed its borders to visitors as of March 19th 2020.
In the first six months of 2020 the Dominican Republic saw a 61.0% decrease in the volume of stopover arrivals, falling from 3,575,298 arrivals in 2019 to 1,394,086 non-resident arrivals in 2020. Non-resident arrivals from the USA decreased by 74.3% in the first six months of 2020, falling from 1,383,742 arrivals in 2019 to 355,440 arrivals in 2020.

Mauritius announces stopover visitor arrivals fell by 100% in June as its borders remained closed.
The Mauritius Government’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Development recently announced that total stopover arrivals fell by 100% in June 2020, from 92,398 arrivals in June 2019 to 9 arrivals in June of this year. This number includes both air and sea stopover visitors. The number of visitors from France, the number one market, decreased by 100%, from 11,721 arrivals in June 2019 to 6 in the same month of 2020.
Mauritius closed its border to all international visitors indefinitely as of March 19th 2020.
In the first six months of 2020 Mauritius saw a 53.1% decrease in total stopover arrivals, falling from 650,082 arrivals in 2019 to 304,881 arrivals this year. Total stopover arrivals from France fell by 45.5% from 144,189 arrivals in the first six months of 2019 to 78,644 arrivals in the same six months of 2020.

Hawaii Governor Delays Plan To Reopen To Tourists
All travelers — visitors as well as residents — will not be able to bypass quarantine with a negative test result until September.
With COVID-19 cases surging in key Hawaii travel markets and supplies of COVID-19 testing material under stress, Gov. David Ige on Monday said he would push back until Sept. 1 a planned date for opening Hawaii to travelers from outside the state.
A previously announced plan to let visitors bypass a 14-day quarantine was supposed to go into effect Aug. 1.
That plan would let travelers skip the quarantine if they tested negative for the virus 72 hours before leaving their point of origin for Hawaii. But on Monday, after meeting with island mayors for several days, Ige said the state was not ready.
“This decision comes after much, much discussion,” Ige said. “This was not an easy decision to make. It really was a choice between two difficult options.”
The announcement comes as Hawaii faces an economic crisis as one of its biggest industries remains virtually shut down. Before the COVID-19 crisis, as recently as January, Hawaii’s hotels and restaurants accounted for slightly more than 114,000 jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
As of May, employment in the industries had dropped by 59% to about 45,200. That did not count thousands of additional jobs in retail firms that cater to tourists.
Overall, approximately 148,000 people statewide were unemployed as of May, according to the bureau. And that has changed little in recent weeks as Hawaii’s local economy has opened up more.
During a Monday meeting of the House Select Committee on COVID-19 Economic and Financial Preparedness, Carl Bonham, executive director of the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization, said that unemployment claims remained at about 125,000, according to the most recent available data.
Ige made a rare appearance during the meeting, which was held by Zoom, in which he said he planned to extend the quarantine through August. That announcement was hardly unexpected, as the plan to reopen to tourists has relied on the quarantine to be in place, and for the tests to allow an exception to the quarantine.
The real news came later, when Ige said he would delay the plan to create an exception for people — residents returning home as well as visiting tourists — who were tested.
Ige said he and the mayors had made the decision with protecting residents in mind.
“This will make our economic recovery more challenging,” he said. “But as I have always said, your health and safety comes first.”
The Situation For Businesses Is ‘Dire’
Tourism businesses and other small firms have been struggling for months and had hailed the Aug. 1 reopening as something that could at least partially save the summer – and perhaps their businesses. The changed plan was clearly a setback.
“Now, these plans are on hold and local businesses are left holding the bag,” said Sherry Menor-McNamara, president and chief executive of the Hawaii Chamber of Commerce. “We understand the need to put safety first, but the situation for many local businesses grows more dire by the day.”
She called on state and country leaders to provide relief to businesses.
“Businesses are doing their part to enforce safety measures to stop the spread of COVID-19,” she said. “They should be able to count on government to set a clear path forward toward economic stabilization and recovery.”
Chris Tatum, president and chief executive of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, a state agency, was more measured.
“We want to welcome back our visitors once our state is ready to do so in a safe manner that will hopefully avoid the need to backtrack in the future. Once we receive details on the process and requirements from the Department of Transportation and the DOH, we will share that information with the visitor industry.”
Ige attributed the decision to a combination of trends: surges in cases in major markets like California and Nevada, a disruption of supply chains for special chemicals needed for COVID-19 tests and a surge in cases in Hawaii. Over the weekend, Hawaii recorded 63 new cases, including a one-day record of 42 on Saturday, said Bruce Anderson, the state’s health department director.
Anderson said the rise in cases seems to be the result of people not wearing masks and not engaging in physical distancing – or staying at least 6 feet apart – during social and business gatherings.
The original Aug. 1 date for implementing the testing plan was set to roughly coincide with reopening Hawaii’s public schools on Aug. 4. Ige said schools are still on track to reopen on that date.

The Maldives reports zero visitor arrivals in May 2020 as a result of the continued closure of its borders.
The Maldives Government’s Ministry of Tourism recently announced that total tourist arrivals fell by 100% in May 2020, from 103,022 arrivals received in May 2019 to zero arrivals in May of this year as a result of the closure of the country’s borders as of March 27th.
The Government of the Maldives prohibited visitors from China effective February 4, from Iran as of February 26, from South Korea as of March 3, from Italy as of March 8, from Germany, Spain and France as of March 15, from Malaysia as of March 17, from the United Kingdom as of March 19, from Sri Lanka as of March 21 and from Bangladesh as of March 24. As of March 27, all foreign nationals were prohibited entry to The Maldives.
In the first five months of 2020 The Maldives saw a 48.9% decrease in total arrivals, falling from 749,114 in 2019 to 382,760 this year.
The Maldives has seen the overall number of accommodation establishments in operation fall by 96.3% from 861 in May 2019 to 32 establishments this May. The number of beds fell by 86.9% from 47,196 last May to 6,188 this year. Through the end of May overall average room occupancy has fallen by 32.9 percentage points from 69.3% in 2019 to 36.4% for the first five months of this year.
Of the 32 establishments in operation 30 were resorts which offered 6,058 beds (98.0% of the overall number of beds). These resorts achieved a 41.7% average room occupancy through the first five months of 2020 down from 80.6% for the first five months of 2019. In May 2019 there were 145 resorts in operation offering 33,352 beds.  

Dominican Republic hotels reopen at snails’ pace
Just 38 of the more than 300 hotels members of the National Hotels and Tourism Association (Asonahores) have opened their doors to date; that entity said.
Another 26 have announced that they plan to do it during July, seven plan to do it in August, four in September, four in October, 15 in November and one in December.
This indicates that between now and December only 95 hotels, that is, a third of the entity’s total, would be providing services.
The rest would remain closed, thus keeping thousands of workers unemployed and generating less income for the local economy.
 
Abinader wins the Dominican Republic presidency: will he be able to fulfill his ambitious tourism plan?
Luis Abinader, candidate of the Modern Revolutionary Party ( PRM ) in this Sunday’s elections, will be the next president of the Dominican Republic, with nearly 40% of the votes counted. Abinader had reached almost 53% of the votes, which led to his main opponents to recognize his victory.
With his triumph, Abinader will now have the opportunity to launch his ambitious tourism plan that includes, among other things, the installation of a large convention center in Santo Domingo, and two theme parks in the style of Disney or Universal Studios, which in his opinion would change the tourist profile of the country.
Abinader, who is the first Latin American president elected in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic and – symptomatically for these times – the first president in the region to take office after falling ill with coronavirus, has also pledged to work on a comprehensive plan. to diversify the country’s tourism offer, attract investments and new business models, add 25 thousand hotel rooms and create 100,000 jobs in the sector.
At the time of making his proposals for the development of tourism known, the political leader explained that he plans to consolidate the second stage of the program to promote tourism in the Colonial City of Santo Domingo, improve tourist security, advance territorial and urban planning of the tourist poles and draw up special plans to strengthen health tourism and real estate tourism and support the development of the country as a gastronomic destination.
It will also promote special projects to relaunch the tourist destinations of Puerto Plata, Juan Dolio, and Samaná, efforts that would involve the leading participation of the private sector and the communities of those sun and beach poles.
In the specific case of Puerto Plata, it promised to work in construction, in a public-private alliance, on the highway that would connect it to the Santiago airport in just 30 minutes, also impacting all destinations in the north of the country.
Regarding the Eastern Region of the country, the main tourist development area of ​​the Dominican Republic, Abinader said that he will consult with the fundamental leadership of that demarcation to establish the investment priorities and the necessary public policies to strengthen the growth and sustainability of the main Caribbean tourist destination. He argued that the tourism leadership of Punta Cana has been an example of entrepreneurship, self-management, and creativity that must be taken into account to define the development management strategies of this important enclave.

A projection made by the independent organization Climate Central shows how rising sea levels could dramatically change Aruba’s geography.
Global warming has raised global sea level about 8 inches since 1880, and the rate of rise is accelerating. Rising seas dramatically increase the odds of damaging floods from storm surges. A Climate Central analysis finds the odds of “century” or worse floods occurring by 2030 are on track to double or more, over widespread areas of the U.S.
These increases threaten an enormous amount of damage. Across the country, nearly 5 million people live in 2.6 million homes at less than 4 feet above high tide — a level lower than the century flood line for most locations analyzed. And compounding this risk, scientists expect roughly 2 to 7 more feet of sea level rise this century — a lot depending upon how much more heat-trapping pollution humanity puts into the sky.
EXPLORESearch or navigate our interactive tools above to see maps of areas below different amounts of sea level rise and flooding, down to neighborhood scale, matched with area timelines of risk. The tool also provides statistics of population, homes and land affected by city, county and state, plus links to factsheets, data downloads, action plans, embeddable widgets, and more.
sealevel.climatecentral.org/news/new-coastal-risk-screening-tool-supports-sea-level-rise-and-flood-mapping-b/

For Aruba click here.
https://coastal.climatecentral.org/map/12/-69.9673/12.5184/?theme=water_level&map_type=water_level_above_mhhw&contiguous=true&elevation_model=best_available&water_level=9.5&water_unit=m

Climate Central sea-level maps are based on peer-reviewed science in leading journals. The maps should be regarded as screening tools to identify places that may require deeper investigation of risk. Big datasets always include error. Outside of the United States, maps are based on global-scale datasets for elevation, tides, and coastal flood likelihoods. Inside the U.S., more accurate but still imperfect data are used.
Areas lower than the selected water level and with an unobstructed path to the ocean are shaded red. By default, areas below the water level but that appear to be protected by ridges (and in the U.S., levees) are not shaded.
Our approach makes it easy to map any scenario quickly and reflects threats from permanent future sea-level rise well. However, the accuracy of these maps drops when assessing risks from extreme flood events. Our maps are not based on physical storm and flood simulations and do not take into account factors such as erosion, future changes in the frequency or intensity of storms, inland flooding, or contributions from rainfall or rivers.
Each map provides more detailed and map-specific documentation via the small ⓘ information icons scattered throughout the interface, including behind the Settings section.
Definitions
“Tideline” is used to denote the recent historical average of the highest daily local tide level or, technically, the mean higher high water (MHHW) line. Within the United States, NOAA’s VDatum tool is used for MHHW values; elsewhere, modeled tidal increments are added to recent historical average sea surface heights measured by satellite.
Source: https://coastal.climatecentral.org/

Cancun saw a 96.8% decrease in international air passenger movements in June.
According to ASUR, which manages many of Mexico’s airports, Cancun Airport saw a 96.8% decrease in international passenger movements in June 2020, falling from 1,400,407 movements in June 2019 to 44,418 movements in June 2020. Domestic passenger movements fell by 83.2%, from 781,998 passenger movements in June 2019 to 131,001 movements in June 2020.
June saw international passenger movements increase by 37,063 (+504%)  compared with May, moving from 7,355 movements in May to 44,418 in June, while domestic passenger movements increased by 89,746 (+217%) moving from 41,255 in May to 131,001 in June.
In the first six months of 2020 the volume of international air passenger movements  decreased by 53.2%, falling from 8,995,341 movements in 2019 to 4,209,900 movements in 2020 while the volume of domestic air passenger movements fell by 51.8%, from 4,219,050 movements in the first six months of 2019 to 2,033,084 in the same six months of 2020.

San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU) saw a 75.9% decrease in air passenger movements in June.
According to ASUR, which manages many airports in Mexico, Colombia and which also manages the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, SJU saw a 75.9% decrease in passenger movements in June 2020, falling from 888,007 movements in June 2019 to 214,008 movements in June 2020.
June saw passenger movements increase by 134,102 (+168%) compared with May moving from 79,906 movements in May to 214,008 in June.
In the first six months of 2020 the overall volume of air passenger movements decreased by 46.1%, from 4,717,808 in 2019 to 2,542,116 in 2020.

Los Cabos saw a 92.8% decline in international air traffic movements in June.
According to Aeroportuario del Pacifico , which manages many of Mexico’s airports, Los Cabos Airport saw a 92.8% decline in international passenger traffic in June 2020, that is enplanements and deplanements, falling from 317,300 international passenger movements in June 2019 to 22,700 international passenger movements in June 2020. Domestic traffic declined by 78.4%, falling from 168,000 passenger movements in June 2019 to 36,300 passenger movements in June 2020.
Regarding the operations of the Los Cabos airport in Mexico, the Government of Mexico has not issued any flight restrictions, however, it has strongly recommended that only essential activities are performed and for persons to avoid as much as possible to leave home, which has caused the cancellation of a large volume of national and international flights. These measures were extended until June 30 2020.
In the first six months of 2020 the volume of international air traffic decreased by 51.7%, falling from 2,019,300 international passenger movements in 2019 to 975,200 in the first six months of 2020 while the volume of domestic air traffic fell by 45.9%, from 885,500 movements in 2019 to 478,800 in the first six months of 2020.

List of Caribbean countries exempt from quarantine in England.
Arrivals are exempt from quarantine if they arrive in England from:
Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, The Bahamas, Barbados, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, Curaçao, Dominica, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, St Barthélemy, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago. All 14 British Overseas Territories, including Anguilla, Bermuda, The British Virgin islands, The Cayman Islands,  Montserrat and The Turks and Caicos Islands, are also exempt. Visitors from Cuba, The Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and the USVI are not exempt.
 
Dominican Republic resorts reopen by a trickle
After the end of the national emergency which was in effect for more than 100 days to prevent the spread of COVID-19, only 23 of the country’s 101 major resorts  reopened their doors on July 1.
According to the listings managed by tour operators, the region of the country with the largest opening of hotels for July will be Punta Cana-Bávaro, which will end the month with 27 hotels open, and in August reopen nine more.
As part of a gradual return to operations, it will be next November when the Eastern region will have some 50 hotels open. Samaná will be closed until November.
According to the listings, there will not be many options to stay until November, a month prior to the start of Dominican tourism’s high season, when at least five hotel properties resume operations.
In Puerto Plata activities will also be restarted progressively. Figures from tourist agencies indicate a gradual return of activities as more facilities reopen in November.
 
The European Union Releases Guidance for Resumption of Cruising
This week, the European Union's Healthy Gateways working group released interim advice for the resumption of cruise ship operations. The guidance is not binding and is subject to change as the pandemic progresses, but it is based on European Commission guidelines for the travel industry.
The group's recommendations are comprehensive, covering everything from voyage planning and infection prevention through public health response measures. They include:
- A gradual overall approach to restarting operations, with shorter voyages of 3-7 days and a limited number of port calls;
- A written outbreak management and contingency plan;
- Prior arrangements with ports of call for medical treatment, ambulance transport, quarantine, air evacuation and other services that might be required in the event of an onboard outbreak; 
- Ensuring availability of access to repatriation flights in the event of a partial or complete ship evacuation. This would include at least one port on the itinerary with international flight service allowing passengers and crew to go home - a significant challenge in recent months;
- Pre-approved onshore quarantine arrangements for known close contacts of COVID-positive individuals; 
- Shoreside isolation arrangements and facilities for people who test positive but do not have symptoms; 
- Adequate testing capacity, either on board or by arrangement with a shoreside lab;
- Pre-departure lab testing for all crewmembers, followed by routine health monitoring and periodic surveillance testing;
- Regular tabletop exercises with cruise ship crews for contingency drills;
- Formal assurances and procedures for informing the next port of call about an onboard outbreak;
- Reducing capacity to allow for social distancing, including an allowance in berthing capacity to isolate individuals in single cabins;
- Reduced face-to-face contact between passengers and staff, including altered arrangements for booking and reception;
- Universal use of face masks in indoor areas by both passengers and crew;
- Continuous ventilation of all occupied spaces;
- Physical distancing of 1.5 meters in most indoor spaces and entertainment venues;
- and limits on the usage of pools and hot tubs, including the closure of indoor pools.
The guidelines recommend preboarding screening measures, but they note that "screening measures may not identify mild symptoms, asymptomatic, incubating travellers or those concealing symptoms," indicating that screening is one tool among many required for a successful reopening. 
read more/...

International air arrivals to Mexico fell by 98.0% in May.
According to the Government of Mexico’s SECTUR (Department of Tourism) the volume of international air arrivals to Mexico fell by 98.0% in May 2020 from 1,493,108 in May 2019 to 30,412 in May 2020. The volume of air arrivals from the USA fell by 97.3% in May, from 870,481 in May 2019 to 23,269 in May of this year, with the volume from Canada falling by 99.5%, from 112,305 in May 2019 to 612 this year.
Cancun Airport saw a 99.7% decrease in international air arrivals in May 2020, falling from 631,620 arrivals in May 2019 to 1,676 arrivals in May 2020, while Los Cabos saw a 99.1% decrease falling from 145,836 international arrivals in May 2019 to 1,300 international air arrivals in May 2020. Puerto Vallarta saw a 98.0% decrease, falling from 92,235 international arrivals in May 2019 to 1,827 in May 2020.
In the first five months of 2020 the volume of international air arrivals to Mexico fell by 45.8%, from 8,481,115 in 2019 to 4,594,443 in the first five months of this year. The volume of air arrivals from the USA fell by 46.7% in the same five months, from 4,515,675 in 2019 to 2,405,300 in 2020 while the volume from Canada fell by 35.5%, from 1,372,421 in 2019 to 884,614 in 2020.
Cancun Airport saw a 47.2% decrease in international air arrivals in the first five months of 2020, falling from 3,610,507 in 2019 to 1,907,317 in 2020 while Los Cabos saw a 46.1% decrease falling from 817,780 international air arrivals to 440,528 air arrivals in 2020. Puerto Vallarta saw a 40.3% decrease, falling from 820,101 international arrivals in 2019 to 489,959 n the first five months of 2020.

Las Vegas saw a 95.9% decrease in visitors in May.
According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Las Vegas saw the volume of visitors decrease by 95.9% in May 2020, falling from 3,691,100 visitors in May 2019 to 151,300 arrivals in May 2020.
Las Vegas had 148,755 hotel rooms in May 2020 (up 0.2% compared with May 2019) and achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 2.8% (down 88.0 percentage points compared with May 2019), an ADR of $60.70 (down 56.8% compared with May 2019) and a RevPar of $1.70 down 98.7% also compared with May 2019.
Through the first five months of 2020 Las Vegas saw a 50.6% decrease in the volume of visitors, falling from 17,532,100 arrivals in the first five months of 2019 to 8,667,700 visitors in the same five months of 2020.
Las Vegas achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 43.1% in the first five months of 2020 (down 45.8 percentage points compared with the first five months of 2019), an ADR of $141.55 (up 2.4% compared with the same five months of 2019) and a RevPar of $61.01, down 50.4%, also compared with the same five months of 2019.
Gaming revenue fell by 44.9% from $4.280 billion in the first five months of 2019 to $2.358 billion in the same five months of 2020.

Cuba announces total visitor arrivals fell by 99.7% in May.
The Cuban Government’s Office of National Statistics and Information (ONEI) recently announced that total tourist arrivals fell by 99.7% in May 2020, from 358,321 arrivals in May 2019 to 993 arrivals in May of this year. This number includes both stopover visitors and cruise visitors.
Cuba closed its borders to international visitors as of March 24th 2020.
The number of visitors from the USA fell by 100.0%, from 78,002 arrivals in May 2019 to zero in the same month of 2020 (Note: this would include cruise visitors). The number of visitors from the number one market, Canada, also fell by 100%, from 57,967 arrivals in May 2019 to zero this May.
In the first five months of 2020 Cuba saw a 57.0% decrease in total arrivals, falling from 2,286,882 arrivals in 2019 to 984,178 this year. Total tourist arrivals from the USA, which comprised 5.1% of all arrivals, fell by 84.9% from 335,408 in 2019 to 50,528 in the first five months of 2020. Arrivals from Canada, which comprised 41.0% of all tourist arrivals, fell by 40.9%, from 682,458 arrivals in 2019 to 403,620 in the first five months of 2020.

Costa Rica saw a 98.2% drop in stopover arrivals in May.
According to the Costa Rica Institute of Tourism ICT, Costa Rica saw the volume of stopovers drop by 98.2% in May 2020, falling from 211,598 stopovers in May 2019 to 3,803 stopovers in 2020. The number of stopovers from the USA fell by 99.7% in May 2020, falling from 99,540 stopovers in May 2019 to 285 in May 2020 while the number from Central America declined by 93.1%, from 47,984 in May 2019 to 3,326 in May 2020.
After declaring a state of emergency, Costa Rica closed all borders to foreigners on April 18th 2020.
The volume of stopovers decreased by 40.8% in the first five months of 2020, falling from 1,477,267 stopovers in 2019 to 874,812 stopovers in first five months of 2020. The number of stopovers from the USA dropped by 43.3% in the first five months of 2020, from 628,253 stopovers in 2019 to 356,084 in 2020 while the number from Central America declined by 40.9%, falling from 311,041 in the first five months of 2019 to 183,696 in the same five months of 2020. 

Hawaii saw a 98.9% decline in air arrivals in May.
According to the Hawaii Tourism Authority, Hawaii saw the volume of air arrivals decrease by 98.9% in May 2020, falling from 830,038 arrivals in May 2019 to 9,116 arrivals in May 2020.
The state of Hawaii imposed a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine for incoming out of state visitors on March 26th , which was extended on April 1 to include inter-island travelers. Neither quarantine is slated to end before June 30.
Air arrivals from the USA fell by 98.5%, from 583,876 in May 2019 to 8,489 in May 2020, fell by 100.0% from Japan (from 113,218 arrivals in May 2019 to 14 air arrivals in May 2020). Air arrivals fell by 99.9% from Canada (from 25,794 to 20 air arrivals).
Through the first five months of 2020 Hawaii saw a 49.3% decrease in the volume of air arrivals, falling from 4,164,120 arrivals in the first five months of 2019 to 2,109,375 air arrivals in the same five months of 2020. Air arrivals from the USA decreased by 47.6% in the first five months of 2020, falling from 2,741,415 air arrivals in 2019 to 1,435,925 air arrivals in the same five months of 2020, fell by 51.6% from Japan (from 607,656 arrivals in 2019 to 294,255 air arrivals in 2020) and fell by 46.5% from Canada (from 291,009 in 2019 to 155,764 air arrivals in 2020).
The Hawaii Tourist Authority was unable to collect any visitor expenditure data during May 2020.

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index Increased in June
30 June. 2020
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® increased in June, after virtually no change in May. The Index now stands at 98.1 (1985=100), up from 85.9 in May. The Present Situation Index – based on consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions – improved from 68.4 to 86.2. The Expectations Index – based on consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions – increased from 97.6 in May to 106.0 this month.
The monthly Consumer Confidence Survey®, based on a probability-design random sample, is conducted for The Conference Board by Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and analytics around what consumers buy and watch. The cutoff date for the preliminary results was June 18.
“Consumer Confidence partially rebounded in June but remains well below pre-pandemic levels,” said Lynn Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board. “The re-opening of the economy and relative improvement in unemployment claims helped improve consumers’ assessment of current conditions, but the Present Situation Index suggests that economic conditions remain weak. Looking ahead, consumers are less pessimistic about the short-term outlook, but do not foresee a significant pickup in economic activity. Faced with an uncertain and uneven path to recovery, and a potential COVID-19 resurgence, it’s too soon to say that consumers have turned the corner and are ready to begin spending at pre-pandemic levels.”
Consumers’ appraisal of current conditions improved in June. The percentage of consumers claiming business conditions are “good” rose from 16.4 percent to 17.4 percent, while those claiming business conditions are “bad” decreased from 51.2 percent to 43.2 percent. Consumers’ assessment of the job market was also more favorable. The percentage of consumers saying jobs are “plentiful” increased from 16.5 percent to 20.8 percent, while those claiming jobs are “hard to get” decreased from 29.2 percent to 23.8 percent.
Consumers’ short-term outlook was less pessimistic in June. The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions will improve over the next six months was virtually unchanged at 42.6 percent, while those expecting business conditions will worsen decreased from 20.5 percent to 15.3 percent. Consumers’ outlook for the labor market was mixed. The proportion expecting more jobs in the months ahead declined from 39.5 percent to 38.4 percent, however those anticipating fewer jobs in the months ahead also decreased, from 19.9 percent to 14.2 percent. Regarding their short-term income prospects, the percentage of consumers expecting an increase improved from 14.6 percent to 15.1 percent, while the proportion expecting a decrease declined from 15.4 percent to 14.4 percent.

LIAT to be liquidated and new airline formed – PM of Antigua, Gaston Browne
“From all indication, LIAT will be liquidated,” Prime Minister Gaston Browne has just announced.
The Prime Minister said there will be a meeting of all shareholders shortly to discuss collapsing LIAT.
A new entity will be formed.
“COVID would have actually, let’s say increased the losses exponentially, so whereas in all of 2019 LIAT made a loss of about EC$12 million, that was within the means of the shareholder governments to subsidize,” Browne said on local radio in Antigua.
“You would have found that since COVID, the planes have been grounded, they have to pay the lease payments and they are not getting any revenue.
“A decision will have to be made to collapse it and then maybe the countries within the region will have to come together to form a new entity,” Browne added.
The Antigua and Barbuda leader says he cannot see the region moving forward without a form of connectivity and you cannot have an integration movement if people cannot connect.
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Airline recovery will be ‘slow and shallow’
Consumers have grown more cautious about flying, making the return of air travel “slow and shallow”, according to airline association IATA.
A majority of air travellers will wait six months or longer before taking a flight, research by IATA suggests.
Brian Pearce, IATA chief economist, warned: “We are going to see a relatively slow and shallow return of air travel until we see either a vaccine or easily available tests.
“Consumers have grown more cautious in the last month. A majority say they are going to wait six months or more.”
Speaking on a World Aviation Festival webcast, Pearce said: “Consumers have also changed their booking behaviour which makes it difficult for airline network planners. They are booking much, much later.”
Pearce noted airline capacity in China, Vietnam and South Korea “is about 25% below where it was last year, at least in terms of flights” and said: “We’ve passed the low point [of the crisis].
“There are some positive signs. Business confidence rebounded to some extent in May. We are starting to see some bilateral arrangements of travel bubbles and travel corridors.”
But he said: “We are nowhere near over the first wave of the virus and it’s quite possible we could see a second wave.
“The fear of governments and health authorities is of importing Covid-19.”
Pearce insisted: “First and foremost this is a health crisis [and] the future of air travel is going to depend on what happens to the Covid-19 virus and on governments’ response.
“We are not going to see the sort of recovery we have seen after previous pandemics. It’s going to be some time before we see a widespread opening of borders.”
IATA does not expect a recovery to 2019 levels before 2023 and Pearce said “a second wave could lead to another quarter of lockdown and mean we will not see a return to 2019 levels until 2024”.
He warned: “It is going to be particularly difficult for long-haul travel. Bookings are very low and late. Visibility is almost zero. Cargo is the only bright spot.
“We will see countries negotiate bilateral agreements with their neighbours.”
He added: “There is a risk city-pair connections may not fully recover. Probably more than 90% of city pairs around the world are connected via hubs, but so many feeder markets remain closed.
“We forecast the number of connected city pairs around the world will probably be 25% lower than it was. Airlines are going to be a lot smaller.”

The Maldives announces visitor arrivals fell to zero in April 2020 as a result of the closure of its borders.
The Maldives Government’s Ministry of Tourism recently announced that total tourist arrivals fell by 100% in April 2020, from 163,114 arrivals received in April 2019 to zero arrivals in April of this year as a result of the closure of the country’s borders as of March 27th.
The Government of the Maldives prohibited visitors from China effective February 4, from Iran as of February 26, from South Korea as of March 3, from Italy as of March 8, from Germany, Spain and France as of March 15, from Malaysia as of March 17, from the United Kingdom as of March 19, from Sri Lanka as of March 21 and from Bangladesh as of March 24. As of March 27, all foreign nationals were prohibited entry to The Maldives.
In the first four months of 2020 The Maldives saw a 40.8% decrease in total arrivals, falling from 646,092 in 2019 to 382,760 this year.
The Maldives has seen the overall number of accommodation establishments in operation fell by 94.1% from 856 in April 2019 to 50 establishments this April. The number of beds fell by 78.3% from 45,936 last April to  9,976 this year. Through the end of April overall average room occupancy has fallen by 29.7 percentage points from 74.3% in 2019 to 44.6% this year.
Of the 50 establishments in operation 40 were resorts which offered 9,350 beds (93.7% of the overall number of beds). These resorts achieved a 51.2% average room occupancy through the first four months of 2020 down from 86.7% for the first four months of 2019. In April 2019 there were 142 resorts in operation offering 32,118 beds.  

Hawaii’s hotels report a 64.9 percentage point drop in average room occupancy in May to reach 14.2%.
According to the Hawai‘i Hotel Performance Report published by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA), statewide hotel room occupancy fell by 64.9 percentage points from 79.0% in May 2019 to 14.2% in May this year. ADR fell by 50.4% from $255.47 to $1126.72 while revpar fell by 91.1%, from $201.91 in May 2019 to $17.95 in May this year.
HTA’s Tourism Research Division issued the report’s findings utilizing data compiled by STR, Inc., which conducts the largest and most comprehensive survey of hotel properties in the Hawaiian Islands. For May, the survey included 81 properties representing 18,306 rooms, or 34.1 percent of all lodging properties and 66.3 percent of operating lodging properties with 20 rooms or more in the Hawaiian Islands, including full service, limited service, and condominium hotels.
In May, Hawai‘i hotel room revenues statewide fell by 95.5 percent to $15.4 million. Room supply was 48.9% lower than in May 2019 (819,800 room nights) and room demand dropped by 90.8% to 121,300 room nights. Many properties closed or reduced operations starting in April 2020.
Since March 26, all passengers arriving from out-of-state were required to abide by a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine. The quarantine order was expanded on April 1 to include inter-island travelers.
For the first five months of 2020 statewide hotel room occupancy fell by 25.2 percentage points from 79.8% in 2019 to 54.6% in the first five months of 2020. ADR grew by 5.7% from $279.88 in 2019 to $295.76 while revpar fell by 27.7%, from $223.25 in the first five months of 2019 to $161.36 in the first five months of this year.
In the first five months of 2020, Hawai‘i hotel room revenues statewide fell by 41.4% from $1.824 billion in 2019 to $1.068 billion this year. Room demand fell to 3,612,500  room nights, down 44.6% compared to a year ago. Room supply fell by 19.0% and fell to 6,621,700 available room nights.

Curacao gradually opening its borders on July 1, 2020
WILLEMSTAD - July 1st, 2020 is official. Curaçao is ready to welcome back its first visitors from the European market.  Opening the borders and implementing safety & hygiene procedures does not mean that we have overcome this economic crisis or that business as usual is back. It’s the first step to regain our strength and build up our tourism industry.
CHATA predicts a hotel performance of 20-25% for the tourism industry for summer (July/Aug) 2020. The year to date (January 2020 -May 2020) occupancy for Curacao is 37.6%. Compared to the same period of 2019, this is considered a decrease of 50.5%; from 75.9% in 2019 to 37.6% in 2020. Year to date figures indicate an ADR of $136.54. Compared to 2019, this is a decrease of 21%; from $172.78 to $136.54. When it comes to the RevPAR, the year to date numbers have also shown a decline compared to 2019. The year to date RevPAR in 2019 was $132.24 and in 2020 it decreased with 46.9% to $70.33.
Furthermore, considering the quarantine hotels, occupancy in the month of May was 3.8%, compared to the same month in 2019 (64.9%), this is a decline of 94.1%. Regarding the ADR in May, it was $116.28, compared to the same month in 2019, this is a decrease of 16%, from $138.49 to $116.28. The RevPar in the month of May in 2020 was $4.37, which is a decrease of 95.1% compared to the RevPar of the same month in 2019, which was $89.85.
This significant decrease in year to date hotel performance is unfortunately a result of the global pandemic measures taken to prevent the spreading of COVID-19. It should also be noted that for the month of April, Curacao’s hotels were completely closed.
Earlier this year, CHATA predicted that it would take roughly 2-3 years for the tourism industry to reach the numbers that were achieved in 2019. “The gradual reopening of the borders will be contributing to the recovery of the industry. We expect that 45% of our room inventory on island will open up its business to focus on the European market. Hence the importance not to stand still but to continue to evaluate the opportunity to move forward with important secondary markets such as the North American and South American market. Tourism is known to be resilient, we are confident that with the right approach and mindset we can be too,” shares CHATA President and CEO, Miles Mercera.
With the limited hotel inventory being operational, a destination hotel occupancy of 50% is expected to be reached by the end of this year. CHATA hopes that the government will continue to support the industry with the NOW program after July 1st, 2020 as the financial crisis is still real for a majority of the business owners and employees despite the gradual opening of the borders.

Bermuda Tourism Authority report points to grim outlook for tourism.
Air arrivals for the second half of 2020 are expected to be one third of what they were last year, while hotel occupancy is expected to average about 25 per cent for the next six months.
The statistics, which portray a grim outlook for tourism, appear in the Bermuda Tourism Authority’s flights demand update, dated June 15, which was circulated among hoteliers.
LF Wade International Airport will reopen next week, after the island moves into Phase 4.
The report has dismal expectations for July, when only 35 commercial flights are expected.
The total number of commercial airline seats available for next month is estimated at about 4,500. That number takes social-distancing measures on aircraft into account and represents a 92 per cent fall in airlift from the same month last year.
The BTA forecasts hotel occupancy in July at between 0 per cent and 10 per cent, compared with more than 84 per cent in 2019.
In August, things are forecast to pick up a little, with air arrivals of between 11,500 and 13,100 reaching more than one third of last year’s total of 33,188, translating into an estimated hotel occupancy rate of between 33 per cent and 37 per cent, compared with 79 per cent last year.
Air Canada’s flight from Toronto is scheduled to be the first flight to arrive next month on July 2.
Pascal Déry, a spokesman for Air Canada, confirmed yesterday: “We do plan to operate once a week from Toronto starting July 2. We might also increase frequencies for the month of August.”
The only flight coming to the island from the US next month is Delta Air Lines’ daily Atlanta service from July 6.
The only other airline coming to the island in July is British Airways, which resumes its flights from Gatwick on July 17, twice a week on Mondays and Fridays.
One airline that does not appear on the July schedule is American Airlines.
Laura Masvidal, a spokeswoman for American, said yesterday: “We are currently planning to resume our operation in Bermuda on August 5 with one daily flight from New York, JFK.”
That will be a morning flight, arriving in Bermuda at 11.44am.
She added that the airline planned to resume its Miami-Bermuda service in October.
The International Air Transport Association does not expect passenger air travel to return to 2019 levels until 2023.
Credit rating agency Moody’s said yesterday that it expected small-island economies, including Bermuda, to be impacted by a steep drop-off in tourism this year, with continuing soft demand next year.
David Rogovic, Moody’s vice-president, said: “We expect tourist arrivals to decline between 35 per cent and 50 per cent for most sovereigns, followed by only a partial recovery in 2021.”
While Moody’s expected Bermuda would be less impacted than many islands that are more dependent on tourism, the rating agency estimated that a 50 per cent drop in visitor numbers over a year would have a negative 5 per cent impact on the island’s gross domestic product.

Seychelles to re-open borders to low-, medium- risk COVID countries on Aug. 1
Seychelles will re-open its border to commercial passenger flights from low- or medium-risk COVID-19 countries beginning of August to revive the tourism sector with a new structure put in place to manage the re-opening, said a top health official. 
The Public Health Commissioner, Jude Gedeon, told a press conference on Tuesday that the Aug. 1 reopening will be done under a national framework for the integrated management of reopening Seychelles' borders. Under the framework, countries are classified in three risk categories; low, medium and high risk. 
Gedeon said the three categories are based on “the trends in outbreak, potential for travellers to get infected, testing pattern, ratio of recent case to one month ago and the quality of data.” 
He pointed out that countries in the low risk category which are part of the island nation’s tourism markets currently are Switzerland and Ireland. The countries which are the main markets for Seychelles such as Germany, Italy and France are in the medium risk group with England still in a high-risk category. 
Based on these criteria, the authorities “can decide from which countries we can allow visitors and what they have to do before they can come to Seychelles without putting our country at a higher risk.” 
Although the passengers will not be quarantined, they will have to observe certain regulations under the national framework. 
This includes a mandatory PCR test done 72 hours before departure for visitors coming from medium-risk countries and an antigen test for those from low-risk countries. 
“The second filter is how the booking is done. It has to be done through travel agents and visitors need to have their booking voucher,” said Gedeon, adding that “visitors will stay in establishments approved by the Ministry of Tourism.” 
Additionally, airlines are already boosting security measures onboard their aircraft to make travelling safer. 
Although visitors will not be placed in quarantine as of Aug. 1, the establishment where they will be staying must be aware of where they are through maintaining daily movement records. 
Gedeon added that “when the visitors are at their respective accommodation, they will not have to wear face masks, but should they use public transport, such as buses or taxis they will have to do so. The taxi drivers will have to keep a log of the visitors who avail of their services. This will be used as a tracking measure.” 
Before the reopening in August, two evaluations of the measures will be carried out on July 14 and 21. 
Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, is free of COVID-19 and reopened its international airport to commercial flights for private jets and chartered flights on June 1.

Many destinations have stopped producing tourist arrival numbers.
In case you were wondering a significant number of destinations/countries have curtailed the publication of 2020 tourist arrival numbers.
The most recent published data

• for Aruba is for February 2020,
• for The Bahamas, March 2020,
• for Barbados, September 2019,
• for Belize, March 2020,
• for Cancun’s hotels, March 16 2020,
• for the Cayman Islands, February 2020,
• for Curacao, March 2020,
• for Jamaica, February 2020,
• for hotel registrations by market for Puerto Rico, August 2019,
• for the Turks and Caicos Islands, December 2019.

As soon as more current numbers are published, we will make them available to you.

​Cruise industry stretches suspension of sailing from U.S. ports to at least Sept. 15
More than three months after first suspending cruises from U.S. ports, operators said they will now continue that pause for another two months — if not longer.
Cruise Lines International Association, a trade group, said in a statement Friday that its members would voluntarily extend the suspension until Sept. 15 or later if necessary. That’s almost two months after a no-sail order issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is scheduled to lift on July 24.
“Although we had hoped that cruise activity could resume as soon as possible after that date, it is increasingly clear that more time will be needed to resolve barriers to resumption in the United States,” the association said in a statement.
Carnival Cruise Line had tentatively said it hoped to resume cruising on Aug. 1 with eight ships, though the line said the plan was “contingent on a number of factors." On Monday, the cruise company announced it was canceling all cruises through Sept. 30.
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Jamaica Re-Opening Going Smoothly
There haven’t been a lot of Canadians arriving so far, but Jamaica’s re-opening is going well after a week of open borders.
Speaking with TravelPulse Canada on a Zoom call on Monday, Donovan White, Director of Tourism for the Jamaica Tourist Board, said things have gone well after a couple days of fine-tuning.
“We’re doing things in a safe and responsible way to allow visitors to have their vacations and still enjoy Jamaica,” he said.
There are a number of new rules in place for tourists, White said. One of the most innovative programs, and one that hasn’t received a lot of attention in the travel press, is Jamaica’s so-called COVID-Resilient Corridor, a tourism ribbon that stretches from Negril to Montego Bay and on to Ocho Rios and Port Antonio.
The corridor allows Jamaican authorities to “have a controlled environment within the tourism spaces where our guests can be, so in the event there is an emergency and we have any positive testing we can track and trace those persons relatively quickly and efficiently.”
White said only hotels and resorts that are certified by health authorities have been allowed to re-open in this phase, and that hotels in the corridor are all on the beach side of the highway. Roads on the other side of the highway, which usually lead to smaller towns and villages, aren’t open for tourists.
“Only accommodations within this corridor are allowed to be open” in Jamaica’s first phase of reopening, he said.
White said all travellers to Jamaica have to complete what’s called a Travel Authorization Form before they arrive. Once they land, health screeners meet visitors to talk about their health, go over their Travel Authorization Form and determine if they have any symptoms. Passengers then go to have their passports stamped at immigration before proceeding to baggage claim. More health workers are at the baggage claim area to chat with visitors about where they’re staying. Anyone not staying within the dedicated corridor can download the Jamaica COVID-19 tracking app, White said.
After baggage claim and customs, all arriving visitors have to undergo a nasal swab for COVID-19. Results come within 24 to 48 hours, during which guests are expected to stay at their hotel or other accommodation.
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Riviera Maya Hotel Association says reactivation has started favorably
The Riviera Maya Hotel Association (AHRM) announced that the reopening of Riviera Maya has started favorably with the operation of 19 hotels. The Asociación de Hoteles de la Riviera Maya (AHRM) announced that they anticipate reaching up to 25 percent occupancy for the upcoming summer months with the arrival of tourists from Mexico the United States and Canada.
A little over a week after the reopening of the Mexican Caribbean, Conrad Bergwerf, AHRM president, said that they continue to record a gradual increase in hotel activity, and notes that as more of the state is reactivated, visitors will increase.
“Although the occupation rate is low at the moment, of approximately 10 percent, the important thing is that we have already started to improve these figures,” he said adding that another 11 hotels have announced that in coming weeks, they too, will reopen.
Manuel Paredes, executive director of AHRM clarified that “open hotels do not have all their rooms in operation” due to the maximum capacity rate according to the traffic light color system. However, he did say that they will continue to gradually activate more and more rooms “according to demand until the entire hotel is operational.”
“We are sure that tourists will gradually gain confidence in traveling until a vaccine comes out,” said Bergwerf who estimated that they could reach an occupancy rate of 30 percent in the second half of the year, “as long as something does not happen worldwide that affects the destination.”
According to the association, establishments set to reopen include El Dorado, Thompson Beach House and Viva Wyndham Maya, which are expected to reopen July 1. A day later, the Vivanta Group is scheduled to reopen.
According to Cancun managing company ASUR, the Cancun International Airport continues to see increases in the amount of daily flights. Over the weekend, a flight from Italy landed. Neos Air made its first flight back to Cancun since the pandemic.
Airlines flying in and out of the Cancun International Airport include American Airlines, United, Jet Blue, Sun Country, Air Canada and Neos airlines. Points of origin include the US cities of Philadelphia, Charlotte, Chicago, New York, Houston, Miami (two flights), and Dallas (four flights), as well as Toronto, Canada, and Milan, Italy.
 
Punta Cana received five tourists in May.
According to the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic, saw the volume of non-resident stopover arrivals decrease by 100% in May, falling from 312,887 arrivals in May 2019 to five arrivals (from Brazil) in May 2020 consequent upon the closure the Punta Cana airport to all foreign visitors. Stopover arrivals from the USA fell by 100% in May, from 153,919 arrivals in May 2019 to zero arrivals in May 2020.
The Dominican Republic closed its borders to visitors as of March 19th 2020.
During the first five months of 2020 Punta Cana saw a 57.8% decrease in the volume of stopover arrivals, falling from 1,758,489 arrivals in 2019 to 741,971 non-resident arrivals in the first five months of 2020.
Arrivals from the USA fell by 73.9% in the first five months of 2020, falling from 765,509 arrivals in 2019 to 199,551 arrivals in the same five months of 2020. Arrivals from Russia fell by 28.7% in the same period, from 31,476 in 2019 to 22,444 in 2020. Traffic was also down 60.8% from Germany, down 54.0% from Brazil, down 58.4% from Argentina, down 53.4% from the U.K., down 50.6% from France and down 37.2% from Canada.
Stopover arrivals to Punta Cana made up 53.3% of all non-resident arrivals to the Dominican Republic in 2020.

The Dominican Republic received 389 non-resident visitors in May as its borders remained closed.
According to the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, the Dominican Republic saw the volume of non-resident stopover arrivals decrease by 99.9% in May, falling from 527,732 non-resident arrivals in May 2019 to 389 arrivals in May 2020. Stopover arrivals from the USA fell by 100%, from 222,556 arrivals in May 2019 to 56 arrivals in May 2020. 
The Dominican Republic closed its borders to visitors as of March 19th 2020.
In the first five months of 2020 the Dominican Republic saw a 53.4% decrease in the volume of stopover arrivals, falling from 2,988,155 arrivals in 2019 to 1,393,065 non-resident arrivals in 2020. Non-resident arrivals from the USA decreased by 68.1% in the first five months of 2020, falling from 1,113,640 arrivals in 2019 to 355,273 arrivals in 2020.

Will COVID-19 Testing Be A Key Requirement For International Flights?
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is clear: the application of tests to detect COVID-19 should not be a necessary aspect to resume international air operations or reopen borders.
The organization, made up of more than 290 airlines and 120 countries, is one of the main instruments of air cooperation in matters of security and operation. Precisely, together with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), it develops protocols and proposals to resume activity in the midst of the crisis caused by COVID-19.
The application of tests to detect the coronavirus is at the center of the debate on reopening international flights. Not all countries are in a position to apply them and there are sectors that fear that their mandatory nature will become a barrier to reactivate air activity.
On June 16, the ICAO published Takeoff Guidance which is the global guidance for governments to follow in reconnecting their people and economies by air. Takeoff outlines layers of measures to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 transmission during air travel and the risk of importation of COVID-19 via air travel.
This body is proposing that the tests should preferably be applied to passengers from countries classified as “high risk”.
“Technology for rapid point-of-care Polymerized Chain Reaction (PCR) testing could be a useful layer of protection for travelers from countries considered as higher risk, potentially removing the need for more burdensome and intrusive measures such as quarantine which is a major barrier to travel and the recovery of demand,” detailed IATA.
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The United States Virgin Islands saw an 86.4% decline in air arrivals in April 2020.
According to the USVI Bureau of Economic Research, the USVI saw the volume of air arrivals decrease by 86.4% in April 2020, falling from 43,317 air arrivals in April 2019 to 5,903 air arrivals in April of this year.
Through the first four months of 2020 the USVI saw the volume of air arrivals decrease by 23.5%, from 236,771 air arrivals in the first four months of 2019 to 181,181 air arrivals in the first four months of 2020.

Cuba announces total visitor arrivals fell by 99.8% in April.
The Cuban Government’s Office of National Statistics and Information (ONEI) recently announced that total tourist arrivals fell by 99.8% in April 2020, from 458,104 arrivals in April 2019 to 1,051 arrivals in April of this year. This number includes both stopover visitors and cruise visitors.
Cuba closed its borders to international visitors as of March 24th 2020.
The number of visitors from the USA fell by 100.0%, from 75,699 arrivals in April 2019 to zero in the same month of 2020 (Note: this would include cruise visitors). The number of visitors from the number one market, Canada, also fell by 100%, from 128,245 arrivals in April 2019 to zero this April.
In the first four months of 2020 Cuba saw a 49.0% decrease in total arrivals, falling from 1,928,561 arrivals in 2019 to 983,185 this year. Total tourist arrivals from the USA, which comprised 5.1% of all arrivals, fell by 80.4% from 257,406 in 2019 to 50,528 in the first four months of 2020. Arrivals from Canada, which comprised 41.1% of all tourist arrivals, fell by 35.4%, from 624,491 arrivals in 2019 to 403,620 in the first four months of 2020.

Will A $4,000 Tax Credit For Travel within the USA Be In The Next Stimulus Package?
The tourism industry loves the idea and so does President Trump, but will Congress get on board?
If approved, the “Explore America” Tax Credit would dangle up to $4,000 in front of Americans for vacation expenses spent in the U.S. at hotels, theme parks, restaurants and other tourism-related businesses through the end of 2021. The credit would cover up to 50% of a household’s total vacation expenses, up to a maximum of four grand.
President Trump brought up the proposal last month in a White House roundtable with restaurant industry leaders, mentioning an “’Explore America’ tax credit that Americans can use for domestic travel, including visits to restaurants.”
Approval of such a tax credit would be a win for the U.S. tourism industry, which has been pummeled by the coronavirus crisis. Before the pandemic, the industry contributed $2.6 trillion to the economy, supported 15.8 million American jobs overall—8.9 million directly— and delivered a $69 billion trade surplus last year, according to the U.S. Travel Association. But travel businesses and employees were among the first and hardest hit during the crisis, representing nearly 40% of all job loss through April.
White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett told the Wall Street Journal last week that the odds of a “Phase Four” stimulus package before Congress’s August recess are “very, very high.”
The travel industry lobby has pitched a handful of policy proposals for inclusion in any future package. The tax credit would “encourage domestic business and leisure travelers to travel within a specified time frame, similar to what was done through the homebuyer tax credit in the wake of the housing crisis.” The credit would apply to any travel expense “over $50 that is incurred while traveling away from home in the U.S., with explicit reference to the expense of meals, lodging, recreation, transportation, amusement or entertainment, business meetings or events, and gasoline,” according to the proposal.
It’s difficult to tell if this idea is picking up any traction. Since Trump mentioned the “Explore America” Tax Credit last month, the administration has been mum on further details, and Congress has not introduced legislation as of yet.
“We are grateful to the president for hearing our call for a national effort to get Americans traveling again as the country shifts into the recovery phase,” said Roger Dow, CEO of the U.S. Travel Association in a statement last month.
“Travel supported jobs for one in every 10 Americans before the pandemic,” said Dow. “Measures to incent travel will not only give people a renewed appreciation for this great country in which we live, but they are an efficient and effective way to ignite a recovery and restore jobs in every corner of the nation.”
The U.S. would not be the first country to consider using incentives to promote domestic travel. The Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO) has proposed a plan that would dole out travel vouchers to Japanese citizens for lodging and dining. And in Switzerland there is a proposal to stimulate domestic tourism by giving every citizen a voucher to be spent on a Swiss staycation.
 
