The oneworld alliance is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2024. Launched on Feb. 1, 1999 by founding members American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and Qantas, the alliance has flown nearly nine billion customers on its member airlines and currently boasts a takeoff or landing somewhere in the world every six seconds, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Take a bow Casino Rama. The Ontario casino has taken the top spot with 26,587 posts. New research has revealed the most Instagrammable casinos in Canada. Niagara Fallsview Casino, also in Ontario, ranks second.
A passenger returning from a visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo reported that his luggage contained dried fish after US Customs and Border Protection dog sniffed out something unusual in his bag. However, an inspection at Boston Logan Airport revealed something quite different – mummified monkeys.
Visit Tampa Bay has introduced a new and comprehensive training, marketing, and sales tool designed specifically for travel advisors. The Tampa Bay Specialist Learning & Sales Companion features cutting-edge technology and is touted as “a significant advancement in remote destination sales and training” that goes beyond a typical educational course.
Last week, the shoe dropped on new TICO registrant fees in Ontario, while news emanated from the second airports in both Montreal and Toronto. Air Canada Vacations launched its Europe tool kit featuring bonus offerings for travel advisors, while G Adventures invited agents to be ‘change makers.’ And Chinese New Year celebrations got underway in grand style in Hong Kong.
As travel, both domestic and international, increases, appalling behaviour by tourists is unfortunately also on the rise. In recent years such behaviour has included inappropriate or insufficient clothing at sacred sites, driving a car across a fragile medieval bridge, and defacing cultural and historic sites and artifacts. Tourists have damaged heritage sites, eaten endangered species, and – in the case of one couple – stolen nearly $2 million worth of wine from a Michelin-starred restaurant. Tourists have (allegedly) insulted border guards, and flashed in front of kids. And when they’ve been caught out, they’ve often pleaded ignorance.
With a record winter tourist season on the horizon and 10 consecutive quarters of growth posted, Jamaica is reporting visitor arrivals of approximately 4.1 million for 2023. This represents a 16% increase over the previous year’s numbers and a 7.5% increase over 2019 pre-pandemic numbers. Of this total, more than half of the island’s visitors are from the US at approximately 3 million.
It’s the bane of every traveller: lost luggage. Indeed, last year 26 million bags of luggage were misplaced or lost on flights and in airports around the world, according to 1st Move International. With this mind, the British-based company that has helped customers transport belongings across borders for the past 25 years has made a list of tips to get where there going with minimal baggage burdens.
As romance travel season kicks off, TRAVELSAVERS Canada advisors are sharing affordable and less-visited destination options for couples looking for a budget-friendly escape. As typically frequented locales may experience high traffic during peak romance season, destination dupes offer less-mainstream alternatives for travellers.
The Association of Canadian Travel Agencies and Travel Advisors (ACTA) has expressed its disappointment with TICO’s recent announcement regarding the significant increase in fees.
The Travel & Tourism sector is delivering soaring employment opportunities to women and young people around the world, according to new research. A recent report shows that the sector directly employed a rapidly rising number of women between 2010 and 2019, increasing from 38.6 million to 47.8 million, an increase of 24%.
As Cupid readies his arrows, a recent Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) survey conducted by YouGov, reveals that Canadian Zillennials – a blend of Gen Z and Millennials – are charting a new course for romance this Valentine’s Day.
Disneyland Paris has reopened the doors of its landmark hotel following a complete “royal” reimagination that pays homage to both Disney royal stories and celebrated European landmarks such as Le Château de Versailles.
Ultra-luxury cruise line Silversea has expanded the role of cruise industry veteran Massimo Brancaleoni who becomes Senior Vice President, Global Sales & Revenue. In this new role, Brancaleoni will continue to report to Silversea President Barbara Muckermann. Brancaleoni has almost 30 years of experience in the global cruise industry and has held executive positions for international organizations in Europe and Asia. He joined Silversea in January 2023 as Senior Vice President, Global Sales.
