Starfish Travel Corporation Team

Costs, Habits and Conditions: State of Ski for the Upcoming Season, the annual ski study from luxury travel company and top ski operator Club Med, has been released. Winter sports vacations for Britons have once again changed as the country continues to struggle with rising inflation expenses and climate change. While long-distance and far-flung places continue to be on travelers’ wish lists, evidence suggests that Europe is leading the way for the ski season this year, albeit with some new trends emerging for the upcoming season.  Booking Practices  While most skiers have a strong desire to hit the slopes again in 2023–2024, it’s crucial to take into account how growing inflation is affecting traveler behavior. According to a study of 1,000 habitual skiers and snowboarders in the UK, many choose to make their reservations sooner in order to secure lower pricing. For the upcoming season, two out of every five people (43%) have already made travel arrangements for a winter sports vacation, and 43% of these claimed to have done so because of growing inflation. When compared to 2022, two thirds (67%) of travelers made their reservations nine months or more in advance of their trip date. Eighty-three percent of reservations for the forthcoming ski season are made six months in advance, a trend that Club Med has personally observed with its own clients.  Three in five (61%) skiers say they are more likely to book all-inclusive vacations because of growing inflation, while more than half of those surveyed (54%) say they are rethinking their normal kind of lodging due to cost of living. Nearly two out of five skiers (38%) who have already made travel arrangements choose the all-inclusive model as their preferred lodging choice for the next ski season. When compared to this time last year, Club Med has witnessed a 10% rise in bookings year over year.  Budgets for the holidays this year should undoubtedly account for the cost of living crisis. The average cost of a ski vacation for those surveyed who have already made reservations is £1,580 per person (down £399 from 2022/23), indicating that many people are having to be more frugal with their expenditures. Although this is a little less than the average Club Med customer spend, which is currently £1,943 for the winter 2023–24 season, Club Med takes pride in their top-of-the-line, all-inclusive ski package, the price of which is fixed at the time of booking, protecting customers from increased costs brought on by inflation or currency fluctuations.  According to Club Med’s Managing Director for the UK, Ireland, and Nordic regions, Nicolas Bresch, “Demand for mountain vacations for the winter 2023/24 season was stronger than ever throughout September. The high number of Brits making early reservations and the amount choosing all-inclusive accommodations this year are hopeful signs that travelers are choosing to lock in their vacation costs before they increase throughout the season.  The popular school half-term week in February and late January see over 95% occupancy at the ski slopes of Val d’Isere and Tignes, according to Club Med’s research on when Brits want to travel for their winter sports vacation. This year, survey participants’ booking behaviors were consistent, with January emerging as the busiest month for those making travel plans for the next ski season. This is in contrast to last year’s statistics, which showed that December was the most popular month to make reservations. This could be an indication of waning trust in early snow conditions, which may have led seasoned skiers to postpone their trip in anticipation of further snowfall.  A snow guarantee would increase the likelihood that 81% of people would book a vacation with the operator. If more than 50% of the ski domain is closed for two or more consecutive days within five days of departure, skiers will be relocated to an alternative resort or given a credit note for the full value of their stay (exclusive of the cost of the flights, transfers, and extras) under Club Med’s industry-leading Snow Guarantee.  Destinations  Previously, the preference for a resort or the urge to visit somewhere new were the main factors influencing frequent skiers when picking a resort or location. However, persistent socioeconomic problems are having a significant impact on where Brits are scheduling their winter sports vacations for the 2023–2024 season.  Switzerland (23%) continues to be the most popular ski destination, followed by France (20%), Austria (13%), Italy (8%) and Canada (7%), in terms of destinations. Bookings for Alpe d’Huez, Tignes, Val d’Isere, and Les Arcs Panorama in the French Alps, which are among the top five most booked resorts for the forthcoming season, are up 26% year over year, according to Club Med’s sales data.  