Skift Travel News Blog

Dublin Airport has released a new advice guide to support senior travelers when preparing to visit the airport during the busy summer months. 

Dublin Airport operator DAA, in partnership with Age Action, has created the free guide with the aim of alleviating travel anxieties for older passengers as they navigate through the airport.

The guide provides practical information and guidance on every step of the airport journey, such as getting to the airport, check-in desk locations, preparing for security screening, restroom locations, as well as the whereabouts of shops and restaurants. Additionally, it offers valuable guidance on seeking assistance from airport staff when needed.

The guide can be downloaded here. 

“We want to take the stress out of traveling for our older passengers or anyone who feels anxious ahead of their journey,” said Louise Bannon, director of marketing at Dublin Airport.

“The short, but comprehensive guide, will give reassurance to passengers with a helpful overview of the passenger journey, offering practical travel tips, and contact details for further assistance. It has been thoughtfully designed, in consultation with Age Action, to help anxious or unfamiliar travelers navigate the airport more easily, providing crucial information about facilities, services, and procedures.”

At Skift, we are looking to unearth the most creative and forward-thinking innovations in travel through our Skift Ideas Franchise, which includes the Skift IDEA Awards, Skift Editorial Hub and the Skift Ideas Podcast.

You can listen and subscribe to the Skift Ideas Podcast through your favorite podcast app here.

Tourism Cares, a non-profit dedicated to advancing sustainable tourism has unveiled its new Meaningful Travel Map.

The interactive map, which has been designed to connect travel professionals with ‘sustainable, community-led enterprises, products, services, accommodations and tours that can be added to itineraries,’ has been launched to commemorate the organization’s 20-year anniversary.

You can view the interactive map here, and find out more about the work Tourism Cares does in the video below:

Presently, the Meaningful Travel Map features over 150 verified sustainable experiences in various destinations including the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Colombia and Jordan.

“At Tourism Cares, we consider ourselves a pioneer in the meaningful travel movement – driving the industry to conduct business in a way that directly benefits host communities, protects cultural and environmental assets, and engages guests in a deeper, more responsible way,” said Greg Takehara, CEO, Tourism Cares. 

“Through our innovative programs, such as our Meaningful Travel Summits and the development of our Meaningful Travel Map, we have been able to generate significant impact for local communities and social enterprises around the world. We are excited for this next phase of programming with our expanded map and its ability to diversify the travel supply chain to incorporate more impactful, locally led tourism experiences that will benefit destinations and the people that call those places home.”

At Skift, we are looking to unearth the most creative and forward-thinking innovations in travel through our Skift Ideas Franchise, which includes the Skift IDEA Awards, Skift Editorial Hub and the Skift Ideas Podcast.

You can listen and subscribe to the Skift Ideas Podcast through your favorite podcast app here.

The marketing team behind Barbie have made the doll a household name. The upcoming summer release of the official Warner Bros. movie ‘Barbie‘ on July 21, and the subsequent marketing push behind it, in part, illustrates how an 11.5-inch doll has managed brand success for over 60 years. 

Airbnb has unveiled a listing, Welcome to Barbie’s Malibu DreamHouse – Ken’s Way, which opens to the public for a free stay, on a first come first serve basis. Booking is from July 17, and is for two individual one-night stays, for up to two guests each, on July 21 and July 22, 2023 only. Airbnb said it will make a one-time donation to Save the Children, to honor girls’ empowerment, in the announcement of the listing that coincides with the movie’s release.

In Los Angeles there is a full activation called “World of Barbie”, bringing her DreamHouse and DreamCamper to life for an immersive experience. It also features an adults-only cocktail bar. From a Barbie hotel, and a Barbie Fan Girl Cruise, these are just some of brands that appear to have joined the pink Barbie brigade.  

Named one of America’s most trusted brands in 2022, despite remaining controversially polarizing, the gross sales of Mattel’s Barbie brand amounted to about $1.49 billion worldwide in 2022. Interestingly, this figure is down, compared to 2021, when gross sales reportedly reached $1.68 billion.

Norwegian Air and Nordic hotels group Strawberry said on Tuesday they plan to form a joint venture company which will provide benefits to the members of the groups’ respective loyalty programmes.

“Additional parties will also be invited to join the partnership, further increasing the attractiveness for the companies’ customers,” Norwegian and Strawberry said.

A final closing of the deal is expected to take place in the fourth quarter of 2023.

(Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Louise Rasmussen)

This article was from Reuters and was legally licensed through the Industry Dive Content Marketplace. Please direct all licensing questions to [email protected].

Accor, Europe’s biggest hotel group, raised its outlook at its capital markets day on Tuesday and forecast its 2023 revenue per room (RevPAR) to grow within a range of 15% to 20% amid reorganisation plans.

The hotel industry has benefited from higher prices and a rebound in travel demand in the wake of the pandemic, with consumers rushing to travel even as rising interest rates stoke fears of a recession and inflation continues to erode household purchasing power.

Accor now expects its full-year earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) to come in the range of 920 million euros to 960 million euros ($1.01 billion – $1.05 billion).

The French-listed group aims to grow its EBITDA by 9-12% annually from 2023 until 2027.

($1 = 0.9153 euros)

(Reporting by Tristan Veyet and Gaëlle Sheehan in Gdansk; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

This article was from Reuters and was legally licensed through the Industry Dive Content Marketplace. Please direct all licensing questions to [email protected].

A new initiative in Greece is enabling wheelchair users access to hundreds of beaches thanks to an innovative remote controlled accessibility system, as per The Greek Reporter.

Designed by Greek company Tobea, Seatrec is a complimentary service aimed at providing sea access to individuals with disabilities and limited mobility, allowing them to ‘swim in the sea independently, safely, and inclusively.’

