By Michael Baginski/ The Visit Portugal Roadshow rolls into Vancouver today (Oct. 23) after stops in Toronto and Montreal earlier in the week, giving over 300 travel advisors and tour operators a chance to catch up on the latest news from one of travel’s bona fide “it” destinations, and one that is particularly popular with Canadians.
By Michael Baginski/ It’s certainly no secret that Canadian travel patterns have changed this year, as many travellers look beyond the U.S. for alternative destinations that are not imposing tariffs or teasing about statehood. Indeed, data from Statistics Canada bears out what we all know anecdotally, but it also provides interesting nuance and perspective on how Canadians really feel about travel to Trump’s America – and where else they’re going.
By Michael Baginski/ Vienna stands out as a culture landmark of Europe, but next year the Austrian capital is sinking its teeth into a new theme – it’s food. In 2026, many of the activities of the Vienna Tourist Board will be dedicated to the theme of culinary delights. At the centre is Viennese cuisine – the only cuisine in the world named after a city.
By Michael Baginski/ Given the “current environment,” it’s not surprising that Canadian travel to the U.S. is suffering a “serious decline,” says an executive for Brand USA, who nevertheless suggests that things could be worse, even if Mexico has recently surpassed Canada as the U.S.’s top international source market for visitors.
By Michael Baginski/When Rockin’1000 says it’s the Biggest Rock Band on Earth, it ain’t kidding – it’s a group comprised of 1,000 members – singers, drummers, and guitarists – that astonishingly come together in unison to play rock anthems at mega stadium concerts around the world.
By Michael Baginski/ A day of celebrating with industry was hardly enough to contain 25th anniversary celebrations for RIT Royal Irish Tours and the company’s affable founder Ian Duffy, who started the suburban Toronto-based tour operator in the tumultuous days after 9/11, but nevertheless saw the business thrive and grow, and is now looking to the next a quarter century with a second generation of Duffys in the fold.
By Michael Baginski/ Rory Gallagher is having a moment, seemingly all over the Internet these days. “The greatest guitarist you’ve never heard” was considered Ireland’s first rock star in the early ‘70s and influenced a who’s who of subsequent guitar gods, from the Edge to Slash and even Canada’s own Alex Lifeson (Rush), plus many others.
By Michael Baginski/ Coinciding with new flights from Toronto, the Guadeloupe Islands are upping the ante in Canada with the appointment of Toronto-based representation firm VoX International to promote the appeal of the French Caribbean archipelago in this country. And the first order of business was a trade event in Toronto on Tuesday evening hosted by the islands’ tourist board.
By Michael Baginski/ The days of Jamaican patties on the buffet are long gone, but travel advisors across the country are nevertheless getting a generous helping of love from TravelBrands at three agent appreciation events this week, with close to 1,500 people expected across the launches, the first of them held in Vancouver last night (Monday), with Toronto and Montreal following on Wednesday (Oct. 8) and Thursday (Oct. 9) respectively. They are the first shows in 18 months by the tour company and the first in Vancouver since before the pandemic.
Canada’s beloved ‘Come from Away’ is hitting the high seas for the first time ever courtesy of Cunard, which is introducing the acclaimed theatrical production on the maiden Caribberan voyage of the Queen Elizabeth on Oct. 16 and continuing throughout the vessel’s winter season.
By Michael Baginski/ The Florida Keys isn’t your typical Florida (or U.S.) destination. Sometimes quirky, always laid back, the Keys stretches for 200 km south from Miami over the Atlantic Ocean, Florida Bay, and Gulf of Mexico, boasting great year-round weather and a feeling of being in the Caribbean without leaving the North American continent.
By Michael Baginski/ From comprehensive travel trade training to a myriad of individual incentives by partners in destination, Canadian travel advisors will find plenty of tools and opportunities to help increase their sales to the Florida Keys, and discover the destination for themselves.
By Michael Baginski/ Like Rush and AC/DC (amongst a few other others), you’ve got to love a band like Blackberry Smoke that has the hops to have its own beer (Blackberry Smoke American Lager, sold on its website); better still, you’ve got to love a band that recalls vintage Lynyrd Skynyrd and Black Crowes, yet with enough of its own style to be fresh and original within a swampy southern rock context.
By Michael Baginski/ As Canadians “pivot” towards alternative destinations to the U.S. amidst ongoing Trump tribulations across the border, Britain is poised to pick up some of the pieces, with all signs pointing to a banner year for the destination this year and into 2026, according to VisitBritain.