Given that money is still a major concern many Brits, it should come as no surprise that nearly half of those polled said that value for money (or 45%) was the most crucial consideration when making a winter sports travel reservation. Once Once more, Europe topped the list of ski resorts deemed to offer the best value, with France (37%) taking the lead.  Along with the price, snow conditions and the lingering memory of a disappointing early season last year are also influencing where people plan their winter sports vacation. Given the snow conditions from the previous winter, more over half of those surveyed (55%) are rethinking where they will go for winter activities. This is evident from the resorts already reserved for the upcoming season and the fact that Club Med enjoys the benefits of several high-altitude locations that are more likely to have snowfall, including nine resorts over 1800 meters in the Alps.  Sustainability  The events that were taking place on the continent at the start of the 2022–2023 season could not be avoided, skier or not. In December and January, images of the Alps made headlines around Europe, with several lower-altitude resorts facing operational challenges due to a lack of snowfall and rising temperatures. The erratic snowfall of the previous year served as the inspiration

It’s fantastic news for travelers and the travel industry that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will once again be keeping an eye on domestic airlines, since this will help to improve flight reliability and efficiency. The Federal Government’s decision is welcomed by the Australian Travel Industry Association (ATIA), considering the crucial significance of the ACCC’s quarterly reports. The ATIA has advocated for the reinstatement of ACCC oversight of domestic aviation on numerous occasions, most recently at recent roundtables for the Aviation White Paper process and in submissions to the Inquiry into Tourism and International Education Sectors and the Bilateral Air Rights Inquiry. “Quarterly reporting by the ACCC is critically important to tracking the overall health of Australia’s domestic aviation sector, especially while Travel’s recovery is still in progress and capacity is still lacking,” ATIA CEO Dean Long said. We seen the advantages of this monitoring during COVID when the ACCC pointed out problems with the selling of tickets for canceled flights, among other things. “This reporting opens up crucial data that enables consumers and industry stakeholders to get timely and pertinent information, especially on capacity and costs. The improvements to include customer complaints will increase trust. “When the monitoring program started during COVID, we saw that this reporting provided important insight into the general state of the domestic aviation industry to support Australia’s overall economic growth.” “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for change, and we are pleased that the Federal Government has acted in accordance with ATIA’s submissions to the Tourism and International Education Sectors Inquiry and the Bilateral Air Rights Inquiry,” the statement reads. Source- Travel daily Link- https://www.traveldailymedia.com/success-on-atias-call-for-return-of-accc-monitoring-of-domestic-airlines/

AlUla’s status as one of the most exciting travel destinations in the area has been cemented by its selection as the Middle East’s Leading Cultural Tourism Project 2023 at the prestigious World Travel Awards. High-ranking officials from the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) attended the World Travel Awards Middle East Gala Ceremony 2023 on October 15 in Dubai, including Phillip Jones, RCU’s chief tourism officer. RCU’s Chief Tourism Officer, Phillip Jones (middle), accepting the honor With this honor, AlUla has successfully preserved and promoted its distinctive cultural heritage through community-based, all-encompassing development projects. With this most recent honor, AlUla not only highlights its importance in the area but also reaffirms its dedication to promoting responsible tourism and preserving the old city’s historical history. The World Travel Awards provided a forum for the international travel community to celebrate and honor outstanding accomplishments to the industry that evening, drawing an elite audience of important industry professionals and media representatives. AlUla, which is in the northwest of Saudi Arabia, has served as a crossroads for trade, a point of transit, and the residence of various civilizations that have carved, sculptured, and engraved their lives into the landscape.  The most important attractions in AlUla are the Nabataean city of Hegra, which was recently named to UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register, and Jabal Ikmah, which is covered in hundreds of rock inscriptions in numerous ancient languages. Hegra is also Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site. AlUla Old Town hamlet, a maze of more than 900 mudbrick houses built at least as far back as the 12th century, has also been chosen by UNWTO as one of the World’s Best Tourism Villages for 2022. Source- Travel daily Link- https://www.traveldailymedia.com/alula-named-middle-easts-leading-cultural-tourism-project-2023-at-world-travel-awards/

