Thursday, April 30, 2020

Accor’s Real Estate Arm Will Not Pursue French Coronavirus Relief Package

AccorInvest isn't turning to the French government to buoy it into coronavirus recovery mode, but Accor has made it clear it isn't looking to invest equity in struggling hotels either. -Cameron Sperance

Kayak and OpenTable Layoffs and Furloughs Impact 400 Employees

The job cuts at Kayak and OpenTable represent the first reported layoffs and furloughs at parent company Booking Holdings growing out of the coronavirus crisis other than for 48 contractors at Booking.com whose agreements weren't renewed. Few travel companies will emerge unscathed so it wouldn't be surprising if more cuts were coming at other Booking brands. -Dennis Schaal

Appenines to Afghanistan: Eric Newby's travels in pictures

A new virtual exhibition, What the Traveller Saw, the first of its kind by the Royal Geographical Society, marks the centenary of the birth of the writer and former Observer travel editor Continue reading...

Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Greek Tourism Minister Hopes to Reopen in July But Hoteliers Are Skeptical

If you open, will they come? Greek hoteliers aren't so sure. -Rosie Spinks

Airlines Will Take as Many as 5 Years to Recover: Airbus CEO

One of the world's two largest plane-makers is anything but optimistic about recovery in the short term. -Rosie Spinks

My travel sketches: 'Some drawings remind me how the sun felt on my skin'

Illustrator Jonathan Edwards on how his travel sketchbooks are bringing back memories of places and experiences On family holidays, my parents would give me a book of A4 paper to keep me quiet. I’m drawing in every holiday photo! Actually, I’ve drawn every day for as long as I can remember. I’ve always taken a sketchbook on my travels … and a major part of my work as an illustrator is based on travel drawings. I see what catches my eye, then sit on a bench or at a cafe window and stay for about an hour. I take two sketchbooks: an A6 one that fits in my pocket and an A4 watercolour sketchbook that I use if I have more time. In Britain, no one pays me any notice. In, say, Japan, people are more likely to come and talk or to stand at a respectful distance and watch. My tools are usually just a grey brush pen and a black brush pen. With pencil, you know you can rub it out if it goes wrong and in a similar way, grey ink seems to fool the mind into thinking it’s not permanent. I go over the sketch in black ink later. Continue reading...

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

10 years ago, this stranger saved me from a blizzard

Somewhere on that 7 a.m. Greyhound bus journey between Port Authority and Albany, I started crying.

What Hoteliers Can Learn From the 9/11 and SARS Crises: New Skift Research

With no way of knowing how long this crisis will last or what recovery will look like, we look back at two past crises to see how the industry reacted then, and what lessons can be learned. Many, as it turns out. -Wouter Geerts

10 of the best novels to transport you to France

From the backstreets of Paris in Perfume to sun-baked Provence in Jean de Florette, visit France through great fiction • Share your favourite fiction set in France in the comments I’ve written about France for The Guardian for more than a decade and have been visiting for longer: since my days as a teenage au pair and later a language student. I love it mainly for its food and wine, but also for its combative attitude to politics, its love of good living, elegant cities and variety of land- and seascapes. We can still visit it through the pages of literature. So, here are my personal top 10 novels that give une véritable saveur of the country almost nine million British people visited last year. Continue reading...

Monday, April 27, 2020

Dutch teens forced to sail home across the Atlantic

As journeys home go, it was a particularly long and unusual one.

Postcard from the future: ‘I dream of Berlin's pristine lakes’

A short U-bahn ride from the German capital lie lakes, waterways and beaches that Rory MacLean can’t wait to swim in once again At home in locked-down Dorset, I look out of my study window. Beyond the horizon I imagine launching myself on wild journeys: trekking Nepal’s high Annapurna trail or paddling a canoe across the dark mirror of a Canadian lake and leaving a trail of twisting whirlpools in my wake. In our changing new age, and with the need to limit long-haul air travel, I know that I’ll never reach many of my fancied, far afield destinations. Yet I’m determined to get back outdoors as soon as possible, starting in Berlin. Continue reading...