Aruba starts opening borders on Monday June 15th.
Aruba will be opening its borders for passengers from Bonaire and Curaçao per Monday, June 15, followed by Europe, Canada and the Caribbean on July 1. Visitors from the United States (US) will be allowed as of July 10.
Aruba Prime Minister Evelyn Wever-Croes announced this during a press conference on Wednesday evening. In the first phase, starting on Monday, a “bubble” will be created for Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire whereby free movement of passengers will be allowed.
Visitors and returning residents from European countries are welcome per July 1, as well as passengers from Canada and the Caribbean, with the exception of the Dominican Republic and Haiti where, the prime minister said, the number of COVID-19 infections was still high.
The border will be open for passengers from the US as of July 10. Despite the higher risks of importing the coronavirus from the US, Aruba has still decided to take that “calculated risk,” as Minister of Tourism Dangui Oduber put it, because the country’s economy greatly depends on visitors from the US.
Wever-Croes said that no date has been set as yet for the opening of the borders with South and Central America, and the rest of the world. “We will keep monitoring the situation.” She said the decision to reopen Aruba’s borders in phases had not been easy to make and had only been done following extensive meetings and gathering advice from local, Dutch and international experts.
All arriving passengers, except for the ones from Curaçao and Bonaire, must comply with a number of conditions, assured Minister Dangui Oduber. A screening is mandatory. Passengers should do a test 72 hours before their departure to Aruba, and upload the test result on a special online facility.
Passengers must also fill in a health declaration form before departure. If the test results are negative, the visitor can freely enjoy their vacation. Of course, they have to stick to the preventive measures such as the 1.5-metre social distancing and proper hand hygiene. 
Passengers who did not do the pre-departure test, will have to take a test at the Aruba airport. These visitors will then have to go 24 hours in quarantine at their hotel, and they will only be cleared after the test is negative, explained Head of the Aruba Tourist Authority (ATA) Ronella Tjin Asjoe-Croes.
read more/...

U.S. Travel Searches Indicate Initial Signs of Hotel Recovery
According to new consumer research from BVA BDRC and supported by Expedia Group search data, Americans are increasing their intent to travel this summer, a positive indicator for the industry. While U.S. domestic and regional travel searches steadily dropped throughout March and into the first week of April, according to Expedia Group data, search has been steadily climbing over the last month in total volume. Expedia Group data also showed that for domestic travelers who searched within the last month for July trips, there has been an average gain of 20% week-on-week.
According to BVA BDRC, nearly 40% of consumers polled plan to book an accommodation, whether a hotel or vacation rental, within the next three months. In addition, providing clear communication on cleanliness measures should be top of mind for accommodation providers.
Here are points for accommodation partners to consider:

• More than 50% of respondents expect hand sanitizer to be available throughout the hotel and enhanced cleaning regimes
• 40% of respondents expect staff to wear protective gear, such as face masks
• Vacation-rental guests similarly expect new cleaning standards, with more than 50% expecting hand sanitizer on property
• Nearly half also expect a company-wide cleanliness standard for vacation rentals comparable to hotels.

read more/...

The Caribbean has a unique opportunity to reset the relationship with the cruise lines
David Jessop – Caribbean Council.
Even at the best of times, the cruise lines are controversial Caribbean partners, sharply dividing opinion between happy travellers, citizens, hoteliers, environmentalists, academics, and governments.
Now, having been absent from the region since early March when the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention issued its first ‘no sail’ order, many questions surround how and when they should return.
The Caribbean clearly wants to welcome cruise passengers back, but it has yet to be seen whether this will be on a common regionally agreed basis.
So far there has been little sign that the Caribbean has realised that the absence of sailings offers what is probably a once in a lifetime opportunity to reset in a more equitable way the relationship, and  to capitalise on its e role as a prime cruise destination.
Although CARICOM heads agreed on May 5 to a joined-up approach to reopening, since then the signs are that this is unsustainable. The decisions taken by Antigua and St Lucia last month to announce unilaterally opening dates and health protocols for tourism suggests that the cruise companies will continue to be able to divide and rule and retain the uniquely beneficial tax and regulatory spaces they occupy.
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Cuba plans cautious reopening to tourists
Cuba is planning to welcome tourists with COVID-19 tests and limit their contact with locals as part of a raft of measures designed to get its vital tourism industry back up and running.
The government of President Miguel Diaz-Canel said it would gradually open up the economy in the next weeks, with a particular focus on recovering tourism dollars lost to the lockdown.
Foreign tourists, the lifeblood of Cuba's economy, will be restricted to a well established string of coastal resorts to limit contact with the local population in a country, where Diaz-Canel insisted, the coronavirus pandemic was "under control."
Havana and the rest of the country will be initially be reserved for local tourism.
"There will be no abrupt opening in the first phase," warned Prime Minister Manuel Marrero. He emphasized that Cubans will have to inch their way out of lockdown, and that face masks will have to be worn outdoors.
Although there has been no official word, international flights are not expected to begin until August 1, forcing Spanish company Evelop to cancel several flights tentatively scheduled for July.
When flights resume, tourists will have to undergo medical checks on arrival and have their temperature taken. Health checks will also be a feature of stays, and hotel occupancy will be limited to allow for social distancing measures.
read more/...

34% of Canadians say they’ll travel 4-6 months after advisory lifted.
The latest challenge for the travel industry will be getting clients to feel comfortable booking travel for a post-pandemic world, at least for the short term, according to new findings from Travelweek’s COVID-19 Consumer Survey.
The survey, in partnership with Star Metroland and garnering close to 3,000 responses from consumers across Canada, indicates that 65% of respondents are not willing to book travel now for 2021, compared to 35% who said they would book now for next year.
When asked how soon after travel restrictions are lifted will they travel again, 34% of respondents said they would within four to six months, 32% said within one to three months, and 24% said they wouldn’t travel until seven months or longer. Only 10% said they would travel less than one month of restrictions being lifted.
In order to entice them to book future travel, nearly 28% of respondents said flexible cancellation policies would be the most important consideration, followed by price discounts (19.8%). Cleanliness/social distancing policies (19.3%), destinations with low numbers of COVID-19 (19.2%) and quality product (13.8%) rounded out the list of considerations when booking travel now.
As for when consumers foresee travel restrictions easing, 51% said 2021, 41% said sometime in fall/winter 2020, while a very optimistic 7% are hopeful that travel will open up again this spring/summer.
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Mexican Caribbean on track to reopen 75% of hotels by July 1
The Mexican Caribbean, which started its gradual reopening to tourists on June 8, has approximately 30% of hotel rooms now open and anticipates seeing this increase to 45% by June 15.
In its first ever virtual conference yesterday, the Quintana Roo Tourism Board, which represents 12 destinations including Cancun, Riviera Maya and Playa del Carmen, detailed its reopening plans in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as its newly launched Clean & Safe Check Certification program.
The region’s gradual reopening is being regulated according to a “traffic light system,” says Dario Flota, Director of the Quintana Roo Tourism Board. Featuring four stages, or colours, the system is reassessed every Thursday and monitors the readiness of various sectors as they transition to a full reopening.
Currently, the northern region of Quintana Roo is in the Orange phase, meaning that most sectors are operating at 30%. These include hotel rooms, restaurants, amusement and water parks, transportation, golf courses, car rentals, tour guides and water activities. Sectors are expected to operate at 45% capacity by next week ahead of their transition to the Yellow phase, at which point they will reach 60%.
By July 1, 75% of all hotels in the Mexican Caribbean are expected to reopen.
read more/...

Tourism begins with a slow start as Cancun airport, hotels reactivate
Cancun, Q.R. — After two days of reactivation, the Cancun International Airport reports both national and international flights landing. Airport managing company ASUR says on Monday June 8th, they saw 56 operations of which 22 were international to and from Philadelphia, Charlotte, Chicago, Houston, Miami and Dallas, in addition to a round-trip humanitarian flight from Grand Cayman Island.
Tuesday June 9th, the airport reported 45 operations. Cancun airport spokesman Eduardo Rivadeneyra reported that 23 arrivals and 22 departures were scheduled for Tuesday, which included 21 international operations to and from Buenos Aires, Charlotte, Chicago, Houston, Miami, Dallas and Montreal.
US airlines currently operating into Cancun include American Airlines, United Airlines and Sun Country, while Spirit has announced its return to the Cancun International Airport starting June 25. Spirit says they will begin with six routes and 11 weekly frequencies, which will increase to 36 in July when they start flying from Baltimore, Dallas, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Houston and Chicago.
Snr. Rivadeneyra noted they are currently operating with load factors of around 20 percent, which is expected to gradually increase according to hotel reservations.
On Monday, with the reactivation of state tourism, the Hotel Association of Cancun, Puerto Morelos and Isla Mujeres reported the opening of 39 hotels. They say the hotels are operating at 30 percent capacity as allowed under the current light system.
The association says that 22 of the reactivated hotels are in the center of Cancun and 17 in the tourist area. Ulises Guzmán Peregrina, head of the Cozumel Hotel Association says as of Monday, five accommodation centers on the island have resumed operations with a reduced occupancy and with strict sanitary protocols with the balance of affiliated hotels doing the same over the course of this month.
“We are open with eight percent capacity. Staff are taking the appropriate sanitary measures to provide services to guests who have arrived,” he said. He noted that an increase in tourism is anticipated after an advertising campaign to attract national and international tourism.
Coronavirus has marked Cancun's worst crisis since it was founded as a planned tourist destination 50 years ago, according to state tourism secretary Marisol Vanegas. She's hoping occupancy will reach 30 percent this month and increase by five percent the month after that.

Mauritius announces stopover visitor arrivals fell by 100% in May as its borders remained closed.
The Mauritius Government’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Development recently announced that total stopover arrivals fell by 100% in May 2020, from 96,814 arrivals in May 2019 to 20 arrivals in May of this year. This number includes both air and sea stopover visitors. The number of visitors from France, the number one market, decreased by 100%, from 19,100 arrivals in May 2019 to 0 in the same month of 2020.
Mauritius closed its border to all international visitors indefinitely as of March 19th 2020.
In the first five months of 2020 Mauritius saw a 45.3% decrease in total stopover arrivals, falling from 557,684 arrivals in 2019 to 304,872 arrivals this year. Total stopover arrivals from France fell by 40.6% from 132,468 arrivals in the first five months of 2019 to 78,638 arrivals in the same five months of 2020.

Orlando saw a 79.8 percentage point decline in average room occupancy in April to 16.4%.
According to STR Orlando had 128,000 hotel rooms in April 2020 and achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 16.4% (down 79.8 percentage points compared with April 2019), and an ADR of $62.35 (down 54.3% compared with April 2019).
According to Visit Orlando, Orlando saw the volume of air passenger enplanements decrease by 96.3% in April 2020, falling from 2,332,498 enplanements in April 2019 to 85,184 enplanements in April 2020. This includes enplanements at both Orlando International and Sanford airports.
In the first four months of 2020 Orlando achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 59.5% (down 27.3 percentage points compared with 2019), and an ADR of $131.55 (down 5.0% compared with 2019). 
In the first four months of 2020 Orlando saw a 32.8% decrease in the volume of air passenger enplanements, falling from 9,121,862 enplanements in 2019 to 6,130,970 enplanements in the first four months of 2020.

Curaçao preparing to open borders for Dutch tourists
WILLEMSTAD - Dutch tourists may be able to fly to Curaçao again from 1 July. According to epidemiologist Dr. Izzy Gerstenbluth, the island will then open its airport to travelers from a number of European countries, including the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium.
According to Minister Steven Martina of Economic Affairs, Curaçao initially thinks of a maximum of 10,000 travelers per month. They will have to participate in tests to see if they are infected with the coronavirus before they can travel.
Other islands
Aruba, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba also want to open-air borders under certain conditions for Dutch passengers, among other things.
All restrictions will also be lifted between the islands on 1 July.
According to Dr. Gerstenbluth, the borders can be opened for flights from the Netherlands and Western Europe if they no longer pose a danger. There are certain requirements such as PCR test before boarding the flight, travel insurance, and health statement.
 
Should national tourism portals be part of travel's recovery plan?
By Linda Fox | June 8, 2020
As governments across Europe shape their tourism recovery plans, some see reducing the power of the large online booking platforms as a way forward.
The COVID-19 crisis has brought the commissions earned by players such as Booking.com and Expedia into the spotlight as well as the feeling that suppliers need to regain their relationship with customers.
In addition, there has been a backlash from many hoteliers for the lack of help that has come from intermediaries.
In Italy, for example, hoteliers are angry that Booking.com refunded guests for forthcoming stays even though some guests had been prepared to accept a credit.
Expedia recently announced a $275 million partner recovery program, and Airbnb has allocated $250 million to help its hosts who have lost out during the COVID-19 crisis.
At the hotel association and even government level, many are now thinking there may be a better way going forward.
France was the first to declare its hand a few weeks ago with talk of a massive data platform containing all tourism information about restaurants, attractions and more for visitors to the country.
read more/...

Curacao reports stopover arrivals fell by 55.6% in March.
According to the Curaçao Tourist Board, Curaçao saw a 55.6% decrease in stopover visitor arrivals in March, falling from 41,866 stopovers in March 2019 to 18,599 in March of this year. Stopover visitors from the USA fell by 57.5%, from 8,425 visitors in March 2019 to 3,582 visitors in March 2020. Stopover visitors from the Netherlands fell by 53.2%, from 16,166 visitors in March 2019 to 7,559 visitors in March 2020.
Average hotel room occupancy fell from 74.0% in March 2019 to 34.0% in March 2020 consequent upon the decline in arrivals. While ADR grew by 6.8% in March to $188.00 revpar fell by 51.1% to $64.00.
Curacao closed its borders to international arrivals as of March 17 2020.
In the first three months of 2020 Curaçao saw a 14.7% decrease in the number of stopover visitors, falling from 127,170 visitors in 2019 to 108,488 visitors this year. The number of stopovers from the USA has declined by 6.5% during the first three months, from 22,329 in 2019 to 20,874 through March 2020. The number of stopovers from the Netherlands has fallen by 14.6% during the first three months, from 51,771 in 2019 to 44,217 through March 2020.
The number of cruise visitors fell by 37.0% in March, from 75,908 visitors in March 2019 to 47,846 cruise visitors this year. Through the first three months of 2020 the number of cruise visitors to Curaçao fell by 7.9%, from 278,105 visitors in 2019 to 256,033 cruise visitors this year.

Los Cabos saw a 99.0% decline in international air traffic movements in May.
According to Aeroportuario del Pacifico , which manages many of Mexico’s airports, Los Cabos Airport saw a 99.0% decline in international passenger traffic in May 2020, that is enplanements and deplanements, falling from 299,900 international passenger movements in May 2019 to 3,100 international passenger movements in May 2020. Domestic traffic declined by 89.0%, falling from 160,800 passenger movements in May 2019 to 17,700 passenger movements in May 2020.
Regarding the operations of the Los Cabos airport in Mexico, the Government of Mexico has not issued any flight restrictions, however, it has strongly recommended that only essential activities are performed and for persons to avoid as much as possible to leave home, which has caused the cancellation of a large volume of national and international flights. These measures were extended until May 30 2020.
In the first five months of 2020 the volume of international air traffic decreased by 44.0%, falling from 1,702,000 international passenger movements in 2019 to 952,500 in the first four months of 2020 while the volume of domestic air traffic fell by 38.3%, from 717,500 movements in 2019 to 442,500 in the first five months of 2020.
 
Costa Rica saw a 96.8% drop in stopover arrivals in April.
According to the Costa Rica Institute of Tourism ICT, Costa Rica saw the volume of stopovers drop by 96.8% in April 2020, falling from 262,016 stopovers in April 2019 to 8,342 stopovers in 2020. The number of stopovers from the USA fell by 99.8% in April 2020, falling from 107,717 stopovers in April 2019 to 260 in April 2020 while the number from Central America declined by 86.9%, from 60,424 in April 2019 to 7,901 in April 2020.
After declaring a state of emergency, Costa Rica closed all borders to foreigners on April 18th 2020.
The volume of stopovers decreased by 31.2% in the first four months of 2020, falling from 1,265,669 stopovers in 2019 to 871,009 stopovers in first four months of 2020. The number of stopovers from the USA dropped by 32.7% in the first four months of 2020, from 528,713 stopovers in 2019 to 355,799 in 2020 while the number from Central America declined by 31.4%, falling from 263,057 in the first four months of 2019 to 180,370 in the same four months of 2020.
  
Saint Lucia saw a 56.6% decrease in stopover arrivals in March.
According to the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, Saint Lucia saw the volume of stopover arrivals decrease by 56.8% in March 2019, falling from 41,674 arrivals in March 2019 to 18,086 arrivals in March 2020.
Stopover arrivals from the USA fell by 58.3%, from 19,986 visitors in March 2019 to 8,333 visitors in March 2020 and by 45.9% from the U.K., falling from 7,657 arrivals in March 2019 to 4,145 arrivals in March 2020.
The number of cruise visitors fell by 71.0% in March, from 131,991 in March 2019 to 38,299 in March 2020.
In the first three months of 2020 Saint Lucia saw a 20.1% decline in the volume of stopover arrivals, falling from 114,386 arrivals in 2019 to 91,399 arrivals in 2020. Arrivals from the USA decreased by 17.8% in the first three months 2020, falling from 50,042 arrivals in 2019 to 41,155 arrivals in 2020 while arrivals from the U.K. fell by 28.2%, falling from 25,483 stopovers in 2019 to 18,298 stopovers in 2020.
The number of cruise visitors fell by 17.7% through the first three months of 2020, from 362,046 in 2019 to 297,885 in 2020.
 
Cancun saw a 99.4% decrease in international air passenger movements in May.
According to ASUR, which manages many of Mexico’s airports, Cancun Airport saw a 99.4% decrease in international passenger movements in May 2020, falling from 1,327,014 movements in May 2019 to 7,355 movements in May 2020. Domestic passenger movements fell by 94.8%, from 792,854 passenger movements in May 2019 to 41,255 movements in May 2020.
In the first five months of 2020 the volume of international air passenger movements  decreased by 45.2%, falling from 7,594,934 movements in 2019 to 4,165,482 movements in 2020 while the volume of domestic air passenger movements fell by 44.7%, from 3,437,052 movements in the first five months of 2019 to 1,902,083 in the same five months of 2020.
 
San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU) saw an 89.7% decrease in air passenger movements in May.
According to ASUR, which manages many airports in Mexico, Colombia and which also manages the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, SJU saw an 89.7% decrease in passenger movements in May 2020, falling from 776,383 movements in May 2019 to 79,906 movements in May 2020.
In the first five months of 2020 the overall volume of air passenger movements decreased by 39.2%, from 3,829,801 in 2019 to 2,328,108 in 2020.

Dominican Republic to reopen 30% of its hotel rooms on July 1
The executive vice president of the Association of Hotels and Tourism of the Dominican Republic ( Asonahores ), Andrés Marranzini, revealed that as of July 1, 30% of the rooms in hotels will be reactivated to receive tourists and also depending on demand will activate the re-entry of staff.
“The integration must occur from July 1, it will be a process, depending on how that demand is, the activation of those rooms. We do not see the activation of 100%. We see somewhere between 20-30 percent of rooms being activated by July. Depending on demand generated, we will assign corresponding staff.”
During the Central Interview of El Despertador of the SIN Group, the vice-president of Asonahores assured that to relaunch the tourism sector and recover the losses, after enduring more than two months without operating, they will do whatever it takes to stimulate that sector. They will make any necessary variations in prices and guarantee the health of guests due to the pandemic.
Regarding the suspended workers, 70% were affected by the COVID-19 health crisis and 20% remain in the areas of the tourist complexes for the maintenance of infrastructure and executive personnel.
“In our case, they exceed 100,000 thousand of the hotels, the tourist sector, bars, restaurants are close to 350,000 thousand, in the hotel sector we are close to 180,000 thousand and in the Asonahores membership, because not all are from Asonahores, we have to be around the 100,000 employees,” he said.
Although in the initial reopening phase they expect a tourist demand of 30%, Andrés Marranzini expects that up to 70% can recover by December, but it is due to the fact that the summer months (July and August) are attended by more travelers, compared to September and October, the rate is lower due to the hurricane season.
“At the moment we are seeing that the market that would be interested in the Dominican Republic, is probably the east coast of the United States and Canada that comprise about 60 to 65 percent of our clientele, we notice a dynamic of COVID-19 that not as many long flights are available,” he said.
According to Asonahores data, the housing offer in tourist accommodation establishments in the Dominican Republic exceeds 80,000 rooms, so it will take time and hard work to supply the hotel offer available in the country.
As for restaurants, he said that these establishments have a difficult road in the country and need the support of diners who visit these service centers once they open.
“It has been very difficult during these months, firstly because they have continued to be charged for the electricity, even though the restaurants have been closed and the distributor will have to find a way, either by extending or nullifying those payments ..,” said the Asonahores executive.

Are Travel Bubbles the Key To Getting Consumers To Travel Cross Border?
The summer travel season is upon the Northern Hemisphere, and while many consumers would normally be setting their sights on visiting new lands, international travel seems to be by and large on hold for summer 2020. Too many people fear contracting coronavirus while traveling abroad.
Are “travel bubbles” the answer?
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania started the idea of “travel bubbles,” allowing residents of the three nations to move between them but keeping out all other international travelers who could contaminate the “bubble.” Islands like Fiji and Bali, which rely heavily on tourism and boast low infection rates so far, have also been clamoring to create travel bubbles to attract tourists from Asian nations where infections are low thanks to tracking-and-tracing efforts.
Meanwhile, Denmark and Norway are opening to each other on June 15, but have excluded nearby Sweden because that nation’s loose lock-down rules have led to COVID-19’s wider proliferation.
read more/...

Mexico Plans To Reopen Cancun To International Tourists But It’s Not At All Prepared For Visitors
BY JUSTIN LESSNER | JUNE 3, 2020 AT 2:01 PM
There are millions of people just itching for a vacation right now, and Cancun wants to welcome visitors with open arms. However, there’s a huge problem with their plan. Most of Mexico is still in a severe phase of the pandemic – with all 32 states reporting daily increases in confirmed Covid-19 cases.
read more/...

​KLM resumes additional Caribbean passenger service in June 2020
Posted 4 June 2020
KLM starting this week is resuming passenger service to additional points in Caribbean, including Aruba, Bonaire and St. Maarten. Due to operational routing, overall service for Curacao will also be increased.
Planned operation for June 2020 as follows.
 
Amsterdam – Aruba – Curacao - Amsterdam eff 06JUN20 1 weekly A330-200
KL783 AMS1230 – 1630AUA1735 – 1815CUR1940 – 1120+1AMS 332 6
Amsterdam – Bonaire – Curacao – Amsterdam eff 04JUN20 1 weekly A330-200
KL785 AMS1055 – 1455BON1600 – 1640CUR1810 – 0950+1AMS 332 4
Amsterdam – Curacao 2 weekly A330-200
KL733 AMS1230 – 1640CUR 332 36
KL734 CUR1540 – 0715+1AMS 332 47
Amsterdam – St. Maarten – Curacao – Amsterdam eff 05JUN20 1 weekly A330-200
KL789 AMS1055 – 1355SXM1455 – 1635CUR1810 – 0950+1AMS 332 5

Covid-19 pandemic slashes Florida's tourism numbers
The number of tourist arrivals to Florida fell 10.7 percent in the first quarter of 2020 from the same period a year earlier, and the estimate may be optimistic.
The final month of the quarter, March, was impacted heavily by the COVID-19 pandemic which essentially shut down the hospitality industry statewide. A report posted online by Visit Florida, the state’s tourism-marketing arm, said “data previously used to estimate Florida visitation may not paint the full picture during COVID-19.”
The report estimates that 31.95 million people visited the state during the first three months of the year. That compares to 35.79 million visitors during the first quarter in 2019.
Domestic travelers, accounting for 28.5 million of this year’s first quarter visits, were down 9.7 percent from last year. Overseas travelers dropped 20.6 percent and the number of Canadian visitors dropped by 14.4 percent in the same quarter to quarter comparison.
Passengers getting on board planes at Orlando International Airport were down 10.8 percent for the quarter and 13.1 percent at Miami International Airport.
read more/...

Four travel stories that were too good to be true
We yearn for positive travel news these days. And in a day and age when headlines dominate, who has time to read the fine print?
Here are four popular travel stories from the past two months where details were later clarified that made the original headlines substantially less impressive than they originally seemed.
​
1. Japan may cover half your expenses if you visit
Well only if you are a resident of Japan taking  a domestic vacation. And it won’t be half.

2. Passengers on Emirates get Covid-19 blood tests before flying
Well no, the tests were serology tests for antibodies (which shows evidence of past infections), not active Covid-19 infections. And after the Dubai Health Authority, who administered the tests, discovered efficacy rates were only around 30%, it banned the testing.

3. You can get tested at Vienna Airport, to avoid quarantine
Well yes but the testing on arrival is available only for those who have both a residence in Austria and a valid residence permit.

4. Countries will pay you to visit 
Well, a number of destinations are planning “two for one” deals etc but whether travel deals and free medicine amount to “paying you” is subject to your own interpretation.
read more/...

Tourism and gaming in Macau plunge more than 60% in 1st quarter
MACAU, May 30 (Xinhua) - The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Macau dropped by 48.7 percent year-on-year in real terms in the first quarter of 2020, the special administrative region (SAR)'s statistic service said here on Saturday May 30th.
The latest report from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) said that although no widespread transmission of COVID-19 was observed in the region, the economy of Macau, mainly driven by exports of services, was severely hit amid the epidemic with a substantial decline in total demand.
In terms of external demand, exports of services dropped by 60.0 percent year-on-year, with exports of gaming services and other tourism services falling by 61.5 percent and 63.9 percent respectively. Moreover, exports of goods saw a decrease of 23.5 percent.
The number of same day visitors to Macau fell by 69.8% in the first three months of 2020, falling from 5,624,732 in the first quarter of 2019 to 1,698,337 in the same three months of 2020. The number of overnight visitors fell by 67.9%, falling from 4,735,026 in the first quarter of 2019 to 1,520,833 in the same three months of 2020.
The domestic demand slid further by 17.5 percent year-on-year, dragged down by the reduction in investment in fixed assets and private consumption expenditure. On the other hand, government final consumption expenditure rose by 5.0 percent.
Imports of goods and services went down by 30.8 percent and 30.3 percent respectively, the DSEC report added.
The implicit deflator of GDP, which measures the overall changes in prices, increased by 2.0 percent year-on-year in the first quarter.
The private consumption decreased by 15.2 percent year-on-year amid the epidemic, as residents went out less and made fewer trips abroad while economic outlook remained uncertain.
Household final consumption expenditure in the domestic market and abroad fell by 11.9 percent and 44.3 percent respectively.
In response to the epidemic, the Macau SAR government scaled up the procurement of protective gear and medical supplies, rented hotels to be used as quarantine facilities and introduced economic relief measures, which drove up government final consumption expenditure by 5.0 percent.
Investment in fixed assets declined further by 37.2 percent year-on-year, with construction investment and equipment investment dropping by 37.0 percent and 37.8 percent respectively.
Meanwhile, public construction investment rose by 47.8 percent year-on-year on account of increased investment in infrastructure by the government. But equipment investment reduced by 30.4 percent.

UNWTO Recommendations to address the Covid19 pandemic
This 42 page report provides recommendations on

• Managing the crisis and mitigating the impact
• Providing stimulus and accelerating recovery
• Preparing for Tomorrow

read more/...

​World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Protocols.
Please click on this link to download various protocols developed by the WTTC to address the Covid19 pandemic
wttc.org/COVID-19/Safe-Travels-Global-Protocols-Stamp

The Maldives’ New Travel Restrictions Are Going to Make Visiting the Country Even More Expensive.
The Maldives are famous for being one of the most expensive vacation destinations in the world. But the archipelago could get even more expensive in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A statement from the Ministry of Tourism stated that the Republic of the Maldives is considering reopening to international tourism as early as July 1 — but it would come with some major rules and regulations.
Tourism minister Ali Wahed detailed the potential plan to The Telegraph. Travelers willing to spend two weeks in the Maldives would have to

• Have a minimum stay of 14 days.
• Apply for a tourist visa ahead of their visit, which will cost $100.
• To purchase travel insurance for their trip and will need to submit either a negative antigen test or a positive antibody test a week before their arrival.
• When they arrive in the Maldives, they would have to pay another $100 for another test and they would be quarantined in their rooms until the test results come back, which could take anywhere from three to 12 hours (which, admittedly, wouldn’t be torturous if you’re in one of the country’s famous overwater bungalows).

There are about 200 resort islands throughout the Maldives, most of which remain closed at this time. About 26 resorts, or 3,000 rooms, have been repurposed by the government for quarantine or isolation purposes during the coronavirus lockdown. And about 10 resorts are housing foreign visitors who believe it safer to remain in the Maldives than to return home.
The country has been closed to foreign arrivals since March 27, which has taken a significant toll on its tourism-reliant economy. But even if the Maldives reopen this summer, Americans might not be able to visit. The country currently has travel restrictions against 12 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and China, according to the tourism website. (But if you’ve been on a private yacht for a few weeks before arrival, you could likely enter the Maldives this summer without problem.)
The government could reopen its borders to regional traffic from Asia in the third quarter of 2020 and arrivals from Europe could be re-welcomed by October or November, according to TTG Asia.
During their coronavirus outbreak, the Maldives have so far reported 1,457 confirmed cases and five deaths.
  
Las Vegas saw a 97.0% decrease in visitors in April.
According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Las Vegas saw the volume of visitors decrease by 97.0% in April 2020, falling from 3,542,000 visitors in April 2019 to 106,900 arrivals in April 2020.
Las Vegas had 148,755 hotel rooms in April 2020 (up 0.2% compared with April 2019) and achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 1.7% (down 89.3 percentage points compared with April 2019), an ADR of $60.50 (down 53.6% compared with April 2019) and a RevPar of $1.03, down 99.1% also compared with April 2019.
Through the first four months of 2020 Las Vegas saw a 38.5% decrease in the volume of visitors, falling from 13,841,000 arrivals in the first four months of 2019 to 8,516,400 visitors in the same four months of 2020.
Las Vegas achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 53.5% in the first four months of 2020 (down 34.9 percentage points compared with the first four months of 2019), an ADR of $142.62 (up 3.6% compared with the same four months of 2019) and a RevPar of $76.30, down 37.3%, also compared with the same four months of 2019.
Gaming revenue fell by 31.7% from $3.445 billion in the first four months of 2019 to $2.352 billion in the same four months of 2020.

Hawaii saw a 99.5% decline in air arrivals in April.
According to the Hawaii Tourism Authority, Hawaii saw the volume of air arrivals decrease by 99.5% in April 2020, falling from 831,445 arrivals in April 2019 to 4,564 arrivals in April 2020.
The state of Hawaii imposed a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine for incoming out of state visitors on March 26th , which was extended on April 1 to include interisland travelers. Neither quarantine is slated to end before June 30.
Air arrivals from the USA fell by 99.2%, from 548,058 in April 2019 to 4,245 in April 2020, fell by 100.0% from Japan (from 119,492 arrivals in April 2019 to 13 air arrivals in April 2020). Air arrivals fell by 100.0% from Canada (from 55,690 to 9 air arrivals).
Through the first four months of 2020 Hawaii saw a 37.0% decrease in the volume of air arrivals, falling from 3,334,082 arrivals in the first four months of 2019 to 2,100,259 air arrivals in the same four months of 2020. Air arrivals from the USA decreased by 33.8% in the first four months of 2020, falling from 2,157,539 air arrivals in 2019 to 1,427,436 air arrivals in the same four months of 2020, fell by 40.6% from Japan (from 494,438 to 294,241 air arrivals) and fell by 25.7% from Canada (from 265,215 to 155,744 air arrivals).
The Hawaii Tourist Authority was unable to collect any visitor expenditure data during April 2020.

Punta Cana saw a 100% decrease in stopover arrivals in April.
According to the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic, saw the volume of non-resident stopover arrivals decrease by 100% in April, falling from 343,026 arrivals in April 2019 to zero arrivals in April 2020 consequent upon the closure the Punta Cana airport to all foreign visitors. Stopover arrivals from the USA fell by 100% in April, from 144,170 arrivals in April 2019 to zero arrivals in April 2020.  
During the first four months of 2020 Punta Cana saw a 48.6% decrease in the volume of stopover arrivals, falling from 1,445,602 arrivals in 2019 to 743,293 non-resident arrivals in the first four months of 2020.
Arrivals from the USA fell by 67.4% in the first four months of 2020, falling from 611,590 arrivals in 2019 to 199,551 arrivals in the same four months of 2020. Arrivals from Russia fell by 20.6% in the same period, from 28,258 in 2019 to 22,444 in 2020. Traffic was also down 54.3% from Germany, down 42.6% from Brazil, down 47.3% from Argentina, down 35.0% from the U.K., down 43.7% from France and down 30.0% from Canada.
Stopover arrivals to Punta Cana made up 53.3% of all non-resident arrivals to the Dominican Republic in 2020.

The Dominican Republic saw a 100% decline in stopover arrivals in April.
According to the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, the Dominican Republic saw the volume of non-resident stopover arrivals decrease by 100% in April, falling from 584,279 non-resident arrivals in April 2019 to 217 arrivals in April 2020. Stopover arrivals from the USA fell by 100%, from 214,279 arrivals in April 2019 to 9 arrivals in April 2020. 
In the first four months of 2020 the Dominican Republic saw a 43.4% decrease in the volume of stopover arrivals, falling from 2,460,423 arrivals in 2019 to 1,392,676 non-resident arrivals in 2020. Non-resident arrivals from the USA decreased by 60.1% in the first four months of 2020, falling from 891,084 arrivals in 2019 to 355,217 arrivals in 2020

Hawaii’s hotels report a 69.1 percentage point drop in average room occupancy in April to reach 8.9%
According to the Hawai‘i Hotel Performance Report published by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA), statewide hotel room occupancy fell by 69.1 percentage points from 78.0% in April 2019 to 8.9% in April this year. ADR fell by 51.8% from $272.33 to $131.16 while revpar fell by 94.5%, from $212.28 in April 2019 to $11.70 in April this year.
HTA’s Tourism Research Division issued the report’s findings utilizing data compiled by STR, Inc., which conducts the largest and most comprehensive survey of hotel properties in the Hawaiian Islands. For April, the survey included 87 properties representing 22,929 rooms, or 42.7 percent of all lodging properties and 77.5 percent of operating lodging properties with 20 rooms or more in the Hawaiian Islands, including full service, limited service, and condominium hotels.
In April 2020, Hawai‘i hotel room revenues statewide fell by 97.0% from $344.7 million in 2019 to $10.4 million this year. Room demand fell to 79,100 room nights, down 93.7% compared to a year ago. Room supply was substantially lower (down by 45.4%) and fell to 887,200 available room nights. Hawaii has 53,639 hotel rooms.
About 130 Hawaii hotels have closed since the March 26 start of a mandatory 14-day self- quarantine for incoming out of state visitors, which was extended April 1 to include interisland travelers. Neither quarantine is slated to end before June 30.
For the first four months of 2020 statewide hotel room occupancy fell by 19.0 percentage points from 80.0% in 2019 to 61.0% in the first four months of 2020. ADR grew by 5.5% from $286.10 to $301.70 while revpar fell by 19.6%, from $228.76 in the first four months of 2019 to $183.99 in the first four months of this year.
In the first four months of 2020, Hawai‘i hotel room revenues statewide fell by 29.1% from $1.486 billion in 2019 to $1.053 billion this year. Room demand fell to 3,490,300  room nights, down 32.8% compared to a year ago. Room supply was lower (down by 11.9%) and fell to 5,723,300 available room nights.

St. Lucia’s New Tourism Plans Sound Like A Beautiful, Expensive Prison…
As positive signs emerge about a safe return of travel in the near term, countries are finding ways to ensure that it stays that way. There’s just one thing: going too far in one direction could alienate potential visitors, making any plans for economic recovery even more difficult to realize. St. Lucia’s announcement of a June 4th welcome date is great news for those hoping to visit, but the draconian measures sound somewhat like a very expensive trip to prison, albeit a beautiful palm tree filled one.
It’s true, St. Lucia the vacation heaven filled with mystical mountain peaks, lush valleys and beautiful beaches is opening to tourists from June 4th, 2020. The country is not however declaring a free for all. Measures will be put in place to ensure the safety of visitors and locals alike from before you’re ever allowed to board a flight, starting with a recent covid-19 test, which must be recent within 48 hours of boarding a flight to the island.
Though it seems impossible to enforce, or monitor, the country also states masks must be worn on the inbound flight whether or not the airline mandates one. As someone who recently flew out of necessity, I’m all for the mask plan, since it provided a meaningful level of added safety.
All good so far, but then it starts to get a bit hokey, at least you could call it hokey if you were paying thousands for the privilege of these things, rather than being locked up for a crime.
On arrival into St. Lucia your temperature is checked and luggage disinfected, both of which are great moves. You’re then instructed, or rather, required to take an authorized taxi only. Instantly, this creates huge potential for a price grab, but so be it. If your buzz hasn’t yet been killed by the many reasonable measures thus far, it may be in the next paragraph.
St. Lucia is effectively confining you to your resort, and limiting the activities you can enjoy. No outside restaurants are open for seated service, and currently all attractions are closed too. Not only that, the country is mandated temperature checks before every meal, and requiring all visitors to wear a mask at all times without any noted exceptions. Expect many thing someone might dream of on vacation like a massage, or even some water sports to be cut. Just to reiterate the story so far, you can come to St. Lucia, but…

• you must go straight to your hotel in an approved vehicle.
• once there, you will be subjected to more temperature checks.
• Every time you go for a meal at the hotel your temperature will be checked again.
• you can’t really dine outside of the resort,  it’s take out only and bars are closed.
• all attractions are closed, so there’s really nowhere to go or anything to do.
• if someone at the resort tests positive, you’ll likely be 14 day quarantined.

Let’s hope you’ve got a room with a view.
 
Mauritius announces stopover visitor arrivals fell by 100% in April as its borders remained closed.
The Mauritius Government’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Development recently announced that total stopover arrivals fell by 100% in April 2020, from 108,565 arrivals in April 2019 to 10 arrivals in April of this year. This number includes both air and sea stopover visitors. The number of visitors from France, the number one market, decreased by 100%, from 27,738 arrivals in April 2019 to 0 in the same month of 2020.
Mauritius closed its border to all international visitors indefinitely as of April 18th 2020.
In the first four months of 2020 Mauritius saw a 33.9% decrease in total stopover arrivals, falling from 460,870 arrivals in 2019 to 304,852 arrivals this year. Total stopover arrivals from France fell by 30.6% from 113,368 arrivals in the first four months of 2019 to 78,638 arrivals in the same four months of 2020.

Keeping Economic Data Flowing During COVID-19
Accurate and timely economic data are crucial for informing policy decisions, especially during a crisis. But the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the production of many key statistics. Without reliable data, policymakers cannot assess how badly the pandemic is hurting people and the economy, nor can they properly monitor the recovery.
We are working with member countries and other international agencies to address these data disruptions and keep economic data flowing.
The significant data disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic require innovative data collection methods and data sources. More accurate and real-time information will help countries continue to respond more effectively to the crisis and start planning for the recovery.
Three key statistical challenges
First, many staff in national statistical offices are now working from home due to lockdowns, often with limited access to the tools and data they need to produce and disseminate economic indicators. For example, the calculation of retail prices often requires physical visits to stores but this is currently not possible in many countries. Similarly, surveying businesses about their production and investment plans is difficult as many have temporarily shut down or simply do not have the resources to respond to statistical questionnaires. These disruptions mean that data on prices and production—critical for calibrating monetary policy and fiscal stimulus measures—may either be delayed or have to be estimated based on partial information.
Second, inconsistent approaches to recording government support to people and businesses may complicate the assessment of their impact on public finances. How best to reflect some of these measures is not so straightforward. For example, when a government provides financial support to companies affected by COVID-19, is it making a financial investment or is it providing subsidies with no return expected? Depending on the answer, policymakers will get a different picture of the fiscal deficit and public debt.
Third, to make the best-informed decisions, policymakers need a real-time readout of the economy. Many traditional official statistics—even those with monthly frequency—are just not sufficiently up to date to be useful at this time. Higher-frequency alternative data are needed to complement official statistics. While the important role of alternative indicators was already recognized before the pandemic, the disruptions of traditional statistics caused by the current crisis have made it more urgent.
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Update on American Travel in the Period of Coronavirus—Week of May 25th
Every week since March 15th, Destination Analysts has surveyed 1,200+ American travelers about their thoughts, feelings, perceptions and behaviors surrounding travel in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The findings presented below represent data collected May 22nd-24th.
Key Findings to Know:

• American travelers continue a slow march towards feeling safer.
• The pandemic has wreaked havoc on the industry’s future, with significant declines in American travel intentions, spending and sentiments from January 2020—and worse than what was seen in the Great Recession.
• Air travel, non-private transportation and indoor attractions are seen as the least safe aspects of the common travel journey.
• A majority of travelers still do not yet feel that either a hotel or Airbnb/vacation home rental experience are safe right now.
• Only 5.9% reported taking a Memorial Day weekend trip.
• Younger travelers will very likely be key to many destinations’ and travel providers’ recovery.

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International air arrivals to Mexico fell by 98.6% in April.
According to the Government of Mexico’s SECTUR (Department of Tourism) the volume of international air arrivals to Mexico fell by 98.6% in April 2020 from 1,580,596 in April 2019 to 21,629 in April 2020. The volume of air arrivals from the USA fell by 98.1% in April, to 16,260, with the volume from Canada falling by 99.8%, to 352.
Cancun Airport saw a 99.8% decrease in international air arrivals in April 2020, falling from 702,445 arrivals in April 2019 to 1,126 arrivals in April 2020, while Los Cabos saw a 99.6% decrease falling from 160,881 arrivals in April 2019 to 594 international air arrivals in April 2020. Puerto Vallarta saw a 99.4% decrease, falling from 130,170 international arrivals in April 2019 to 774 in April 2020.
In the first four months of 2020 the volume of international air arrivals to Mexico fell by 34.7%, from 6,972,772 in 2019 to 4,553,668 in the first four months of this year. The volume of air arrivals from the USA fell by 34.7% in the same four months, from 3,645,194 in 2019 to 2,382,053 in 2020 while the volume from Canada fell by 29.8%, from 1,260,116 in 2019 to 884,003 in 2020.
Cancun Airport saw a 36.0% decrease in international air arrivals in the first four months of 2020, falling from 2,978,887 in 2019 to 1,905,643 in 2020 while Los Cabos saw a 34.6% decrease falling from 671,944 international air arrivals to 439,228 air arrivals in 2020. Puerto Vallarta saw a 32.9% decrease, falling from 727,866 international arrivals in 2019 to 488,133 in the first four months of 2020.

How the Coronavirus Pandemic Will Change the Way We Travel
Architectural Digest.
With the entire travel industry essentially on pause and no clear answer about when things will return to normal, one thing is certain: Traveling in a post-coronavirus world will not be the same as before. Traveling provides us an opportunity to connect with others, find inspiration in foreign ways of life, and support local economies. But it also has negative impacts on the environment, with carbon emissions speeding up the process of global warming and can be damaging to destinations and communities if not done sustainably. Now that the coronavirus has forced millions of people to stay home, we’ve seen the earth enjoying a much-needed respite. The canals of Venice are crystal clear, air pollution in cities like Milan is reduced, and wildlife is returning to places formerly overrun by humans. So, what does this mean for the future of travel? We surveyed leaders within the tourism industry to find out their predictions for how travel will change.
A Slow Return
All of the experts we spoke with agreed that travel will return gradually over the course of months, if not years, and people will probably stick to local destinations for a while. “Initially people won’t want to venture far from home, preferring long weekend stays to drive-to destinations and the corona-cation will be born,” Misty Belles, the managing director of global public relations for worldwide travel network Virtuoso, told AD. “This is an important first step because with 20% of people expressing concerns over air travel, restoring consumer confidence will be a key part of recovery.”
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Cancun And Playa Del Carmen Hotels Will Not Reopen June 1st Says Quintana Roo Government
Hotels in the Mexican tourism hotspots of Cancun, Playa Del Carmen and Isla Mujeres will not reopen June 1st as planned.
The government of Quintana Roo has quashed the hopes of optimistic Quintana Roo hotels that expected to reopen on June 1.
Tourism Minister Marisol Vanegas Pérez burst a few bubbles when she said that “it’s not true that they’ll be able to reopen, since the companies themselves don’t determine that, nor the market. It will be the federal and state governments,” reported Mexico News Daily. 
She added that the only hotels that should be open for the foreseeable future are those providing service for people carrying out activities deemed essential during the coronavirus pandemic.
Swimming pools, gyms, spas and other tourist services will remain closed until conditions allow, as reopening early could lead to “disastrous [public health] situations,” Vanegas said.
Although she could not give a specific date, Vanegas did say that they can expect to begin to return to something resembling normal sometime in June.
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Wealthy Travelers Are Starting to Book Year-End Vacations
Yachts and private villas are in; skiing is out.  
The new offering from Roar Africa is lavish, even for the safari outfitter’s well-heeled, often well-known clientele. With Roar Privé, they can experience an eight-day safari in South Africa without coming into contact with another human—except for their private pilots, guide, butler, chef, and whomever they choose to bring along.
These very socially distant safaris start at $60,000 per person. Since early May, Roar has sold them to a half-dozen groups for the year-end “festive” season and beyond.  
“I would never have thought to put it out there [during normal times],” says Roar chief executive Deborah Calmeyer, because of the additional cost of the trips. But these are not normal times and, in this moment, the appeal goes beyond exclusivity. “I’m so fearful for our wildlife and the people dependent on travelers coming back. Whatever we have to create to make it safe, that’s what we’re going to do.”  
The coronavirus crisis has all but shut down travel around the world and across the board. The number of people going through U.S. Transportation Security Administration checkpoints has dropped by some 95% since the start of March. That month, private jet companies began turning away customers as international borders closed. 
It’s still unclear when shuttered resorts, airports, and borders will reopen. But wealthy jetsetters are betting that by November or December, travel will be somewhat normal—and that spending additional dollars can keep them sufficiently safe.
“We had several weeks of crickets … not a single request,” says Brooke Lavery, co-owner of New York-based travel consultancy Local Foreigner. “Probably two weeks ago [in early May] is when it really started to come back.”
Some of the earliest requests are coming from clients who have the means to fly privately. Aside from being at reduced risk of infection, these travelers are also unaffected by flight cancellations or other airline disruptions. “At the drop of a hat, they could get themselves out if they needed it,” she explains. “They’re more free.”
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Air Travel Prices Set To Double: U.S. Europe $2,200 Economy Fare
As airlines return to Europe skies for summer, the cost of air travel looks set to double on some carriers. A U.S.-Europe economy return in early June cost from $2,126 with Delta. A first class ticket for the same Atlanta-Paris flight costs from $7,085.
Mind, Europe’s borders are shut to most foreign travelers until at least June 15. Travel bans at both ends mean only those with essential reasons to travel can.
That has not stopped several airlines ramping up summer flight schedules for Europe. Delta, Emirates and Qatar are taking off again on many European routes from as early as today. As the EU’s internal borders start to tumble, Lufthansa together with its subsidiaries SWISS and Eurowings are launching a major comeback on Europe-wide destinations across June. Also on international routes.
Is Delta inflating those prices a little? A Lufthansa Paris Los Angeles return from May 28 costs less than half that: From $970 for a basic economy return fare, $1,330 in the case of premium economy.
Post Covid-19 Air Travel Freedom At A Price?
There has been huge speculation as to whether post Covid-19 air travel will be cheaper or more expensive. The variation in prices between Delta and Lufthansa suggests it depends in part which airline you choose.
Flights in and out of London from the U.S. are often cheaper, I find, than into Paris. Yet Delta’s Atlanta-London offerings for May-June sport a similar price tag: $2,235 return. BA meantime is selling Heathrow-JFK roundtrips economy in June for around $650.
Many travelers take $700-900 as a ballpark economy return fare on transatlantic flights. Early on in Europe’s corona crisis, in March, Delta and others were selling them for $285. Today Delta’s tickets cost over 600% more.
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When cruises from Florida reopen, many popular destination ports wonder when and whether to welcome back tourists
Cruise lines have been hit especially hard during this pandemic. Now, as cruise companies look to regain some semblance of normalcy, they're facing a new struggle. Many ports seem disinterested in welcoming them back any time soon.
Nearly all – 96 percent – of travel destinations around the world have imposed some form of restrictions, with some of the most extreme being directed at the cruise industry. While many cities and countries have yet to commit to a reopening date, some of those which have are presenting a major hurdle ahead.
Seychelles rocked the travel industry last week when they announced the country would be banning cruise ships at its Port Victoria until 2022. The nation, which sits off the coast of East Africa, has been a popular spot in the burgeoning Asian cruise market.
For one thing, an estimated 100,000 cruise ship crew members are currently still stuck at sea.
By far the most extreme closure yet, Seychelles may soon be joined by other countries with Australian politicians now debating banning international travel until at least mid-2021.
In the Caribbean Sea, where the largest number of cruise sailings happen, the Cayman Islands have closed Grand Cayman to cruise ships until at least September. The CDC has a No Sail Order on all cruise ships from operating in U.S. waters through at least July 24.
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​Travel and Leisure: Here's What Summer Travel Might Actually Look Like, According to Experts 
Will the coronavirus pandemic change your summer travel plans? Experts share their predictions.
Summer travel usually means family vacations, sun-drenched beach getaways, meandering road trips, and extended jaunts to far-flung destinations like Europe and Asia. However, with a global pandemic unfolding, those experiences might look a little different this year. Coronavirus outbreaks continue to flare up around the world, international travel restrictions remain in place, and over half of the world's airplanes are still grounded. Many families are also feeling a financial sting due to the economic downturn. And folks who already had plans were likely forced to cancel them.
With that in mind, we don’t know exactly what summer travel will look like, but one thing is certain: You can expect change. To get a better idea of what may be in store for those who do wish to travel this summer, we turned to a handful of experts for their predictions. 
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Is International Travel Still Banned? Here's What You Should Know
International travel is at a near-standstill this year. The good news is that travel advisories are gradually easing for general tourism. But can (and should) you travel outside the United States yet?
This is a crazy year for traveling anywhere outside your front door. Flights are still helping people get across the United States and the world for essential reasons. But the reopening of international borders is going to be a slow process. Even though you can book a flight abroad, do you have permission to travel? If so, is it worth your time?

• CDC Travel Advisories
• State Department Travel Advisories
• Canada
• Mexico
• The Caribbean
• Latin America
• Europe
• Asia/Oceania
• FAQ

For details read more/...

