AT IPW
Los Angeles welcomes the world at ‘watershed’ moment
IPW kicked off on the weekend with Los Angeles welcoming 5,700 delegates at the California city’s latest incarnation of US Travel’s largest inbound travel show, though first in 12 years. A delegation of over 100 Canadian trade and media (including Travel Industry Today) began trickling in late last week for weekend events and Saturday’s opening night gala at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. MORE
WESTJET SCHEDULES COULD BE REDUCED
Issues 72-hour lockout notice to mechanics union
WestJet has issued a 72-hour lockout notice to the union representing its mechanics, and warns a work stoppage could happen as early as Tuesday. The Calgary-based airline says in a statement that the decision follows an announcement of a strike vote by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, which represents approximately 670 aircraft maintenance engineers and skilled trade groups with the carrier. MORE
A UNITED VISION FOR NATURE
Tourism organizations launch ‘historic’ nature-positive partnership
The leading players of Travel & Tourism globally have published a landmark joint report setting out their joint plan to help halt and reverse biodiversity loss. The project marks a new collaborative era in the sector says the partner, which launched "Nature Positive Travel & Tourism in Action" in April in conjunction with Earth Month. MORE
SOUTHWEST WANTS LESS QUIRK, MORE CASH
Southwest Airlines is studying changes to its quirky boarding and seating policies as it searches for ways to raise more revenue. Airline officials say they are studying possible changes but won’t have anything to announce until September. That tease is leading to speculation about whether Southwest might ditch some longstanding traditions, including the practice of passengers picking their own seats only after they board a plane. MORE
CATALONIA WEIGHS WATER RESTRICTIONS FOR TOURISTS
As jurisdictions like Venice increasingly look to regulate visitors to help solve local problems, Spain’s drought-stricken Catalonia is considering imposing water restrictions on tourists in the driest parts of the region if domestic consumption is not curtailed. The restriction of 100 litres per tourist per day for hotels would go into effect if a municipality fails to keep domestic water use by residents below established limits for three consecutive months under the current “drought emergency” for the northeastern region. MORE
NO BIGGER CELEBRATION
Madonna transforms Rio’s Copacabana beach into a massive dance floor
Madonna put on a free concert on Copacabana beach Saturday night, turning Rio de Janeiro's vast stretch of sand into an enormous dance floor teeming with a multitude of her fans. It was the last show of The Celebration Tour, her first retrospective, which kicked off in October in London. MORE
Air Canada dropped new seat selection fees (for now), ACTA opened nominations for its annual awards and Dubai announced it is planning a $35-billion airport and urban growth project. In other round-up from last week, food service workers went back to work at Pearson, but Transat flight dispatchers voted for a strike mandate. Meanwhile, travel advisors received the seal of approval from CLIA for their outsized influence in cruise bookings. MORE
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AIR CANADA SEES ‘STRONG SIGNALS’ ON BUSINESS TRAVEL
Canadians' diminishing appetite for post-pandemic travel helped nudge Air Canada to an $81-million first quarter loss, though the company boosted passenger revenues by nearly 11 percent year over year in the quarter ended March 31. The airline also says it is seeing “very strong signals” on business travel on the horizon. MORE
AIRBNB MOVING ON UP
Unveils exotic, ‘iconic’ new experiences
In a mad mix of game-show glitter and marketing flash, Airbnb is offering customers a chance to spend a night in a Paris museum, stay in houses mocked up to look like movie settings, or sleep surrounded by eight Ferrari racing cars. Those and other chimerical listings are part of a splashy new campaign by the short-term rental giant, which wants to portray itself as a company that sells experiences and not just alternatives to staying in a hotel. MORE
TOURISM BUZZ IN AFGHANISTAN? Taliban tap growing visitor interest
Around 30 men are crammed into a Kabul classroom, part of the debut student cohort at a Taliban-run institute training tourism and hospitality professionals. The students vary in age, education level and professional experience. They're all men – Afghan women are banned from studying beyond sixth grade – and they don't know anything about tourism or hospitality. But they are all eager to promote a different side of Afghanistan. And the Taliban are happy to help. MORE
WESTJET HAS HIGH HOPES FOR HALIFAX, ATLANTIC CANADA
In visit to Halifax this week, WestJet Group CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech detailed the airline’s efforts and growth strategy in the region, including the resumption of transatlantic service, increased service to popular sun destinations in the winter, and enhanced east-to-west domestic air service to connect Canadians from coast-to-coast. MORE
CRYING WOLF
Tourist boycott urged after man tortures animal in Wyoming
Amid accusations that a man struck a wolf with a snowmobile, taped its mouth shut and showed off the injured animal at a Wyoming bar before killing it, wildlife advocates are leading a call for a boycott by tourists of the conservative ranching state over laws that give people wide leeway to kill gray wolves with little oversight. MORE
MSC CRUISES GETTING INTO THE SWING OF THINGS
When MSC Cruises’ World America enters service in 2025, it will feature Cliffhanger, the only over-water swing ride at sea. The swing will tower above the new US flagship’s top deck, promising adrenaline junkies a one-of-a-kind, edge-of-your-seat thrill as their view oscillates between the water below and the sky above. MORE
LISTENING IN
Any friend of Leonid is a friend of mine
One of the things I most love is receiving recommendations from readers, often introducing bands I’ve never heard of. This week I offer we-are-not-worthy plaudits to Visit Fort Lauderdale’s Paul Mason, who urged me by to check out Leonid & Friends, an amazing band he was going to see. MORE