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What’s Trending
01/ On Google
‘United Airlines Flight Academy’ trended +2,200% after the launch of United Aviate Academy in Arizona for students with zero flight hours to receive training from the airline and its instructors.
Searches for ‘Ireland travel restrictions’ are trending +130% as the country lifts almost all COVID-19 restrictions for incoming travelers
02/ On Social
State Farm insurance is forgoing a traditional Super Bowl ad in favor of social media marketing with the #TeamStateFarm TikTok challenge. Users are asked to show off their talents with the #TeamStateFarm hashtag and on Super Bowl Sunday, the three best videos will be pinned to the top of Jake’s TikTok page.
03/ With Media
Journalists this week expressed story interest in Valentine’s Day packages, romantic destinations, and family and educational travel opportunities
Industry Insights
Business travel numbers are rising to pre-pandemic levels and studies show small to medium-sized businesses are more likely to take a risk and place their employees on planes than corporate companies.
Travelers who passed through Reno-Tahoe International Airport on January 24th received free compliments from RNO’s Kindness Take Flight team in honor of National Compliment Day.
New Zealand wine company, Invivo, is launching the world’s first winery airline that includes a two hour flight, a winery visit to Invivo’s Central Otago growers, and an overnight stay at The Hilton Queenstown.
Adventures by Disney announced its European river cruise lineup for 2023. Destinations include eight-day, seven-night cruises along the Rhine, Danube, and Seine rivers, as well as Oktoberfest and Christmas market sailings.
Wheel the World, known for making global travel more accessible for people with disabilities and seniors, is now the travel booking platform for making group travel easier with its launch of nine fully accessible tours.
Airbnb restored an abandoned house in Sambuca, Italy and is now looking for one host to move in this summer for free. The host will get to retain all the earnings from hosting on Airbnb and Airbnb will also arrange and pay for flights and transfers.
Pop Culture + Trending Moments
‘Veganuary’ was on the rise this year, promoting a plant-based diet as more people transition to a vegan or vegetarian diet. The travel industry is adapting to these increasingly popular diets with festivals, tours, plant-centric hotels, and restaurants.
Teenage aviator, Zara Rutherford just became the youngest woman to fly around the world solo. Rutherford completed a 41-country journey spanning over 52,000 kilometers (32,300 miles), and broke two Guinness World Records in the process.
Best Practices
01/ The Good
In an effort to prove to the world that their town is far from dull, small businesses in Boring, Oregon are partnering with design app Picsart to spice up their marketing. The team is creating a series of mini-documentaries that will showcase the community, to run nationally and locally through the beginning of March.
02/ The Bad
Some Marriott hotels are under fire for charging a nightly ‘sustainability fee’ without disclosing in the upfront price. This move adds to a rising trend of hotels hiding additional fees from upfront costs and lacking information on specific sustainability efforts.
Covid-Related Updates
The CDC added 22 countries and territories to its highest travel risk category including Aruba, Israel, Australia, The Bahamas and Bermuda.
The World Health Organization announced new recommendations for countries to lift their COVID-19 travel restrictions due to the ineffectiveness shown from the Omicron spread. The European Union quickly followed suit, lifting all restrictions and testing requirements for travelers over the age of 12 with a COVID-19 digital certificate proving vaccination status.
Despite record infection rates, The Netherlands announced plans to ease COVID-19 travel restrictions due to the “less serious clinical picture” the Omicron variant seems to have in comparison to Delta.
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