It’s Halloween and perhaps you’re wearing something kooky (or horrifying) at work today (someone we know has taped on dozens of grey paint samples – “50 shades of grey”) or preparing for the night’s trick or treating; but Tourism Ireland is taking the occasion to remind one and all where the horrific holiday all began: Celtic Ireland.
All things Colombia – including the country’s new tourism brand slogan, “The Country of Beauty” – are being celebrated in Montreal at the Colombia-Canada Tourism Forum 2023, organized by ProColombia, the promotion agency of the country, which is part of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism.
Canadian hotelier Germain Hotels has opened its 19th property in Canada: Alt Hotel Calgary University District. The group’s third establishment in Calgary follows the opening of Le Germain Hotel Calgary in 2010 and Alt Hotel Calgary East Village in 2018 and marks the hotel group’s first property inauguration in Canada since 2019.
Hundreds of people on Sunday stormed into the main airport in Russia’s southern Dagestan region and onto the landing field to protest the arrival of an airliner from Tel Aviv, Israel, prompting Russian president Vladimir Putin to call a called a meeting of security and law enforcement officials Monday.
So long, Swoop, it was nice knowin’ ya. WestJet’s “ultra-not-expensive” airline said farewell on Saturday, completing its last day of operations before joining WestJet’s mainline fleet as part of the company’s evolutionary growth plans that now sees it moving on to integrating newly purchased Sunwing Airlines as well.
Air Canada’s inaugural service from Vancouver to Dubai took flight on the weekend linking Western Canada with the Middle East with four-times weekly service aboard Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
Travel Leaders Network completed its annual fall Canadian Regional events last week with more than 550 enthusiastic advisors having attended across three cities – Edmonton, Vancouver, and Toronto (West). Dubbed “Peak” (Programs, Education, Advisors and Knowledge), the at-capacity events were a mix of training and business advancement and enhancement sessions, networking with suppliers and peers, and a bustling trade show.
G Adventures and its non-profit partner Planeterra have announced the launch of Project 300, an initiative to help uplift 300 communities through travel by the year 2030. The project builds on previous, successful campaigns: ‘50 in 5’ (2015), through which 50 new social enterprises were built into G Adventures tours in just five years; and ‘Project 100,’ which had a mandate to increase the total number of community tourism enterprises integrated into G Adventures experiences to 100.
India’s high commission in Canada has resumed processing some types of visa applications for Canadians applying from across the country as well as abroad. The decision came a month after New Delhi suspended the services in Canada and for Canadian citizens worldwide.
The airline boss who suggested that women can’t run airlines and called American carriers “crap” and that their passengers were “always being served by grandmothers” is stepping down. Qatar Airways Group chief executive Akbar Al Baker is retiring after 27 years leading the company – a tenure during which he forged a reputation as being one of the most outspoken leaders in the airline industry.
Carnival faced legal troubles in Australia for a cruise operated during the pandemic; Transat announced a flight first (spoiler alert: to Africa); while in other round-up news from last week, Porter launched flights to Las Vegas, Arajet arrived in Canada, and Visit Florida spread some sunshine during its annual mission north of the border.
Speed and convenience are the key priorities of today’s travellers, according to IATA, whose 2023 Global Passenger Survey (GPS) reveals the latest passenger trends and preferences when it comes to both the booking and travelling experience, including increasingly embracing biometrics and off-airport processes to deliver it.
Air Transat will offer non-stop service between Montreal and Marrakech, Morocco, starting next June, making it the only airline in North America to offer non-stop flights to the Moroccan city. It is also the first-ever venture to Africa for the airline and represents what it calls a “strategic shift” in operations.
MSC Cruises says it has cancelled the full winter program of MSC Orchestra that was planned in the Red Sea from Nov. 8 to April 17 because of the proximity of some of ship’s ports of call to Israel and the number of restrictions in the bordering countries that would have adversely affected the holiday experience for passengers.
Never a dull moment this week as the Loch Ness monster did not rear it’s ugly head, but a brown bear in Alaska did become a local celebrity; meanwhile, food and art intersected in truly bizarre ways, and wait for it, an update on the Wienermobile – all in our wonderful, wacky world.
