Following Transat Distribution Canada’s annual conference in Toronto, we had an opportunity to ask General Manager Karine Gagnon some questions about the company’s ongoing developments, operations, team, and outlook for the future.
VisitBritain hosted a reception for media and travel partners at the TIFF Bell Lightbox during last week’s Toronto International Film Festival. The pairing of Visit Britain and the film festival was an ideal opportunity to showcase Britain with “an awesome program, the biggest ever, with 24 productions or co-productions from the UK” said British Consul General to Toronto, Fouzia Younis.
RIU Hotels and Resorts have been a favourite with Canadians since the 1990s when The Riu Taino opened in Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic. RIU had, of course, long been popular holiday hotel choices for European and international travellers since the 50’s when the Riu family acquired their first hotel in Playa de Palma (Mallorca, Spain).
As United Airlines cancelled thousands of July 4th weekend flights, leaving passengers stranded in airports around the country for days, airline CEO Scott Kirby, with an inexplicable lack of judgement and no thought as to the optics or consequences, reportedly chartered a private jet from Teterboro, New Jersey, to Denver. He did this on Wednesday, the same day United cancelled 750 flights — one-quarter of the day’s schedule – not including flights on United Express. Kirby apologized Friday, saying “It was insensitive to our customers waiting to get home.” No kidding.
Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “The Girl from Ipanema” (“Garota de Ipanema”) was recorded by Astrud Gilberto, João Gilberto and Stan Getz, and released in 1964 as part of the album Getz/Gilberto. The album won the 1965 Grammy Awards for Best Album of the Year, Best Jazz Instrumental Album – Individual or Group and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, and a single of the song reached number one on the Pop Standard chart and was named Record of the Year. And what the hell does that have to do with giraffes in Amsterdam?
Like a great many Canadians I was saddened by the news of Gordon Lightfoot’s death last week. I bought his first album ‘Lightfoot’ when it was released in 1966 mainly because he was related to a friend and I thought he was cute. However, while the Lightfoot look was attractive, the Lightfoot sound hooked me. I bought all the albums as they were released and headed off to hear him live at Yorkville’s famous Riverboat Café in Toronto. What you may not know however, is that way back in those pre-album days, Lightfoot had a strong connection to an early travel industry founder.
The first time I visited Florida was a long long time ago. Disney World was only a couple of years old and I was relatively new to the industry, working for Adventure Tours. I flew into St. Pete-Clearwater Airport (PIE) to fill in for the vacationing Eileen Forrow, who then, at the very beginning of an illustrious career, was our rep at the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater which was still owned by Jack Tar (it is now the Scientology Centre). I was back at PIE last week – what a difference!
02 MAY 2019: After decades in this industry, I like many others, have been subjected to more than my fair share of tours and tour guides usually droning on and on in monotonous monotones about some seriously uninteresting – let’s call it – stuff. Regrettably over the years I have on occasion inflicted this same dull disservice on other unfortunate travellers. Only twice in all that time have I ever found a tour that offered me an experience that was truly both interesting, fun and made me not dread getting back on the coach. And both occasions had three common denominators.