Iberostar Cancun Adds Star Prestige, Plus Cyber Deals Galore: This Week's JimBits

Iberostar Hotels & Resorts, a Spanish hotel company with a portfolio of more than 120 four-and five-star hotels located in 18 countries, unveiled a high-end offering at the existing 5-star Iberostar Cancun. The new addition, known as Iberostar Cancún Star Prestige features 156 unique rooms, along 13-stories, all with ocean views and whirlpools. These new rooms, available only for adults, offer a wide range of advantages for clients to experience ultimate exclusivity.

Located at just steps from the water and only 15 minutes away from the Cancun International Airport, Iberostar Cancún Star Prestige presents a premium, all-inclusive service to provide an unforgettable experience. Star Prestige is the brand's exclusive concept aimed to guarantee a unique stay for its most demanding guests. All guests at Iberostar Cancún Star Prestige will benefit from a range of offerings, from staying in rooms with the best views, upgraded amenities and having access to reserved areas, such as a private beach club with an open bar, to enjoying exclusive services, including private check-in and the possibility of late check-out.

High-End Service in Every Room

The brand's Star Prestige program is designed to go above and beyond by combining exclusive facilities with outstanding service. Star Prestige features superior services and upgraded amenities to provide guests with the unparalleled comfort, convenience and intimacy of a boutique hotel with a private lounge, secluded beach club and much more. The Star-like experience will allow guests to discover unique, superior facilities.

First-Class Gastronomic Experiences

The hotel's extensive gastronomy offerings include a new and exclusive buffet and restaurant, serving delicious breakfast and lunch buffets and evening dining, in addition to a new lobby bar and snack bar. With all-inclusive access to Iberostar Cancún, guests can enjoy five restaurants specializing in gourmet international fares, including Mexican, Japanese and French cuisines, among others.

In addition to a wide variety of daily entertainment programs and nightly shows, Iberostar Cancún Star Prestige offers wine tastings, food pairing experiences and special socials. Guests can also enjoy the on-site Iberostar Cancún Golf Club, an 18-hole championship golf course designed by Isao Aoki.

Iberostar's Growing Footprint in Mexico

This year, Iberostar Hotels & Resorts celebrates its 20th anniversary of operations in Mexico. The brand, which hosts more than half a million guests at the destination every year, has contributed to the development of the tourism industry in the destination through investments exceeding $1 billion CAD and the creation of more than 4,500 direct jobs in the country.

Iberostar continues to focus on its growth and is expanding its hotel portfolio in Mexico. The brand's most recent announcements include the construction of a new hotel in Los Cabos and a second Iberostar hotel in Litibu. Iberostar's Los Cabos property, with more than 43 million square feet and 2 kilometers of beach front in Zacatón, was bought in November 2017.

Small-group tour operator G Adventures announces a massive, seven-day 'Cyber Week Sale' for the week leading up to Black Friday and including Cyber Monday. It begins 12:01am on Tuesday November 20, and runs until the following Monday, with thousands of trips that depart between December 1, 2018 and July 31, 2019, offered at significant savings.

"Our rally message this year is 'our world deserves more you'; more of your ideas, more of your passion, more of your curiosity, kinship and engagement. That's how we get to a world with more 'we'," says Aizaz Sheikh, G Adventures' Canadian Marketing Director. "It's also why we doubled down on the cyber week savings this year. We want to help more more travellers go from dreaming to doing in 2019, and experience more of the world."

During the Cyber Week Sale, more than 500 different small-group tours on six different continents will be marked down, adding up to nearly 10,000 opportunities to join an immersive, guided adventure before next August. Of those, nearly 400 trips will be slashed 30 to 35 per cent off regular tour prices.

The seven-day sale goes live just after midnight EST on Monday (12:01am November 20), and continues through to 11:59pm EST on Cyber Monday (November 26). Departures and options will be subject to availability, and shoppers are encouraged to take advantage of the deals as soon as deals go live.

