With the holiday season upon us, Tauck has announced a new 2025 river cruise celebrating the traditional Christmas markets and other holiday happenings along the River Seine in France.

The Seine: Holiday Magic begins in Paris, where guests will board Tauck’s ms Sapphire riverboat and enjoy three nights and two full days in the city.

Read the rest of this entry »

File under “One more thing for travel advisors to remind their clients about.”

Beginning January 8, travelers to the United Kingdom from non-European nations, including the United States and Canada, will need to take an extra step, as the new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system rolls out.

Whether just passing through a UK airport or planning a stay of six months or less—for tourism, family visits, business meetings, conferences, or study abroad—visitors will have to fill out an online form (available here: How to apply – Apply for an ETA to come to the UK – GOV.UK) and pay a £10 fee (about $12.75). Then as you prepare to board a plane, gate agents will verify your ETA status via digital link to your passport.

The Home Office says the system, like all biometrics in the travel industry, is designed to speed up the process and increase security.

While applications might be approved in a few hours, the site suggests allowing at least three days for them to come through. But why wait? Applications already are being accepted.

Once issued, an ETA is valid for two years or until the traveler’s passport expires, whichever comes first.

On April 2, the requirement to have an ETA will roll out to EU nationals as well. Only citizens of the UK and Ireland, and those with valid UK visas, will be exempt.

Joyeux Noël from Tauck. With Christmas Market river cruises largely sold out for this year and much of next, interest has been growing in a new destination for holiday sailing and shopping: The River Seine. Jumping on the trend, Tauck this week announced its first-ever Christmas markets river cruise in France for 2025.

The five eight-day “The Seine: Holiday Magic” itineraries begin in Paris, on Tauck’s ms Sapphire riverboat, for three nights and two full days. On tap is hot mulled wine, along with roasted chestnuts, sausages, cheese and chocolate at the Tuileries Garden and other local Christmas markets.

From there Sapphire will sail to Rouen, Les Andelys and Vernon. Highlights include excursions to Gothic Sainte-Chapelle, home to Louis IX’s personal collection of holy relics; a cocktail party at the beautifully decorated Château de Bizy; a private lunch at Château Vaux-le-Vicomte; and a guided tour of Normandy’s D-Day beaches (all included in the price).

Prices range from $4,490 per person plus airfare, including all shore excursions, gratuities, all onboard beverages, meals, taxes and fees and airport transfers.

Onboard Sapphire, most cabins have French balconies, and all have flat-screen televisions, Molton Brown toiletries, cushy bathrobes and free Wi-Fi.

“The Seine: Holiday Magic” is Tauck’s fifth Christmas-market river cruise. It also offers two holiday cruises on the Danube (including a family-friendly Tauck Bridges journey, plus one on the Rhine and one on the waterways of Belgium and Holland.

Online passports have taken a step forward with the broad rollout of a Google Wallet application. Travelers now can upload a passport and just show their phones  as ID at TSA checkpoints across the United States.

Even Google cautions that the technology, which went into beta in September and rolled out on Friday, is still “in its early stages.” And there are a few caveats: Online passports are acceptable as ID at TSA checkpoints for domestic travel only, and do not replace paper passport books for international travel. For now, even Google advises carrying a paper passport book as backup just in case. And the Google wallet is available only on Android phones, not iPhones.

Still, though, it’s a step toward a digital future that finally will let us stop asking that last question as we get into our Ubers to the airport: “Does everyone have their passport?”

To try the new system, open the Google Wallet app on your Android phone and select the prompt that reads “create an ID pass with your US passport.” Then just scan the security chip in your passport and take a selfie video to verify your identity. In a few minutes, you’ll get a notice that your ID pass is ready.

Digital IDs increasingly are being used on the state level; more than half of all states (27 states and Puerto Rico, with New Mexico joining the list this month), and airports including JFK International Airport in New York, Los Angeles International Airport and San Francisco International, currently accept digital IDs in Google Wallet and/or Apple Wallet. And in September, the State Department rolled out online passport application processing.