I bought a hotel by mistake

Anyone currently whiling away the long hours of lockdown with when-this-is-all-over dreams of a fresh start in life, should heed this as a cautionary tale.

Sunday, April 26, 2020

Germany Wants Europe to Reboot Travel in a Unified Manner

Perhaps the coronavirus pandemic will foster European unity — at least when it comes to a new travel policy. -Dennis Schaal

It Was Beach Day for Many in U.S. Despite Coronavirus Death Toll Rising

The problem with the reopenings is that they make backfire and lead to spikes in coronavirus inspections even in states that adhered to lockdowns. -Dennis Schaal

How to visit Amsterdam while stuck at home in lockdown

You can still explore this unique city’s culture from your laptop, says Hans Rooseboom, curator of photography at the Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum has been digitising for years. Hundreds of thousands of images from our collection are now available on Rijksstudio to view, download, print, turn into puzzles … Our best-known artwork is Rembrandt’s The Night Watch: catch up with the current restoration project at Operation Night Watch, or take a virtual tour of the museum with our free app. Continue reading...

Saturday, April 25, 2020

Booking Holdings Admits to Having Critical Failures Even Before the Pandemic

Booking Holdings hired a new marketing chief in 2019 because it knew that its brand marketing in the U.S. was falling short, particularly against household name Expedia. Booking is pivoting to address shortcomings, realizing finally you can't keep kicking the can down the road with basically the same strategy. -Dennis Schaal

Threatened Wildlife Makes a Comeback to Thailand’s Waters Amid Tourist Drought

It’s score one for nature as the coronavirus slump offers a rare chance for wildlife to get a breather on Thailand's usually crowded beaches and waters. Will this continue when tourism picks up again? -Xinyi Liang-Pholsena

The bittersweet story of Marina Abramović's epic walk on the Great Wall of China

In 1988 Abramović and Ulay trekked from opposite ends of the wall to meet in the middle, but this act of love and performance art was doomed from the start From the moment in 1976 that Serbian and German performance artists Marina Abramović and Ulay (Frank Uwe Laysiepen, who died last month aged 76) clapped eyes on each other they were inseparable. Ulay found Abramović witchy and otherworldly; she found him wild and exciting. Even their initial encounter was propitious: they met in Amsterdam on their shared birthday of 30 November. The pair began to perform together, describing themselves as a “two-headed body”. For years they lived a nomadic lifestyle, travelling across Europe in a corrugated iron van and performing in villages and towns. Their artistic collaborations matched their personalities: they focused on performances that put them in precarious and physically demanding situations, to see how they and their audience would respond. In one, called Relation in Time, they remained tied together by their hair for 17 hours. They explored conflict, taking their ideas to extremes: running full pelt into each other, naked, and slapping each other’s faces until they could take no more. Continue reading...

Friday, April 24, 2020

Thailand Tourism Looks to China to Start Down Path for Pandemic Rebound

Chinese travelers will eventually return to Southeast Asia, and how they are expected to behave in the near future will offer valuable hints to restart growth for Thailand’s devastated tourism industry. -Xinyi Liang-Pholsena

A trip around the world through local radio stations

Streaming means we can tune into breakfast shows, travel bulletins and local gossip on every continent – and revel in radio’s ability to create a sense of community I’d missed the joke about the three-legged chicken. It was causing a stir. “That one about the chicken with three legs you told yesterday,” said a presenter on Ireland’s Midwest Radio’s afternoon show, “apparently Ronald Reagan told it first.” Continue reading...

