It’s been an “incredible” year for Nassau Paradise Island (NPI), from the opening of the city’s spectacular new cruise port to a Golden Jubilee, plus landmark hotel happenings and record arrivals. And in Canada, the return of representation for the NPI Promotion Board, which has “ambitious” goals for the destination in this country.
Sunwing Vacations is always ready to help your mutual clients – so you don’t have to! So says the tour company’s VP of Sales & Business Development, Deana Murphy, who told top agents recently at the company’s annual Christmas lunch with RIU that “we have a wonderful team in every destination, and they are there to help.”
Ever wonder what the head of a national travel conglomerate dreams about for Christmas? Since we’re pretty sure it isn’t sugar plums, we thought we’d ask Nathalie Tanious, the newly minted President and CEO of HIS-Red Label Vacations Inc., which operates TravelBrands and its many familiar tour divisions (among them Sunquest, Intair, Encore Cruises, and Exotic Journeys), as well as such retail brands as Red Tag, Merit, and itravel2000.
Can you believe its been 50 years since the release of “Band on the Run,” Paul McCartney’s best post-Beatles album, which not surprisingly was the top-selling album in Canada (amongst other places) in 1974?
A new study says leisure travel will be “robust” for at least the next decade – including forecasted outbound spending and growth from Canada by the year 2033. And while that’s good news for the travel industry, the Oxford Tourism Economics study portends changes in global patterns and holiday destinations that are already starting to take shape now.
Visit Orlando, in association with a full delegation of theme park, hotel, transportation and attraction partners, called in Calgary, Toronto and Halifax last week for the tour association’s annual “Orlando Canadian Sunshine Tour,” attracting close to 500 enthusiastic travel advisors across the three events that resulted in record-breaking attendance for the mission.
When the winter gets tough in central Europe the tough get… festive, as age-old Christmas markets spring up across the region to help cast a warm glow over the snow. Among the most famous are markets in Germany, where most of the historic Weihnachtsmarkt/ Christkindlmarkts are now in full swing (most starting in mid to late November and continuing until just before Christmas and in some cases a few days after).
The cost of maintaining the Travel Industry Council of Ontario (TICO) may outweigh the provincial regulator’s benefits to consumers, says Ontario’s auditor general in it’s just-released “value for money” audit. The wide-ranging report extensively, though not exclusively, examined the province’s tourism sector (including government), providing third-party observations and suggested “actions.”
Hawaii is ready for Canadians, and other visitors, to return – particularly to Maui, which suffered from devastating wildfires earlier this fall and is still on the road to recovery. But while the Hawaii Tourism Authority acknowledges that while many visitors “respectfully” stayed away from Hawaii in the aftermath of the calamity, the islands are now really ready for their return.
A new team of BDMs for Canada, new and renovated resorts, plus new services – from elite amenities to foamy pool parties – highlight a busy year for RIU Hotels & Resorts, which celebrated the holiday season last week with Sunwing at the travel partners’ 10th annual trade lunch at a venue north of Toronto.
If it seems that Canadian airlines are announcing or inaugurating new routes almost every day, it’s because they are. And while that’s great news for consumers as the increased competition helps drive down fares from unprecedented peaks at the tail end of the pandemic, as one industry observer stated at a travel event in Toronto this week: “It’s like the old days – there’s too much capacity out there.”
It was a curious event, on many levels. “Europe invites the curious” was the theme, but the Toronto trade gala last week was also the first-ever collaboration between the European Travel Commission (ETC) and the Canadian Association of Tour Operators (CATO).
Despite concerns over the war in neighbouring Israel-Gaza, Egypt’s tourism and antiquities minister believes the middle eastern country is just scratching the surface of its tourism potential. Ahmed Issa that his country is poised to reach 15 million visitors this year, having already posted record numbers in the first half of the year.
A friend recently urged me to check out an album called “Uncorked” by Al Stewart, whom you may recall from his classic hits “Year of the Cat” and “Time Passages.” The acoustic-style album is amazing and inspired me to delve back into the catalogue of a long-time (but, tragically, a little forgotten) favourite from the past.
The way Valerie Damaseau sees it, the reason for her recent visit to Canada was simple: “To bring some sunshine into your lives!” And while she may have been speaking hypothetically, as president of the tourist office of sunny St. Martin, it didn’t seem out of the realm of possibility.