Facing strong pushback from the travel industry in general, and the cruise lines in particular, Mexico has postponed a new $42 tourist tax on cruise passengers by six months, from January to July 1.

Mexico has long taxed hotel guests but exempted cruise passengers, who sleep on their ship. But a new bill that passed the Mexican Congress in December calls for a $42 tax on every cruise ship passenger entering Mexican waters, whether they disembark or not.

According to a statement issued by The Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association, which represents 23 cruise lines including Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Norwegian, Mexican officials have agreed to delay the new Federal Law of Rights tax on cruise passengers from January 1 until July 1, 2025. Among other things, the cruise lines had argued that just a 15% drop in calls to Mexico would result in a financial impact that would offset any gains from the tax.

In a statement, FCCA CEO Michele Paige emphasized that the temporary delay is helpful, but does not go far enough. “We thank the Mexican government for listening to our concerns and proposing a delay in the implementation of the tax that will fall mainly on American citizens. However, the removal of the in-transit tax exemption – which was provided to our industry over a decade ago for valid reasons that still apply today – was done without our prior input and after the legislation was passed. It is ironic that until this law was abruptly announced the industry was looking to grow business in Mexico, and now the opposite will occur.”

Designed to address Mexico’s enormous debt—and, some argue, to support its military rather than its tourism infrastructure—the tax will affect the more than 10 million passengers on 3,300 ships arriving in the ports of Cozumel—one of the world’s busiest ports, with 4 million visitors—as well as Costa Maya and Cabo San Lucas.

The cruise industry had strongly lobbied against it. The FCCA said in December that it was “completely caught off guard with last week’s unilateral decision to eliminate the long-standing in-transit exemption and efforts to fast-track this policy change without any dialogue with the industry.”

The group noted that the tax was a “staggering more than 213% increase over the average cost of a Caribbean port” that “could also jeopardize the cruise industry’s investments in the country, including billions in planned developments and other projects”—a serious threat given such planned projects as Royal Caribbean’s new private beach club in Cozumel and Perfect Day Mexico, for example.

PRESS RELEASE FROM COLLETTE

PAWTUCKET, December 7, 2024 – Collette announces that it is extending its popular “Holiday Shopping on Us” initiative through January 2, 2025, offering gift cards to advisors for every booking they make.

Once qualified (make 2 deposited bookings), advisors will earn a $100 gift card for every booking they make through January 2, 2025. Bookings made during Collette’s Black Friday Sale will count toward qualification, with the full incentive window running November 18, 2024 to January 2, 2025.

“We loved seeing the impact this initiative had with our advisor community,” said Christian Leibl-Cote, Collette’s Executive Vice President of Global Sales. “Extending this initiative through the end of the year is a way of celebrating and supporting advisors who are closing the year out strong.” Read the rest of this entry »

Although all my posts are important, this one may very well be more importanter than all the others combined. Yes, I know I said, “more importanter.” Do I have your attention?

For those of you pressed for time, I will cut to the chase. Get this and get it good: If you want to succeed in this business or any other business, it is more important than ever to “use” your friends. “Two heads (set of eyes) are better than one.”

By “friends” I mean mentor, coach, reliable source or any other name you choose to use. I was reminded of this on two occasions just last week. Read the rest of this entry »

Every cruise ship passenger entering Mexican waters soon may be charged a $42 tax, whether they disembark or not.

Mexico has long taxed hotel guests but exempted cruise passengers, who sleep on their ship. But a bill working its way through the Mexican Congress now would target cruise ships beginning in 2026.

Designed to address Mexico’s enormous debt, the tax would affect more than 10 million passengers on 3,300 ships arriving in the ports of Cozumel—one of the world’s busiest ports, with 4 million visitors—as well as Costa Maya and Cabo San Lucas.

The cruise industry, of course, is opposed to the new tax. Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association president Michelle Paige said in a statement that they “were completely caught off guard with last week’s unilateral decision to eliminate the long-standing in-transit exemption and efforts to fast-track this policy change without any dialogue with the industry. This gives us and our partners virtually no time to prepare and creates confusion and uncertainty for our guests because the majority of our cruises have already been sold for 2025.”