Where on Earth? World cities travel quiz

Can you name the world’s highest, southernmost and most Michelin-starred cities? Take our quiz and see if you’re a city slicker It's a long way from here to Timbuktu (pictured above), but where is the city? Ethiopia Mali Mauritania Sudan What is the world's highest capital Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Kathmandu, Nepal La Paz, Bolivia Quito, Ecuador Brasilia has been the capital of Brazil since 1960, but where was the country's first capital? Recife Rio de Janeiro Salvador São Paulo Three of these places in Wales are cities – which is the only town? Bangor Newport St Asaph Wrexham Dutti-Galla, Batmania and Bearbrass were interim names of which southern-hemisphere city? Jakarta Johannesburg Lima Melbourne Which is only city to have hosted the Summer Olympic Games three times? Athens London Paris Rome Which city has the most Michelin-starred restaurants? Paris Lyon Dubai Tokyo Which is the world's most southerly capital? Cape Town Montevideo Santiago Wellington And the most northerly? Helsinki Moscow Reykjavik Tallinn Where is this skyline? Newcastle-Gateshead Saint Louis Stockholm Sydney The hit single Pop Muzik by the band M references all but one of these cities. Which one? London Munich New York Tokyo Which city has the world's longest metro network? Beijing London New York Shanghai And where is this stunning metro station? Buenos Aires Moscow Stockholm Vienna Christopher Columbus airport serves which city? Genoa Havana Lisbon Madrid Which city has the highest percentage of foreign-born residents? Brussels Dubai Los Angeles Sydney This famous funicular railway line runs in which city? Barcelona Lisbon Marseille Naples Leaving aside their impromptu private gig on the rooftop of the Apple building in London in 1969, in which city did the Beatles play their last concert? Liverpool Manilla New York San Francisco Who wrote that the Paris slums were "a gathering-place for eccentric people - people who have fallen into solitary, half-mad grooves of life and given up trying to be normal or decent"? Ernest Hemingway George Orwell Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Victor Hugo Which city opened a Museum of Literature in 2019? Dublin Edinburgh Manchester London Baron Haussmann is best known for the planning of which city? Athens Berlin Paris Rome 16 and above. Well done, quite the city slicker 11 and above. Almost an urban legend 0 and above. Bit of an urban miss! 6 and above. There's a world beyond Urban Outfitters ... Continue reading...

Thursday, April 23, 2020

The secrets to stargazing from your backyard

How to search the sky and what to see, from moon and stars to planets and the International Space Station. Go on a journey of billions of miles … from your garden To begin looking for objects in the heavens, you’ll need to know where north, south, east and west are. Make a note of where the sun rises (east) and sets (west), use Google maps or use the compass on your phone. Now, download a free astronomy app to your phone AND computer. My favourite, for ease of use and features, is Stellarium . Once the app is installed, set your location. This ensures that, when opened, the app indicates what is in the sky above you – wherever you live in the world. Stellarium automatically sets the time and date but also has a function that speeds up time, so you can fast forward to night-time and explore the sky from your sofa. It’s even possible to set it to show the sky on the night you were born. Continue reading...

Australian Travel Companies Warned to Honor Refund Policies After Consumer Backlash

Travel operators are no doubt suffering the impacts of Covid-19, but any abrupt changes to their refund policies and applying them retrospectively will certainly not win any loyalty from customers, even if these players survive the crisis. -Xinyi Liang-Pholsena

Lockdown on an uninhabited island

In 2017, Christian Lewis set out to walk the entire coastline of the UK. Now, over 2 years into his journey, the country's coronavirus lockdown has stranded him on an uninhabited island with his dog, Jet

Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Asia’s Hotels Warming Up to Automation Thanks to Growing Social Distancing Norms

Raising productivity and easing a manpower crunch had been the original triggers behind the deployment of service robots and contactless technology in Asia’s hospitality sector, but the coronavirus pandemic will catalyze the automation trends already on the horizon. -Xinyi Liang-Pholsena

China’s Daily Air Passenger Numbers Show a Mild 8 Percent Recovery From March

With signs of recovery in China serving as a bellwether for the rest of the world, the lack of leisure demand for domestic air travel shows that global tourism recovery still have a long way to go. -Xinyi Liang-Pholsena

Lockdown learning: 10 great ways to be ready for your next holiday

Discover online courses in languages, cookery and photography (even scuba and sailing) as you prepare for a future adventure Gen up so you can order dos cervezas (or indeed a range of other drinks) with a perfect accent or perhaps ask for directions to the Acropolis – and understand the answer. Duolingo’s selection (free) ranges from French to Klingon, for those planning to travel further afield. Other options include Babbel, with 14 languages, podcasts and daily challenges (from £4.75 a month). The app has options for different levels of experience, with writing exercises as well as real-life dialogue and speech recognition software to critique your pronunciation. Lessons are from 15 minutes long and the first one is free. There are options to focus on topics such as culture, travel or business, too. Continue reading...