USA Today recently analyzed 23.2 million Google reviews of 500 of the most popular attractions in the world to uncover the biggest tourist traps, the most overpriced, and the most overrated attractions worldwide. Alas, a number of Canadian sites (we’re looking at you Capilano Suspension Bridge!) figured prominently. Read on to find out which ones, as well as the rest of the world’s most notorious sites.
Unless you’ve been living under a tombstone, you’re no doubt familiar with “The Monster Mash,” Halloween’s most quintessential song. It’s been recorded/performed countless times, from the Beach Boys to Van Halen; there are even ska and reggae versions by Bad Manners and Bruce Springsteen respectively. But the definitive – and original – version was by Bobby “Boris” Pickett, which was a graveyard smash, topping the charts in 1962. This is not that song.
Carnival has been ruled negligent by an Australian court for failing to cancel a cruise that led to a major COVID-19 outbreak early in the pandemic. The Ruby Princess left Sydney on March 8, 2020, with 2,671 passengers aboard for a 13-day cruise to New Zealand but returned in 11 days as Australia’s borders were closing. COVID-19 on the ship spread to 663 passengers and claimed 28 lives.
After considering TICO’s review for a new funding framework and fees, ACTA says it believes the resulting proposals from the Ontario regulating body to be “band aids” that do little to change a “broken system” for registrants in the province.
Called the strongest storm in history to make landfall along the eastern Pacific Coast, Hurricane Otis ripped across Mexico’s southern Pacific coast as a powerful Category 5 storm early Wednesday, tearing through buildings in the resort city of Acapulco, sending sheets of earth down steep mountainsides.
Africa is booming, the Middle East not so much, travel advisors learned at Goway Travel’s annual showcase for the destinations in Toronto this week. It was the 12th time the Toronto-based tour company hosted the multi-day event for agents and suppliers, but first since before the pandemic.
Lynx Air (Lynx) is adding Mexico to its international roster, with service to Cancun from Toronto Pearson set to take off Feb. 15. The Mexican tourism mecca is the ultra low-cost carrier’s first destination in the country and marks its third country in a growing network that will now feature 18 destinations.
A German tourist who went missing in a national park teeming with wild animals in northern Zimbabwe has been found alive and in “good health” along with his rental car three days later, a spokesperson for the national parks agency said.
With properties on the shores of the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Mexico, getaways with the whole family are set up for success when staying with Grand Palladium Hotels and Resorts, says Sunwing.
People still get Sweden and Switzerland mixed up, according to Visit Sweden. Every year, the tourist board says, 120,000 people google the question: “Are Sweden and Switzerland the same?” Even the most informed and powerful people on earth can’t always tell the two countries apart – a world leader, the New York Stock Exchange, and a famous pop star have all experienced this. Determined to end the confusion once and for all, Sweden is now proposing actions.
VIA Rail chief executive Mario Peloquin wants the federal government to move toward giving VIA Rail trains formal right of way on the tracks over freight trains. The measure would reduce trip disruptions prompted by Canada’s two main freight railways – whose tracks VIA runs on – and vastly improve performance on periodically tardy passenger trains.
All of West Maui except for burned-out sections of historic Lahaina will reopen to tourism on Nov. 1 following the deadliest US wildfire in more than century, says the mayor of Maui County.
With Air Malta set to cease operations early next year, the country’s government has announced the establishment of a new national airline to serve the Maltese Islands. Announced by Prime Minister Robert Abela, the new company will be called KM Malta Airlines plc and will start operations on March 31, 2024.
An off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot who tried to cut the engines on a Horizon Air regional jet midflight told police after his arrest that he believed he was having a nervous breakdown, thought he was dreaming when he pulled fire handles in the cockpit, and that he had experimented with psychedelic mushrooms recently as his mental health worsened, according to a federal complaint made public Tuesday.
In this week’s round-up, a Travel Agent Next Door advisor is honoured by G Adventures, AMA introduces a home-based program, Virtuoso talks Turks and Caicos, and TTC Tours Brands delivers a special BIPOC FAM trip invitation.