In popular folklore France is the world’s most visited country in terms of international arrivals. Indeed, going by stats, it is having received eighty-nine million inbound travelers last year, significantly ahead of both Spain and USA in second and third spots respectively. Yet, further business analysis clearly reveals that this is only half the story. While number of travelers may be high in France, it all boils down to lower average spending per capita. As a result of which, the tourism revenues earned in France was only fifty-four billion euros, which is a six billion less than that of Spain. USA is a different story with a whopping one-hundred and ninety billion euros in inbound tourism revenues. The contribution of tourism to the overall GDP is also lower at 2.3% in France compared to the 5.2% in neighbouring Spain.

Source:https://www.tourism-review.com/france-is-hardly-number-one-in-tourism-news10668

Uploaded Date:20 July 2018

Tourism is one of the highest growth sectors in Portugal with total overnight stays crossing fifty-seven million for 2017. In the process tourism generated revenues worth upwards of two and a half billion euros for the hotels. The room occupancy rate remains among the highest in Europe, second only to Amsterdam, but above traditional giants such as London, Paris and Barcelona. Another source generating travel jobs and consequently revenues is cruise tourism. In spite of such obvious advances, there are several critics who feel that all this is forcing massive strain on the city’s resources. Due to the presence of Airbnb for example, resident homeowners are facing dilemmas about their place in the city. Costs are constantly rising. The old heritage parts of the town are under attack by hordes of tourists, many of whom do not appreciate the art and culture. The authorities will now need to step in to stem the tide.

Source:https://www.tourism-review.com/lisbon-tourism-boom-is-problematic-news10676

Uploaded Date:18 July 2018

The Cuban tourism industry has been growing thanks mainly due to the windfall generated post the policies of former US President Barack Obama. The present President Donald Trump had threatened to rollback the gains of improved relations with Cuba, bur fortunately for this Caribbean island nation, that has not come to fruition. Long distance stays still remain the dominant mode for tourism revenues in comparison to cruise tourism, but the country is committed to promoting the latter. Head taxes at each port, services there and inland expenses for the passengers and crew members remain the key modes of earning. Numerous tourism jobs have been created as a result of this largesse. The rate of growth in inbound tourists has remained steady at between fourteen and seventeen percent.

Source:https://www.tourism-review.com/cruise-tourism-reports-positive-numbers-news10667

Uploaded Date:18 July 2018

A UK market watchdog has alerted several online booking platforms to mend their ways or else face corresponding charges. The UK’s Competition and Market Authority (CMA) has identified some of these portals as centres of misleading information being doled out to users. Apparently, the hotels listed on them are not as a result of customer preferences but determined by which clients pay higher commissions. Similarly, customers are misled regarding room availability to create a false sense of shortage or urgency. Hidden charges were also exposed. Even the discount claims violate fair-trade practices. Such are their unscrupulous digital marketing methods. All this has led to a lack of trust on the part of users towards such portals. These now need to review their practices to be more in line with compliances.

Source:https://www.tourism-review.com/some-booking-platforms-mislead-the-users-news10664

Uploaded Date:18 July 2018

The Latin American region has long been starved of genuine growth in its tourism sector. Barring some beach areas and the biggest of cities, capital has been slow to arrive or grow. Now, demand has peaked as hoteliers seek to leverage on gains made over the past few decades, where the growth has been better. It has partially been fueled by the craze following the Olympic Games held in Rio de Janeiro, 2016. French Group Accor and Spain’s NH are amongst those joining in with plans to invest heavy. A lack of transparency and growing crime are two of the major reasons keeping investors away. Chinese investors for example have pumped in money elsewhere but staying away form entire Latin America region due to high income taxes, long gestation period and most crucially the violence sweeping across the big cities. This is denying thousands of tourism jobs on the continent.

Source:https://www.tourism-review.com/brazilian-hotel-sector-needs-investment-news10657

Uploaded Date:10 July 2018

The happiest and angriest travelers have been revealed post marketing research conducted by Reward Expert. They held their study across thirteen-thousand hotels in seventy countries, while pooling in reviewers from eighty-three countries. Russians seem to have the highest satisfaction rates with more than four-fifths of reviewers rating less than four or five stars. Other Slavic nations such as Serbia and Belarus too are high on the list at second and fifth respectively. From the Middle-East region Lebanon, Jordan and Israel fare amongst the most positive. Travelers from Spain seem most finicky. They are most likely to give one or two-star ratings. Ireland comes second and fellow southerners Italy fourth. Surprisingly, African country Zimbabwe ranks sixty on the finicky scale.

Source:https://www.tourism-review.com/travelers-reviews-show-the-happiest-nation-news10655

Uploaded Date:10 July 2018

The lure of serviced apartments is only increasing in the travel and tourism industry. The Global Serviced Apartments Industry Report 2016 states that serviced apartments exist in over nine-thousand locations, numbering more than eight-hundred and twenty-thousand of them. Tourism consulting provided by the Apartment Service states mentions that on average serviced apartments may be up to thirty percent cheaper than hotel rooms. They also provide greater privacy, more space and have kitchens attached, so reduce costs on food. There is also a third option between hotels and apartments, known as aparthotels which many prefer. A lot of people struggle to find the right apartments, so the SITU serviced apartments are a great option. The platform enables booking them from anywhere, with Europe being the continent with the maximum number of such serviced apartments.

Source:https://www.tourism-review.com/serviced-apartments-benefits-news10661

Uploaded Date:04 July 2018