Travelore News: Eastern Airlines To Introduce Direct Flights From NYC To Los Cabos

Eastern Airlines, a legendary carrier founded in the early days of commercial aviation that relaunched earlier this year, has announced twice-weekly service beginning Aug. 29 from New York's JFK International Airport to Los Cabos, the glamorous desert-meets-sea getaway at the tip of the Baja Peninsula.

LOS CABOS, Mexico -- Eastern Airlines, a legendary carrier founded in the early days of commercial aviation that relaunched earlier this year, has announced twice-weekly service beginning Aug. 29 from New York's JFK International Airport to Los Cabos, the glamorous desert-meets-sea getaway at the tip of the Baja Peninsula.

"We are very excited to grow our network and add the first non-stop flights between New York City and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico," said Steve Harfst, Eastern's president & CEO. "Eastern is looking forward to connecting customers with the Baja experience by providing great travel options as well as convenient, non-stop service to one of the most luxurious destinations in the world."

Rodrigo Esponda, managing director of the Los Cabos Tourism Board, said, "This is very exciting news for us. After so many years of trying to get an airline partner in New York, we now have a fantastic opportunity to attract travelers in the New York metropolitan area with Eastern's new service."

Josh Bustos, Eastern's senior marketing director, said, "We're very proud of our legacy, but we're a brand-new version of Eastern. We are the first airline in recent memory to offer direct service from JFK to Los Cabos, a premier destination well-suited to the New York market. We are also the only non-legacy U.S. airline with scheduled service operating wide-body aircraft."

Eastern Airlines maintains a fleet of wide-body, long-range Boeing 767 and 777 aircraft. Seat configuration is generous, Butos noted, with extra legroom for all passengers.

As part of its inaugural flight celebration, Eastern is offering tickets starting at $199 roundtrip through Nov. 18, including all taxes and fees. Seats are limited. In addition, each traveler's gear flies free of charge. That includes sports equipment, from golf bags to surfboards. "Our motto is, 'Leave no bag behind,'" Bustos said.

Outbound flights from New York's JFK Airport to Los Cabos (airport code SJD) are on Saturday. Inbound flights from Los Cabos to JFK are on Wednesday. Arrival time in Cabo is 1:45 p.m. (Mountain Time), which gives visitors an opportunity to enjoy the warm sunny weather as soon as they touch down.

A world-class destination situated at the place where the Sea of Cortes meets the Pacific Ocean, Los Cabos is known for its ideal climate, deluxe hotels, superb restaurants, world-class fishing, desert adventures, and 22 Blue Flag eco-certified beaches.

Los Cabos, the 'Golf Capital of Latin America,' boasts 18 golf courses, three of which appear on Golf Digest's list of the "World's 100 Greatest Golf Courses." The layouts, designed by the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Tom Fazio, Greg Norman and Robert Trent Jones, Jr., partake of Cabo's unique mountain-desert-ocean environment. Only in Los Cabos do emerald green fairways tumble across cactus-studded foothills and twisting arroyos set back from the sea.

Esponda pointed out that golf, among other recreational activities, is a safe social distancing sport. Health protocols are in place at all Cabo courses to ensure the game can be played safely in a clean environment. Common initiatives at all clubs include a single-rider golf cart policy, 15-minute tee times, easy ball retrieval from the cup, removal of bunker rakes, fully sanitized golf carts and rental clubs, and other hygienic protocols.

For more information on Eastern Airline's new direct service from JFK to Los Cabos, visit https://goeasternair.com/

About Los Cabos:
Situated at the tip of the 1,000-mile long Baja Peninsula, Los Cabos is home to award-winning hotels, resorts, championship golf courses, rejuvenating spas and world-class sport fishing. With a unique landscape of dramatic desert and dazzling beaches, Los Cabos is an exotic escape within easy reach of most U.S. and Canadian cities. For more information, images and videos from Los Cabos, visit online http://www.visitloscabos.travel, follow us on Twitter @LOSCABOSTOURISM and visit us on Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram.