As Americans gradually open back up to travel, they are making plans for their trips—the likes of which include beaches, parks, social distancing and hand sanitizer.
Every week since March 15th, Destination Analysts has surveyed 1,200+ American travelers about their thoughts, feelings, perceptions and behaviors surrounding travel in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The findings presented below represent data collected May 15th-17th.
Key Findings to Know:

• American travelers are demonstrating increased comfort with (or in spite of) their concerns surrounding COVID-19.
• Feelings about the virus and travel are not uniform–geographically, demographically or psychograpically.
• American travelers are opening back up to attending conferences and conventions.
• Travel planning is happening.
• Marketing could be effective in swaying travelers to choose a specific destination.
• Travelers need destination-level information on safety.
• Rural residents are the least comfortable with tourists presently, setting up potential tensions with travelers desiring the types of assets found in these places.
• Travel remains recognized for its positive emotional benefits for families.

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IATA: The impact on Long-Haul Travel will be much Longer Lasting
Geneva – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released new analysis showing that the damage to air travel from COVID-19 extends into the medium-term, with long-haul / international travel being the most severely impacted.
Quarantine measures on arrival would further damage confidence in air travel.
A risk-based layered approach of globally harmonized biosecurity measures is critical for the restart.
IATA and Tourism Economics modeled two air travel scenarios.
Baseline Scenario
This is contingent on domestic markets opening in Q3, with a much slower phased opening of international markets. This would limit the air travel recovery, despite most forecasts pointing toward a strong economic rebound late this year and during 2021.
In 2021 we expect global passenger demand (measured in revenue passenger kilometers, RPKs) to be 24% below 2019 levels and 32% lower than IATA’s October 2019 Air Passenger forecast for 2021.
IATA does not expect 2019 levels to be exceeded until 2023.
As international markets open and economies recover, there will be further growth in air travel from the 2020 low point. But even by 2025 we would expect global RPKs to be 10% lower than the previous forecast.
Pessimistic Scenario
This is based on a slower opening of economies and relaxation of travel restrictions, with lockdowns extending into Q3, possibly due to a second wave of the virus. This would further delay the recovery of air travel.
In this case, global RPKs in 2021 could be 34% lower than 2019 levels and 41% below our previous forecast for 2021.
“Major stimulus from governments combined with liquidity injections by central banks will boost the economic recovery once the pandemic is under control. But rebuilding passenger confidence will take longer. And even then, individual and corporate travelers are likely to carefully manage travel spend and stay closer to home,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.
The impact on Long-Haul Travel will be Longer Lasting
When the recovery begins, it is expected to be led by domestic travel.
An IATA survey of recent air travelers conducted in April 2020 found that 58% are somewhat or very likely to restrict their initial travel to domestic journeys.
“The impacts of the crisis on long-haul travel will be much more severe and of a longer duration than what is expected in domestic markets. This makes globally agreed and implemented biosecurity standards for the travel process all the more critical. We have a small window to avoid the consequences of uncoordinated unilateral measures that marked the post-9.11 period. We must act fast,” said de Juniac.
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This iconic beach destination just banned cruise ship arrivals until 2022
Don’t expect to cruise to the Seychelles anytime soon.
The sun-kissed beach destination in the Indian Ocean has banned cruise ships from visiting until 2022, citing fears of another wave of coronavirus cases, according to the Seychelles Nation, the archipelago’s main newspaper.
The news outlet says the Seychelles minister for tourism, Didier Dogley, announced the ban this week as part of measures to prevent or minimize a second wave of COVID-19 cases.
The Seychelles has fared well so far during the global outbreak of the new coronavirus, with an initial wave of just 11 cases and no deaths. The country moved fast to ban cruise ship arrivals and shut its international airport after the first cases were discovered in mid-March. The airport remains closed with a reopening date currently set for June 1.
The cruise ship ban will block ships from stopping at Port Victoria, the gateway for arriving cruise vessels. 
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Mauritius announces stopover visitor arrivals fell by 51.2% in March.
The Mauritius Government’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Development recently announced that total stopover arrivals fell by 51.2% in March 2020, from 114,419 arrivals in March 2019 to 55,863 arrivals in March of this year. This number includes both air and sea stopover visitors. The number of visitors from France, the number one market, decreased by 49.2%, from 26,471 arrivals in March 2019 to 13,443 in the same month of 2020.
Mauritius closed its border to all international visitors indefinitely as of March 18th 2020.
In the first three months of 2020 Mauritius saw a 13.5% decrease in total stopover arrivals, falling from 352,305 arrivals in 2019 to 304,842 arrivals this year. Total stopover arrivals from France fell by 8.2% from 85,630 arrivals in the first three months of 2019 to 78,638 arrivals in the same three months of 2020.
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​Future Air Travel: Four-Hour Process, Self Check-In, Disinfection, Immunity Passes
Once airports and borders open again and people are able to fly freely — a process already in play as airports of all sizes around the world ready strategies to ensure healthy air travel — how much are you ready to change your flying habits?
As much as was required after 9/11? Less? More?
Considering some of the changes already happening and the many more recommended before airports can reopen safely to commercial routes, experts are referring to the coronavirus pandemic as ‘the new terrorism,’ triggering the biggest crisis the airline industry has ever faced.
Let’s start with the entire process of checking in for flights, which some calculate that it could take up to four hours and involving social distancing, sanitation of passengers and luggage, wider spaces for various lines and waiting to board.
Nine out of 10 experts expect slower turnarounds between flights due to the need of thorough cleaning of cabins and following of sanitary measures at airports.
In the short run, though, it’s expected that reduced passenger numbers and airlines traveling to a smaller pool of destinations may reduce delays.
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TUI outlines 10-point plan for post-coronavirus hotel operations
TUI has introduced a 10-point plan with measures and standards relating to Covid-19 in order to reopen its hotels.
In addition to organisation, capacity planning and hygiene measures, the plan also includes intensive training of local staff.
The new standards will be implemented in TUI's own hotel brands as well as joint venture and hotel partners.
Sebastian Ebel, member of the Group Executive Board responsible for Holiday Experiences, said: "Customer surveys clearly indicate that safety and hygiene will be of paramount importance for holidaymakers after the lockdown.
"With our Group-wide, integrated health and safety management system, we can ensure that our hotels meet guests' high expectations and offer the best possible protection against infections during these unusual times. We are laying the foundations for an agile and safe return to business so we can be ready to offer our unique holiday experiences again as soon as possible."
click here for detailed 10 point plan

The Maldives announces visitor arrivals fell by 63.4% in March 2020.
The Maldives Government’s Ministry of Tourism recently announced that total tourist arrivals fell by 63.4% in March 2020, from 162,843 arrivals in March 2019 to 59,627 arrivals in March of this year. A major reason for the decline was because of a 97.4% drop in arrivals from China, falling from 19,479 arrivals in March 2019 to just 498 in March 2020, although arrivals from Italy were also down, by 78.1%, falling from 18,285 in March 2019 to 3,996 in March 2020 and were down by 59.1% from Germany, falling from 16,320 in March 2019 to 6,671 in March 2020.
The Government of the Maldives prohibited visitors from China effective February 4, from Iran as of February 26, from South Korea as of March 3, from Italy as of March 8, from Germany, Spain and France as of March 15, from Malaysia as of March 17, from the United Kingdom as of March 19, from Sri Lanka as of March 21 and from Bangladesh as of March 24. As of March 27, all foreign nationals were prohibited entry to The Maldives.
In the first three months of 2020 The Maldives saw a 20.8% decrease in total arrivals, falling from 482,978 in 2019 to 382,760 this year. Total tourist arrivals from China fell by 55.7% from 76,568 in 2019 to 33,889 in the first three months of 2020.
The Maldives has seen the overall number of accommodation establishments grow by 14.5% from 836 in March 2019 to 949 establishments this March. The number of beds increased by 13.7% from 44,721 last March to 50,869 this year. Through the end of March overall average room occupancy has fallen by 16.8 percentage points from 75.4% in 2019 to 58.6% this year.
Of the 951 establishments 155 were resorts which offered 36,179 beds (71.0% of the overall number of beds). These resorts achieved a 67.4% average room occupancy through the first three months of 2020 down from 87.2% for the first three months of 2019. In March 2019 there were 139 resorts offering 31,129 beds, with the number of resorts increasing by 11.5% in 2020 and the number of beds up by 16.2%.

The Bahamas reports stopover arrivals fell by 69.7% in March.
According to the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, The Islands of The Bahamas saw a 69.7% decline in stopover visitor arrivals in March, falling from 201,578 stopovers in March 2019 to 75,656 in March of this year. Nassau/Paradise Island saw a 62.2% decrease in stopover traffic, falling from 155,093 stopovers in March 2019 to 58,653 this year while Grand Bahama Island saw an 89.6% decline, falling from 14,793 stopovers in 2019 to 1,544 in March 2020. Stopover traffic to the Out Islands fell by 86.9%, from 50,640 in March 2019 to 6,640 in March 2020. Overall traffic from the USA fell by 70.1% in March, falling from 183,943 in March 2019 to 54,980 stopovers in March 2020.
In response to the Covid 19 pandemic on Thursday, March 19, expanded travel restrictions were introduced. Foreign nationals and foreign individuals who had travelled within the previous 20 days from the United Kingdom, Ireland and Europe were prohibited entry into The Bahamas. This was in addition to restrictions already in place for China, Iran, Italy and South Korea. On March 20th, a curfew from 9 pm until 5 am was implemented and all non-essential businesses were closed. On March 24th, the Bahamian border was closed until further notice to incoming visitors and returning residents.
During the first three months of 2020 The Bahamas saw a 34.5% decline in the number of stopover visitors, falling from 524,126 stopover visitors in 2019 to 343,439 stopovers in 2020. Nassau/Paradise Island saw a 24.3% decrease in stopover traffic, falling from 369,894 stopovers in 2019 to 279,891 stopovers in the first three months of 2020, while Grand Bahama Island saw a 61.0% decline in stopover traffic, falling from 38,729 stopovers in 2019 to 15,088 in 2020. Stopover traffic to the Out Islands decreased by 58.0%, from 115,503 visitors in 2019 to 48,460 in the same three months of 2020.
The number of visitors from the USA fell by 35.6% in the first three months of 2020, from 417,245 visitors in 2019 to 268,809 in 2020. The number of visitors from Canada fell by 22.2%, from 52,171 in 2019 to 40,570 in 2020, while the number of visitors from Europe fell by 37.3%, falling from 34,787 in 2019 to 21,821 in 2020.
The number of cruise visitors fell by 59.6% in March, from 530,038 visitors in March 2019 to 214,035 visitors in March of this year. During the first three months of 2020 the number of cruise visitors to The Bahamas fell by 10.0%, from 1,474,573 visitors in 2019 to 1,327,084 cruise visitors in the first three months of 2020.

10 Percent of Riviera Maya Hotels Could Reopen June 1
At this week’s press conference, the Riviera Maya Hotel Association’s president, Conrad Bergwerf, announced that he anticipates ten percent of the region’s hotels to reopen by June 1, 2020, provided that the state restarts its activities in time.
Speaking alongside the association’s director, Manuel Paredes, Bergwerf met with media to discuss the present state of the sector and its immediate future, post-COVID-19, reported 
Bergwerf said that the association expects to be able to confirm these reopenings by no later than May 15. Fifteen of the organization’s 140 member hotels have already signed up to open their doors on June 1, with the rest indicating that they will reopen as customer demand increases.
The Riviera Maya Hotel Association’s representatives explained that, in addition to the pandemic, the local economy and tourism sector is also being impacted by factors like the U.S.’ electoral year and its trade war with China, but said that it expects the situation to have become relatively stabilized by year’s end.
Although the area only currently has only five hotels in operation to host stranded travelers and house essential workers, with occupancy rates barely reaching four percent, Bergwerf speculated that hospitality in this Mexican Caribbean locale could reach 100 percent operational capacity by the end of 2020, with estimated increases in demand building toward December. Still, factoring in the current crisis, “If we reach 30 percent annual occupancy, it will be a good number,” he explained.
Riviera Maya Hotel Association Treasurer, Néstor Ospina, stated that most of the region’s 140 hotels will require financial support in order to reopen, and that he anticipates full recovery could take between eighteen and 24 months. The association takes heart from the fact that none of their affiliated hotels have notified them of bankruptcy or indicated an inability to reopen, and assured that, “everyone is waiting for better times.”

IATA Bio-security for Air Transport: A Road map for Restarting Aviation
On Tuesday May 5 2020 IATA released a comprehensive set of guidelines to restart aviation. Meeting this challenge will mean making significant changes across the arc of the air travel experience: pre-flight; at the departure airport; onboard; and post-flight.
▪ It will require governments to assume broad new responsibilities in terms of assessing and identifying traveler health risks, as governments did for security after 9.11.
▪Airlines and airports will need to introduce and adapt processes and procedures to minimize contagion risk in the airport and aircraft environments;
▪ Passengers will need to be empowered to take more control of their travel journey, including responsibly assessing their own level of health risk before a journey.
This document represents the airline industry’s effort to identify a roadmap to resuming operations, based on our longstanding commitment to safety as our highest priority. Success depends on a partnership approach among the key participants in the travel chain.
IATA recommends mandatory face-coverings for passengers and masks for crew as one of several actions to reduce the already low risk of contracting COVID-19 on board aircraft.
In addition to face coverings, these layers of temporary biosecurity measures being proposed include:

• Temperature screening of passengers, airport workers and travelers,
• Boarding and deplaning processes that reduce contact with other passengers or crew,
• Limiting movement within the cabin during flight,
• More frequent and deeper cabin cleaning; and
• Simplified catering procedures that lower crew movement and interaction with passengers.

When proven and available at scale, testing for COVID-19 or immunity passports could also be included as temporary biosecurity measures.
IATA does not recommend restricting the use of the ‘middle seat’ to create social distancing while onboard aircraft.
Evidence, although limited, suggests that, the risk of virus transmission on board aircraft is low even without special measures.
for full report click here

Global tourism could plummet by 80 per cent this year.
International tourist numbers could fall by up to 80% this year, according to a report by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
In a report out today, it outlined three different scenarios which pointed to declines in arrivals of between 58% and 78%, depending on the speed of containment of Covid-19 and how long travel restrictions and border shutdowns are kept in place.
The report said international tourism was down 22% in the first three months of the year.
Arrivals in March dropped sharply by 57% following the start of lockdowns, travel restrictions and the closure of airports and national borders, translating to a loss of 67 million international arrivals.
UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: "The world is facing an unprecedented health and economic crisis. Tourism has been hit hard, with millions of jobs at risk in one of the most labour-intensive sectors of the economy."
According to a UNWTO survey of tourism experts, domestic demand is expected to recover faster than international demand.
The majority of experts expect to see signs of recovery by the final quarter of 2020 but mostly in 2021.
Based on previous crises, leisure travel is expected to recover quicker, particularly travel for visiting friends and relatives, than business travel.
The estimates regarding the recovery of international travel is more positive in Africa and the Middle East with most experts foreseeing recovery still in 2020.
Experts in the Americas are the least optimistic and least likely to believe in recovery in 2020, while in Europe and Asia the outlook is mixed, with half of the experts expecting to see recovery within this year.
For full report click here.

Los Cabos saw a 99.3% decline in international air traffic movements in April.
According to Aeroportuario del Pacifico , which manages many of Mexico’s airports, Los Cabos Airport saw a 99.3% decline in international passenger traffic in April 2020, that is enplanements and deplanements, falling from 345,800 international passenger movements in April 2019 to 600 international passenger movements in April 2020. Domestic traffic declined by 86.4%, falling from 162,000 passenger movements in April 2019 to 22,100 passenger movements in April 2020.
Regarding the operations of the Los Cabos airport in Mexico, the Government of Mexico has not issued any flight restrictions, however, it has strongly recommended that only essential activities are performed and for persons to avoid as much as possible to leave home, which has caused the cancellation of a large volume of national and international flights. These measures have been extended until May 30 2020.
In the first four months of 2020 the volume of international air traffic decreased by 32.3%, falling from 1,402,000 international passenger movements in 2019 to 949,400 in the first four months of 2020 while the volume of domestic air traffic fell by 23.7%, from 556,700 movements in 2019 to 424,800 in the first four months of 2020.

Montego Bay saw a 99.9% decrease in air passenger traffic in April.
According to Aeroportuario del Pacifico, which manages many of Mexico’s airports and which also manages the airports in Montego Bay and Kingston, Jamaica, saw the total number of passenger movements, that is both enplanements and deplanements, at Montego Bay Airport decrease by 99.9% in April 2020, falling from 424,700 movements in April 2019 to 600 movements in April 2020.
In the case of Montego Bay, the Jamaican government canceled all incoming international flights, with the exception of cargo and freight transport flights, allowing only the departure of commercial flights. These measures have been extended until May 31, 2020.
In the first four months of 2020 the overall volume of passenger movements decreased by 35.6%, from 1,762,700 passenger movements in 2019 to 1,134,500 passenger movements in the first four months of 2020.

Bahamas, Haiti want negative COVID tests from returning citizens. Antigua wants same from tourists.
At least two countries in the Caribbean are requiring COVID-19 test certificates from stranded nationals before they can return home, while another, Antigua and Barbuda, plans to have tourists undergo rapid testing for the novel coronavirus before boarding aircraft to visit its sun splashed beaches.
The Bahamas announced the requirement Sunday, joining Haiti, which was among the first in the region to do so. Other Caribbean nations are also considering the so-called “virus-free” certificates as health and tourism ministers weigh the return of stranded nationals and tourists amid the devastating economic blows of the global pandemic.
But the push for a COVID-19 “passport” in order to fly comes as the World Health Organization signals its discomfort with such documentation for travel, doctors and scientists still lack a lot of information about the coronavirus, and getting access to testing remains difficult in the United States.
“Requiring some kind of COVID passport is going to be difficult,” said Carlos Espinal, director of the Global Health Consortium at the Robert Stempel College of Public Health at Florida International University.
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Mnuchin: International Travel Could Be Done For 2020
Dreaming of escaping to France, New Zealand or Costa Rica later this year? Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin says travelers may have to rethink their plans for a globetrotting getaway for the rest of 2020.
In an interview with FOX Business Network this morning, Mnuchin said it’s “too hard to tell” whether international travel will be possible this year as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to across the globe.
“Our priority is opening up the domestic economy,” said Mnuchin. “Obviously, for business people, there will be travel on a limited basis.”
COVID-19 cases continue to rise in most states, but Mnuchin suggested Americans might want to vacation domestically. “This is a great time for people to explore America,” he said. “As the economy opens up, I think you’ll see demand coming back.”
Secretary Mnuchin also said that the Trump administration is considering ways to boost the travel and restaurant industries. “The president’s also looking about ways to stimulate travel,” said Mnuchin.
Most Americans are cautious about future travel plans, according to new research from Skift, the travel intel site. Only a third of Americans say they’ll travel within three months after travel restrictions are lifted, and four out of 10 Americans say their first getaway will be a road trip less than 100 miles from home.
 
Hawaii’s hotels report a 34.3 percentage point drop in average room occupancy in March to reach 44.5%
According to the Hawai‘i Hotel Performance Report published by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA), statewide hotel room occupancy fell by 34.3 percentage points from 78.8% in March 2019 to 44.5% in March this year. ADR fell by 1.7% from $284.63 to $279.90 while revpar fell by 44.4%, from $224.39 in March 2019 to $124.68 in March this year.
HTA’s Tourism Research Division issued the report’s findings utilizing data compiled by STR, Inc., which conducts the largest and most comprehensive survey of hotel properties in the Hawaiian Islands.
In March 2020, Hawai‘i hotel room revenues statewide fell by 44.9% from $376.0 million in 2019 to $207.3 million this year. Room demand fell to 740,700 room nights, down 43.9% compared to a year ago. Room supply was slightly lower (down by 0.8%) and fell to 1,662,800 available room nights. Hawaii has 53,639 hotel rooms.
For the first three months of 2020 statewide hotel room occupancy fell by 9.9 percentage points from 80.5% in 2019 to 70.6% in the first three months of 2020. ADR grew by 4.9% from $291.30 to $305.50 while revpar fell by 8.0%, from $234.50 in the first three months of 2019 to $215.83 in the first three months of this year.
In the first three months of 2020, Hawai‘i hotel room revenues statewide fell by 8.7% from $1.141 billion in 2019 to $1.042 billion this year. Room demand fell to 3,410,600  room nights, down 12.9% compared to a year ago. Room supply was slightly lower (down by 0.8%) and fell to 4,827,600 available room nights
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Battered global tourism industry makes reopening plans
The battered global tourism industry is facing unprecedented uncertainty in the wake of the new coronavirus
Six months ago, the global tourism industry was celebrating a record year for travel. Now, it's decimated and facing a recovery that could take years.
Tourism Economics, a data and consulting firm, predicts global travel demand won’t resume its normal pace until 2023.
When tourists do finally return, they will face a changed landscape that incorporates social distancing and other measures to calm residual fears over COVID-19, the disease that has so far killed more than 244,000 people worldwide and infected millions more.
The road to recovery will be long and hard for the tourism industry. The United Nations World Tourism Organization predicts global tourist arrivals — or visits from tourists who come to their destinations and stay at least one night — will fall 30% this year from the record 1.5 billion in 2019. Airlines have grounded nearly two-thirds of their planes as passengers vanish. Cruise ships are docked; some won’t sail again until November.
Millions of people who depend on tourism are laid off or furloughed. In the U.S. alone, an estimated 8 million tourism-related workers are jobless right now, or about one-third of total U.S. unemployment, said Roger Dow, the president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association.
Alexandre de Juniac, CEO of the International Air Transport Association, the leading airline trade group, said carriers need to fill at least 70% of seats to break even on most flights. If they're required to block or remove many seats, they will either stop flying or raise prices 50%, he said.
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Planning for the Future of Hotel Marketing
By Dan Wacksman, CHDM, CRME, principal at Sassato LLC, and member of HSMAI’s Marketing Advisory Board.
As most of the country has been in lockdown mode for more than a month, many hoteliers are beginning to focus on what the future will look like once things start opening up again. HSMAI’s Marketing Advisory Board (MAB) met on a call April 16 during which members shared their predictions, fears, and hopes for the future. Here are a few highlights from that discussion:
1. Cleaning Measures
2. Social Distancing
3. Opening Plans
4. Advertising
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Air travel will never be the same after coronavirus
Whenever you're ready to fly again, be prepared: air travel after the coronavirus will look and feel a lot different from the last time you boarded a plane.
The big picture: With passenger traffic down 95% during the height of the pandemic, airlines have all but given up on trying to salvage the lucrative summer travel season. The global industry expects to lose $314 billion this year, and airline executives say it could be two to three years before air travel recovers to pre-crisis levels.
In the meantime, pack your patience along with your face mask: everything is going to take longer.
Expect new procedures for everything from luggage check-in to security clearance and boarding.
You might even need to have your blood tested to prove you're in good health before boarding.
“9/11 changed travel completely with added security checks and longer check-in times. The impact of COVID-19 on air travel will be even more far-reaching,” says airline consultant Shashank Nigam, CEO and founder of SimpliFlying, in a blog post.
The big question: How much hassle will people tolerate, or will they avoid flying altogether?
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Destination marketers feel squeeze as funding dries up
For the travel industry, one key to recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic shutdown will lie in smart, sensitive and well-timed marketing campaigns, according to marketing experts.
But those efforts are also likely to be very lean, as one of the industry’s most relied-upon promotional partners, the destination marketing sector, is struggling  to stay afloat.
With the bulk of convention and visitors bureaus funded by local hotel and tourism taxes, destination marketing organizations (DMOs) have seen funding virtually dry up, forcing deep budget cuts and layoffs. 
Exacerbating the problem: Most DMOs operate as nonprofits, under a classification excluded from the Cares Act.
Although the sector was hoping for a lifeline in the latest small-business relief package passed by the Senate on Tuesday, layoffs and budget cuts have been widespread.
In Las Vegas, for instance, where authorities say room tax revenue is expected to drop from $300 million to between $100 million and $200 million in the upcoming fiscal year, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority slashed its budget by $79 million, laying off 80 full-time workers, eliminating 400 temporary and on-call trade show positions and cutting executive pay.
Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau president and CEO Bill Talbert said 10% of his staff has been furloughed and the rest have taken pay cuts.
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The way ahead for Caribbean tourism
May 1 2020: David Jessop
What might the shape of post COVID-19 economic recovery look like? This is a question that almost every government and business is now exploring.
No industry is more concerned about the answer than the tourism and hospitality sector as the emerging global consensus is that it will be among the last to see restrictions ease
When global tourism finally returns, much will have changed, travel will be governed by factors outside the region’s control, depend on visitor confidence, and will require a focus on the industry’s broader economic and social role.
In a recent industry related paper, Jim Hepple of Tourism Analytics in Aruba suggests that despite the unprecedented nature of the present situation, many in the industry continue to focus on when the crisis will end. This he says is the wrong question, and that the real issue will be to manage appropriately in an environment in which the virus will affect all public thinking, everyday lives, visitor sentiment and the global economy for several years to come.
He believes this points to governments and the industry developing an informed view on how the pandemic will eventually be brought under control globally, knowing accurately the public health situation on the ground in every Caribbean country, recognizing that international and national restrictions and regulations on  international travel will remain in force for some time to come, and accepting that these and other factors, including a much hoped for vaccine, will govern the speed and way in which demand recovers.
In short, for several reasons the external aspects of tourism recovery will be far from straightforward.
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Tourism Council announces reopening of Cancun, Riviera Maya travel for June
Cancun, Riviera Maya, Q.R. — The Quintana Roo Tourism Promotion Council has announced the reopening of the state for travel as of the beginning of June.
The Consejo de Promoción Turística de Quintana Roo (CPTQ) says that airline operations also will begin then, which is why they are preparing a special campaign now to be launched in late May. The campaign will be aimed at reviving local tourism.
Darío Flota Ocampo, director of the CPTQ said that airlines from Canada, the United States and Europe have already confirmed their arrivals to the Mexican Caribbean, which initially is expected to consist mainly of convention and wedding tourism.
Some of the airlines, through virtual meetings, that have announced they are resuming their operations at the Cancun International Airport are Air Canada, Air Transat, Delta Airlines, Copa Airlines, Air Europa, Sunwing, Southwest and Aeroméxico,” he explained noting they will begin landing in early June.
The announcement of the arrival of flights has also promoted the opening of some online reservation systems for area hotels. The Hotel Association of Cancun, Puerto Morelos and Isla Mujeres detailed that due to the coronavirus pandemic, more than 155 area hotels closed.
Area attractions including theme parks will also reopen. Last month, large attractions including Grupo Xcaret, Dolphin Discoveries, Coco Bongo locations and Ventura Amusement Park announced their temporary closures due to the virus.
Flota Ocampo stated that during meetings last month, international and local industry professionals revealed great enthusiasm for collaborating in a united promotional campaign for a speedy recovery, adding that they have all expressed confidence that both international and national tourists will consider the Mexican Caribbean a safe and attractive destination to visit once travel restrictions are lifted.
He reiterated that the recovery strategy will first focus on reestablishing direct air connectivity as soon as possible at the international airports of Cancun, Cozumel and Chetumal. At the same time, all members of the industry will be informed about the destination’s disposition to receive visitors and about the reinforced state health and hygiene protocols that are applied in areas most frequented by tourists.
Up until now, the state has been campaigning “Paradise Can Wait, Please Stay Home,” however, some tourists continued to arrive, mostly from the US, on “empty” flights that have been landing at the Cancun airport.
  
Secretary of Tourism says no COVID Free certification for Cancun Hotel Zone
Cancun, Q.R. — The secretary of tourism says there will not be any COVID Free certification for the Cancun Hotel Zone since it is not possible to guarantee tourists do not become infected.
Marisol Vanegas Péreez, Secretaria de Turismo Quintana Roo, made the clarification during a virtual tourism meeting explaining that the proposal for an international certification “is a very large commitment that cannot be fulfilled as it cannot be guaranteed that a tourist would not get sick.”
Vanegas Péreez announced her clarification after the head of AMPI Cancun real estate association, Miguel Ángel Lemus Mateos, said that once the coronavirus epidemic ends, the Cancun Hotel Zone will be certified as COVID Free.
Vanegas Pérez said in regards to Lemus Mateos, he has been generically giving it that name, “but nobody assures that the visitor will not be infected” noting that “the guarantee is excessive in terms of what can be compromised.”
She said instead, work is already underway on the implementation of an online recognition, which guarantees compliance with the strictest hygiene and sanitation standards in the state’s more than 1,100 businesses directly related to tourism including hotels, transportation, excursions and tourist agencies, in addition to promoting non-reinfection to ensure “that the curve does not reactivate as has happened elsewhere.”
  
Las Vegas saw a 58.6% decrease in visitors in March.
According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Las Vegas saw the volume of visitors decrease by 58.6% in March 2020, falling from 3,697,100 visitors in March 2019 to 1,531,100 arrivals in March 2020.
Las Vegas had 148,202 hotel rooms in March 2020 (up 0.1% compared with March 2019) and achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 39.8% (down 51.7 percentage points compared with March 2019), an ADR of $143.77 (up 7.3% compared with March 2019) and a RevPar of $57.22, down 53.3% also compared with March 2019.
Through the first three months of 2020 Las Vegas saw an 18.3% decrease in the volume of visitors, falling from 10,299,000 arrivals in the first three months of 2019 to 8,409,400 visitors in the same three months of 2020.
Las Vegas achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 70.5% in the first three months of 2020 (down 17.0 percentage points compared with the first three months of 2019), an ADR of $143.27 (up 2.2% compared with ytd 2019) and a RevPar of $101.01, down 17.7%, also compared with the same three months of 2019.
Gaming revenue fell by 10.9% from $2.636 billion in the first three months of 2019 to $2.349 billion in the same three months of 2020.

Hawaii saw a 53.6% decline in air arrivals in March, while total tourist spending fell by 52.2%
According to the Hawaii Tourism Authority, Hawaii saw the volume of air arrivals decrease by 53.6% in March 2020, falling from 927,246 arrivals in March 2019 to 430,691 arrivals in March 2020. Air arrivals from the USA fell by 48.4%, from 621,474 in March 2019 to 320,988 in March 2020, fell by 66.1% from Japan (to 45,332 air arrivals). Air arrivals fell by 65.0% from Canada (to 26,426 air arrivals). Tourist spending in March fell by 52.2% to $720.2 million.
Through the first three months of 2020 Hawaii saw a 16.3% decrease in the volume of air arrivals, falling from 2,502,636 arrivals in the first three months of 2019 to 2,095,695 air arrivals in the same three months of 2020. Air arrivals from the USA decreased by 11.6% in the first three months of 2020, falling from 1,609,481 air arrivals in 2019 to 1,423,192 air arrivals in the same three months of 2020, fell by 21.5% from Japan (to 294,228 air arrivals) and fell by 25.7% from Canada (to 155,735 air arrivals).
Total tourist spending by air visitors decreased by 14.1% in the first three months of 2020, falling from $4.532 billion in 2019 to $3.892 billion in 2020. Average spend per visitor per day increased by 1.1%, growing from $196.80 per day in 2019 to $198.90 in 2020, while average spend per person per trip grew by 2.7%, from $1,782.60 in 2019 to $1,831.10 in 2020.
In the first three months of 2020 29.7% of Hawaii’s tourists were visiting for the first time with 70.3% having visited the state before.

How To Plan For Travel’s Expensive New Normal
Recent surveys from sources like the Global Business Travel Association and a new BVK survey  focusing on US traveler’s recovery preferences show that travel’s “new normal” won’t look like anything we’ve seen before.
American travelers for both business and leisure say they won’t be flying internationally any time soon. National travel will take first priority as the BVK survey shows. Most travelers will not want to go further afield than US destinations for some time.
For those who wish to know what “the new normal” will look like in international travel, one aspect is sure: it will likely be a lot more expensive.
Although fares are down at present because flights are empty, airlines are already looking at cabin designs that give customers more room in flight and most realize that flyers will not want to sit in the middle seat for some time to come, if ever. The days of packed flights at discount prices may be over. Even the CEO of Ryan Air, Michael O’Leary, recently stated that if he can’t put flyers in middle seats he will close shop.
Governments are considering the reality of requiring health certificates to travel and are already conducting temperature checks. If travelers are required to get an all clear at the airport and are unlucky enough to catch a normal flu or cold, they may have to rely on travel insurance to refund some or all of their expenses on a cancelled trip. Higher prices on travel insurance are likely to result if consumers feel the onus to purchase plans to cover all their international travel.
Hotels, too, are likely to be part of the upswing in prices as recovery moves forward into 2021.
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The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index Weakened Significantly in April
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® deteriorated further in April, following a sharp decline in March. The Index now stands at 86.9 (1985=100), down from 118.8 in March. The Present Situation Index – based on consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions – also declined considerably, from 166.7 to 76.4. However, the Expectations Index – based on consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business and labor market conditions – improved from 86.8 in March to 93.8 this month.
“Consumer confidence weakened significantly in April, driven by a severe deterioration in current conditions,” said Lynn Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board. “The 90-point drop in the Present Situation Index, the largest on record, reflects the sharp contraction in economic activity and surge in unemployment claims brought about by the COVID-19 crisis. Consumers’ short-term expectations for the economy and labor market improved, likely prompted by the possibility that stay-at-home restrictions will loosen soon, along with a re-opening of the economy. However, consumers were less optimistic about their financial prospects and this could have repercussions for spending as the recovery takes hold. The uncertainty of the economic effects of COVID-19 will likely cause expectations to fluctuate in the months ahead.”
The monthly Consumer Confidence Survey®, based on a probability-design random sample, is conducted for The Conference Board by Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and analytics around what consumers buy and watch. The cutoff date for the preliminary results was April 17.
Consumers’ appraisal of current conditions declined considerably in April. Those claiming business conditions are “good” decreased from 39.2 percent to 20.8 percent, while those claiming business conditions are “bad” increased from 11.7 percent to 45.2 percent. Consumers’ assessment of the job market also eroded significantly from last month. Those saying jobs are “plentiful” decreased from 43.3 percent to 20.0 percent. Those claiming jobs are “hard to get” increased from 13.8 percent to 33.6 percent.
Consumers, however, were somewhat optimistic about the short-term outlook. The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions will improve over the next six months increased from 18.7 percent to 40.0 percent, however those expecting business conditions will worsen also increased, from 16.4 percent to 25.7 percent.
Consumers’ outlook for the labor market was mixed. The proportion expecting more jobs rose from 16.9 percent to 41.0 percent, while those anticipating fewer jobs in the months ahead also increased, from 17.6 percent to 20.8 percent. Regarding their short-term income prospects, the percentage of consumers expecting an increase declined from 20.0 percent to 16.7 percent, while the proportion expecting a decrease rose from 10.1 percent to 18.5 percent.

The USVI saw a 50.4% fall in the number of cruise visitors in March 2020.
According to the USVI Bureau of Economic Research, the USVI saw the volume of cruise visitor arrivals decrease by 50.4% in March 2019, falling from 157,258 cruise visitors in March 2019 to 78,078 cruise visitors in March 2020. The number of cruise ship calls fell from 67 in March 2019 to 27 in March 2020.
During the first three months of 2020 the number of cruise visitors decreased by 9.1%, falling from 484,276 in 2019 to 440,398 in the first three months of 2020 with the number of calls falling from 204 in 2019 to 163 in 2020.
The volume of air arrivals increased by 13.8% in February 2020, growing from 58,580 air arrivals in February 2019 to 66,668 air arrivals in February this year.
Through the first two months of 2020 the USVI saw the volume of air arrivals increase by 13.4%, from 122,806 air arrivals in the first two months of 2019 to 139,282 air arrivals in the first two months of 2020.

BALANCED TOURISM RECOVERY A KEY TO FUTURE CARIBBEAN GROWTH
David Jessop
The challenge that is now facing almost every Caribbean nation is how best to recover the tourism economy without which future economic growth and sustainable tax revenues will be all but impossible.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shuttered the industry, made hundreds of thousands of workers unemployed, pushed many hotels, airlines and cruise companies into financial meltdown, and caused travellers to fear placing themselves at risk in any situation where public health cannot be guaranteed.
According to Frank Comito, the CEO and Director General of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), 87% of Caribbean hotels have suspended operations and are not accepting guests. His initial estimates indicate that from March to mid-April, the industry lost US$1.3bn in room cancellations and Caribbean governments’ total tax revenue on visitor spend may have fallen by around US$0.5bn.
For the Caribbean, the most tourism-dependent region of the world, the obvious consequence is an urgent need to consider when it can reopen for business, how it positions itself when international travel again becomes possible, and how it should adapt its offering.
read more/...

Argentina introduces four-month flight ban.
April 28 2020.
Argentina has banned all domestic and international flights until September 1.
IATA is warning that more than 300,000 jobs are at risk as a result.
Non-residents have been barred from entering Argentina since March and now the country's National Civil Aviation Administration has decreed that airlines should be banned from selling tickets on commercial flights for the next four months.
The country has nearly 4000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and so far 192 people have died from the infection.
Meanwhile, Alta, a group which lobbies interests of Latin American and Caribbean airlines, said the decree was not 'agreed with the industry'. 

Avianca Says It May Not Survive
by Loren Moss
 April 27, 2020
In an SEC filing made last week, Colombian air carrier Avianca (NYSE: AVH, BVC: PFAVH) revealed that their auditors, KPMG, will inform the airline’s audit committee that “substantial doubt exists as to our ability to continue as a going concern.”
Avianca has faced worsening financial and operational difficulties over the past 3 years, and the Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic may have pushed the airline over an existential cliff. Even before governments ordered closures of airspace, Avianca had scarce cash on hand to cover current liabilities, and had just completed a debt restructuring and closed on additional financing. Now the airline has more debt, less revenues, and has fallen behind on payments of leases and financing.
At an 81% load capacity in previous conditions, the airline announced that it was retooling its aircraft to add even more seats, but passenger demand is unlikely to recover in the coming months once travel is permitted again.
Avianca’s North American patron, United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAL) is not optimistic either. In their own SEC form 8-K filing, they stated “Our significant investments in AVH and its affiliates, and the commercial relationships that we have with Avianca may not produce the returns or results we expect.”
Read more/...

​Seychelles Tourism to open: Step by step plan released by President Danny Faure
Seychelles President Danny Faure addressed the people of the Republic of Seychelles on the easing of restrictions related to the COVID-19 situation. Travel and tourism is the biggest money earner and industry in the Indian Ocean paradise. Opening tourism is not without great risk. It is also necessary to prevent an economic collapse of the country. President Danny Faure knows this and thinks he has a plan.  
Part of the plan addresses the re-opening of the country's borders.
From 1 June, the airport will reopen for commercial flights in line with guidance issued by the Department of Health. When we reopen our borders, we will undertake strict medical surveillance to detect any new cases and take the necessary steps.
The second aspect of our ongoing COVID-19 response is strengthened contact tracing. We will improve the speed and effectiveness of our contact tracing to break any chains of transmission.
And finally, our ongoing response will be underpinned by testing. We will be maintaining high levels of testing and putting those who test positive in the treatment center.
With these 3 pillars: strict border controls, rigorous contact tracing, and testing, we will continue to minimize risks and keep the situation under control.

Click here to read full statement of President Faure.

Dubai Aims to Open Up for Tourists at the Beginning of July
Dubai hopes to reopen for tourists at the beginning of July, after halting most arrivals last month to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
The process will be gradual and could be delayed until September, depending on global trends, Helal Al Marri, director general of Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Tuesday.
“Many countries remain closed and it’s more about the bilateral discussions,” Al Marri said. “Is it going to be July when things start slowly opening up? Is it going to be September? We just need to make sure we’re ready if things come earlier than expected.”
Dubai, which spent years turning itself into the Middle East’s main business and tourism hub, attracts millions of visitors annually thanks to its beaches, luxury hotels and high-end malls.
Last week the government announced it would ease a strict lockdown and allow some commercial and transport activities to restart. The United Arab Emirates, of which Dubai is a member, has reported around 10,800 cases of Covid-19.
Dubai received 16.7 million tourists last year, according to official estimates. India, Saudi Arabia and the U.K. have been the emirate’s most important markets for years, though the number of Chinese visitors is climbing rapidly.
While the pandemic has driven tourist arrivals “to zero,” the industry will bounce back and evolve to focus more on “health and hygiene,” Al Marri said.
That will probably mean higher costs for hotels, he said. The government is providing support for the beleaguered sector by reducing some fees -- including a 50% cut in municipality payments.
Al Marri said it was not up to the government to restrict construction of hotels, even amid a glut of rooms.
“In Dubai, interacting with the sector, they are not interested at all in the government controlling either supply or pricing of hotel rooms,” he said. “Investors in the hotels definitely have the expertise and the experience to make their own decisions.”
 
Travelers are willing to be screened and share medical history post pandemic.
Travelers grounded due to the pandemic are willing to share personal medical history to reduce the risk of a renewed spread of coronavirus as a condition of restarting travel.

A survey by Global Rescue, a travel risk and crisis response provider, found travellers were now willing to take several measures they would have previously found objectionable.

"Many travelers are planning to hit the road again this summer and they are willing to share personal medical history and travel plans to help keep themselves and those around them safe," said Global Rescue CEO Dan Richards.

Based on 1,300 responses collected from its members on April 23-24, including government agencies, corporates, universities, nonprofits and tour operators, the company's survey found:

• 91% are willing to subject themselves to screening and testing
• 73% are willing to disclose medical conditions related to a compromised immune system
• 93% are willing to share their past 14-day travel history
• 58% are willing to have their physical location tracked and traced with data temporarily retained.

The survey also asked travelers when they expect to be travelling again. It found:

• 77% are expecting to make a trip by the end of October
• 41% expect to make their next trip by July or earlier
• 36% are planning their initial trip sometime between August and October
• less than 9% believe their earliest post-pandemic trip will be during the holiday months of November and December.

Read more/...

Delta Air Lines to resume selected international flights in May.
On April 24th, US carrier Delta Air Lines released a list of international services that will begin in May. While international capacity will be down almost 90%, select routes will see scheduled flights operate again, allowing for the movement of people and cargo.
​
To the Caribbean, two routes will resume out of New York-JFK while five will resume out of Atlanta.:

• Atlanta to Nassau
• Atlanta to Providenciales (Saturday only)
• Atlanta to St. Croix (Saturday only)
• Atlanta to St. Thomas
• Atlanta to San Juan, Puerto Rico
• New York-JFK to Santiago, Dominican Republic
• New York-JFK to Santo Domingo

 
Cancun hotels propose to open in June with “coronavirus free” certification.
CANCUN Quintana Roo (El Universal) – In response to the health emergency caused by Covid-19, the Cancun hotel industry plans to reopen its doors on June 1 and wants to do so by selling itself as a “Covid-free” or coronavirus-free destination”, for which it is promoting the creation of a new certificate to be granted by the Ministries of Health and Tourism.
The proposal was made by the president of the Hotel Association of Cancun, Puerto Morelos and Isla Mujeres, Roberto Cintron Gomez, and his counterpart at the Mexican Association of Hotels and Motels (AMHM), Rafael Garcia, who is already lobbying on the issue at the federal level.
In an interview with EL UNIVERSAL, Cintron Gomez reported that he also discussed the badge with the governor of Quintana Roo, Carlos Joaquin Gonzalez, and the head of the State Secretariat of Tourism (Sedetur), Marisol Vanegas, who welcomed the proposal.
“We have to hurry. The idea is that the hotels here, open on June 1, following the date of reactivation given by the federal government, if that date is maintained and there are conditions. Apart from that, we think that a ‘COVID-free’ certificate should be created so that the entire state, the entire tourism industry of the state, restaurants, ecotourism parks, discos, marinas, casinos (…) can be launched on that date as a ‘COVID-Free destination,’ he said.
The issuance of the certification would depend on the speed of the Health and Tourism institutions. They need to begin with the definition of the criteria to continue with the inspections and the delivery of badges, to be ready with the reopening of the tourism sector, one of the most affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
He acknowledged that the issue is not straightforward because despite having the badge, the recovery of the local tourism industry depends mainly on the reestablishment of the issuing markets; the United States and Canada represent 43% of the market that receives the Mexican Caribbean.
Therefore, the bet would be on the domestic market, which will be the first to react, although not 100%.
On June 1, the students are expected to return to the classrooms in person so that the summer holidays will be suspended, and the economic conditions are not optimal for immediate travel.
This situation, he said, will impact the reopening of hotels, whose market is mainly American, such as the Palace Resorts chain, the Ritz Carlton, or hotels like Royalton.
The occupancy rates of March 2020, before the pandemic, will not be equaled until 2021. “While we are doing well, by December, there may be some hotels full, but until there is a vaccine, we will not be able to recover occupancy levels until 2021,” he said.
On April 17, Cancun registered the lowest occupancy rate in its history in the last ten years, with only 2.7%. At that time, 140 hotels in Puerto Morelos and Isla Mujeres had closed their doors, equivalent to 40,998 rooms.
As of this Thursday, the sum of closed lodging centers reaches 157 establishments, with 44,655 rooms not in operation.
However, hotel occupancy in Cancun is 8%; 5.3 points more than on its worst day. This upward variation does not mean that hotel occupancy has grown due to the presence of vacationers, said the president of the hoteliers.
It happens that with the closure of more hotels, the few remaining guests are divided among a smaller number of rooms. Besides, more suppliers and medical personnel have arrived in the city.
 
Delta CEO raises prospect of ‘immunity passports’ for air travel
The travel industry has been decimated in the last few months by coronavirus.
Inevitably, travelers will one day return to the world’s airports, seaports and train stations, but it’s likely that travel in the future will happen a little differently than it did before the COVID pandemic.
The airline business has been particularly hard-hit during the outbreak, with demand for flights at historic lows. Aviation executives have been clear that their industry is in for some major changes, but exactly what’s on the horizon remains hazy for now.
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said in a call with investors Wednesday that he and his employees are preparing for the possibility of new restrictions for travelers, which could include requiring passengers to present documentation of good health at airports.
“We will make whatever changes to the business model that will be necessary,” he said, suggesting that what he called “immunity passports” could be a requirement for travelers. “Could there be a new public health agency coming out that requires a new passport to travel? I don’t know but we’ll be on the forefront of all those advances.”
Bastian is not alone in assuming the future will bring requirements for travelers to prove they’re healthy before boarding a plane. Industry watchers previously told TPG that they have similar expectations.
“People will have to carry, essentially, a COVID passport,” said Robert W. Mann, an aviation analyst based in the New York City suburbs. Even when a vaccine becomes widely available, Mann said people will still likely have to carry documentation to show they are immune before traveling.
This “show me your papers” future is already nearing reality in some parts of the world.
Earlier this week, The Washington Post reported that Chile will begin to issue immunity passports to its citizens who have recovered from COVID-19. The paperwork allows its bearer to operate outside of government-imposed social distancing restrictions. In other words, those in Chile who have recovered from the virus can return to work and will no longer be forced to remain in lock down.
So far, there are no official plans by U.S. regulators or companies to follow in Chile’s footsteps, but wide-spread speculation about requiring health documentation for travel and other parts of everyday life makes it seem like an increasingly likely possibility as stay at home restrictions are eventually lifted.

Hong Kong’s screening system for airport arrivals holds lessons for travel industry in post-pandemic world

• City has one of the most comprehensive testing procedures for Covid-19 in place at converted expo site
• The programme is being closely watched as the airline industry’s body prepares to hold a summit with health officials in the coming weeks

A requirement forcing all air passengers arriving at Hong Kong to be tested for the coronavirus will remain in place going forward, a leading city health official said, with experts predicting the practice will become standard at airports around the world as the aviation industry adapts to a new normal once the pandemic recedes.
The city’s government has turned the airport into its first line of defense in the battle against Covid-19.
It has

• banned non-residents and transit passengers,
• handed out tracking bracelets tied to a smartphone app and
• expanded a programme mandating all arrivals provide deep-throat saliva samples.
• People coming from mainland China, Macau and Taiwan are also refused entry if they have been to any other countries in the past two weeks.

The aggressive strategy was aimed at containing a rising number coronavirus infections as residents returned from overseas. Although health authorities have repeatedly warned about a local resurgence of the pandemic, the city has seen the number of daily infections steadily drop this month, even falling into the single digits over the past few days. Nearly all recent cases have come from overseas.
read more/...

Update on Coronavirus’ Impact on American Travel—Week of April 20
by Destination Analysts
As American travelers increasingly feel better that the worst of the coronavirus may soon be over, one-in-five say a trip will be one of their first post-shelter-in-place activities.
Key Findings to Know

• American travelers continue to feel better that the worst of COVID-19 may be on the horizon. Excitement levels towards taking a getaway in the next month and interest in learning about travel destinations remain low but are at a 5-week high
• When presented a list of leisure and personal activities and asked to select the first things they were going to do when shelter-in-place restrictions are lifted, 22.5% said taking a trip would be among their top 5
• Regarding timing, American travelers increasingly don’t believe or are unsure that the pandemic will be resolved by the summer travel season. The number reporting trip cancellations increased, particularly in May and June. Nevertheless, half continue to feel they will be traveling in Fall, with reported increases in travel plans for September and October
• The number of American travelers saying they will choose regional rather than long-haul destinations for leisure travel this year continues to grow and is at the highest recorded level since this study began
• 36.5% of American travelers say they agree to some degree with the statement “I’m not traveling until there is a vaccine”; 43.2% disagree
• Nearly 8 in 10 American travelers say they would approve of mandatory health screenings for flights between destinations inside the continental United States and over 60 percent expressed this would increase their confidence traveling
• Over two-thirds of American travelers say they do not want other travelers coming to their community right now.

read more/...

Results of Wave 2 (April 4 – 11) survey of U.S. travelers by MMGY.
The U.S. Travel Association has engaged MMGY to conduct an ongoing survey to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on U.S. travelers. The online survey designed and analyzed by MMGY Travel Intelligence is conducted bi-weekly among 1,200 U.S. residents who have taken an overnight trip for either business or leisure in the past 12 months. The maximum error at the 95% level of confidence for a sample of 1,200 +/-2.83%.
These are the results for Wave II April 4-11, 2020

• 90% of travelers surveyed had some type of travel or travel related activity planned prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. 23% had planned an international flight and 13% had planned a cruise.
• 80% of those either canceled or postponed those plans. 47% cancelled their international flight while 37% postponed the flight. 49% cancelled their cruise while 37% postponed it.
• As COVID-19 impact grew, consumer sentiment around personal safety related to travel showed a drop in the most current wave results. Travelers who said they felt safe staying in a hotel, or a resort declined from 20% in Wave 1 to just 13% in the current wave. And, traveler sentiment about taking an international flight fell into the single digits, with just 9% of respondents saying they would feel safe doing so with a similar number, 9%, saying they would feel safe taking a cruise.
• Once the COVID-19 pandemic passes, more than half of the respondents to the current wave will be eager to travel for leisure. And, 4 in 10 will likely travel by plane, while 1 in 3 are likely to take a vacation closer to home than they were before COVID-19. 35% indicated it was likely they would take an international flight while 21% said it was likely they would take a cruise.

