WTM (World Travel Market) London has moved to an all-virtual event for 2020, with the physical event now scuppered due to the coronavirus impact.

Signatories of the Save Australian Tourism campaign, exclusively revealed by LATTE last month, have been called on to take the message to State and Federal members of Parliament.

Tourism Western Australia has rolled out a new campaign targeting the local ‘staycation’ market with hotel discounts of up to 40%.

Emirates has revealed it has returned over AED 5 billion (AU$1.9 billion) in COVID-19 related travel refunds to date, making strong and steady progress on its commitment to customers to complete pending refunds

The Australian Government will offer additional support to “vulnerable Australians” whose return to Australia has been impacted by the restrictions arising from COVID-19.

The Australian Federation of Travel Agents is seeking Federal Government backing to the tune of $125 million for a proposed Travel Agent Support Package while urging for the establishment of ‘travel bubbles’ to kick-start international travel.

Travel and tourism organisations around Australia have shown solidarity, backing an open letter to State Premiers and Chief Ministers urging interstate borders to remain open.

Deep-pocketed Australians have the potential to breath new life into the flailing tourism industry, data from the Roy Morgan Research Institute suggests.

Silversea’s Silver Spirit has become the first ultra-luxury cruise ship to sail with a certification in infection prevention for maritime (CIP-M) from DNV GL, the world’s leading classification society. The certification of Silversea demonstrates the cruise line’s commitment to enhancing its onboard sanitation protocols to further protect the health, safety and wellbeing of its guests and crew.

Virgin Atlantic is now including COVID-19 global insurance coverage for all existing and new bookings, travelling from 24 August 2020 through until 31 March 2021.

Cunard has confirmed a further extension to is operations pause, from November 2020 until 25 March 2021 for its ship Queen Elizabeth; until 18 April 2021 for Queen Mary 2 and until 16 May 2021 for Queen Victoria.

One-third of consumers are more likely to use a travel agency when booking their travel needs following the coronavirus crisis, a new study by Travelport has revealed. Nearly half of the audience surveyed said their opinion was unchanged by COVID-19, while 18% said they were less likely to book with a travel agent.