Destinations with the deepest discounts and greatest current availability will be India and Nepal, with 64 different tour departures marked down a substantial 35 per cent off. Additional tour destinations offering special, 35 per cent-off savings will include: China, Australia, Cambodia, Tanzania and the British Virgin Islands.

Travel through Peru, Ecuador, Indonesia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka will be similarly discounted, at 30 per cent off retail tour prices.

Most folks think of Expedia as a place to book a flight or a hotel. But it's also a great tool for hotel owners and others in the travel and tourism business.

I had a tour of the new Expedia offices in the Queen's Quay Terminal in Toronto this week (stunning) and also chatted with company officials about travel trends and some of the fascinating work they do.

Expedia has been working closely with Tourism Toronto to boost winter travel to the city, and it appears to be working. I was told that overall package booking room night stays in Toronto increased by 20 per cent this past winter, compared with 2017. There was nearly a 10 per cent increase in Toronto ADR in the winter of 2018, versus 2017.

One of the coolest things I learned during my talk with Toronto Area Manager, Bonnie Vesterfelt is that Expedia has a vast array of tools that travel professionals can use to boost their business. For example, Vesterfelt told me 85 per cent of hotels don't have a revenue management tool. Lucky for them, Expedia has programs that can track their competitors rates up to the minute and also can tell them about major holidays or festivals on the horizon that could impact bookings. They also can analyze a hotel's page views and help hoteliers convert those views into bookings.

Vesterfelt said customers typically look at several dozen photos before booking a property, and that Expedia can help a hotel boost its online presence by analyzing if they have enough photos on their website.

The company also has a Travel Agent Affiliate Program and a sales and support team in place that acts as a "one-stop shop" for agents. The TAAP website also says they offer agents "substantial commissions."

It's been a great year for tourism in Antigua and Barbuda. New statistics show the Canadian market saw an impressive performance, with a growth of 112 per cent as the market continues to benefit from increased airlift, brought on by the addition of Sunwing Airlines since November last year, while the Caribbean market continues to hold its own with relatively unchanged figures.

Overall from January to September 2018. The total visitor arrivals recorded for Antigua and Barbuda stand at 744,390, an increase of 12.18 per cent when compared to 2017.

Visitor arrivals will continue to increase for the remainder of 2018 with significant increased airlift from North America as well as a full cruise schedule.

Luxury cruise line Cunard is offering travelers Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions, available on select 2019 voyages all over the world, aboard all three ships including flagship ocean liner Queen Mary 2, and sister ships Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth.

From November 20-28, 2018, new voyage bookings will receive:

Free Double Upgrades mean guests can sail in a Balcony stateroom for the price of an Inside stateroom†

Free Drinks♦ and Free Gratuities in Princess Grill or Queens Grill Suites‡

Cunard's Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions are available on Queen Elizabeth's itineraries in Alaska. The legendary brand returns to the region in May 2019 when Queen Elizabeth sails four 10-night Alaska voyages roundtrip from Vancouver, with port calls in Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka, Icy Strait Point and Victoria. Highlights include scenic cruising through the famous Inside Passage, Tracy Arm Fjord, and Hubbard Glacier.

The promotion is also available on iconic Transatlantic Crossings, Asia, and New England & Canada itineraries on Queen Mary 2; Europe and Asia voyages on Queen Victoria; and Australia voyages on Queen Elizabeth. Fares start at $729 per person. This promotion includes a non-refundable and non-transferable deposit of $100.

For more information about Cunard, or to book a voyage, contact your Travel Consultant, call Cunard Line at 1-800-728-6273 or visit www.cunard.com. Please reference promo code: RG8/ZED.

For travel agents interested in further information, please contact your Business Development Manager, visit OneSource or call Cunard toll free at 1-800-528-6273.