You can take a look at the system in action below:

With 147 beaches already transformed and a total of 287 planned, the initiative will also see essential accessibility improvements made at beach locations including changing facilities, parking areas, ramps, and refreshment bars.

The Tourism Ministry has also created a website with further information regarding the project, along with an interactive map of accessible beaches.

At Skift, we are looking to unearth the most creative and forward-thinking innovations in travel through our Skift Ideas Franchise, which includes the Skift IDEA Awards, Skift Editorial Hub and the Skift Ideas Podcast.

You can listen and subscribe to the Skift Ideas Podcast through your favorite podcast app here.

SOTC Travel has introduced three new regional languages to its website – Hindi, Gujarati and Tamil, in addition to English – in order to target the growing customer market within Regional India-Bharat and provide a more accessible guest experience.

In addition to the new language offering, SOTC has also curated a collection of holidays designed to cater to the diverse regional needs of customers. An example being the recently launched ‘Gurjar Vishwadarshan holidays’, that offer vegetarian and Gujarati meals across key destinations like Europe, South East Asia and other destinations.

“We are delighted to announce the launch of our website in Hindi, Gujarati and Tamil languages. Regional India is a critical market for us and making our website available to customers in a language of their choice, builds reassurance and deepens our customer connect. We aim to deliver exceptional experience customer experience and this starts right from research and booking on our regional language website,” said Daniel D’souza, president & country head – holidays, at SOTC Travel.

At Skift, we are looking to unearth the most creative and forward-thinking innovations in travel through our Skift Ideas Franchise, which includes the Skift IDEA Awards, Skift Editorial Hub and the Skift Ideas Podcast.

You can listen and subscribe to the Skift Ideas Podcast through your favorite podcast app here.

The airline Ryanair and travel guide publisher Lonely Planet are taking part in a new $100 million program by Amazon Web Services to explore innovations in generative AI.

AWS announced the Generative AI Innovation Center on Thursday with four partners, which also include sales tech company Highspot and communications platform Twilio.

AWS said it is starting the program to connect its own AI and machine learning experts with client business to help them develop new generative AI products, services, and processes.

Chris Whyde, senior vice president of engineering and data science at Lonely Planet, said in a statement that — a common goal among companies looking to use generative AI for travel planning. 

“We are always looking for ways to tap into new technology and meet the demands of today’s travelers,” Whyde stated. “The AWS Generative AI Innovation Center, paired with expert-driven advice and Lonely Planet’s award-winning content, will enable us to provide more personalized travel recommendations, making travel more accessible for those around the world.”

The program will operate through workshops and other engagements to help AWS customers throughout the process of designing the best generative AI models for their businesses and implementing them at scale, the company said.

“The Generative AI Innovation Center is part of our goal to help every organization leverage AI by providing flexible and cost-effective generative AI services for the enterprise, alongside our team of generative AI experts to take advantage of all this new technology has to offer,” Matt Garman, senior vice president of sales, marketing, and global services at AWS, state in a statement. “Together with our global community of partners, we’re working with business leaders across every industry to help them maximize the impact of generative AI in their organizations, creating value for their customers, employees, and bottom line.”

Rental housing group Greystar Real Estate Partners has acquired the London Olympics site for £20 Million ($25 million) for a built-to-rent project.

Built-to-rent, also known as build-to-rent or BTR, refers to purpose-built residential properties that are specifically designed and constructed for rental purposes rather than for individual sale.

The Stratford Mill site in east London is an acquisition from UK-based real estate group Lifestory — marking Greystar’s latest step in their prosperous expansion plan within the UK. Situated in the central area of the Pudding Mill masterplan, the Stratford Mill site, already granted planning consent, will bring forth 245 new residential units. The construction is scheduled to commence in the second quarter of 2024, and the project is expected to be completed by 2026.

The market for built-to-rent housing in the UK has been growing steadily in recent years. The first quarter of 2023 saw £820 million ($1 billion) transacted in the UK for build-to-rent projects. Meanwhile, single family housing broke records netting an investment of £500 million ($635 million).

The government has also supported the growth of the built-to-rent market by introducing various policies and initiatives, including planning reforms and tax incentives, to encourage the development of more rental properties. 

This expansion comes months after Greystar’s partnership with Airbnb listing over 100 buildings on the Airbnb platform with plans to add more in the future. 

This summer, Palazzo Avino – a 12th century villa turned five star hotel – has partnered with Maison Valentino on a ‘Summer Beach Takeover’. 

The collaboration will see the renowned fashion house transform the Hotels’ Clubhouse by the Sea, bringing a collection of custom furniture and soft furnishings to the premises. The grounds will be adorned with a range of items including, deckchairs, sun loungers, and beach umbrellas, all featuring Valentino’s iconic shade of red.

Valentino is also set to extend its presence to the boutique located within the property’s grounds on the Amalfi Coast, offering guests a curated selection of Valentino’s latest offerings from the Escape 2023 collection.  

“Growing up in an Italian family when talking about fashion, Valentino was the brand, was the designer, and is linked to Italian history so deeply, and I could not think of a better partner to align our hotel with,” said Mariella Avino, managing director & owner at Palazzo Avino.

The Palazzo Avino x Valentino partnership is the latest in a wave of luxury collaborations between major fashion brands and luxury hotels, proving that the luxury travel market is as lucrative as ever.

At Skift, we are looking to unearth the most creative and forward-thinking innovations in travel through our Skift Ideas Franchise, which includes the Skift IDEA Awards, Skift Editorial Hub and the Skift Ideas Podcast.

You can listen and subscribe to the Skift Ideas Podcast through your favorite podcast app here.