The Cuba Tourist Board thanked its agent partners for helping make Canada the country’s No. 1 market at a gala event late last week at Toronto’s Palais Royale – a glittering venue that Canadian tourist board director Lessner Gomez likened to Havana’s famed Tropicana cabaret, even if the weather outside wasn’t quite the same as on the Caribbean island.
WTM London 2023 (World Travel Market) wrapped up last week with the world’s largest English-language trade show giving all appearances of being its first to truly take place in a post-pandemic world. While the P word was still prevalent, the W word (war) carried more resonance, not least due to the not-surprising absence of Israel tourism delegates.
I’d been mulling over this song for awhile, but when the opening violin intro came on at a wedding reception I attended recently caused a rush to the dance floor I accepted it as a sign, and immediately headed for YouTube. Dexys Midnight Runners are considered a one-hit wonder and even Homer Simpson joked in an episode, “You haven’t heard the last of them!”
World Travel Market London kicks off today in the British capital with the annual event expected to be 20% larger than last year as the industry continues its surging post-pandemic recovery. Travel Industry Today is onsite at the ExCel venue in east London and will offer coverage in the days, weeks, and months to come, reflecting the always overwhelming amount of information disseminated at the world’s largest English language travel and tourism trade fair.
We don’t use AI. Indeed, Travel Industry Today produces content the old-fashioned way – by real people, who really travel, and through travel industry sources cultivated literally for decades. I mention this because a just-released survey by The Canadian Journalism Foundation reports that fully one-half of Canadians admit they are not confident in their ability to distinguish between fake news generated by AI and human-produced content.
It’s hard to pick a song for Electric Light Orchestra – after all, during the British band’s heyday (1973-86), the Jeff Lynne-led collective boasted 15 Top 20 songs on the Billboard chart (and 27 in their home country), not least the innovative Chucky Berry-Beethoven (Ludvig von) mash-up, “Roll Over Beethoven.” But since that classic clocks in at eight minutes and nine seconds, I’ve opted here for something a little more concise.
Despite his 20-month tenure at WestJet being “quite a roller coaster for sure” through the pandemic and its aftermath, WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech is enthused about his prospects for the company, for which he boldly proclaims, “We want to be the national leisure champions for Canada from coast to coast.”
With more than 12.2 million crossing the border in the first seven months of the year, “Canadian travel to the US is coming back strong,” Brand USA’s Staci Mellman told attendees at the recent 15th annual Discover America Day – Canada media event in Toronto. “Woo hoo!” she added with as much eloquence as the term can allow.
Travel Leaders Network completed its annual fall Canadian Regional events last week with more than 550 enthusiastic advisors having attended across three cities – Edmonton, Vancouver, and Toronto (West). Dubbed “Peak” (Programs, Education, Advisors and Knowledge), the at-capacity events were a mix of training and business advancement and enhancement sessions, networking with suppliers and peers, and a bustling trade show.
Unless you’ve been living under a tombstone, you’re no doubt familiar with “The Monster Mash,” Halloween’s most quintessential song. It’s been recorded/performed countless times, from the Beach Boys to Van Halen; there are even ska and reggae versions by Bad Manners and Bruce Springsteen respectively. But the definitive – and original – version was by Bobby “Boris” Pickett, which was a graveyard smash, topping the charts in 1962. This is not that song.
Africa is booming, the Middle East not so much, travel advisors learned at Goway Travel’s annual showcase for the destinations in Toronto this week. It was the 12th time the Toronto-based tour company hosted the multi-day event for agents and suppliers, but first since before the pandemic.
Energized by new flights to the country by Transat starting this winter – the first direct flights from Canada since the pandemic – PromPeru hosted a gathering in Toronto last week to update the trade on the latest news from the South American country. Among the guests were reps from tour operators offering Peru tours and product: Goway, G Adventures, Intrepid, Collette, and TTC Tour Brands.
With Air Canada flights starting this winter and a new Sandals resort set to open in the spring, there’s a buzz about Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, an idyllic Caribbean destination that has flown under the radar from Canada somewhat in the past, but is poised for major growth from this market, and elsewhere.
In 2010, the Sydney Opera House embarked on a project to record the Nick Cave (and the Bad Seeds) indie classic “The Ship Song” as a tribute – and anthem – to the famous Australian landmark and cultural cathedral.
Starting Dec. 16, English Canada will at last have direct access to Martinique – previously the preserve of French Canadians (or those traveling through Montreal) alone. The Air Canada service builds on 14 years of flights from YUL and marks the first-ever flights from YYZ to the magnificent Caribbean island, which is an overseas territory of France.