SOURCE Los Cabos Tourism Board

Travel + Leisure Readers Give San Miguel De Allende A Reason To Celebrate

 

‘The Heart of Mexico’ on track for a July 15 reopening under strict local health guidelines

San Miguel de Allende, located in the state of Guanajuato, ranks in Travel + Leisure magazine’s 2020 World’s Best Awards as the second Best City in the World, this is the fourth year in a row that the city has placed in the list. The city also placed in the second spot in the Best City in Mexico for the fifth year as announced by the publication this morning. The annual awards honor the top travel destinations and companies around the globe, as rated by readers. In addition, three local accommodations properties find their place in the Top 5 City Hotels in Mexico — Hotel Amparo (1), Hotel Matilda (3),  Rosewood San Miguel de Allende (4)— were named top hotels in Mexico, with the latter also ranking in the top hotels worldwide list. Hotel Amparo also comes in at the second spot in the Top Hotels in the World list.

“Our annual inclusion in a list as respected as the Travel + Leisure World’s Best is of great importance to us in San Miguel de Allende,” said San Miguel de Allende Mayor Luis Alberto Villarreal Garcia. “It’s a recognition of great past experiences in our town, and we take our place on the world’s stage seriously.

“These past few months have tested our commitment to the health and safety of our residents and guests, and we are proud to have taken an exemplary leadership, not only in Mexico, but as an international destination,” he added. “Today, the results are there and, although we remain conscious in our reopening, we are confident in our work.”

“As we look forward to renewing San Miguel de Allende to the needs of today’s travelers, we are eager to show angles of the destination that some may not have experienced before,” said Laura Torres-Septien, President of the San Miguel de Allende Tourism Board. “People know us for our architecture and romantic escapes, but we have multiple outdoor activities, from hot-air balloon rides and open eatery food tours to visits to our wine country and thermal water parks”.

“One of my favorite things to do in SMA is dining al fresco in one of our many outdoor patios or rooftops — ideal for the new normal,” she added.

Guanajuato’s governor, Diego Sinhue Rodríguez Vallejo, affirmed that “for the state of Guanajuato it is exciting that San Miguel de Allende continues to be a benchmark as a worldwide tourist destination, where our cultural heritage, extraordinary gastronomy and hotels are managed in a sustainable manner. The quality of its tourist services and the warmth of its inhabitants stand out in the world. The efforts and commitment by all, make the work done through this noble economic activity the greatness of Mexico”.

Arguably Mexico’s most well-known colonial destination, San Miguel de Allende is a UNESCO World Heritage city and one of a select few cities worldwide to be so honored for multiple years running in the T+L World’s Best Awards. The city’s central location and rich history — as well as its culture, gastronomy, art and people — are a part of what contributes to its nickname as ‘The Heart of Mexico.’ San Miguel de Allende is home to more than 80 hotels, including 30 boutique properties, two hotels approved by the Virtuoso network of travel advisors and two Design Hotels properties. The city also boasts 70 restaurants, three golf courses and dozens of spas and art galleries. San Miguel de Allende is truly a cultural destination, with something to offer for everyone.

San Miguel de Allende has been closed to non-residents since March as the entire city went under quarantine. However, on June 27 Mayor Villarreal Garcia announced that hotels could start accepting bookings for July 15 arrivals.

San Miguel de Allende was endorsed with the World Travel & Tourism Council's (WTTC) "Safe Travels" seal of approval recognizing the implementation of global standardized health and hygiene protocols in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The international seal augments San Miguel de Allende’s own municipal “Health First” certification and reaffirms its place as a leading destination.

Travelore Breaking News: E.U. May Bar American Travelers As It Reopens Borders, Citing Failures On Virus

Arrivals at the Adolfo Suarez-Barajas airport in Madrid, Spain, on Sunday. European officials are devising a list of ‘safe’ countries to accept visitors from this summer.Credit...Bernat Armangue/Associated Press

European Union officials are racing to agree on who can visit the bloc as of July 1 based on how countries of origin are faring with new coronavirus cases. Americans, so far, are excluded, according to draft lists seen by The New York Times.

