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.
Anne Wilson needs little amplification as one of rock’s greatest vocalists (of either gender), but sister Nancy sadly flies under the radar for her guitar chops, rating as one of the most underrated in many accountings. Nevertheless, the two together, and a bevy of great songs, has made the Can-Am band one of the genre’s most indelible.
Add “author” to the list of accomplishments of Edmund Bartlett. It’s a natural evolution for Jamaica’s thoughtful and eloquent tourism minister, who has written a book examining and detailing his passion and advocacy for tourism resilience in the face of disasters and challenges both natural and manmade – from hurricanes to artificial intelligence, and, of course, plagues.
After conducting a comprehensive funding framework review, including the Compensation Fund, the Travel Industry Council of Ontario (TICO) has released its proposals for a future funding model. They include lower annual fees for most members (but higher for some others), the removal of end-supplier coverage of airlines and cruise ships, and – controversially – no consumer pay model.
We’ve done this song before, but let’s be honest, you really can’t hear “Take Me Home Country Roads” too many times. Especially when it’s continually interpreted in so many amazing, creative (sometimes globalized) ways, not least from Izzy Kamakawiwo’ole’s Hawaiian take on a ukelele to Toots & the Maytals plaintiff “almost heaven, West Jamaica.”
On a day on which Ontario’s cottage country was actually hotter than Las Vegas, it seemed only fitting that a team of suppliers and tourism officials from the latter city met with a group of Canadian trade representatives in Muskoka to talk travel. The two-day retreat early this week at the JW Marriott on Lake Rosseau was also meant to symbolize Sin City’s current tagline: “Las Vegas Unplugged.”
Miami brought its new global marketing campaign to Toronto recently at a trade event designed to convey the South Florida city’s many faces and colours. Salsa dancers, cocktail making, and an artistic endeavour guided by a renowned graffiti artist from the city enlivened the event while giving hints of the “Find Your Miami” campaign.
Jamaica’s Tourism Minister has high hopes for Canada – namely making the island the No. 1 destination in the Caribbean from this country, and with no less that a million visitors a year to boot. Currently boasting over 300,000 Canadian visitors a year, Edmund Bartlett has declared a goal of 500,000 annual visitors by 2025, which would eclipse the 400,000 high watermark in 2010.
MSC Cruises celebrated its return to Canada after four years with a series of visits by travel advisors in Saint John, NB; Charlottetown; and Halifax last week as it heads into the fall season for a series of cruises in the Maritime region on return itineraries out of New York.
With a head-spinning array of unique and inspiring choices, the answer to the question, “What should I eat in New Orleans?” is really another question: What shouldn’t I eat? And the answer to that is, essentially, nothing! It’s pretty much all amazing, and a foodie, casual or serious, can’t really go wrong in one of the world’s greatest food cities.
Funny how a song can be inexorably linked to a time or place (or people). For me The Stray Cats will always belong to London, in 1981, where I spent a summer. The likes of Adam and the Ants and two-tone ska bands like Bad Manners made sense there at the time – but the emergence of an American rockabilly band (that was not known in the US yet), did not.
While Canadians are already buying into Arajet’s message of convenient connections to the Caribbean and South and Central America through its Santo Domingo hub, the low-fare airline’s founder and CEO believes sunseekers in this country will also find the soon-to-launch Toronto and Montreal service ideal for transit to the Dominican Republic directly, whether as final destination or for two-island holidays in the Caribbean.
Air Canada Vacations had agents dancing in their seats, literally, as the tour operator concluded its five-city Canadian road show/sun launch spectacle in Toronto last week, following “Dream Bigger” events in Halifax, Vancouver, Edmonton (for the first time), and Montreal.
Cocktails (and swank cocktail bars) are all the rage, from a new Harry Potter-themed space in London to the iconic long bar at Raffles in Singapore, home of the Singapore Sling, and thousands in between. In Toronto, near the top of the list is always the Library Bar at the Royal York Hotel.
One wouldn’t expect to see great bands at a trade show, but give IPW credit, the signature US Travel trade event each year never fails to impress. Each year, one or more of the luncheons features a performance from a great American band, and sometimes someone will even pop up at an evening event. This year in San Antonio, the close to 5,000 delegates (yes, it’s a big lunch) were treated to Counting Crows.
The stars are aligning for Canadian visitations to Britain to hit record numbers and pass the magic million mark – even as soon as next year – but VisitBritain says its trade partners are a critical component of the journey and a key to the destination’s success.
With TICO nearing the completion of its funding review and the Ontario government travel industry regulator’s AGM set for Sept 26, the Canadian Association of Tour Operators (CATO) says it’s “now or never” for reform of the Compensation Fund – something it’s not convinced is going to successfully happen.
ACTA kicked off the first of three cross-county travel industry summits this month in Toronto last week with over 500 attendees, a name change, and a presumed win on federal government debt relief that arrived during the event at the Toronto Congress Centre.
Pent-up demand post COVID, traveller trends towards FIT travel, and industry sustainability have come together to create a “perfect storm” for the growth of train travel, says the CEO and co-owner of Railbookers, a rail tour operator that packages train tickets with all the land elements of a holiday, including hotels and sightseeing.
I’m not sure how far the gospel of Iron & Wine has spread, but Sam Beam (aka I&W) is surely something special and if you haven’t had the pleasure, please accept this introduction. The American singer-songwriter, who hails from the Carolinas, has drawn comparisons to Simon and Garfunkel and Neil Young (at least his softer side), but strikes me more in the Jack Johnson/Ben Harper mold.
With COVID-19 largely in the rearview mirror, Bermuda tourism is back in Canada, rectifying a state of enforced neglect caused by the global pandemic. To that end, a delegation of representatives from the island, led by newly appointed Bermuda Tourism Authority (BTA) CEO Tracy Berkeley and VP of Sales and Development Devin Lewis, visited Toronto recently for a series of meetings with the trade, including a gala industry event at the Hotel X.
Canadian arrivals into Britain are poised to set an all-time record this year. And with an expected 944,000 visitors from this country forecast to find their way to Old Blighty – significantly more than not only 2019 (874k), but also the previous high-water mark in 2017 (911k) – VisitBritain officials are eyeing the magic million mark in 2024.
A British company whose mission is “to help people all over the world make better financial decisions” – and what could be more important than finding cheap beer? – has deduced that the average cost of a pint in Canada is about $3.68 (£1.98) more than the global average.
Disney Cruise Line unveiled its sixth and newest ship – Disney Treasure – yesterday in a virtual video reveal that introduced never-before-released details about the vessel, which is set to sail in December, 2024.
The tiny Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda is flying high. Literally. On Aug. 10, two citizens of the island ventured into space on the Virgin Galactic 02 Spacecraft, making Keisha Schahaff and her daughter Anastatia Mayers worldwide celebrities, but also blasting their country into the international spotlight.
As an all-time favourite of mine, I could (but won’t) launch a Supertramp September of videos, with little limit of great song choices from which to choose (but not many decent clips to accompany). Instead, here’s something from co-frontman Roger Hodgson’s successful solo career, which followed the unfortunate break-up of the British band.