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Tell us about your favourite holiday song … one that takes you back in time and place

There’s nothing like music for helping recall something special. We want to hear about the songs that trigger your sunny, carefree holiday or travel moments It could be a summer hit you remember being blasted out at every bar and beach all holiday long, or a local song you heard at a festival or carnival that you couldn’t get out of your head – you may even have brought the CD home (yes, how novel, a CD!). Maybe it’s a tune that’s become a staple of your online playlists or your go-to for party or nostalgic vibes. Tell us about a song, or musician, that still has a special place in your heart, and the link between the music, where you were and your own holiday or travel memories. Continue reading...

New Zealand Contemplates Tourism Future as the Country Nears Goal of Eliminating Virus

As a country with one of the world's highest chances of eliminating the virus, how New Zealand navigates its economy and tourism industry out of the pandemic will be closely watched by many. Will isolation travel packages lead the way forward? -Xinyi Liang-Pholsena

Uber Rideshare Revenue Ticking Upwards After Dramatic Fall

If you are grasping for any signs that the U.S. or global economies have a heartbeat, then consider that Uber's rideshare revenue has been ticking upwards in the past two weeks after plummeting over the past two months. No, this is not the same as China reopening or a promising coronavirus vaccine in the making, but at this point we'll latch onto almost anything. -Dennis Schaal

Monday, April 20, 2020

Is the cruise industry finally out of its depth?

Accidents, pollution, exploitation … cruise firms were in murky waters even before Covid-19 “We’ve been asked – and we’ve asked ourselves – why Covid-19 seems to be impacting Princess so heavily.” Thus spoke Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises, in a video posted on social media in mid-March. She looks sad-eyed and baffled into the camera: “We don’t really know.” Perhaps, she muses, the problem is something to do with the “diverse mix of people onboard our ships” and is “being magnified by our core values to respect, protect and connect the world”. She implores her “guests” with a “simple request”: “We ask you to book a future Princess cruise to your dream destination … as a symbol to the world that the things that connect us are stronger than those that divide us.” Her company does seem to have been terribly unlucky. Their Diamond Princess, quarantined off Yokohama, which suffered over 700 infections and eight deaths among its passengers and crew, was a conspicuous early victim of the pandemic, its global fame growing on wry-turning-to-desperate postings from its passengers. The Ruby Princess, from which 2,700 passengers disembarked in Sydney on March 19, became the single largest source of Covid-19 cases in Australia. The Grand Princess was stuck outside San Francisco, its passengers confined to their cabins, after an outbreak in early March. Something similar happened to the Coral Princess in early April, off the coast of Florida. And this to say nothing of the Caribbean Princess, which has twice this year had to end cruises early, due to hundreds falling ill from a quite different infection, the vomiting bug norovirus. Continue reading...

'If I had your face': A peek into South Korea's secretive underground world

Dubbed one of the most anticipated novels of 2020, appearing on multiple 'must-read' lists, Frances Cha's debut book "If I had your face" offers a gripping immersion into the lesser known sides of South Korean culture.

The world’s your classroom: 10 fun ways to home school

Running out of home schooling ideas? Take the kids on a virtual voyage with these interactive learning tools, from safaris to cooking lessons with an Italian chef Online tools such as Google’s Street View Treks and You Visit’s panoramas are a wanderlust-inducing way to bring an atlas or globe to life for kids. From the sky, the vast Petra complex in Jordan blends seamlessly with the arid desert but dive down with Treks, and you’re soon “walking with the Nabataeans”. Over in Peru, You Visit’s 360-degree panorama of Machu Picchu reveals facts and folklore, just like English Heritage’s online tour of Stonehenge, which includes live cams from the lesser-visited middle. • 10 virtual tours of the world’s most famous landmarks Continue reading...

