CHANGING THE RULES: What you need to know about the UK’s new ETA
- Starting Nov. 27, Canadians can apply in advance for the United Kingdom’s new Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) form, which will be required by all Canadians entering the UK effective Jan. 8, 2025. Here is everything you need to know.
WESTJET RETURNS SERVICE BETWEEN HALIFAX AND PARIS: Airline offers a robust summer schedule
- WestJet has announced its full summer schedule for 2025, and Nova Scotians will be pleased at the return of summer service from Halifax to Paris, along with an expanded service to Western Canada. Travellers headed for Paris will also benefit from the airline's recently enhanced codeshare partnership with Air France, providing them seamless access to 52 cities across Europe. Additionally, WestJet will kick off service between Nova Scotia’s capital city and Dublin and Edinburgh one month earlier in comparison to the 2024 summer season.
DIPLOMACY AND DOLLARS: Three airlines making the most of Israel war
- At Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport, more than a year of war has taken its toll. Global airlines have cancelled flights, gates are empty and pictures of hostages still held in the Gaza Strip guide the few arriving passengers to the baggage claim. But one check-in desk remains flush with travellers: the one serving flights to the United Arab Emirates, which have kept up a bridge for Israelis to the outside world throughout the war.
SMOG ALERT: ‘Apocalyptic’ New Delhi chokes on air pollution 50 times the safe limit
- Thick, toxic smog enveloped New Delhi on Monday as the air quality became increasingly hazardous in the Indian capital. The deadly haze covered monuments and high-rise buildings in the city of some 33 million, with visibility so low that airlines warned of delays.
TOURISTIFICATION: Airbnb users can play gladiator in Rome’s Colosseum
- The ancient Roman Colosseum will be the venue of gladiator fights – albeit staged – for the first time in two millennia under a $1.5-million sponsorship deal with Airbnb that aims to promote “a more conscious tourism.” Critics, however, say the plan is a disgrace that simply eats away at the essence of “the Eternal City.”
BACK IN BLACK: Black Friday travel offers
- Black Friday (Nov. 29) is now considered the biggest shopping day of the year (ahead of Boxing Day), and it’s hard to find a travel supplier that isn’t eager to try to get in on the action which typically extends to Cyber Monday, ‘Travel Tuesday’ (Dec. 3) and, in many cases, the lead up to, and days or weeks following the event. Here, at a glance, are some of this year’s best travel deals – some of them already ongoing and/or offering travel advisors pre-sale access.
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IS U.S. MPOX CASE A CAUSE FOR CONCERN?
- Health officials say they have confirmed the first US case of a new form of mpox that was first seen in eastern Congo. The person had travelled to eastern Africa and was treated in Northern California upon return, according to the California Department of Public Health. Symptoms are improving and the risk to the public is low.
SPIRIT IN THE SKY NO MORE?: U.S. carrier files for bankruptcy
- Spirit Airlines said Monday that it has filed for bankruptcy protection and will attempt to reboot as it struggles to recover from the pandemic-caused swoon in travel and a failed attempt to sell the airline to JetBlue. But the US’s biggest budget airline said it expects to operate as normal as it works its way through a prearranged Chapter 11 bankruptcy process and that customers can continue to book and fly without interruption.
RETAIL ROUND-UP: Direct Travel, Ensemble, Quark Expeditions, Virtuoso
- Direct Travel advisors attended a GEM of an event in Costa Rica; Ensemble has announced its first-ever hosted LGBTQ+ sailing; Virtuoso VIPs assembled in Slovenia; and four Canadian agents were trip winners in Quark Expeditions’ ‘Ultimate Summer in The Arctic Sweepstakes.’
WESTJET’S 2025 GROWTH SPURT: Summer schedule released
- WestJet has released its summer schedule for 2025, featuring 10% growth network wide and domestic growth of 12%. Highlights include two new domestic and three new transborder destinations, along with 11 new routes across its network.
WHY TRAVEL ADVISORS SHOULD BE CTC/CTMS
- ACTA is encouraging travel advisors to earn Certified Travel Counselor (CTC) or Certified Travel Manager (CTM) status and is offering a 30% discount off registration fees this fall to help them do so. The CTC and CTM certifications are the only designations recognized nationwide in Canada.
IT AIN’T OVER TILL IT’S OVER: What are the prospects for more November hurricanes?
- As the third named storm to emerge during November, Tropical Storm Sara serves as a reminder that the Atlantic hurricane season hasn't quite ended. Sara formed in the western Caribbean Sea before making landfall Thursday on the northern coast of Honduras, dumping torrential rains in a slow weekend crawl across parts of Central America.