The party décor gurus at Ginger Ray have done a survey* to find out what Britain’s top worries are for 2023 as the Halloween season approaches quickly. Ginger Ray is able to expose not just the most horrifying Halloween horrors in the UK but also their genuine, physical terrors in order to disclose the collective mind in all its spine-chilling splendor. The majority of British people (24%) claim they are afraid of spiders, making them the most common phobia in the country. Vomit was revealed to be the second-biggest fear in the UK, with 10% of individuals finding it horrifying. Ghosts ranked third on the list of Brits’ top fears, with 9% of respondents saying they were terrified of being haunted. Arachnophobia, or the dread of spiders, was the top fear in every region of the UK, while the second-biggest spine chillers varied significantly by location. Northern Ireland has the highest percentage of scaredy cats in the UK, with only 9% of respondents saying they are not afraid of anything. Nearly a quarter (22%) of East of England residents reported having no worries, making them the most fearless Brits who will endure the most frights this Halloween. The hardest-to-frighten Brits reside in Nottingham, closely followed by Glasgow and Norwich, with 22%, 21%, and 20% of each group claiming to be phobia-free. On the other hand, Belfast (9%), Liverpool (11.4%), and Sheffield (11.5%) had the highest level of fearfulness and the lowest likelihood of having no anxieties for Halloween. However, many of our greatest anxieties now are more grounded in reality and less otherworldly. Many of these were dreaded more than the most prevalent phobias. The cost of living problem, which is feared by more than one-third (35%) of British people, is the country’s most immediate source of panic. One in five (20%) people fear the environmental problem, while 27% are afraid of the unavoidable aging process. As Halloween draws near, people wishing to frighten their friends might want to rethink their Halloween decorations or costumes and choose one of Britain’s greatest phobias instead. Visit Ginger Ray for advice on how to celebrate Halloween with the scariest theme possible. *Censuswide conducted the study for Ginger Ray using a sample of 2004 respondents who were nationally representative. For age, gender, and region, quotas were applied to nationally representative proportions. The survey fieldwork was conducted between September 20 and September 22, 2023. Censuswide is a member of the British Polling Council and adheres to the Market Research Society, which is founded on the ESOMAR principles. Source- Travel biz Link- https://www.traveldailymedia.com/haunted-britain-mapping-halloween-horrors/

A Letter of Intent (LOI) was signed between Trip.com Group and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to work together to promote tourism in Thailand. This partnership intends to promote Thailand as the top travel destination for Chinese mainland visitors, who routinely rank it among their top travel picks. Thapanee Kiatphaibool, Governor, Tourism Authority of Thailand, and Amanda Wang, Vice President, Global Destinations, Trip.com Group, signed the LOI in Beijing, China. It was a component of a high-level delegation’s official trip to China under the leadership of Thailand’s Prime Minister, Srettha Thavisin. Thailand has continually won over the hearts of vacationers from the Chinese mainland, establishing itself as an alluring location, according to Ms. Wang. We anticipate that this trend of travel to Thailand will continue with the recent implementation of visa-free travel to the country. We look forward to collaborating with TAT to increase tourism to the “Land of Smiles.” “The signing of this Letter of Intent marks the beginning of a new phase of comprehensive cooperation in the promotion of Thai tourism in the Chinese market,” stated Ms. Kiatphaibool. This will serve as a framework for the Tourism Authority of Thailand as we maintain our close cooperation and make every effort to safeguard the safety and security of visitors coming to Thailand. In order to promote the high-quality growth of our tourism sector, we will also organize a number of promotional activities to entice more visitors from the Chinese mainland to Thailand. The letter of intent (LOI) signed between the two parties will act as a catalyst for enhancing the current collaboration and utilizing the depth of Trip.com Group’s