A public letter from the Florida and Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA), which represents 23 major cruise lines, said it would make Mexico more than double the price of the average Caribbean port and “could also jeopardize the cruise industry’s investments in the country, including billions in planned developments and other projects.” The Mexican Association of Shipping Agents said in a statement that “if this measure is implemented, it would make Mexican ports of call among the most expensive in the world, severely affecting their competitiveness with other Caribbean destinations”—a serious threat given Royal Caribbean’s plan to open a private beach club in Cozumel in 2026 and Perfect Day Mexico in 2027.

It started with an article in Queens Jewish Link with the incendiary title Cruise Company To Kosher Travelers: Stay Off (queensjewishlink.com) and quickly spread across the tight-knit religious Jewish community.

Here are the facts as we know them.

The article asserted that a group of 140 Jewish cruisers on the Costa Toscana had been canceled just days before departure because “the ship’s crew refused to cooperate with the provision of kosher food” and refused to allow the use of kosher china, pots, frying pans, etc.”

No recourse was possible, the article quoted Costa as saying. “We simply will not do this,” tour operator Yossi Zablocki was told, even though he already had purchased $22,000 worth of kosher food, bought tickets to Europe for his staff, and had a history of running more than 40 high-end kosher cruises in the past, many of them with Costa Cruises, which is owned by Carnival Cruise Line.

“I thought the days of ‘No Jews and dogs allowed’ were over,” the article quoted Zablocki as saying. “I don’t think they realize what they have walked into. I will keep fighting until the world understands what they have done. The Jewish People have faced enough discrimination.”

Costa responded that it is “very familiar with Kosher meal requirements, and we have successfully supported Kosher meal requests onboard Costa ships multiple times per year for decades and will continue to do so in the future. Unfortunately, last July, Destination 631 Tours failed to reach the minimum cabin booking thresholds (50 cabins) necessary for us to provide Kosher meal service. Costa was fully transparent with the tour operator, communicating with them well in advance of departure that if the tour did not meet the required minimum cabin reservations, it would be impossible for us to provide Kosher meals.”

But Zablocki insisted the group had 140 attendees and anti-Semitism was the real issue.

Costa Replies to TRO

Approached by a travel advisor after the original story broke, TRO reached out to Costa Cruises for a comment. They replied,

“We regret that the facts of this situation have been misrepresented by Mr. Yosef Zablocki, who we have ceased doing business with as a result of his breach of our business terms and unprofessional business behavior. Each year Costa welcomes hundreds of thousands of guests from all different religions, backgrounds, beliefs, and cultures, and with proper notice and coordination, we happily accommodate a variety of special requests, including dietary requirements. We are very familiar with Kosher meal requirements and successfully support Kosher service requests onboard Costa ships multiple times per year.

“Unfortunately, for two July sailings, Destination 613 Tours and Mr. Zablocki failed to reach the minimum cabin booking thresholds required for us to provide Kosher meal service at the strict levels specified for this tour. These requirements ensure we have the adequate operational set-up to fulfill the special meal requests, as we will do this summer for two other Kosher groups organized by other long-standing reputable tour operators, who met the necessary terms without issue.

”Costa was fully transparent with the tour operator, communicating with them well in advance of departure that if the tours did not meet the required minimum cabin reservations, the full Kosher service could not be provided.

“The business decision to terminate our business relationship with Mr. Zablocki and Destination 613 says nothing of the company’s dedication to and proud service of our many Jewish guests across all our cruise lines, and to our many Jewish travel partners and employees.”

Correction: The original version of this story mistakenly stated that it was retracted by the author, Jeffrey Helmreich. This was incorrect; we inadvertently mistook him for someone else in the story. We sincerely apologize for any embarrassment this has caused Mr. Helmreich and/or The Jewish Link.

