Editor’s note: This Week in Travel (TWT) is your essential guide to smoothing the road from here to there for your attendees and yourself.
Hard Rock Clarifies Mirage Is Not Closing
In a release on Nov. 8, Hard Rock International issued a statement that it had been inaccurately reported in the Las Vegas press that the company would be closing The Mirage Hotel & Casino, which it has agreed to acquire for $1.075 billion.
“There are no current plans to cease operation of The Mirage and any reporting to the contrary is inaccurate,” read the statement. “Yesterday, the Nevada Gaming Control Board unanimously recommended to the Nevada Gaming Commission that it approve Hard Rock International’s licensure and acquisition of The Mirage Hotel & Casino.”
The release went on to quote Hard Rock Chairman James Allen as saying, “We do not have definitive plans to close the property at this time, but for full transparency, that could be an option a year and a half down the road.”
Travel Weekly reported that in a presentation to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, Allen outlined some of Hard Rock’s plans to redevelop the Mirage into the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas. Those plans include a top-to-bottom renovation and the addition of a guitar-shaped tower for guest suites as well as a major expansion of meetings and events space.
Sustainability: IATA Teams with Travalyst, Radisson Joins GSTC
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced that it is partnering with Travalyst, the not-for-profit sustainability in tourism industry organization founded by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, in 2019.
The groups “have joined forces with the aim of providing consumers with a consistent, accurate and widely available calculation of their carbon footprint from air travel,” said IATA in a release.
Read More: TWT: IATA Sees Full Travel Recovery, More Destinations Relax Rules
“This new and major collaboration effort will bring even greater transparency, accuracy and consistency to how a traveler’s carbon footprint is calculated. [The collaboration] will focus on both data and standard methodology for route-based passenger CO2 emissions calculations for aviation at scale. This will include a shared position on how to account for sustainable aviation fuel.”
Sally Davey, CEO at Travalyst, said in the statement that, “This is the first time that airlines and the travel technology sector have come together in this way. As such, it is a milestone moment in the decarbonization of the sector. In the face of the climate emergency, travelers want and need clear and unequivocal information about their carbon footprint on which to base travel decisions. Today, we are bringing some of the leading travel brands around the table with the world’s leading airline association, with the aim of easily providing consumers with the most accurate carbon calculations.”
Radisson Joins Global Sustainable Tourism Council
In other sustainable news in the hotels sector, Radisson Hotels has announced that it is joining the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC). The Group’s membership in the GSTC “forms part of its strategic focus to drive cross-industry cooperation and establish transparent and measurable standards for sustainability within the hospitality industry, as well as foster increased coordination between the private and public sector.”
Air Canada Inaugurates Flights at JFK
Air Canada will begin new double-daily Toronto and daily Montreal service to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) beginning in March 2023. There will also be new four-times weekly Toronto-Sacramento flights starting in June and the restoration of service on 13 other routes including Calgary-Los Angeles starting on May 1.
New services to New York’s JFK will begin March 26 and will be operated by Air Canada Express using an Embraer E175 aircraft with 76 seats in a Business and Economy Class configuration. The airline currently flies out of LaGuardia Airport (LGA) and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR). With the addition of the JFK flights in March, the airline will be operating 39 daily flights from six Canadian cities (Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Halifax) into New York City’s three major airports (JFK, Newark, LaGuardia).