knowledge and insights regarding Chinese travelers. It will comprise sharing of knowledge and information, collaboration on marketing campaigns, and the creation of official channels of communication for ongoing bilateral tourism updates. It formalizes an already-existing and productive working partnership between the two companies, with the Thailand edition of the Group’s “Super World Trip” livestream series from January serving as a significant recent example. With nearly 60 products, including attractions, tickets, and staycation packages at hotels across Thailand like The Peninsula Bangkok, Capella Bangkok, InterContinental Pattaya Resort, and Banyan Tree Krabi, the three-hour livestream session aimed at the outbound mainland Chinese audience generated sales of more than 20,000 room nights totaling more than RMB 40 million. During the recent Golden Week holidays, Thailand was one of the top tourist destinations for Chinese visitors, with outbound travel to Thailand reaching almost 11 times the volume for the same period in 2022. Volume increased by 27.6% in comparison to the May Day celebrations this year. Trip.com Group’s platforms saw an 800% increase in searches for Thai locations after last month’s news that Chinese tourists would no longer need visas to travel there. Source- Travel daily Link- https://www.traveldailymedia.com/trip-com-group-tourism-authority-of-thailand-sign-partnership/

“The Sumo Hall Hirakuza Osaka” is slated to debut in the Namba Parks shopping center in Osaka in the early summer of 2024, according to Hanshin Contents Link Corporation. The Sumo Hall Hirakuza Osaka is a brand-new entertainment venue in Japan where patrons may watch a Sumo match while dining and enter the arena (referred to as the “dohyo”) to engage with the athletes and take pictures. Visitors will be able to fully immerse themselves in the world of sumo during two evening performances each day (each lasting roughly 60 minutes). Additionally, there is free time (about 30 minutes per show) for mingling with former professional Sumo wrestlers, getting up-close pictures with them, and buying for authentic HIRAKUZA items and souvenirs. English-language program commentary introduces their lengthy history—more than 1500 years—rules, and way of life, which makes them a welcoming host for visitors. Every concert ticket includes one drink and an authentic Japanese bento filled with local delicacies from Osaka. Vegan and upscale bento choices are also offered upon request (extra fees can apply). The position is in the heart of the city, adjacent to Namba Station, highly handy for tourists, and only a 20-minute stroll from the Dotonbori River. Source- Travel biz Link- https://travelbizmonitor.com/hanshin-contents-link-corporation-set-to-open-new-entertainment-show-the-sumo-hall-hirakuza-osaka-next-year/

To help those applying for US work visas, the Biden administration has proposed significant modifications to the H1B foreign workers program. On October 23, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will publish these new regulations.  The same was noted by Alejandro N. Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, who said that “the Biden-Harris administration’s priority is to attract global talent, reduce undue burdens on employers, and prevent fraud and abuse in the immigration system.” However, Congress’ mandated annual cap of 60,000 H1B visas will continue to apply. What adjustments are being suggested? To prevent potential abuse and fraud, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is considering reforms that would change the way H1B registrations are chosen.  Currently, a person’s chances of being chosen through a lottery improve as more registrations are submitted for them. According to the proposed rule, each person’s registration would only be considered for the selection process once, regardless of how many registrations were made on their behalf, the DHS said in a statement. This would streamline the process and improve fairness and transparency. “By considerably lowering or eliminating the benefit of submitting many registrations for the same beneficiary only to raise the likelihood of selection, this would increase the likelihood that a legitimate registration would be chosen. Furthermore, because each registrant who submitted a registration for a chosen beneficiary would have the authority to file an H-1B petition on the beneficiary’s behalf, it may also give beneficiaries more options between valid employment offers, it added. By forbidding connected organizations from submitting numerous registrations for the same beneficiary, misuse and fraud in the H1B registration process would be decreased in addition to strengthening integrity safeguards and altering the selection process. The DHS added that the regulation would also formalize USCIS’ right to conduct site