Category: America

Expedia Group Media Solutions, the global digital advertising organization of Expedia Group, has announced further details of its destination relief programme, as part of its $275 million commitment to helping travel par­tners rebound from the impact of COVID-19 and fuel industry-wide recovery efforts. To help re-ignite travel demand to destinations, Media Solutions is making $25 million of advertising relief available, which includes products, programmes and media value add from Expedia Group brands for display campaigns across Expedia Group sites. Several brands within the Media Solutions portfolio – including Expedia, Hotels.com, Orbitz, Travelocity, Hotwire, Wotif, ebookers and CheapTickets – are offering customized brand ... Read more

The Ritz-Carlton, Aruba, has reopened to guests. The relaunch of Aruba’s top luxury resort comes as the destination opens its borders to tourists from the United States, Caribbean Journal reports. The Palm Beach-area property has made some changes, including a newly-crafted menu, the addition of carry-out options at restaurants, and a reopened casino that is now the “premier non-smoking casino in Aruba”. The property has a total of 320 guest rooms and suites, the aforementioned 24-hour casino, a club lounge and a spa with 13 treatment rooms and six eateries. Those eateries include the signature BLT Steak, and Casa Nonna, the ... Read more

Walt Disney World Resort in Florida reopened to guests on Saturday welcoming visitors back to the Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Parks. EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios will reopen on July 15. Drawing on experience from the successful reopening of Shanghai Disney Resort, Disney Springs, and Walt Disney World resort hotels and transportation, the theme parks will reopen with a deliberate, responsible approach that includes limits on attendance and controlled guest density. New health and safety measures implemented across the parks will follow recommendations from health agencies and government officials. Disney will create new ways for guests to enjoy attractions and characters while ... Read more

The novel coronavirus has halted many of the usual events across Iowa, including the Iowa State Fair, that help draw tourism and income during summer. But not all of Iowa’s traditional events have been nixed: Des Moines’ Butter Cow Festival is still a go, according to a report by Des Moines Register. During what would have been the first weekend of the fair, attendees can enjoy live music from local bands, food vendors, and breweries from 4:30-11 pm on August 14 and 15 at Lauridsen Amphitheater at Water Works Park. The band line-up on August 14 will include Richard Arndt, Jason Brown and The Purple ... Read more

Saint Lucia has introduced several new and updated protocols for arrivals from July 9, following a reassessment of market conditions. Travellers will be required to obtain a negative PCR (polymerised chain reaction) test within seven days of travel unless they are arriving from countries in the travel bubble designated by the government of Saint Lucia. Visitors travelling only from destinations that have zero or a low instance of Covid-19 cases will be exempt from the seven-day pre-testing requirement, Breaking Travel News has reported. These destinations currently include Antigua, Barbuda, Aruba, Anguilla, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Curaçao, Dominica, ... Read more

The JW Marriott Hotel in downtown Indianapolis is taking reservations with plans to reopen to guests this Thursday, July 9. Indiana’s largest hotel temporarily closed down operations more than 100 days ago due to the business decline caused by COVID-19. At that time, roughly 600 people worked at the JW Marriott in various capacities. Over the last few months, however, that staff has been reduced to only a handful of people, according to a report by Fox59. A rehiring process is underway to support the reopening. The hotel and hospitality industry has been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In Indianapolis, hotels ... Read more

The Chicago-headquartered Hyatt Hotels Corporation has said it will continue to grow the Thompson Hotels brand throughout the southern United States with deals for two new properties—Thompson Savannah and Thompson Buckhead—expected to open in Georgia in 2021. Marking the brand’s entry into the state, these projects will join four other Thompson hotels already under development including Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin, Texas. These six new properties are expected to join Thompson’s nine hotels across the United States and Mexico, many of which have resumed operations and are welcoming back guests. Thompson Hotels is a subsidiary brand of Hyatt. “We ... Read more