AAT Kings, the century-old operator of tours down under, has made some important upgrades in the ways it conducts business with travel retailers, making it easier to access their tours, information, training, and special offers.

The enhancements of AAT Kings’ business practices are designed to make it easier for travel advisors to work with the company and to easily and efficiently get what they need for their clients seeking to travel in Australia and New Zealand. That’s AAT Kings’ home territory and its only area of operations. Read the rest of this entry »

Thursday, Dec. 5, wholesaler Avanti Destinations, will conduct a webinar introducing the new travel possibilities opened by Fiji Airways’ upcoming nonstop flights from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) to Nadi, Fiji Airways will launch its new flights Dec. 10.

In preparation for the launch of the new flights, Avanti Destinations and Fiji Airways have teamed up for a campaign aimed at educating travel advisors on new independent travel options to Fiji. The campaign offers travel professionals a comprehensive look at a broad range of available options for assembling custom vacation packages and tours to Fiji. Avanti introduced its Fiji options in 2023, as part of a launch of a larger expansion into the South Pacific.

Years ago, I wrote a book titled “Become the Exception.”  I thought I might highlight the first four chapters of the book which featured the four myths associated with the selling profession, according to me.

Myth Number One:  Selling is a numbers game.

You’ve all heard it before.  Make enough calls and ring enough doorbells and you will eventually sell something.  This accurately defines the old numbers game.  It might have resulted in a few sales back then, but I think that way of going to market has become outdated. It has become a myth.  Selling is Read the rest of this entry »

Joining a growing number of countries fighting back against overtourism, The Maldives will usher in the new year with a sizeable increase in tourism taxes (The President ratifies new amendments to three taxation acts – MIRA – Maldives Inland Revenue Authority).

Effective December 1, the departure tax for foreign passengers will increase to $50 from $30 for foreign travelers in economy class, and to $120 from $60 in business class. The tax will remain unchanged for first class ($90) and private jet ($120).

Then on January 1, the Green Tax will double, from $6 to $12 per night per person (not counting children under two).

And on July 1, the tourism tax will increase to $17 from $16.

Most resorts plan to collect the $6 Green Tax at check-in, reports Koveli Travel.

The changes come as many destinations take a second look at how the surge of new tourists is impacting their quality of life. Last month Bali began charging international visitors an entry tax of 150,000 rupiah (£7.50); Venice recently imposed a fee of up to €5 for day visitors; and Hawaii is considering a bill suggesting a $25 “climate tax.”

The Freddie Mercury Tour in Montreux, Switzerland, was one of those things that at first impression seems displaced. While traveling I am constantly encountering things that seem out of place. Everything is everywhere now. I bought a scarf in Switzerland. For me, it’s a souvenir from Switzerland because that’s where I bought it. But it’s not really Swiss, except that it’s warm wool and perfect for wearing around your neck in the mountains. It’s a Scottish tartan plaid. And it was made in China.

I love a good idea for growing your travel business—and this week I came across two. I was doing what I like to do best, talking to smart travel advisors, this time at the Signature annual conference in Las Vegas. I’m working on a story about what advisors are planning to do differently in 2025, so I’ve been asking attendees here what they’re up to.

I’ll include a few of those stories in a future column. But the one I heard from Amy Westerman and Dave Hoffman, of The Curated Travel Collection, was so good it deserves a story all its own. And the tips on growing your Facebook ranking made me want to marry AI guru Kha Ly so I could have his tech support 24 x 7.

Like all the best stories, Amy and Dave’s begins in a bar, where Amy got to chatting and “swapping stories” with another customer, as travel advisors are wont to do Read the rest of this entry »

The Tauck Rhine River Connoisseur river cruise that I recently joined included an optional (but included) tour of the Charlie Chaplin home and museum in Vevey, Switzerland, between Montreux and Lausanne, where Chaplin lived during the last period of his life. It’s called Chaplin’s World. Visiting the home and museum was an amazing experience. It revealed to me much more of the genius of that great early film innovator than I had known before.

