Venice’s Turnstiles and 9 Other Tourism Trends This Week

Throughout the week we post dozens of original stories, connecting the dots across the travel industry, and every weekend we sum it all up. This weekend roundup examines tourism trends.

For all of our weekend roundups, go here.

>>For a city that’s afraid of becoming a theme park, it’s certainly starting to look more like one with turnstiles and fast passes to get in the door. The summer travel season is just starting to heat up: Venice Tourism Checkpoints Are a Sign of Europe’s Fractured Approach to Overtourism

>>The Cape Town water crisis has more to do with improper water management and inaccurate, inconsistent messaging than the city actually being in completely dire circumstances. That’s why collaboration matters, between huge global organizations all the way down to individual travelers and locals, to promote the reality of international issues and the benefits tourism can have if done in a sustainable way: Cape Town’s Water Crisis: What the Tourism Industry Can Learn From the Myth and the Reality

>>Check out our magazine to see how Europe raced back to be a global leader in tourism growth — and what that means to the larger travel industry in the region: How Europe Came Back From the Brink: Read the New Magazine

>>Many travel agents will have the benefit of selling a wider variety of packages from one distribution channel because of this deal, but will this industry giant really want to give travel agents, and their clients, the best rates if agents don’t have anywhere else to turn? Time will tell: Apple Leisure Group CEO Says Mark Travel Merger Is Win-Win for Travel Agents

>>Beyond the Uber and Lyft drama here, the deeper trend seems to be companies and travel managers allowing business travelers to make their own choices about which ground transportation option they prefer. This represents a major change from how things used to be, and it is good news for the industry: Lyft Continues to Gain Ground in Business Travel Ground Transportation

>>Is the formation of a pan-African tourism body the solution to boosting the continent’s tourism numbers? With industry players slow to sign up, the new African Tourism Board initiative from the International Coalition of Tourism Partners has its work cut out for it: First Unified Tourism Voice for Africa Faces Challenges

>>There is no set formula on how to do it, but it’s clear that the most progressive companies in travel are intent on reinventing their businesses, and value propositions. On the other hand, certain things that still work, like customer service and personalized hospitality, will survive the cut: The 5 Big Themes Driving Travel in 2018: Lessons From Skift Forum Europe

>>With Asia becoming a more popular meetings destination for Western organizations, events professionals need to understand local capabilities and cultural nuances. Often, local assistance on the ground can be the difference between success and failure: Local Expertise Makes the Difference in Asia Meetings Market

>>Like other cruise operators, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings is seeing strong business for 2018 and even 2019. Two words — hurricane season — could interfere, but with so many bookings already made, even a stormy summer shouldn’t ruin the year: Norwegian Cruise CEO Sees No Signs of Recession

>>Asian destinations have been a big beneficiary of the global business travel boom. This has created complexity, however, for North American and European event planners as they look to hold events in more diverse locations: A Look at Asia’s Complex and Evolving Events Market