Building brand awareness is essential for long-term success in today’s competitive business landscape. Public relations is an essential tool in shaping how the public perceives a brand. Here are some tips to help you succeed in the brand awareness game.
Judy Cameron still remembers getting the telegram that marked her first offer to fly planes for a major commercial carrier. Pacific Western Airlines had come calling, writing her a “congratulations” and inviting her to sit down with the interview board.
WestJet is set to introduce 10 new routes and return or extend 16 routes this summer, offering a significant increase in coast-to-coast travel options for travellers. Underpinning its growth strategy, the increases on domestic, leisure and international travel routes represent a 15 percent gain year-over-year.
A celebration has been launched to mark ‘85 Years of Flight’ at Toronto’s downtown island airport. Conceived in the 1930s as the main airport for Toronto, the construction of what is now Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ) was completed in 1939 at the same time that Malton Airport (now Toronto Pearson International Airport) was constructed as a secondary, alternate airport to be used in the event of bad weather.
U.S. News & World Report has published its 14th annual rankings of the Best Hotels. The 2024 rankings highlight more than 37,000 hotels across more than 400 destinations to help travellers find the hotel that suits their needs.
When Regent Seven Seas Cruises set out to define and deliver “the world’s most luxurious cruise” it understood the lifestyle values of the elite cruise guests it aims to cultivate. In launching Seven Seas Grandeur, RSSC – itself trademarked as ‘The World’s Most Luxurious Fleet’ – ensured its all-suite, all-balcony, all-inclusive new ship would embody the sumptuous cruise environment craved by people accustomed to splendid surrounds, service, and food.
A woman suffered serious leg injuries after being attacked last week by a suspected bull shark in Sydney Harbour. The victim, a woman reported to be in her late 20s, was bitten on the right leg as she swam at Elizabeth Bay in Sydney’s east at about 8 p.m.
This year’s hotspots are looking a lot cooler with the rise of Northern Lights tourism, spurred by reports that the astronomical phenomenon will be extraordinarily visible in 2024. According to a survey commissioned by Expedia, searches by Aurora Borealis hunters are up by triple digits and almost three-quarters of Canadians (71%) says the aspire to see the Northern Lights in their lifetime but haven’t yet crossed the item off their bucket-list.
Montreal Saint-Hubert Airport (YUH) has revealed a new brand identity, reflecting its transformation into commercial aviation as construction of its new terminal, in partnership with Porter Airlines, progresses. Located in Saint-Hubert since 1927, the airport will now be known as MET – Montreal Metropolitan Airport.
Air Canada Vacations’ 2024 Europe Travel Agent Toolkit is back and packed with opportunities to boost sales and earn bonus commission, plus savings on personal vacation travel to Europe. The updated toolkit features new additions and enhancements aimed at empowering travel professionals with comprehensive resources to support travel agents as they navigate the tour company’s extensive Europe portfolio.
Ensemble jams with Jamaica, TDC is cruising to success with Celebrity, and Amex GBT is fighting fraud with Expedia in our weekly round-up of travel agency news.
Solidifying its reputation as the leading provider of all-inclusive mountain resorts, Club Med has unveiled its latest property in Hokkaido, Japan. Club Med Kiroro Grand is the company’s fourth resort on the northern island – an internationally renowned ski destination – and is located only a three-minute gondola ride from its sister resort, Club Med Kiroro Peak.
Canadian airlines are calling on the federal government to roll out measures that will spark production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in Canada and catch up to programs south of the border, thus enabling them to cut down on pollution that accounts for about two percent of carbon dioxide emissions globally, according to the International Energy Agency.
Mexico’s government has acknowledged that at least two well-known Mayan ruin sites in the southern part of the country are unreachable by visitors because of a toxic mix of cartel violence and land disputes.
Ihsan Abdul Salam describes himself as a “loyal” customer of Flight Centre, booking tickets with the international travel company since 1995. But when he went to a Vancouver branch of the firm to pick up tickets to Brazil he had booked through a consultant online, he was in for a shock – the $2,280 booking didn’t exist.
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.