FIRST RUSSIAN TOURISTS TO FLY TO ISS IN 2024 At the recent St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Glavkosmos announced that ‘some of the wealthy Russian citizens’ could have the chance to fly to the ISS in 2024. Russian citizens are not normally allowed to fly to the ISS as tourists using their own money. Glavkosmos is also to begin flights on the Soyuz spacecraft in low Earth orbit without docking with the station. Last year, Glavkosmos went into agreement with 4 space tourists who could fly on 2 Soyuz in 2024. On one 3-seater ship, 2 tourists can go to MSC together with the ship's commander, a professional cosmonaut.
U.S.A YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK REOPENS FLOODING After unprecedented flooding recently, which dmamaged roads and vital park infrastructure, Yellowstone National Park has now re-opened. Three of Yellowstone's 5 entrances have opened, allowing visitors to access the south loop of the park. The 8,991sq.km park, located mainly in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho, were closed due to heavy flooding, rockslides and very hazardous conditions, an event seen only one every 500 years! The north loop, North and Northeast entrances will remain closed, for the time being due to extensive damage. As part of the reopening plan, park staff have engaged over 1,000 business owners, park partners, commercial operators and residents in surrounding gateway communities to determine how to manage summer visitation. Summer is the busiest season in Yellowstone. The park attracted approx. 4.86 million visitors last year.
FOREIGN TOURISM RETURNS TO ASIA PACIFIC The Pacific Asia Travel Association’s latest figures on international visitor arrivals provided by 39 Asia Pacific destinations show a gradual return of visitors from 2022-2024. Visitor recovery rates are projected to reach 25-48% of that in 2019 this year. This is an improvement from 16-18% in 2021. The figures are based on the possibility of further health crisis restrictions coming into play as the months go on, the outlook due to high oil prices, the Ukraine conflict and some limited air connectivity. At the individual destination level, recovery rates vary greatly in 2022 ranging from -15% to nearly +99%, while in 2024, they range from +86% to +120% under that same scenario.
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