Latest news with #ChristinaJelski
Travel Weekly
09-07-2025
- Business
- Travel Weekly
Joy Jibrilu dishes the latest on Nassau & Paradise Island
Nassau and Paradise Island serve as the gateway to the Bahamas, accounting for more than 80% of the archipelago's total tourism. The two islands are also home to the majority of the country's resort infrastructure, making their performance a bellwether for Bahamian tourism overall. Hotels editor Christina Jelski recently sat down with Joy Jibrilu, CEO of the Nassau & Paradise Island Promotion Board, to get the latest on the destination. Joy Jibrilu Q: What are you seeing in terms of performance for Nassau and Paradise Island? A: 2023 and 2024 were great years for us. We were forecasting a really strong performance for 2025, but of course we're now dealing with geopolitics and the impact that's having on us. While we see hesitancy from our key source market, which is the United States, suddenly there's all this opportunity from Canada, from Latin America, from Europe. We've had an explosion of new airlift from Canada, with new gateways announced, and that's going to be a game changer. But we can't move away from the fact that the U.S. will always be our No. 1 source market -- 85% of all our tourists come from the U.S. So far, we've had a very strong April, and of course Easter was late [April 20], so we benefited from that. May, June, July are flat year on year. There's uncertainty. But the picture may still change quite dramatically. Q: What factors are creating this volatility? A: There's a shortening of the booking window. Instead of looking 60 days out or even 30 days, people are booking much closer to travel. We're seeing a 15-day booking window from the U.S. and Canada. From the U.K., they're more now in the 30-day range, and they used to be 90 days or longer. We're talking about a significant compression. Related story: 2025 has been better for the Bahamas Q: What's new with hotel development and property enhancements? A: Baha Mar is talking about opening or beginning construction on a fourth hotel. They're in the permitting phase from the government to begin construction, and that will add significant room inventory plus a residential component, which will inevitably attract new visitors because it's something exciting and new. The other big game changer for Baha Mar has been the addition of the waterpark. They've also recently opened a kids club with curated experiences for children. Previously, it was more of an adult-focused destination. Now we're seeing more families traveling to Baha Mar. Q: Cruise is showing incredible growth, but how are you dealing with challenges related to the volume of passengers? A: Nassau alone last year had over 5 million cruise passengers, and this year and next year, it's projected to go up to 6 million. The Nassau cruise port is state of the art, and they're doing a much better job navigating this amount of people. They've created authenticity in Bahamian experiences, from retail outlets to food options. Royal Caribbean is opening a beach club on Paradise Island. But even if 1 million of those 6 million passengers go there, there's still 5 million others that we have to find things for. So, we're being very creative. We renovated, at our own cost, one of Nassau's most iconic historical sites -- the Queen's Staircase. We restored it to its former glory with waterfalls and landscaping. It's now one of the most visited attractions by cruise passengers, and it's free. We maintain it year-round now. Following our work on the Queen's Staircase, the government is now repairing the water tower at the top. We're hoping that by us stepping up, others will do the same. And we've got our sights on another project that's going to be equally impactful.
Travel Weekly
02-07-2025
- Business
- Travel Weekly
L.A. after the fires: A Malibu hotel looks back, and forward
Clockwise from top left: Travel Weekly hotels editor Christina Jelski; Gregory Day, the managing director of the Malibu Beach Inn; and Folo host Rebecca Tobin talk about crisis and recovery after the Los Angeles fires. Subscribe now using your favorite service: It's been an eventful year for Los Angeles tourism, but as we're nearing the six-month mark from the devastating fires that tore through Pacific Palisades and Altadena, we wanted to look back at the hotels that were impacted or evacuated during the disaster -- specifically in this episode one of a small group of luxury properties in Malibu: The 47-room Malibu Beach Inn. This area has been also challenged by the subsequent closure of the Pacific Coast Highway that links it to western Los Angeles -- it reopened in late May -- so on this episode we're talking with managing director Geoffrey Day and Travel Weekly's hotels editor Christina Jelski about business, the delicate business of keeping workers on the job and happy during demand peaks and valleys, housing first responders and what it takes to evacuate and then restore a luxury hotel. This episode was recorded Thursday June 26 and has been edited for length and clarity. Episode sponsor: This episode is sponsored by the Globus Family of Brands Related links: The Malibu Beach Inn From Los Angeles, a plea for visitors
Travel Weekly
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Travel Weekly
Dispatch, Orlando: Discovering Disney's Cool Kid Summer
