COMPASS-2-Spring 2021 | Page 32

The 2021 Upgrade Report from Hotels . com found that nearly 90 % of Americans want to be more spontaneous than ever in 2021 , and many want to make up for the travel they missed out on last year .

RAWPIXEL . COMZ _ SHUTTERSTOCK . COM reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 100 % by 2050 . In 2018 , United became the first airline to publicly commit to a target for carbon emissions reduction .
On the hotel and resort front , many big names are focusing on sustainability . Hilton ’ s Travel with Purpose strategy is the global hotel giant ’ s commitment to driving responsible travel and tourism globally . One of the four pillars in Marriott International ’ s
Serve 360 program is focused on sustaining responsible operations , with goals of reducing the company ’ s environmental footprint and ensuring that 100 % of hotels will be certified to a recognized sustainability standard by 2025 .
These efforts and actual progress toward sustainability are more attractive to travelers than ever before and undoubtedly influence travelers ’ decisions .
In February 2020 , Delta Airlines announced a 10-year , $ 1 billion commitment to become the first carbon neutral airline in the world .
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Stay flexible As we learned in 2020 , travel restrictions and destination entry requirements can change by the hour . It ’ s hard to keep up .
Travel suppliers started to do what they could to meet travelers and travel advisors in the middle by introducing more consumer-friendly flexible policies . Delta permanently eliminated change fees on all international flights from North America . United Airlines dropped change fees forever on all standard Economy and Premium cabin tickets for travel within the U . S ., Puerto Rico and the U . S . Virgin Islands . Alaska Airlines permanently bid farewell to change fees on all domestic and international tickets . And American Airlines waived change fees for First Class , Business Class , Premium Economy and Main Cabin tickets for all domestic and short-haul international flying .
Five of the six ALG Vacations brands ( Apple Vacations , Blue Sky Tours , Funjet Vacations , Travel Impressions and United Vacations ) eliminated individual brand change fees for land-only or scheduled air packages as well as Exclusive Nonstop Vacation Flight ( ENVF ) and ENVF aironly bookings changes ( within 45 days of departure ). Pleasant Holidays took a similar approach and eliminated brand change fees on continental U . S . and Canada land bookings , but only on new bookings made by March 31 , 2021 . Delta Vacations
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