change take
— Rashad Jordan
Good morning Skift. Today is Thursday, June 22nd. Here’s what you need to know about the travel business today.
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episode notes
Canadian travel brands have taken on large amounts of debt during the pandemic to cope with the economic slowdown caused by the new coronavirus. But the companies are still struggling due to Canada’s slow recovery, with global travel journalist Dawit Habtemariam writing that the Canadian tourism industry could face business closures in the near future.
Beth Porter, CEO of the Canadian Travel Industry Association, said many travel companies fear they will have to close their doors. A survey by the group found that nearly a third of businesses have more than $250,000 in outstanding debt. In addition, more than half of the companies said they were not confident that they would be able to repay debt maturing in the next two years. Hubutmariam noted that a large portion of that debt is with the Canadian government, whose businesses have taken loans from Ottawa to stay afloat during the pandemic.
Among other demands, the tourism association has called on the government to delay the payment deadline. Some 45 per cent of Canadian tourism businesses say they are likely to close within the next three years without government help.
Next, more and more travel brands are using major sporting events to upsell and market their core services, writes travel experience journalist Selene Brophy.
Mark McLaughlin, chief executive of Dublin-based ticket distribution platform Coras, said travel companies could use sporting events to boost customer engagement. McLaughlin, whose firm works with some of Europe’s elite soccer clubs, added that fans who visit Barcelona consider watching the game as an item on their wish list, as visiting other major attractions in the city. He also said the volume of tickets to sporting events was huge compared to the number of trips travel agencies could sell each day.
Finally, between January and April this year, the number of foreign tourists to India jumped 166% year-on-year, Middle East and Asia reporter Amrita Ghosh writes in Skift’s India Travel Daily.
Indian Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy said the country expects inbound tourism to reach pre-pandemic levels later this year. India received more than 6 million foreign tourists last year. The boom in tourism in the country has also led to a more than doubling of the industry’s revenue in India in 2022 from the previous year. Indian authorities have also unveiled plans for a marketing campaign targeting international travellers.
