UK Opens Travel and 9 Other Top Travel Stories This Week

Throughout the week we are posting original stories night and day covering news and travel trends, including the impact of coronavirus. Every weekend we will offer you a chance to read the most essential stories again in case you missed them earlier.

UK Expands List of ‘Green Light’ Countries for Travel: Real beach time is finally here for Britons eager to escape this summer, and it’s great news for tourism-dependent spots such as the Caribbean, Malta, and the Balearics. But with the traffic light system potentially changing at any time, it isn’t likely to boost consumer confidence for international travel.

Don’t Blame Extra Unemployment Benefits for the Hotel Labor Shortage Crisis: The extra $300 in weekly federal unemployment benefits is an easy political punching bag to use to explain away the hotel industry’s labor shortage problems. Want people back? Pay more and market the industry better.

Google to End Tours and Activities Booking Next Month: Google’s retreat in tours and activities booking services doesn’t mean Google is becoming less powerful in travel. It’s part of Google’s strategy to wrangle consistency across its products in offering a combination of advertisements and free listings to gain an even wider audience.

Can Trump’s Hotels Ever Recover From Tax Fraud Charges?: This is only the start of mounting legal issues for the Trump Organization. Prosecutors typically start small with charges as they look for ways to get people to flip and bring down a bigger whale.

Travel’s Creator Economy Resets for Next Boom: Post pandemic, brand and destination marketing dollars will favor those who get hyper-creative, hyper-local and hyper-talented in video and storytelling content. There’s a boom coming — for those playing the long game.

EU Lifts Travel Restrictions on 11 More Countries Bringing Total to 25: Europe’s tourism recovery is set a receive a major boost as the list of safe travel countries grows, including the lucrative outbound market of Canada.

American Airlines Sues Sabre Over How Tickets Are Displayed to Travel Agencies: Good news for the lawyers! American is suing Sabre — again.

Inspirato to Go Public in $1.1 Billion Thayer Ventures Blank Check Merger: It’s the latest validation of the subscription model in travel. Inspirato, which has 12,500 customers paying for its luxury travel subscription products, is merging with Thayer’s special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC.

Hawaii Tourism Greeted With About-Face: 70 Percent of Residents Now Support: Hawaii’s residents are aware tourism per se is a plus for development, the latest survey shows — but they also want solutions and action. Acting fast is crucial.

Travelport Adjusts Fees and Technology to Navigate the Recovery: The pandemic dealt travel distribution companies a weak hand. Given that it’s the third-largest player, Travelport has to play every card right in the recovery. So far, it appears to have done that.