International tourist arrivals grew by a remarkable 7% in 2017 to reach a total of 1,322 million, according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. This strong momentum is expected to continue in 2018 at a rate of 4%-5%.
The cruise ship that earned the poop cruise moniker in 2013 has failed her sanitation inspection for the first time ever. In a report completed in November and released earlier this week, inspectors with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) gave the Carnival Triumph a score of 78 out of 100, well below the required 86-point margin for a passing grade. It is the first time she has ever failed an inspection, according to two decades of CDC records, and the first time since 2009 that her score fell below 90 points.
Imagine having breakfast with an explorer and documentalist who turns out to be Jacques Cousteau's granddaughter. Or listen to a conference aboard the Nobel Prize in Physics Shuji Nakamura. Imagine waking up one day on an exotic island and the other in one of the great capitals of the world. Imagine owning a floating apartment worth between 1.2 and 7.5 million dollars.
The UN World Tourism Organization, WTO, Awards on Innovation and Excellence in Tourism, African and Middle East tourism development and the Chinese Market among the activities of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) during the 38th edition of the Madrid International Tourism Fair (FITUR, January 17-21), the yearly kick-off for the world’s leading tourism meeting points.
Where was the best New Year party in the World? At Times Square New York in below zero temperature or on a sunny summer beach day in Rio De Janeiro with 2.4 million happy tourists and locals going wild. On Sunday, December 31st, 2.4 million people gathered on Copacabana’s beach to welcome 2018. According to Riotur, this is the largest audience ever registered in Copacabana’s New Year’s Eve celebration, considered one of the best in the world.
Argentina is expecting 490.000 cruise visitors this season and is targeting a million visitors in the following years, and to promote this policy it has announced a drastic cut in port fees and costs, with special emphasis on those vessels which are over 300 meters long.
French luxury shipping line Ponant announced a world first with a hybrid electric-LNG powered icebreaker. The luxury vessel promises to deliver around 300 passengers to places never before visited by cruise passengers in ultra-luxury – and with the least damage to the environment.
Over the weekend 1.239 visitors in six luxury cruise vessels landed in Ushuaia en route to Antarctica according to local reports from Tierra del Fuego, to which must be added another two that called in on Monday and Tuesday.
Ecuador's capital, Quito, was named South America's Leading Destination for the second year in a row at the 21st regional World Travel Awards gala, considered the Oscars of the tourism industry.
During the 2013/14 season, 237 cruise vessels called in Uruguay's two main ports, Montevideo and Punta del Este, with 409.367 visitors, a 6,3% increase in calls over the previous season, according to a report released by the country's presidential web-site.