By Matina Stevis-Gridneff

BRUSSELS — European Union countries rushing to revive their economies and reopen their borders after months of coronavirus restrictions are prepared to block Americans from entering because the United States has failed to control the scourge, according to draft lists of acceptable travelers seen by The New York Times.

That prospect, which would lump American visitors in with Russians and Brazilians as unwelcome, is a stinging blow to American prestige in the world and a repudiation of President Trump’s handling of the virus in the United States, which has more than 2.3 million cases and upward of 120,000 deaths, more than any other country.

European nations are currently haggling over two potential lists of acceptable visitors based on how countries are faring with the coronavirus pandemic. Both include China, as well as developing nations like Uganda, Cuba and Vietnam.

Travelers from the United States and the rest of the world have been excluded from visiting the European Union — with few exceptions mostly for repatriations or “essential travel” —- since mid-March. But a final decision on reopening the borders is expected early next week, before the bloc reopens on July 1.

A prohibition of Americans by Brussels partly reflects the shifting pattern of the pandemic. In March, when Europe was the epicenter, Mr. Trump infuriated European leaders when he banned citizens from most European Union countries from traveling to America. Mr. Trump justified the move as necessary to protect the United States, which at the time had roughly 1,100 coronavirus cases and 38 deaths.

In late May and early June, Mr. Trump said Europe was “making progress” and hinted that some restrictions would be lifted soon, but nothing has happened since then. Today, Europe has largely curbed the outbreak, even as the United States, the worst-afflicted, has seen more infection surges just in the past week.

Prohibiting American travelers from entering the European Union would have significant economic, cultural and geopolitical ramifications. Millions of American tourists visit Europe every summer. Business travel is common, given the huge economic ties between the United States and the E.U.

Domino Park in Brooklyn, New York, last month. Europe seems set to continue keeping out visitors from the United States after July 1 when the European Union reopens its borders.Credit...Sarah Blesener for The New York Times

The draft lists were shared with the Times by an official involved in the talks and confirmed by another official involved in the talks. Two additional European Union officials confirmed the content of the lists as well the details of the negotiations to shape and finalize them. All of the officials gave the information on condition of anonymity because the issue is politically delicate.

The forging of a common list of outsiders who can enter the bloc is part of an effort by the European Union to fully reopen internal borders among its 27 member states. Free travel and trade among members is a core principle of the bloc — one that has been badly disrupted during the pandemic.

Since the outbreak, the bloc has succumbed to piecemeal national policies that have resulted in an incoherent patchwork of open and closed borders.

Some internal borders have practically remained closed while others have opened. Some member states that desperately need tourists have rushed ahead to accept non-E.U. visitors and pledged to test them on arrival. Others have tried to create closed travel zones between certain countries, called “bubbles” or “corridors.”

Putting these safe lists together highlights the fraught, messy task of removing pandemic-related measures and unifying the bloc’s approach. But the imperatives of restoring the internal harmony of the E.U. and slowly opening up to the world are paramount, even if it threatens rifts with close allies including the United States, which appears bound to be excluded, at least initially.

Both potential lists, one more conservative than the other, include China as well as developing nations like Uganda, Cuba and Vietnam.Credit...Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters

President Trump, as well as his Russian and Brazilian counterparts, Vladimir V. Putin and Jair Bolsonaro, has followed what critics call a comparable path in their pandemic response that leaves all three countries in a similarly bad spot: they were dismissive at the outset of the crisis, slow to respond to scientific advice and saw a boom of domestic cases as other parts of the world, notably in Europe and AOne list contains 47 countries and includes only those nations with an infection rate lower than the E.U. average. The other longer list has 54 countries and also includes those nations with slightly worse case rates than the E.U. average, going up to 20 new cases per 100,000 people.

The existing restrictions on nonessential travel to all 27 member states plus Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein were introduced on March 16 and extended twice until July 1, in a bid to contain the virus as the continent entered a three-month long confinement.