For full report click here

9 ways cruising will be different when it starts up again
The coronavirus outbreak has dealt an almost knockout blow to the cruise industry.
While many airlines still are operating (albeit with greatly reduced schedules) and many hotels remain open, coronavirus-related government travel restrictions and port closures have forced pretty much every single cruise ship on Earth to stop sailing.
The outbreak also has ravaged the cruise industry’s reputation, thanks in part to a seemingly endless succession of headline-grabbing coronavirus-related disasters, from the quarantine of the Diamond Princess in Japan to the plight of the long-stuck-at-sea Holland America ship, Zaandam.
Cruising will resume at some point, of course. Ships won’t sit idle forever. But when it does, it may look a lot different than it did just a few months ago — at least initially.
It’s still unclear when cruising will be able to start again. Several major lines already have canceled sailings into the early summer. A few have dropped voyages on specific ships as far out as October, and more cancellations could be coming.
But, based on what we’re hearing from cruise line executives, longtime industry watchers, health officials and the destinations where cruises operate, here are some key changes we think we’ll see when cruise vessels finally return to the world’s oceans.

• No more self-service buffets
• Restrictions on who can cruise
• New health screenings
• Enhanced cleaning on board
• Lower pricing
• Less crowded ships
• Fewer ships
• Shorter, closer-to-home itineraries

• Relaxed cancellation policies

for full article click here

Jamaican Tourism Minister Highlights Responsibility Of Recovery Task Force
The newly established COVID-19 Tourism Recovery Task Force will consist of two layers of partners whose mandate is to, among other things, provide a recovery and growth stimulation framework for the sector, said Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett.
Speaking at a digital media briefing on April 9, he explained that the “first layer is going to be what we call the overall policy and strategy development team, which has about 21 members covering the sectors.”
The second layer is a working team, which is more technical in nature, and will include divisional leaders from the Ministry of Tourism.
Mr. Bartlett said that the team will “do the legwork, the hard nuts and bolts work of not just creating the framework but doing the research that is necessary to bring out the data, analyze and present data for us to make management decisions.”
Minister Bartlett, who will chair the Task Force, said that it will assist in dealing with the various changes that COVID -19 will bring.
“One thing we know for sure is that it’s not going to be business as usual and we are equally convinced that it is going to create some new market opportunities as well as it’s going to create some serious market challenges and we have to be prepared to deal with all of this,” Minister Bartlett said.
He noted that the Task Force will establish a realistic view of the sector’s baseline or starting position; develop scenarios for multiple versions of the future; establish the strategic posture for the sector as well as a broad direction of the journey back to growth; establish actions and strategic imperatives that will be reflected across various scenarios; and establish trigger points to tackle action, which includes a planned vision in a world that is learning to evolve rapidly.
The Minister said that the response to the Task Force has been positive.
“I’m excited by the response that we’ve been getting from everyone, who we’ve asked,” he noted.
Jamaica has also announced plans for a “cruise recovery program,” which will be chaired by Port Authority of Jamaica President and CEO Gordon Shirley. 
“The panel that we have established is a very eminent one, which includes some of the best minds in the cruise sector,” Bartlett said. “This will allow us to start putting protocols in place and begin engaging with our partners, to get that sector back on track as quickly as possible.”
 
Carnival is considering cutting passenger capacity on its cruise ships as it looks for ways to improve safety in wake of coronavirus outbreaks, sources say
Carnival Corp. is considering temporarily limiting the number of passengers on its ships when they begin sailing again, two sources close to the matter told Business Insider.
The company would do so by preventing passengers from booking certain cabins, the sources said.
Two possibilities include allowing passengers to only book cabins with access to fresh air or making sure there are empty cabins between occupied ones, sources said. 
Carnival also plans to continue checking passengers' temperatures before they board their ships when cruises resume, the sources said. The company had previously introduced pre-boarding temperature checks across its nine brands in response to the coronavirus.
read more/...

Empty resorts spell long crisis for Caribbean as coronavirus hits
VARADERO, Cuba/KINGSTON (Reuters) - No one is swimming in the turquoise Caribbean waters of Cuba’s Varadero beach resort, nor lounging on its white, palm-fringed beaches. Its hundreds of hotels, shops and restaurants stand empty and eerily quiet.
The nearby airport, the lifeblood of Varadero’s economy, closed after Cuba shut its borders two weeks ago to protect against the spread of the new coronavirus. Now, undisturbed by tourists, lizards scamper around the grounds of the luxurious hotels, on the hunt.
Across the Caribbean, similar scenes of desolation are playing out as the most tourism-dependent region in the world reels from a pandemic that has shut borders, grounded airlines, berthed cruise ships and sent much of the planet into isolation since mid-March.
From the historic towns of the Dominican Republic to the isolated coves of Tobago, tourism employs an estimated 2.5 million people and generates - directly and indirectly - nearly one-third of the region’s economic output, according to the Caribbean Tourism Organization.
As a result, there are few places where the economic impact of the pandemic may be as immediate as the archipelago’s 26 small island states and dependencies, many of them already heavily indebted.
read more/...

Tourism industry could start recovery in five months - Bartlett
Sunday, April 12, 2020 
KINGSTON, Jamaica— Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett says he believes the tourism industry could begin to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic in another five months.
“I think at about September, we will begin to see the turnaround and I think borders will begin to open. This is not to say that they'll be flying everywhere or flying in Jamaica,” the minister said.
Bartlett, who was speaking recently at a digital press briefing, noted, however, that the timeline for recovery largely depends on how quickly some of the source markets pull out of this crisis.
“The United States (US) is our main market. More than 75 per cent of all the visitors who come to Jamaica - cruise and stop over - (come) from the US and Canada and it's important that we watch carefully how they are handling and responding to recovery,” he said.
Bartlett said the ministry has already put plans in place to ensure Jamaica's tourism sector “is ahead of the game,” open for businesses and getting business once the source markets start to turn around.
The Minister said the tourism sector is expected to bounce back quickly post COVID-19, with the required flexibility to adjust to a new era.
“Tourism has to be the first out of the block. We recognise that the changes that COVID-19 has brought is requiring us to rethink, to retool and to be very agile and adaptive as well as adaptable to the various changes that it is going to bring,” Mr. Bartlett said.
The Minister noted that ideally, about December/January 2021 he would expect some normalcy then the focus can shift towards growth. 


Cruise industry has enough cash for 10 cruise-less months. But will passengers come back?
BY TAYLOR DOLVEN AND ROB WILE Miami Herald.
APRIL 17, 2020 06:00 AM, UPDATED APRIL 17, 2020 03:09 PM
Despite mass cancellations of voyages, Miami-based Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings — the three largest cruise companies — have raised enough cash to last at least 10 cruise-less months, according to analysts. The fourth largest, MSC Cruises, is privately held.
But will people want to cruise again after thousands have been infected with COVID-19 after cruises and dozens have died?
That’s the million-dollar question, said Rockford Weitz, director of the Fletcher School Maritime Studies Program at Tufts University.
So far, the industry has disputed federal health officials’ repeated warnings that cruise ships are a more dangerous place for infectious disease spread than other environments. If companies want a shot at luring back customers, Weitz said, they better accept reality.
“The industry has to understand that expectations of their passengers have increased,” he said. “It’s going to be expected by the customer base that the industry is doing more than they did before to maintain a sanitary environment. That’s what the industry should be focusing on.”
read more/...

What U.S. Cruise Lines Are Up Against. And No Bailout Money
 Apr 18, 2020 
Their mega-ships turned from a revenue-generating asset into an expensive-to-maintain nightmare.
The cruise industry is in serious trouble: It is estimated at very least 400 of the existing 423 ocean-going cruise ships will spend the whole month of April without generating revenues and costing the industry about $1 billion in layup costs alone for the month. The lost revenue? That’s another matter.
At the moment, the only major cruise line with plans to restart operations is Carnival, in the second half of June. But it remains to be seen how much appetite for cruises there will be then, and much more critically, if port authorities will allow the ships to leave and enter their ports.
read more/...

Tourism’s Recovery Holds the Key to Future Caribbean Growth
By David Jessop
News Americas, LONDON, England, Fri. April 17, 2020: 
The challenge that will soon face almost every Caribbean country will be the recovery of its tourism sector. Without this, future economic growth will be all but impossible.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shuttered the industry globally, made hundreds of thousands of workers unemployed, pushed many hotels, airlines and cruise companies into financial meltdown, and caused travelers to fear placing themselves at risk in any situation where public health cannot be guaranteed.
For the Caribbean, the most tourism dependent region of the world, the obvious consequence is an urgent need to consider when it can reopen for business, how it positions itself when international travel again becomes possible, and if it should adapt its offering.
Some Caribbean countries, most notably Jamaica, are already well ahead of the curve. Its tourism ministry has put in place a multi-disciplinary task force to determine not just how and when to bring visitors back, but to review and ask difficult questions about its tourism model, if change is needed to respond to altered visitor sentiment, and to recognize long-term industry trends.
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Barbados: Nine out of ten hotels closed in industry’s worst crisis
 COVID-19 has crushed the tourism industry, accounting for 5,000 hotel worker’s jobs lost and shuttering nearly nine out of ten hotels in the industry’s worst crisis, according to the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association.
Thousands more are also out of work with the closure of restaurants and tourist attractions, BHTA Chief Executive Officer Senator Rudy Grant said.
He said: “We do have the majority of our hotels indicating that they are closed. The BHTA has a total of 79 hotels, which provide some 5,161 rooms and of those, 87 per cent of our hotels, reflecting 95 per cent of our room stock, have indicated that they are closed.
“We have undertaken a survey to determine what is the level of staff dislocation and 60 of our 79 hotels have reported. That represents 78 per cent of the members and 78 per cent of the rooms provided by members. Of those 60 hotels they have indicated that they have employed 6,515 persons but presently 81 per cent of those persons are not working, some 5287 persons.”
Grant suggested that even after Barbados recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic those direct tourism services (DTS) would still continue to be affected.
The CEO said: “As it relates to the direct tourism services (DTS) which would include restaurants, attractions, car rental operators, I am not aware of any of the DTS being operational, particularly at this time as we are going through the emergency directives that relate to COVID-19 that have been put in place by Government.
“Even when the curfew ends, the expectation is that the vast majority of the direct tourism services will continue either not to function and those that do will probably be doing so in a very limited kind of manner.”
Despite this, Grant said he was optimistic Barbados’ hotel and tourism industry would rebound from the pandemic which is crippling economies around the world.
But he acknowledged that it would take a while before the sector completely recovered from the pandemic.
The BHTA leader, said: “Of course we recognize this is a very challenging period. The reality is that we are not going to in the rebuilding process get back to where we were prior to the COVID-19 pandemic immediately, but we do believe that through the collaboration with our stakeholders that we can see a rebuilding of this very important industry.
“Presently we are collaborating with the Ministry of Tourism with respect to facilitating training for workers at all levels of the industry. We recognize it is important, particularly as there is some measure of recovery, to ensure that there is good value for money because we think that that value for money proposition is going to be very important.
“We continue to be optimistic that though the recovery will be one that is slow and one that is not expected immediately to get back to where we were prior to COVID-19 pandemic, we are confident we can see a resurgence in business and that we can put the measures in place to take advantage of any opportunities that may exist once the country reopens.”
Grant also used the opportunity to convey his sympathy to the families and friends of people who have died from COVID-19.
He encouraged Barbadians to adhere to the directives issued by Government and to stay safe.

Costa Rica saw a 51.4% drop in stopover arrivals in March.
According to the Costa Rica Institute of Tourism ICT, Costa Rica saw the volume of stopovers drop by 51.4% in March 2020, falling from 335,558 stopovers in March 2019 to 162,994 stopovers in 2020. The number of stopovers from the USA fell by 55.7% in March 2020, falling from 162,894 stopovers in March 2019 to 72,093 in March 2020 while the number from Central America declined by 48.8%, from 55,649 in March 2019 to 28,470 in March 2020. In March 2020 stopovers from the USA comprised 44.2% of Costa Rica’s tourist arrivals while those from Central America comprised 17.5%.
After declaring a state of emergency, Costa Rica closed all borders to foreigners on March 18th 2020.
The volume of stopovers decreased by 14.0% in the first three months of 2020, falling from 1,003,653 stopovers in 2019 to 862,667 stopovers in first three months of 2020. The number of stopovers from the USA dropped by 15.5% in the first three months of 2020, from 420,996 stopovers in 2019 to 355,539 in 2020 while the number from Central America declined by 14.9%, falling from 202,633 in the first three months of 2019 to 172,469 in the same three months of 2020. In the first three months of 2020 stopovers from the USA comprised 41.2% of Costa Rica’s tourist arrivals while those from Central America comprised 20.0%. 

Belize reports stopover arrivals fell by 58.9% in March.
According to the Belize Tourism Board, Belize saw a 58.9% decrease in stopover visitor arrivals in March, falling from 57,697 stopovers in March 2019 to 23,692 stopovers in March of this year.
​During the first 19 days of March foreigners who had been in a European country, China, Hong Kong, Iran, Japan, or South Korea in the previous 30 days were not allowed to enter Belize. On March 20th Belize closed its borders to all visitors.
In the first three months of 2020 Belize has seen a 22.2% decrease in the number of stopover visitors, falling from 158,155 stopover visitors in 2019 to 123,063 stopovers in the first three months of this year.
The number of cruise visitors fell by 52.1% in March, from 143,176 cruise visitors in March 2019 to 68,618 cruise visitors in March this year.
Through the first three months of 2020 the number of cruise visitors to Belize has fallen by 24.9%, from 456,987 cruise visitors in 2019 to 343,099 cruise visitors this year.

Coronavirus is hurting the Caribbean’s tourism economies. Why no one is offering a bailout
BY JACQUELINE CHARLES Miami Herald.
APRIL 14, 2020 07:09 PM
Caribbean leaders say a financial bailout offered to some of the world’s poorest countries this week by the International Monetary Fund to help cushion the economic blow of the corona-virus pandemic doesn’t go far enough — and stressed that they, too, are in desperate need of a rescue.
On Monday, the International Monetary Fund announced that it was canceling six months of debt payments, totaling $215 million, from 25 nations. Haiti, which gets to keep about $4.8 million, was the only Caribbean nation to make the cut along with Afghanistan, Yemen, Sao Tome, Solomon Islands, Nepal and mostly war-torn African countries.
“Up until now, there is no rescue plan for the Caribbean, and we need a rescue plan,” said Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne. “This is not a situation where we are trying to ask for assistance conveniently. It is an absolute necessity.”
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Update on Coronavirus’ Impact on American Travel—Week of April 13
April 13, 2020 by Destination Analysts
Americans Will Approach Travel Cautiously and Differently Post Pandemic

Key Findings to Know
Americans are feeling somewhat better that the worst of COVID-19 in the U.S. may soon be over.
While nearly 70 percent continue to say they miss travel, few will jump right back in when the coronavirus situation has passed. Nine in ten American travelers say they will approach travel carefully with at least some trepidation
It will not be a simple return to pre-pandemic sentiments and behaviors: Now, nearly 40 percent of American travelers say they will change the types of destinations they choose to visit when they begin traveling again.
American travelers increasingly say they will be avoiding crowds—including conferences/conventions—destinations hardest hit by coronavirus, and destinations slow to put social distancing measures in place. Also, on a continual rise: the number agreeing they will take a staycation this summer and the number of younger travelers who say they will take more road trips to avoid airline travel (49.4% from 43.4% one month ago).
When asked the place they will visit on their first post-pandemic trip, beach/resort destinations top the list, followed by small towns/rural areas, then cities.
Americans are feeling somewhat better that the worst of COVID-19 in the U.S. may soon be over. The percent feeling the coronavirus situation in the United States will get better in the next month nearly doubled to 29.5% from 15.4%. The percent who say they have had travel impacted by coronavirus remained at the same level this week (72.8%).
And yet while nearly 70 percent continue to say they miss travel, few American travelers will jump right back in when the coronavirus situation has passed. As demonstrated by the images they selected to represent how they will approach travel in the post-coronavirus period, nine in ten American travelers feel this will be done with care and at least some trepidation.
Furthermore, it will not be a simple return to pre-pandemic sentiments and behaviors. Now, nearly 40 percent of American travelers say they will change the types of destinations they choose to visit when they begin traveling again—this is up nearly 10 percentage points from just one week ago.
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The new Post-COVID19 Dominican tourism
Let no one doubt it: national and international tourism will no longer be the same because in 2020 it faces the worst year in its contemporary history. That worst year is expressed in cancellations of reservations, prohibitions on flights to and from destinations, deconstruction of the economy, and a big sigh as 2021 will only be the beginning of its recovery. And, there will be no real reorientation of its indexes for the months of 2022 when the industry is heading towards strengthening, trying to return to the enviable levels of pre-February 2020.
It is foreseeable that the new industry will have renewed hygiene and sanitary security protocols (as they have never been achieved before), modifying massive activities, with tendencies towards amenities of small groups or couples, validating the à la carte service, avoiding buffets and increasing the demand for room service, even when the virus has already expired.
Local tourism experts consulted, who, due to the severity of the crisis they choose not to be identified, establish that even the study plans for the professional and technical training of human resources in tourism will have to be modified.
“The COVID-19 has to change the world in many aspects, and tourism as an inevitable seasonal need in the attitude of people who require to continue traveling, knowing and enjoying the world, even when it is with new rules and protocols,” says an academic professor.
One of the fundamental points is the reclassification by the target public to be attracted, and the predominant role that there will be is to refocus the level of consumption of the tourist to be focused as a target public of the industry, opting in many cases for tourists with high consumption and those of the upper-middle class, who are more profitable and which would imply a review of the “All-Inclusive” programs.
Five other factors proposed to be implemented in the face of Post COVID 19 Tourism are:

• Diversification of products and destinations, tourism sustainability,
• Connection with new markets,
• Regional multi-destination offers, which would lower costs while increasing national experiences to be known and enjoyed
• New tourist promotion criteria for destinations, especially via digital platforms, which are already emerging as the preferred medium for potential visitors.
• Differentiation in matters of social security and hygiene.

​Cruise ship bookings for 2021 are already on the rise despite multiple COVID-19 outbreaks
Bookings for cruises are already on the rise of 2021, according to multiple indicators, despite multiple outbreaks of COVID-19 on cruise ships in 2020. 
In the past 45 days as multiple cruise ships had serious COVID-19 outbreaks onboard and, in many cases, were stranded for days before finding a place willing to let them dock and offload passengers, CruiseCompete.com saw a 40% increase in its 2021 cruise bookings compared to 2019, the company told the Los Angeles Times.
The site's president said that based on the available data, the demand for booking post-pandemic cruises is still strong, an encouraging sign for cruise lines currently taking a huge financial hit and seeing their market value plummet. 
The Times also noted that a recent analysis from Swiss bank UBS found that in the past 30 days, the number of cruise bookings for 2021 are up by 9% compared to the same period in 2020, including a substantial number of people booking brand new cruises as opposed to simply re-booking canceled cruises. 
Indeed, UBS reported that 76% of the people who had a canceled cruise in 2020 have chosen to accept credit towards a future cruise in 2021 as opposed to 24% who accepted a refund. 
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McKinsey economists lay out 9 potential coronavirus recession scenarios — ranging from a summer recovery to a 'black swan of black swans'
Uncertainty around the coronavirus outbreak's trajectory remains the biggest obstacle for experts forecasting the US economy's trendline. So, McKinsey partners detailed nine different scenarios for a post-pandemic nation.
Variables including the US's public health response, bankruptcy rates, job loss, and the government's policy response make for a wide range of possibilities, McKinsey said in the March report. Though it's human nature "to freeze, or to jump to a simple answer," the team looked to "bound the uncertainty with reason" and put forth a wide range of futures that will evolve alongside the pandemic.
"Two things are reasonably certain: If we do not stop the virus, many people will die. If our attempts to stop the pandemic severely damage our economies, it is hard to envision how there will not be even more suffering ahead," McKinsey said.
The firm currently expects one of four more optimistic scenarios to take place, with COVID-19's spread controlled and "catastrophic structural economic damage avoided." The outcomes range from sharp V-shaped recoveries to turbulent U-shaped trends, as global output slides to historic lows before activity swiftly returns to past norms.
Yet other, more dire situations can't be ignored, the firm said. A so-called "black swan of black swans" could bring lasting structural damage to the US as the virus rampantly spreads until an efficient vaccine enters the market. A wave of bankruptcies and layoffs would spread economic chaos through the nation, leaving government policy ineffective and suffocating credit lifelines.
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The Harris Poll: COVID-19 Wave 4 Summary:
This survey (wave 4) was fielded online among a nationally representative sample of 2,023 U.S. adults from March 21-22, 2020.

Summary findings: -
It could take 2-3 months for Americans to attend large social gatherings, movies, and take public transportation
● After just 2-3 months, nearly a fifth of Americans say they would host/attend a larger social gathering (22%), go to the movies (21%), greet people with a handshake (21%), stay in a hotel (20%), or go to a sporting event (17%).
● 15% of Americans say it will take 2-3 months for them to be able to visit a casino or take public transportation (e.g., subway, buses, trains) again.

Airlines and Cruises may be impacted the worst; nearly a fifth say it would take them 4-6 months to fly again
● (18%) say it would take them 4-6 months following the news of the virus flattening for them to fly in a plane again.
● Americans are keeping their distance from cruise ships for the time being, with 22% of Americans who say it will take a year or longer before they take a cruise and 1 in 10 say never again.
 For full summary report click here

Cayman Airport and port closure extended until end of May.
(CNS): The Cayman Islands’ borders will remain closed until at least the end of May as Cabinet has extended last week’s order closing the airports and the ports to passenger traffic to protect this country from the global COVID-19 pandemic. The cargo ports will remain open for goods and the airport for emergencies. The only people likely to pass through the borders will be those leaving on charters organized by government to fly foreign nationals home and return Caymanians stranded abroad.

At Thursday’s press briefing Premier Alden McLaughlin confirmed the decision to keep Cayman’s borders closed through the end of May but he has indicated on several occasions over the last few weeks that Cayman is likely to be closed to all visitors until the end of the year.

The premier also said that no cruise ships would be calling here, despite international media reports that some cruise lines were claiming they would be back at sea in May and calling on Caribbean destinations including Grand Cayman. “They made those publications without any consultations with us,” he said.

When can we travel again? Experts share their predictions
When can we travel again? Maybe a summer road trip. Maybe Europe in fall. Maybe 2021.
Ask an expert when Americans are going to start hitting the road and flying freely again, and you’ll get a spectrum of answers. The optimists lean toward summer. Others think it will be longer.
You also hear a lot of theories about how the recovery will happen — road trips first, flights later — and how this pandemic may change the world of travel in the long term — lost little shops, high-priority hygiene.
But nobody really knows, because the virus is in charge.
Here, as the U.S. and Europe face some of the pandemic’s darkest days so far, is what some industry leaders — and one doctor — say you can expect.

What’s in the cards for summer?
A more or less normal summer of travel “can be in the cards, and I say that with some caution,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Thursday on “CBS This Morning.”
Fauci said summer activities depended on continued success in flattening the virus’ rate of transmission — and could change rapidly in the event of a spike in infections.
A recent Harris Poll asked Americans how long after the curve flattens they would go to a hotel: “One fifth of Americans (21%) say they will stay in a hotel within a month,” with the figure rising to 41% within three months and 60% within six months.
For airlines, the tipping point for most Americans to return to flying comes after four to six months. And more than half said they’d wait a year or more before going on a cruise, according to the poll.
Roger Dow, chief executive of the U.S. Travel Assn., thinks travel will rebound, just not as quickly and not all at once.
One thing for sure, Dow said, “Americans generally are going to stay home until next year. … Europe is done for American travelers.”
“The most important thing as an industry is that we have to be ready for when that moment comes.”
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The Seychelles announces total visitor arrivals fell by 48.7% in March.
The Seychelles Government’s National Bureau of Statistics recently announced that total visitor arrivals declined by 48.7% in March 2020, falling from 35,244 arrivals in March 2019 to 18,067 arrivals in March of this year. This number includes both air and sea non-transit (stopover) and transit visitors.

The number of visitors from Germany, the number one market, fell by 35.3%, from 7,490 arrivals in March 2019 to 4,849 arrivals in the same month of 2020. The number of visitors from China fell by 95.5%, from 200 in March 2019 to 9 in March 2020.

The Seychelles closed its borders to visitors from Europe as of March 18th 2020 and to all visitors as of March 30. The country prohibited calls by cruise ships as of March 9th.

In the first three months of 2020 The Seychelles saw a 12.4% decrease in total arrivals, falling from 101,514 visitors in 2019 to 88,912 visitors this year. Total arrivals from Germany fell by 14.9% from 24,052 in the first three months of 2019 to 20,468 arrivals in the same three months of 2020. 

Orlando saw a 2.4 percentage point increase in average room occupancy in February, growing to 85.2%.
According to STR Orlando had 128,000 hotel rooms in February 2020 and achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 85.2% (up 2.4 percentage points compared with February 2019), and an ADR of $143.75 (up 1.7% compared with February 2019).
Orlando saw the volume of enplanements of visitors at Orlando’s airports increase by 10.5% in February 2020, growing from 2,056,355 air visitors in February 2019 to 2,271,265 enplanements in February 2020. This includes arrivals at both Orlando International and Sanford airports.

In the first two months of 2020 Orlando achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 81.0% (up 3.0 percentage points compared with 2019), and an ADR of $137.64 (up 1.4% compared with 2019). 

In the first two months of 2020 Orlando saw an 8.0% increase in the volume of passenger enplanements, growing from 4,239,056 enplanements in 2019 to 4,580,257 enplanements in the first two months of 2020.

STR: Preliminary Caribbean hotel results for week ending 28 March
The Caribbean hotel industry experienced its steepest year-over-year declines yet in the three key performance metrics during the week of 22-28 March 2020, according to preliminary data from STR.
In comparison with the week of 24-30 March 2019, the Caribbean reported the following:

• Occupancy: -85.9% to 10.6%
• Average daily rate (ADR): -21.8% to US$231.60
• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): -89.0% to US$24.44

Among data-sufficient islands within the Caribbean region, The Bahamas saw the steepest year-over-year decline in RevPAR (-95.2% to US$12.99). That was due to the region’s lowest absolute occupancy (-90.8% to 7.3%) and the largest drop in ADR (-47.8% to US$177.39).
Puerto Rico experienced the second-greatest decline in RevPAR (-92.0% to US$13.69), primarily because of a steep decrease in occupancy (-88.1% to 8.7%). 

The Dominican Republic was one of the few Caribbean markets to maintain double-digit occupancy for the week (-81.0% to 13.3%), but ADR fell below US$100 (-36.6% to US$96.97), leading to the region’s lowest absolute RevPAR (-88.0% to US$12.87).

Despite a steep drop in occupancy (-89.0% to 9.2%), Barbados experienced only a mild decline in ADR (-18.6% to US$250.73) compared with the rest of the region. 

Southwest Airlines slashes capacity by nearly 50 percent in June
Southwest Airlines made further adjustments to its schedule through June 27, a company executive said in a blog post Tuesday.

Previously, Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) had made adjustments to its schedule through June 5. The new schedule adjustments come during what is normally the start of the busy summer travel season. Southwest is cutting nearly 50 percent of flights, roughly 2,000 a day, from its network in June.

International travel: The vast majority, around 96 percent, of Southwest's network is domestic, though the carrier has some flying to the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America.
Despite the drop in travel demand, Southwest is aiming to ramp up flying to some international destinations in early June.

The company will launch nonstop service to Cancun from Baltimore and Denver on June 7, and service between Denver and San Jose del Cabo/Los Cabos on the same day.

For the Caribbean, Southwest intends on reestablishing service between Baltimore and Nassau, Bahamas; Orlando and Montego Bay, Jamaica; and Tampa and Havana, Cuba, on June 7.

The rest of the carrier's international network will remain suspended through June 27.

Aruba saw a 41.3% drop in the number of cruise visitors in March.
Aruba saw the volume of cruise visitor arrivals decline by 41.3% in March 2020, falling from 78,413 cruise visitors in March 2019 to 46,019 cruise visitors in March 2020. The number of cruise ship calls fell from 34 in March 2019 to 18 in March 2020.
​
In the first three months of 2020 the number of cruise visitors declined by 12.8%, from 292,922 in 2019 to 255,384 in 2020 with the number of calls falling from 120 in 2019 to 98 in 2020.

Los Cabos saw a 43.3% decline in international air traffic movements in March.
According to Aeroportuario del Pacifico , which manages many of Mexico’s airports, Los Cabos Airport saw a 43.3% increase in international passenger traffic in March 2020, that is enplanements and deplanements, falling from 410,800 international passenger movements in March 2019 to 232,800 international passenger movements in March 2020. Domestic traffic declined by 17.4%, falling from 140,900 passenger movements in March 2019 to 116,400 passenger movements in March 2020.

In the first three months of 2020 the volume of international air traffic decreased by 10.3%, falling from 1,056,200 international passenger movements in 2019 to 947,100 in the first three months of 2020 while the volume of domestic air traffic grew by 2.0%, from 394,700 movements in 2019 to 402,700 in the first three months of 2020.

Montego Bay, Jamaica saw a 46.8% decrease in air passenger traffic in March.
According to Aeroportuario del Pacifico, which manages many of Mexico’s airports and which also manages the airports in Montego Bay and Kingston, Jamaica, saw the total number of passenger movements, that is both enplanements and deplanements,  at Montego Bay Airport decrease by 46.8% in March 2020, falling from 491,800 movements in March 2019 to 261,500 movements in March 2020.

In the first three months of 2020 the overall volume of passenger movements decreased by 15.3%, from 1,338,000 passenger movements in 2019 to 1,133,900 passenger movements in the first three months of 2020.

The Cayman Islands saw a 13.0% increase in stopover arrivals in February.
According to the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism, the Cayman Islands saw the volume of stopover arrivals increase by 13.0% in February 2020, growing from 44,876 arrivals in February 2019 to 50,707 arrivals in February 2020.

Stopover arrivals from the USA grew by 14.0%, from 36,312 in February 2019 to 41,382 in February 2020.

Cruise arrivals grew by 5.4%, from 197,234 cruise visitors in February 2019 to 207,959 cruise visitors in February 2020.

Through the first two months of 2020 the Cayman Islands saw an 8.5% increase in the volume of stopover arrivals, growing from 86,241 arrivals in the first two months of 2019 to 93,558 arrivals in the same two months of 2020.

Arrivals from the USA increased by 8.3% in the first two months of 2020, growing from 70,587 arrivals in 2019 to 76,415 arrivals in the same two months of 2020.

The number of cruise visitors declined by 4.3% in the first two months of 2020, falling from 468,345 cruise visitors in 2019 to 448,435 cruise visitors this year.

Cancun saw a 43.1% drop in international air traffic in March.
According to ASUR, which manages many of Mexico’s airports, Cancun Airport saw a 43.1% decrease in international passenger traffic in March 2020, that is enplanements and deplanements, falling from 1,783,841 international passenger movements in March 2019 to 1,014,810 international passenger movements in March 2020 as restrictions on passenger movements to limit the spread of COVID19 infections were imposed.   Domestic traffic fell by 26.4%, from 662,386 passenger movements in March 2019 to 487,448 passenger movements in March 2020.

In the first three months of 2020 the volume of international air traffic declined by 12.8%, falling from 4,760,219 international passenger movements in 2019 to 4,150,778 in the first three months of 2020. The volume of domestic air traffic declined by 5.1%, falling from 1,899,183 in 2019 to 1,802,860 in the first three months of 2020.

San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU) saw a 35.9% decline in air traffic in March.
According to ASUR, which manages many airports in Mexico, Colombia and which also manages the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, SJU saw a 35.9% drop in passenger traffic in March 2020, falling from 821,110 passenger movements in March 2019, that is enplanements and deplanements, to 526,181 passenger movements in March 2020.

In the first three months of 2020 the overall volume of air traffic declined by 4.1%, from 2,300,508 passenger movements in 2019 to 2,206,510 passenger movements in the first three months of 2020.

It may be years until passenger demand returns to 2019 levels for US airlines
Edward Russell
By all estimates the airline industry is in for a lengthy downturn as economies dip quickly into recession, companies lay off staff and unemployment rolls grow amid the novel corona-virus outbreak. The question is: how long of a downturn?

Several new forecasts see travelers beginning to return to the sky in considerable numbers as soon as June but as late as the fourth quarter that begins in October. However, those same estimates put a return to 2019 traffic levels, when around 926 million people flew in the U.S. alone, at least a few years off.

“We anticipate that traffic growth will improve beginning in [the fourth quarter of 2020], but not reach 2019 levels until 2022 at the earliest,” wrote Cowen analyst Helane Becker in a report on March 27.

Raymond James analyst Savanthi Syth told TPG she does not expect passenger numbers to hit the previous peak until around 2023. She expects something of a “new normal” with passenger demand, at least in the U.S., holding at around 10-15% lower than 2019 levels by the end of 2020.
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​Dr. Fauci calls for much longer travel restrictions
Mike Levine 31 March 2020, 
 
During an hour-long discussion last week, Dr. Anthony Fauci – viewed as America’s most trusted public voice on the coronavirus crisis – offered a series of candid assessments that surprised even his own boss at the National Institutes of Health.

“Wow,” NIH director Dr. Francis Collins said after Fauci told him the travel bans established by the U.S. government several weeks ago should remain in place long after the virus itself recedes inside the country.

"We need to be really careful [that] when we do try to reemerge to normality, that we don’t just lift all the travel restrictions,” Fauci told Collins said during their conversation, which was organized by NIH for its employees.

At one point, Fauci – whom Collins recently called a “hero” and “truth-teller” – conceded that even if a vaccine is available next year, "I don’t think we’ll have enough doses for everyone.”

During the conversation last week, Fauci and Collins discussed whether a “second wave” of coronavirus could hit after business start reopening and people start moving around again.

Addressing that question, Fauci offered what he called an “unbelievable” fact: Now that China is “coming out of their restraints, they’re starting to see [new] cases,” but it’s not coming from the Chinese people.

It’s coming from people outside China who are now able to travel to China.

 “I think that’s an important lesson for us,” he told Collins. “Because I think we saved ourselves a couple of bullets by very actively and early on doing travel restrictions from China.”

And now, he added, “Europe is the new China,” with more cases now in Italy than China ever had.

“So we need to be really careful about when we do try to reemerge to normality, that we don’t just lift all the travel restrictions,” Fauci said.

Collins responded: “That means we’re going to have … real serious [border] closures to think about for a long time.”

“Right, I think so,” Fauci said. 

US COVID-19 crisis will have serious negative consequences for the Cayman Islands.
By Michael Klein March 30, 2020
Across the globe, different countries have responded to the corona-virus pandemic with varying degrees of urgency and with vastly contrasting success rates. 

What is becoming clear, three months into the COVID-19 crisis, is that the consequences of that global response – the freeze on travel, restrictions on movement, the ubiquity of protective face masks and social distancing – will be with us for quite some time.

Perhaps, most worryingly for the Cayman Islands, the ineffectiveness of the US response has turned our closest neighbor into the new epicenter of the virus. The consequences that flow from that are still emerging, but it will be impossible for Cayman to reopen its borders, as initially planned, on 12 April.

In all likelihood, the island will remain closed to travellers for several months, if not longer. The idea of cruise ships returning to these shores any time this summer now seems fanciful.
Cayman can and has put measures in place to control its own destiny, but we remain at the mercy of global forces we cannot control.

The rise of infection rates in the US poses a serious problem for Cayman. More than 80% of the tourists who come to the Cayman Islands are American. A bungled healthcare response in the US will undoubtedly prolong the time it takes until Cayman can reopen its border to visitors from the north.

This is especially the case if Cayman successfully limits community transmission of the virus in the islands. If Cayman’s approach is successful, life on the island will be able to resume as normal in a matter of weeks. 

But when Cayman can reasonably let foreign visitors return is anyone’s guess. The experience in other countries shows it may well be months.
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Hawaii saw a 6.0% increase in air arrivals in February, while total tourist spending grew by 4.6%
According to the Hawaii Tourism Authority, Hawaii saw the volume of air arrivals increase by 6.0% in February 2020, growing from 766,293 arrivals in February 2019 to 812,967 arrivals in February 2020. Air arrivals from the USA grew by 12.6%, from 487,940 in February 2019 to 549,625 in February 2020, fell by 0.4% from Japan (to 120,210 air arrivals). Air arrivals fell by 1.9% from Canada (to 64,185 air arrivals). Tourist spending in February grew by 4.6% to $1.459 billion.

Through the first two months of 2020 Hawaii saw a 5.7% increase in the volume of air arrivals, growing from 1,575,390 arrivals in the first two months of 2019 to 1,665,003 air arrivals in the same two months of 2020. Air arrivals from the USA increased by 11.6% in the first two months of 2020, growing from 988,008 air arrivals in 2019 to 1,102,204 air arrivals in the same two months of 2020, grew by 3.2% from Japan (to 248,896 air arrivals) and fell by 3.4% from Canada (to 129,309 air arrivals).

Total tourist spending by air visitors increased by 4.8% in the first two months of 2020, growing from $3.026.6 billion in 2019 to $ 3.172 billion in 2020. Average spend per visitor per day increased by 2.2%, growing from $199.70 per day in 2019 to $203.30 in 2020, while average spend per person per trip fell by 0.6%, from $1,887.80 in 2019 to $1,876.00 in 2020.
In the first two months of 2020 29.5% of Hawaii’s tourists were visiting for the first time with 70.5% having visited the state before.

Cancun saw a 4.9 percentage point increase in average hotel room occupancy in February to 80.8%.
According to Sedetur, the Department of Tourism of the state of Quintana Roo, the hotels in Cancun/Puerto Morelos saw a 4.9 percentage point growth in average hotel room occupancy in February 2020 to 80.8% compared to 75.9% for February last year.

The hotels in Riviera Maya saw their average room occupancy increase by 2.9 percentage points growing from 83.2% in February 2019 to 86.1% in February this year.

Through the first two months of 2020 the hotels in Cancun/Puerto Morelos have achieved an average room occupancy of 83.5%, up 2.8 percentage points from 79.6% for the first two months of 2019, while the hotels in Riviera Maya have achieved an 81.5% average room occupancy in the first two months of 2020, down 0.3 percentage points from 81.8% for the first two months of 2019.

Riviera Maya has 46,958 hotel rooms while the Cancun/Puerto Morelos area has 40,835 hotel rooms.

International air arrivals to Mexico grew by 6.3% in February.
According to the Government of Mexico’s SECTUR (Department of Tourism) the volume of international air arrivals to Mexico grew by 6.3% in February 2020 from 1,704,217 in February 2019 to 1,811,725 in February 2020. The volume of air arrivals from the USA grew by 9.3% in February, to 941,899, with the volume from Canada growing by 5.3%, to 361,609. These two markets generated 72.0% of all international air arrivals in February 2020.

In the first two months of 2020 the volume of international air arrivals to Mexico grew by 5.4%, from 3,410,546 in 2019 to 3,595,923 in the first two months of this year. The volume of air arrivals from the USA grew by 8.5% in the same two months, to 1,821,509 while the volume from Canada grew by 4.2%, to 730,972. These two markets generated 71.0% of all international air arrivals in the first two months of 2020.

Hotel Association reports temporary closure of 51 hotels in Cancun, Puerto Morelos, and Isla Mujeres
Cancun, Q.R. — According to a press release from the Asociación de Hoteles de Cancún, Puerto Morelos and Isla Mujeres, a total of 51 hotels have closed their doors in those three cities as a consequence of the epidemiological crisis of COVID-19.

The association further reports that as of March 26, hotel occupancy rates in Cancun stood at 8.8 percent. The figures are a staggering decline from the first two weeks of March when area hotels recorded an average 80 percent occupancy rate.

Given the current situation, many hotel and tourism workers, including those in shops and restaurants, have been laid off or sent for solidarity breaks without pay.

According to Abelardo Vara Rivera, honorary president of the Cancun, Puerto Morelos and Isla Mujeres Hotel Association, Cancun hotels could be closed for up to six weeks due to the impact of the pandemic.

The lack of tourism from the United States and Europe is leading hoteliers to make the decision to close for possibly six weeks, Vara Rivera said. However, he says that some establishments do plan to open at Easter, although for Easter, they have an occupancy forecast of only 50 percent.

​The Maldives could reopen to tourists from China, Japan and South Korea as early as April
The Maldives, hard hit by the freeze on travel because of the Covid-19 pandemic, is preparing to welcome back business, according to President Solih – at least business from China and elsewhere in Asia.

Ibrahim Mohamed Solih stated that, “under certain circumstances”, the tourism-dependent country could be reopened to Chinese, South Korean and Japanese markets by the end of April, reported Maldivian news website SunOnline, on March 25. Those circumstances include there being no known active cases of infection in the Maldives, Solih said.

Unfortunately, the following day, SunOnline reported that the government had begun monitoring two resorts, Grand Park Kodhipparu and JA Manafaru, which had reported suspected cases of Covid-19. The Reethi Beach Resort was already being monitored.

The Maldives confirmed its first two cases of Covid-19 on March 7, employees of the Kuredu Island Resort & Spa who had come into contact with an Italian tourist who had tested positive for the virus after returning home. The hotel was locked down, with several tourists stranded on the island. Three other resort islands, including Vilamendhoo and Kuramathi, were placed under temporary quarantine.

The Maldives has registered a total of 13 people with Covid-19 to date, eight of whom have recovered. No deaths have been reported.

Over 50 resorts have either closed their doors or are about to. For example, the country’s largest resort owner with eight properties, Crown & Champa Resorts, has indicated they will be shutting from April, with a reopening date set for end-June. The group earlier announced plans to open its ninth resort, Kagi Maldives Spa Island, later this year.

“Steps are being taken to ensure our teams will be there to welcome you back… when the time is right. Until then, stay home, stay safe and we will be ready when you are to visit the Maldives again,” said a statement issued by Crown & Champa Resorts.

Brohier believes that recovery will come in July or August, with the Chinese – the Maldives’ largest tourism source market – likely to be among the first to resume overseas travel.

Thoyyib Mohamed, managing director of Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation, said that until now the country has been receiving a small number of tourists from Russia, the CIS, parts of Germany, Ukraine and Australia.

China was the biggest market for tourists to the Maldives last year – 284,029 Chinese visited, according to the Ministry of Tourism, accounting for almost 17 per cent of the 1.7 million total. Flights from China were halted by the Maldives on February 3, as the coronavirus spread outwards from Wuhan.

At his press conference, Solih predicted that the Maldivian tourism industry would “stabilise” within a year and said tourists were already making plans to return.

“The main part of our industry is tourism. Germany has announced that the virus has been contained [in that European country],” said Solih, who claimed German tour operators were already discussing summer bookings with their local counterparts.

“If so, this is an advancement. When this is done, a massive boom to the tourism industry is expected in the last quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021,” said the optimistic president.

 Analyst expects high-end travel to make a rapid recovery
As the world sinks deeper and deeper into a doomsday mood over the spread of Covid-19, one of those who is delivering dire predictions for the travel industry is also offering hope.
Adam Sacks, president of the Tourism Economics analytics group that last week predicted fallout from the virus will be six times more damaging than that from 9/11, said he also believes there will be a strong and fast recovery, particularly for the luxury sector.

"I think that one of the most difficult things in a crisis like this -- and I can remember feeling the same way after 9/11 -- is that resignation that it will never be the same. And I am convinced that is a false premise," he said in an interview on March 20.

"I'm convinced of that because our industry has been through crisis after crisis, disaster after disaster. In the midst of it, it feels like we may never emerge from this the same. Yet each time the industry has emerged into a strong recovery. And I hold that as a reasoned position and one based on historical precedent, that there will be a strong recovery."

He did emphasize that "the timing [of recovery] is anyone's guess. But in all likelihood this is not an indefinite situation."

Because lower-income workers, who were among those most affected by the financial crisis of 2008, are also most likely to be most affected by the economic fallout from the pandemic, the luxury travel sector figures to see the fastest recovery, as it did after the Great Recession.

Indeed, that is when luxury took a one-two punch, first from the financial crisis itself and then from what came to be known as the AIG effect, a backlash against luxury sparked by news reports that the insurance giant was holding a retreat at a luxury resort after receiving a multibillion-dollar government bailout.

Not only did luxury end up coming back faster and stronger than ever, it also helped fuel a rise in social responsibility and community give-back programs by luxury hotels as well as more experiential-based rather than bling-based travel, a trend that over the last decade has become the norm across all travel sectors, not just luxury.

What that will look like and whether we, as a result of this crisis, will again see a fundamental shift in priorities and travel trends is anyone's guess at this point.

In the meantime, he advises companies to use the opportunity to keep their brands front and center on social media and through public relations.

So whether it's later this year or early next year that we really see travel come back, Sacks said, companies now should be focused on a developing a robust recovery communications plan, to ensure "you are locked and loaded as soon as the all-clear is given." 

Saint Lucia saw a 3.9% increase in stopover arrivals in February.
According to the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, Saint Lucia saw the volume of stopover arrivals increase by 3.9% in February 2020, growing from 38,166 arrivals in February 2019 to 39,638 arrivals in February 2020.

Stopover arrivals from the USA grew by 19.9%, from 14,996 visitors in February 2019 to 17,980 visitors in February 2020 but fell by 27.0% from the U.K., falling from 10,183 arrivals in February 2019 to 7,429 arrivals in February 2020. The number of cruise visitors grew by 11.3% in February, from 99,338 in February 2019 to 110,518 in February 2020.

In the first two months of 2020 Saint Lucia saw a 0.8% increase in the volume of stopover arrivals, growing from 72,712 arrivals in 2019 to 73,313 arrivals in 2020. Arrivals from the USA increased by 9.2% in the first two months 2020, growing from 30,056 arrivals in 2019 to 32,822 arrivals in 2020 while arrivals from the U.K. fell by 19.2%, falling from 17,512 stopovers in 2019 to 14,153 stopovers in 2020. The number of cruise visitors grew by 12.8% through the first two months of 2020, from 230,055 in 2019 to 259,586 in 2020.

Las Vegas saw a 4.5% increase in visitors in February.
According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Las Vegas saw the volume of visitors increase by 4.5% in February 2020, growing from 3,189,900 visitors in February 2019 to 3,333,200 arrivals in February 2020.

Las Vegas had 148,376 hotel rooms in February 2020 (up 0.1% compared with February 2019) and achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 86.8% (down 0.2 percentage points compared with February 2019), an ADR of $132.20 (up 1.6% compared with February 2019) and a RevPar of $114.75, up 1.4% also compared with February 2019.

Through the first two months of 2020 Las Vegas saw a 4.2% increase in the volume of visitors, growing from 6,602,100 arrivals in the first two months of 2019 to 6,878,300 visitors in the same two months of 2020.

Las Vegas achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 86.3% in the first two months of 2020 (up 0.9 percentage points compared with the first two months of 2019), an ADR of $143.15 (down 0.4% compared with ytd 2019) and a RevPar of $123.54, up 0.6%, also compared with the same two months of 2019.
Gaming revenue grew by 2.8% from $1.753.6 billion in the first two months of 2019 to $1,802.1 billion in the same two months of 2020.

Costa Rica saw a 9.0% increase in stopover arrivals in February.
According to the Costa Rica Institute of Tourism ICT, Costa Rica saw the volume of stopovers increase by 9.0% in February 2020, growing from 312,774 stopovers in February 2019 to 341,008 stopovers in 2020. The number of stopovers from the USA increased by 11.1% in February 2020, from 131,932 stopovers in February 2019 to 146,639 in February 2020 while the number from Central America grew by 3.5%, from 55,034 in February 2019 to 56,938 in February 2020. In February 2020 stopovers from the USA comprised 43.0% of Costa Rica’s tourist arrivals while those from Central America comprised 16.7%.

The volume of stopovers increased by 4.7% in the first two months of 2020, growing from 668,095 stopovers in 2019 to 699,673 stopovers in first two months of 2020. The number of stopovers from the USA increased by 9.8% in the first two months of 2020, from 258,102 stopovers in 2019 to 283,446 in 2020 while the number from Central America declined by 2.0%, falling from 146,984 in the first two months of 2019 to 143,999 in the same two months of 2020. In the first two months of 2020 stopovers from the USA comprised 40.5% of Costa Rica’s tourist arrivals while those from Central America comprised 20.6%. 

Quintana Roo hotels see 50 percentage point drop in occupancy rates
The region went from 332,000 visitors to just 80,000 in a week
Monday, March 23, 2020

Hotel occupancy on the Caribbean coast of Mexico by 50 percentage points in a week as a result of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the region’s tourism and transportation industries.

Quintana Roo Tourism Minister Marisol Vanegas Pérez announced Sunday night that hotel occupancy had fallen to just 32% in marked contrast to as recently as March 15, when hotels in Cancún, Tulum and elsewhere on Mexico’s Caribbean coast were 82% full.

The region went from 332,000 visitors to just 80,000 in a week.

Vanegas said that the Cancún International Airport is still open to both foreign visitors in Mexico wanting to get home and new tourists arriving in the region, though obviously much fewer than normal. The airport was scheduled to see 330 international flights on Sunday.

“These flights could have delays,” Vanegas told Sunday’s press conference. “We are going to have a lot of people for whom we will need to find rooms in low-cost hotels. We have a total of 15 low-cost hotels, but we’ve also got shelters for people who don’t have the means [to stay in a hotel].”

She did not give the locations or contact information of the hotels or shelters set aside for tourists with postponed flights.

She also spoke about Governor Carlos Joaquín González’s Tourism Recovery Plan, which he presented on March 19. The agreement with hotels and other tourism-sector businesses stipulates that they not lay off workers so that when the pandemic passes, the region will have the workforce ready to relaunch the tourism-based economy.

“All of these talks are going on with the private sector, so that everyone can be certain that they will have a job,” she said.

Nevertheless, there are unofficial reports of layoffs in hotels and other businesses due to the drastic decrease in tourists and the economic impossibility of companies to retain all of their employees.

The Maldives announces visitor arrivals fell by 11.1% in February 2020.
The Maldives Government’s Ministry of Tourism recently announced that total tourist arrivals fell by 11.1% in February 2020, from 168,583 arrivals in February 2019 to 149,786 arrivals in February of this year. The main reason for the decline was because of a 94.7% drop in arrivals from China, falling from 31,285 arrivals in February 2019 to just 1,647 in February 2020.

In the first two months of 2020 The Maldives saw a 0.9% increase in total arrivals, from 320,135 in 2019 to 323,133 this year. Total tourist arrivals from China fell by 41.5% from 57,089 in 2019 to 33,391 in the first two months of 2020.

The Maldives has seen the overall number of accommodation establishments grow by 13.5% from 838 in February 2019 to 951 establishments this February. The number of beds increased by 14.0% from 44,680 last February to 50,926 this year. Through the end of February overall average room occupancy has fallen by 6.9 percentage points from 77.1% in 2019 to 70.2% this year.

