After a three-year halt during the COVID-19 pandemic, China is at last reopening its borders to tourists and has resumed issuing all visas effective today. China is one of the last major countries to reopen its borders to tourists and has been one of the most restrictive regimes in the world during the global health crisis, which is believed to have originated in the city of Wuhan in late 2019.
Citing the continued surge in luxury travel, Kensington Tours reports that it has “shattered” pre-pandemic sales levels, posting record results for the first two months of the year. The tour operator says sales in January were 50 percent higher than the same period in January 2020, but even more notably, double what they were in January 2019.
Celebrating excellence in Indigenous tourism, the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC) announced its annual award winners at a gala conference in Winnipeg last week. The International Indigenous Tourism Conference (IITC), held March 8-10, is the largest Indigenous conference in the world.
Florida’s southwest coast has experienced a flare-up of the toxic “red tide” algae causing warnings against swimming, dead fish to wash up on beaches, and the cancellation of a beachside festival. And there are concerns that it that the bloom, which started in October, could stick around for awhile.
United Airlines has named Sesame Street’s Oscar the Grouch as its first ‘Chief Trash Officer’ as part of a new consumer education campaign designed to promote the expected benefit of using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) more broadly.
Saturday marked three years since the World Health Organization first called the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020, and the United Nation’s health organization said it’s not yet ready to say the emergency has ended.
As Flair Airlines accused one of Canada’s top two airlines of trying to “kneecap” its operations, an aviation expert says the seizure of four Flair Airlines planes over the weekend points to the fierce competition and high demand playing out in the Canadian air travel industry whereby the “slightest sneeze” in a payment plan could trigger lease termination.
With the busy spring travel season upon us and summer looming, the decision to cap flights and the number of travellers by the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) last week fails both passengers and airport workers, says the union representing the latter.
From appointments to conferences, and a new ambassadors program, it’s been busy days at Navigtr. Here’s the latest from the travel company’s agency brands Ensemble and Travel Edge Network.
MSC Cruises Canada has announced the appointment of travel industry veteran Tammy Thompson as Business Development Manager for Ontario and Atlantic Canada, based in Toronto.
Disney Cruise Line will unveil a new island destination in summer 2024 celebrating the unique culture of The Bahamas. Located on Eleuthera, Lighthouse Point is being designed in close collaboration with local artists and advisors to provide an experience that “combines breathtaking natural beauty with the magic of Bahamian hospitality, storytelling and artistry.”
A “confusing” changing climate has prompted Washington DC’s famous cherry blossoms to appear earlier than expected this year due to an unusually warm winter. The district’s 3,700 cherry blossom trees are expected to reach peak bloom March 22-25 – several days earlier than previously expected.
The federal government has approved WestJet Airlines’ takeover of Sunwing Airlines and Sunwing Vacations, but the deal is subject to a host of conditions designed to enhance service for consumers and ensure and bolster Sunwing operations outside of Calgary for least five years.
On Saturday Flair Airlines had four Boeing 737 MAX 8s seized by its leasing company at three Canadian airports, Toronto, Edmonton, and Waterloo. Leasing companies seizing aircraft is highly unusual. A statement from the air carrier called the move by “a New York-based hedge fund” to take the aircraft “extreme and unusual.” It said Flair would use additional fleet capacity” to lessen the effect on passengers, adding it did not foresee any major disruptions to its route map.
Ukrainian leaders say one of the best ways for Canadians to support the embattled country’s economy is to pack their bags and come see it for themselves. “If you’re brave, welcome to Lviv,” says mayor Andriy Sadovyi.
Exclusive experiences, special programming, surprise sailings, and themed cruises will define Uniworld Boutique River Cruises’ Limited Edition Collection of cruises – a series of special departures operating only once or twice this summer.
Britain’s award-winning Black Country Living Museum, recognizable as backdrop for the popular “Peaky Blinders” Netflix show, is forging ahead with its biggest development since 1978 as the historic attraction adds the story of the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s, to its comprehensive social history of the “black country” industrial heartland near Birmingham.
The return of world’s biggest travel show (ITB) highlights last week’s round-up, along with protests in France and Israel, improving results from Transat, more summers seats at WestJet, cruise line booking records, and big resort news in Toronto’s north end.
Though still reporting a $56.6-million loss in its latest quarter, Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says the company is on an upswing and is headed for a return to profitability. The 2023 Q1 result compares to a loss of $114.3 million a year earlier as its revenue more than tripled.
As demand surges and airfares soar to new heights, many Canadians are in search of travel deals this year. And low prices are out there – particularly for domestic flights.
Demonstrators in Israel, who have been out protesting for more than two months against a contentious government proposal to overhaul the judiciary, launched a “day of resistance to dictatorship” on Thursday. Protesters waving Israeli flags descended on the country’s main international airport, snarling traffic and blocking the artery leading to the departures area with their cars.
Once known as Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine and then Ottoman Empires, Istanbul boasts a plethora of architectural marvels from mosques to harems to bazaars. Though the largest city in Turkiye (the country changed its name from Turkey in 2021) and once the capital, (Ankara is now the capital) Istanbul reigns as Turkiye’s main tourist attraction for myriad reasons.
Women in Berlin will soon be allowed to go topless at the city’s public swimming pools – just like men. The new bathing rules allowing everyone to go swimming without covering their torsos followed a discrimination complaint by a woman who was not allowed to go topless in a swimming pool in the German capital.
I’ll be honest, I don’t really get the Ernest Hemingway cult in Cuba (or elsewhere), but if you’re like a lot of visitors to Havana, at some point you’ll attempt to stop by the Old Town venue most commonly known as “the Hemingway bar,” otherwise known as La Bodeguita del Medio.
Fun is fun, but don’t let yours spoil someone else’s good times, Carnival Cruise Line is warning spring breakers. “You will be sailing with us during Spring Break, which is traditionally a period of high occupancy,” a letter being sent to passengers says. “As part of our commitment to create the best environment to provide a fun and memorable vacation for all, we would like to remind you of our Safety First! guidelines, as we CHOOSE FUN TOGETHER.”
If there’s a bad thing about our weekly music videos, it’s that some songs can make you feel old – like this week’s offering of The Doobie Brothers, which corresponds with the band’s ongoing 50th anniversary tour. Fifty years (yikes)! Conversely, they can also make you feel young again as you relive old favourites.
Federal officials said Wednesday they have completed outfitting 43 major US airports with technology to warn when incoming planes are aimed at a taxiway instead of a runway.
Travel in the Caribbean in 2023 has “started with a bang” and, barring any unforeseen “catastrophes,” the Caribbean Tourism Organization expects the resurgence that started last year to continue a reach pre-pandemic arrivals levels “and beyond” in near future.
Plane, trains, and art museums were among the affected services Wednesday as protests against the government over pension reform continued to rage across France. The continuing strikes and protest action come after more than a million demonstrators marched in cities and towns across France on Tuesday, in what unions see as the biggest show of force against the planned changes since the beginning of the movement in January.
In honour of International Women’s Day, Sunwing celebrated the departure of three Sunwing Airlines flights yesterday that took off for sunny destinations from Toronto, Montreal and Winnipeg, each with an all-female flight deck and cabin crew. Operated and organized by a primarily female-led team across multiple functions, including airport staff, dispatch, scheduling and more, today’s events were driven by the epic women of Sunwing who were also on site to capture every memorable moment.