Declaring the pandemic now endemic, Brand USA, the nation’s destination marketing organization, opened IPW 2023 last week showcasing the country as an unrivalled travel destination that is poised for a historic year in travel.
From a boat-float parade along its famous River Walk to a closing night gala at The Alamo, delegates will long remember this year’s IPW in San Antonio as US travel officially emerged from the pandemic.
Four years after buying a bust for $34.99 at a goodwill store in Austin, Texas, Laura Young said goodbye this week to a friend as the priceless 2,000-year-old Roman artifact headed home to Europe.
Last week we looked at a host of SoCal destinations – some familiar, some less so – whose delegates attended the recent visit California sales mission in Niagara on the Lake, having put the insiders on the spot to tell us one thing they wished a Canadian knew about their region. Here’s Part 2, covering the middle and northern parts of the Golden State (starting north of Los Angeles).
Canadian travel agents are helping the Caribbean reach record levels of tourism this year – boosted by a whopping 132% increase in bookings by travellers using retail travel agents – far ahead of the international norm.
Visit California was in town (well, Niagara on the Lake) recently, which, naturally leads to wine talk. And California wine makes me think of Chris Isaak. Why? Because a few years ago I was at the Robert Mondavi winery in the Napa Valley for dinner (spectacular, I might add), and was greeted by a roadside marquee: “Chris Isaak performing.”
It didn’t take The Mamas and the Papas to start Canadians dreaming about California. Indeed, with visitation numbers from this country expected to reach pre-pandemic levels this year – and surpass them in 2024 – many Canadians are ready to turn dreams to reality again and return to the Golden State.
Travellers may have little say on how climate crisis affects the places they visit and love, but they could play a more prominent role in helping them recover from environmental calamities if a bold idea by Jamaica’s tourism minister takes hold.
With travel to the Caribbean at 99% of pre pandemic levels the region is in a “pretty fantastic” place, the president of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association told delegates at last week’s 41st annual Caribbean Travel Marketplace in Barbados.
The UK will be rocking tomorrow (May 6) with the coronation of Charles III. But if you’re not already in London, odds are there’s a TV remote with your name on it. But not all is lost: the capital, and the rest of the country, will be celebrating for weeks and months to come, and visitors will find a host of special events and exhibitions, experiences, hotel packages, plus food and drink – all dedicated to the UK’s royal history, and the remarkable milestone of its present king.
Bounteous Belize, a colourful combo of Central America and the Caribbean,
is reporting a positive outlook for its tourism sector and expects to come close to full post-pandemic recovery this year, in part with the help of the Canadian market.
Today, May 3, is an auspicious day. It is national lumpy rug day. Tomorrow, national Star Wars day, Friday tuba day, and so forth, until packaging design day at the end of the week. But in the annals of national day lore, the first Wednesday of May is also, most importantly, Travel Agent Appreciation Day.
Sleepy (and chilly) Niagara on the Lake, Ont., got a healthy dose of California tourism sunshine last week as the state’s tourist board checked into town for its annual Canadian sales mission, attracting close to 40 members of the Canadian travel trade, along with an equal cohort of destination and supplier representatives from the Golden State.
For a little over a decade, Seattle’s The Head and the Heart has been looking down from the top of the charts – not so much the mainstream ones, but indie, folk, and alternative.
With Seabourn marking a major construction milestone for its second purpose-built expedition vessel Seabourn Pursuit with a traditional coin ceremony at Italian shipyard this month, there was no better time for the company to call in Canada for sessions with the trade to highlight the cruise line’s growing expedition travel segment.
If there is anything good that’s come out of the pandemic, says Uniglobe Travel Eastern Canada President Dean Dacko, it’s this: appreciation and respect for travel agents has never been greater – from both consumers and suppliers.
Whether you’re going to the London for the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla on May 6, or just happen to be toddling through town at the time, the historic event is guaranteed to be an all-encompassing experience for both residents and visitors, with both pleasures and annoyances certain to reveal themselves in the days leading up to, and during, Coronation Weekend.
In the face of the world of travel becoming increasingly more “complicated” and, in particular El Al suspending service to Canada as of last October, Israel’s tourism consul for Canada says the tourist board wants to help those selling Israel move forward and succeed – and has introduced new programs to help them do so.
Laser Floyd. Two words that said it all about Pink Floyd and a generational right of passage (totally sober, of course) in the years following the 1973 release of the band’s epic, now iconic album “Dark Side Of The Moon.”
Jack Johnson has always fascinated on many levels. An amazing singer-songwriter in the Cat Stevens mold, he was a professional surfer before music and is an active environmental and charitable crusader.
A vintage event space on Toronto’s King Street was a long way from sunny Santa Monica, California – but maybe that was the point as tourism partners from the Los Angeles-area community rolled into town recently on their annual Canadian sales mission, the first since the pandemic.
With the news that Queen – with lead singer Adam Lambert – is set to hit the road this fall for a North American expansion of their Rhapsody Tour, which will include a stop in Toronto, it got us to thinking about some of the band’s frontmen (and women) since the gone-too-soon passing of Freddie Mercury.
El Al Israel Airlines would like to return to Canada, but there is “no date circled on the calendar” for that to happen, admits the carrier’s Sr. VP Sales for North America.
With Air Canada set to boost service to Seattle from eastern Canada on May 1, the time was right this week for tourism types to drop in on the trade in Toronto and Montreal to tout the northwestern US city.
With arrivals forecast to grow 20 percent over 2019 numbers this spring and nearly 50% in summer, the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association says it has a “very, very positive outlook” for the year.
While most of Britain will be celebrating the coronation of King Charles III this spring, the quaint Cotswold town of Malmesbury will also be looking back over a thousand years to another other milestone: the crowning of the first king of Britain – Athelstone, who is today the town’s most famous son.
One of the great things about satellite radio, unlike regular (car) radio, is the enormous range of stations (and subsequently songs) available. And with such diversity comes the occasional re-discovery of a song once loved, but somehow entirely forgotten, like one I heard the other day – “Beach Baby,” a one-hit wonder from (the surprisingly British) band The First Class.
Germany is “bullish” on its prospects for travel from Canada this year – after all, the European nation saw 253% year-over-year increase in overnight stays in 2022. And while any statistics these days are inherently inflated due to diminished travel during the pandemic, the German National Tourist Board expects travellers to continue to rediscover, or continue to, travel again with gusto this year.
Few will dispute that Stratford-upon-Avon is all about Shakespeare. But what if you’re not barmy about the bard? Is a visit to the English town dedicated to the birth, life, death – and legacy – of the world’s greatest playwright worth the time? To visit or not visit, that is the question.
It might only be the second biggest event in the UK this May (see King Charles lII, Coronation of), but the Eurovision Song Contest is a big deal in Britain (and elsewhere in Europe). And this year’s event, to be held in Liverpool May 8-13, has increased significance as the northern British city – known for its musical chops – has stepped in as a substitute for Ukraine, the originally scheduled host.