Of the 951 establishments 155 were resorts which offered 36,158 beds (71.0% of the overall number of beds). These resorts achieved an 80.2% average room occupancy through the first two months of 2020 down from 89.6% for the first two months of 2019. In February 2019 there were 139 resorts offering 31,129 beds, with the number of resorts increasing by 11.5% in 2020 and the number of beds up by 16.2%. 

Aruba loses 61% of its air seats in a week.
The Official Airline Guide (OAG) reports that between Monday March 16th and Monday March 23rd Aruba lost 61% of its air seats, falling from 33,338 seats per week to 12,860, with a further decline of 14% to occur in the week of March 23rd.

In the same week, between March 16th and March 23rd, the Caribbean as a whole saw a loss of 246,712 seats, a drop of 23.7%, falling from 1,039,055 seats to 792,343 with much of the loss being seats from the USA.

Unfortunately, Aruba appears to have the largest loss of seats on a percentage decline basis while the Dominican Republic lost the most seats overall, seeing a loss of 67,474 seats in that one week.

Looking forward into April the situation will get worse with further significant suspensions of service coming into effect.

Globally, Western Europe saw the biggest percentage decline in the number of seats, falling by 52.9% between March 16th and March 23rd while Upper South America saw a 42.1% drop so the Caribbean falls roughly in the middle of world regions in terms of percentage declines.
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Mauritius announces stopover visitor arrivals fell by 3.5% in February.
The Mauritius Government’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Development recently announced that total stopover arrivals fell by 3.5% in February 2020, from 115,613 arrivals in February 2019 to 111,560 arrivals in February of this year. This number includes both air and sea stopover visitors. The number of visitors from France, the number one market, increased by 6.2%, from 32,257 arrivals in February 2019 to 34,244 in the same month of 2020.

It should be noted that February 2020 had one more day than February 2019, a 3.6% increase in the number of days.
In the first two months of 2020 Mauritius saw a 4.7% increase in total stopover arrivals, growing from 237,886 arrivals in 2019 to 248,979 arrivals this year. Total stopover arrivals from France grew by 10.2% from 59,159 in the first two months of 2019 to 65,195 arrivals in the same two months of 2020.

Caribbean Islands Tighten Travel Restrictions, Some Resorts Close
As of Saturday March 21 2020
As the COVID-19 pandemic widens its reach, Caribbean nations are restricting travel in order to help mitigate the spread of the virus.
In one of the strongest measures, Dominican Republic President Danilo Medina announced the island will be closing the country’s borders by land, sea and air effective Thursday, March 19, for the next 15 days. Medina has also banned local and international activities including cultural, artistic and sports events as well as entertainment venues like bars and clubs, among others.
Following the decision to close the borders, Club Med Punta Cana and Club Med Michès Playa Esmeralda said it will temporarily suspend operations from March 19 to May 1, 2020.
The Excellence Collection will also temporarily close its two resorts in the country: Excellence Punta Cana as well as Excellence El Carmen. The resorts will close beginning on Friday, March 20, with plans to reopen on June 5, 2020.
AMresorts, which operates four resorts in the Dominican Republic and one in Jamaica, among others in the Caribbean, said it made the decision to close hotels in all destinations until further notice. 
Aruba, the Cayman Islands, St. Maarten and Trinidad are closed to international visitors for two to four weeks. This closures went into effect Monday, March 16.
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A post virus economic recovery strategy requires thought now
David Jessop, Caribbean Council.
The Caribbean is about to experience a crisis of a kind that no one in the region or anywhere else in the world could have predicted.
Covid -19, the Corona Virus, which is now present across the  Americas will for a while challenge the economic and social viability of nations small and large and their government’s ability to be proactive, science-led, competent, and trusted.
If the practical, public health, logistical and economic challenges now being faced in Europe or the US are examples of the difficulties governments in liberal societies are having when trying to address a fast moving epidemic of uncertain proportions, much of the Caribbean will also struggle
This is because public health requirements apart, almost every Caribbean nation will have to address at the same time, complex domestic issues including a rapid rise in unemployment particularly in the hospitality sector, the possibility that multiple businesses may go under as a consequence of illiquidity, falling government revenues, and more fundamental issues of trust in a political class who must now lead and deliver positive results in real time.
The next six months will indicate which governments have done their best, anticipated problems before they arose, have been honest and provided detailed factual information rather than hoping inaction or half-truths will somehow see them through.
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Entire closure of Jamaica's tourism industry due to COVID 19
More hotels announcing closure and staff lay-offs
Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett is admitting that the entire tourism industry in Jamaica is facing imminent closure given the travel restrictions on many of its source markets as well as local containment and restriction protocols.
This admission comes as larger hotel chains and smaller hotels announce closures and the laying off of staffers. The latest hotel chain to announce that it will stop receiving guests is Decameron All-inclusive Hotels and Resorts.
The hotel chain will stop receiving guests for a period of two months, effective today March 20. While the hotel has not said it will be closing, nonetheless, it would not be fully operational since the hotel will not be receiving any visitors.
On Tuesday RIU announced that it was closing three of its properties: RIU Palace, RIU Negril and RIU Montego Bay, as of yesterday March 19. This is as a result of the pandemic forcing a reduction in visitor arrivals and decreasing demand for flights and cutting the nation's tourism projections.
Some 1,000 workers will be affected by the closures at RIU. No sooner that this announcement was made, Half-  Moon also announced a temporary closure of its Montego Bay- based resort.
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Delta to emerge a much ‘smaller’ airline from coronavirus crisis
Delta Air Lines will emerge as a “smaller” carrier from the coronavirus crisis warns chief financial officer Paul Jacobson as the airline prepares to wind down the majority of its schedule by April.
“We’re going to be smaller coming out of this,” he told employees during an internal webinar Thursday viewed by TPG. “Certainly quite a bit smaller than when we went into it, and we’ll have the opportunity to grow.”
Delta has slashed schedules by 70% in April and May, and is in the process of parking more than 600 of the 1,340 active aircraft it had at the end of December. The reductions are part of an effort to drastically cut costs as revenue plummets amid fears of COVID-19.
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Visitor Numbers To Macau Plunge 95.6% in February To Record Lows
Macau – It has been reported today (March 20 2020) that visitor numbers in Macau, the Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, have plunged to record lows due to the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the city’s Statistics and Census Service, numbers are down by 95.6% falling from 3,545,701 arrivals in February 2019 to 156,400 in February 2020.
Officials in Macau have put the blame squarely at the door of the Covid-19 crisis, which is still ongoing.
Measures implemented by the government over what is usually one of the busiest times for gaming and hospitality industries over Chinese Lunar New Year, included temporary closures of premises, 14 day quarantine and travel restrictions to and from China along with other countries further afield.
According to official data at the start of this month, gross gaming revenue was down over eighty percent compared with the same period in 2019 and the number of same day visitors and overnight stays dropped more than ninety percent.
Macau has a population of almost seven-hundred thousand residents and typically welcomes between 25 and 30 million visitors every year.
Tourism is a major industry in Macau, with a blend of Portuguese and Chinese cultures. Its gambling industry, which includes Casino Lisboa Macau, Sands Macau, The Venetian Macao, and Wynn Macau, is one of the largest contributors to the local government and local economy.
The top five destinations of visitors that usually visit the special administrative region have been some of the most severely affected by the corona-virus outbreak, including: China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan.
According to reports, the number of people who usually visit Macau from the USA and United Kingdom also declined dramatically.
Despite Macau businesses returning to almost normal operation, it is not yet clear how long the region will be negatively affected by falling visitor numbers, nor can officials predict whether figures will return to that of before Covid-19.

Cuba Bars Entry to Foreign Tourists in Bid to Contain Coronavirus Spread
HAVANA — Cuba will bar foreign visitors from entering the country for a month starting Tuesday March 24th in a bid to contain the spread of the novel corona-virus in the Caribbean island nation, President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on Friday.
The country will continue to allow Cubans and foreign residents entry, although they will have to go into quarantine for 14 days at a sanitary institution upon arrival, he told a televised roundtable. Foreign visitors will be able to return home and commerce will be allowed.
Cuba is one of the last countries in the region to impose some kind of border closure as the highly contagious disease takes hold in Latin America and the Caribbean.
"This should enable us to stop (importing) cases and to focus on detecting those there are in the country and stopping transmission," Diaz-Canel said, adding that the restrictions could be extended depending on the situation.
Tourism is one of Cuba's top income earners although arrivals had already started shrinking in recent days as countries that are the top sources of visitors to the island started advising against travel.
"Already planes are mainly coming to pick up visitors, many arrive empty, like those coming from Canada," Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero said on the roundtable. "Possibly all hotels will close".
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Cuba rose to 21 on Friday - 10 of those foreigners - with 716 people hospitalized on suspicion of having the disease, according to the health ministry.
A 61-year old Italian tourist, who was one of the first cases to be confirmed in Cuba nine days ago, also became the first coronavirus fatality this week.
Diaz-Canel called for Cubans to start practicing social distancing, avoid crowds and trips on public transport at peak hours, and cancel social outings.

​Curacao reports stopover arrivals grew by 7.4% in February.
According to the Curaçao Tourist Board, Curaçao saw a 7.4% increase in stopover visitor arrivals in February, growing from 41,148 stopovers in February 2019 to 44,198 in February of this year. Stopover visitors from the USA grew by 23.0%, from 7,136 visitors in February 2019 to 8,778 visitors in February 2020. Stopover visitors from the Netherlands grew by 2.9%, from 17,292 visitors in February 2019 to 17,796 visitors in February 2020.

In the first two months of 2020 Curaçao has seen a 5.4% increase in the number of stopover visitors, growing from 85,304 visitors in 2019 to 89,889 visitors this year. The number of stopovers from the USA has grown by 24.4% during the first two months, from 13,904 in 2019 to 17,292 through February 2020. The number of stopovers from the Netherlands has grown by 3.0% during the first two months, from 35,605 visitors in 2019 to 36,659 visitors through February 2020.

The number of cruise visitors grew by 12.3% in February, from 81,839 visitors in February 2019 to 91,873 visitors this year. Through the first two months of 2020 the number of cruise visitors to Curaçao grew by 3.0%, from 202,197 visitors in 2019 to 208,187 visitors this year.
Please note that February 2020 had one more day than February 2019, a 3.6% increase in days.

Cuba announces total visitor arrivals fell by 13.2% in February.
The Cuban Government’s Office of National Statistics and Information (ONEI) recently announced that total tourist arrivals fell by 13.2% in February 2020, from 459,417 arrivals in February 2019 to 398,906 arrivals in February of this year. This number includes both stopover visitors and cruise visitors.

The number of visitors from the USA fell by 59.0%, from 49,851 arrivals in February 2019 to 20,440 in the same month of 2020 (Note: this would include cruise visitors). The number of visitors from the number one market, Canada, grew by 7.5%, from 156,461 arrivals in February 2019 to 168,247 this February. Arrivals from Europe decreased however in February with traffic from Germany down by 25.6%, from France down by 23.1%, from the U.K. down by 59.3%, from Italy down by 15.5% and from Spain down by 2.2%. Arrivals from Russia were up by 57.7% however, from 14,455 in February 2020 to 22,798 in February 2020.

In the first two months of 2020 Cuba saw a 16.5% decrease in total arrivals, falling from 949,035 in 2019 to 792,668 this year. Total tourist arrivals from the USA, which comprised 5.0% of all arrivals, fell by 64.5% from 112,267 in 2019 to 39,904 in the first two months of 2020. Arrivals from Canada, which comprised 41.7% of all tourist arrivals, grew by 4.8%, from 315,483 in 2019 to 330,554 in the first two months of 2020.

Orlando saw a 3.5 percentage point increase in January in average hotel room occupancy to 77.1%.
According to STR Orlando had 128,000 hotel rooms in January 2020 and achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 77.1% (up 3.5 percentage points compared with January 2019), and an ADR of $131.53 (up 1.1% compared with January 2019).

According to Visit Orlando, Orlando saw the volume of enplanements increase by 5.8% in January 2020, growing from 2,812,701 enplanements in January 2019 to 2,308,992 enplanements in January 2020. This includes enplanements at both Orlando International and Sanford airports. The volume of international enplanements fell by 6.5% however, from 301,658 in January 2019 to 282,198 in January of this year.

Jamaica saw a 4.9% increase in stopover arrivals in January.
According to the Jamaica Tourist Board, Jamaica saw the volume of stopover arrivals increase by 4.9% in January 2020, growing from 216,509 arrivals in January 2019 to 227,200 arrivals in January 2020.

Stopover arrivals from the USA grew by 8.3%, from 132,508 visitors in January 2019 to 143,460 visitors in January 2020.
​
Cruise arrivals fell by 16.0%, from 249,026 cruise visitors in January 2019 to 209,163 cruise visitors in January 2020.

Hawaii urges travelers to postpone trips
Tourism-reliant Hawaii has a message for travelers:  Please stay away.
Hawaii Gov. David Ige is encouraging tourists to postpone travel plans for 30 days so state authorities can try and slow the spread of covid-19.
Ige made the plea as he announced all bars and clubs will close and restaurants will only be allowed to serve food via drive-through, takeout or delivery service.
"The actions I'm announcing today may seem extreme to some of you, and we know that it will have negative effects to our economy," Ige said.
"But we are confident that taking aggressive actions now will allow us to have a quicker recovery when this crisis is over."
It is a blow to the tourism industry which welcomed an all-time record of 10 million visitors last year.
Tourism generates about 20% of all jobs.
Hawaii so far has 14 positive cases of the new coronavirus and has closed schools and attractions such as the Pearl Harbor National Memorial.
Hawaiian Airlines announced further flight cancellations to Sapporo, Japan from April 2 until July 18.
Gov. Ige also issued a ban on public gatherings of more than 10 people.

The United States Virgin Islands saw a 13.1% increase in air arrivals in January.
According to the USVI Bureau of Economic Research, the USVI saw the volume of air arrivals increase by 13.1% in January 2020, growing from 64,226 air arrivals in January 2019 to 72,614 air arrivals in January 2020. 

​Hawaii’s hotels report a 1.2 percentage point growth in average room occupancy in February to reach 84.7%
According to the Hawai‘i Hotel Performance Report published by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA), statewide hotel room occupancy grew by 1.2 percentage points from 83.5% in February 2019 to 84.7% in February this year. ADR grew by 6.4% from $291.66 to $310.31 while revpar grew by 7.9%, from $243.46 in February 2019 to $262.70 in February this year.
HTA’s Tourism Research Division issued the report’s findings utilizing data compiled by STR, Inc., which conducts the largest and most comprehensive survey of hotel properties in the Hawaiian Islands.

In February 2020, Hawai‘i hotel room revenues statewide grew by 7.0% from $386.70 million in 2019 to $394.60 million this year. Room demand rose to 1,271,500 room nights, up 0.6% compared to a year ago. Room supply was slightly lower (down by 0.8%) and fell to 1,501,900 available room nights. Hawaii has 53,650 hotel rooms. It should be noted February 2020 had one more day than in February 2019, that is 3.6% more days.

​For the first two months of 2020 statewide hotel room occupancy grew by 3.0 percentage points from 81.4% in 2019 to 84.4% in the first two months of 2020. ADR grew by 6.1% from $294.69 to $312.59 while revpar grew by 10.0%, from $239.81 in the first two months of 2019 to $263.73 in the first two months of this year.

In the first two months of 2020, Hawai‘i hotel room revenues statewide grew by 9.1% from $765.0 million in 2019 to $834.60 million this year. Room demand rose to 2,670,100 room nights, up 2.9% compared to a year ago. Room supply was slightly lower (down by 0.8%) and fell to 3,164,800 available room nights

Cruises in many regions unlikely to resume for months
Some of the world’s biggest cruise lines say they hope to resume operations in just a few weeks. But don’t count on it.
With the severity of the coronavirus outbreak growing by the day, and an increasing number of countries announcing lengthy bans on the arrival of cruise ships, the odds of cruise lines returning to anything resembling a normal schedule by April — or even May or June — are becoming increasingly small.
A recent flurry of cruise ship bans tells you all you need to know. In just the last few days:

• New Zealand has said cruise ships won’t be able to visit until at least June 30.
• Canada announced a ban on cruise ships carrying more than 500 people until July 1.
• The Cayman Islands has closed to cruise ships for 60 days.

Other countries that have banned cruise ship arrivals for the next 30 day or more include Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, Australia, Estonia, Russia and Peru. An even longer list of countries such as Singapore have just banned cruise ship arrivals until further notice.

The bans are at odds with cruise line pronouncements that they could begin sailing again as early as April 10. That’s just 23 days from now.
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The Inter-American Development Bank develops Tourism-Based Shock Scenarios for 6 Caribbean Countries based on their assessment of the impact of COVID-19
The COVID-19 outbreak could have considerable implications for Caribbean citizens and their economies. The magnitude of this impact will depend crucially on the spread of the virus, the duration of the outbreak, and measures countries in the region and elsewhere undertake to insulate themselves. It will also have much to do with country economic structures—particularly tourism dependence.

This post focuses on tourism as a key shock transmission channel, and considers IDB regional member countries—i.e., The Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago (referred to from here on as the “CCB” countries)—dependence on this sector, while putting forward illustrative scenarios for ranges of possible shocks to output over various horizons.

While for illustration purposes only, the scenarios highlight that because of the significance of the sector for several of our countries, as well as large increases in tourism arrivals during the peak period late in the year, a prolonged crisis could have a more amplified impact on economic activity via the tourism channel than one that is contained relatively quickly.
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COVID-19: How long will the impact on the Caribbean tourism sector last? The experience of 9/11.
Many airline CEOs have said the current situation is “worse than 9/11”
So, how long did it take the Caribbean to recover from 9/11 and can we learn from that experience.
Using a 12-month rolling average to track monthly stopover arrivals the data show: -

• It took Aruba about three years to reach the previous peak average monthly arrival total achieved in 2000 with tourist expenditures showing a similar pattern.
• The Bahamas also took three years for arrival volume to recover but took a further hit in September 2004 from Hurricane Frances.
• Barbados took three years.
• Cancun’s foreign hotel registrations took just under three years but took a further major hit from Hurricane Wilma in 2005.
• The Cayman Islands never did recover from 9/11 and took a further major hit in September 2004 from Hurricane Ivan.
• Jamaica took just over two years to recover.
• The United States Virgin Islands took almost three years to recover.
• According to STR data the Caribbean hotel sector saw average room occupancy fall from 66% in 2000 to 61% in 2001 and not exceed the 2000 number until 2004. ADR showed little change between 2000 and 2003 as did RevPar and both only began to show signs of growth in 2004.
• The repercussions of COVID-19 could well trigger a recession.

If the same pattern applies as a result of the impact caused by COVID-19 it could take the region between two/three years before it reaches visitor arrivals and hotel performance numbers achieved in 2019, probably closer to three years.
To read the detailed analysis please click here.

COVID-19. By the end of May, most world airlines will be bankrupt
According to CAPA: Centre for Aviation, by the end of May-2020, most airlines in the world will be bankrupt.
Coordinated government and industry action is needed - now - if catastrophe is to be avoided.
As the impact of the coronavirus and multiple government travel reactions sweep through our world, many airlines have probably already been driven into technical bankruptcy, or are at least substantially in breach of debt covenants.
Cash reserves are running down quickly as fleets are grounded and what flights there are operate much less than half full.
Forward bookings are far outweighed by cancellations and each time there is a new government recommendation it is to discourage flying. Demand is drying up in ways that are completely unprecedented. Normality is not yet on the horizon.
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Numerous flights suspended to Aruba consequent upon border closure.
As of Tuesday March 17th Aruba closed its border to non-resident travelers. Airlines responded immediately with American Airlines suspending its twice daily service between Aruba and Miami until May 6th with suspensions of its flights to Charlotte, Chicago and New York La Guardia also suspended until May 6th. Delta Air Lines suspended its Atlanta Aruba flights from March 26th until April 1st while JetBlue announced it was suspending its flights to Aruba indefinitely. United Airlines has announced it has suspended flights to Aruba from Newark, Washington DC and Houston for the month of April.
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The following countries have closed their borders to non-residents.
As of Tuesday March 17th , the following countries have closed their borders to non-residents to prevent the further spread of the COVID-19 virus.

• Aruba: Closed from March 17th until March 31st
• The Cayman Islands: Closed from March 22nd until April 12th
• Costa Rica: Closed from March 18th until April 12th
• Trinidad and Tobago: Closed from March 18th until April 2nd.

In all cases the closures will be re-evaluated with the possibility of further extension of the restrictions on entry.

For more information on the status of all Caribbean and neighboring countries click here

Coronavirus on the high seas: Why the U.S. can't touch cruise lines
The corona-virus reveals the power of industry and holes in regulation.

The nightmare of corona-virus outbreaks on cruise ships has revealed an industry that's skirted oversight for years and used powerful allies in Washington to keep the government out of its business.

In essence, cruise ships are a regulatory black hole. The cruise industry is insulated by ship registrations in foreign countries and shielded by a powerful lobby with sway in tourism-dependent U.S. states like Florida.

The cruise industry disproportionately counts Americans as customers but operates primarily in international waters and avoids tough scrutiny by registering ships mostly in small Caribbean countries with little incentive to enforce international treaties. That has led to a hodgepodge of loosely enforced standards, which regulators in the U.S. won't be able to change quickly.
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The cruise industry pressured Caribbean islands to allow tourists onto their shores despite corona-virus concerns.
Across the Caribbean, cruise lines have placed enormous pressure on governments to be allowed to continue to dock cruise ships, even when concerns about illness on board arise.

In Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos, Carnival Cruise Line, the namesake brand of Carnival Corporation, which controls about half the market share, threatened to pull its business after government officials attempted to stop ships carrying potentially sick passengers from docking in their ports or restricted which passengers could disembark. The three island governments were left to make critical public health decisions under threat from a corporation that holds enormous sway over island economies.
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Punta Cana saw another 14.2% decrease in stopover arrivals in February.
According to the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic, saw the volume of non-resident stopover arrivals decrease by 14.2% in February, falling from 352,212 arrivals in February 2019 to 302,031 arrivals in February 2020. This follows similar percentage declines which commenced in July of 2019.

Stopover arrivals from the USA fell by 44.6% in February, from 147,755 arrivals in February 2019 to 81,840 arrivals in February 2020 and accounted for 131% of the decline in arrivals.

The destination has made considerable efforts to attract business from other markets to offset the decline in US business and arrivals from Canada grew by 14.3% from 82,770 in February 2019 to 94,006 arrivals in February 2020 making Canada the number one source market. Arrivals also increased from the UK (up by 21.8%), from Russia, (up by 44.1%), from Spain (up by 27.6%) and from the Netherlands (up by 37.1%) although they fell by 16.1% from Germany and by 6.2% from Brazil.

Through the first two months of 2020 Punta Cana saw a 14.6% decrease in the volume of stopover arrivals, falling from 701,058 arrivals in the first two months of 2019 to 598,435 arrivals in the same two months of 2020.

Arrivals from the USA fell by 44.7% in the first two months of 2020, falling from 275,001 arrivals in 2019 to 152,003 arrivals in the same two months of 2020. Arrivals from Canada grew by 11.6% however, from 165,526 in the first two months of 2019 to 184,756 in the first two months of 2020.

Stopover arrivals to Punta Cana made up 53.3% of all non-resident arrivals to the Dominican Republic in the first two months of 2020.

The Dominican Republic saw a 6.6% decline in stopover arrivals in February.
According to the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, the Dominican Republic saw the volume of non-resident stopover arrivals decrease by 6.6% in February, falling from 604,977 arrivals in February 2019 to 565,179 arrivals in February 2020. This follows similar percentage declines which began in July 2019.

Stopover arrivals from the USA fell by 32.0%, from 217,817 arrivals in February 2019 to 148,184 arrivals in February 2020. This follows similar percentage declines which began in July 2019.

Through the first two months of 2020 the Dominican Republic saw a 6.7% decrease in the volume of stopover arrivals, falling from 1,203,175 arrivals in the first two months of 2019 to 1,122,410 arrivals in the same two months of 2020.

Arrivals from the USA decreased by 31.7% in the first two months of 2020, falling from 402,759 arrivals in 2019 to 275,055 arrivals in the same two months of 2020.

Belize reports stopover arrivals grew by 1.9% in February.
According to the Belize Tourism Board, Belize saw a 1.9% increase in stopover visitor arrivals in February, growing from 49,868 stopovers in February 2019 to 50,817 stopovers in February of this year.
In the first two months of 2020 Belize has seen a 1.1% decrease in the number of stopover visitors, falling from 100,458 stopover visitors in 2019 to 99,371 stopovers in the first two months of this year.
The number of cruise visitors fell by 20.1% in February, from 147,926 cruise visitors in February 2019 to 118,241 cruise visitors in February this year.
Through the first two months of 2020 the number of cruise visitors to Belize has fallen by 12.5%, from 313,811 cruise visitors in 2019 to 274,481 cruise visitors this year.

Airline bookings from the USA to the Caribbean down 38% in first week of March.
According to ForwardKeys bookings for overseas flights from the U.S. reached a new low since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, with more cancellations than bookings being made last week. The Americas is currently the only region still booked for trips from the U.S. but even there the situation looks grim, with the Caribbean down 38%, Central America down 44%, North America down 55% and South America down 62% in the week of 2nd March compared to the same week last year. The collapse of bookings to Africa and the Middle-East is also noteworthy, as this region was doing comparatively well until the week of 24th February.
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US airlines announce major cuts in schedules.
Over the past few days major US airlines have announced significant cuts in the number of scheduled flights. On March 10 Delta Air Lines announced immediate cuts of 20%-25% in international flights and 10%-15% cuts in domestic flights. Also on March 10 American Airlines announced cuts of 10% in its international flights and 7.5% in its domestic flights. On Wednesday March 4 United Airlines announced cuts of 20% in its international flights and 10% in its domestic flights. And JetBlue announced on March 4 that it would be cutting its flights by 5%. Southwest has not announced any cuts as yet.
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US domestic airfares are falling quickly
Airfare dropped in price by an average of 14% between March 4 and March 7, according to a report issued on March 10 by the travel booking website Hopper. That’s in spite of demand for domestic travel growing more than usual in recent months, as Americans have grown wary of traveling abroad as the novel coronavirus has spread across the globe. Hopper’s report is based on data gleaned from billions of airfare price quotes the company collects every day.

The report shows that US domestic airfare dropped an average of 14% between March 4th and March 7th to $230 round-trip.

Destinations like Miami, New York, and Las Vegas dropped in price upwards of 29%. 
Massive price drops from many domestic airlines came as demand for travel has shifted towards domestic destinations in the wake of the spread of COVID-19. Demand for domestic travel has grown 6.5% since the first week of January, compared to a 1.3% increase at the same time in 2019. 
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​Aruba saw a 3.8% decrease in stopover arrivals in January 2020.
According to the Aruba Tourism Authority (ATA), Aruba saw a 3.8% decrease in stopover visitor arrivals in January, falling from 94,244 stopovers in January 2019 to 90,623 in January 2020. The primary reason was an 84.8% drop in visitors from Venezuela, falling from 3,772 stopovers in January 2019 to 574 visitors in January 2020, a drop of 3,198 visitors. Stopover visitors from the USA grew by 3.6% however, from 65,434 in January 2019 to 67,817 in January 2020.

Aruba also saw the volume of cruise visitor arrivals decrease by 12.3% in January 2020, falling from 128,425 cruise visitors in January 2019 to 112,614 cruise visitors in January 2020. The number of cruise ship calls fell from 52 in January 2019 to 44 in January 2020.

Coronavirus Capacity Update Week Eight: Airlines Adjusting Schedules Every Day
March 9 2020 John Grant: JG Aviation Consultants.

South Korea Sees 30% Capacity Reduction in One Week
European Capacity Down 5%

Last week saw an increase in scheduled airline capacity as China added back some three million seats to their domestic network offering some early signs of recovery in the first market affected.

Last Monday also saw a number of airlines in Europe and North America begin a series of adjustments in response to the increasing local outbreaks of the virus. In absolute terms capacity has fallen by some 11% and in the last week by 2.7%.​
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The Seychelles announces total visitor arrivals grew by 3.6% in February.
The Seychelles Government’s National Bureau of Statistics recently announced that total visitor arrivals increased by 3.6% in February 2020, from 36,807 arrivals in February 2019 to 38,114 arrivals in February of this year. This number includes both air and sea non-transit (stopover) and transit visitors.

The number of visitors from Germany, the number one market, fell by 1.3%, from 8,729 arrivals in February 2019 to 8,617 arrivals in the same month of 2020. The number of visitors from China fell by 91.3%, from 1,465 in February 2020 to 128 in February 2020.

In the first two months of 2020 The Seychelles saw a 6.9% increase in total arrivals, from 66,270 visitors in 2019 to 70,845 visitors this year. Total arrivals from Germany fell by 5.7% from 16,562 in the first two months of 2019 to 15,619 arrivals in the same two months of 2020. The number of visitors from China fell by 31.1%, from 1,960 in the first two months of 2019 to 1,351 visitors in the same two months of 2020.
 
Los Cabos saw a 12.4% increase in international air traffic movements in February.
According to Aeroportuario del Pacifico , which manages many of Mexico’s airports, Los Cabos Airport saw a 12.4% increase in international passenger traffic in February 2020, that is enplanements and deplanements, growing from 319,800 international passenger movements in February 2019 to 359,500 international passenger movements in February 2020. Domestic traffic grew by 12.5%, from 119,200 passenger movements in February 2019 to 134,100 passenger movements in February 2020.

In the first two months of 2020 the volume of international air traffic increased by 10.7%, growing from 645,500 international passenger movements in 2019 to 714,300 in the first two months of 2020 while the volume of domestic air traffic grew by 12.8%, from 253,700 movements in 2019 to 286,200 in the first two months of 2020.

Montego Bay, Jamaica saw a 5.0% increase in air passenger traffic in February.
According to Aeroportuario del Pacifico, which manages many of Mexico’s airports and which also manages the airports in Montego Bay and Kingston, Jamaica, saw the total number of passenger movements, that is both enplanements and deplanements,  at Montego Bay Airport increase by 5.0% in February 2020, growing from 406,400 movements in February 2019 to 426,700 movements in February 2020.

In the first two months of 2020 the overall volume of passenger movements increased by 3.1%, from 846,200 passenger movements in 2019 to 872,500 passenger movements in the first two months of 2020.

The Cayman Islands saw a 3.6% increase in stopover arrivals in January.
According to the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism, the Cayman Islands saw the volume of stopover arrivals increase by 3.6% in January 2020, growing from 41,365 arrivals in January 2019 to 42,851 arrivals in January 2020.

Stopover arrivals from the USA grew by 2.2%, from 34,275 in January 2019 to 35,033 in January 2020.

Cruise passenger arrivals declined by 11.3%, from 271,111 cruise visitors in January 2019 to 240,476 cruise visitors in this year. The number of ships calling fell from 95 in January 2019 to 84 in January 2020.

The Bahamas reports air arrivals fell by 5.2% in January.
According to the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, The Islands of The Bahamas saw a 5.4% decline in air visitor arrivals in January, falling from 129,912 air arrivals in January 2019 to 125,308 in January of this year.

Nassau/Paradise Island saw a 3.5% increase in air traffic, growing from 101,558 air arrivals in January 2019 to 105,161 this year while Grand Bahama Island saw a 51.4% decline, falling from 5,782 air arrivals in January 2019 to 2,809 in January 2020. Air traffic to airports in the Out Islands fell by 23.2%, from 22,572 in January 2019 to 17,338 in January 2020. The declines in traffic to Grand Bahama and The Abacos in the Out Islands were a result of the devastating Hurricane Dorian which hit those two islands in September 2019.

The Islands of the Bahamas saw an 11.3% increase in cruise passengers, growing from 498,913 in January 2019 to 555,280 in January of this year.

Cancun saw a 6.8% increase in international air traffic in February.
According to ASUR, which manages many of Mexico’s airports, Cancun Airport saw a 6.8% increase in international passenger traffic in February 2020, that is enplanements and deplanements, growing from 1,463,274 international passenger movements in February 2019 to 1,563,194 international passenger movements in February 2020. Domestic traffic grew by 8.7%, from 562,037 passenger movements in February 2019 to 611,072 passenger movements in February 2020.

In the first two months of 2020 the volume of international air traffic increased by 5.4%, growing from 2,976,378 international passenger movements in 2019 to 3,315,968 in the first two months of 2020 while the volume of domestic air traffic grew by 6.4%, from 1,236,797 in 2019 to 1,315,412 in the first two months of 2020.

San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU) saw a 16.1% increase in air traffic in February.
According to ASUR, which manages many airports in Mexico, Colombia and which also manages the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, SJU saw a 16.1% increase in passenger traffic in February 2020, growing from 682,520 passenger movements in February 2019, that is enplanements and deplanements, to 792,317 passenger movements in February 2020.

In the first two months of 2020 the overall volume of air traffic increased by 13.6%, from 1,479,398 passenger movements in 2019 to 1,680,329 passenger movements in the first two months of 2020.

International air arrivals to Mexico grew by 4.6% in January.
According to the Government of Mexico’s SECTUR (Department of Tourism) the volume of international air arrivals to Mexico grew by 4.6% in January 2020 from 1,706,329 in January 2019 to 1,784,198 in January 2020. The volume of air arrivals from the USA grew by 7.6% in January, to 879,610, with the volume from Canada growing by 3.2%, to 369,363. These two markets generated 70.0% of all international air arrivals in January 2020.

Cancun Airport saw a 5.2% increase in international air arrivals in January 2020, growing to 738,933 arrivals, while Los Cabos saw a 10.5% increase growing to 166,549 international air arrivals compared with January 2019. Puerto Vallarta saw a 0.3% increase, growing to 196,302 international arrivals when compared with the same month of 2019.

Caribbean hotels open 2020 with declines in performance
 27 February 2020 Rico Louw:  Client Account Manager, STR

HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee—Caribbean hotels opened 2020 with the region’s lowest January occupancy level since 2011, according to data from STR.  

For the month, occupancy was down 3.7% year over year to 66.5%. Average daily rate (ADR) also fell 1.5% to US$253.09, and revenue per available room (RevPAR) dropped 5.1% to US$168.34.

Continued supply growth coupled with softer demand pressured occupancy levels and appeared to shake hotelier pricing confidence. The month showed 211,048 more room nights available compared with last year and 60,381 fewer room nights sold. 
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The travel industry is suffering its worst shock since 9/11 because of coronavirus
By Chris Isidore, CNN Business
Updated 0043 GMT March 2, 2020

New York (CNN Business) It's one of the largest industries in the world, with $5.7 trillion in revenue. It is responsible for an estimated 319 million jobs, or roughly one in 10 people working on the planet. And no sector is more at risk from the novel coronavirus.

The travel industry has already taken a huge hit due to travel restrictions and canceled trips for both business and pleasure, but that's just the beginning.

It could be the worst crisis for the industry since the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, according to some experts.

​"It's on the front line of the fallout," said Mark Zandi, chief economist with Moody's Analytics. "It's the most directly and immediately impacted."
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Cuba announces total visitor arrivals fell by 19.6% in January.
The Cuban Government’s Office of National Statistics and Information (ONEI) recently announced that total tourist arrivals fell by 19.6% in January 2020, from 489,618 arrivals in January 2019 to 393,762 arrivals in January of 2020. This number includes both stopover visitors and cruise visitors.

The number of visitors from the USA fell by 68.8%, from 62,416 arrivals in January 2019 to 19,464 in the same month of 2020 (Note: this would include cruise visitors). This decline is primarily due to additional restrictions placed on US travel to Cuba by the US government in the middle of 2019.

The number of visitors from the number one market, Canada, grew by 2.1%, from 159,022 arrivals in January 2019 to 162,307 in January 2020.

Arrivals from Europe decreased in January with traffic from Germany down by 29.7%, from France down by 24.5%, from the U.K. down by 49.9%, from Italy down by 20.5% and from Spain down by 6.1%.

Traffic from Russia was up by 48.4% however, from 16,742 arrivals in January 2019 to 24,842 in January 2020.

Cuba reported it had 72,657 hotel rooms in 2019. Ms. Tania San Pedro, Executive Director of Communication with Cuba’s Ministry of Tourism, reported at a press conference held at ANATO in Colombia on February 28 2020 that Cuba would add a further 26 new hotels in 2020 offering 4,200 more rooms, a 5.8% expansion in room inventory.

Las Vegas saw a 3.9% increase in visitors in January.
According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Las Vegas saw the volume of visitors increase by 3.9% in January 2020, growing from 3,412,200 visitors in January 2019 to 3,545,100 arrivals in January 2020.

Las Vegas had 149,900 hotel rooms in January 2020 (up 1.2% compared with January 2019) and achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 85.9% (up 1.9 percentage points compared with January 2019), an ADR of $153.40 (down 2.0% compared with January 2019) and a RevPar of $131.77, up 0.2% also compared with January 2019.

Gaming revenue grew by 5.1% in January, from $860.87 million in January 2019 to $904.55 million in January 2020.

Costa Rica saw a 0.9% increase in stopover arrivals in January.
According to the Costa Rica Institute of Tourism ICT, Costa Rica saw the volume of stopovers increase by 0.9% in January 2020, growing from 355,321 stopovers in January 2019 to 358,665 stopovers in 2020.

The number of stopovers from the USA increased by 8.4% in January 2020, from 126,170 stopovers in January 2019 to 136,807 in January 2020 while the number from Central America fell by 5.3%, from 91,950 in January 2019 to 87,061 in January 2020.

In January 2020 stopovers from the USA comprised 38.1% of Costa Rica’s tourist arrivals while those from Central America comprised 24.3%. 

Saint Lucia saw a 2.5% drop in stopover arrivals in January.
According to the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, Saint Lucia saw the volume of stopover arrivals decrease by 2.5% in January 2020, falling from 34,546 arrivals in January 2019 to 33,675 arrivals this January.

Stopover arrivals from the USA fell by 1.4%, dropping from 15,060 visitors in January 2019 to 14,842 visitors in January 2020 and fell by 11.5% from the U.K., dropping from 7,599 arrivals in January 2019 to 6,724 arrivals in January 2020.

The number of cruise visitors grew by 14.0% in January, from 130,717 in January 2019 to 149,068 in January 2020 while the number of visitors arriving by yacht grew by 29.0%, increasing from 7,367 in January 2019 to 9,506 this January.

Curacao reports stopover arrivals grew by 3.5% in January.
According to the Curaçao Tourist Board, Curaçao saw a 3.5% increase in stopover visitor arrivals in January, growing from 44,156 stopovers in January 2019 to 45,691 in January of this year.

Stopover visitors from the USA grew by 25.8%, from 6,768 visitors in January 2019 to 8,515 visitors in January 2020. Stopover visitors from the Netherlands grew by 3.0%, from 18,313 visitors in January 2019 to 18,863 visitors in January 2020.

The number of cruise visitors grew by 2.5% in January, from 120,358 visitors in January 2019 to 123,316 visitors in January 2020. 

The United States Virgin Islands saw a 10.6% increase in air arrivals in December 2019.
According to the USVI Bureau of Economic Research, the USVI saw the volume of air arrivals increase by 10.6% in December 2019, growing from 62,126 air arrivals in December 2018 to 68,723 air arrivals in December 2019.

During calendar year 2019 the USVI saw the volume of air arrivals increase by 30.5%, from 491,098 arrivals in CY 2018 to 640,887 air arrivals in CY 2019.

The USVI were severely impacted by two major hurricanes in September 2017 which significantly reduced the number of available hotel rooms and negatively impacted arrival numbers in late 2017 and early 2018.

​Hawaii saw a 5.3% increase in air arrivals in January, while total tourist spending grew by 5.0%
According to the Hawaii Tourism Authority, Hawaii saw the volume of air arrivals increase by 5.3% in January 2020, growing from 809,098 arrivals in January 2019 to 852,037 arrivals in January 2020.

Air arrivals from the USA grew by 10.5%, from 500,068 in January 2019 to 552,578 in January 2020, grew by 6.9% from Japan (to 126,686 air arrivals). Air arrivals fell by 4.9% from Canada however, (to 65,123 air arrivals).

Tourist spending in January grew by 5.0% to $1.713 billion. Average spend per visitor per day increased by 2.7%, from $200.20 per day in January 2019 to $205.70 in January 2020, while average spend per person per trip fell by 0.4%, from $2,012.70 in 2019 to $2,004.70 in January 2020.

In January 2020 29.3% of Hawaii’s tourists were visiting for the first time with 70.7% having visited the state before, up slightly from 2019 when 29.2% were visiting for the first time.
Air visitors stayed 9.75 days on average in 2020, down 2.9% from 2019 when they stayed 10.04 days. The average party size was 2.1 persons in 2020, unchanged from 2019.

For more details go to
https://www.hawaiitourismauthority.org/media/4220/january-2020-visitor-statistics-press-release.pdf

US Consumer confidence increased slightly in February to stand at 130.7.
The US based Conference Board reported that US consumer confidence increased by 0.2% in February with its index growing from 130.4 in January to 130.7 this February (1985 = 100). They further reported that 38.6% of consumers surveyed in February said that business conditions were good, down from 40.0% in January. They also reported that 20.4% expected that business conditions would improve in the next six months, up from 18.4% in January.
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Sustainable travel and the impact of climate change on tourist perceptions
The 2020s could easily become ‘the decade of sustainability’. While more companies pledge to help combat climate change, travelers are becoming increasingly savvy on who and what is negatively affecting the planet.

With this in mind, STR’s Tourism Consumer Insights department surveyed more than 1,000 active travelers in January 2020 and evaluated their thoughts and behavior towards sustainability in the tourism industry. With 67.4% of respondents living outside the U.K. and the rest within, the following analysis provides worldwide perceptions on sustainable travel.
The study highlights that travelers, by and large, take the issue of sustainable tourism seriously, with almost 50% of those surveyed stated that choosing an environmentally friendly holiday option was important to them, while 40% chose a neutral position. And Generation Z (those born in the mid- to late-1990s) travelers placed higher importance on environmentally friendly holidays.
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Coronavirus: Slumping tourism will cost Asia up to $115 billion this year.
Holidays in Hell: The impact of the Covid-19 virus on economies in Asia is potentially huge, as tourism in the region takes a beating.

Robert Carnell, the Chief Economist and Head of Research, Asia-Pacific for ING attempts to quantify the hit to GDP.
​
We are getting quite used to seeing footage of tourists stranded on cruise ships as the Covid-19 outbreak leads to aggressive attempts at containment. One thing is very clear, travel and tourism in Asia are taking a beating. From deserted hotels to empty airports, the impact of this little scrap of protein and lipid on economies in the region is potentially enormous. In this note, we set out a process to estimate the loss of Asian GDP through lost tourism receipts alone, and come up with a total figure of $105-115 billion.
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​Abu Dhabi Welcomed 5.14 Million Hotel Visitors in 2019, up 2.1% over 2018.
Figures collated by the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) have revealed that the number of international visitors coming to the UAE capital in 2019 is estimated to have reached 11.35 million. This number includes 2.83 million overnight and 8.53 million same day visitors and is a 10.5% increase over 2018.

The final figures include official international hotel guests, plus estimates for overnight visitors from overseas staying with friends or relatives and an estimate for the number of same-day international visitors. 

DCT Abu Dhabi’s official 2019 hotel figures also reveal that Abu Dhabi’s 168 hotels and hotel apartments posted the highest number of guests - to date (5.14 million) of which 3.66 million were international guests, with robust growth across key revenue metrics including Total Revenues, Average Room Rate (ARR) and Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR). Abu Dhabi has a total of 27,100 hotel rooms and 5,700 rooms in apartment hotels. 
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Hawaii’s hotels report a 4.6 percentage point growth in average room occupancy in January to reach 84.1%
According to the Hawai‘i Hotel Performance Report published by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA), statewide hotel room occupancy grew by 4.6 percentage points from 79.5% in January 2019 to 84.1% in January this year. ADR grew by 5.6% from $297.56 to $314.27 while revpar grew by 11.7%, from $236.51 in January 2019 to $264.27 in January this year.

HTA’s Tourism Research Division issued the report’s findings utilizing data compiled by STR, Inc., which conducts the largest and most comprehensive survey of hotel properties in the Hawaiian Islands.

Hawai‘i's hotel room revenues statewide grew by 10.8%, from $396.40 million in January 2019 to $439.40 million this year. Room demand rose to 1,398,830 room nights, up 5.0% compared to a year ago. Room supply was slightly lower (down by 0.8%) and fell to 1,662,800 available room nights. Hawaii has 53,650 hotel rooms.
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Guadeloupe - Paris was the number one revenue earning route to the Caribbean in 2019
Guadeloupe - Paris was the number one revenue earning route to the Caribbean in 2019 according to Tourism Analytics and JG Aviation Consultants using Official Airline Guide (OAG) data. The data covers the period December 1 2018 through November 30 2019. The revenue is reported in US dollars. The route revenue reflects the combined income of all airlines flying the route.
For the top 20 routes go to Top 20 Revenue Earning Routes to the Caribbean
​
Canada experiences third consecutive record-breaking year for tourism in 2019
VANCOUVER, Feb. 21, 2020 /CNW/ - Today, Destination Canada - Canada's national marketing organization, recognized a third consecutive record-breaking year with 22.1 million travellers to Canada in 2019 according to Statistics Canada. Tourism plays a significant role in the national economy, generating an estimated $104.9 billion in tourism expenditures in 2019, supporting approximately 1 in 10 jobs in communities across Canada and contributes an estimated $43.5 billion in Gross Domestic Product. 
"This record number of arrivals shows once more that tourism is a strong and sustainable sector that benefits businesses and communities, large and small, across Canada," said the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages. "By working together, we are inspiring travellers to visit more parts of the country in all four seasons, to experience Canada's diversity and inclusivity, to taste its culinary delicacies and to discover its Indigenous peoples."
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Aruba saw a 12.3% decline in the number of cruise visitors in January.
Aruba saw the volume of cruise visitor arrivals decrease by 12.3% in January 2020, falling from 128,425 cruise visitors in January 2019 to 112,614 cruise visitors in January 2020. The number of cruise ship calls fell from 52 in January 2019 to 44 in January 2020.

Punta Cana saw a 15.0% decrease in non-resident stopover arrivals in January.
According to the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic, saw the volume of non-resident stopover arrivals decrease by 15.0% in January, falling from 348,846 arrivals in January 2019 to 296,404 arrivals in January 2020. This follows a 22.8% decline in such arrivals in July, an 18.2% decline in August, a 26.9% decline in September, a 27.1% decline in October, a 17.0% decline in November and a 16.4% decline in December.

Punta Cana suffered from a spate of negative publicity in many media outlets starting in May of 2019 which continues to impact business.

Stopover arrivals from the USA fell by 44.9% in January, from 127,246 arrivals in January 2019 to 70,163 arrivals in January 2020 and accounted for 109% of the decline in arrivals. This follows a 36.3% decline in US arrivals in July, a 34.5% decline in August, a 50.8% decline in September, a 46.2% decline in October, a 36.0% decline in November and a 38.3% decline in December.

Arrivals from Canada grew by 9.0% however, from 83,256 in January 2019 to 90,750 in January 2020 and become the number one source market (30.6% of all arrivals). Arrivals were also up from the U.K. by 16.0%, from Brazil, up by 6.7% and from Russia which grew by 16.4%, from 7,634 in January 2019 to 8,885 in January 2020.

Traffic was down 31.6% from Germany however, down 18.0% from France and down 13.8% from Argentina.

Stopover arrivals to Punta Cana made up 53.2% of all non-resident arrivals to the Dominican Republic in January 2020 down from 58.3% in January 2019.

The Dominican Republic saw a 6.8% decline in stopover arrivals in January.
According to the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, the Dominican Republic saw the volume of non-resident stopover arrivals decrease by 6.8% in January, falling from 598,198 arrivals in January 2019 to 557,231 arrivals in January 2020. This follows an 11.2% decline in such arrivals in July, a 7.5% decline in August, an 11.4% decline in September, a 10.3% decline in October, a 4.9% decline in November and a 5.3% decline in December.

Stopover arrivals from the USA fell by 31.4%, from 184,942 arrivals in January 2019 to 126,871 arrivals in January 2020.  This follows a 24.6% decline in US arrivals in July, a 24.4% decline in August, a 33.0% decline in September, a 26.6% decline in October, a 21.9% decline in November and a 25.1% decline in December.

Non-resident arrivals grew by 9.1% to Santo Domingo, growing from 109,606 in January 2019 to 119,531 this year. They also increased by 7.1% to La Romana and by 4.1% to Cibao. They declined by 15.0% to Punta Cana however, falling from 348,846 in January 2019 to 296,404 this year and fell by 4.2% to Puerto Plata and by 0.6% to Catey (Samana).
 
STR reports Caribbean/Mexico hotel construction up 26.9% in January.
STR’s hotel pipeline data for the Caribbean/Mexico region showed 152 projects accounting for 31,787 rooms in construction as of the end of January 2020. This represented a 26.9% year-over-year jump in the number of rooms in the final phase of the development pipeline.
 
A majority of the region’s rooms in construction are in the upper-tier segments. Of the three, upscale projects represented the largest percentage increase (+70.1%) in activity year over year. 
1. Upscale: 7,048 rooms
2. Luxury: 6,958 rooms
3. Upper Upscale: 6,606 rooms

Four countries in the region reported more than 1,000 rooms under construction. Mexico led with 16,699 rooms, which represented 4.0% of the country’s existing supply, followed by the Dominican Republic (6,356 rooms, 8.4% of existing supply). 
1. Mexico: 16,699 rooms (4.0%)
2. Dominican Republic: 6,356 rooms (8.4%)
3. Cuba: 1,616 rooms (2.5%)
4. Jamaica: 1,425 rooms (5.6%)

The Maldives announces visitor arrivals were up by 14.4% in January.
The Maldives Government’s Ministry of Tourism recently announced that total tourist arrivals grew by 14.4% in January 2020, from 151,552 arrivals in January 2019 to 173,347 arrivals in January of 2020. The number of visitors from China, the number one source market, grew by 23.0%, from 25,804 arrivals in January 2019 to 31,744 in January 2020.

Belize reports stopover arrivals fell by 4.0% in January.
According to the Belize Tourism Board, Belize saw a 4.0% decline in stopover visitor arrivals in January, falling from 50,590 stopovers in January 2019 to 48,554 this year. The number of visitors from the USA fell by 6.2%, falling from 31,511 in January 2019 to 29,548 in January 2020.
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The number of cruise visitors to Belize fell by 5.8% in January, from 165,885 cruise visitors in January 2019 to 156,240 in January of this year.

