If you’re planning to go to France, I’ve got an idea for you. First, let’s define our terms. The US airline industry is an oligopoly.

An oligopoly is “a state of limited competition, in which a market is shared by a small number of producers or sellers.” In the US airline market, four airlines control 82 percent of the $194.7 billion market. That’s nice for them. It’s a big pot of gold for them to divvy up. For the passengers, maybe it’s not so nice, because choices are extremely limited. In contrast, the entire European airline market is valued at $67.81 billion, about a third of the size of the U.S. market, and 195 airlines are competing for that market. Just by calculating the basic math, it’s undeniable that the European airline market is many times more competitive than the American market Read the rest of this entry »

Next week is the week of Africa’s Travel Indaba, the travel trade show for all of Africa. It will be held in Durban, South Africa, at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre (ICC) May 13-16.

The word “indaba” is Zulu for “the story.” For those interested in the African travel industry, Africa’s Travel Indaba is the time and place to get the story, directly from the people engaged in that industry, at the point where participants gather from around the world.

There will be 26 African countries participating in the show Read the rest of this entry »

It’s hard to imagine any place more fundamental to being a well-traveled person than Greece, the source of Western Civilization. It’s even closer to the root than Italy. The culture of Rome was essentially appropriated from Greece. The Romans were practical. Why re-invent the wheel when the Greeks had covered so much?

Greece is Western Civ 101. It provides a solid basis for exploring the rest of Western Civilization. But aside from all that history and culture, the Greek Islands, in the sparkling blue Aegean Sea, are among the most beautiful places a person could ever hope to be. And Greek cuisine brings that history right up to the present.

There are 6,000 islands in Greece. Cally Papas’s parents were born on one of them Read the rest of this entry »

Scott Wiseman has led a charmed life. He’s one of those people who knew what he wanted to do from an early age, and his career path, though varied, has remained consistent with his early aspirations.

After a career that has included top positions at Accor; Abercrombie & Kent; Cox & Kings, The Americas; Travel Impressions and Apple Leisure Group, Wiseman is now chief executive officer of Nocturne Luxury Villas, a position he took in March 2023 Read the rest of this entry »

The American Economic Liberties Project released its white paper on how to fix the airline industry in late January. It was co-written by Ganesh Sitaraman of Vanderbilt University, author of Why Flying is Miserable and How to Fix It, and William McGee, author of Attention All Passengers: The Airlines’ Dangerous Descent and How to Reclaim Our Skies.

The paper is called “Economic Liberties and Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator Release Blueprint to Fix the Airline Industry.”

I was able to talk to William McGee recently, and that’s an accomplishment itself, because it seems lately that nearly everyone wants to hear what he has to say about the airline industry. And that fact itself points to a sea change Read the rest of this entry »

Type “world’s greatest city” into Google and what do you think will come up? Guess. If you guessed New York you would be correct. It’s the answer you will get from the overwhelming majority of people. There are many great cities in the world, many larger than New York, many older, many that have their own distinguishing features that New York does not have. But when you say “world’s greatest city,” most people will think of New York, and for good reason Read the rest of this entry »

After five years, Jerry Mpufane has left his post as president of the North American hub of South African Tourism, the government tourism board, to pursue other opportunities. Although his tenure 2019-2024 included the time of COVID’s global rampage, Mpufane leaves SAT in a better position than when he took the post in May 2019. When he started, North America, including Canada and the United States, was the third largest source market for South African visitors. Now it’s the largest Read the rest of this entry »

As the Flight Centre Group sunsets its Gogo Vacations brand and offers best wishes to departing Gogo staff members, we are witnessing the closing act of one of the creators of the modern packaged travel industry, a company that ruled the segment for more than a generation Read the rest of this entry »

The Travel Answers Group has been highly successful at growing a business for 32 years based on designing quality vacations to Australia, New Zealand, Africa and the South Pacific. The company’s transcontinental product range is broad and diverse. But its formula for success is a simple philosophy that can be expressed in a few words. It’s all about providing a high order of service. That company ethos provides the focus and the underlying driving force of its success Read the rest of this entry »

Last week, after ASTA responded to American Airlines’ move to deny frequent flyer privileges to customers who are not booking through its New Distribution Capability (NDC), I had the good fortune of speaking with William McGee. He is one of the top authorities on airlines, and a consumer advocate in the never-ending battles between airlines and the public they are mandated to serve. There is no better way to get clarity on airline issues than to speak with McGee Read the rest of this entry »

The latest attempt by American Airlines to disintermediate the retail travel community came down this week via an announcement from the airline that, as of May 1, it will stop awarding loyalty points to passengers who are booking through what American calls “non-preferred” agencies. Those non-preferred agencies are the ones that have not adopted American’s NDC, or “New Distribution Capability.” The airline also pulled 40 percent of its inventory away from agencies that are not plugged into the NDC.

The move comes a year after American deployed the NDC and tried to push agencies to adopt it, when it was not yet fully developed and still had a lot of bugs, according to ASTA President Zane Kirby.

According to a statement issued by ASTA, “Last April, AA forced an underdeveloped technology onto channel ‘partners.’ Nearly a year after its self-imposed NDC launch date, problems associated with basic servicing functions such as comparative shopping, split tickets, limitations on cancellations, booking multiple people on the same itinerary, and rebooking remain, creating extraordinary challenges for agencies and their travelers as they attempt to distribute American Airlines’ services to the traveling public.”

ASTA filed a lengthy formal complaint with the Department of Transportation (DOT) alleging unfair practices in American’s implementation of the NDC, including its pulling away 40 percent of its inventory from non-NDC channels.