The United States has stated that international students will not be allowed to stay in the country if the college in which they have registered is holding only online courses. Those failing to comply with the rules will risk deportation, the government warned. Students on F-1 and M-1 visas who face such a situation “must depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction to remain in lawful status,” the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said in a news release on Monday. Those who violate the rules “may face immigration consequences including, but not ... Read more

Uruguay’s selection as the only Latin American nation to be named on the European Union’s safe countries list makes it look like a surprise, but the decision was made on solid health grounds. Only 936 Covid-19 cases have been reported in Uruguay, and 27 deaths. A lockdown, initiated on March 13 with the cessation of university classes and quickly expanded to cover schools, shopping centres and the Argentine border, has been a success. Uruguay has announced that it is analysing the opening of its borders to EU countries. Uruguayan Foreign Minister Ernesto Talvi said in Montevideo that the opening of ... Read more

The Delaware Tourism Office (DTO) has launched a “Go-to-Guide” to encourage safe travel this summer. The DTO worked with Governor John Carney’s office and public health officials to launch the guide. “To help provide travellers with a kind of ‘what to expect’ when they arrive here in Delaware; everything from making sure you pack the face covering and also some hand sanitizers and some extra travel ideas – like traveling around not during peak times to help with social distancing,” said Delaware Tourism Office director Liz Keller. The guide was launched in part because of the number of calls they ... Read more

Travellers needing information on Arkansas can now stop at an Arkansas Welcome Centre. The state’s Welcome Centres were temporarily closed from March 20 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, according to a news release from Arkansas Tourism. The centres are now open 8 am to  5 pm, seven days a week. “Arkansas is one of the nation’s most beautiful and inviting destinations,” said Stacy Hurst, secretary of the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism. “Arkansas Welcome Centres offer our guests a friendly entry to The Natural State, as well as a rest and information stop to gather travel ... Read more

Barbados is the latest Caribbean island planning to reopen to international tourists. The doors will be open from July 12. Americans will be able to board commercial flights on JetBlue beginning July 25 and American Airlines will resume flights to Barbados from August 5. Like most other countries reopening to tourists in the wake of COVID-19, travellers must take precautions while visiting Barbados. Within 72 hours before departing, visitors from high-risk countries (which currently include the US) are “strongly encouraged” to take a COVID-19 test, according to a press release from Barbados Tourism Marketing. Travellers from countries with fewer than 100 new ... Read more

Marriott International has opened a second hotel under the JW Marriott badge in the Orlando area. The JW Marriott Orlando Bonnet Creek Resort & Spa is a 516-room property close to Walt Disney World and about 30 minutes from Orlando Airport. It includes the debut of the brand’s new family suite concept, which offers views of the nightly theme park fireworks displays, shuttle service to Disney Parks, loft beds, larger living areas and spa-like bathrooms, says a report by Travel Weekly. A Kids Conservatory is designed for games and crafts, and an Activities Garden features a rock-climbing wall, a minigolf ... Read more

Hyatt Hotels Corporation has announced the opening of the Hyatt Centric Downtown Minneapolis. Once known as the Minneapolis Athletic Club, the 154-room upscale lifestyle hotel with 22 suites is centrally located in the heart of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Located in the city centre of Minneapolis with direct access to an 11-mile, temperature-controlled skyway system and just thirteen miles from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, Hyatt Centric Downtown Minneapolis connects travellers to popular attractions like the US Bank Stadium, First Avenue, Target Centre and Target Field, Rus Tourism News has reported. The hotel features contemporary design, upscale guest room and hotel amenities such ... Read more

Based on a careful review of the metrics, travellers from Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey are now exempt from the 14-day quarantine requirement as well as the testing alternative option, Maine governor Janet Mills has said. Mills had previously announced that travellers from New Hampshire and Vermont were able to travel to Maine without these restrictions as well. The update will take effect this Friday, July 3.  Maine is the north-eastern most US state, known for its rocky coastline, maritime history and natural areas like the granite and spruce islands of Acadia National Park. Moose are plentiful in Baxter ... Read more