Ensemble recently hosted its annual Horizons conference in Las Vegas with more than 800 owners, managers, and advisors, as well as preferred partners, in attendance for the “human centric” extravaganza. It was the first time the entire consortium has been together since an acquisition and rehaul of the brand.
The Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) recently brought the spirit of the island to Canadian travel advisors and consumers during Canada Trade Week – a cross-country promotional campaign that included travel agent engagement events in Calgary, Montreal, and Toronto, followed by the first-ever Jamaica Travel Expo consumer event at the Pearson Convention Centre in Toronto.
The keyboard and drums from a musical show thump just yards from a mountain of storm debris and fractured hotels left by Hurricane Otis a month ago. On the northern end of Acapulco Bay, hairdressers and masseuses sweep branches from a beach as across the Pacific resort of Acapulco, residents work with a singular purpose: to restart the tourism engine of the city of one million people as soon as possible.
Canadian snowbirds are increasingly spreading their wings. According to a recent survey conducted by Snowbird Advisor, the US is still the top destination by a wide margin for the lucky cohort who can escape a Canadian winter, but interest in international destinations is growing, particularly among newer snowbirds.
Most major travel markets in the Americas – including Canada – have recovered from the pandemic, apart from the US which is due to get back to 2019 levels next year, according to new research conducted by World Travel Market.
The Cuba Tourist Board thanked its agent partners for helping make Canada the country’s No. 1 market at a gala event late last week at Toronto’s Palais Royale – a glittering venue that Canadian tourist board director Lessner Gomez likened to Havana’s famed Tropicana cabaret, even if the weather outside wasn’t quite the same as on the Caribbean island.
As it battles Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his appointees over their takeover of the district that governs the entertainment company’s massive theme park resort in central Florida, Disney has released a study that shows its economic impact in the state amounting to just over US$40 billion.
Jamaica’s hotel boom continues with the official opening of Hideaway at Royalton Blue Waters, An Autograph Collection All-Inclusive Resort, an adults-only resort located in the heart of Montego Bay.
A cargo jet headed to Belgium from New York had to turn around mid-flight last week after a horse escaped its stall and got loose in the hold, according to air traffic control audio. The Boeing 747 operated by Air Atlanta Icelandic had just started its flight across the Atlantic Ocean when the pilot radioed air traffic control in Boston and said that a horse on board had escaped its stall.
Is travel demand softening? And other headlines from last week: The Israel-Hamas war is having a global effect; Air Canada and WestJet are both boosting international flights; Sunwing is flying high at the start of the winter season; ACTA is urging a last call in its fight for TICO reform; G Adventure has a new luxe line of tours; and meet Canada’s new Canadian director for VisitBritain.
Demand for air travel may be levelling off after soaring to pre-pandemic levels over the summer, says FlightHub’s CEO. Christopher Cave said airline ticket sales dropped from September to October, when they typically rise ahead of the holiday season. However, Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau said last month that demand remains “very stable,” with advance ticket sales in its third quarter up 55% year-over-year.
With the aim of empowering the next generation of women in aviation, Air Canada’s fifth annual 2024 Judy Cameron Scholarship awards are now open to prospective female pilots and aircraft maintenance engineers, with the application window available until Nov. 30.
Sunwing is reporting strong results early in its winter season (starting Nov. 1), in part reflecting key measures designed to “bolster operational readiness” for the peak season to come. The airline says it has already carried nearly 100,000 customers on 600 flights to destinations throughout the tropics – and all of them “successfully completed.”
Overpacking can be bad for the back (hauling around heavy bags), but also worrisome for the wallet as extra fees are now standard fare – including some cruise lines, but especially low-cost airlines, which are notorious for stinging passengers who exceed the suitcase or hand luggage allowance with large fees.
