Say it isn’t so! – Hotels start charging resort fees again but with a new twist

I was hoping COVID had killed those dastardly hotel resort fees, but I was wrong. It turns out hotels are reimplementing them and also adding new names to them. Last week my good friend, Ron Cole, sent me an email saying he just got back from a trip, and the hotel charged him a “Destination Amenity Fee” of $32 a night. This was for a hotel in Savannah, GA.  One of my biggest gripes is when hotels charge a hidden “Resort Fee” of $25 to $75 a night on top of the hotel rate. Now those sneaky hotel people think if they change the name from “Resort Fee” to “Destination Amenity Fee,” it will go over better. The bottom line is these fees are fraudulent and should be outlawed.

Will people who refuse to get vaccinated for COVID be shut out of traveling internationally? – From what I have read, it appears that up to 30% of Americans have decided they will not get vaccinated or plan to wait to see if there are any more bad results before getting vaccinated. Many major tourism countries around the world are trying to kickstart international travel by first allowing vaccinated Americans into their countries. This makes sense as many economies around the world rely on tourism to survive economically, and they need to get people traveling there ASAP. They believe if requiring vaccines can open their country to Americans, then bring it on. But if you look at the numbers, I think many countries will see the 30% pool of unvaccinated Americans and make a marketing play for them by only requiring a minimum of COVID testing to enter those countries. Once the dominos start falling, I think other countries will remove the vaccination requirement and just require COVID testing for entry. This may not happen until 2022, but I think it will happen.

VAX vacations are the hot trend for people visiting the USA – Since the Biden administration began allowing visitors to access surplus COVID vaccines, inbound international bookings to the U.S. have soared. South Americans, who have had difficulty accessing COVID vaccines, are surging into the U.S. to get vaccinated, with the surpluses now being made available by the states. This new trend of vaccination vacations (VAX Vacations) is starting to help kickstart hotels in key international airline hub cities. This may last for many months until the vaccines are made readily available around the world. CLICK HERE to read more.

Last call! to update your travel bucket list – COVID threw a monkey wrench into everyone’s travel plans, and now we all need to rearrange our travel bucket list. Our Bucket List webinar being held Wednesday, June 2 at 11:30 AM is sold out, but we are recording it and will be happy to send you a recording of the 60-minute session for your listening pleasure. This webinar will be my list of the top 30 international destinations I have on my bucket list. We will also be surveying attendees to find out what are their favorites they plan to add to their travel bucket lists.  This will be lots of fun for newbies and travel pros alike. CLICK HERE to have us send you a copy.

Want to go see the 50^th anniversary of the “Game of the Century” between the Huskers and the Sooners? – Our friends at Collegiate Athletic Travel have put together a real nice travel package for people who want to take in the Husker football team as they travel to Oklahoma to take on the Sooners. 50 years ago, the Huskers and Sooners played in what many people called the “Game of the Century.” CLICK HERE to read about the tour details and make reservations.

We understand that many companies are becoming frustrated with the service levels they are receiving from their travel management companies (TMC) coming out of COVID – If you are looking to find a new (TMC), here are 7 reasons to consider Executive Travel. We have put together 7 videos that explain our 7 competitive advantages. These short 60 second videos tell you how we are different than all our competitors. We also have a competitive matrix that allows you to compare our services with your TMC. If you are looking for a world-class TMC, we would be honored to listen and learn to see if we can help. CLICK HERE to see our 7 videos. CLICK HERE to see our TMC checklist.