News and Deals

Manchester United and Marriott International Announce Global Marketing Partnership Travel Pulse Marriott International and Manchester United announced a multi-year marketing partnership, giving the 120 million members of the Marriott Bonvoy … Read More

Southwest Airlines under FAA investigation for aircraft weight, balance calculations USA Today Southwest Airlines has been under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration for a year, with the probe focused … Read More

Hilton Washington D.C. National Mall opening April 1 Travel Weekly The Hilton Washington D.C. National Mall will open its doors on April 1. Located above D.C.’s L’Enfant Plaza Metro Station, … Read More

Virgin Voyages Launches Bookings, Reveals Bimini as New Destination Caribbean Journal The highly-anticipated Virgin Voyages just crossed a major threshold. It’s officially open for business. Sir Richard Branson’s new adults-only … Read More

India wants to make medical tourism a $9 billion industry by 2020 CNN There are many reasons people go to India: the culture, the food, the weather. But in recent … Read More

Delta Bolstering Service for Brazil’s Carnival Travel Pulse For travelers who want to experience Brazil’s famous Carnival, Delta Air Lines is offering nonstop seasonal service between New York City and … Read More

Saudi Arabia, Trying to Lure Tourists, Hosts Music Festival New York Times The new Italian-designed concert hall in the middle of the desert shimmered in the sunset light, its walls … Read More

United Airlines Is Courting Business Travelers Aggressively Motley Fool United Continental (NASDAQ:UAL) spent much of the past decade as the laughingstock of the airline industry. A series of customer-service gaffes … Read More

TWA Hotel reservations open on Valentine’s Day Travel Weekly The TWA Hotel at New York’s Kennedy Airport will begin taking reservations on Feb. 14. Bookings will be accepted for stays … Read More

Increased Access Drives Brazil’s Visitor Growth Travel Pulse Brazil’s tourism profile among Americans reached unparalleled heights in the earlier half of this decade when the South American nation hosted back-to-back … Read More

Barcelona Received Record Number of Cruise Passengers in 2018 Travel Pulse According to recently released 2018 figures on cruise port traffic in Barcelona, the Spanish city had a record-breaking year. … Read More

Indian hotel startup OYO is planning to be bigger than Marriott CNN India’s biggest hotel chain is targeting global domination. OYO, which launched just five years ago as a platform … Read More

Caribbean Destinations Poised for Record Visitor Growth in 2019 Travel Weekly The strong visitor growth several Caribbean destinations exhibited prior to the devastating hurricanes of September 2017 is quickly resuming, … Read More

Airbus A380’s future at risk again Travel Weekly Emirates Airline’s aircraft order that provided a lifeline to Airbus’ A380 program could be in jeopardy. In a brief statement Thursday, Airbus … Read More

Oceania Will Eliminate Plastic Water Bottles Fleetwide Travel Pulse Oceania Cruises, the world’s leading culinary- and destination-focused cruise line, announced a ground-breaking sustainability initiative to eliminate millions of plastic water … Read More

Luxury Hotels Want to Make You Feel Culturally Relevant Skift Luxury hotels today are opening with a new amenity that seeks to satiate its curious clientele while simultaneously courting locals … Read More

IHG Will Bring Kimpton to 20 New Global Locations Travel Pulse The Kimpton hotel brand is poised for worldwide expansion over the next three to five years. InterContinental Hotels Group … Read More

JW Marriott Debuts in China’s Winter Wonderland Travel Pulse JW Marriott, part of Marriott International, today announced the opening of JW Marriott Hotel Harbin River North. Situated in the heart … Read More

U by Uniworld cancels 2019 sailings of the B Travel Weekly U by Uniworld, the first river cruise line to target millennial travelers, has canceled its 2019 sailings on its … Read More

Adventures by Disney Adds New European River Cruise Options Travel Pulse Adventures by Disney announced Thursday it will offer more European river cruise sailings than ever before in 2020. In … Read More

Shanghai Disney Resort to Expand With ‘Zootopia’ Land Hollywood Reporter The addition is Disney’s second expansion of its sprawling Chinese theme park, meant to build on the huge local box … Read More

International tourism hits 2020 forecast two years early CNN Last year was a very good year for international tourism, according to a new report from the United Nations World Tourism … Read More

Carnival Launching Four New Cruise Ships in 2019 on Three Cruise Lines Cruise Fever Carnival Corporation, the world’s largest travel and leisure company, will launch four new cruise ships in … Read More

Bali to Impose $10 Tax on Foreign Tourists, Jakarta Post Reports Bloomberg Indonesia’s resort island of Bali is set to impose a $10 levy on foreign tourists to preserve its … Read More