The USVI saw a 0.1% increase in the number of cruise visitors in January 2020.
According to the USVI Bureau of Economic Research, the USVI saw the volume of cruise visitor arrivals increase by 0.1% in January 2020, growing from 180,817 cruise visitors in January 2019 to 181,088 cruise visitors in January 2020. The number of cruise ship calls decreased from 75 in January 2019 to 72 in January 2020.
 
Costa Rica saw a 5.5% increase in stopover arrivals in December.
According to the Costa Rica Institute of Tourism ICT, Costa Rica saw the volume of stopovers increase by 5.5% in December 2019, growing from 310,002 stopovers in December 2018 to 326,922 stopovers in 2019. The number of stopovers from the USA increased by 7.9% in December 2019, from 130,218 stopovers in December 2018 to 140,547 in December 2019 while the number from Central America fell by 1.7%, from 68,361 in December 2018 to 67,228 in December 2019. In December 2019 stopovers from the USA comprised 43.0% of Costa Rica’s tourist arrivals while those from Central America comprised 20.6%.

During calendar year 2019 the volume of stopovers increased by 4.1%, growing from 3,016,667 stopovers in 2018 to 3,139,008 stopovers in CY 2019. The number of stopovers from the USA increased by 5.5% in 2019, growing from 1,265,067 stopovers in 2018 to 1,334,777 in 2019 while the number from Central America increased by 1.0%, growing from 691,386 in 2018 to 698,601 in 2019. In CY 2019 stopovers from the USA comprised 42.5% of Costa Rica’s tourist arrivals while those from Central America comprised 22.3%. 

Bermuda saw a 3.3% decline in air arrivals in December.
The Bermuda Tourism Authority reports that in December Bermuda saw a 3.3% decline in the volume of total air arrivals, falling from 14,863 air arrivals in December 2018 to 14,367 air arrivals in December 2019. Arrivals from the USA decreased by 5.4%, falling from 10,567 in December 2018 to 9,995 in December 2019. The number of cruise visitors fell by 89.1%, from 7,996 in December 2018 to 69 in December 2019. The number of visitors arriving by yacht also decreased, by 37.3%, falling from 110 in 2018 to 69 in December 2019.

During calendar year 2019 Bermuda saw a 4.4% decline in the volume of total air arrivals, falling from 281,887 air arrivals in 2018 to 269,478 air arrivals in 2019. Air arrivals from the USA decreased by 5.6% in 2019, falling from 214,499 in 2018 to 202,460 in 2019.

The number of cruise visitors increased by 10.6% however, from 484,339 in 2018 to 535,561 in 2019 while the number of visitors arriving by yacht declined by 28.1%, falling from 4,457 in 2018 to 3,203 in 2019.

Jamaica saw a 7.6% increase in stopover arrivals in December.
According to the Jamaica Tourist Board, Jamaica saw the volume of stopover arrivals increase by 7.6% in December 2019, growing from 261,147 arrivals in December 2018 to 281,115 arrivals in December 2019.

Stopover arrivals from the USA grew by 12.4%, from 168,363 visitors in December 2018 to 189,156 visitors in December 2019.

Cruise arrivals fell by 8.9%, from 226,544 cruise visitors in December 2018 to 206,276 cruise visitors in December 2019.

In calendar year 2019 Jamaica saw an 8.4% increase in the volume of stopover arrivals, growing from 2,472,727 stopover arrivals in 2018 to 2,680,920 arrivals in the same twelve months of 2019.

Arrivals from the USA increased by 12.9% in 2019, growing from 1,628,402 arrivals in 2018 to 1,838,904 arrivals in the same twelve months of 2019.

The number of cruise visitors declined by 15.9% in CY 2019, falling from 1,845,873 cruise visitors in 2018 to 1,552,346 cruise visitors in 2019. The number of calls fell from 551 in 2018 to 475 in 2019.

Grenada reports stopover arrivals fell by 8.5% in December.
According to the Grenada Tourism Authority, Grenada saw the volume of stopover arrivals decrease by 8.5% in December 2019, falling from 17,018 arrivals in December 2018 to 15,566 arrivals in December 2019. Stopover arrivals from the USA decreased by 6.0%, falling from 7,913 in December 2018 to 7,435 in December 2019 and fell by 11.6% from the U.K. to 1,897 arrivals.

The number of cruise visitors declined by 10.9%, falling from 68,975 cruise visitors in December 2018 to 61,434 cruise visitors in December 2019. The number of visitors arriving by yacht decreased by 18.8% falling to 2,147 visitors.

In calendar year 2019 Grenada saw a 1.2% increase in the volume of stopover arrivals, growing from 160,970 arrivals in 2018 to 162,902 arrivals in 2019. Arrivals from the USA increased by 1.2% in 2019, growing from 75,574 arrivals in 2018 to 76,510 arrivals in 2019 while arrivals from the U.K. declined by 1.1% in 2019, falling from 25,960 stopovers in 2018 to 25,673 stopovers in 2019.

The number of cruise visitors decreased by 1.4% in 2019, falling from 342,900 cruise visitors in 2018 to 337,940 in 2019. The number of visitors arriving by yacht decreased by 3.1% in 2019, falling from 25,406 arrivals in 2018 to 24,611 in 2019.

Curacao reports stopover arrivals fell by 5.4% in December.
According to the Curaçao Tourist Board, Curaçao saw a 5.4% decrease in stopover visitor arrivals in December, falling from 47,060 stopovers in December 2018 to 44,534 in December of this year. Stopover visitors from the USA fell by 3.8%, from 7,951 visitors in December 2018 to 7,650 visitors in December 2019. Stopover visitors from the Netherlands grew by 2.2%, from 17,999 visitors in December 2018 to 18,400 visitors in December 2019. A number of hotels were closed in December for renovation accounting for much of the decline in USA business.

In calendar year 2019 Curaçao saw a 7.4% increase in the number of stopover visitors, growing from 431,711 visitors in 2018 to 463,685 visitors this year. The number of stopovers from the USA grew by 1.1% during 2019, from 73,260 in 2018 to 74,046 in CY 2019. The number of stopovers from the Netherlands grew by 9.5% during 2019, from 177,044 visitors in 2018 to 193,950 visitors in 2019.

The number of cruise visitors grew by 31.5% in December, from 97,912 visitors in December 2018 to 128,795 visitors in December 2019. During CY 2019 the number of cruise visitors to Curaçao grew by 6.9%, from 757,278 visitors in 2018 to 809,874 visitors in 2019.

Cancun saw a 4.9 percentage point increase in average hotel room occupancy in January to 80.8%.
According to Sedetur, the Department of Tourism of the state of Quintana Roo, the hotels in Cancun/Puerto Morelos saw a 4.9 percentage point increase in average hotel room occupancy in January 2020 to 80.8% compared to 75.9% for January 2019.

The hotels in Riviera Maya however saw their average room occupancy fall by 0.1 percentage points from 79.6% in January 2019 to 79.5% in January this year.

​International air arrivals at Cancun's Airport increased by 3.9% in January 2020 compared with January 2019, growing from 1,513,104 air arrivals in 2018 to 1,572,774 in January 2020.

Riviera Maya has 46,958 hotel rooms while the Cancun/Puerto Morelos area has 40,835 hotel rooms.

Could the Flight Shaming Movement Take Off in the U.S.? JetBlue Thinks So.
The airline is the first American carrier planning to purchase “offsets” for carbon emissions from all domestic flights, a move some activists denounce as a stunt.
BY KRISTOFFER TIGUE - INSIDE CLIMATE NEWS

Watch out U.S. airlines, the flight shaming movement is likely on its way to America. 
That's what the head of New York-based airline JetBlue told investors during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call—the latest sign the aviation industry sees climate change as a growing threat to its business.

"This issue presents a clear and present danger if we don't get on top of it," JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes said on the call late last month. "We've seen that in other geographies, and we should not assume those sentiments won't come to the U.S."

In January, JetBlue became the first major U.S. airline to announce plans to become carbon neutral as a way to assuage customer concerns over the impact of commercial flying on the climate. In a press release, the airline said it hopes by July to offset greenhouse gas emissions from all of its domestic flights by funding projects that help reduce emissions elsewhere.
 
The very notion of "green" flights strikes some climate activists as absurd. Peter Kalmus, a climate scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab and "low-carbon travel" activist, said there's no more potent way hour-for-hour to warm the planet than flying. He considers offset schemes suspect, and he believes offsets might do more harm than good because they make people believe they can fly without contributing to climate change. Kalmus notes that he speaks only on his own behalf, not NASA's. 
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Orlando saw a 1.8 percentage point increase in December in average hotel room occupancy to 75.5%.
According to STR Metro Orlando had 124,000 hotel rooms in December 2019 and achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 75.5% (up 1.8 percentage points compared with December 2018), and an ADR of $135.54 (up 5.6% compared with December 2018).

According to Visit Orlando, Orlando saw the volume of air visitors increase by 8.0% in December 2019, growing from 2,227,612 enplanements in December 2018 to 2,405,621 enplanements in December 2019. This includes enplanements at both Orlando International and Sanford airports.

During 2019 Orlando achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 76.1% (down 2.1 percentage points compared with 2018), and an ADR of $126.95 (up 1.1% compared with 2018). 

In 2019 Orlando saw a 5.9% increase in the volume of enplanements, growing from 25,344,424 in 2018 to 26,829,925 enplanements in calendar year 2019.

How many tourists are too many? Seychelles aims to figure that out.
Is it possible for Seychelles to become too popular? Can the island nation's infrastructure and ecology cope with the growing number of tourists?

A new study in response to the growing number of tourists visiting Seychelles aims to answer those questions. It is being carried out by the Ministry of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine in partnership with consultants from an American based company, Sustainable Travel International and the Seychelles Sustainable Tourism Foundation.

"The report will provide recommendations and will give our current status for us to adopt measures for the future so that the three islands remain sustainable," said Anne Lafortune, the principal secretary of the tourism department.

Tourism is the top contributor to the economy of Seychelles, a group of 115 islands in the western Indian Ocean. Figures released by Seychelles' National Bureau of Statistics show that visitor arrivals for 2019 increased to 384,204, a record high, compared to 351,235 in 2018.

The study, expected by the end of April 2020, is in line with the Seychelles Tourism Master Plan of 2018 which calls for regular tourism capacity studies of major tourist sites in order to regularly review the implications of the growing tourism numbers and to measure their possible impact.
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The study, focusing on the country's three main islands, will also look at the ecological aspect and the impact of tourism development on it.
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Over 500 new hotels to launch across the Latin America region in the next five years.
by Juliana Hahn | 08 Feb 2020 | Projects TopHotelNews
The hotel sector of Latin America is experiencing steady growth with 521 properties set to launch in the coming years. These 521 hotels are expected to add 124,515 rooms to the Latin American hotel market. 

With 229 planned openings and 45,023 new rooms, 2020 will be the busiest year for the Latin American hotel market in terms of hotel launches. 2021 also looks promising with 152 new properties and 33,500 rooms. 56 hotels are slated to open in 2022 while 22 and 62 properties are planned for 2023 and 2024 respectively. 

The focus here is clearly on high-end hotels with 270 properties going for 4 stars and 251 aiming for 5-star certification.

Cancún, one of Mexico’s most popular beach-side destinations, will see 20 hotel launches which will add another 11,427 rooms to an already very well-established market. 

Roughly the size of a small village, the 3,350-room Moon Palace Punta Cana is scheduled to open in early 2023. The new luxury all-inclusive is the first Palace Resorts project in the Dominican Republic. It will include an 18-hole golf course designed by Greg Norman, 20 eateries, 9 bars, 7 swimming pools and a water park, along with a 75-booth wellness spa, a casino and a large convention centre.

In Jamaica, the 800-room Amaterra Resort is already making waves and construction has only just begun. The Amaterra Group recently signed a management agreement for the property with Marriott International. One of the main points both parties agreed on, was to give Jamaican firms and staff preference, both for construction and operations. This step is meant to ensure local people and businesses get to benefit from the island’s growing tourism sector.

The Sam Lord’s Castle Barbados – a Wyndham Grand Resort will be another stunning property guests will love. Set to launch its 450 rooms in late 2020, the resort will be in a spot previously known as a haven for pirates and a site of historically important events. 

Finally, the 351-room Grand Hyatt Grand Cayman hotel and Residences will offer guests a variety of accommodation options including rooms, studio suites and multi-room apartments from early 2021. It will also boast six cafes and restaurants, a spa and fitness centre, three swimming pools, shops and a private screening room. Its 2,300 sqm (25,000 sq. ft) of indoor meeting and event space will be the largest function space in the Cayman Islands.
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The United States Virgin Islands saw a 1.3% increase in air arrivals in November 2019.
According to the USVI Bureau of Economic Research, the USVI saw the volume of air arrivals increase by 1.3% in November 2019, growing from 47,757 air arrivals in November 2018 to 48,398 air arrivals in November 2019.

Through the first eleven months of 2019 the USVI saw the volume of air arrivals increase by 33.4%, from 428,972 air arrivals in the first eleven months of 2018 to 572,164 air arrivals in the first eleven months of 2019.

The USVI were severely impacted by two major hurricanes in November 2017 which significantly reduced the number of available hotel rooms and negatively impacted arrival numbers in late 2017 and early 2018.

The USVI saw a 4.9% increase in the number of cruise visitors in December 2019.
According to the USVI Bureau of Economic Research, the USVI saw the volume of cruise visitor arrivals increase by 4.9% in December 2019, growing from 198,180 cruise visitors in December 2018 to 207,802 cruise visitors in December 2019. The number of cruise ship calls increased from 79 in December 2018 to 83 in December 2019.

During calendar year 2019 the number of cruise visitors increased by 0.2%, from 1,430,702 in 2018 to 1,433,122 in CY 2019 with the number of calls growing from 481 in 2018 to 529 in 2019.

The Bahamas reports stopover arrivals fell by 5.2% in December.
According to the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, The Islands of The Bahamas saw a 5.4% decline in stopover visitor arrivals in December, falling from 159,078 stopovers in December 2018 to 150,739 in December of this year. Nassau/Paradise Island saw a 4.4% increase in stopover traffic, growing from 110,244 stopovers in December 2018 to 115,041 this year while Grand Bahama Island saw a 62.0% decline, falling from 14,083 stopovers in 2018 to 5,356 in December 2019. Stopover traffic to the Out Islands fell by 12.7%, from 34,751 in December 2018 to 30,342 in December 2019. The declines in traffic to Grand Bahama and The Abacos in the Out Islands were a result of devastating Hurricane Dorian which hit those two islands in September 2019. Overall traffic from the USA fell by 3.6% in December, falling from 125,734 in December 2018 to 121,213 stopovers in December 2019.

During 2019 The Bahamas saw a 10.5% increase in the number of stopover visitors, growing from 1,633,445 stopover visitors in 2018 to 1,804,184 stopovers in 2019. Nassau/Paradise Island saw a 17.8% increase in stopover traffic, growing from 1,097,547 stopovers in 2018 to 1,292,424 stopovers in 2019, while Grand Bahama Island saw a 27.1% decline in stopover traffic, falling from 160,546 stopovers in 2018 to 117,102 in 2019. Stopover traffic to the Out Islands increased by 5.1%, from 375,352 visitors in 2018 to 394,658 in the same twelve months of 2019.

The number of visitors from the USA grew by 12.8% in 2019, from 1,304,494 visitors in 2018 to 1,471,807 in 2019. The number of visitors from Canada grew by 5.9%, from 126,843 in 2018 to 134,350 in 2019, while the number of visitors from Europe fell by 2.6%, falling from 122,190 in 2018 to 119,057 in 2019.

The number of cruise visitors grew by 10.0% in December, from 507,681 visitors in December 2018 to 558,587 visitors in December of this year. During CY 2019 the number of cruise visitors to The Bahamas grew by 11.1%, from 4,887,137 visitors in 2018 to 5,429,474 cruise visitors in 2019.

Aruba saw a 3.4% decrease in stopover arrivals in October 2019.
According to the Aruba Tourism Authority (ATA), Aruba saw a 3.4% decrease in stopover visitor arrivals in October, falling from 80,820 stopovers in October 2018 to 78,105 in October 2019. The primary reason was an 83.1% drop in visitors from Venezuela, falling from 4,139 in October 2018 to 699 visitors in October 2019, a drop of 3,440 visitors. Stopover visitors from the USA grew by 8.2% however, from 53,158 in October 2018 to 57,507 in October 2019. The ATA has had some system issues which has delayed the production of the 2019 numbers.

In the first ten months of 2019 Aruba saw a 4.1% increase in the number of stopover visitors, growing from 890,134 visitors in 2018 to 926,946 in 2019. The number of stopovers from the USA grew by 13.3% during the first ten months, from 614,366 in 2018 to 695,966 through October 2019 while the number of visitors from Venezuela fell by 67.7% in the same ten months, from 39,004 in 2018 to 12,591 in 2019.

Cancun saw a 3.9% increase in international air arrivals in January.
According to ASUR, which manages many of Mexico’s airports, Cancun Airport saw a 3.9% increase in international passenger arrivals in January 2020, growing from 1,513,106 arrivals in January 2019 to 1,572,774 arrivals in January 2020. Domestic arrivals grew by 4.4%, from 674,760 visitors in January 2019 to 704,340 visitors in January 2020.

San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU) saw an 11.4% increase in arriving air passengers in January.
According to ASUR, which manages many airports in Mexico, Colombia and which also manages the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, SJU saw an 11.4% increase in passenger traffic in January 2020, growing from 796,878 arrivals in January 2019 to 888,012 arrivals in January 2020.

Los Cabos saw a 9.0% increase in international air arrivals in January.
According to Aeroportuario del Pacifico, which manages many of Mexico’s airports, Los Cabos Airport saw a 9.0% increase in international passenger arrivals in January 2020, growing from 325,600 arrivals in January 2019 to 354,800 arrivals in January 2020. Domestic arrivals grew by 13.1%, from 134,500 visitors in January 2019 to 152,100 in January this year.

Montego Bay, Jamaica saw a 1.4% increase in arriving air passengers in January.
According to Aeroportuario del Pacifico, which manages many of Mexico’s airports and which also manages the airports in Montego Bay and Kingston, Jamaica, saw the number of passengers arriving at Montego Bay Airport increase by 1.4% in January 2020, growing from 439,800 arrivals in January 2019 to 445,800 arrivals in January 2020.

Dubai airport sees first-ever annual drop in passenger traffic in 2019
DOHA (Reuters) - Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest airport for international travelers, handled 86.4 million passengers in 2019, dropping 3.1% from the previous year to post its first annual fall in traffic.

Chief Executive Paul Griffiths said factors behind the drop included a temporary runway closure, the collapse of India's Jet Airways , and the worldwide grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX. The airport lost an estimated potential 3.2 million passengers as a consequence, he said.

Dubai is a popular destination for Indian airlines such as Jet, while flydubai, based at the airport, is a major MAX customer.

Passenger traffic had also disappointed in 2018, when a return to double digit growth had been expected, but instead it grew just 1%, its slowest pace in 15 years.

Aircraft landings and takeoffs fell 8.6% to 373,261 during 2019, while the average number of passengers per flight increased 5.8% to 239.

Passenger traffic increased by 1.3% in the fourth quarter to 21.9 million, with the airport handling on average 7.2 million passengers each month throughout the year.

First quarter passenger traffic is likely to be impacted by the coronavirus outbreak in China, which has led to travel curbs and suspension of flights to and from the world's biggest economy.

The United Arab Emirates, of which Dubai is a part, is suspending all passenger flights to and from mainland China, except Beijing, from Feb. 5.

Google Trends improves ability to forecast Tourism to Bahamas, IMF Study Shows
Online searches can help countries predict tourist visits more accurately and give governments a better read on economies that depend on the industry, an International Monetary Fund analysis showed.

Combining Google Trends data with traditional forecast models improved accuracy of predicted tourist arrivals to the Bahamas from the U.S. by about 30%, according to a working paper by IMF senior economist Serhan Cevik released Friday.
​www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2020/01/31/Where-Should-We-Go-Internet-Searches-and-Tourist-Arrivals-48949

“As tourism is the main engine of economic growth in the Bahamas, accurate forecasting of tourist arrivals is critical for informed decision-making by policy makers and businesses,” Cevik wrote, adding that the findings, consistent with previous studies, indicate search data can aid real-time surveillance and sharpen forecasts. Search data can help the industry better plan and invest, he said.

Improving estimates would help tourism-dependent economies like those across the Caribbean, where the industry employs millions and generates billions of dollars in exports, Cevik wrote. The Bahamas is “extremely dependent on fast-growing tourism,” which contributes about 48% of gross domestic product and 56% of employment, he said.

The study tracked Google queries from January 2004 to December 2018 for search terms including Bahamas in combination with words like travel, beach, hotels, resorts and flights.
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Tourism authority urges limits on development in ‘overburdened’ Cancún
'There is no longer capacity to provide these new complexes with the basic services'

The Cancún hotel zone doesn’t have the capacity to support new developments, according to the head of the National Tourism Promotion Fund (Fonatur).

Rogelio Jiménez Pons said that Fonatur has offered land to developers of two hotels in an attempt to persuade them to move their projects to other destinations because the Caribbean coast resort city is unable to provide the services that new rooms would require, such as water and drainage.

The two projects the tourism fund is trying to stop are the US $1-billion, 3,000-room Grand Island mega-hotel and the 500-room, US $95-million Riu Riviera Cancún, whose construction was halted in 2016 due to environmental concerns but subsequently got the green light to proceed.

President López Obrador and Tourism Secretary Miguel Torruco announced in October that the former project, approved by the Secretariat of the Environment last July, was going ahead.

However, Jiménez said that Fonatur has now offered land to the developers of the Grand Island and the Riviera Cancún in other destinations “where new hotel investment really is needed,” such as Huatulco, Oaxaca, and other resort cities that were developed by the tourism fund as planned projects.
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Sharp 2019 Occupancy Decline for Dominican Republic Resorts
Dominican Republic resorts posted a 71.6 percent average occupancy rate in 2019, a six percent year-over-year decline compared with 2018 according to the Association of Hotels and Tourism of the Dominican Republic (ASONAHORES).

Tourism officials linked the downturn to the “collapse” of U.S. visitor arrivals following the country’s struggles with issues related to safety and security last year.

ASONAHORES data published by the Dominican Republic’s Central Bank reports that resorts in the Romana and Bayahibe regions registered the country’s highest occupancy rate in 2019 (79.7 percent), followed by Punta Cana and Bávaro, districts (76.2 percent), which feature a concentration of large all-inclusive resorts.

Punta Cana and Bávaro declined by more than seven percentage points in 2019 after posting an 83.35 percent average occupancy in 2018.
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Dubai focuses on creating a sense of place.
Dubai became known for its gargantuan architectural gymnastics and mega shopping malls earlier this century. Today it is increasingly being recognised for its manufactured urban precincts, and large-scale events and festivals. Behind this shift has been an approach to urban development that prioritises the visitor’s experience.

As branding consultant Hadley Newman explains, visitors to Dubai:
…are seeking an experience, they want to take it home with them, or look back on an event as something like a new adventure – one that they may never have a chance to do again. People expect a complete experience that is distinctive in each place.

Placemaking is playing a key role in all this. Advocates for placemaking in the Western world articulate it as a bottom-up process generating activated, inclusive and enriching urban spaces.

In Dubai, however, autocratic ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum is driving top-down placemaking of key urban projects. In a bid to turn Dubai into one of the cultural epicentres of the world, in 2014 he urged:

Let us work as one team to transform our city into a cultural hub that attracts creative artists … a vibrant place for all.
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Caribbean hotels achieved a record ADR in 2019.
According to data from STR the Caribbean hotel industry reported lower occupancy but record-breaking average daily rate (ADR) and revenue per available room (RevPAR) during 2019.

Compared with 2018:

• Occupancy fell by 1.8 percentage points, from 65.5% to 63.7%
• ADR grew by 5.6% to US$218.82
• RevPAR grew by 2.8% to US$139.45

The absolute occupancy level was the lowest in the Caribbean since 2011, but the ADR and RevPAR values were the highest for any year on record in the region. 

“Despite six straight months of RevPAR declines between June and November, Caribbean hotels were able to reach a slight increase in December to end the year on a positive note,” said Rico Louw, STR’s client account manager. “The decline in performance during those earlier months was likely due to the effects of Hurricane Dorian and the negative perception impact that followed, as well as continued supply growth in the region. Hoteliers have been able to maintain rates despite an abundance of new supply and muted demand.”

In absolute values, March was the Caribbean’s top-performing month for each of the three key performance metrics: occupancy (75.0%), ADR (US$276.08) and RevPAR (US$207.13). February and January were the highest RevPAR growth months at +10.6% and +10.4%, respectively. 

September was the lowest month of the year for occupancy (47.1%), ADR (US$148.53) and RevPAR (US$70.01) as well as the worst month for RevPAR comparisons (-6.2%). 

When looking at individual islands, Turks & Caicos Islands experienced the highest rise in occupancy (+4.3% to 62.7%) and RevPAR (+12.8% to US$653.75). 

The Cayman Islands posted the largest lift in ADR (+8.3% to US$466.06). 

Dominican Republic saw the steepest declines in each of the three key performance metrics: occupancy (-8.0% to 67.7%), ADR (-3.5% to US$136.10) and RevPAR (-11.2% to US$92.12). Performance levels were pressured by supply growth (+2.6%) in addition to lost demand (-5.6%), and the island continues to lead the region in construction activity with 5,403 rooms being built. 

There are 1,980 hotels in the Caribbean region offering 259,538 rooms.  As of December 2019, there are 13,033 rooms under construction in the region, a 5.0% expansion in overall room inventory.
 
Las Vegas saw a 6.1% increase in visitors in December.
According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Las Vegas saw the volume of visitors increase by 6.1% in December 2019, growing from 3,267,600 visitors in December 2018 to 3,465,700 arrivals in December 2019. The primary reason for the strong growth was a 61% increase in convention attendance compared with December 2018, growing from 221,800 convention attendees in December 2018 to 356,100 in December 2019.

Las Vegas had 149,422 hotel rooms in December 2019 (up 1.5% compared with December 2018) and achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 85.1% (up 5.2 percentage points compared with December 2018), an ADR of $125.08 (up 4.4% compared with December 2018) and a RevPar of $106.44, up 11.2% also compared with December 2018.

During calendar year 2019 Las Vegas saw a 1.0% increase in the volume of visitors, growing from 42,116,800 arrivals in CY 2018 to 42,523,700 visitors in the same twelve months of 2019.
Las Vegas achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 88.9% in 2019 (up 0.7 percentage points compared with CY 2018), an ADR of $132.62 (up 2.9% compared with 2018) and a RevPar of $117.90, up 3.8%, also compared with the same twelve months of 2018.

Gaming revenue grew by 1.0% in 2019, from $10.255 billion in 2018 to $10.355 billion in the same twelve months of 2019.

Hawaii saw a 6.7% increase in air arrivals in December, while total tourist spending grew by 10.5%.
According to the Hawaii Tourism Authority, Hawaii saw the volume of air arrivals increase by 6.7% in December 2019, growing from 883,453 arrivals in December 2018 to 942,969 arrivals in December 2019. Air arrivals from the USA grew by 9.4%, from 580,059 in December 2018 to 634,620 in December 2019, grew by 7.3% from Japan (to 136,998 air arrivals). Air arrivals fell by 7.7% from Canada (to 64,353 air arrivals). Tourist spending in December grew by 10.5% to $1.754 billion.

During calendar year 2019 Hawaii saw a 5.3% increase in the volume of air arrivals, growing from 9,761,448 arrivals in CY 2018 to 10,282,160 air arrivals in CY 2019. Air arrivals from the USA increased by 7.9% in 2019, growing from 6,377,352 air arrivals in 2018 to 6,879,214 air arrivals in 2019, grew by 3.8% from Japan (to 1,545,806 air arrivals) and fell by 2.4% from Canada (to 535,267 air arrivals).

Total tourist spending by air visitors increased by 1.4% in CY 2019, growing from $17.464 billion in 2018 to $17.702 billion in 2019. Average spend per visitor per day fell by 1.5%, from $199.10 per day in 2018 to $196.20 in 2019, while average spend per person per trip fell by 3.8%, from $1,789.10 in 2018 to $1,721.60 in 2019.

In 2019 32.0% of Hawaii’s tourists were visiting for the first time with 68.0% having visited the state before, down slightly from 2018 when 32.9% were visiting for the first time.

Air visitors stayed 8.78 days on average in 2019, down 2.4% from 2018 when they stayed 8.99 days. The average party size was 2.2 persons in 2019, unchanged from 2018.

International air arrivals to Mexico grew by 2.6% in December.
According to the Government of Mexico’s SECTUR (Department of Tourism) the volume of international air arrivals to Mexico grew by 2.6% in December 2019 from 1,906,226 in December 2018 to 1,955,467 in December 2019. The volume of air arrivals from the USA grew by 2.1% in December, to 1,081,560, with the volume from Canada growing by 4.6%, to 304,291. These two markets generated 70.9% of all international air arrivals in December 2019.

In calendar year 2019 the volume of international air arrivals to Mexico grew by 1.8%, from 18,708,914 in 2018 to 19,043,309 in CY 2019. The volume of air arrivals from the USA grew by 0.1% in the same twelve months, to 10,511,405 while the volume from Canada grew by 7.2%, to 2,309,526. These two markets generated 67.3% of all international air arrivals in 2019.

Cuba announces total visitor arrivals fell by 16.8% in December.
The Cuban Government’s Office of National Statistics and Information (ONEI) recently announced that total tourist arrivals fell by 16.8% in December 2019, from 454,890 arrivals in December 2018 to 378,690 arrivals in December of 2019. This number includes both stopover visitors and cruise visitors.

The number of visitors from the USA fell by 62.6%, from 61,091 arrivals in December 2018 to 22,832 in the same month of 2019 (Note: this would include cruise visitors). The number of visitors from the number one market, Canada, grew by 7.6%, from 120,029 arrivals in December 2018 to 129,178 in December 2019. Arrivals from Europe decreased in December with traffic from Germany down by 23.8%, from France down by 17.6%, from the U.K. down by 67.6%, from Italy down by 15.3% and from Spain down by 4.6%. Traffic from Russia was up by 61.2% however, from 15,798 arrivals in December 2018 to 25,462 in December 2019.

In calendar year 2019 Cuba saw a 9.3% decrease in total arrivals, falling from 4,711,910 in 2018 to 4,275,558 in 2019. Total tourist arrivals from the USA, which comprised 11.6% of all arrivals, fell by 21.9% from 637,907 in 2018 to 498,067 in CY 2019. This decline is primarily due to additional restrictions placed on U.S. travel to Cuba by the U.S. government in the middle of 2019. Arrivals from Canada, which comprised 26.2% of all tourist arrivals, grew by 0.9%, from 1,109,339 in 2018 to 1,119,853 in CY 2019.
 
US Consumer confidence grew in January 2020 to stand at 131.6
The US based Consumer Board reported that US consumer confidence grew by 2.6% in January with its index growing from 128.2 (revised) in December to 131.6 this January (1985 = 100). They further reported that 40.8% of consumers surveyed in January said that business conditions were good, up from 39.0% in December. They also reported that 18.8% expected that business conditions would improve in the next six months, down slightly from 18.9% in December.
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Aruba saw a 3.1% decrease in stopover arrivals in September 2019.
According to the Aruba Tourism Authority (ATA), Aruba saw a 3.1% decrease in stopover visitor arrivals in September, falling from 76,017 stopovers in September 2018 to 73,628 in September 2019. The primary reason was an 81.7% drop in visitors from Venezuela, falling from 5,519 in September 2018 to 1,011 visitors in September 2019, a drop of 4,508 visitors. Stopover visitors from the USA grew by 10.8% however, from 47,277 in September 2018 to 52,401 in September 2019. The ATA has had some system issues which has delayed the production of the 2019 numbers.

In the first nine months of 2019 Aruba saw a 4.9% increase in the number of stopover visitors, growing from 809,314 visitors in 2018 to 848,841 in 2019. The number of stopovers from the USA grew by 13.8% during the first nine months, from 561,208 in 2018 to 638,459 through September 2019 while the number of visitors from Venezuela fell by 65.9% in the same nine months, from 34,865 in 2018 to 11,892 in 2019.

U.S. citizens’ outbound travel from the USA to the Caribbean fell by 3.4% in October.
The United States Government’s Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration’s National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) recently released the figures for U.S. citizens outbound travel from the USA to International Regions for the month of October 2019 as well as the first ten months of 2019.

While overall travel by US citizens to international regions was up by 10.4% in October travel by US citizens to the Caribbean fell by 3.4% from 537,150 in October 2018 to 519,048 in October of this year, a decline of 18,102 visitors.

This was largely due to a 26.6% drop in travel by residents of the USA to the Dominican Republic in October, which fell by 32,459 in October 2019 compared to October of the previous year.

The NTTO does not include travel by US citizens to either Puerto Rico or the USVI in their total for the Caribbean as both are deemed to be domestic destinations for the purposes of their study.

The overall number of trips taken by US citizens to international destinations increased by 7.6% in the first ten months of 2019 compared to the same ten months of 2018, growing from 77.5 million trips in 2018 to 83.4 million trips in 2019.

While the Caribbean saw good growth comparing the first six months of 2019 with the same six months of 2018, growth slowed significantly in the third quarter with the onset of the sharp decline in US travel to the Dominican Republic which was down from the US by 24.6% in July, down 24.4% in August, down 33.0% in September and down 26.6% in October.
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Why Tourism Should Die—and Why It Won’t
"Sustainable" travel is an oxymoron.
By CHUCK THOMPSON
New Republic : January 24, 2020
These aren’t easy days for travel touts. The class of journalists who enjoy comped experiences at Hawaiian resorts and Michelin-starred restaurants don’t normally generate a lot of public compassion. But I couldn’t help feeling a few pangs of sympathy for the writers and editors who put together The New York Times’ recent Travel package “52 Places to Go in 2020.”

This is the annual feature meant to draw visitors to heretofore-neglected world gems. Far more apparent in this year’s roundup, however, was the running theme of “responsible tourism.” Words like “sustainability,” “green,” and “conservation” were shoved into every other euphoric blurb like the last pair of shoes jammed into a suitcase already bursting at its zippers. In Sicily, grassroots groups have pledged to use less plastic. In Uganda, proceeds from gorilla trekking permits go toward conservation efforts. Read the piece front to back and you might conclude the entire planet has morphed into one giant, eco-friendly playground, with new nonstop service to Ulaanbaatar and Lima making access easier than ever. 

It’s all bullshit, of course. A 2018 study published in the journal Nature Climate Change announced tourism alone—that’s nonessential pleasure travel—is responsible for 8 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. The traveling public is freaking out. It knows about flight shaming; it loves Greta Thunberg; and it’s ready to bid au revoir to Volvic, Dasani, and plastic straws. But it still wants to sit on a beach in Aruba. 
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David Jessop | Reimagining The Caribbean’s Identity
 The Caribbean has the potential to do much more to develop its identity, spur growth, soft power and competitiveness, if its citizens reimagine the future of its countries and cities.
This is in part the message contained in the fascinating recently published book Brand Jamaica: Reimagining a National Image and Identity edited by Hume Johnson and Kamille Gentles-Peart which follows from a symposium held at the University of the West Indies in late 2017: ‘Reimagine Jamaica: Unlimited Possibilities’.

The book, suggests that there is a need to interrogate, deconstruct and reimagine the ways that the country’s national image has been created.

Its editors and contributors suggest that up to now Jamaica’s image and brand has been created by a top-down elite and an approach that is grounded in destination tourism. Citizens’ role in the making of the national image and identity they argue, has at best been limited and is in danger of being supplanted by what tourism would have us believe.

This is an idea that’s time is now. It accords with the view of an increasing number of younger undergraduates and graduates in the region who are worried about tourism and its impact, not just on the environment but on the Caribbean’s identity.
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Hotel occupancy in Hawai'i grew by 0.9 percentage points in 2019 to 81.2%
During calendar year 2019 Hawai'i's hotels saw RevPAR rise by 3.6% to $229.32 with ADR growing by 2.5% to $282.56 and with occupancy growing by 0.9 percentage points to 81.2% compared with CY 2018.

In 2019, statewide hotel room revenues were $4.49 billion, 1.8% higher than in 2018. There were nearly 356,000 fewer available room nights (-1.8%) and more than 111,000 fewer occupied room nights (- 0.7%) compared to 2018. Several hotel properties across the state were closed for renovation or had rooms out of service for renovation during 2019. 
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Hotels in Hawai’i saw a 4.1 percentage increase in average room occupancy in December to reach 80.2%.
According to the Hawai‘i Hotel Performance Report published by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA), hotel performance was strong statewide in December 2019.

RevPAR statewide grew by 12.5% to $282. 36, with ADR growing by 6.8% to $352.12 and occupancy growing by 4.1 percentage points to of 80.2%.

HTA’s Tourism Research Division issued the report’s findings utilizing data compiled by STR, Inc., which conducts the largest and most comprehensive survey of hotel properties in the Hawaiian Islands.

In December Hawai‘i hotel room revenues statewide increased by 11.7% to $469.2 million. There were nearly 58,000 more occupied room nights (+4.5%) and nearly 13,000 fewer available room nights (-0.8%) compared to December 2018. Several hotel properties across the state were closed for renovation or had rooms out of service for renovation during December. However, the number of rooms out of service may be under-reported. 
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Saint Lucia saw a 5.2% increase in stopover arrivals in December.
According to the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, Saint Lucia saw the volume of stopover arrivals increase by 5.2% in December 2019, growing from 41,428 arrivals in December 2018 to 43,569 arrivals in December 2019.

Stopover arrivals from the USA grew by 11.0%, from 17,314 visitors in December 2018 to 19,220 visitors in December 2019 and by 0.6% from the U.K., growing from 8,013 arrivals in December 2018 to 8,059 arrivals in December 2019. The number of cruise visitors grew by 0.9% in December, from 131,608 in December 2018 to 132,766 in December 2019.

In calendar year 2019 Saint Lucia saw a 7.3% increase in the volume of stopover arrivals, growing from 394,780 arrivals in 2018 to 423,736 arrivals in 2019. Arrivals from the USA increased by 9.5% in CY 2019, growing from 175,073 arrivals in 2018 to 191,719 arrivals in 2019 while arrivals from the U.K. grew by 6.2%, growing from 78,805 stopovers in 2018 to 83,669 stopovers in 2019. The number of cruise visitors grew by 3.5% during 2019, from 760,306 in 2018 to 786,743 in 2019 while the number of visitors arriving by yacht grew by 4.2%, from 63,596 in 2018 to 66,272 in 2019.

Dubai saw a 6.8% increase in international visitors in December.
According to the Government of Dubai’s Statistics Center, Dubai saw a 6.8% increase in the number of international visitors in December, growing from 1,620,000 visitors in December of 2018 to 1,730,000 in December of this year.

In calendar year 2019 Dubai saw a 5.1% increase in the number of international visitors growing from 15,920,000 visitors in 2018 to 16,730,000 in the same twelve months of 2019. The number one market, India, saw a 3.2% decline in visitors, falling from 2,032,000 visitors in 2018 to 1,970,000 in the same twelve months of 2019, while the number of visitors from South Africa, the number two market, fell by 0.2% to 1,565,000 visitors.

In calendar year 2019 the average room occupancy of Dubai’s 741 hotels and apartments fell by one percentage point to 75%. This was partially due to an 8.8% increase in the total number of rooms, which grew to 126,120 rooms/units. Guests stayed, on average 3.4 nights, and the hotels and apartments achieved an ADR of US$112.05 down 10.7% from the same twelve months of 2018.

The UNWTO reports a 3.8% growth in international tourist arrivals in 2019
Initial estimates published in the UNWTO’s Tourism Barometer for January 2020 indicate international tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) grew 3.8% in 2019, growing from 1.407 billion arrivals in 2018 to an estimated 1.461 billion arrivals in 2019, an increase of 54 million trips. This represents a growth rate of 3.8% in line with the annual average of 4% for the last ten years (2008 - 2018) and outpaced the 2019 growth in the global economy (+3.0%).

The Middle East (+7.6%) led growth, followed by Asia and the Pacific (4.6%) and Africa (4.2%). Europe (+3.7%) and the Americas (+2.0%) enjoyed more moderate increases.

The Caribbean posted a 4.9% growth rate in 2019. While growth was up 15.1% in the first quarter and up 8.1% in the second quarter, growth fell by 3.9% in the third quarter of 2019 as a result of issues in Cuba and the Dominican Republic as well as the impact of Hurricane Dorian in The Bahamas, and continued to decline in the fourth quarter, by 0.7% as the decline in arrivals to Cuba and the Dominican Republic persisted.

It is thought that the global economic slowdown, trade tensions and rising geopolitical challenges, social unrest, prolonged uncertainty about Brexit and lower business confidence have weighed on growth in international tourism.

As per the main source markets, the United States led growth in international tourism expenditure in absolute terms, supported by a strong dollar. France reported the strongest increase among the top ten markets, reflecting for the second consecutive year a surging demand while China, the world’s top source market saw outbound trips increased by 14% in the first half of 2019, though expenditure fell 4% compared to the same period last year.
For more information go to: www.e-unwto.org/loi/wtobarometereng
 
UNWTO forecasts a 3% - 4% increase in international tourist traffic in 2020
The UNWTO’s Tourism Barometer for January 2020 forecasts international tourism will continue to grow in 2020.

They state that economic growth is projected to pick up to 3.4% in 2020 from 3.0% in 2019 according to the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook update of October 2019, reflecting primarily an improvement in the number of emerging markets in Latin America, the Middle East, and Europe. Yet with uncertainty about prospects for several of these countries, projected slowdown in China and the United States, and prominent downside risks, a much more subdued ace of global activity could well materialize.

The latest UNWTO Confidence Index shows a cautious optimism for 2020: 47% of UNWTO Panel Experts believe tourism will perform better and 43% that it will perform at the same level as in 2019.

Based on current trends, economic prospects and the UNWTO Confidence Index the UNWTO forecasts a growth of 3% to 4% in international tourist arrivals worldwide in 2020, keeping the same positive pace of 2019.

However, prospects may be affected by a worsening of the economic scenario as well as of current trade and geopolitical tensions. Brexit’s impact on Europe could affect Euro area countries and benefit destinations outside the Eurozone, as was the case towards the end of 2019. Trade, social and geopolitical tensions may affect prospects for Latin America, Asia and the Pacific and the Middle East.

As in previous occasions external shocks happening in specific countries may lead to a redistribution of trips to other destinations.

In a more favorable scenario , the Brexit transition, the first phase of the US-China trade deal and the gradual improvement of the social environment, could give more clearer signs to the economy as tensions unwind.

Also, on a positive note, a number of major sports and cultural events taking place in 2020, including the Tokyo Summer Olympics, the Dubai Expo 2020 and the Beethoven 2020 Year in Germany, are expected to drive demand.​
For more information go to: www.e-unwto.org/loi/wtobarometereng

The Cayman Islands saw a 4.2% increase in stopover arrivals in December.
According to the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism, the Cayman Islands saw the volume of stopover arrivals increase by 4.2% in December 2019, growing from 52,017 arrivals in December 2018 to 54,188 arrivals in December 2019.
Stopover arrivals from the USA grew by 5.3%, from 40,923 in December 2018 to 43,086 in December 2019.

Cruise arrivals grew by 8.6%, from 195,338 cruise visitors in December 2018 to 212,061 cruise visitors in December 2019.

During calendar year 2019 the Cayman Islands saw an 8.6% increase in the volume of stopover arrivals, growing from 463,001 arrivals in 2018 to 502,739 arrivals in the same twelve months of 2019.

Arrivals from the USA increased by 8.6% in CY 2019, growing from 385,319 arrivals in 2018 to 418,612 arrivals in the same twelve months of 2019.

The number of cruise visitors declined by 4.7% in CY 2019, falling from 1,921,057 cruise visitors in 2018 to 1,831,011 cruise visitors this year.

Cancun saw a 1.0 percentage point increase in average hotel room occupancy in December to 80.4%.
According to Sedetur, the Department of Tourism of the state of Quintana Roo, the hotels in Cancun/Puerto Morelos saw a 1.0 percentage point increase in average hotel room occupancy in December 2019 to 80.4% compared to 79.4% for December 2018.

The hotels in Riviera Maya also saw their average room occupancy increase by 0.8 percentage points from 79.3% in December 2018 to 80.1% in December this year.

Through calendar year 2019 the hotels in Cancun/Puerto Morelos achieved a 76.7% average room occupancy, down 3.2 percentage points from the 79.9% achieved in 2018.

The hotels in Riviera Maya achieved an average room occupancy of 78.0%, down 2.4 percentage points from the 80.4% achieved in 2018, also for calendar year 2019.

Riviera Maya has 46,958 hotel rooms while the Cancun/Puerto Morelos area has 40,835 hotel rooms.

Orlando saw a 1.5 percentage point increase in average room occupancy in November to 76.5%.
According to STR Orlando had 128,000 hotel rooms in November 2019 and achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 76.5% (up 1.5 percentage points compared with November 2018), and an ADR of $125.50 (up 4.8% compared with November 2018).

According to Visit Orlando, Orlando saw the volume of air visitors increase by 2.8% in November 2019, growing from 4,310,407 air visitors in November 2018 to 4,430,674 air visitors in November 2019. This includes arrivals at both Orlando International and Sanford airports.

In the first eleven months of 2019 Orlando achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 76.1% (down 2.5 percentage points compared with 2018), and an ADR of $126.16 (up 0.7% compared with 2018). 
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In the first eleven months of 2019 Orlando saw a 6.0% increase in the volume of air visitors, growing from 46,251,619 air arrivals in 2018 to 49,046,785 air visitors in the first eleven months of 2019.

Mauritius announces stopover visitor arrivals fell by 3.8% in December.
The Mauritius Government’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Development recently announced that total stopover arrivals fell by 3.8% in December 2019, from 158,043 arrivals in December 2018 to 152,098 arrivals in December of this year. This number includes both air and sea stopover visitors. The number of visitors from France, the number one market, increased by 6.7%, from 32,869 arrivals in December 2018 to 35,081 in the same month of 2019.

In calendar year 2019 Mauritius saw a 1.1% decline in total stopover arrivals, falling from 1,399,408 arrivals in 2018 to 1,383,488 arrivals in 2019. Total stopover arrivals from France grew by 5.8% from 285,371 in 2018 to 302,038 arrivals in the same twelve months of 2019.

The Maldives announces visitor arrivals were up by 13.6% in December.
The Maldives Government’s Ministry of Tourism recently announced that total tourist arrivals grew by 13.6% in December 2019, from 150,818 arrivals in December 2018 to 171,348 arrivals in December of 2019. The number of visitors from China, the number one source market, fell by 3.5%, from 16,740 arrivals in December 2018 to 16,154 in December 2019.
In calendar year 2019 The Maldives saw a 14.7% increase in total arrivals, from 1,484,274 in 2018 to 1,702,887 this year. Total tourist arrivals from China grew by 0.3% from 283,116 in 2018 to 284,029 in CY 2019.

The Maldives has seen the overall number of accommodation establishments in operation grow by 14.0% from 813 in December 2018 to 927 establishments in December 2019. The number of beds increased by 19.2% from 41,887 in December 2018 to 49,924 in December 2019. Through the end of December overall average room occupancy has grown by 0.2 percentage points from 62.1% in 2018 to 62.3% in 2019.

Of the 927 establishments 152 were resorts which offered 35,527 beds (71.0% of the overall number of beds). These resorts achieved a 74.1% average room occupancy during 2019 down from 74.6% for the 12 months of 2018. In December 2018 there were 136 resorts offering 30,696 beds, with the number of resorts increasing by 11.8% in 2019 and the number of beds up by 15.7%.

Grenada reports stopover arrivals fell by 2.5% in November.
According to the Grenada Tourism Authority, Grenada saw the volume of stopover arrivals decrease by 2.5% in November 2019, falling from 12,489 arrivals in November 2018 to 12,179 arrivals in November 2019. Stopover arrivals from the USA decreased by 3.2%, falling from 5,574 in November 2018 to 5,397 in November 2019 but increased by 5.9% from the U.K. to 2,417 arrivals. The number of cruise visitors declined by 3.3%, falling from 48,649 cruise visitors in November 2018 to 47,049 cruise visitors in November 2019. The number of visitors arriving by yacht decreased by 6.0% falling to 1,510 visitors.

In the first eleven months of 2019 Grenada saw a 2.3% increase in the volume of stopover arrivals, growing from 143,952 arrivals in 2018 to 147,315 arrivals in 2019. Arrivals from the USA increased by 2.1% in 2019, growing from 67,661 arrivals in 2018 to 69,074 arrivals in 2019 while arrivals from the U.K. declined by 0.2% in 2019, falling from 23,815 stopovers in 2018 to 23,775 stopovers in 2019. The number of cruise visitors increased by 0.9% in 2019, growing from 273,925 cruise visitors in 2018 to 276,507 in 2019. The number of visitors arriving by yacht decreased by 1.3% in the first eleven months of 2019, falling from 22,763 arrivals in 2018 to 22,464 this year.

Punta Cana saw a 16.4% decrease in stopover arrivals in December.
According to the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic, saw the volume of non-resident stopover arrivals decrease by 16.4% in December, falling from 354,705 arrivals in December 2018 to 296,457 arrivals in December 2019. This follows a 22.8% decline in such arrivals in July, an 18.2% decline in August, a 26.9% decline in September, a 27.1% decline in October and a 17.0% decline in November.

Stopover arrivals from the USA fell by 38.3% in December, from 123,797 arrivals in December 2018 to 76,351 arrivals in December 2019 and accounted for 81% of the decline in arrivals. This follows a 36.3% decline in US arrivals in July, a 34.5% decline in August, a 50.8% decline in September, a 46.2% decline in October and a 36.0% decline in November.

Arrivals from Russia fell by 61.1%, from 18,469 in December 2018 to 7,181 in December 2019 (although this was partly due to charter flights being moved from Punta Cana to La Romana). Traffic was also down 33.7% from Germany, down 20.3% from France and down 5.9% from Brazil. However, arrivals were up 11.7% from Canada and by 7.8% from the U.K.

During calendar year 2019 Punta Cana saw a 10.1% decrease in the volume of stopover arrivals, falling from 3,921,351 arrivals in CY 2018 to 3,524,435 arrivals CY 2019.

Arrivals from the USA fell by 13.7% in 2019, falling from 1,595,070 arrivals in 2018 to 1,376,584 arrivals in CY 2019. Arrivals from Russia fell by 67.0% in the same period, from 191,903 in 2018 to 63,401 in 2019. Traffic was also down 20.8% from Germany, down 16.7% from Brazil, down 11.2% from Argentina, down 7.6% from the U.K. and down 1.9% from Canada. However, arrivals from France were up by 1.1%.