“Discussions are happening very intensively,” to reach consensus in time for July 1, said Adalbert Jahnz, a spokesman for the European Commission, the bloc’s executive branch. He called the process “frankly, a full-time job.”Asia, were slowly managing to get their outbreaks under control.

Countries on the E.U. draft lists have been selected as safe based on a combination of epidemiological criteria. The benchmark is the E.U. average number of new infections — over the past 14 days — per 100,000 people, which is currently 16 for the bloc. The comparable number for the United States is 107, while Brazil’s is 190 and Russia’s is 80, according to a Times database.

Once diplomats agree on a final list, it will be presented as a recommendation early next week before July 1. The E.U. can’t force members to adopt it, but European officials warn that failure of any of the 27 members to stick to it could lead to the reintroduction of borders within the bloc.

The reason this exercise is additionally complex for Europe is that, if internal borders are open but member states don’t honor the same rules, visitors from nonapproved nations could land in one European country, and then jump onward to other E.U. nations undetected.

European officials said the list would be revised every two weeks to reflect new realities around the world as nations see the virus ebb and flow.

The process of agreeing on it has been challenging, with diplomats from all European member states hunkering down for multiple hours long meetings for the past few weeks.

Image

Commuters in São Paulo, Brazil, on Monday. Travelers from Brazil and Russia, which are dealing with large outbreaks of the virus, are also not included on the draft lists of acceptable countries.Credit...Victor Moriyama for The New York Times

As of Tuesday, the officials and diplomats were poring over two versions of the safe list under debate, and were scheduled to meet again on Wednesday to continue sparring over the details.

One list contains 47 countries and includes only those nations with an infection rate lower than the E.U. average. The other longer list has 54 countries and also includes those nations with slightly worse case rates than the E.U. average, going up to 20 new cases per 100,000 people.

The existing restrictions on nonessential travel to all 27 member states plus Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein were introduced on March 16 and extended twice until July 1, in a bid to contain the virus as the continent entered a three-month long confinement.

“Discussions are happening very intensively,” to reach consensus in time for July 1, said Adalbert Jahnz, a spokesman for the European Commission, the bloc’s executive branch. He called the process “frankly, a full-time job.”

The E.U. agency for infectious diseases, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, warned negotiators that the case numbers were so dependent on the level of truthfulness and testing in each country, that it was hard to vouch for them, officials taking part in the talks said.

Coronavirus testing at the Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport in Athens, Greece, this month. The E.U.’s final safe list of acceptable visitors will be revised every two weeks.Credit...Milos Bicanski/Getty Images

China, for example, has been accused of withholding information and manipulating the numbers of infections released to the public. In parts of the developing world, case numbers are very low, but it’s hard to determine whether they paint an accurate picture given limited testing.

And in the United States, comments made by President Trump at a rally in Tulsa over the weekend highlighted how easy it is to manipulate a country’s case numbers, as he suggested that domestic testing was too broad.

“When you do testing to that extent, you’re gonna find more people you’re gonna find more cases. So I said to my people slow the testing down, please,” Mr. Trump told supporters.

European embassies around the world could be enlisted to help verify or opine on the data provided that would inform the final list, negotiators said, another indication that the list could end up being quite short if European diplomats at embassies said reported numbers were unreliable.

Many European Union countries are desperate to reopen their borders to visitors from outside the region to salvage tourism and boost airlines’ revenue while keeping their own borders open to each other. Some have already started accepting visitors from outside the bloc.

At the other extreme, a few European nations including Denmark are not prepared to allow any external visitors from non-E.U. countries, and are likely to continue with this policy after July 1.

Germany, France and many other E.U. nations want non-European travelers to be allowed, but are also worried about individual countries tweaking the safe list or admitting travelers from excluded countries, officials said.

Monika Pronczuk contributed reporting from Brussels, and Albert Sun from New York.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/23/world/europe/coronavirus-EU-American-travel-ban.html

Travelore News: Amtrak To Cut Back On Its Longer Routes Because Of Virus

 (AP) — Amtrak will cut service later this year on most of its long-distance routes nationwide to three times a week instead of the current daily service because ridership has fallen significantly during the coronavirus pandemic.