Sunday, April 19, 2020

United Sells 22 Jets to Bank of China Aviation With Plans to Lease Them Back

When your year-over-year traffic is down 97 percent for a two-week period, you do anything to raise cash. United's deal with the Bank of China shows the airline is exercising all its options. -Tom Lowry

Paris: walking tour of a district under lockdown

With Parisians allowed to go out for only an hour a day, one Belleville resident uses the time to learn the history of her suddenly peaceful neighbourhood Since the beginning of France’s total lockdown on 17 March, the weather has been unusually and brilliantly sunny in Paris. But well into our fifth week of confinement, we are only allowed to go out with a dated permission slip and to travel within a 1km radius of our home, once a day, and for a maximum of one hour. Most Parisians have logged their address and arrondissement (district) number into a handy site that calculates the circumference around their home. In my case, this includes the northern reaches of the Belleville neighbourhood, whose inhabitants are historically known for their penchant for rebellion and fights for social justice. It’s also a cultural melting pot and remains boisterously mixed, ethnically and socially, despite the gentrification that has been inching forward for the past 15 years. Continue reading...

Dutch Hyperloop plan eyes Paris to Amsterdam in 90 minutes

Proposals to create a Hyperloop network that would carry passengers from Amsterdam to Paris in less than 90 minutes are under discussion in the Netherlands after a study that says the hi-tech link could be economically viable.

Saturday, April 18, 2020

The Great Travel Industry Recovery Debate and 12 Other Coronavirus Stories This Week

Bear or bull? There are diverging options about an economic recovery and McKinsey covered various scenarios. In other coronavirus stories this week, Booking Holdings applied for UK and Netherlands government relief, the U.S. travel industry has a wish list for the next relief package, cruise lines appear ready to defy a no-sail order, and hospitality students see the job market disappear. -Dennis Schaal

Our best shots: from a bull in a saree shop to a sundowner in Timbuktu

Guardian and Observer photographers pick their favourite moments from over two decades of reporting around the world Serengeti wildebeest migration I don’t usually take many photographs on holiday but there are exceptions. Watching the wildebeest migrate across the Serengeti, it was hard to capture the vast numbers in a photograph. Looking at this picture reminds me vividly of shortness of breath and the hairs on the back of my neck standing up when I heard the sound of hundreds of thousands of hooves thundering across the great plains towards me, and the sight of the animals eclipsing my every view! Continue reading...

Friday, April 17, 2020

8 Travel Recovery Zingers From Y Combinator’s Adam Goldstein: The Long View This Week

Regardless of the shape of the travel recovery, it's clear that travel startups will be behind the curve. Many investors were already wary of funding new travel companies, but now they'll have to worry whether the next pandemic will shut them down anew. -Dennis Schaal

Private Investors Circle Crisis-Stricken Virgin Australia

With this latest acquisition interest, state intervention looks even less likely, leaving question marks hanging over the airline's debt restructuring plan. -Matthew Parsons