Stopover arrivals to Punta Cana made up 54.7% of all non-resident arrivals to the Dominican Republic in 2019.

The Dominican Republic saw a 5.3% decline in stopover arrivals in December.
According to the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, the Dominican Republic saw the volume of non-resident stopover arrivals decrease by 5.3% in December, falling from 659,008 arrivals in December 2018 to 624,268 arrivals in December 2019. This follows an 11.2% decline in such arrivals in July, a 7.5% decline in August, an 11.4% decline in September, a 10.3% decline in October and a 4.9% decline in November.

Stopover arrivals from the USA fell by 25.1%, from 195,173 arrivals in December 2018 to 146,269 arrivals in December 2019.  This follows a 24.6% decline in US arrivals in July, a 24.4% decline in August, a 33.0% decline in September, a 26.6% decline in October and a 21.9% decline in November.

In calendar year 2019 the Dominican Republic saw a 1.9% decrease in the volume of stopover arrivals, falling from 6,568,888 arrivals in CY 2018 to 6,446,036 arrivals in CY 2019.
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Arrivals from the USA decreased by 6.3% in 2019, falling from 2,334,987 arrivals in 2018 to 2,186,722 arrivals in 2019

Jamaica saw a 3.2% increase in stopover arrivals in November.
According to the Jamaica Tourist Board, Jamaica saw the volume of stopover arrivals increase by 3.2% in November 2019, growing from 196,546 arrivals in November 2018 to 202,783 arrivals in November 2019. Stopover arrivals from the USA grew by 7.8%, from 124,886 visitors in November 2018 to 134,614 visitors in November 2019.

Cruise arrivals fell by 27.2%, from 173,291 cruise visitors in November 2018 to 126,136 cruise visitors in November 2019.

Through the first eleven months of 2019 Jamaica saw an 8.5% increase in the volume of stopover arrivals, growing from 2,211,580 stopover arrivals in the first eleven months of 2018 to 2,399,805 arrivals in the same eleven months of 2019. Arrivals from the USA increased by 13.0% in the first eleven months of 2019, growing from 1,460,039 arrivals in 2018 to 1,649,748 arrivals in the same eleven months of 2019.

The number of cruise visitors declined by 16.9% in the first eleven months of 2019, falling from 1,619,329 cruise visitors in 2018 to 1,346,070 cruise visitors in 2019.

Belize reports stopover arrivals grew by 2.1% in December.
According to the Belize Tourism Board, Belize saw a 2.1% increase in stopover visitor arrivals in December, growing from 54,551 stopovers in December 2018 to 55,674 this year.
The number of cruise visitors fell by 17.2% in December, from 150,221 cruise visitors in December 2018 to 124,440 cruise visitors this year.

In calendar year 2019 Belize saw a 2.8% increase in the number of stopover visitors, growing from 489,261 stopover visitors in 2018 to 503,077 stopovers in CY 2019. The number of visitors from the USA grew by 1.9%, from 320,221 in CY 2018 to 326,271 in CY 2019.
In calendar year 2019 the number of cruise visitors to Belize fell by 3.1%, from 1,208,137 cruise visitors in 2018 to 1,171,098 in CY 2019.

​International air arrivals to Mexico grew by 3.2% in November.
According to the Government of Mexico’s SECTUR (Department of Tourism) the volume of international air arrivals to Mexico grew by 3.2% in November 2019 from 1,519,471 in November 2018 to 1,567,442 in November 2019. The volume of air arrivals from the USA grew by 2.2% in November, to 814,008, with the volume from Canada growing by 12.1%, to 237,854 These two markets generated 67.1% of all international air arrivals in November 2019.

In the first eleven months of 2019 the volume of international air arrivals to Mexico grew by 1.7%, from 16,802,688 in 2018 to 17,087,842 in the first eleven months of this year. The volume of air arrivals from the USA fell by 0.1% in the same eleven months, to 9,429,844 while the volume from Canada grew by 7.5%, to 2,005,235. These two markets generated 66.9% of all international air arrivals in the first eleven months of 2019.

The Seychelles announces stopover visitor arrivals grew by 7.4% in December.
The Seychelles Government’s National Bureau of Statistics recently announced that total stopover arrivals increased by 7.4% in December 2019, from 36,216 arrivals in December 2018 to 38,910 arrivals in December 2019. This number includes both air and sea stopover visitors. The number of visitors from Germany, the number one market, grew by 8.5%, from 8,212 arrivals in December 2018 to 8,913 arrivals in the same month of 2019. The number of cruise visitors declined by 8.0%, from 9,155 in December 2018 to 8,423 cruise visitors in December 2019.

In calendar year 2019 The Seychelles saw a 6.2% increase in total stopover arrivals, from 361,844 arrivals in 2018 to 384,204 in 2019. Total stopover arrivals from Germany grew by 18.2% from 61,339 in CY 2018 to 72,509 arrivals in CY 2019. The number of cruise visitors increased by 1.3%, from 43,375 in CY 2018 to 43,918 cruise visitors in CY 2019.

Cancun saw a 2.7% increase in international air arrivals in December.
According to ASUR, which manages many of Mexico’s airports, Cancun Airport saw a 2.7% increase in international passenger arrivals in December 2019, growing from 1,484,853 arrivals in December 2018 to 1,525,467 arrivals in December 2019. Domestic arrivals fell by 2.2%, from 787,311 visitors in December 2018 to 770,284 visitors in December 2019.

In calendar year 2019 the volume of international air arrivals increased by 0.5%, growing from 16,424,506 arrivals in 2018 to 16,501,592 in 2019 while the volume of domestic air arrivals grew by 2.3%, from 8,777,510 in 2018 to 8,980,397 in CY 2019.

San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU) saw a 19.6% increase in arriving air passengers in December.
According to ASUR, which manages many airports in Mexico, Colombia and which also manages the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, SJU saw a 19.6% increase in passenger traffic in December 2019, growing from 784,054 arrivals in December 2018 to 937,716 arrivals in December 2019.

In calendar year 2019 the overall volume of air arrivals increased by 12.8%, from 8,373,679 in 2018 to 9,448,253 in 2019.

Aruba saw a 30.2% increase in the number of cruise visitors in December.
Aruba saw the volume of cruise visitor arrivals increase by 30.2% in December 2019, growing from 97,095 cruise visitors in December 2018 to 126,42 cruise visitors in December 2019. The number of cruise ship calls grew from 42 in December 2018 to 50 in December 2019.

In calendar year 2019 the number of cruise visitors grew by 2.1%, from 815,161 in 2018 to 832,001 in 2019 with the number of calls falling from 334 in 2018 to 324 in 2019.

Los Cabos saw an 8.5% increase in international air arrivals in December.
According to Aeroportuario del Pacifico, which manages many of Mexico’s airports, Los Cabos Airport saw an 8.5% increase in international passenger arrivals in December 2019, growing from 333,400 arrivals in December 2018 to 361,700 arrivals in December 2019. Domestic arrivals grew by 10.8%, from 145,700 visitors in December 2018 to 161,500 in December this year.

In calendar year 2019 the volume of international air arrivals increased by 3.3%, growing from 3,576,800 arrivals in 2018 to 3,693,400 in CY 2019 while the volume of domestic air arrivals grew by 14.6%, from 1,672,200 in calendar year 2018 to 1,915,700 in CY 2019.

Saint Lucia saw an 8.2% increase in stopover arrivals in November.
According to the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, Saint Lucia saw the volume of stopover arrivals increase by 8.2% in November 2019, growing from 30,422 arrivals in November 2018 to 32,913 arrivals in November 2019.

Stopover arrivals from the USA grew by 11.0%, from 12,052 visitors in November 2018 to 13,380 visitors in November 2019 and by 4.9% from the U.K., growing from 7,706 arrivals in November 2018 to 8,084 arrivals in November 2019. The number of cruise visitors grew by 0.9% in November, from 92,406 in November 2018 to 93,263 in November 2019.

In the first eleven months of 2019 Saint Lucia saw a 7.6% increase in the volume of stopover arrivals, growing from 353,352 arrivals in 2018 to 380,167 arrivals in 2019. Arrivals from the USA increased by 9.3% in the first eleven months 2019, growing from 157,759 arrivals in 2018 to 172,499 arrivals in 2019 while arrivals from the U.K. grew by 6.8%, growing from 70,792 stopovers in 2018 to 75,610 stopovers in 2019. The number of cruise visitors has grown by 4.0% through the first eleven months of 2019, from 628,698 in 2018 to 653,977 in 2019.

Hard times for Mexican tourism as hotel rates drop.
Travel Weekly – January 5 2020
With the health of Mexico’s hospitality sector continuing to deteriorate in the latter part of 2019, the long-term outlook for the country’s tourism appears grim.

Year to date through November, hotel data company STR reported that revenue per available room (RevPAR) across Mexico was down 6.6%, to $69.11. Concurrently, average daily rate (ADR) slipped 3.8%, to $112.17, while occupancy fell 2.9%, to 61.6%.

Supply also outpaced demand, with the former up by nearly 3.2% year to date through November and the latter virtually flat at 0.1% growth. 

STR data indicates that the Yucatan Peninsula has borne the brunt of Mexico’s recent troubles. RevPAR in the market declined 12.9%, to $111.94, year to date through November, while ADR plummeted 10.6%, to $163.28. Occupancy in the Yucatan Peninsula year to date was down 2.5%.
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Curacao reports stopover arrivals grew by 1.5% in November.
According to the Curaçao Tourist Board, Curaçao saw a 1.5% increase in stopover visitor arrivals in November, growing from 37,605 stopovers in November 2018 to 38,158 in November of this year. Stopover visitors from the USA fell by 18.8%, from 6,193 visitors in November 2018 to 5,027 visitors in November 2019. Stopover visitors from the Netherlands grew by 17.1%, from 14,330 visitors in November 2018 to 16,787 visitors in November 2019. A number of hotels were closed in November for renovation accounting for much of the decline in USA business.

In the first eleven months of 2019 Curaçao has seen a 9.0% increase in the number of stopover visitors, growing from 384,651 visitors in 2018 to 419,125 visitors this year. The number of stopovers from the USA has grown by 1.7% during the first eleven months, from 65,309 in 2018 to 66,397 through November 2019. The number of stopovers from the Netherlands has grown by 10.3% during the first eleven months, from 159,045 visitors in 2018 to 175,505 visitors through November 2019.

The number of cruise visitors grew by 9.2% in November, from 84,459 visitors in November 2018 to 92,235 visitors this year. Through the first eleven months of 2019 the number of cruise visitors to Curaçao grew by 3.3%, from 659,366 visitors in 2018 to 681,079 visitors this year.

US Consumer confidence declined slightly in December to stand at 126.5
The US based Conference Board reported that US consumer confidence declined by 0.5% in November with its index falling from 126.8 in November to 126.5 this December (1985 = 100). They further reported that 38.7% of consumers surveyed in December said that business conditions were good, unchanged from November. They also reported that 18.9% expected that business conditions would improve in the next six months, up slightly from 18.6% in November.
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The Cayman Islands saw a 0.8% increase in stopover arrivals in November.
According to the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism, the Cayman Islands saw the volume of stopover arrivals increase by 0.8% in November 2019, growing from 38,172 arrivals in November 2018 to 38,463 arrivals in November 2019. Stopover arrivals from the USA fell by 0.5%, from 31,274 in November 2018 to 31,130 in November 2019.

Cruise arrivals grew by 2.0%, from 169,997 cruise visitors in November 2018 to 173,373 cruise visitors in November 2019.

Through the first eleven months of 2019 the Cayman Islands saw a 9.1% increase in the volume of stopover arrivals, growing from 410,984 arrivals in the first eleven months of 2018 to 448,551 arrivals in the same eleven months of 2019. Arrivals from the USA increased by 9.0% in the first eleven months of 2019, growing from 344,396 arrivals in 2018 to 375,526 arrivals in the same eleven months of 2019.

The number of cruise visitors declined by 6.2% in the first eleven months of 2019, falling from 1,725,719 cruise visitors in 2018 to 1,618,950 cruise visitors this year.

Hawaii saw a 3.7% increase in air arrivals in November, while total tourist spending grew by 3.4%
According to the Hawaii Tourism Authority, Hawaii saw the volume of air arrivals increase by 3.7% in November 2019, growing from 766,631 arrivals in November 2018 to 794,841 arrivals in November 2019. Air arrivals from the USA grew by 4.6%, from 502,362 in November 2018 to 525,714 in November 2019, grew by 3.4% from Japan (to 126,961 air arrivals). Air arrivals fell by 5.9% from Canada (to 50,709 air arrivals). Tourist spending in November grew by 3.4% to $1.328 billion.

Through the first eleven months of 2019 Hawaii saw a 5.3% increase in the volume of air arrivals, growing from 8,877,995 arrivals in the first eleven months of 2018 to 9,339,191 air arrivals in the same eleven months of 2019. Air arrivals from the USA increased by 7.7% in the first eleven months of 2019, growing from 5,797,293 air arrivals in 2018 to 6,244,594 air arrivals in the same eleven months of 2019, grew by 3.4% from Japan (to 1,408,808 air arrivals) and fell by 1.7% from Canada (to 470,914 air arrivals).

Total tourist spending by air visitors increased by 0.5% in the first eleven months of 2019, growing from $15.922 billion in 2018 to $16.000 billion in 2019. Average spend per visitor per day fell by 2.2%, from $199.30 per day in 2018 to $195.00 in 2019, while average spend per person per trip fell by 4.5%, from $1,788.90 in 2018 to $1,708.10 in 2019.

In the first eleven months of 2019 32.4% of Hawaii’s tourists were visiting for the first time with 67.6% having visited the state before.

Cancun and Riviera Maya will add 14 new hotels in 2020 with 6,000 rooms
According to MKT Marketing Consultants Cancun and Riviera Maya will add 14 new hotels in 2020 that will add some 6,000 rooms to the Mexican Caribbean with establishments of all sizes, and with operators of different nationalities such as Americans, Canadians or Spaniards.
​​For Cancun/Playa Mujeres 2,711 additional hotel rooms are expected among them

• the Dreams Vista Cancun of 416 rooms in Puerto Cancun;
• an Express Mission of 120 rooms in the city center;
• the 126-room NH Aeropuerto on the grounds of the Cancun air terminal;
• the Majestic of 675 rooms in Playa Mujeres.
• the 174-room Hilton Canopy in the hotel zone of Cancun, scheduled for February 2020 and
• the 1,200-room Planet Hollywood in Playa Mujeres for March 2020

For the Riviera Maya a total of 2,589 new rooms including:-

• the 1,044-room Senator hotel in Puerto Morelos,
• 156-room Saint Regis Kanai,
• the 180-key W Kanai Retreat at Punta Bete Xcalacoco;
• Nickelodeon of 276 rooms in Punta Brava;
• the 63-room Beach House on the grounds of Grupo Xcaret,
• the Awakening hotel with 20 rooms,
• in addition to the 850-room Barceló Riviera Maya,

As REPORTUR.mx revealed, the governor of Quintana Roo, Carlos Joaquín, said that in 2019 the state saw a 4.2 percent increase in its tourist infrastructure to reach 107,210 rooms, a supply growth that exceeded the rise of the demand, which remained at 1.8 percent, which explains the decline in hotel room occupancy and hotel rates (Cancun in 2019 added 4.2% in rooms but only 1.3% in tourists).

"As for the airport," he said, "we project 13,204,406 passengers, an increase of 1.8 percent over the year of 2018, when 12,970,322 arrivals were reported," said the governor of Quintana Roo, about a year in which the state had to face challenges such as sargassum and lack of promotion.
  
Industry executives share their forecasts for the coming year
In what seems like a flash, 2019 is almost over and 2020 is about to launch. What will the New Year bring to the travel industry and your home-based business? Will a divisive presidential election dampen demand? Will the economy weaken? Will sales continue to grow? We asked industry executives and a top travel advisor to peer into their crystal balls and share their forecasts for the upcoming year.
 
Crystal Cruises
Carmen Roig, senior VP of marketing and sales
“We are entering 2020, from a sales perspective, ahead of our pace for 2019, with a strong first quarter already in the books. We are seeing many luxury ocean cruisers choosing to sail with Crystal River Cruises, many for the first time with Crystal—a very positive trend.
“While election years always have potential to cause some hiccups in booking patterns, this is less true for the luxury audience. This is partly due to luxury travelers’ tendency to book their grandest vacations far in advance, which is why we have more than three years of itineraries available for booking across all Crystal brand experiences.
“The home-based channel of selling continues to grow and strengthen each year and continues to be an area where we are seeing some of our largest gains in revenue and new guests.”
 
Apple Vacations
John Tarkowski, president
“We are cautiously optimistic based on improving numbers for the winter and renewed interested in vacations to the Dominican Republic. It’s up to us and our travel advisor partners to set the record straight about that destination after repetitive and unsubstantiated allegations hindered bookings from the second quarter of 2019 onward.
“Apple Leisure Group partnered with travAlliancemedia [now part of Northstar Travel Group] to sponsor travFacts, which has also been an immense resource combating misinformation and arming travel advisors with data and talking points they can use to set the record straight.
“Apple Vacations has significantly expanded its product offerings while new hotel openings and renovations throughout Mexico are driving demand.”
 
Travel Impressions
Scott Wiseman, president
“While bookings are up overall, we’re seeing particular growth in three-, four- and five-night packages as people are opting to divide their vacation time among several extended weekends versus the traditional week off. Consumers are also increasingly using travel agents to book shorter stays at domestic destinations closer to home. Accommodating this demand has been a major focus for Travel Impressions over the last few months.
“The year ahead is shaping up to be a pretty good one, thanks to a cautious, yet robust, U.S. economy. Mexico is doing great year over year, and our numbers throughout most of the Caribbean are up as well.”
 
Central Holidays
James Zitani, VP of sales
“Our 2020 bookings have been very robust, and we are currently experiencing year-over-year growth of over 30 percent. This is even more inspiring as it is on top of the year-over-year increase in revenue of more than 40 percent from 2018 to 2019.
“Travelers today want personalized experiences, authentic destination moments and cultural immersion. We are also seeing an increase in demand for lesser-known destinations. Destinations on the rise are Egypt, United Arab Emirates and South Africa.
“Many events in 2020 are having a positive impact on bookings such as Oberammergau in Germany, the Passion Play of Sordevolo in Italy, the World Expo in Dubai and the 500th anniversary of the life of Da Vinci.”
 
Avanti Destinations
Paul Barry, CEO
“We expect 2020 to be a great year for both travel agents and tour operators, especially for those serving independent travelers and custom groups. Advance bookings are up 9 percent compared to the same time last year.
“The highest growth in FIT travel is in secondary, less-touristed destinations like Greece, Belgium, Scandinavia, Wales, Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. Highest booking growth is in Asia and Latin America. Even for the most popular countries, highest growth is in secondary cities and regions—like Piedmont, Puglia and Sicily in Italy.”
 
Preferred Vacations LLC
Tom Carr, CEO
“We will continue to see the proliferation of all-inclusive resorts throughout the Caribbean and beyond. The concept is rapidly accelerating within the traditional EP markets and consumer demand will drive even more hotel companies to explore the option.
“Also, I see that branding partnerships will burgeon as hotels seek to provide niche experiences to play off of the success of concepts such as the Hard Rock all-inclusive, Margaritaville Resorts and others.”

Costa Rica saw a 4.8% increase in stopover arrivals in November.
According to the Costa Rica Institute of Tourism ICT, Costa Rica saw the volume of stopovers increase by 4.8% in November 2019, growing from 234,478 stopovers in November 2018 to 245,643 stopovers in 2019. The number of stopovers from the USA increased by 6.5% in November 2019, from 89,480 stopovers in November 2018 to 95,295 in November 2019 while the number from Central America fell by 4.1%, from 56,483 in November 2018 to 54,166 in November 2019. In November 2019 stopovers from the USA comprised 38.8% of Costa Rica’s tourist arrivals while those from Central America comprised 22.1%.

The volume of stopovers increased by 3.9% in the first eleven months of 2019, growing from 2,706,665 stopovers in 2018 to 2,812,086 stopovers in first eleven months of 2019. The number of stopovers from the USA increased by 5.2% in the first eleven months of 2019, from 1,134,849 stopovers in 2018 to 1,194,230 in 2019 while the number from Central America increased by 1.3%, growing from 623,025 in the first eleven months of 2018 to 631,373 in the same eleven months of 2019. In the first eleven months of 2019 stopovers from the USA comprised 42.5% of Costa Rica’s tourist arrivals while those from Central America comprised 22.5%. 

Hawaii’s hotels report 2.7 percentage point growth in average room occupancy in November.
According to the Hawai‘i Hotel Performance Report published by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA), statewide RevPAR increased by 8.1% to $204.80, with ADR up by 4.4% to 259.78 and occupancy of 78.8 percent up 2.7 percentage points from 76.1% in November 2018.

HTA’s Tourism Research Division issued the report’s findings utilizing data compiled by STR, Inc., which conducts the largest and most comprehensive survey of hotel properties in the Hawaiian Islands.

In November 2019, Hawai‘i hotel room revenues statewide grew by 7.6 percent to $330.3 million, which is $23.2 million higher than last year. Room demand rose to 1.3 million room nights, up 3.1 percent compared to a year ago. Room supply was similar year-over-year (1.6 million room nights, -0.5%). Several hotel properties across the state were closed for renovation or had rooms out of service for renovation during November.

Through the first eleven month of 2019 the hotels achieved an average room occupancy of 80.9%, up 0.2 percentage points from 2018. ADR in 2019 averaged $276.06 up 1.8%  compared with the first 11 months of 2018 with revpar at $223.28, up 2.1% compared with 2018.
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Belize reports stopover arrivals grew by 0.1% in November.
According to the Belize Tourism Board, Belize saw a 0.1% increase in stopover visitor arrivals in November, growing from 38,823 stopovers in November 2018 to 38,880 this year.
In the first eleven months of 2019 Belize has seen a 2.9% increase in the number of stopover visitors, growing from 434,710 stopover visitors in 2018 to 447,403 stopovers this year.

The number of cruise visitors fell by 7.4% in November, from 112,283 cruise visitors in November 2018 to 103,978 cruise visitors this year. Through the first eleven months of 2019 the number of cruise visitors to Belize has fallen by 1.1%, from 1,057,916 cruise visitors in 2018 to 1,046,658 cruise visitors this year.

Aruba saw a 2.0% increase in stopover arrivals in July 2019.
According to the Aruba Tourism Authority (ATA), Aruba saw a 2.0% increase in stopover visitor arrivals in July, growing from 101,386 stopovers in July 2018 to 103,464 in July 2019. Stopover visitors from the USA grew by 14.1%, from 69,899 in July 2018 to 79,725 in July 2019 with the strong growth resulting from addition of 15% more air seats from the USA.

​The ATA has had some system issues which has delayed the production of the 2019 numbers.

In the first seven months of 2019 Aruba saw a 5.8% increase in the number of stopover visitors, growing from 641,763 visitors in 2018 to 679,113 this year. The number of stopovers from the USA grew by 13.3% during the first seven months, from 454,771 in 2018 to 515,068 through July 2019.

Abu Dhabi looks to data analytics to transform its tourism industry
Abu Dhabi: Data analytics will be a key driver for Abu Dhabi’s tourism industry in the years to come as the emirate looks to compete globally as a top tourist destination, said Saif Saeed Ghobash, undersecretary of the Department of Culture and Tourism — Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi).

Ghobash was speaking at the first-ever Tourism and Data Analytics Forum held in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, as the event brought together several leading industry players from the tourism and hospitality sector to discuss the latest trends within the sector and how important data information will be as the industry looks to expand.

This year has already been a successful one for the DCT Abu Dhabi, which last month announced a 2.9 per cent overall increase in hotel guests staying in Abu Dhabi compared to 2018, with the emirate hosting several major events this year including the Asia Cup, Special Olympics, UFC 242 and the Formula 1 Grand Prix.

“We at the DCT — Abu Dhabi believe that the subject of data analytics is a fundamental pillar of our modus operandi. Data is the fuel that drives the various operating models as a key ingredient to achieving our aspirations,” said Ghobash.
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Mexico projects slowest winter travel growth in six years
The growth of winter tourism in Mexico will see a slow performance for this year’s December season, as it is expected to barely increase by 0.9 percent compared to 2018, which would be its worst performance for the same period in the last 6 years.

According to the forecasts of the Ministry of Tourism (Sectur), this slight increase is due, in part, to a greater number of available hotel rooms, as the number of available rooms grew 3 percent in the last twelve months.

Despite travel alerts that the US government has issued, Sectur expects a slight increase of 1.4 percent in the number American travelers.

For the last two weeks of December and the first weeks of 2020, about 8 million tourists will stay in a hotel, particularly in the tourist centers with beaches like Cancun, with 571,000 visitors, Riviera Maya with 280,000 travelers, as well as Acapulco, with 593,000 tourists.

Nuevo Vallarta in Nayarit is the destination with the highest average occupancy, having 9 out of 10 of its rooms already reserved, while Puerto Vallarta will have 88.2 percent of its rooms occupied during the season.

Raúl Sapién, president of the National Council of Private Security (CNSP), warned that criminal activity in these tourist areas negatively impacts the arrival of foreign visitors.
Among the tourist destinations with the greatest effects, according to the CNSP, are Sonora, Veracruz, Oaxaca, Acapulco, Ixtapa and Mazatlan in Sinaloa.

At the end of 2018, according to data from the organization of private security companies, 70 percent of entrepreneurs in the tourism sector saw that the lack of security would affect the development of that economic activity.

The slowdown of winter tourism is the fall of 0.6 percent of tourists from the United States, the most important international traveler market for the country according to data.

The US market is ‘sensitive’ to the warnings of no government travel, this in view of the insecurity of tourist sites in Quintana Roo and Baja California Sur, which are among the top five places in Mexico with the highest crime rate per 100,000 population.

Mauritius announces stopover visitor arrivals fell by 2.7% in November.
The Mauritius Government’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Development recently announced that total stopover arrivals fell by 2.7% in November 2019, from 132,247 arrivals in November 2018 to 128,730 arrivals in November of this year. This number includes both air and sea stopover visitors. The number of visitors from France, the number one market, increased by 8.1%, from 31,150 arrivals in November 2018 to 33,675 in the same month of 2019.

In the first eleven months of 2019 Mauritius saw a 0.8% decline in total stopover arrivals, falling from 1,241,365 arrivals in 2018 to 1,231,390 arrivals this year. Total stopover arrivals from France grew by 5.7% from 252,502 in the first eleven months of 2018 to 266,957 arrivals in the same eleven months of 2019.

The UNWTO reports solid growth in international arrivals in the first nine months of 2019, though uneven across regions.
International tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) grew 4% in January-September 2019 compared to the same period last year, with mixed performance among world regions.

The UNWTO’s Tourism Barometer for November 2019 estimates that destinations worldwide received around 1.1 billion international tourist arrivals in the first nine months of 2019, about 43 million more than in the same nine months of 2018. This represents a continuation of the 6% growth recorded in 2018 though at a more moderate pace and in line with the annual average of 4% for the last ten years (2008 -2018).

The Middle East (+9.3%) led growth, followed by Asia and the Pacific (5.4%) and Africa (4.6%). Europe (+3.4%) and the Americas (+2.4%) enjoyed more moderate increases.

The Caribbean posted a 7.6% growth rate in the first nine months of 2019. While growth was up 15.0% in the first quarter and was up 8.2% in the second quarter growth fell by 1.3% in the third quarter of 2019 compared to third quarter 2018 as a result of issues in the Dominican Republic and the impact of Hurricane Dorian in The Bahamas.
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Orlando saw a 0.3 percentage point increase in average room occupancy in October to 75.1%.
According to STR Orlando had 128,000 hotel rooms in October 2019 and achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 75.1% (up 0.3 percentage points compared with October 2018), and an ADR of $128.08 (up 0.3 % compared with October 2018).

According to Visit Orlando, Orlando saw the volume of air visitors decrease by 2.9% in September 2019, falling from 3,458,600 air visitors in September 2018 to 3,357,641 air visitors in September 2019.

In the first ten months of 2019 Orlando achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 76.1% (down 3.0 percentage points compared with 2018), and an ADR of $128.08 (up 0.3% compared with 2018). 

In the first nine months of 2019 Orlando saw a 6.1% increase in the volume of air visitors, growing from 37,904,875 air arrivals in 2018 to 40,214,710 air visitors in the first nine months of 2019.

Cancun saw a 0.8 percentage point drop in average hotel room occupancy in November to 78.6%.
According to Sedetur, the Department of Tourism of the state of Quintana Roo, the hotels in Cancun/Puerto Morelos saw a 0.8 percentage point drop in average hotel room occupancy in November 2019 to 78.6% compared to 79.4% for November 2018.

The hotels in Riviera Maya saw their average room occupancy fall by 1.5 percentage points from 81.4% in November 2018 to 79.9% in November this year.

Through the first eleven months of 2019 the hotels in Cancun/Puerto Morelos have achieved a 76.4% average room occupancy, down 3.5 percentage points from the 79.9% achieved in 2018.

The hotels in Riviera Maya have achieved an average room occupancy of 77.8%, down 2.7 percentage points from the 80.5% achieved in 2018, also for the first eleven months of 2019.

Riviera Maya has 46,958 hotel rooms while the Cancun/Puerto Morelos area has 40,835 hotel rooms.

Punta Cana saw another 17.0% decrease in stopover arrivals in November.
According to the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic, saw the volume of non-resident stopover arrivals decrease by 17.0% in November, falling from 286,410 arrivals in November 2018 to 237,760 arrivals in November 2019. This follows a 22.8% decline in such arrivals in July, an 18.2% decline in August, a 26.9% decline in September and a 27.1% decline in October.

Stopover arrivals from the USA fell by 36.0% in November, from 97,745 arrivals in November 2018 to 62,524 arrivals in November 2019 and accounted for 72% of the decline in arrivals. This follows a 36.3% decline in US arrivals in July, a 34.5% decline in August, a 50.8% decline in September and a 46.2% decline in October.

Arrivals from Russia fell by 55.5%, from 18,233 in November 2018 to 8,117 in November of this year (although this was partly due to charter flights being moved from Punta Cana to La Romana). Traffic was also down 15.9% from the U.K, down 37.9% from Germany and down 24.6% from Brazil. Arrivals were up 11.7% from Canada, however.

Through the first eleven months of 2019 Punta Cana saw a 9.5% decrease in the volume of stopover arrivals, falling from 3,566,646 arrivals in the first eleven months of 2018 to 3,227,978 arrivals in the same eleven months of 2019.

Arrivals from the USA fell by 11.6% in the first eleven months of 2019, falling from 1,471,273 arrivals in 2018 to 1,300,233 arrivals in the same eleven months of 2019. Arrivals from Russia fell by 67.6% in the same period, from 173,434 in 2018 to 56,220 in 2019.

Stopover arrivals to Punta Cana made up 55.4% of all non-resident arrivals to the Dominican Republic in the first eleven months of 2019.

The Dominican Republic saw a 4.9% decline in stopover arrivals in November.
According to the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, the Dominican Republic saw the volume of non-resident stopover arrivals decrease by 4.9% in November, falling from 485,481 arrivals in November 2018 to 461,865 arrivals in November 2019. This follows an 11.2% decline in such arrivals in July, a 7.5% decline in August, an 11.4% decline in September and a 10.3% decline in October.

Stopover arrivals from the USA fell by 21.9%, from 154,382 arrivals in November 2018 to 120,628 arrivals in November 2019.  This follows a 24.6% decline in US arrivals in July, a 24.4% decline in August, a 33.0% decline in September and a 26.6% decline in October.

Through the first eleven months of 2019 the Dominican Republic saw a 1.5% decrease in the volume of stopover arrivals, falling from 5,909,880 arrivals in the first eleven months of 2018 to 5,821,768 arrivals in the same eleven months of 2019.

Arrivals from the USA decreased by 4.6% in the first eleven months of 2019, falling from 2,139,814 arrivals in 2018 to 2,040,453 arrivals in the same eleven months of 2019

Saint Lucia saw a 3.6% increase in stopover arrivals in October.
According to the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, Saint Lucia saw the volume of stopover arrivals increase by 3.6% in October 2019, growing from 25,991 arrivals in October 2018 to 26,923 arrivals in October 2019.

Stopover arrivals from the USA grew by 3.5%, from 10,345 visitors in October 2018 to 10,708 visitors in October 2019 but fell by 5.0% from the U.K., falling from 6,744 arrivals in October 2018 to 6,404 arrivals in October 2019. The number of cruise visitors grew by 40.8% in October, from 26,892 in October 2018 to 37,857 in October of this year.

In the first ten months of 2019 Saint Lucia saw a 7.5% increase in the volume of stopover arrivals, growing from 322,930 arrivals in 2018 to 347,254 arrivals in 2019. Arrivals from the USA increased by 9.2% in 2019, growing from 145,707 arrivals in 2018 to 159,119 arrivals in 2019 while arrivals from the U.K. grew by 7.5%, growing from 62,807 stopovers in 2018 to 67,526 stopovers in 2019. The number of cruise visitors has grown by 4.6% through the first ten months, from 536,292 in 2018 to 560,714 this year.

Los Cabos saw a 7.3% increase in international air arrivals in November.
According to Aeroportuario del Pacifico, which manages many of Mexico’s airports, Los Cabos Airport saw a 7.3% increase in international passenger arrivals in November 2019, growing from 299,300 arrivals in November 2018 to 321,100 arrivals in November 2019. Domestic arrivals grew by 11.5%, from 136,400 in November 2018 to 152,100 in November this year.

In the first eleven months of 2019 the volume of international air arrivals increased by 2.7%, growing from 3,243,400 arrivals in 2018 to 3,331,700 this year while the volume of domestic air arrivals grew by 14.9, from 1,526,500 in the first eleven months of 2018 to 1,754,400 this year.

U.S. citizens’ outbound travel from the USA to the Caribbean fell by 6.8% in September.
The United States Government’s Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration’s National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) recently released the figures for U.S. citizens outbound travel from the USA to International Regions for the month of September 2019 as well as the first nine months of 2019.

While overall travel by US citizens to international regions was up 5.5% in September travel by US citizens to the Caribbean fell by 6.8% from 451,939 in September 2018 to 421,173 in September of this year, a decline of 30,766 visitors.

This was largely due to a 33.0% drop in travel by residents of the USA to the Dominican Republic in September, which fell by 35,752 in September 2019 compared to September of the previous year as well as a 21.5% drop in stopovers to The Bahamas. With 80% of visitors to The Bahamas coming from the USA this would also have had a negative impact on the overall numbers.

The NTTO does not include travel by US citizens to either Puerto Rico or the USVI in their total for the Caribbean as both are deemed to be domestic destinations for the purposes of their study.
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Jamaica saw an 8.6% increase in stopover arrivals in October.
According to the Jamaica Tourist Board, Jamaica saw the volume of stopover arrivals increase by 8.6% in October 2019, growing from 162,552 arrivals in October 2018 to 176,514 arrivals in October 2019.

Stopover arrivals from the USA grew by 12.8%, from 106,020 visitors in October 2018 to 119,544 visitors in October 2019.

Cruise arrivals fell by 18.9%, from 121,975 cruise visitors in October 2018 to 98,884 cruise visitors in October 2019.

Through the first ten months of 2019 Jamaica saw a 9.0% increase in the volume of stopover arrivals, growing from 2,015,034 stopover arrivals in the first ten months of 2018 to 2,197,022 arrivals in the same ten months of 2019.

Arrivals from the USA increased by 13.5% in the first ten months of 2019, growing from 1,335,153 arrivals in 2018 to 1,515,134 arrivals in the same ten months of 2019.

The number of cruise visitors declined by 15.6% in the first ten months of 2019, falling from 1,446,038 cruise visitors in 2018 to 1,219,934 cruise visitors in 2019.

Apple Leisure Group postpones up to US $600 million in hotel investments
The travel and hospitality conglomerate Apple Leisure Group announced on Friday that it has put investments worth between US $500 and $600 million on hold due to a range of factors, including a lack of tourism promotion by the federal government of Mexico and lower visitor numbers from the United States.

CEO Alejandro Zozaya told a press conference that four or five projects have been “put on pause,” explaining that the company has the land and necessary permits to build new hotels but for now construction won’t go ahead.

He said the government’s decision to disband the Tourism Promotion Council (CPTM) and the consequent lack of marketing of Mexico abroad resulted in lower profits for the hotel industry this year.

“Hotels weren’t as profitable in 2019 as in 2018 and 2017,” Zozaya said.

“. . . The closure of the CPTM has hit us, it’s one of the factors that has hurt Mexico. Tourism from the United States has decreased,” Zozaya said.

He said that another factor in Apple’s decision was that the supply of hotel rooms is growing faster than demand.
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The Seychelles announces stopover visitor arrivals grew by 11.2% in November.
The Seychelles Government’s National Bureau of Statistics recently announced that total stopover arrivals increased by 11.2% in November 2019, from 31,042 arrivals in November 2018 to 34,511 arrivals in November of this year. This number includes both air and sea stopover visitors.

The number of visitors from Germany, the number one market, grew by 5.1%, from 7,337 arrivals in November 2018 to 7,710 arrivals in the same month of 2019. The number of cruise visitors increased by 18.3%, from 6,789 in November 2018 to 8,028 cruise visitors in November of this year.

In the first eleven months of 2019 The Seychelles saw a 6.0% increase in total stopover arrivals, from 325,628 arrivals in 2018 to 345,294 arrivals this year. Total stopover arrivals from Germany grew by 19.7% from 53,127 in the first eleven months of 2018 to 63,596 arrivals in the same eleven months of 2019. The number of cruise visitors increased by 3.7%, from 34,220 in the first eleven months of 2018 to 35,495 cruise visitors in the same period of 2019.

Cancun saw a 2.4% increase in international air arrivals in November.
According to ASUR, which manages many of Mexico’s airports, Cancun Airport saw a 2.4% increase in international passenger arrivals in November 2019, growing from 1,263,638 arrivals in November 2018 to 1,293,394 arrivals in November 2019. Domestic arrivals grew by 2.7%, from 727,945 visitors in November 2018 to 747,872 visitors in November this year.

In the first eleven months of 2019 the volume of international air arrivals showed minimal change, growing by 0.2% from 14,939,653 arrivals in 2018 to 14,976,125 this year while the volume of domestic air arrivals grew by 2.8%, from 7,990,199 in the first eleven months of 2018 to 8,210,113 this year.

San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU) saw a 20.2% increase in arriving air passengers in November.
According to ASUR, which manages many airports in Mexico, Colombia and which also manages the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, SJU saw a 20.2% increase in passenger traffic in November 2019, growing from 648,928 arrivals in November 2018 to 779,725 arrivals in November of this year.

In the first eleven months of 2019 the volume of air arrivals increased by 12.1%, from 7,589,625 in 2018 to 8,510,537 this year.
 
Aruba saw a 7.7% increase in stopover arrivals in June 2019.
According to the Aruba Tourism Authority (ATA), Aruba saw a 7.7% increase in stopover visitor arrivals in June, growing from 91,877 stopovers in June 2018 to 98,970 in June 2019. Stopover visitors from the USA grew by 19.7%, from 64,726 in June 2018 to 77,493 in June 2019 with the strong growth resulting from addition of 20% more air seats from the USA. The ATA has had some system issues which has delayed the production of the 2019 numbers.

In the first six months of 2019 Aruba saw a 6.5% increase in the number of stopover visitors, growing from 540,377 visitors in 2018 to 575,649 this year. The number of stopovers from the USA grew by 13.1% during the first six months, from 384,872 in 2018 to 435,343 through June 2019.

International air arrivals to Mexico grew by 3.1% in October.
According to the Government of Mexico’s SECTUR (Department of Tourism) the volume of international air arrivals to Mexico grew by 3.1% in October 2019 from 1,279,026 in October 2018 to 1,318,691 in October of this year. The volume of air arrivals from the USA grew by 3.7% in October, to 700,000 with the volume from Canada growing by 5.2%, to 103,904 These two markets generated 61.0% of all international air arrivals in October 2019.

In the first ten months of 2019 the volume of international air arrivals to Mexico grew by 1.6%, from 15,283,217 in 2018 to 15,520,400 in the first ten months of this year. The volume of air arrivals from the USA fell by 0.3% in the same ten months, to 8,615,835 while the volume from Canada grew by 7.0%, to 1,767,381. These two markets generated 66.9% of all international air arrivals in the first ten months of 2019.

The Mexican Caribbean is spending big to lure U.S. tourists back after a year of seaweed woes
By Paul O’Donnell ● The Dallas Morning News (Nov 26, 2019 Updated Nov 27, 2019)

Thousands of U.S. travelers will pack their beach clothes and head to Cancun’s sun-soaked coastal resorts for Thanksgiving and Christmas getaways.

The popular Mexican vacation spot tops the international destinations where Americans plan to spend the holidays, according to Airlines Reporting Corp., which tracks sales of airline tickets. It ranks as the No. 1 destination for both Thanksgiving week and the Christmas-New Year’s period.

And that’s a welcome ending to what’s been a challenging year for the region known as the Mexican Caribbean, where 80% of its economy is reliant on tourism and more than 10,000 new hotel rooms are under construction or planned in the next few years.

It’s had to contend with a triple play of troubles in 2019: Smelly seaweed invaded its typically pristine beaches during the summer months, the Mexican government redirected a $300 million fund previously dedicated to promoting the country’s top sites, and cartel-fueled violence spilled into areas near resort towns to further stoke travelers’ ever-present crime concerns.

In an interview with The Dallas Morning News, the executive director of promotion for the tourism board of Quintana Roo said her organization will spend about $35 million to ensure a steady flow of tourists next year. Lizzie Cole’s job is to tout Cancun and the state’s other popular destinations such as Cozumel, Riviera Maya, Playa Del Carmen and Tulum.
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Riviera Maya hotels keeping rates down to attract more tourists
Insecurity, sargassum have hurt the region's image, says hotels association vice president
Riviera Maya hotels won’t raise their rates during the end-of-year vacation period in a bid to attract more tourists from Canada and the United States.

Riviera Maya Hotel Association vice president Andrea Lotito said the price-hike embargo will remain in place for more than 46,000 hotel rooms until June next year as part of a strategy to boost visitor numbers to Mexico’s Caribbean coast.

Insecurity and the annual arrival of sargassum have damaged the region’s image, she said.
“. . . It’s difficult to attract tourists from the United States and Canada precisely . . . due to the negative publicity,” Lotito said.

She added that the rise in popularity of vacation rentals (on sites such as Airbnb) have also hurt the Quintana Roo hotel industry.

Hotels have been seeing lower occupancy levels in most destinations in 2019.

Mexican Hotel and Motel Association (AMHM) president Juan José Fernández Carillo said on Wednesday that the outbreak of violence in Culiacán, Sinaloa, triggered by an operation to catch one of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s sons and other violent acts elsewhere in the country have given Mexico a bad name.

Speaking at the AMHM national meeting in Tampico, Tamaulipas, he claimed that international security perceptions of Mexico are on a par with countries that are at war.
“That’s why national and foreign tourists don’t travel. The decline in [hotel] occupancy in all destinations . . . doesn’t just affect hotel owners but also businesses and [service] providers that live off tourism. The federal government is responsible for security and must improve it,” Fernández said.

The hotel association chief also said that hotel owners are also struggling due to the downturn in the economy and high electricity prices.

“There are hotels that paid 300,000 pesos before but this year [electricity] increased to 1.2 million pesos. They can’t invest or promote themselves because the services [they have to pay] are expensive.”

U.S. sanctions and Thomas Cook’s bankruptcy affected Cuban tourism in September.
 November 29, 2019 in Cuba
In the period from January to September 2019, U.S. visitors decreased 5.2%, from 460,288 to 436,453.

The new travel to Cuba restrictions imposed by the United States and the bankruptcy of the largest British tour operator, Thomas Cook, had a negative impact on the Caribbean country’s tourism sector, according to statistics for the month of September released this Wednesday.

The year-on-year comparison indicates that compared to the 51,776 Americans who traveled to Cuba in September last year, only 13,094 (-74.7%) did so this year, while the 13,676 British tourists who arrived in that month of 2018 were reduced to 6,133 (-55.2%) in 2019.

In cumulative terms, from January to September of this year, U.S. visitors decreased by 5.2%, from 460,288 to 436,453.

Americans are still forbidden to visit the neighboring island due to the embargo that Washington has maintained for almost 60 years, but they could still come through exceptions such as educational, religious or cultural exchange trips, among other categories.
The Donald Trump administration has reduced and in some cases eliminated those possibilities and this year also banned cruise trips from the U.S. 

Washington has intensified its sanctions against Cuba with the goal of damaging the already fragile economy of the island under the argument that the Cuban government provides logistical support to keep Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in power, which Havana denies.

On the other hand, the Thomas Cook tourist giant, the main issuer of British tourists to Cuba, went bankrupt in September, so the collapse in the figures for that market, the fifth for the island in 2018, was foreseeable.

The report of the Bureau of National Statistics (ONEI), which collects tourist data between January and September of this year, indicates, on the contrary, a year-on-year growth for the Russian and Argentine markets: in the first case, from 8,964 to 11,839 and in the second, from 3,733 to 6,192.

So far this year the total of arrivals is 3.3 million tourists compared to 3.5 million who arrived in the first nine months of the previous year, representing a 6% drop and an uninterrupted downward trend since June.

The occupancy rate in this period was -4.3% and the income of tourist entities decreased slightly (0.8%) from 1,686,679,000 to 1,673,856,000 CUC (artificial currency equivalent to the dollar).

By markets, Canada remains the main issuer of tourists to Cuba followed by the Cuban community abroad, the United States, France, Germany, Mexico and Spain.

Cuba expects to close the year with 4.3 million tourists instead of the 5.1 million it had initially estimated, a notable fall in a sector that represents the second source of foreign exchange earnings for the country, with a 10% contribution to the GDP.
 
The Environmental Impact Of Caribbean Tourism Undermines Its Economic Benefit
Daphne Ewing-Chow
In the Caribbean, tourism employs 2.4 million people and contributes more than $62 billion (15.5%) to GDP (2018) making it the most tourism-reliant region in the world. But the pursuit of tourism-driven economic growth overlooks a significant environmental burden. The global sector is responsible for 8% of all global greenhouse gas emissions— 4.5 billion tons of CO2 per year— and for small islands such as Dominica and St. Lucia, where total emissions are a mere drop in the ocean compared to that of large nations, tourism’s contribution to domestic carbon emissions can run as high as 97% and 70% respectively. (Gossling, 2013)

With the high average footprint of tourism-related activities, such as diving classes and jet ski rides, each of which produce about 24 kg of CO2 per tourist, or golf courses which use as much water as 60,000 rural residents and 1,500 kg of chemical fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides each year, scientists and economists have suggested that there is a higher cost to the environment from developing tourism over other sectors.
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Cancun saw a 0.4 percentage point drop in average hotel room occupancy in October to 66.9% while hotels in Riviera Maya saw a 5.3 percentage point decline to 63.7%.
According to Sedetur, the Department of Tourism of the state of Quintana Roo, the hotels in Cancun/Puerto Morelos saw a 0.4 percentage point drop in average hotel room occupancy in October 2019 to 66.9% compared to 67.3% for October last year.

The hotels in Riviera Maya saw their average room occupancy fall by 5.3 percentage points from 69.0% in October 2018 to 63.7% in October this year.

Through the first ten months of 2019 the hotels in Riviera Maya have achieved an average room occupancy of 77.6%, down 2.8 percentage points from 80.4% for the first ten months of 2018, while the hotels in Cancun/Puerto Morelos have achieved a 76.2% average room occupancy in the first ten months of 2019, down 3.7 percentage points from 79.9% for the first ten months of 2018.

Riviera Maya has 46,958 hotel rooms while the Cancun/Puerto Morelos area has 40,835 hotel rooms.

​Costa Rica saw a 7.6% increase in stopover arrivals in October.
According to the Costa Rica Institute of Tourism ICT, Costa Rica saw the volume of stopovers increase by 7.6% in October 2019, growing from 172,463 stopovers in October 2018 to 185,599 stopovers in 2019. The number of stopovers from the USA increased by 12.0% in October 2019, from 56,884 stopovers in October 2018 to 63,734 in October 2019 while the number from Central America grew by 0.5%, from 54,151 in October 2018 to 54,421 in October 2019. In October 2019 stopovers from the USA comprised 34.3% of Costa Rica’s tourist arrivals while those from Central America comprised 29.3%.

The volume of stopovers increased by 3.8% in the first ten months of 2019, growing from 2,472,187 stopovers in 2018 to 2,566,443 stopovers in first ten months of 2019. The number of stopovers from the USA increased by 5.1% in the first ten months of 2019, from 1,045,369 stopovers in 2018 to 1,098,935 in 2019 while the number from Central America increased by 1.9%, growing from 566,542 in the first ten months of 2018 to 577,207 in the same ten months of 2019. In the first ten months of 2019 stopovers from the USA comprised 42.8% of Costa Rica’s tourist arrivals while those from Central America comprised 22.5%.

Curacao reports stopover arrivals fell by 3.2% in October.
According to the Curaçao Tourist Board, Curaçao saw a 3.2% decrease in stopover visitor arrivals in October, falling from 35,662 stopovers in October 2018 to 34,525 in October of this year. Stopover visitors from the USA fell by 17.4%, from 4,891 visitors in October 2018 to 4,040 visitors in October 2019. Stopover visitors from the Netherlands grew by 5.0%, from 14,954 visitors in October 2018 to 15,708 visitors in October 2019. A significant number of hotels were closed in October for renovation accounting for much of the decline in USA business.

In the first ten months of 2019 Curaçao has seen a 9.8% increase in the number of stopover visitors, growing from 347,046 visitors in 2018 to 380,966 visitors this year. The number of stopovers from the USA has grown by 3.8% during the first ten months, from 59,116 in 2018 to 61,371 through October 2019. The number of stopovers from the Netherlands has grown by 9.7% during the first ten months, from 144,716 in 2018 to 158,718 through October 2019.
The number of cruise visitors fell by 4.9% in October, from 49,649 visitors in October 2018 to 47,223 visitors this year. Through the first ten months of 2019 the number of cruise visitors to Curaçao grew by 2.4%, from 574,907 visitors in 2018 to 588,844 visitors this year.

Hawaii saw a 5.2% increase in air arrivals in October, while total tourist spending grew by 0.9%
According to the Hawaii Tourism Authority, Hawaii saw the volume of air arrivals increase by 5.2% in October 2019, growing from 741,274 arrivals in October 2018 to 779,909 arrivals in October 2019. Air arrivals from the USA grew by 5.7%, from 478,432 in October 2018 to 505,711 in October 2019, grew by 4.4% from Japan (to 128,947 air arrivals). Air arrivals grew by 3.6% from Canada (to 32,243 air arrivals). Tourist spending in October grew by 0.9% to $1.32 billion.

