Top Destination Travel News from January

January’s Top Destination Travel News
From the United Kingdom introducing a new electronic travel authorization system to China’s reopening, the first month of the year saw a lot of new developments as far as destinations are concerned. Check out this slideshow to get a glimpse at the month’s biggest headlines, and click the link provided in each slide to read the full stories. Don’t want to miss a beat? Register for our TravelPulse newsletter today!

Cancun Airport Implements Electronic Passport Registration
Cancun International Airport has begun implementing the use of electronic passport registration to help speed up wait times in the airport during the busy travel season. It’s the first airport in Mexico to do so.

Croatia Adopts the Euro, Joins Europe’s Borderless Schengen Area
Croatia is officially part of the Schengen Area, allowing travelers from the area to move throughout the country without a passport or border restrictions. It also recently adopted the euro in the New Year, a new step in its status as part of the European Union. This should make it easier for Europeans of other countries to enjoy easier travel experiences, while Americans no longer have to exchange some of their money for the kuna.

China Reopens for Travel: Here’s What You Need To Know
On January 8, China officially reopened to international travel, allowing both Chinese residents to travel internationally once more and travelers from other countries to enter China without the world’s strictest pandemic-era entry requirements. For those looking into being one of the first to travel to China in several years, check out our guide on current entry requirements.

Caribbean Enters New Year With Confidence High
Information from the Caribbean Tourism Organization finds that the popular region of the world is recovering at a fast rate, and while some destinations are recovering slower than others, 2023 is expected to be a great year for tourism.

France Projected As World’s Most Visited Country by 2025
France was rated the world’s most visited country in 2019 and 2022, and is expected to continue claiming that title through 2025, with visitor growth expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 12.1 percent per year. In 2022 alone, it welcomed 66.6 million travelers!

Spain Expects 2023 Tourism Revenue to Surpass Pre-Pandemic Levels
Spain is anticipating an incredible year of tourism this year, predicting its 2023 tourism revenue to exceed its pre-pandemic level by 4.7 percent. Part of this new growth might be the country’s upcoming new remote worker visa for travelers living outside the European Economic Area, which includes Americans, allowing them a new way to live in Spain without needing a traditional work visa.

Paris Is the World’s Most Powerful City Destination, According to WTTC
The WTTC found that Paris is the world’s most powerful city destination, according to how much money its travel and tourism industry produces for the city’s overall Gross Domestic Product. Last year, travel to this iconic destination rakes in nearly $36 billion.

US Virgin Islands Joins Caribbean Tourism Organization
The U.S. Virgin Islands is now the 25th member of the Caribbean Tourism Organization, which is expected to continue the organization’s goal of cohesive growth and sustainability of the Caribbean.

Mexico Bans Smoking in Public Spaces, Including Resorts and Beaches
Mexico passed the new Law on Tobacco Control in January, outlawing the use of tobacco products in hotels and resorts and in public places such as beaches, terraces, shopping malls, amusement parks, entertainment centers and on public transportation. Travelers should be aware of this new regulation as foreigners are just as responsible for adhering to these laws as Mexican nationals.

Aruba Details New Tourism Developments Arriving in 2023
Aruba’s excited for several new tourism developments this year. The warm Caribbean isle is looking ahead to new hotel openings, hotel and resort remodelings and even new streamlined ways to enter the island as it prepares for a stronger tourism year than last year.

New WTTC Report Reveals Majority of Travelers Seeking Sustainable Travel
A new report from WTTC has found that sixty-nine percent of travelers are seeking more sustainable travel options. Check out some other interesting traveler trends that may impact 2023’s travel industry in the report.

Jamaica’s 2023 Visitor Arrivals Poised to Surpass Projections
Jamaica’s 2023 visitor arrivals number is poised to surpass previous projections this year as the Caribbean island begins a new restriction-free travel year. Arrival numbers are expected to grow 11 percent from last year.

Dominica Tourism Recovering in a Big Way
Dominica has reported that it’s seen the largest post-pandemic growth rate: from 2021 to 2022, its arrival numbers grew over 300 percent, welcoming over 60,000 travelers last year. It hopes to aim even higher this year as the destination grows in popularity as a sustainable and lesser-known Caribbean destination.

State Department Makes Progress in Reducing Visa Wait Times
The U.S. State Department is finally beginning to shorten the first-time visitor visa wait times for some of the most-impacted groups, including travelers from India and other important source markets, following months of advocacy by American travel organizations. Travelers from these countries are facing wait times of hundreds of days, which directly impacts the number of travelers able to visit the country.

Saudi Arabia’s Diriyah Gate Development Authority (DGDA) Project: What You Should Know
We’ve all heard of the ambitious Red Sea Project, but what about Saudi Arabia’s more history-centric Diriyah Gate Development Authority project? The project seeks to make Diriyah and its historical landmarks an important future destination for travelers to Saudi Arabia. Learn more about the project with this feature.

You’ll Soon Need To Obtain Official Permission To Enter the UK
As part of the U.K.’s goal to fully digitize its border systems by 2025, travelers heading to the U.K. will soon need to fill out the Electronic Travel Authorization UK (ETA UK) form, which the government announced in January would be implemented in early 2023 and become standardized by the end of the year.