Travel News Page 346
ROYAL CARIBBEAN UNVEILS THE NEW LEGEND OF THE SEAS WITH NEXT-LEVEL FAMILY EXPERIENCES
Royal Caribbean is introducing the family time of a lifetime on Legend of the Seas* with more adventure than ever before. The boldest vacation to visit the world’s top destinations in Europe and the Southern Caribbean, Legend will deliver a lineup of unrivaled experiences, including thrills and chill, the most dining at sea with 28 options, all-new nightlife and entertainment, and more ways for families and vacationers to make lifelong memories.
Waterford Hotel Group Expands Portfolio with New Management Contracts
Waterford Hotel Group, a national leader in hospitality management, today announced the addition of two distinguished properties to its growing portfolio: the Sheraton Flowood The Refuge Hotel & Conference Center in Flowood, Mississippi, and the Maison Dupuy Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana. The new contracts mark two exciting milestones for the company: the Sheraton Flowood is Waterford’s first managed property in Mississippi, and the Maison Dupuy becomes the sixth boutique hotel in New Orleans to join Waterford’s portfolio this year.
Sabre Direct Pay introduces integrated chargeback management service for the travel industry
Sabre Direct Pay, the travel payments division of Sabre Corporation, is introducing a new service designed to help travel companies simplify and scale chargebacks, enabling dispute resolution more efficiently across both issuing and acquiring channels.
United and Instacart Team Up to Bring Loyalty Members More Rewards and More Convenience
United and Instacart, today launched a new collaboration that gives the airline’s loyalty members even more ways to save time, earn rewards, and unlock exclusive benefits when they shop with Instacart. In a first for an airline, Instacart is offering United MileagePlus members $0 delivery fees* on orders placed right before, during or shortly after they take a domestic flight – making it effortless to replace forgotten items on the go or restock their fridge the moment they arrive home. Additionally, MileagePlus members who link their United MileagePlus and Instacart accounts can also enjoy mileage rewards across a variety of offers found at United.com/Instacart. This new suite of benefits builds on United’s existing relationship with Instacart; earlier this year, United and Chase refreshed their portfolio of co-branded credit cards and announced Instacart benefits for eligible Chase United Cardmembers.
SANDALS RESORTS AND BEACHES RESORTS CELEBRATE A NIGHT OF WINS
Sandals Resorts International (SRI), parent company of Sandals Resorts and Beaches Resorts, has received 16 honors at this year’s World Travel Awards Caribbean and The Americas. The Gala Ceremony held at Sandals Grande St. Lucian honored the visionaries and trailblazers shaping the travel and tourism industry. The evening united government leaders and hospitality professionals for a night of celebration, recognition, and inspiration.
Life Extraordinary Goes Global: The Lux Collective Partners with Mason Rose
The award-winning global luxury hospitality operator, The Lux Collective, has announced the appointment of leading travel and lifestyle communications agency Mason Rose to represent the group in the UK and US markets. This partnership signals an exciting new chapter for the Mauritian-born hospitality brand as it continues to expand its footprint across the world’s most inspiring destinations.
SK Hospitality Highlights Its Resort Portfolio at World Travel Market London
SK Hospitality, the leading Sales & Marketing, company for luxury resorts in Greece, proudly announces its participation in World Travel Market (WTM) London 2025, taking place November 3–5 at ExCeL London. With a diverse portfolio of distinguished resorts across key destinations including Crete, Rhodes, Mykonos and Halkidiki, SK Hospitality continues to position Greece as a premier travel destination for high-end, leisure, family, and experiential tourism. This year at WTM, the company will spotlight its growing collection of resorts and its strategic partnerships with global tour operators, airlines, and media.
Family Magic at the July London Victoria This October Half Term
The July London Victoria transforms convenient family stays into something altogether more special. A space to hang out or hide out in the heart of Victoria, this hybrid apartment-hotel delivers all the sparkle of hotel service with the privacy of home.
Digital Habits Are Reshaping The Way We Experience Hotel Stays
Hotels are more than just fluffy pillows and sophisticated lobbies, because they are also currently striving to try to keep up with our digital lives. We enter hotels with phones with our streaming apps and our gaming habits that follow us everywhere, and we actually expect the WiFi to be as speedy as it is at home. You don’t want to mess around with heavy remote controls or wait in line to check in when these things are just a simple swipe away. This is why hotels are experiencing a rapid digital transformation that introduces smart rooms, contactless check-ins, and customized entertainment that ensure that the experience of the visitor is optimized. And it is remarkable how much farther hotels will go in accommodating our present lifestyle, work-related habits, and leisure.
Gulf Air Celebrates the Relaunch of Its Direct Flights to New York
Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, celebrated the relaunch of its direct flights from Bahrain International Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York, marking a move that reflects the depth of the longstanding friendship and strategic cooperation between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the United States of America. This milestone event highlights the commitment of both countries to strengthening ties and strategic partnership, opening up new horizons for developing relations in various commercial, cultural, and tourism sectors. It also reinforces Gulf Air’s position as a key player in connecting Bahrain to global markets, further supporting economic growth and expanding opportunities for trade and cultural exchange between the two nations, thus bolstering Bahrain’s status as a vital aviation hub on the international map.
Riyadh Air and Kayanee Announce Strategic Partnership
Riyadh Air, the new national carrier of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, announced a new partnership with Kayanee, a leading Saudi wellbeing brand, to bring a fresh sense of comfort and care to the skies. The collaboration will upscale in-flight comfort by offering Riyadh Air’s Business Elite, Business, and Premium Economy long-haul guests a specially designed collection of amenity kits and loungewear, aimed at refreshing and rejuvenating travelers from take-off to landing.
flynas Celebrates Launching Direct Flights Between Dammam and Damascus
flynas, the leading low-cost airline in the world and the best LCC in the Middle East, celebrated launching direct flights between Dammam and Damascus, as of October 3, to further expanding its network and enhancing air connectivity between the two sisterly countries in alignment with national objectives in the tourism and aviation sectors and in line with Vision 2030. As of October 3, flynas started operating three weekly flights between King Fahad International Airport in Dammam and Damascus International Airport, after becoming the first Saudi airline to resume flights to Damascus last June.