visits and make it clear that failure to comply with site visits might lead to the petition being denied or revoked. “These proposed changes mark a significant step towards streamlining our immigration system and making it more accessible for highly skilled professionals and students from around the world,” Indian American Ajay Bhutoria, a key proponent of immigration reform, said in a statement to PTI. The H1B program assists US employers in filling open positions with the staff they require to run their companies successfully and compete on a worldwide scale, all while abiding by the legal requirements for worker protection in the US. Source- Livemint Link- https://www.livemint.com/news/world/h1b-visa-selection-process-to-see-major-changes-will-increase-chances-for-11697860019644.html

On Sunday, Swiss voters chose their new parliament, many of whom had concerns about the environment and immigration. The majority of Swiss citizens voted by mail, and the final ballots will be gathered on Sunday morning. Both houses of parliament are at stake. The country’s centrist party may win more seats in parliament’s lower house than the free-market party, strengthening their position in the executive branch. The main stakes, if pollsters are correct, are whether two Green parties perform worse than they did in the previous election in 2019. According to polls, the Swiss are primarily concerned about three issues: climate change, which is eroding Switzerland’s numerous glaciers; rising costs for the mandatory, free market-based health insurance system; and concerns about refugees and immigration. The decision could be a sign of how another group of Europeans are approaching right-wing populist politics and the need to invest money and resources in the battle against global warming at a time when inflation is on the rise and many people’s wallets are being squeezed, even in wealthy Switzerland. The Federal Council, which includes President Alain Berset, who has decided to resign from office at the end of the year, will ultimately be determined by the vote for the legislature, which takes place every four years. The Swiss president, who serves as the country’s ambassador abroad, is basically “first among equals” in the seven-member council. Each member holds a portfolio as a government minister, and they alternate each year occupying the top position, which is largely ceremonial. The moderate Viola Amherd would succeed socialist Berset as mayor the following year. The right-wing Swiss People’s Party, the Socialists, the pro-free market Liberals, and the Center party, each with one seat, are the four largest parties in the council. Council members, also referred to as “department chiefs” informally, are appointed by parliament and are eligible to serve for life or for as long as they like. Thus, there aren’t many significant changes in the council’s makeup; as a result, Berset’s seat will be open for grabs among his Socialist siblings. And if the Center party outperforms the pro-free market Liberals, they might take one of the two Liberal council seats. The two-two-two-one balance of seats in the Federal Council is referred to as Switzerland’s “magic formula”; it is intended to reduce the likelihood that any one person will hold an excessive amount of power and to ensure balance in the functioning of government. Add to that Switzerland’s direct democracy, which allows citizens to cast ballots for a variety of political decisions four times a year on average. Parliament must react to those referendum results. In a broader sense, Switzerland has found itself torn between its much-lauded “neutrality” in international affairs and two fundamental components of its identity: Western democratic norms like those in the European Union, which Switzerland has declined to join. Relations between Brussels and Bern, two important economic partners, have worsened due to a protracted and impasse over more than 100 bilateral Swiss-EU accords on topics like police cooperation, commerce, tax, and agricultural policy. The Swiss did support the EU in imposing sanctions on Russia due to its involvement in the crisis in Ukraine. The Federal Council is debating whether to declare Hamas a terrorist group with the EU and the US. The United Nations and Switzerland have both designated Al-Qaida and ISIS as terrorist organizations. According to the IMF, Switzerland, which has a population of only 8.5 million, ranks 20th in the world in terms of economic output. It is also the center of the world’s wealth management, where the wealthy of the globe park a large portion of their income to take advantage of low taxes and a private environment. (AP) Source- Hindustan times Link- https://www.hindustantimes.com/elections/swiss-elect-their-parliament-on-sunday-with-worries-about-environment-and-migration-high-in-minds-101697862626064.html