By Michael Baginski/ A team of close to two dozen tourism professionals from Louisiana, led by Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser, are visiting Canada this week with a simple message: “Come when you’re ready, we’re here with open arms!”
By Michael Baginski/ Rick Davies, the lead singer and co-founder of British band Supertramp, has died after a long battle with cancer. Davies, who co-wrote the band’s music with Roger Hodgson, was the voice and pianist behind some of Supertramp’s most iconic songs, including “Bloody Well Right,” “Crime of the Century,” and “Goodbye Stranger.”
By Michael Baginski/ Helping take punk mainstream, Billy Idol burst on the scene in the early ‘80s with a pair of hits from his 1882 debut album: “Dancing With Myself,” and the now iconic “White Wedding.”
By Michael Baginski/ I first met Canadian travel industry legend Pat Dineen on a press trip to Greece in the early 1990s. We got to know each other sipping ouzo in a harbour café in a postcard-perfect Greek fishing village, moon overhead, the strains of bouzouki in the air, and Pat was talking about… sumo.
By Michael Baginski/ Mick Jagger has certainly had his fair share of amazing duet partners, including the likes of Tina Turner, David Bowie and Lady Gaga. Not to be outdone, the second most famous Rolling Stone paired up with the incomparable jazz-pop singer Norah Jones to register his own claim on the well-known ballad “Love Hurts.”
By Michael Baginski/ It was only natural that Goway would convene the inaugural gathering of its recently constituted Travel Advisory Board on one of the travel company’s most important days of the year: its annual exhibition cricket match gala with Air New Zealand at the Toronto Cricket Club.
By Michael Baginski/ We recently introduced Imelda May (if an intro is in fact needed) in a guest starring role with the legendary late guitarist Jeff Beck. It’s only fair then to give the powerhouse Irish vocalist her own turn in the spotlight, in this case belting out a raucous version of the Soft Cell favourite “Tainted Love.”
Nothing says summer like wildfires, blistering heat waves, torrential rains… Er, I mean, nothing says summer in Canada like patio lanterns, a vibe Kim Mitchell captured in his 1986 classic, um, “Patio Lanterns.”
By Michael Baginski/ In advance of the 100th birthday of B.B. King on Sept. 16, Memphis Tourism in partnership with B.B. King’s Blues Club on Beale Street and the Blues Foundation Blue Hall of Fame, is celebrating “100 Days of Blues” in tribute to the life and legacy of the legendary bluesman with special events, entertainment, themed tours, and exhibits.
By Michael Baginski/ Last week was a tough one for music with the deaths of Ozzy Osbourne and Chuck Mangione (and pop culture in general if you count Hulk Hogan*). It’s not surprising then that another loss – that of George Kooymans – sadly slipped under the radar. The Dutch rock star may not have been a well-known outside the Netherlands, but his band, Golden Earring, and their classic song “Radar Love,” certainly are.
Ozzy Osbourne, the gloomy, demon-invoking lead singer of the pioneering band Black Sabbath who became the throaty, growling voice – and drug-and-alcohol ravaged id – of heavy metal, died Tuesday, just weeks after his farewell show. He was 76. In 2020, he revealed he had Parkinson’s disease after suffering a fall.
By Michael Baginski/ I sometimes feel like I was a little AWOL in the ‘90s – culturally that is. In my defence there was marriage, new home, kids (towards the end of the decade), dog, first job in travel (and lots of travelling) … You get the idea. And it’s how I undoubtedly utterly missed Primal Scream – my absolute favourite musical discovery of this year, 2025.
By Michael Baginski/ Grenada continues to be a popular destination for Canadians, but with many currently looking for new destinations beyond the U.S., the island’s new CEO of tourism thinks the time is ripe to make an even stronger case for the Spice Island.
By Michael Baginski/ ACTA’s 35th annual golf tournament last week marked a milestone on more than just the course as the association’s popular president Wendy Paradis officially celebrated her last day with the organization before retirement and passed the torch to Suzanne Acton-Gervais, who made her first official outing after being announced for the job.
By Michael Baginski/ The annual U.S Travel Association IPW trade show is typically a treasure trove of music, playing to America’s outsized influence on popular culture. This year in Chicago, the event was highlighted by a special Travel South USA partners conference featuring Darius Rucker, aka Hootie of Hootie & the Blowfish.
By Michael Baginski/ Bob Harris says there’s so much more to Myrtle beach than golf. After all, Canadians who told him so. The executive VP of group sales for Visit Myrtle Beach said his own misconception that Canadians mainly admire the South Carolina destination for its world class golf (mini and masters) was quickly corrected by in-the-know visitors from north of the border.