Earlier this week, a message expressing pets’ space exploration dreams appeared on the large billboard in New York Times Square. The video was displayed on the 61-metre-long Times Square screen, showing scenes of SpaceX Starship launch along with the message: “Hi, Elon! Let’s send our beloved XOOX pets in the Starship to Mars to make history. Together, we can make this dream come true!”
Black Friday – the day after US Thanksgiving – has become arguably the biggest shopping day of the year (surpassing Boxing Day), and many travel suppliers are eager to hop on the bandwagon (or airplane, coach, or cruise ship) too with a host of great deals for consumers, some just for the day, others a little longer. (Some even open to agents early). Here’s a round-up of some of the offers we’ve found to make wading through the bargain bin next Friday (November 24) a little easier.
Boosted by a growing fleet of 737 MAX aircraft, WestJet says it’s set to soar in 2024 with the reintroduction of service connecting Eastern Canada and Europe, along with new service to Reykjavik (Keflavik) and new daily service to Tokyo from Calgary.
Soaring profits herald the return of corporate travel, says Flight Centre. Also, this week, TDC advisors take a star turn, and The Travel Agent Next Door was recognized for its educational initiatives.
The Dutch government says it has abandoned, for now, plans to rein in flights at Amsterdam’s busy Schiphol Airport following protests from countries including the United States and warnings that the move could breach European law and aviation agreements.
‘No jacket, no tie, no attitude,’ might well be the motto for unpretentious Mazatlan’s terrific beach, bar and culture scene. Sometimes, when planning your holidays, you have to make a decision: sun and sand or culture and history? Mazatlan has the distinction of offering the best of both worlds.
A Hawaiian woman has been ordered to pay nearly US$39,000 in restitution to American Airlines for interfering with a crew on a flight last year. The woman was also sentenced to more than three months of time served in connection with her actions plus three years of supervised probation.
MSC Cruises has confirmed the order of two liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered vessels with French ship builder Chantiers de l’Atlantique. The two new ordered vessels – currently referred to as World Class 3 and 4 – will be delivered in 2026 and 2027.
Rising travel and holiday costs have yet to dampen demand among consumers – mainly because the ‘revenge travel’ trend is still in full swing – but higher prices have been identified as one of the key challenges the industry faces, according to WTM Global Travel Report.
With travel to and from Asia on the upswing following the region’s late emergence from pandemic, Air Canada says it is boosting its Asia-Pacific network beginning in mid-December, through to the end of summer 2024.
Disney Cruise Line has opened a new dedicated cruise terminal in Port Everglades, Fla., marking the company’s second year-round homeport in the state and the start of the cruise line’s “largest expansion in history.” The Disney Dream will begin sailing from the Greater Fort Lauderdale-area facility on Nov. 20, to be followed by the Disney Magic on May 9, 2024.
Tourisme Montréal reports that its summer season surpassed it pre-pandemic performance in 2019, with an increase of 15% in international visitations. Among the positive trends was an average hotel occupancy rate of 80% and overall revenues higher than those of 2022. Business conferences were also on the upswing with major events experiencing an in-person participation rate of 72%, 2% more than last year.
Ten Canadian travel agents from Toronto and British Columbia recently joined members of the Exotik Journeys team on a recent FAM trip to discover the treasures of Turkey.
Lopesan, a major international hotel group with over 17,000 hotel rooms across Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean, has eyes for Jamaica, telling the country’ tourism minister at World Travel Market in London last week that it is urgently seeking to develop a 1,000-room luxury resort on the island.
Rome’s next luxury hotel has some very good bones: Archaeologists say that the ruins of Nero’s Theatre, an imperial theatre referred to in ancient Roman texts but never found, have been discovered under the garden of a future Four Seasons Hotel steps from the Vatican.
The Israel-Hamas war has not only had a negative impact on aviation to and from the Middle East – the effect is global, says leading travel analytics firm, ForwardKeys. Overall, the report says the world’s aviation market had dropped by five percent in the three weeks since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7 due to in a dent in consumer confidence to travel.