Bolivia | Announcement of an International Campaign to Promote Tourism in the Country

Bolivia, country in central South America highlighted by a varied terrain spanning the Amazon Basin Rainforest, the Atacama Desert and the Andes Mountains, the largest landlocked nation in the Southern Hemisphere, through the announcement of Deputy Minister of Tourism Iver Flores, launches an intense international campaign to promote the country with the motto "Destination Bolivia" in the last quarter of 2024.

The Deputy Minister declared that in this last part of the year there will be a strong and intense push to promote Bolivia as a tourist destination where the South American country will appear on international channels, on specialized platforms of the tourism sector around the world and in several countries where Bolivia has identified potential visitors.

The Bolivian government is also working assiduously on the development of a tourist guide that is part of the framework of the collaboration with the United Nations Tourism and CAF, organization focused on new tourism strategy, improving the regions' tourism infrastructures and mobilizing more public and private financing.

The Deputy Minister of Tourism of Bolivia then wanted to underline the commitments of the Secretary General of Tourism of the United Nations Zurab Pololiskashvili who, on the occasion of a visit on 17^th September 2024 to the capital of de jure capital Sucre, in the Chuquiasca Department offered 150 scholarships for young people from universities around the world, including Bolivian ones, in the sectors of tourism and gastronomy, with the aim of fostering greater professionalization in the tourism industry.

A further important fact announced is that two international events will be held in Bolivia per year as part of the Bicentenary and that the country is already entering the international tourism map, aware that the tourism sector generates jobs, reduces poverty, generates greater gender inclusion and foments foreign exchanges.

The Deputy Minister then commented that the Government is aware of the lack of support for the tourism sector but that it is changing course by addressing significant challenges such as climate change and internal political demonstrations that have long hindered investment in the country.

Data were then disclosed which, although dating back to 2023, are interesting to have clear ideas about the trend in general where it is noted that 70.5% of incoming tourist spending had been generated by visitors from seven countries such as Argentina with 18.2%, Spain 13%, United States of America 10.9%, Peru 10.8%, Brazil 8.5%,  Chile 5.1% and Colombia 4%.

This percentage distribution shows positive variations in all cases, although another significant detail stands out, which concerns the spending of tourists from South Korea, which showed a variation of 261.2%.

Link -  https://www.expreso.info/noticias/internacional/102883_anuncian_un_plan_para_promocionar_bolivia

Garda Region | New Brand for the Tourism Promotion of a Northern Italian Territory

From a three-year plan for the promotion of tourism focused on consolidation of a territory of Northern Italy, a new brand was born created by the partnership that sees three areas of Northern Italy as protagonists, such as Lombardy, Veneto and the Autonomous Province of Trento that come together under the name of Garda Region.

 This partnership was created under a single denominator that translates means joining forces for the joint promotion of this Italian territory that lies between the Pre-Alps and the Po Valley.

This project developed over the three-year period 2024 – 2027, has as its primary objectives to optimize and make the destination Lake Garda also known as Benaco, the largest Italian lake with an area of about 370 square kilometers even more demanded further enhancing its attractiveness and beauty.

Lake Garda represents a sort of hinge between three regions with the province of Brescia in Lombardy, the province of Verona in Veneto and the autonomous province of Trento in Trentino Alto Adige which are located on the shores of this lake basin that since ancient times it has always been for many a sort of dreamland to enjoy memorable holidays and still is nowadays with an infinite potential of resources available.

This new brand has developed to act as a sort of lighthouse to a geographical area that has a tourist offer highly attractive with a historical, artistic,cultural heritage of enormous importance to give a boost to the local economy, further increasing the appeal of this specific geographical area.

The Councilor for Tourism of the Lombardy Region Barbara Mazzali, in an interview with Bresciaoggi.it daily newspaper of Brescia founded in 1974 which provides real-time news with its digital edition, said that provisional data referring to the period January - July 2024 certify 1.5 millions visitors in this territory, of which 63% come from abroad and 36.35% correspond to national tourists.

Overall, the data concerning overnight stays were more than 6 million with an increase of 12.06% compared to the same period in 2023.

Undoubtedly very positive results and in the wake of these achievements of great importance, the development of this new brand "Garda Region" wants to climb even more the ranking by consolidating itself in the elite of incoming tourism in Italy and even more as a unique pole of attraction for tourist coming from abroad.

Link - https://www.ttgitalia.com/incoming/nasce-la-regione-garda-dalla-collaborazione-di-lombardia-veneto-e-trento-KI21380947

Blastness | Technological Innovation and a New Chatbot Dedicated to Conversational Selling at TTG Travel Travel Experience

Blastness S.p.A. group founded in 2004 with Registered Office based in Milan and Operational Headquarters in La Spezia and Rome focused to offer consulting, technology, services, training and business development support for hotels and independent lodging facilities with the philosophy to believe that innovation is key to transforming the hospitality industry launches technological innovations and a new chatbot for Hotels dedicated to Conversational Selling.

