
A record breaking 78 million passengers travelled through London Heathrow Airport in 2017, up 3.1% on last year with passenger volumes driven by larger and fuller aircraft. Heathrow became one of the fastest growing major European hubs for cargo, with 1.7 million metric tons travelling through the airport – equivalent to the weight of 134,000 London buses or 136 London Shards.

Seatrade Cruise Global, the leading annual global business-to-business event in the cruise industry, will return to the newly renovated Miami Beach Convention Center 8-11 April 2019 after a three year stint at the Greater Fort Lauderdale Broward County Convention Center.

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.

Millions of Britons are being encouraged to say they were sick while on holiday, according to the Association of British Travel Agents. A poll carried out for ABTA suggests that 19% of all holidaymakers may have been approached by a claims management company on their return home.

A new study shows that Mexico City to Cancun is the busiest air route in North America. Almost 3.7 million passengers traveled the 1,294 km journey between Mexico City Juarez and Cancun in the twelve-month period between November 1, 2016 and October 31, 2017, putting it at the top of the study’s rankings. The average cost of a ticket was US$72.

The Falkland Islands Environment Committee, held a lively debate on the cost of the landing fee for cruise visitors which is scheduled to be increased to £25 per passenger, and which was described as “the highest in the region” by the head of the Islands Tourist Board.

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.

The Chilean port of Valparaíso has plans for a specific cruise ships pier, where calls have dropped due to berthing conflicts with the cargo business. Agencias Universales SA, Agunsa, has proposed the pier, designed in conjunction with the Dutch engineering company Royal HaskoningDHV, and it would be able to handle a pair of 300-meter ships simultaneously, with the possibility to expand for bigger vessels in future.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko stepped down from his role as President of the Russian Football Union. Mutko told reporters in Russia he was stepping down to dispute his Olympic ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.