Which island nation worships Prince Philip? It’s the Friday travel quiz

Where would you find the world’s tallest building and oldest university? Test your knowledge in our countries quiz Some of the people of which island nation believe Prince Philip is descended from one of their spirit ancestors? Fiji Solomon Islands Tonga Vanuatu What was the destination of the first package holiday abroad for British tourists? Mallorca Ibiza Cyprus Corsica Which country covers the most time zones? France Greenland Russia USA Which nation uses the Gross National Happiness index to measure its citizens' quality of life and wellbeing, instead of the usual gross domestic product? Bhutan Cuba Denmark North Korea The distinctive Pitons, two mountainous volcanic plugs, are on which Caribbean island? Cuba Jamaica St Lucia Tobago Which country is home to the world's oldest university ? Italy Morocco UK India Animals show little respect for international borders, but the gelada, or bleeding-heart monkey, is unique to which country? South Africa Nepal Ethiopia Madagascar Which country's flag features an AK-47? North Korea Albania Mozambique Vietnam Where did the first football World Cup finals take place? Brazil Uruguay France Italy Which is the world's largest landlocked country? Sudan Mongolia Bolivia Kazakhstan In which country are these striking desert sand dunes found? Jordan USA Egypt Namibia Which South American country is home to the continent's highest mountain? Argentina Bolivia Chile Peru Which country is home to the world's largest Muslim population? India Indonesia Pakistan Egypt This is the world's tallest building – where is it? China Malaysia United Arab Emirates US A certain president won’t let us forget where Covid-19 originated, but epidemiologists cannot agree where the 1918 flu pandemic started. Theories have been put forward about it originating in several countries. Which of these was not one of them? Spain China France USA Of these four countries, which is the only one in the eurozone? Denmark Finland Norway Sweden Charles de Gaulle would often throw a spanner in the works on state visits – his "Vive le Québec libre!" comment in Montreal is one example. Which nation did he damn by declaring, "This is not a serious country," as he departed? England Brazil Soviet Union USA On the epic road trip chronicled in his Motorcycle Diaries (later made into a film, pictured here), Che Guevara rode through six South American countries, but which one of these did he skip? Peru Chile Venezuela Bolivia Mark Twain was a great traveller. Which country did he describe as "the one land that all men desire to see, and having seen once, by even a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for all the shows of all the rest of the globe combined". Egypt India Italy Japan Which is the world's youngest country? East Timor Eritrea Kosovo South Sudan 16 and above. Excellent. You've obviously been watching The Quiz and picked up a few tips from Major Charles Ingram! 11 and above. Well done – you're a good armchair traveller 6 and above. Better use the lockdown to swot up on your general knowledge. 0 and above. Maybe have a second go? Continue reading...

Thursday, April 16, 2020

Emadri Offers Packing Recommendations for Trips: Travel Startup Funding This Week

Emadri, which makes money from packing and trip planning, and Hotel Data Cloud, which provides content distribution tools to hotels, have announced seed rounds of funding this week. -Sean O'Neill

Virgin Australia Halts Trading as It Continues Rescue Package Talks

Should Virgin Australia fail, Qantas will be the country's only carrier. A monopoly is in nobody's interest, but as Virgin Australia is 90 percent foreign-owned, how likely is the state going to step in with aid having already refused it once? It's a complicated affair. -Matthew Parsons

Wednesday, April 15, 2020

China to release tourist 'blacklist' after Great Wall vandalized on re-opening day

Officials in China are hoping the threat of public shaming will prevent tourists from defacing the country's most famous icon -- the Great Wall.
Park rangers said their bears are finding a new sense of freedom after Yosemite National Park closed to visitors because of the coronavirus pandemic.

With no tourists around, animals at Yosemite are 'having a party'

Bears are making the most California's shuttered Yosemite National Park during the coronavirus pandemic. "For the most part, I think they're having a party," says a ranger.

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Largest U.S. Airlines Agree to Terms on $25 Billion in Government Aid

Airlines probably wanted money with no strings attached, but this is a good compromise. -Brian Sumers

Travel Groups Want More From Washington But Are They Asking Too Much?

Hotel groups continue to have a receptive audience in Washington regarding relief funds, but they will need to be careful not to overstep in asking for stimulus further down the recovery path. -Cameron Sperance

Coronavirus Confusion Puts Name of Taiwan’s China Airlines in the Spotlight

Confusion over China Airlines’ branding is just the latest manifestation of Taiwan’s long-tenuous relationship with China. Will a name change help the Taiwanese carrier to forge its identity on the global stage? -Xinyi Liang-Pholsena

Monday, April 13, 2020

Is Booking in Better Shape for a Recovery Than Airbnb and Expedia?

The battle between Booking Holdings, Airbnb, and Expedia is not just about which one will emerge with the thickest wad of cash. It is also about business models, revenue stream diversity, and product offerings meshing the best with traveler behavior that may never be the same. -Dennis Schaal