At TTG Travel Experience, event for international operators and key players from the sector's leading companies, the reference appointment for the promotion of world tourism in Italy and the marketing of the Italian tourist offer held in Rimini from 09th to 11th October, Blastness, which was also a sponsor of the Luxury Event by TTG, presents its innovative proposals.

Michelangelo Murano, Head of Sales at Blastness, illustrated the mutation of the hotel market which, also thanks to tools such as those launched by the technological player, are able to overcome borders, breaking down borders that seemed insurmountable and presenting themselves to the customer with greater ease.

The Head of Sales of Blastness commented that the group in the summer, after monitoring a thousand hotels obtained the same result in direct sales compared to sales on the main OTAs.

Digital booking with a careful and meticulous work on Google are the keys that allow hotels to seize unique opportunities that previously seemed precluded.

Blastness has created a software, the BMS Bid Management System tailored to the hotel market using artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to manage pay - per - click campaign essentially focused on driving bookings on search and metasearch engines.

The Bid Management System has the functions of developing the most suitable investment strategy for promotion campaigns by effectively monitoring world data, doing all this minute by minute and opening windows of unexpected opportunities.

The group with its BMS, techological platform custom developed for the hospitality industry based on Artificial Intelligence also runs the BMS campaign in seven languages available in over 200 countries providing a dynamic and potentially unlimited budget ensuring an always - on approach and the highest performance at all time.

Blastness in occasion of TTG Travel Experience will also present the new chatbot for hotels, dedicated to conversational selling.

Concluding on this last topic, the Head of Sales of Blastness commented that this is just one of the possibilities that generative artificial intelligence provides and Blastness is studying further, new applications that promise excellent results.

Link - https://www.ttgitalia.com/hotel/blastness-un-nuovo-chatbot-a-ttg-travel-experience-HI21386144

Rossiya Airlines | Re-Establishment of Flight Operations between Moscow and Havana

 

Rossiya Airlines JSC, part of Aeroflot Group, with its headquarters in Pulkovo Airport - Saint Petersburg – Russia re - established operations on the route between the capital of the Russian Federation Moscow and the Cuban capital Havana on 13th October 2024 with one trip per week connecting the two cities with an intercontinental flight.

Rossiya Airlines JSC sometimes branded as Rossiya - Russian Airlines founded in 1934 but with a new official profile developed in 1992 when it was fully owned by the Russian Government. In the early 2000s the government decided to merge the company with Pulkovo Airlines, a process that began in 2004 and in November 2006 it was announced that the merger had been completed.

At the end of 2023, Rossiya Airlines operated summer flights on the route Moskow – Habana coinciding with winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

This new flight schedule over the Cuban capital is in addition to those operated between Moskow and Varadero operating three frequencies a week.

As a relevant note, this increase in operations between Russia and Cuba's tourist destinations is linked to the growth in the number of Russian visitors to the Caribbean island, with a very significant figure reflected in the period between January and August 2024 that revealed an increase of 24.8%, while the rest of Cuba's issuing markets recorded declines on an annual basis.

Link - https://www.expreso.info/index.php/noticias/transporte/102896_rossiya_retoma_sus_vuelos_entre_moscu_y_la_habana

United Airlines | Dominica, a New Caribbean Destination with a Non - Stop Flight

 

United Airlines, Inc., one of the leading airlines in the United States of America created in 1926 by Walter Varney,  member of Star Alliance and based at the Willis Tower in Chicago - Illinois operates an extensive network of domestic and international routes in the United States, and all six inhabited continents has in its operative plans a new Caribbean destination,Dominica with a non - stop flight.

The airline has officially started bookings to operate a first non-stop flight between Newark Liberty International Airport, major hub serving the New York Metropolitan Area and Douglas Charles Airport - Marigot - Dominica with flight operations starting on 15th February 2025.

This new non-stop service will be operated on Boeing 737-700 aircraft connecting the North-East American market with Dominica, a flight of approximately four and a half hours with operational service once a week, on Saturdays.

For years, reaching Dominica, an island nation, part of the Windward Islands in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea and its small airport hidden behind the peaks of its mountains and tropical rainforests has not been an easy task.

In 2021, American Airlines launched the first non - stop flights from the United States of America to Dominica, operating with a regular service from MIA, Miami International Airport.

This event was a great change for Dominica, connecting travellers to this Caribbean paradise that boasts unique natural wonders with its pristine beaches, natural hot springs, tropical forests, home to the volcanically heated and steam-covered Boiling Lake in the stunning Morne Trois Pitons National Park, Trafalgar Falls and narrow Titou Gorge and its growing collection of luxury resorts including InterContinental Dominica and Secret Bay, among others.

Dominica is in a state that can give a further boost to international flights by extending the runway of Douglas Charles Airport formerly known as Melville Hall Airport located on the northeast coast of the country about 3.2 kilometers northwest of Marigot, efforts that have paid off.

Linked to all that, Dominica's Minister of Tourism Denise Charles-Pemberton said that these new activities and developments represent a path that will help alleviate the access limitations that the destination has faced over the years.

Link -  https://www.expreso.info/noticias/transporte/102798_united_airlines_suma_vuelos_una_nueva_isla_del_caribe_dominica