European Waterways announced a limited time Black Friday special of 30 per cent off on select 6-night all-inclusive hotel barge cruises in Europe for spring 2019. The promotion represents savings of up $17,850 and charters as low as $24,150 during one of Europe's most picturesque times of the year, when the countryside begins to burst into bloom.

The savings are good on select whole boat charters in France, including the Canal du Midi and Burgundy; on the Caledonian Canal in Scotland; and in Holland during the region's renowned tulip season. Charters must be booked from November 23 through November 27, 2018 to be eligible for the Black Friday rates. The offer cannot be combined with other promotions and other restriction may apply. For more information, call 1-877-879-8808 or visit europeanwaterways.com.
European Waterways pays travel agent commissions of at least 10 per cent on all bookings.

It's no small thing: Super-sizing is taking hold in American vacationing. HomeAway, the site travelers use to book beach houses, cabins and condos, analyzed data to find demand for castles and estates up by 55 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively. HomeAway's data also painted a picture of how an adult-ing Generation Z, whose members now top out at age 24, likes to get away from it all: in cities, with their friends rather than traveling with immediate family or opting to go at it alone.

The findings are among highlights of the HomeAway 2019 Trend Report, fresh with data-driven insights into where and how Americans will travel in the year to come, based on 2018 HomeAway vacation rental demand and other data.

"What is so striking about this year's findings are the generational differences they reveal, and their implications for vacationing and vacation home rental activity for years to come," said Melanie Fish, HomeAway travel expert. "For one, more than three quarters of these newly independently vacationing Gen Z'ers have already stayed in a vacation home, cabin or condo at some point in their lives, making them far likelier than their parents to consider vacation rentals a primary lodging option as they continue to mature."

The full report is available at http://hmwy.co/HomeAwayTrendReport2019. Among its highlights:

Bigger Homes for Bigger Value Seekers: Savvy planners are learning that bigger homes can dramatically lower the cost of vacation lodging. Case in point: This California Wine Country estate (HomeAway Property 3503092) sleeps 10 for only $67.88 per person, per night.

Most-Desired Vacation Home Feature: Swimming pools.

With 2018 marking 10 years of luxury expedition cruising for Silversea and its guests, the industry-leading cruise line takes the opportunity to highlight an array of polar expedition itineraries for summer 2019 and winter 2019/2020. The voyages will enable guests to travel deeper into the otherworldly landscapes of both Polar Regions, in ultimate comfort, as they journey closer to the authentic beauty of the world.

ARCTIC -- SUMMER 2019

In this beautiful realm of the polar bear, voyages aboard Silver Cloud and Silver Explorer will provide excellent opportunities for guests to witness destination-specific wildlife, unspoiled landscapes and rarely seen cultures on 11 carefully crafted itineraries.

Arctic Air Offer

An exclusive Arctic air promotion is now available on new bookings through November 30, 2018. The savings program includes free economy roundtrip air, or reduced business-class air, for flights from select U.S. and Canadian gateways, plus free transfers between airport and ship.

ANTARCTICA -- WINTER 2019/2020

Silver Cloud and Silver Explorer will also explore Antarctica, with 14 inspired itineraries sailing mostly from December 2019 through February 2020. Each is designed to optimize the chance for up-close encounters with sunbathing seals, frolicking penguins and whales emerging from the frigid waters of this untouched paradise.

Antarctica - All-Inclusive Package

An all-inclusive Antarctica package is now available on new bookings through November 30, 2018. The value-rich program includes free economy roundtrip air or business-class air upgrade for $1,499 USD each way for flights from select U.S. and Canadian gateways; free economy roundtrip air between Buenos Aires/Santiago and Ushuaia; free one-night, pre-cruise hotel stay; and free transfers between airport, hotel and ship.

View Silversea's range of voyages to Antarctica: https://www.silversea.com/destinations/antarctica-cruise.html

View Silversea's range of voyages to the Arctic and Greenland: https://www.silversea.com/destinations/cruises-arctic-greenland.html