The Week In Travel

This week, the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) has encouraged travel industry staff not to focus too heavily on short-term challenges and trends, but instead to look at long-term behaviours and opportunities that will define the next decade.

Delegates at the annual ABTA Travel Convention were advised to look beyond the “dark clouds” of the pandemic to the new business prospects that have emerged in the last 18 months. This optimistic guidance is reinforced by recent research by the travel body, which found that 49% of travellers have booked or are planning to book an overseas holiday this winter – a figure which is expected to be bolstered by last week’s updates to UK “red list” countries.

In other winter travel news, Virgin Atlantic and Ryanair are the latest airlines to announce additions to their winter flight scheduling. Virgin has brought forward the return of its flights to Cape Town to 17th December instead of 3rd January following a surge in demand, while Ryanair has introduced Leeds-Bradford to Poznan and Derry to Manchester services.

In sustainability news, the UK director of the Spanish National Tourism Office has warned that tourism requires a “tremendous cultural change” to face the requirements of both climate change and social responsibility. The comments come in the same week that Amadeus announces new research into travel industry trends. Findings from the survey, which asked consumers in nine markets what solutions they believe would help make the travel industry more sustainable, highlight that nearly half of travellers (46%) feel there is a need for a greater availability of “green” modes of transport.

And finally, Air Charter Service is offering rugby fans the chance to arrive in style to next year’s Six Nations. The aircraft charter specialist is running a return flight to the Italy vs England match in Rome from a dedicated private terminal at Luton Airport. Passengers will have a hot meal and drinks included – rugby tickets sold separately!