The complaint cuts to the core of airline deregulation issues that are heating up again over an airline industry dominated by four major carriers that exercise monopolistic powers over their respective territories, and a rising wave of consumer dissatisfaction over airlines services, which seems to have fallen on deaf ears for decades.

The ASTA complaint goes into depth about issues that date back to the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. Because the airlines were granted anti-trust immunity, according to the complaint, “The overall effect on the industry was a regime characterized by excessive restrictions on competition and, concomitantly, significant harm to consumers in the form of both above-market prices and limited services.”

American filed a response to ASTA’s complaint, and then ASTA filed a rebuttal to American’s response, saying that American had overstated the functionality of its NDC and had falsely claimed that it was instituted in response to consumer demand. The rebuttal also claims that American created a false impression of the state of competition in the airline industry.

ASTA stated that it is not opposed to progress or new merchandising models, but it is opposed to “monopolists abusing their market power to force change that no one, including AA itself, is ready for.  And, because of their monopoly power, making everyone else pay—including the consumer—the price for said change.”

It’s not a fight over new technology, says ASTA, it is the effect of a new technology that is reducing competitive pressure on a handful of major airline corporations that control almost the entire U.S. market, and treat it like a captive market, which in effect it is.

ASTA is asking its members to join the fight by getting involved with its grassroots advocacy efforts, which can be accessed at https://www.asta.org/advocacy/stateAndFederalCampaigns.

Tauck, the family-owned tour operator that started in 1925, has announced a plan of succession that was designed with an eye on the next century, as Tauck concludes its first century this year.

As of next October, all the members of Tauck’s leadership team will move up a notch in the hierarchy. Arthur Tauck Jr., the son of the founder, will move from chairman to chairman emeritus. Dan Mahar, son-in-law of Arthur Jr., will move from CEO to chairman Read the rest of this entry »

Tauck, the global tour operator based in Wilton, Conn., is returning to Cuba after a lapse of four years. When a historically trend-setting operator like Tauck makes a big move like this, it indicates that there is movement in the marketplace that others will also be responding to. It means, keep an eye on Cuba. That market may be picking up again Read the rest of this entry »

Malia Asfour, the managing director of the Jordan Tourism Board, North America, has started the second year of her three-year term as chairman of Tourism Cares, the travel industry association dedicated to sustainability and to protecting the great travel sites of the world Read the rest of this entry »

With the Brazilian government postponing by 90 days the institution of a visa fee for Americans, Canadians and Australians, it might be a good time to take a trip down to Brazil, where it’s summer now. There are a few reasons why now might be a good time, though it seems that it could never be too bad a time to experience Brazil.

Finding new travel destinations is not just a matter of being the first and the hippest to jump onto the newest trends. It’s a natural effect of travelers wanting to expand their horizons, one of the main reasons people travel at all. And now, in 2024, the word “overtourism” is a real thing, and something that must be taken into consideration whenever planning travel. Finding new destinations can be a way of avoiding overcrowded tourist attractions, and not contributing to the problem of overtourism. Read the rest of this entry »

After seven years as CEO of CIE Tours, Elizabeth Crabill decided not to renew her contract, but rather to move on to the next phase in her career. So far there is no announcement as to what her next adventure will be, but it will no doubt be in travel. While the company is completing its search for a new CEO, the company is being overseen by Stephen Cotter, CIE’s Dublin-based chief operations officer, in the role of interim managing director. Cotter is working closely with Rosanne Zusman, the chief commercial officer, and Stacy Riback, the chief financial officer, as a management triumvirate. Crabill was with the company through October working on the transition.

Keith Baron, former president of Abercrombie & Kent, joined Perillo Tours as chief operating officer a little over a month ago. Baron will lead the day-to-day operations from the home office in Saddle River, N.J., and report directly to Steve Perillo, the president and owner of Perillo Tours. Baron was in his first month at Perillo when I ran into him and Stephen Perillo at the USTOA conference this month.

Stephen Perillo seemed almost giddy with Baron joining Perillo. “The spiritual part is changed instantly,” he said, “the feeling. And he’s a hit in the office. You’d never know because there are 50 people in the office. You bring in someone new, and you don’t know who’s going to like whom. But everyone loves Keith. Everyone.” Read the rest of this entry »

Kathmandu is a word that is almost synonymous with “exotic.” Part of that sense of exoticism comes from the mystery of being so far away, and largely unexplored by Americans. I count myself in that group. And yet the sound of that word “Kathmandu” is so enchanting, it seems to beckon one to come find out what it’s all about Read the rest of this entry »

With South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province making it into Conde Nast Traveler’s list of “The Best Places to Go in Africa in 2024,” the province has really made it onto the Big Time stage of world travel. The prestigious travel magazine chose the north of the province as one of only 11 places on the whole continent of Africa that it recommends as its top picks for next year.

All these accolades for KwaZulu-Natal came to my attention recently when I had the opportunity to meet with Philani Mavundla, mayor of Umvoti Local Municipality in Greytown, KwaZulu-Natal Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been a good year for Amtrak, or anyone who likes rail travel and would like to see the U.S. gain a little on Europe, Japan and China with their futuristic (to us) high-speed trains. We could be looking at the dawn of a new Golden Age of Rail Travel.

If you have ridden trains in any of those countries with advanced systems, you have an idea of how good they can get. America’s trains have lagged behind, but things are changing. If you haven’t ridden a train in the US for a while, it’s worthy of consideration. It’s a great way to travel Read the rest of this entry »