Through the first ten months of 2019 Hawaii saw a 5.3% increase in the volume of air arrivals, growing from 8,111,364 arrivals in the first ten months of 2018 to 8,544,350 air arrivals in the same ten months of 2019. Air arrivals from the USA increased by 8.0% in the first ten months of 2019, growing from 5,294,931 air arrivals in 2018 to 5,718,881 air arrivals in the same ten months of 2019, grew by 3.4% from Japan (to 1,281,848 air arrivals) and fell by 1.1% from Canada (to 420,205 air arrivals).

Total tourist spending by air visitors increased by 0.2% in the first ten months of 2019, growing from $14.602 billion in 2018 to $14.630 billion in 2019. Average spend per visitor per day fell by 2.5%, from $200.80 per day in 2018 to $195.70 in 2019, while average spend per person per trip fell by 4.9%, from $1,800.1 in 2018 to $1,712.3 in 2019.

In the first ten months of 2019 32.6% of Hawaii’s tourists were visiting for the first time with 67.4% having visited the state before.

Dubai saw a 7.9% increase in international visitors in September.
According to the Government of Dubai’s Statistics Center, Dubai saw a 7.9% increase in the number of international visitors in September, growing from 1,140.000 visitors in September of 2018 to 1,230,000 in September of this year.

In the first nine months of 2019 Dubai saw a 4.3% increase in the number of international visitors growing from 11,580,000 visitors in the first nine months of 2018 to 12,080,000 in the same nine months of 2019. The number one market, India, saw a 5.2% decline in visitors, falling from 1,469,000 visitors in the first nine months of 2018 to 1,393,000 in the same nine months of 2019, while the number of visitors from South Africa, the number two market, grew by 2.4% to 1,255,000 visitors.

In the first nine months of 2019 the average room occupancy of Dubai’s 716 hotels and apartments fell by two percentage points to 73%. This was partially due to a 7.1% increase in the total number of rooms, which grew to 119,719 rooms/units. Guests stayed, on average 3.4 nights, and the hotels and apartments achieved an ADR of US$106.99 down 11.7% from the same nine months of 2018.

​Las Vegas saw a 0.3% decrease in visitors in October.
According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Las Vegas saw the volume of visitors decrease by 0.3% in October 2019, falling from 3,680,600 visitors in October 2018 to 3,668,100 arrivals in October 2019.

Las Vegas had 149,282 hotel rooms in October 2019 (up 1.1% compared with October 2018) and achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 90.0% (down 1.4 percentage points compared with October 2018), an ADR of $135.33 (down 5.0% compared with October 2018) and a RevPar of $121.80, down 6.4% also compared with October 2018.

Through the first ten months of 2019 Las Vegas saw a 0.5% increase in the volume of visitors, growing from 35,370,600 arrivals in the first ten months of 2018 to 35,548,300 visitors in the same ten months of 2019.

Las Vegas achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 89.3% in the first ten months of 2019 (up 0.3 percentage points compared with the first ten months of 2018), an ADR of $133.13 (up 2.6% compared with ytd 2018) and a RevPar of $118.89, up 3.0%, also compared with the same ten months of 2018.

Gaming revenue grew by 0.9% from $8.555 billion in the first ten months of 2018 to $8.632 billion in the same ten months of 2019.

US Consumer confidence declined by 0.3% in November to stand at 125.5
The US based Conference Board reported that US consumer confidence declined by 0.5% in October with its index falling from 126.1 in October to 125.5 this November (1985 = 100). They further reported that 40.2% of consumers surveyed in November said that business conditions were good, up from 39.7% in October. They also reported that 17.2% expected that business conditions would improve in the next six months, down from 18.7% in October.

The Maldives announces visitor arrivals up by 11.4% in October.
The Maldives Government’s Ministry of Tourism recently announced that total tourist arrivals grew by 11.4% in October 2019, from 127,393 arrivals in October 2018 to 141,928 arrivals in October of this year. The number of visitors from China, the number one source market, fell by 15.0%, from 25,803 arrivals in October 2018 to 21,926 in the same month of 2019.

In the first ten months of 2019 The Maldives saw a 15.4% increase in total arrivals, from 1,207,852 in 2018 to 1,393,618 this year. Total tourist arrivals from China grew by 1.8% from 247,911 in 2018 to 252,275 in the first ten months of 2019.

The Maldives has seen the overall number of accommodation establishments grow by 12.6% from 797 in October 2018 to 895 establishments this October. The number of beds increased by 16.1% from 42,501 last October to 49,337 this year. Through the end of October overall average room occupancy has grown by 0.1 percentage points from 61.5% in 2018 to 61.6% this year.

Of the 895 establishments 152 were resorts which offered 35,527 beds (72.0% of the overall number of beds). These resorts achieved a 73.3% average room occupancy through the first ten months of 2019 down from 73.9% for the first ten months of 2018. In October 2018 there were 133 resorts offering 29,588 beds, with the number of resorts increasing by 14.3% in 2019 and the number of beds up by 20.0%. 

Preparing Caribbean tourism for the world of tomorrow
David Jessop, Caribbean Council.
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Although the statistics vary, reliable Caribbean and international entities suggest that the region’s sector is now delivering on average directly and indirectly about 40.6% of the Caribbean’s GDP, earned the region in 2018 US$62bn, and employs at least one in 11 of the region’s citizens.

Despite this, little thought has been given to how to future proof the industry as disruptive technologies take their toll, the region’s largely sun, sea and sand high-volume offering becomes subject to multiple global pressures likely to affect traveller sentiment, and international competition increases.
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Hawaii’s hotels saw a two-percentage point increase in room occupancy in October to 79.1%.
According to the Hawai‘i Hotel Performance Report published by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA), statewide RevPAR increased by 4.3% in October to $200.26, with ADR up by 1.7% to $253.29 and occupancy up by 2.0 percentage points to 79.1 percent.

HTA’s Tourism Research Division issued the report’s findings utilizing data compiled by STR, Inc., which conducts the largest and most comprehensive survey of hotel properties in the Hawaiian Islands.

Through the first ten months of 2019 Hawaii’s hotels saw no change in average room occupancy, at 81.1%. ADR increased by 1.8% from $273.12 in 2018 to $278.07 in 2019 while revpar grew by 1.9% from $221.47 in 2018 to $225.65 in 2019.
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In October, Hawai‘i hotel room revenues statewide grew by 3.8 percent to $333.8 million, which is $12.2 million higher than last year. Room demand was up 2.1 percent to 1.3 million rooms, with supply 0.5 percent lower compared to a year ago. Several hotel properties across the state were closed for renovation or had rooms out of service for renovation during October. 
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Belize reports stopover arrivals grew by 1.6% in October.
According to the Belize Tourism Board, Belize saw a 1.6% increase in stopover visitor arrivals in October, growing from 24,931 stopovers in October 2018 to 25,341 this year.

In the first ten months of 2019 Belize has seen a 3.2% increase in the number of stopover visitors, growing from 395,887 stopover visitors in 2018 to 408,523 stopovers this year.

The number of cruise visitors fell by 28.8% in October, from 75,465 cruise visitors in October 2018 to 53,763 cruise visitors this year.

Through the first ten months of 2019 the number of cruise visitors to Belize has fallen by 0.3%, from 945,633 cruise visitors in 2018 to 942,680 cruise visitors this year.

The Cayman Islands saw a 5.8% increase in stopover arrivals in October.
According to the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism, the Cayman Islands saw the volume of stopover arrivals increase by 5.8% in October 2019, growing from 22,501 arrivals in October 2018 to 23,798 arrivals in October 2019.

Stopover arrivals from the USA grew by 2.4%, from 18,265 in October 2018 to 18,700 in October 2019.

Cruise arrivals fell by 19.0%, from 139,982 cruise visitors in October 2018 to 113,418 cruise visitors in October 2019.

Through the first ten months of 2019 the Cayman Islands saw a 10.0% increase in the volume of stopover arrivals, growing from 372,812 arrivals in the first ten months of 2018 to 410,088 arrivals in the same ten months of 2019.

Arrivals from the USA increased by 10.0% in the first ten months of 2019, growing from 313,122 arrivals in 2018 to 344,396 arrivals in the same ten months of 2019.

The number of cruise visitors declined by 7.1% in the first ten months of 2019, falling from 1,555,722 cruise visitors in 2018 to 1,445,577 cruise visitors this year.

Florida saw a 1.2% growth in tourist arrivals in the third quarter of 2019.
Visit Florida’s Research Department recently announced that the state of Florida saw a 1.2% increase in the number of tourist arrivals in the third quarter of 2019, with total arrivals growing from 31,261,000 in the third quarter of 2018 to 31,638,000 arrivals in the third quarter of 2019. Domestic arrivals were up by 1.6%, while arrivals from Canada grew by 1.8%. Arrivals from overseas fell by 3.1% from 2,653,000 in the third quarter of 2018 to 2,570,000 in the same three months of 2019.

Through the first nine months of 2019 Florida saw a 3.7% increase in the number of tourist arrivals with total arrivals growing from 97,539,000 in 2018 to 101,119,000 arrivals in the first three quarters of 2019. Domestic arrivals were up by 4.3%, while arrivals from Canada grew by 1.4%. Arrivals from overseas fell by 2.3% from 8,017,000 in 2018 to 7,831,000 in the same nine months of 2019.

Macau’s fall in GDP widens in the third quarter on gaming woes: Government reports.
Macau’s Statistics and Census Service reports that Macau’s gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 4.5 percent year-on-year in real terms in the third quarter 2019. The decline in GDP in the three months to September 30 widened from the 1.8-percent fall recorded in the second quarter, and marked the third consecutive quarterly economic decline as the slowdown in the city’s gaming industry continued during the period.

This was despite a 10.2% increase in the number of visitors in the third quarter, with the number of same day visitors growing by 23.5% compared to the same three months of 2018 although the number of overnight visitors fell by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter compared with 3rd quarter 2018, falling to 4.79 million visitors.

Macau’s economy shrank in the quarter ended September 30, mainly led by what the census service said was as a “larger decline in exports of services”.

Real exports of gaming services from Macau – a measure of what visiting gamblers contribute to GDP – were down 4.2 percent in value in the third quarter of this year than a year earlier, according to the official data. That was an acceleration from the 0.8 percent year-on-year decline recorded in the second quarter.
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Jamaica’s Hotel Room Stock Poised To Double Within 10 Years
Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, says Jamaica’s hotel room stock is poised to double within 10 years, based on developments slated to come on stream.
Among these, he said, are:

• the Princess Hotel in Hanover with 2,000 rooms;
• the 1700-room Hard Rock Casino Hotel in St. James;
• Harmony Cove in Trelawny with 3,000 rooms;
• the Marriott International all-inclusive resort with 800 rooms.​

The Minister said these developments are projected to generate some 50,000 jobs, noting that this significant level of investment will serve to further boost Jamaica’s economy.

He was speaking with JIS News during the just concluded Caribbean Hotel Investment Conference and Operations (CHICOS) Summit at the Secrets Wild Orchid and St. James Resorts in Montego Bay, St. James.

Mr. Bartlett pointed out that the number of tourism entities that will be investing in Jamaica “doesn’t represent a wish list”.

“These are hard prospects. These are people who have already bought lands and are in the process of getting approval through the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) and the other regulatory agencies of Jamaica. So we know that this is going to happen; this is going to be an explosion for us,” he said.
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STR: Caribbean/Mexico hotel construction up 16.8% in October
STR’s hotel pipeline data for the Caribbean/Mexico region showed 151 projects accounting for 30,809 rooms in construction as of October 2019. This represented a 16.8% year-over-year jump in the number of rooms in the final phase of the development pipeline.
A majority of the region’s rooms in construction are in three segments. Of those three, luxury projects represented the largest percentage increase (+10.6%) in activity year over year.

• Luxury: 7,270 rooms (+10.6%)
• Upscale: 7,221 rooms (+1.5%)
• Upper Upscale: 6,341 rooms (+0.8%)

Four countries in the region reported more than 1,000 rooms under construction. Mexico led with 16,303 rooms, which represented 3.9% of the country’s existing supply, followed by the Dominican Republic (5,738 rooms, 7.9% of existing supply).

• Mexico: 16,303 rooms (3.9%)
• Dominican Republic: 5,738 rooms (7.9%)
• Jamaica: 1,925 rooms (7.7%)
• Cuba: 1,128 rooms (1.7%)

U.S. citizens’ outbound travel from the USA to International Regions grew by 7.6% in the first eight months of 2019
The United States Government’s Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration’s National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) recently released the figures for U.S. citizens outbound travel from the USA to International Regions for the first eight months of 2019.

• The overall number of trips taken by US citizens to international destinations increased by 7.6% in the first eight months of 2019 compared to the same eight months of 2018, growing from 63.4 million trips in 2018 to 68.2 million trips in 2019.
• The largest absolute growth was in trips by land to Mexico which grew from 17.2 million trips in 2018 to 19.3 million in 2019. Trips to Europe grew by  911,265  visitors (up 7.5%) from 12.2 million trips in 2018 to 13.1 million trips in 2019. Europe’s share of all trips remained steady at 19.2%.
• The number of trips taken to the Caribbean grew by 11.3%, from 6.2 million trips in 2018 to 6.9 million trips in 2019. The share of trips taken to the Caribbean grew from 9.8% in 2018 to 10.1% in 2019.
• The number of trips taken to Mexico by air fell by 0.4%, from 7.126 million trips in 2018 to 7.10 million trips in 2019.

The NTTO’s definition of the Caribbean does not include Puerto Rico or the United States Virgin Islands as, for the purposes of the study, they are deemed to be US territories and the focus of the system (APIS) is non-stop air traffic (segmented here for U.S. citizens) to foreign countries.

While the Caribbean saw good growth comparing the first eight months of 2019 with the same eight months of 2018 when compared with January – August 2016 it can be seen that while overall travel by U.S. citizens to international destinations grew by 24.6%, trips by U.S. citizens to the Caribbean grew by just 21.0% with the Caribbean’s share consequently falling from 10.4% in 2016 to 10.1% in 2019. Europe saw a big jump in share between 2016 and 2019, growing from 17.1% in 2016 to 19.2% in 2019.
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Cuba announces total visitor arrivals fell by 27.8% in October.
The Cuban Government’s Office of National Statistics and Information (ONEI) recently announced that total tourist arrivals fell by 27.8% in October 2019, from 326,391 arrivals in October 2018 to 235,613 arrivals in October of this year. This number includes both stopover visitors and cruise visitors.

The number of visitors from the USA fell by 74.0%, from 61,558 arrivals in October 2018 to 15,989 in the same month of 2019 (Note: this would include cruise visitors). The number of visitors from the number one market, Canada, fell by 6.3%, from 43,069 arrivals in October 2018 to 40,350 this October. Arrivals from Europe also decreased in October with traffic from Germany down by 17.2%, from France down by 24.0%, from the U.K. down by 75.0%, from Italy down by 32.5% and from Spain down by 11.6%.

In the first ten months of 2019 Cuba saw a 7.9% decrease in total arrivals, falling from 3,866,934 in 2018 to 3,563,005 this year. Total tourist arrivals from the USA, which comprised 12.7% of all arrivals, fell by 13.5% from 521,846 in 2018 to 452,442 in the first ten months of 2019. Arrivals from Canada, which comprised 25.2% of all tourist arrivals, fell by 0.5%, from 903,275 in 2018 to 899,120 in the first ten months of 2019.

In June 2019 the Cuban government revised sharply downwards its estimate for 2019 full-year visitors arrivals to 4.3 million from an original goal of more than 5 million. That will spell an 8.5% drop from the 4.7 million reported last year.

Costa Rica saw a 0.5% decrease in stopover arrivals in September.
According to the Costa Rica Institute of Tourism ICT, Costa Rica saw the volume of stopovers decrease by 0.5% in September 2019, falling from 161,012 stopovers in September 2018 to 160,206 stopovers in 2019. The number of stopovers from the USA increased by 4.6% in September 2019, from 50,890 stopovers in September 2018 to 53,237 in September 2019 while the number from Central America fell by 8.9%, from 55,086 in September 2018 to 50,204 in September 2019. In September 2019 stopovers from the USA comprised 33.2% of Costa Rica’s tourist arrivals while those from Central America comprised 31.3%.

The volume of stopovers increased by 3.5% in the first nine months of 2019, growing from 2,299,724 stopovers in 2018 to 2,380,844 stopovers in first nine months of 2019. The number of stopovers from the USA increased by 4.7% in the first nine months of 2019, from 988,485 stopovers in 2018 to 1,035,201 in 2019 while the number from Central America increased by 2.0%, growing from 512,391 in the first nine months of 2018 to 522,786 in the same nine months of 2019. In the first nine months of 2019 stopovers from the USA comprised 46.6% of Costa Rica’s tourist arrivals while those from Central America comprised 23.5%. 

Punta Cana saw another 27% decrease in stopover arrivals in October.
According to the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic, saw the volume of non-resident stopover arrivals decrease by 27.1% in October, falling from 242,587 arrivals in October 2018 to 176,890 arrivals in October 2019. This follows a 22.8% decline in such arrivals in July, an 18.2% decline in August and a 26.9% decline in September.

Stopover arrivals from the USA fell by 46.2% in October, from 74,700 arrivals in October 2018 to 40,168 arrivals in October 2019 and accounted for 52% of the decline in arrivals. This follows a 36.3% decline in US arrivals in July, a 34.5% decline in August and a 50.8% decline in September.

Arrivals from Russia fell by 64.5%, from 17,402 in October 2018 to 6,172 in October of this year (although this was partly due to charter flights being moved from Punta Cana to La Romana). Traffic was also down 23.1% from the U.K, down 19.7% from Canada, down 38.7% from Germany and down 30.1 from Brazil.

Through the first ten months of 2019 Punta Cana saw an 8.7% decrease in the volume of stopover arrivals, falling from 3,276,709 arrivals in the first ten months of 2018 to 2,990,218 arrivals in the same ten months of 2019.

Arrivals from the USA fell by 9.9% in the first ten months of 2019, falling from 1,373,528 arrivals in 2018 to 1,237,709 arrivals in the same ten months of 2019. However, arrivals from Russia fell by 69.0% in the same period, from 155,201 in 2018 to 48,103 in 2019.

Stopover arrivals to Punta Cana made up 55.8% of all non-resident arrivals to the Dominican Republic in the first ten months of 2019.

The Dominican Republic saw a 10.3% decline in stopover arrivals in October.
According to the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, the Dominican Republic saw the volume of non-resident stopover arrivals decrease by 10.3% in October, falling from 414,982 arrivals in October 2018 to 372,205 arrivals in October 2019. This follows an 11.2% decline in such arrivals in July, a 7.5% decline in August, and an 11.4% decline in September.

Stopover arrivals from the USA fell by 26.6%, from 121,899 arrivals in October 2018 to 89,440 arrivals in October 2019.  This follows a 24.6% decline in US arrivals in July, a 24.4% decline in August and a 33.0% decline in September.

Through the first ten months of 2019 the Dominican Republic saw a 1.2% decrease in the volume of stopover arrivals, falling from 5,424,399 arrivals in the first ten months of 2018 to 5,359,903 arrivals in the same ten months of 2019.

Arrivals from the USA decreased by 3.3% in the first ten months of 2019, falling from 1,985,432 arrivals in 2018 to 1,919,825 arrivals in the same ten months of 2019. 

​Aruba saw a 3.6% increase in stopover arrivals in May 2019.
According to the Aruba Tourism Authority (ATA), Aruba saw a 3.6% increase in stopover visitor arrivals in May, growing from 85,430 stopovers in May 2018 to 88,543 in May 2019. Stopover visitors from the USA grew by 11.0%, from 60,545 in May 2018 to 67,227 in May 2019. The ATA has had some system issues which has delayed the production of the 2019 numbers.
In the first five months of 2019 Aruba saw a 6.3% increase in the number of stopover visitors, growing from 448,500 visitors in 2018 to 476,679 this year. The number of stopovers from the USA grew by 11.8% during the first five months, from 320,146 in 2018 to 357,850 through May 2019.

Bermuda saw a 4.5% decline in air arrivals in the first nine months of 2019
Through the first nine months of 2019 Bermuda saw a 4.5% decline in the volume of total air arrivals, falling from 227,331 air arrivals in 2018 to 217,147 air arrivals in the same nine months of 2019. Arrivals from the USA decreased by 5.4% in the first nine months of 2019, falling from 175,202 arrivals in 2018 to 165,722 arrivals in the same nine months of 2019. The number of cruise visitors increased by 14.2% in the first nine months of 2019, growing from 391,294 cruise visitors in 2018 to 447,006 cruise visitors in 2019.

The Seychelles announces stopover visitor arrivals grew by 6.6% in October.
The Seychelles Government’s National Bureau of Statistics recently announced that total stopover arrivals increased by 6.6% in October 2019, from 33,725 arrivals in October 2018 to 35,960 arrivals in October of this year. This number includes both air and sea stopover visitors. The number of visitors from Germany, the number one market, fell by 1.1%, from 6,439 arrivals in October 2018 to 6,370 arrivals in the same month of 2019. The number of cruise visitors decreased by 41.9%, from 7,007 in October 2018 to 4,070 cruise visitors in October of this year.

In the first ten months of 2019 The Seychelles saw a 5.5% increase in total stopover arrivals, from 294,586 arrivals in 2018 to 310,783 arrivals this year. Total stopover arrivals from Germany grew by 22.0% from 45,790 in the first ten months of 2018 to 55,886 arrivals in the same ten months of 2019. The number of cruise visitors increased by 0.1%, from 27,431 in the first ten months of 2018 to 27,467 cruise visitors in the same period of 2019.

Grenada reports stopover arrivals fell by 3.6% in September.
According to the Grenada Tourism Authority, Grenada saw the volume of stopover arrivals decrease by 3.6% in September 2019, falling from 9,047 arrivals in September 2018 to 8,717 arrivals in September 2019. Stopover arrivals from the USA decreased by 0.2%, falling from 3,827 in September 2018 to 3,817 in September 2019 and fell by 10.1% from the U.K. to 1,545 arrivals. The number of cruise visitors declined by 99.4%, falling from 3,772 cruise visitors in September 2018 to 24 cruise visitors in September 2019. The number of visitors arriving by yacht decreased by 3.1% falling to 943 visitors.

In the first nine months of 2019 Grenada saw a 3.0% increase in the volume of stopover arrivals, growing from 120,493 arrivals in 2018 to 124,157 arrivals in 2019. Arrivals from the USA increased by 2.3% in 2019, growing from 56,668 arrivals in 2018 to 58,005 arrivals in 2019 while arrivals from the U.K. grew by 0.1% in 2019, growing from 19,728 stopovers in 2018 to 19,745 stopovers in 2019. The number of cruise visitors declined by 0.3% in 2019, falling from 224,759 cruise visitors in 2018 to 224,007 in 2019. The number of visitors arriving by yacht decreased by 2.7% in the first nine months of 2019, falling from 20,316 arrivals in 2018 to 19,759 this year.

​Despite Dorian, travel to the Caribbean keeps growing.
A study, undertaken by ForwardKeys, the travel analytics firm, has revealed that despite the recent ravages of hurricane Dorian and other huge storms in the Caribbean, tourism will continue to grow. The results of the study were presented at a Caribbean Tourism Organization-organised news conference at World Travel Market on November 6th
 
Forward bookings for the important winter season, 1st November to 31st January are currently 1.6% ahead of where they were at the equivalent point last year. Currently, bookings from the USA, the most important source market are 3.0% behind but bookings from all the other major source markets are ahead, France 9.8%, the UK 0.9%, Canada 8.2%, Argentina 8.1% and the rest of the world collectively 3.2%. The current leader is the Netherlands, 42.1% ahead.

However, the outlook is not universally positive. Forward bookings to the top destination in the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic, are currently 14.2% behind and those to the Bahamas and Aruba are 6.4% and 1.4% behind respectively. Encouraging growth is seen from Puerto Rico, 28.0% ahead, but that is really a recovery story, as tourism to the island was hit hard by hurricane Maria in December 2017.
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​
Cancun saw a 0.1% decline in international air arrivals in October.
According to ASUR, which manages many of Mexico’s airports, Cancun Airport saw a 0.1% decrease in international passenger arrivals in October 2019, falling from 1,012,613 arrivals in October 2018 to 1,011,657 arrivals in October 2019. Domestic arrivals grew however, by 3.0%, from 736,367 visitors in October 2018 to 758,707 visitors in October this year.

In the first ten months of 2019 the volume of international air arrivals showed minimal change, growing from 13,676,015 in 2018 to 13,682,731 this year while the volume of domestic air arrivals grew by 2.8%, from 7,262,254 in the first ten months of 2018 to 7,462,241 this year.

Jamaica saw a 7.2% increase in stopover arrivals in September.
According to the Jamaica Tourist Board, Jamaica saw the volume of stopover arrivals increase by 7.2% in September 2019, growing from 134,910 arrivals in September 2018 to 144,583 arrivals in September 2019. Stopover arrivals from the USA grew by 11.1%, from 86,062 visitors in September 2018 to 95,650 visitors in September 2019.

Cruise arrivals fell by 28.3%, from 84,228 cruise visitors in September 2018 to 60,416 cruise visitors in September 2019.

Through the first nine months of 2019 Jamaica saw a 9.1% increase in the volume of stopover arrivals, growing from 1,852,482 stopover arrivals in the first nine months of 2018 to 2,020,508 arrivals in the same nine months of 2019. Arrivals from the USA increased by 13.5% in the first nine months of 2019, growing from 1,229,133 arrivals in 2018 to 1,395,590 arrivals in the same nine months of 2019.

The number of cruise visitors declined by 15.3% in the first nine months of 2019, falling from 1,324,063 cruise visitors in 2018 to 1,121,050 cruise visitors in 2019.

San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU) saw a 13.9% increase in arriving air passengers in October.
According to ASUR, which manages many airports in Mexico, Colombia and which also manages the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, SJU saw a 13.9% increase in passenger traffic in October 2019, growing from 578,124 arrivals in October 2018 to 658,632 arrivals in October of this year.

In the first nine months of 2019 the volume of air arrivals increased by 11.4%, from 6,940,697 in 2018 to 7,730,812 this year.

Los Cabos saw a 4.3% increase in international air arrivals in October.
According to Aeroportuario del Pacifico, which manages many of Mexico’s airports, Los Cabos Airport saw a 4.3% increase in international passenger arrivals in October 2019, growing from 235,800 arrivals in October 2018 to 245,800 arrivals in October 2019. Domestic arrivals grew by 15.9%, from 133,300 in October 2018 to 154,600 in October this year.

In the first ten months of 2019 the volume of international air arrivals increased by 2.3%, growing from 2,944,200 arrivals in 2018 to 3,010,500 this year while the volume of domestic air arrivals grew by 15.3%, from 1,390,100 in the first ten months of 2018 to 1,602,300 this year.

Aruba saw a 6.6% increase in stopover arrivals in April 2019.
According to the Aruba Tourism Authority (ATA), Aruba saw a 6.6% increase in stopover visitor arrivals in April, growing from 88,115 stopovers in April 2018 to 93,953 in April 2019. Stopover visitors from the USA grew by 11.3%, from 65,322 in April 2018 to 72,681 in April 2019. The ATA has had some system issues which has delayed the production of the 2019 numbers.

In the first four months of 2019 Aruba saw a 6.9% increase in the number of stopover visitors, growing from 363,070 visitors in 2018 to 388,136 this year. The number of stopovers from the USA grew by 11.9% during the first four months, from 259,601 in 2018 to 290,623 through April 2019.

Antigua and Barbuda reports stopover arrivals grew by 21.7% in September.
According to the Ministry of Tourism and Investment, Antigua and Barbuda saw a 21.7% increase in stopover visitor arrivals in September 2019, growing from 11,656 stopovers in September 2018 to 14,188 stopovers in 2019. The number of stopover visitors from the USA fell by 1.6%, from 4,284 in September 2018 to 4,215 in September 2019 while the number of stopovers from the U.K. grew by 10.6%, from 3,203 in September 2018 to 3,544 in September of this year.

Through the first nine months of 2019, Antigua and Barbuda saw a 12.6% increase in the number of stopover visitors, growing from 200,603 stopovers in 2018 to 225,791 stopovers in 2019. The number of stopovers from the USA grew by 15.9%, from 79,606 in 2018 to 92,250 in 2019 while the number of stopover visitors from the U.K. grew by 6.4% from 50,655 in 2018 to 53,905 this year.

The Cayman Islands saw a 1.9% increase in stopover arrivals in September.
According to the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism, the Cayman Islands saw the volume of stopover arrivals increase by 1.9% in September 2019, growing from 16,336 arrivals in September 2018 to 16,640 arrivals in September 2019.

Stopover arrivals from the USA fell by 0.6%, from 12,853 in September 2018 to 12,772 in September 2019.

Cruise arrivals fell by 4.5%, from 92,592 cruise visitors in September 2018 to 88,445 cruise visitors in September 2019.

Through the first nine months of 2019 the Cayman Islands saw a 10.3% increase in the volume of stopover arrivals, growing from 350,311 arrivals in the first nine months of 2018 to 386,290 arrivals in the same nine months of 2019.

Arrivals from the USA increased by 10.5% in the first nine months of 2019, growing from 294,857 arrivals in 2018 to 325,696 arrivals in the same nine months of 2019.

The number of cruise visitors declined by 5.9% in the first nine months of 2019, falling from 1,415,740 cruise visitors in 2018 to 1,332,159 cruise visitors this year.

International air arrivals to Mexico fell by 0.6% in September.
According to the Government of Mexico’s SECTUR (Department of Tourism) the volume of international air arrivals to Mexico fell by 0.6% in September 2019 from 1,028,708 in September 2018 to 1,022,029 in September of this year. The volume of air arrivals from the USA fell by 1.0% in September, to 509,806 and the volume from Canada fell by 6.2%, to 58,710. These two markets generated 55.6% of all international air arrivals in September 2019.

In the first nine months of 2019 the volume of international air arrivals to Mexico grew by 1.4%, from 14,004,191 in 2018 to 14,201,709 in the first nine months of this year. The volume of air arrivals from the USA fell by 0.6% in the same nine months, to 7,915,835 while the volume from Canada grew by 7.1%, to 1,663,477. These two markets generated 67.4% of all international air arrivals in the first nine months of 2019.

Hawaii saw a 2.4% increase in air arrivals in September, while total tourist spending fell by 3.9%
According to the Hawaii Tourism Authority, Hawaii saw the volume of air arrivals increase by 2.4% in September 2019, growing from 706,423 arrivals in September 2018 to 723,341 arrivals in September 2019. Air arrivals from the USA grew by 3.2%, from 432,115 in September 2018 to 445,903 in September 2019, grew by 7.3% from Japan (to 137,659 air arrivals). Air arrivals fell by 0.5% from Canada (to 21,988 air arrivals). Tourist spending in September fell by 3.9% to $1.24 billion.

Through the first nine months of 2019 Hawaii saw a 5.4% increase in the volume of air arrivals, growing from 7,370,090 arrivals in the first nine months of 2018 to 7,764,441 air arrivals in the same nine months of 2019. Air arrivals from the USA increased by 8.2% in the first nine months of 2019, growing from 4,816,499 air arrivals in 2018 to 5,213,170 air arrivals in the same nine months of 2019, grew by 3.3% from Japan (to 1,152,900 air arrivals) and fell by 1.5% from Canada (to 387,962 air arrivals).

Total tourist spending by air visitors decreased by 0.1% in the first nine months of 2019, falling from $13.32 billion in 2018 to $13.31 billion in 2019. Average spend per visitor per day fell by 2.9%, from $200.40 per day in 2018 to $194.60 in 2019, while average spend per person per trip fell by 5.3%, from $1,793.30 in 2018 to $1,698.30 in 2019.

In the first nine months of 2019 32.5% of Hawaii’s tourists were visiting for the first time with 67.5% having visited the state before.

Curacao reports stopover arrivals fell by 1.0% in September.
According to the Curaçao Tourist Board, Curaçao saw a 1.0% decrease in stopover visitor arrivals in September, falling from 32,823 stopovers in September 2018 to 32,509 in September of this year. Stopover visitors from the USA fell by 26.3%, from 4,749 visitors in September 2018 to 3,501 visitors in September 2019. Stopover visitors from the Netherlands grew by 10.5%, from 12,669 visitors in September 2018 to 14,003 visitors in September 2019.

In the first nine months of 2019 Curaçao has seen an 11.3% increase in the number of stopover visitors, growing from 311,384 visitors in 2018 to 346,440 this year. The number of stopovers from the USA has grown by 5.7% during the first nine months, from 54,225 in 2018 to 57,332 through September 2019. The number of stopovers from the Netherlands has grown by 10.2% during the first nine months, from 129,763 in 2018 to 143,009 through September 2019.

The number of cruise visitors fell by 8.0% in September, from 41,538 visitors in September 2018 to 38,202 visitors this year. Through the first nine months of 2019 the number of cruise visitors to Curaçao grew by 3.1%, from 525,258 visitors in 2018 to 541,621 visitors this year.

Las Vegas saw a 0.5% increase in visitors in September.
According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Las Vegas saw the volume of visitors increase by 0.5% in September 2019, growing from 3,457,500 visitors in September 2018 to 3,475,900 arrivals in September 2019.

Las Vegas had 149,050 hotel rooms in September 2019 (up 0.8% compared with September 2018) and achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 88.3% (up 0.9 percentage points compared with September 2018), an ADR of $137.11 (up 0.6% compared with September 2018) and a RevPar of $121.07, up 1.7% also compared with September 2018.

Through the first nine months of 2019 Las Vegas saw a 0.6% increase in the volume of visitors, growing from 31,690,000 arrivals in the first nine months of 2018 to 31,880,200 visitors in the same nine months of 2019.

Las Vegas achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 89.2% in the first nine months of 2019 (up 0.4 percentage points compared with the first nine months of 2018), an ADR of $132.87 (up 3.6% compared with ytd 2018) and a RevPar of $118.52, up 4.2%, also compared with the same nine months of 2018.

Gaming revenue grew by 1.6% from $7.629 billion in the first nine months of 2018 to $7.753 billion in the same nine months of 2019.

Aruba saw an 8.4% increase in stopover arrivals in March 2019.
According to the Aruba Tourism Authority (ATA), Aruba saw an 8.4% increase in stopover visitor arrivals in March, growing from 98,467 stopovers in March 2018 to 106,730 in March 2019. Stopover visitors from the USA grew by 13.4%, from 73,685 in March 2018 to 83,586 in March 2019. The ATA has had some system issues which has delayed the production of the 2019 numbers.

In the first three months of 2019 Aruba saw a 7.0% increase in the number of stopover visitors, growing from 274,955 visitors in 2018 to 294,183 this year. The number of stopovers from the USA grew by 12.2% during the first three months, from 194,279 in 2018 to 217,942 through March 2019.

Orlando saw a 9.0 percentage point drop in average room occupancy in September to 61.6%.
According to STR Orlando had 128,000 hotel rooms in September 2019 and achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 61.6% (down 9.0 percentage points compared with September 2018), and an ADR of $104.78 (down 3.2%% compared with September 2018).

According to Visit Orlando, Orlando saw the volume of air visitors increase by 7.9% in August 2019, growing from 4,007,677 air visitors in August 2018 to 4,325,025 air visitors in August 2019.

In the first nine months of 2019 Orlando achieved an average city-wide room occupancy of 76.2% (down 3.4 percentage points compared with 2018), and an ADR of $126.01 (up 0.3% compared with 2018). 

In the first eight months of 2019 Orlando saw a 6.9% increase in the volume of air visitors, growing from 34,616,985 air arrivals in 2018 to 37,016,554 air visitors in the first eight months of 2019.

US Consumer confidence declined by 0.3% in October to stand at 125.9
The US based Conference Board reported that US consumer confidence declined by 0.3% in October with its index falling from 126.3 in September to 125.9 this October (1985 = 100). They further reported that 39.2% of consumers surveyed in October said that business conditions were good, up from 37.4% in September. They also reported that 18.6% expected that business conditions would improve in the next six months, down from 20.0% in September.
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Saint Lucia saw a 15.3% increase in stopover arrivals in September.
According to the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, Saint Lucia saw the volume of stopover arrivals increase by 15.3% in September 2019, growing from 18,745 arrivals in September 2018 to 21,608 arrivals in September 2019.

Stopover arrivals from the USA grew by 14.7%, from 7,849 visitors in September 2018 to 9,005 visitors in September 2019 but fell by 4.0% from the U.K., falling from 4,285 arrivals in September 2018 to 4,113 arrivals in September 2019. The number of cruise visitors grew by 29.0% in September, from 16,373 in September 2018 to 21,120 in September of this year.

In the first nine months of 2019 Saint Lucia saw a 7.9% increase in the volume of stopover arrivals, growing from 296,989 arrivals in 2018 to 320,331 arrivals in 2019. Arrivals from the USA increased by 9.6% in 2019, growing from 135,362 arrivals in 2018 to 148,411 arrivals in 2019 while arrivals from the U.K. grew by 9.7%, growing from 53,941 stopovers in 2018 to 59,161 stopovers in 2019. The number of cruise visitors has grown by 2.6% through the first nine months, from 509,400 in 2018 to 522,857 this year.

Puerto Rico saw average hotel room occupancy fall by 3.9 percentage points in August to 67.1%.
According to the Puerto Rico Tourism Company (PRTC), the hotels and resorts endorsed by the PRTC saw the number of non-resident hotel registrations increase by 25.0% in August 2019, growing from 114,111 registrations in August 2018 to 142,653 registrations in August 2019. Registrations by local residents grew by 24.3% from 49,783 in August 2018 to 61,888 in August 2019.

PRTC reports that the number of hotel/resort available room nights grew by 4.7%, from 362,259 in August 2018 to 379,464 in August 2019. The number of occupied room nights fell by 1.0% however from 257,400 in 2018 to 254,685 in 2019 mostly due to a 13.8% decline in the average length of stay from 2.9 nights to 2.5 nights, with average room occupancy falling by 3.9 percentage points from 71.0% in August 2018 to 67.1% in August 2019. ADR grew by 4.9% from $143.03 in August 2018 to $149.99 in August 2019.

In the first eight months of 2019 the number of non-resident hotel registrations increased by 31.1%, growing from 845,753 registrations in 2018 to 1,109,081 registrations in 2019. Registrations by local residents grew by 36.3% from 346,513 in 2018 to 472,248 in 2019.

​The number of hotel/resort available room nights grew by 3.5% in 2019, from 2,844,525 in 2018 to 2,944,571 in 2019. The number of occupied room nights fell by 5.0% however from 2,194904 in 2018 to 2,084,724 in 2019 largely due to a decline in the average length of stay from 3.1 nights in 2018 to 2.5 nights in 2019 with average room occupancy falling by 6.4 percentage points from 77.2% in 2018 to 70.8% in 2019. ADR grew by 6.6% from $156.22 in 2018 to $166.58 in 2019.

The Maldives announces visitor arrivals up by 9.3% in September.
The Maldives Government’s Ministry of Tourism recently announced that total tourist arrivals grew by 9.3% in September 2019, from 107,670 arrivals in September 2018 to 117,619 arrivals in September of this year. The number of visitors from China, the number one source market, fell by 11.6%, from 27,997 arrivals in September 2018 to 24,758 in the same month of 2019.

In the first nine months of 2019 The Maldives saw a 15.8% increase in total arrivals, from 1,080,459 in 2018 to 1,251,690 this year. Total tourist arrivals from China grew by 3.7% from 222,108 in 2018 to 230,349 in the first nine months of 2019.

The Maldives has seen the overall number of accommodation establishments grow by 13.6% from 789 in September 2018 to 896 establishments this September. The number of beds increased by 16.5% from 42,355 last September to 49,333 this year. Through the end of September overall average room occupancy has grown by 0.7 percentage points from 61.5% in 2018 to 62.2% this year.

Of the 896 establishments 144 were resorts which offered 35,427 beds (71.8% of the overall number of beds). These resorts achieved a 74.1% average room occupancy through the first nine months of 2019 up from 73.4% for the first nine months of 2018. In September 2018 there were 129 resorts offering 29,130 beds, with the number of resorts increasing by 11.6% in 2019 and the number of beds up by 21.6%. 

Aruba saw a 9.6% increase in stopover arrivals in February 2019.
According to the Aruba Tourism Authority (ATA), Aruba saw a 9.6% increase in stopover visitor arrivals in February, growing from 85,017 stopovers in February 2018 to 93,209 in February 2019. Stopover visitors from the USA grew by 12.8%, from 61,120 in February 2018 to 68,922 in February 2019. The ATA has had some system issues which has delayed the production of the 2019 numbers.

In the first two months of 2019 Aruba saw a 6.2% increase in the number of stopover visitors, growing from 176,488 visitors in 2018 to 187,453 this year. The number of stopovers from the USA grew by 11.4% during the first two months, from 120,594 in 2018 to 134,356 through February 2019.

Why Jump on the All-Inclusive Bandwagon?
By Hector Medina, Senior Manager for New Market Development Apple Leisure Group
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• Leisure destinations in Mexico and the Caribbean show a robust hotel construction pipeline, with 62% and 42% of the rooms under construction poised to be part of all-inclusive properties, respectively.
• Demand in these destinations continues to rise as tourism numbers and airlift continues to increase.
• Customers choose the all-inclusive model because it provides value, as well as convenience.
• Internationally recognized hotel brands commonly known for European Plan models have been turning to the all-inclusive model to grow their portfolios.

There’s no doubt about it—the all-inclusive (AI) resort is here to stay. The resort model that packages all room and board costs into one up-front rate has become a mainstay in beach destinations, most notably across Mexico and the Caribbean. The model is expanding, quickly, and there are no signs of development slowing down.
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Barbados saw a 3.1% increase in stopover arrivals in September.
According to VisitBarbados.org, Barbados saw the volume of stopover arrivals increase by 3.1% in September 2019, growing from 35,766 arrivals in September 2018 to 36,863 arrivals in September 2019. Stopover arrivals from the USA grew by 6.1%, from 11,949 in September 2018 to 12,683 in September 2019 and grew by 3.1% from the U.K., from 10,211 arrivals in September 2018 to 11,313 in September 2019.

In the first nine months of 2019 Barbados saw a 4.2% increase in the volume of stopover arrivals, growing from 501,383 arrivals in 2018 to 522,583 arrivals in 2019. Arrivals from the USA increased by 9.5% in 2019, growing from 154,093 arrivals in 2018 to 168,704 arrivals in 2019 while arrivals from the U.K. grew by 8.7% in 2019, growing from 160,475 stopovers in 2018 to 174,389 stopovers in 2019. 

Hawaii’s hotels saw average room occupancy grow by 0.9 percentage points in September to 78.2%.
According to the Hawai‘i Hotel Performance Report, published by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA), the month of September saw RevPAR grow by 4.4% to $193 statewide, with ADR growing by 3.2% to $247 and occupancy up by 0.9 percentage points to 78.2 percent.

The HTA’s Tourism Research Division issued the report’s findings utilizing data compiled by STR, Inc., which conducts the largest and most comprehensive survey of hotel properties in the Hawaiian Islands. 
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Through the first nine months of 2019, Hawai‘i hotels statewide reported RevPAR growing by 1.5% to $228, with ADR up by 1.9% to $281 although occupancy fell by 0.3 percentage points to 81.3 percent.
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Aruba saw a 15.9% decrease in the number of cruise visitors in September.
Aruba saw the volume of cruise visitor arrivals decline by 15.9% in September 2019, falling from 41,014 cruise visitors in September 2018 to 34,508 cruise visitors this September. The number of cruise ship calls fell from 13 in September 2018 to 11 in September of this year.

Through the first nine months of 2019 the number of cruise visitors has declined by 2.2%, from 568,261 in 2018 to 555,525 this year with the number of calls falling from 228 in 2018 to 208 in 2019.

​Cancun saw a 0.6 percentage point drop in average hotel room occupancy in September to 60.8% while hotels in Riviera Maya saw a 1.4 percentage point decline to 60.9%.
According to Sedetur, the Department of Tourism of the state of Quintana Roo, the hotels in Cancun/Puerto Morelos saw a 0.6 percentage point drop in average hotel room occupancy in September 2019 to 60.8% compared to 61.4% for September last year.

The hotels in Riviera Maya saw their average room occupancy fall by 1.4 percentage points from 62.3% in September 2018 to 60.9% in September this year.

Through the first nine months of 2019 the hotels in Riviera Maya have achieved an average room occupancy of 79.1%, down 2.6 percentage points from 81.7% for the first nine months of 2018, while the hotels in Cancun/Puerto Morelos have achieved a 77.2% average room occupancy in the first nine months of 2019, down 4.1 percentage points from 81.3% for the first nine months of 2018.

Riviera Maya has 46,958 hotel rooms while the Cancun/Puerto Morelos area has 40,835 hotel rooms.

An opportunity to advance Caribbean thinking about tourism.
David Jessop, a consultant to the Caribbean Council
A few days ago, the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) announced that it is to restructure its operations in the face of rising costs and the need to “elevate tourism development in the region”.

It Chairman, the Minister of Tourism of St Lucia, Dominic Fedee, said that CTO would be closing its London and New York offices by the end of January 2020 and would undertake a comprehensive audit of the role of its head office in Barbados; a process that could well involve further redundancies.
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FLIGHT PASSENGER GROWTH COULD HALVE DUE TO ‘FLIGHT SHAME’, SAYS NEW RESEARCH.
More than a fifth of people say they have reduced number of flights they take.

The expected growth in air travel passenger numbers could halve due to climate change fears, according to new research.

Swiss bank UBS surveyed more than 6,000 people from the UK, US, Germany and France about their flying habits, and found the rise of “flight shame” or flygskam seems to be spreading.

More than a fifth (21 per cent) of those surveyed said had they had intentionally reduced the number of flights they took over the last year.

While just 16 per cent of British travellers claimed to be cutting back, 24 per cent of Americans said climate change had convinced them to reduce the number of flights they took.

According to UBS, there has been a marked increase in the number of people purporting to be curbing their flying habit since the survey was first conducted in May 2019.
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New way to count number of tourist arrivals?
Scientists used millions of travelers' Flickr photos to quickly calculate global tourism. Is analyzing online data the next step in measuring our society?

Our summer vacation photos are a record of happy memories made with friends and families, proof of where we’ve been and what we’ve done during our precious time off. Thanks to team of scientists at the Data Science Lab at Warwick Business School and The Alan Turing Institute, these photos might prove to be more than just happy memories, but also serve as rapid, low-cost insights into how people travel around the globe.

New research from Professor Tobias Preis, Dr. Federico Botta, and Professor Suzy Moat analyzed data from 69 million publicly shared photos uploaded to the platform Flickr to estimate global tourism statistics for the G7 countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US.
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Reassessing the Role Of Cruise Tourism.
David Jessop – Caribbean Council.
Cruise tourism has become a big business, with the Caribbean now accounting for more than 35 per cent of all such vacations globally.
This year more ships will sail in or through Caribbean waters than in any other part of the world, with many of the one hundred plus new vessels under construction destined to do the same.

Despite this, no government or industry body has yet been able to focus with any success on how little the cruise lines contribute to Caribbean development, government revenues, or the local economy. Nor have they found ways that equitably relate cruise tourism to the now regional economic importance of the hotel sector, the ancillary onshore demand that long-stay visitors create, or the higher taxes they pay.
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Dubai’s Tourism Industry Is Running To Stand Still, Amid Heightened Regional Tensions.
Dominic Dudley Contributor Forbes Magazine
(August 6 2019)
Signs of strain in Dubai’s tourism industry – one of the critical parts of its economy – are growing, with a $15bn hotel building boom taking place against a backdrop of plateauing visitor numbers.

Hotel occupancy levels fell in the second quarter of this year to 67% — the lowest figure for that part of the year since 2009, according to STR. The average daily room rate was down 12% to AED 513.73 while revenue per available room fell 13% to AED 344.65 – the lowest level for both metrics since 2003 (Exchange rate AED 3.67 = US$ 1.00).

At the moment, visitor numbers to Dubai are flat. According to the latest data from Visit Dubai, total international guest numbers in the first five months of the year stood at 7.16m, the same as 2018. Visitor numbers from some key markets have declined. India, the largest source market, provided 486,000 visitors in the first five months of the year, down 12% year-on-year. Iranian visitor numbers have slumped by a third to 130,000. Those losses have been countered by rises in visitor numbers from the likes of Saudi Arabia, China and Germany, but even so the industry is racing to stand still.
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MMGY Global’s Portrait of American Travelers Survey Reveals Significant Shifts in What Is Influencing Travelers Most.
Changing priorities are impacting how and why Americans travel.

MMGY Travel Intelligence, MMGY Global's research and insights company, recently released the findings of its 2019-2020 Portrait of American Travelers® survey - the 29th annual edition of the acclaimed study.

The results paint a picture of rapidly changing priorities amongst travelers, driven by

• growing concerns over safety,
• the quick adoption of the new sharing economy and
• a more conscientious approach to travel.​

The world is changing quickly and, as a result, how and why Americans travel is too.
While priorities are being reassessed, travelers intend to spend about the same on travel in 2019 ($5,025) as they report having spent in 2018 ($5,038). And while they plan to take slightly fewer vacations (3.2 in 2019 vs. 3.5 in 2018), travelers anticipate spending 17% more than they did at this same point in 2018. This is in part a reflection of a shift in the age of those who are most likely to travel in the coming year.
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Commentary: Tourism must deliver greater benefits to all.
(June 27 2019)
By David Jessop.
Tourism now dominates most Caribbean economies, drawing huge numbers of visitors and wealth into the region. Despite this, many of those who work in or with the sector have yet to benefit fully from its success.

A few days ago, in the less than likely location of Baku in Azerbaijan, Jamaica’s tourism minister, asked a question that few Caribbean governments seem to want to address. That is whether an industry worth US$62bn to the region in 2018 is delivering benefits in an equitable manner and if its workers and dependent enterprises are receiving a fair share of the wealth it generates?

The minister, Edmund Bartlett, whose name has become something of a byword internationally for new thinking about tourism, said that if the sector is to be truly sustainable it must deliver a more equitable distribution of earnings and provide greater equality among stakeholders.
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Speaking at an Executive Council meeting of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) he asked whether an industry which generated US$1.7 trillion globally in 2018 and created one in 11 jobs, is delivering all that it should, particularly in the world’s most tourism-dependent regions. The industry’s growth he said, “begs the question of the distribution of this enormous wealth and the impact that it is having”.
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How Airbnb took over the world.
(Oranjestad - May 7 2019)
The Guardian 
In just 11 years, it has grown from nothing to a $30 billion firm. But critics say Airbnb’s rise has come at a huge cost to urban life – and cities across the planet are trying to find ways to rein it in.
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