With the upcoming coronation of a new king, and the legacy of its previous monarch, along with other high-profile events in the UK in 2022 such as The Commonwealth Games, there is no better time to be selling Britain, says the country’s tourist board chair.
Atout France has been on the road this week, rolling out its annual Destination France events for close to 350 agents, including events in Vancouver tonight (Thursday), Calgary last night, plus Montreal and Toronto. On average, close to two dozen suppliers are taking part, bolstered by nearly a dozen-strong supplier delegation from the Occitanie region of southern France.
Hawaii residents feel that more effort is being made to balance the economic benefits of tourism and quality of life for residents, according to the State of Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism’s Fall 2022 Resident Sentiment Survey.
Booking.com’s annual Traveller Review Awards recognize 1.36 million travel providers from across 220 countries and territories for their commitment to providing consistently excellent – aka “welcoming” – service and hospitality over the course of the year. That’s a lot to list, so let’s simply break out the Canadian winners, plus offer a taste of the global top 10s as well.
It may not be as recognizable a name yet as the Cotswolds or Yorkshire, but England’s Great West Way tourism route – which runs west from London to Bristol and the Welsh border – already encompasses many of the country’s must-see sights, including Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bath, as well as attractions like Hampton Court Palace and Highclere Castle (aka Downton Abbey), and Kew Gardens.
Call it “Another Side of Britain,” or “icons with a twist,” but VisitBritain is urging visitors, and those who send them there, to look at the destination with fresh eyes, and beyond the tried and true.
With 98 percent of the delayed passport applications having now been processed, according to the federal government, the Passport Office is preparing for its next large wave of renewals as the first passports issued with a 10-year expiry date come due in July.
The United Nations General Assembly has unanimously adopted a resolution to have Feb. 17 officially declared Global Tourism Resilience Day, which will be celebrated for the first time next week. Pioneered by Jamaica, the initiative was supported by over 90 countries.
Marco Island is the most expensive destination in Florida for hotel stays, according to a new survey by CheapHotels.org, which compared hotel rates across 30 popular Florida destinations early this year – typically the high season for most destinations in the Sunshine State.
Canadians have always been ahead of the curve when it comes to travel to Britain, according to the country’s national tourism agency chief executive Patricia Yates.
2023 will be a year of celebrating Danish design and architecture heritage in the northern European nation as Copenhagen takes the reigns as the UNESCO World Capital of Architecture. But this year in Denmark will also offer other unique attributes and activities, from the seaside to the Opera House, and underground to tabletop. Here are 10 reasons to visit:
Niagara-on-the-Lake has been honoured with Tripadvisor’s 2023 Travellers’ Choice “Best of the Best” Popular Destination in Canada award. This award comes from customers and the ratings they leave for restaurants, hotels, things to do and other activities in the area. The reviews are collected over a 12-month period.
As travel continues to make its return in most parts of the world, the 11th annual Booking.com Traveller Review Awards recognize travel providers from across 220 countries and territories for their commitment to providing consistently excellent service and hospitality over the course of the year.
Led by nearly 40% growth from the Canadian market, Jamaica is “leapfrogging” previous forecasts and on track to achieve 11% growth this year. Announced at the FITUR travel fair in Madrid, Spain, tourism minister Edmund Bartlett, declared: “Jamaica’s tourism is back!”
VisitBritain will welcome more than 120 travel trade buyers from 16 international markets – including Canada ¬– starting this week for a series of educational visits across Britain. The three-to-five-day itineraries across the UK are designed to showcase that Britain is “packed full of fresh and exciting experiences for visitors to come and enjoy right now.”
The Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce is asking the federal competition regulator to investigate Air Canada’s decision to end its flights between Saskatoon and Calgary and between Regina and Calgary.
With an onboard toast of ceremonial (and symbolic) Gatorade, plus pre-flight goodies for passengers, Swoop launched inaugural no-frills service to Cuba with a full complement of passengers (including Travel Industry Today) headed for sunny Varadero, departing chilly Toronto on W0652.
Mexico has banned smoking in all public places and tourists caught contravening the law – which went into effect this week – could be fined up to US$300 and be jailed for up to 36 hours.
Greater Fort Lauderdale is set to welcome the first Pride of the Americas Festival presented by Visit Lauderdale Feb. 10-12. After several years of cancellations, the multi-faceted festival will bring concerts – including headliner Boy George – a Pride of the Americas Festival Parade, hundreds of vendors, and a two-day beach party.
Luxury travel company The North is offering travellers a three-week trans-Arctic journey by luxury jet that includes a champagne toast over the North Pole. A subsidiary of Icelandic tour operator HL Adventures, The North’s bespoke, three-week ‘Arctic Horizon’ itinerary will cover seven destination spanning the Arctic Circle.
Pack up the skates and start dreaming of beaver tails again, Ottawa’s 45th annual Winterlude festival is set to return for 2023 after a two-year hiatus from in-person activities. Featuring a full program of winter, artistic, and cultural traditions set in a diverse program of events and activities, the iconic winter festival will take place from Feb. 3 to 20 across the Capital Region.
I knew nothing about Malta when I decided to go last May. Friends were renting an 11-bedroom/11 bath Airbnb with a pool just outside the capital, Valletta. They were going for SIETAR, a conference on intercultural education. I went because, well, I had never been to Malta – and, at US $350 for 7 nights, housing was very “cost-effective.”
Canadians can claim the world’s 8th-most valuable passport for the third year running, according to the respected Henley Passport Index, which ranks the world’s 199 passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa. Japan took top spot for the fifth consecutive year.
California is inviting visitors to discover a wealth of new offerings coming to the Golden State in 2023, ranging from theme park experiences and cultural attractions to museums and luxury resorts.
The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) says the region has recovered to within 85% to 90% of pre-pandemic arrival numbers in 2022 and expects to equal or exceed 2019 levels in the year ahead.
Authorities in Hawaii are keeping an eye on Kilauea volcano, which has begun erupting again less than one month after the volcano and its larger neighbour Mauna Loa stopped releasing lava. Eruptions have remained inside its summit crater, says the US Geological survey, and the area was placed under a “watch” on Friday.
Rain-weary Californians grappled with flooding and mudslides Monday as the latest in a series of powerful storms walloped the state, prompting widespread evacuations, toppling trees, and frustrating motorists who hit roadblocks caused by fallen debris.
A concerted effort to promote climate-friendly travel and a responsible use of all resources are essential if Destination Germany is to build on its already strong position within the international market, believes the country’s tourist board. And to that end, the German National Tourist Board says it will run three theme-based campaigns in 2023 that will continue to keep the focus of its global marketing firmly on sustainable tourism.
From the world’s first-ever “surf coaster” and immersive escape rooms inspired by blockbuster films, to a new luxury resort and a high-speed rail connection to Miami, the ever-expanding ‘Theme Park Capital of the World’ is set to bring a host of new experiences for visitors in the coming year
With winter scenes like most Canadians experienced over the holidays, it’s of little surprise that nearly 88% of residents of this country travelling to Hawaii last fall expressed satisfaction with their visit to the islands, according to new data from the Hawaii Tourism Authority. The “excellent” rating mirrored overall visitor satisfaction levels that have continued to trend upward trend since the beginning of the year to rival pre-pandemic levels.