Travel is back on the menu - but pain points persist

Simon Calder’s Travel Week [The Independent]( November 11, 2022 [View in browser](   [The Independent]( [The Independent]( While you were getting on with your week, the industry of human happiness was getting together for World Travel Market. This annual frenzy of negotiation, networking and not working takes place each November at ExCeL in east London. Visit Florida – but not if you have been to Cuba since 2011. Across the aisle at World Travel Market in London Well, almost annually: the event was cancelled in 2020 and last year was a modest affair. But this year travel is back, with bells and whistles on. Evidence of an augmented and apparently insatiable desire for travel emerged on Monday morning, when[Ryanair revealed its best-ever profits for the spell from April to October](. More passengers paid more money than ever to fly on Europe’s biggest budget airline this summer. Whichever way you look at the figures – £13 profit from average passenger, fares up 15 per cent – people look desperate to catch up with loved ones and make up for lost sunshine. Talking to companies large and small, the traveller's desire to escape transcends [a passing wave of pent-up demand]( that will subside when deferred journeys are completed: we recognise more acutely than ever of the value of travel, and rate experiences as more rewarding than possessions. As a result, destinations, resorts and transport providers are implausibly optimistic despite the British economy shrinking. During the 19-month ban on UK visitors to the US, Colombia temporarily took over the top spot for overseas travellers to Florida. But the British are back as the Sunshine State's most ardent international visitors. Life on Planet Travel is far from perfect, of course. Some people who would love to go to Florida cannot do so because of Donald Trump’s last spiteful act before grudgingly ceding to Joe Biden. On 12 January 2021 the outgoing president added Cuba to the list of “state sponsors of terrorism” alongside North Korea, Iran and Syria. The aim: to punish anyone who had the temerity to visit the Caribbean’s largest and most beautiful island since 1 March 2011. [They cannot use an Esta online to enter America](, and must instead attend an interview and pay £141 for a full visa. But [I learnt this week that US Customs & Border Protection is working to shift the deciding date]( a decade later – which will open up Florida and the rest of America to hundreds of thousands of British travellers. A tangle of red tape is also stifling winter tourism to India. [The government in Delhi has excluded British visitors from the eVisa scheme]( in a row over reciprocity; the UK makes it very tough for Indians to visit Britain. Prospective travellers from the UK must pay more than £100 and join a long queue for a personal interview. Even as ministers appear to want to keep us away, India spent a fortune sending a large delegation to World Travel Market. [Officials tell me that the UK will be added to the online visa system soon](. But however much you and I might yearn for the beaches of Kerala or the urban bliss of Mumbai, don’t book until the change is set in stone, rather than rumour. After all the fluff and frivolity of the industry jamboree, time to get back to work and address the pain points for travellers.   [Get inspired...]( All roads lead to Rome]( How to explore the Appian Way, Italy's original superhighway, by bike [I'm an image]( [Going Dutch]( Check out (and check into) the best boutique hotels in Amsterdam [I'm an image]( [The ultimate guide to Le Havre]( It's France, but not as you know it: where to eat, drink, shop and stay in Normandy’s cool, concrete jungle Tip of the week: Qatar during the World Cup Non-football visits to Qatar are banned all through November: only travellers with a ticket to at least one World Cup match may enter the country. The aim is to avoid overstretch before and during the tournament, which starts on 20 November and continues until 18 December. The decision prevents normal travellers from taking a short break, for example during a long connection between Qatar Airways flights. The government in Doha has now ruled that non-football visits will be allowed from 2 December. That is the date when the group stages end, triggering a mass exodus of fans from Qatar. Read our [World Cup travel survival kit: All you need to know about Qatar 2022]( PICK OF THE WEEK: HOLIDAYS IN AUSTRIA Austria invites you to embrace everything winter has to offer with all your senses this year. Feel the Winter Love – now for real. [Find out more here]( Deal of the week: Paris to Brussels for €50 High-speed Thalys trains connect the French and Belgian capitals in 82 minutes. But many of these express services sell out. When short-notice tickets are available, they typically cost €103 (£90). International rail expert Mark Smith, who runs the [Seat61.com]( website, recommends a slower route that costs less than half as much and has no capacity restrictions. Take a [TER regional train]( from Paris Nord to Maubeuge (€35.50). Then buy a €14.90 ticket for a [Belgian regional train]( from Maubeuge across the border to Charleroi – where you change for an intercity train from there to Brussels. Mr Smith says: “It takes 4h30 with two changes, but no reservations are required, it cannot sell out, and there's an affordable fixed-price fare that can even be bought on the day. Bring your own food and drink as there's no catering.” [The best hotels in Brussels](   Question of the week: Cruising when unjabbed Q Can I go on a Caribbean cruise without any Covid jabs? A Carnival will welcome you on board. This American firm has the most liberal attitude that I have found among cruise lines, saying vaccines and/or testing are no longer required for most voyages. But that does not mean you will be able to leave the ship at every stop. It is in the nature of cruises that they visit multiple countries, and it is in the nature of Covid that each nation has its own rules. In the Caribbean region you currently need to be vaccinated to be allowed off the ship in Grand Turk (part of the Turks & Caicos, north of Hispaniola) and the wonderful Colombian port of Cartagena. Other cruise lines will not allow you to board in the first place. P&O Cruises, a sister line of Carnival, says: “All guests aged 18 years and over need to be fully vaccinated.” Meanwhile, Fred Olsen requires proof of jabs and a negative Covid test taken within 24 hours of your cruise departure – and warns: “If you have been in contact with anyone with Covid-19 within seven days prior to your cruise, we are afraid you will not be able to sail with us.” [Four unusual ways to discover Barbados]( STAT OF THE WEEK 500 Typical distance in miles added to the length of a London-Bangkok flight because of the closure of Russian and Ukrainian airspace. It equates to almost an hour of extra flying. [How the skies opened up, then closed down again]( What you might have missed... - Strike it unlucky: [Train drivers announce walkout date for November]( - Drift away: [Sail from San Diego to Southampton in five months for £35,000 on world cruise]( - Host busters: Airbnb to eliminate hidden charges]( SIMON'S DIARY       Every day from Monday to Friday I tackle a top travel story, or explore a topic in more detail than usual in ‘Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast’ – available free on [Spotify](, [Apple Podcasts](, [Pocket Casts]( or [Acast](.         Every day from Monday to Friday I tackle a top travel story, or explore a topic in more detail than usual in ‘Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast’ – available free on [Spotify](, [Apple Podcasts](, [Pocket Casts]( or [Acast](.         I find the easiest way to rush out stories is to tweet them. It’s also an easy way to contact me. My direct messages are open and I read all DMs, though regrettably I can’t respond to every one. Let me know your thoughts [@SimonCalder](         I find the easiest way to rush out stories is to tweet them. It’s also an easy way to contact me. My direct messages are open and I read all DMs, though regrettably I can’t respond to every one. Let me know your thoughts [@SimonCalder](         Each Saturday and Sunday I take questions live at 5.30pm British time on Instagram Live – from wherever I happen to be in the world – so please do come and say hello. Follow me on [@Simon_Calder](         Each Saturday and Sunday I take questions live at 5.30pm British time on Instagram Live – from wherever I happen to be in the world – so please do come and say hello. Follow me on [@Simon_Calder](         Or you can find me on TikTok. Come and have a look at what I have been up to as I bring you top travel topics and report on the latest changes in a minute or less via [@caldertravel](         Or you can find me on TikTok. 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