The museum itself, apart from its subject, was an amazing achievement. Known as The Studio, it was a huge structure, like a large warehouse, packed with fascinating, room-sized displays showing various aspects of Chaplin’s life and career. Many of them included full-sized mannequins, or perhaps they should be called full-color sculptures of some of the main figures of Chaplin’s life

There’s an interesting new luxury option in the UK next summer, as Belmond rolls out its newest sleeper train, The Britannic Explorer.

Debuting in July 2025, the train offers fine British gastronomy, an onboard wellness suite and exclusive access to unique sites as they ride the rails on a leisurely journey through the British countryside. Its 18 cabins include three Grand Suites and 15 Suites.

The train’s “elegant interiors with unmistakable British charm” are being designed by London-based Albion Nord, while its menu is being created by Chef Simon Rogan, whose restaurants (including L’Enclume) hold eight Michelin stars and two Michelin Green stars. The afternoon tea, lunch and dinner menus will highlight seasonal, sustainable ingredients, sourced locally to showcase Britain’s diverse regions.

The Britannic Explorer will depart London, offering three different three-night journeys through Cornwall, The Lake District and Wales. Optional guided excursions in each destination include a private tour and dinner at Hauser & Wirth Somerset and on-site restaurant Da Costa, guided hikes through Wales, wild swimming in the Lake district and a visit to Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens in Cornwall. In the evening, passengers can mingle in the train’s botanically-inspired Bar.

Guests also can combine routes, pairing The Cornwall or Lake District routes, which run from Friday to Monday, with a Wales trip from Monday to Thursday. And Belmond’s boutique hotel, The Cadogan, just 20 minutes from London’s Victoria station, can offer a seamless pre- or post-rail stay. For those traveling through the Cotswolds on the Lake District route, the Britannic Explorer offers an exclusive stop at the Michelin two-star manor house hotel and restaurant, Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, A Belmond Hotel, Oxfordshire.

Gary Franklin, Belmond’s Vice President of Trains and Cruises, said the train will “further enhance Belmond’s global portfolio of market-leading luxury rail experiences. The Britannic Explorer offers something truly unique; an opportunity to discover the rugged Cornish coastline to Snowdonia’s untamed National Park and the vast expanses of the Lake District like never before.”

Belmond’s fleet of luxury trains also includes the British Pullman in England and the Royal Scotsman in Scotland.

A three-night itinerary, including excursions, meals, wine and alcoholic beverages on board the Britannic Explorer starts at £11,000 based on a double cabin. For more information or to book, visit the web page here.

It’s hard to write a news column, even one specifically about travel news, without acknowledging last week’s Big Event. It greatly overshadows most other events, and to ignore it would be to have a very large elephant in the room.

I don’t, however, want to rehash any political issues and I don’t think many others do either at the moment. The presidential election is over. The tension that builds towards that major turning point every four years is dispersed. We have a brief reprieve from the political battles that have gripped the nation all year. We can take a breath, get some good RnR, and get ready for whatever comes next. One matter in which there may be some consensus in this proverbially divided nation is that it’s a relief that that’s over Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s turn the clock back to when we were ten-years old.  If you asked the majority of men today how they met their first girlfriend, they would typically share a similar story.

In most cases, a young boy is introduced to his first girlfriend in the 5th grade at the age of ten.  The reason I know this is because that’s the age we realize that women exist.  Until that point, it was all about basketball, football and baseball. (I’m generalizing.) Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve never met a cruise I didn’t like. On a yacht that holds 35 or a megaship with 6,000, shaking across the Drake to Antarctica or drifting through the Caribbean, I’m happy to eat chicken and salad if the pickings are slim, or sit by the pool with a book if there’s nothing to do. As long as there’s sea air, a balcony and a cup of coffee, I’m in.

I was fine with ignoring the mixed reviews I’ve heard and read about MSC, which range from five-star raves to absolute pans, from both travel advisors I trust and posts on social media. I wanted to give MSC a try and see for myself. So we booked a quick five-night Caribbean trip out of Port Canaveral and brought along a couple of friends for a long weekend in the sun.