To lure kids and parents to Orlando this summer, Walt Disney World has been pulling out all the stops, in the form of a promotion called Cool Kid Summer. My colleague Christina Jelski has already written about summertime promos, which consists of perks, discounts and special park opportunities. New shows opened at Disney's Hollywood Studios, and a cool -- literally and figuratively -- play space at Epcot themed to Goofy is just the ticket when your little ones need to burn off some steam and parents need some air conditioning. There is also the promise of more character interactions, in-park Easter eggs and perks at some of the on-property resorts. And we were along for the ride. At Disney's invitation, we flew down over Memorial Day weekend (through Newark Airport, no less) with our teenage daughter and then stayed on for the kickoff of Cool Kid Summer with my 8-year-old, who officially qualifies as a cool kid -- the invitation was for families with kids ages 9 and younger, which is the Cool Kid sweet spot). With that came some firsthand looks at the new goodies Disney has on offer for families. The Cool Kid Summer branding on a snack stand at Walt Disney World Hollywood Studios. Photo Credit: Rebecca Tobin Now that Cool Kid Summer is live, parents checking in at Disney resorts will receive brochures for each of the four parks that pinpoint specific Cool Kid activities and provide tips for parents with young kids -- like where to buy diapers, sunscreen or formula -- and suggestions on how to live their best cool-kid life. For example, to complete a "scavenger hunt" at Magic Kingdom, kids must "sing with the Tiki birds," "ride a boat," and "strike a pose near Cinderella Castle." We previewed the two new shows at Hollywood Studios. "The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure" is located at the theater in Animation Courtyard, which is an official Cool Kids site: The courtyard will host jump-rope performers, games and crafts, plus an indoor DJ party. When we were there, my daughter joined in enthusiastically at double-dutch, and Donald Duck was on the scene for impromptu photos and hugs. At 20 minutes, "The Little Mermaid" is a super-condensed retelling of the Disney movie, in a blissfully air-conditioned theater. Grownups might miss some of the humor and quips of the movie, but kids will love it (plus, there's bubbles). The Ariel performer was excellent. A pop-up jump-rope games at Walt Disney World's Hollywood Studios for Cool Kid Summer, just outside the new "Little Mermaid" show. Photo Credit: Rebecca Tobin Down the street, though not officially part of Cool Kids is a slightly more sophisticated show called "Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After." Disney has been playing up its "misunderstood" cast of villains lately, and this show features Cruella De Vil, Captain Hook and Maleficent (with supporting villains like Scar, Hades, Ursula and Gaston) trying to win the audience's approval for most sympathetic. These poor, unfortunate souls (sorry!) provide dynamite singing and effects, even if the smallest kids might not totally follow the plot. Over at Epcot is Goofycore. As Disney describes it, it's the "ultimate summer party" for youngsters at the CommuniCore Hall, with a DJ, interactive games and, yes, Goofy. During our Goofycore visit, the kids played limbo and Goofy Says with a group of high-energy cast members and Goofy, and then there was music while kids ran around and were lightly directed by the cast members and messed with soft building blocks. The games are structured so that all young ages can participate to the best of their ability -- or wander in and out of the play. There is seating and air conditioning, which makes it a perfect break for parents and kids alike. Outside CommuniCore Hall is the "Celebration Encanto" show, where families can relax on shaded Astroturf and partake in a song and dance party. One thing about Cool Kid that most travelers and advisors know: Florida in the summer is hot. We've developed all sorts of coping mechanisms to keep the kids cool on the road, and we have a big arsenal of water bottles, hats and so on. But the nice thing about the events we attended was that most were coupled with a chance to get indoors for a bit and get a break from the heat. (It also rained every night during our stay -- drenching, thunderstorm-type rains -- so bring a poncho and stay flexible.) At Magic Kingdom, the Big Top Bash at Fantasyland and Galactic Blast at Tomorrowland are other Cool Kid gathering spots, with DJ dance parties with Pluto and Stitch, respectively. And even though Animal Kingdom doesn't have a Cool Kid pop-up per se, my cool kid loved that park for its Wilderness Explorers program, and she went all around looking for cast members who would teach her about nature and animals and earn "badges" for her explorer book. Now, with all these dance parties and games, do you think your young kid will head back to the resort exhausted? Maybe, but my bet is that the parents will be the exhausted ones while the kids rev back up at the pool. In any case, we stayed at Art of Animation, one of Disney's Value resorts and a Cool Kid hot spot. The resort's daily program included additional Cool Kid activities such as a "Wake Up, Shake Up" dance party in the morning, character interactions in the lobby and movie night by the pool. It's good fun if you build in a resort day during your stay.
Travel Weekly
06-05-2025
- Business
- Travel Weekly
The state of travel today: Q1 results, volatility, 'noise' and what's next
Clockwise from top left: Hotels editor Christina Jelski, managing editor Rebecca Tobin and news editor Johanna Jainchill. Subscribe now using your favorite service: We're still in first-quarter earnings season, but we've been watching travel company results closely, to give us some signs on which way the travel industry is heading. The conclusion? There's not really one yet - as you'll hear here, results and predictions are up, down and sideways. In this episode, host Rebecca Tobin, news editor Johanna Jainchill and Christina Jelski look at both U.S. traveler sentiment and the inbound travel markets and what the numbers are telling us - and what we might expect to see next - and why is everyone talking about the "noise?" This episode was recorded Friday May 2 and has been edited for length and clarity. Episode sponsor: This episode is sponsored by the Globus Family of Brands Related reports: Amid economic volatility, the cruise industry shows resilience Volatility is making hotel forecasting difficult Hyatt's all-inclusive resorts shine amind leisure travel challenges United will reduce domestic flying this summer Low-cost vs legacy: Which type of airline will do better in a downturn?
