Starting April 1, the Travel Industry Council of Ontario will introduce a new fee structure that it says is more equitable for registrants across the board, but which will see rates for members increase 3.4 percent on average (based on 2019-20 sales). Notably, the new funding model for TICO and the provincial Compensation Fund will not include a consumer pay option.
Laser strikes aimed at aircraft – including airline planes – surged 41% in the US last year to a record high, according to federal officials. The Federal Aviation Administration says it received 13,304 reports from pilots, who can be blinded by the lights, about laser strikes last year, erasing a record set in 2021.
G Adventures’ popular ‘Change Makers’ travel advisor reward program is returning with 15 Canadian agents eligible to earn a space at the community tourism pioneer’s third Change Makers GX Summit later this year. To be held at yet-to-be-revealed destination, the event will include 75 winners from around the globe, brought together to celebrate the impact of community tourism.
Peru’s government has backtracked on plans to outsource the sale of entry tickets to Machu Picchu to a private company, amidst questions from the local tourism sector and a week after protesters blocked access to the country’s most famous tourist attraction and rail service to the area was suspended.
Hong Kong’s most eye-catching Chinese New Year celebration is making a grand comeback. The “Cathay International Chinese New Year Night Parade” returns after a five-year layoff and is set to take place on the first day of the Year of the Dragon on Feb. 10.
Air Transat flight attendants rejected a tentative deal with the company raising fears of a future job action, while the world’s largest cruise ship made its maiden voyage from Miami. In other Round-Up highlights, France was tipped to retain top global tourism status, while Whistler, BC, was named Canada’s “most welcoming destination.”
Days after Maui’s wildfires killed scores of people and destroyed thousands of homes last August, a shocking claim spread with alarming speed on YouTube and TikTok: The blaze on the Hawaiian island was set deliberately, using futuristic energy weapons developed by the US military.
Booking.com has opened its very big envelope to reveal the 2024 winners of its 12th annual Traveller Review Awards. Based on more than 309 million verified customer reviews, and in recognition of delivering consistently excellent service and hospitality, a record 1.48 million travel partners received a Booking.com Traveller Review Award 2024, including 7,725 in Canada.
Beyond keeping up with Karly (our host and a speed-walker of the first order), Las Vegas is meant to be experienced at double speed. The current concept of “slow tourism” does not apply here.
The spotlight will be on Gobbler’s Knob in western Pennsylvania early Friday morning, when handlers of a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil will announce whether he saw his own shadow and predicts six more weeks of winter or an early spring. Thousands are expected to attend the annual event that exploded in popularity after the 1993 Bill Murray movie, “Groundhog Day.”
Canada has followed the US in issuing a travel advisory for the Bahamas, warning travellers to “exercise a high degree of caution” due to high crime rates, particularly in Nassau and Freeport. In a statement, the Bahamas government says it is “is alert, attentive, and proactive” to the situation and “taking rigorous steps to maintain our well-earned reputation, including an enhanced police presence and additional police resources.”
Travel South USA arrived in Canada this week to court the travel trade at gala events in Toronto and Montreal, enticing guests with “bacon, bourbon and blues” – the latter courtesy of special guest, American Idol winner (and Alabaman) Taylor Hicks, whose rootsy refrains provided the soundtrack of the evenings.
A frantic air traffic controller shouting expletives at pilots to abort a takeoff helped narrowly avert a collision with another plane in an incident at JFK New York last year, according to documents from the investigation into the incident released Monday.
Updated – Residents of central Norway awoke to scenes of havoc and homes without power Thursday following the country’s most powerful storm in more than three decades. Hurricane-force winds hit parts of the Scandinavian country, with gusts of up 180 km per hour.
Canadians can add up to 10 days in Iceland at no extra cost when travelling to Europe with PLAY via the low-cost carrier’s hub at Keflavik Airport. PLAY operates daily flights and seasonal services to more than 30 European cities from Hamilton, Ont., including its latest destination, Split, Croatia.
Faced with plane delivery delays and hefty debts – including a hefty unpaid tax bill that has prompted the Canada Revenue Agency to obtain an order for the seizure and sale of the carrier’s property – Flair Airlines says it put expansion plans on hold, at least until next year.
The start of a new year is a perfect time to review brand and marketing collateral for potential updates and optimizations, and what better place to start than your website? Devices, technology, and user behaviour change regularly, so staying current is critical. Here are some ideas for staying up to date.
Major new reports from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and Microsoft claim that artificial intelligence is set to revolutionize Travel & Tourism, with the organizations urging businesses to embrace AI and commit to “a digital future with unparalleled customer experiences.”
Over half of residents surveyed in Ontario’s Hamilton-Niagara region (55%) say that Buffalo is on their radar as a travel gateway due to less time spent than at local airports as well as lower costs, according to a new study by the Upstate New York airport. And 35 percent of residents of the Greater Toronto Area agree.
A Carnival cruise ship on its way to Honduras diverted to rescue two men stranded in kayaks in the Gulf of Mexico. Staff on the Carnival Jubilee spotted the two men off the coast of Isla Mujeres, Mexico, and quickly responded.
Air Canada says it has become the first airline in North America to adopt the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower program to better serve customers with non-visible disabilities. In announcing the measure, the carrier also confirmed the first appointments to its new Customer Accessibility Advisory Committee, which will guide the carrier as it accelerates its three-year accessibility plan.
The Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) has announced the appointment of Canadian travel industry veteran Sonia Machado to the role of Business Development Manager for Western Canada. Based in Calgary, she’ll be responsible for overseeing sales initiatives and industry engagement activities across British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
In 2024, Germany is set to host a multitude of festivities, ranging from anniversaries to arts and sports events, giving travellers a multitude of reasons to visit the European nation in 2024. And who better that than the German National Tourist Office (GNTO) to call out some of the main events and themes that are sure to inspire.
The British Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London are returning gold and silver artifacts to Ghana under a long-term loan arrangement – 150 years after the items were looted from the Asante people during Britain’s colonial battles in West Africa. The arrangement sidesteps UK laws that prohibit the return of cultural treasures to their countries of origin (famously including the Elgin Marbles to Greece).
Court documents show Flair Airlines owes the federal government $67.2 million in unpaid taxes, prompting the Canada Revenue Agency to obtain a Federal Court order for the seizure and sale of the carrier’s property. But CEO Stephen Jones says the order – obtained in November – has no impact on the carrier’s operations, which have expanded over the past year and ramped up competition with rival airlines.
Leonardo da Vinci may as well have put a bullseye, rather than an enigmatic face, on the Mona Lisa, as the iconic painting and tourist attraction in Paris’s Louvre Museum has once again been defaced by protesters, this time by a smattering of pumpkin soup.
Airbnb has rolled out rental listings marked by top scores from guests – information that the company’s CEO says will help bring hotel-like reliability to booking a house or room on the site and discourage people from choosing a hotel room instead.
Quark Expeditions has a new ship set to ply polar waters staring this fall. The 138-passenger Ocean Explorer expedition ship will set sail later this year at the start of the Antarctic 2024/2025 season.
Les bon temps of New Orleans is set to roll out at Universal Orlando Resort this weekend (Feb. 3) as annual Mardi Gras celebrations return to the Florida theme park, carrying on for over two months (until April 7).
VoX International has hired Lora Hamre as Account Manager-Travel Trade, working primarily on Tourism Australia and Hawai’i Tourism Canada teams, as well as providing support for other company clients.