Sent to: All Skål International Members
NOTES FROM THE
EDITOR

Significant changes and exciting times are ahead!
MESSAGE FROM
THE PRESIDENT

The New Normal
MESSAGE FROM
THE CEO

The strength of the group in difficult times
By Paolo Bartolozzi, International Councillor at Skål International Italy
"The International Skål Council has been working on new Skål Club opportunities – this month, we would like to focus on Italy and the progress in this area.

Two new Skål International clubs opened in Italy since the beginning of the pandemic: Pompei and Calabria. A third club, Napoli, is in the final stages of preparation and will open in a couple of weeks. In each case, Skål International Roma acted as a catalyst and a facilitator providing guidance and logistics, and financial services following a method that is proving simple, efficient, and successful."
Find out the latest news from clubs and National Committees!

In this issue you will discover stories from Chiangmai & North Thailand, Goa, Harare, Kvarner, Mexico clubs, Mexico National Committee, Miami, New Orleans, Roma, Roma & Bucharest, Tampa Bay and Toronto.
Skålleague of the Month
"This month we are hosting Savas Colakoglu at the very first Skålleague Spotlight section.

He was selected as the spotlight for July 2021 due to his restless promotional activities in the media in Turkey to promote Skål International despite the pandemic."

Burcin Turkkan, Senior Vice President at Skål International.
The 20th edition of the Sustainable Tourism Awards has proved to be another success, with 50 entries received from 27 countries worldwide. Since the launch of these awards during 2002, the International Year of Ecotourism, we have counted with the interest of 907 participants from the public and private sectors, NGO's and government agencies to enter these awards.

Read the full article to find out the list of participants in this edition as well as their category and country of origin:
An article by Chris Barzman, Sustainable Tourism Consultant & Principal Barzman Consulting 
"As tourism re-starts and visitors begin to return to the Hawaiian Islands, after more than a year-long absence, there is a ground swell from the local community to re-evaluate our model to make a concerted effort to position tourism as a force for the greater good of the community."
Skål International website
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"Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the hot topics these days. Especially after the beginning of the pandemic, the much-expected involvement of big data and AI has taken a significantly faster pace in almost every industry. The travel industry, more specifically the hospitality industry, is among those industries.
However, this is a hot topic now; the concept of AI not new at all..."
An article by June Seminario, Director Operations Support at IHG Americas
"Not too long ago we were talking about the prospects of a vaccine with a sense of optimism. Vaccines are vital for the travel and hospitality businesses to return to normal. The hotel industry has and will continue to evolve now and post pandemic.

At IHG Hotels & Resorts, we are committed to meeting our guests’ expectations in the current environment. There was no playbook, we had to move fast to address challenges and adapt to change to keep people safe and our business strong.  We are working diligently to do things right to ensure our guests, our people, and our industry comes out stronger than before."
Skål International Benefits
Following our agreement with the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), Skål International offers all its members the possibility to implement the #SafeTravels Stamp in their companies.
The process is very easy and speady since the #SafeTravels Stamp is a guide for each company to apply these globally approved protocols under their own responsibility.
Login required
Skål Resource Centre
Recorded Webinars
To learn more about the implementation of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) #SafeTravels Stamp, Skål International organised on 29 June the webinar 'WTTC's Safe Travels Stamp: How to implement it in your business to establish traveler confidence'.
In the session led by Daniela Otero, CEO of Skål International, the importance of implementing the Safe Travels Stamp in businesses to ensure traveler confidence, an initiative of the WTTC, which we have recently joined, was presented, as well as the process for Skål International members to implement it.
The webinar 'Planning for a safe restart of the tourism industry' was held on 31 May 2021 by Skål International with the participation of Harvard TH Chan University and Universidad de Málaga.
Watch the recording of the webinar!
Check the latest webinars
Different topics and sessions to keep updated and improve your professional skills.
Check them out!
Trends & Insights
A collection of resources
to stay updated with the
industry and anticipate
future trends.
UNWTO Tourism Data Dashboard
e-Hotelier
Insights
The UNWTO/IATA
Destination Tracker
New members at Skål International
We are delighted to welcome 139 new members to Skål International between 16 June and 15 July 2021. We are proud that up to 22 countries have registered an increase in membership.

My sincere congratulations to all the clubs that have seen their membership increase! Thank you for your hard work and efforts!

Daniela Otero
CEO Skål International
Membership Anniversary
We are inaugurating a new section to congratulate those members with more than 10 years of membership!
Download here the list of all these members.
Congratulations to all of them!
By Wolfgang Hofmann, Secretary Skål International Düsseldorf
The second survey for the Skål Travel and Tourism global Index (Skål TTgI) has started.
"Answers come dribbling in with some great comments. The situation still is mixed, some improvement on one hand but total lockdown on the other hand..."
By Antonio García del Valle, Honorary President
We continue to uncover pieces of Skål International's history from its beginnings with Honorary President Antonio García del Valle.

On this occasion, we return to the events of 1936...
Best Western
Register Before You Stay!
Best Western Rewards® members who register and stay between May 17 and September 6, 2021 at any Best Western® branded hotel in the United States, Canada or the Caribbean will get one $20 Best Western Gift card for each night they stay, up to 5 nights.

Gift Cards will be sent electronically to the Best Western Rewards member's email address approximately 1-2 weeks after the completed stay. Limit 5 gift cards.

* Best Western gift card(s) expire on November 30, 2021.
Tourism Now. Skål International Magazine
Here you have available the latest edition of our magazine, dedicated this time to sustainable tourism. Feel free to share it with your contacts and colleagues in the tourism industry!
Erratum Tourism Now #282 (english edition)

The first sentence on page 16 should read as follows
"The history of Skål International in Asia dates to the year 1934, when the first club in Asia was formed and continues to grow in strength."
Skål Now. Skål International Newsletter
Did you miss the last issue of 'Skål Now', the newsletter of Skål International for its members? Here is the latest edition!
We want to improve!
Please do not hesitate to contact [email protected] with any questions or suggestions for new editions of Skål Now. Thank you for your interest.
Editor
Burcin Turkkan
Senior Vice President
Skål International
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