Airports, customs, trade: Europe preps for a chaotic Brexit Travel Weekly One by one, European Union nations are spending millions, hiring thousands of workers and issuing emergency decrees to cope … Read More

Virgin Voyages Reveals Details of RockStar Suites Travel Pulse Virgin Voyages is currently building its first cruise ship, the Scarlet Lady, which will set sail at the beginning of 2020. … Read More

Portugal’s tourism boom halted by Brexit, airport problems Channel NewsAsia Portugal’s long-running tourism boom is set to move decisively into reverse in 2019 due to capacity constraints at Lisbon airport … Read More

Strict ticket policy introduced at Machu Picchu CNN It’s the spectacular Incan citadel in the Andes Mountain range that’s on everyone’s bucket list — but access to Machu Picchu is … Read More

Winter Storm Gia Hampers Travel With Road Closures, Flight Delays Travel Pulse Winter Storm Gia is causing travel headaches from the Midwest to the Northeast U.S. this weekend, dumping snow … Read More

Air France leans toward pulling plug on Joon Travel Weekly Joon, the Air France subsidiary promoted as a hip new airline for millennials, appears to be on the verge of … Read More

Crystal campaign focuses on personal experiences Travel Weekly Crystal has launched a new marketing campaign, its first since Tom Wolber became CEO in September 2017. The campaign theme “Where Luxury … Read More

Carnival Cruise Line Reconsidering Room Service Changes Travel Pulse Less than a week after Carnival Cruise Line announced room service would no longer be complimentary on its ships, the company … Read More

National Park Service tapping into entrance fees to keep operating Travel Weekly The National Park Service says it is taking the extraordinary step of dipping into entrance fees to pay … Read More

Amid shutdown, more TSA agents are calling in sick CNBC Airport screeners are calling out sick in increasing numbers, while some workers are fretting about where their next paycheck will … Read More

Herb Kelleher, Fun-Loving Co-Founder of Southwest Airlines, Dies at 87 Wall Street Journal Herb Kelleher, the co-founder of Southwest Airlines Co. who died Thursday at the age of 87, followed … Read More

Mexican Officials Double Entrance Fee To Chichen Itza Travel Pulse The ruins of Chichen Itzá in Mexico are widely considered among the most popular, and most important, archeological tourist draws … Read More

Venice Will Start Charging an Entrance Fee to Day-Trippers to Combat Overtourism Skift A measure in Italy’s 2019 budget law will allow the local government in Venice to charge day-trippers … Read More

Eataly opens first 24-hour site in Las Vegas, with 7 specialty food counters LA Times Eataly Las Vegas opened Thursday in the Park MGM with seven specialty food counters, two … Read More

2 hospitalized after heavy turbulence on American flight USA TODAY A passenger and a flight attendant were hospitalized after an American Airlines flight hit heavy turbulence and was diverted to Austin-Bergstrom … Read More

Shutdown affects national parks unevenly Travel Weekly The partial federal government shutdown, now in its fifth day, has affected national parks unevenly, some still accessible with bare-bones staffing levels, some … Read More

Disney World Opening Adults-Only Area for Holiday Season Travel Pulse Walt Disney World may be known for the joy it brings to children, but grownups visiting Orlando this holiday season … Read More

LVMH purchase gives Belmond a leg up in ultrahigh luxury Travel Weekly This month’s news that high-end hospitality group Belmond had been acquired by Paris-based luxury conglomerate LVMH came as … Read More

Cuba Welcomed Record Number of Visitors in 2018 Travel Pulse Cuba welcomed a record 4.75 million tourists in 2018, a 60 percent increase over tourism numbers from four years ago. … Read More

Affluent Traveler Collection Reveals 2019 Luxury Travel Trends Travel Pulse The ultimate commodity in travel is personalization, says the Affluent Traveler Collection, and knowledgeable jet-setters are willing to pay to … Read More

Orient Express hotel revival will happen in Thailand Travel Weekly AccorHotels will open its first Orient Express hotel in Bangkok. Expected to open late next year, the hotel will be … Read More

East Coast storm to strike during peak of Christmas travel; Northwest to stay stormy Yahoo Storms with the greatest potential to disrupt travel will focus on the East and the … Read More

Virgin Galactic Reaches Space, Moves One Step Closer to Space Tourism Valley News Virgin Galactic launched a spacecraft more than 50 miles high on Thursday, reaching the Federal Aviation Administration’s … Read More

United expands San Francisco service to include Melbourne, Toronto, New Delhi Travel Weekly Planned 2019 flight launches to Toronto, New Delhi and Melbourne, Australia, highlight what United is calling its … Read More

Cádiz to banish 5000 pigeons for menacing tourists The Independent Cádiz in Spain has pledged to remove 5,000 pigeons after local hotel owners claimed they were “menacing” tourists and putting people off … Read More