SAVVY TRAVELLER

16/11/2024

An American visiting Japan with his family has been arrested on suspicion of vandalism after allegedly desecrating Tokyo’s Meiji Jingu Shrine. According to Reuters, the 65-year-old (identified as Steve Lee Hayes) clawed five letters representing family names into a pillar of the Torii gates with his fingernails. He allegedly etched the characters “just for fun,” according to Tokyo Weekender, and was taken into custody at his hotel. The incident is one in a string of similar defacements, visitors having graffitied pillars at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo twice already this year. Reuters reports that “overtourism” may be to blame: 27 million people visited Japan between January and September, injecting the equivalent of $37.5 billion into the economy but also saddling the country with drunken, rowdy visitors who leave their trash in the streets and strain transportation systems and generally make life more difficult for locals - Daily Beast

29/10/2024

Ben-Gurion Airport's Terminal 1 Closes Its Doors to International Flights for Five Months: The terminal, which briefly opened seven months after the war's start anticipating an influx in tourism, is closing due to a decrease in passenger traffic, and low-cost carriers cancelling service over security concerns. Domestic flights will continue to fly out of Terminal 1 - Haaretz.com

12/10/2024

Airline ticket giveaways, elaborate drone and pyrotechnic shows, and invitations to thousands of influencers to visit and “tell a good story.” These are among the wide-ranging ways Hong Kong has tried to revive its international tourism industry, a crucial economic driver battered by years of pandemic restrictions and political upheaval.

It hasn’t been working that well….

In 2018, Hong Kong received a record 65 million tourists. In 2023, it welcomed a little more than half that.

11/10/2024

BREAKING: British Airways is cancelling hundreds of long-haul flights from its winter schedules as it suffers from aircraft shortages caused by delays receiving spare parts. The airline is delaying the launch of a new Heathrow to Kuala Lumpur route, and suspending one flight a day between London Gatwick and New York and between London Heathrow and Doha. BA blamed the new wave of cancellations on “delays to the delivery of engines and parts from Rolls-Royce — particularly in relation to the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines fitted to our 787 aircraft.” The problems come as flight delays and cancellations to and from the airline’s London’s hub at Heathrow have doubled since the Covid pandemic.

https://www.ft.com/content/b71ea88c-23a7-4bdb-b2e2-846c4495529b

10/10/2024

Travel Hack: a great and affordable way to fly from Hong Kong to Bangkok, whilst sampling African hospitality along the way!
Ethiopian Airlines

We discovered -8638 as a great way to fly the short sector from Hong Kong to Bangkok

07/10/2024

We’re lunching today at Africa Coffee & Tea in Hong Kong. Enjoying coffee from Malawi, a non-alcoholic gin cocktail (who knew!) and the centerpiece - this sumptuous Ugandan wrap which is served all day. While here, take in the eye-popping display of African art across the hallway and stunning views of the harbour. There’s also a grand selection of wines, including some of our favourites from Africa! Thanks Charlene for the hospitality! Hakuna matata!

05/10/2024

British Airways customers have suffered doubling of flight delays & cancellations to/from Heathrow since Covid. It saw 9% of its Heathrow flights cancelled/delayed by 61+ minutes in 12 months to July this year, compared with 4.5% over same period in 2019

Airline must do more to improve operations, even at expense of financial returns, say industry executives and analysts

13/09/2024

Alert: pilots strike at Air Canada becoming increasingly likely. Operations impacted as soon as Sunday and also reverberate through Star Alliance partners. We urge savvy travelers to take necessary precautions, including switching to other carriers well ahead of time

01/09/2024

ALERT: Due to a national strike all takeoffs and landings at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport will cease as of 8am Monday (local time). It’s not clear how long the strike will last.

01/09/2024

Hong Kong’s summer tourism campaign features a shop assistant finding film star Louis Koo a shoe that fits, a taxi driver assisting passengers with their luggage and a barista handing a customer a coffee emblazoned with a smiley face. This courtesy, authorities say, is what is lacking in Hong Kong’s service industries — and reversing a popular perception of the city’s brusque manner, they hope, could help draw back tourists and revive its floundering economy.

Chinese territory launches courtesy campaign over fears reputation for rudeness is hurting economy

30/08/2024

Italy is proposing a sharp increase in tourist taxes to help cash-strapped cities raise revenues and make visitors “more responsible” amid a growing public backlash against over tourism. Hotel and travel industry associations are up in arms over the plan, which envisions a levy of up to €25 a night for the most expensive hotel rooms. “The common objective must be to support growth, not slow it down,” Federalberghi, an association representing small- and medium-sized hotels, said in a statement. The tourism ministry — run by Daniela Santanchè of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party — said it was planning “a dialogue” with relevant industry bodies in September over the “possible proposal to modify the rules of the tourist tax”. “Not all taxes are a tax,” Santanchè wrote in a recent social media post. “In times of overtourism, we are debating this so that it really helps improve services and make tourists who pay it more responsible.”

Government proposes levy of up €25 a night for most expensive hotel rooms to help cash-strapped cities

30/08/2024

Travellers headed for Portugal could face flight delays and cancellations amid airport ground handler strikes on the last weekend of the northern hemisphere summer holidays…

Travellers to Lisbon and Porto have been told to expect ‘numerous flight cancellations’ this weekend

28/08/2024

ALERT: Air Canada pilots have voted in favour of a strike if airline can’t reach a deal w/union, a move that could ground planes and disrupt travel plans. Pilots will be in a legal position to walk off the job in mid-Sept if parties haven’t agreed to a new deal by then.

28/08/2024

Hotel loyalty programs are booming in popularity — which means hotels have pulled back on the actual rewards, The Wall Street Journal reports. Discounts, upgrades and other perks now require more points than they used to, especially in popular destinations. “These programs have followed the path of airlines," John Ollila, who analyzes travel loyalty programs, told the WSJ. "They have become less rewarding for those who stay at their hotels, and more emphasis is placed on revenue that various partnerships and credit cards drive."

27/08/2024

ALERT: We strongly advise against booking with Malaysia Airlines and its subsidiaries for the foreseeable future due to significant cutbacks in their published schedules - as well as widespread reported difficulties reaching customer service agents

25/08/2024

Noel Josephides chairman of European tour operator Sunvil says he feels “ashamed” of what the industry has done to destinations. He says tourism has wreaked havoc in Europe.

Summer 2024 will be remembered as the season that tourism got nasty. With locals protesting against tourists in Europe, and overcrowding an issue everywhere from city centers to national parks, how did tourism get to this state – and can it recover?

23/08/2024

A Cathay Pacific flight from London to Hong Kong kept passengers on the tarmac for five hours, then vacated them from the plane due to “technical issues”, with the airline offering them an alternative flight departing a day later, the Post has learned.

Hong Kong’s flag carrier apologised on Thursday for the aborted flight and said the faulty plane would be transported back to Hong Kong after maintenance, with no passengers on board. - via SCMP

23/08/2024

Temperature & visual screening will be conducted for certain inbound travellers and crew at Singapore
Changi Airport as a precautionary measure against mpox. Checks target those arriving on flights from places which may be exposed to risk of mpox outbreaks, said the city state’s Ministry of Health. WHO in August declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years, following an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo that spread to neighbouring countries. Thailand on Thursday afternoon confirmed Asia's first known case of the new, deadlier Clade 1b strain. - CNA