Amtrak spokeswoman Kimberly Woods said Wednesday that the cuts will take effect Oct. 1 and remain in place until at least the summer of 2021, but daily service could be restored if demand improves along its long-distance routes.

Jim Mathews, president and chief executive of the Rail Passengers Association advocacy group, said he thinks the cuts are short-sighted and will hurt long-term demand for these routes.

“The long-distance services declined the least among Amtrak’s three business lines during the coronavirus-induced slowdown, and its services remain essential to the hundreds of small communities across the United States with fewer options than Philadelphia or Boston or New York City,” Mathews said.

The train routes being cut to three days week include the California Zephyr, Capitol Limited, City of New Orleans, Coast Starlight, Crescent, Empire Builder, Lake Shore Limited, Palmetto, Southwest Chief, and Texas Eagle. The Sunset Limited and Cardinal trains already operate three times a week.

Amtrak said its Auto Train, which runs from the Washington, D.C., suburbs to the Orlando, Florida, area, is the only long-distance route that will continue to operate daily.

Travelore Cruise News: Cruise Industry Announces US Sailing Suspension Extended Until Sept. 15

Cruise Line International Association, the leading trade organization for the global ocean-going cruise industry, says its member cruise lineshave voluntarily extended the suspension of U.S. cruise operations until Sept. 15 amid coronavirus concerns.

TheCenter for Disease Control and Prevention's current "no-sail order" is scheduled to expire on July 24, but no extension has yet been announced.

CLIA's member lines carry 95% of the world's ocean-going cruisers. The new order will apply to all CLIA member ships that the current CDC order applies to – vessels that can carry 250 or more passengers.

"Although we had hoped that cruise activity in the U.S. could resume as soon as possible after that date, it is increasingly clear that more time will be needed to resolve barriers to resumption in the United States," Bari Golin-Blaugrund, senior director for strategic communications told USA TODAY, noting the organization informed the CDC of its continued voluntary suspension.

The extension comes with a caveat: The situation will be continually reevaluated as Sept. 15 approaches and the suspension may be extended further, Golin-Blaugrund explained.

"We want the traveling public to know in no uncertain terms that when we do resume operations in the U.S., it will be with the confidence that we have the necessary protocols and systems in place, and that we have done so with the input of the CDC," she added.

Major lines, including Norwegian Cruise Line, have already extended their sailing suspensions well into fall, and Canada issued a ban on cruises in the country's waters through Oct. 31.

The group's global board of directors met on Friday and put the decision to a vote. All members agreed to adhere to the suspension.

The decision leaves nearly three months before major cruise companies, including cruising giant Carnival Corp., can potentially ramp up their operations

"CLIA cruise line members are using this time to explore new ideas and concepts to further enhance already stringent public health protocols and policies," Golin-Blaugrund said. "Additionally, caring for and repatriating crew members is the number one priority for CLIA cruise line members right now."

Specific plans pertaining to coronavirus and general health on board are still being developed. Golin-Blaugrund said that the industry is taking a "holistic approach."

"One theme that continues to emerge in these conversations is the concept of a 'door-to-door' strategy, beginning at the time of booking through the return of passengers to their homes," she said.

The industry is also looking to bolster screening protocol, implement additional health and sanitation practices for ships and terminals, and onboard prevention, surveillance and response. 

CLIA members are also looking to explore enhanced passenger and crew screening, social distancing, modifying or eliminating buffet dining options, enhanced onboard medical capability, new training for crew members and pre-arranged medical evacuation options with consideration to local healthcare.

Friday, when asked about the no-sail order ahead of CLIA's decision, Caitlin Shockey, spokesperson for the CDC told USA TODAY that the CDC was still monitoring the situation on cruise ships and was reviewing cruise lines' plans regarding to COVID-19.

"At this point in time, we do not have enough information to say when it will be safe for cruise ships to resume sailing." 

Source: Morgan Hines  https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2020/06/19/us-cruise-ban-cruises-suspended-until-sept-15-industry-group-clia/3222379001/

USA TODAY