Dec
18
Cuba and U.S. Reach Agreement for Tourism Travel
On the first anniversary of Cuba and the United States repairing relations, an agreement has been reached allowing international tourism travel into the country for the first time in decades. Since the embargo was lifted last year, change has been slow, but tourists are already lining up to enter the country and major airlines such as American, United and JetBlue are expected to begin scheduling commercial flights as early as March 2016. Final details and technicalities are still being worked out, but tourists can expect ticket prices to be on the higher side, with a 45-minute flight out of Miami costing at least $500. By technicality, tourism to Cuba is still prohibited, but tourists can be placed into one of 12 categories granting them access to the island. In return, Cuba has asked that its main airline, Cubana, be allowed to fly into the United States for tourism reasons as well. Read more…
Target to Spend $1 Billion on Food Supply Chain
After the supply chain problems faced by fast food behemoth Chipotle, Target has announced that it will invest $1 billion dollars into its supply chain to avoid a similar fate. Chief Operating Officer of Target has admitted the corporation’s supply chain is a bit of a “Frankenstein” and with so many moving parts, it has become unreliable. Target has never been a destination for food since it has expanded into this arena after building a name as a general merchandiser. To assist in this initiative, Target is toying with the idea of contracting a third party supplier to lead the renovation. Target has plans to compete with Wal-Mart and Amazon from an e-commerce and food retailer perspective and to do so, the company will need to move fast. Read more…
Holiday Travel Expected to Hit Record High
Holiday travel is expected to hit an all-time high with experts estimating over 100 million people to travel via road, sea or air this year. AAA states that this is the first time travel has ever exceed 100 million for a given season. The AAA report shows that nearly 1/3 Americans will take a trip this holiday and this is about a 1.3% increase from last year. Due to low gas prices, driving remains the most popular form of travel for the year with as many as 90% of all travelers using the road as their method of travel. AAA is expects to assist as many as 900,000 drivers during a 12 day holiday period. Read more…