News

A Canadian man was shot to death in Mexico’s Pacific coast beach town of Puerto Escondido, prosecutors said Tuesday. He was the second foreign tourist killed in the southern state of Oaxaca in less than a week.

It didn’t take The Mamas and the Papas to start Canadians dreaming about California. Indeed, with visitation numbers from this country expected to reach pre-pandemic levels this year – and surpass them in 2024 – many Canadians are ready to turn dreams to reality again and return to the Golden State.

‘Tis the season for conferences, including recent gatherings by Trevello, Ensemble, and TRAVELSAVERS Canada; TDC isn’t looking a gift horse in the mouth; plus, a “major victory” in the courts for Travel Leaders Group.

Exceptional rains this week in a drought-struck region of northern Italy have swelled rivers over their banks, killing at least eight people, forcing the evacuation of thousands, and forcing Formula One to cancel this weekend’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix to not overtax emergency crews that are already stretched thin.

The Mastercard Economics Institute has released its fourth annual travel report, Travel Industry Trends 2023, offering insights across markets about the global state of travel punctuated by shifting economic landscapes, persistent consumer demands, and a reopening mainland China.

More than 74 million visitors came to the Orlando in 2022, making the destination the most visited in the US, according to Visit Florida. Among them were over 860,000 Canadians, representing the Florida city’s top international market.

If the 21-storey Leonard Cohen mural that commands Montreal’s skyline could talk, it might tell you what this city’s crackling cultural life was like when the pandemic hit and everyone hunkered down. To borrow from his lyrics, it was a cold and a broken hallelujah. The party’s back on.

American Airlines has signed a new lease at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport – the world’s second busiest airport – that will include US$4.8 billion to build a new terminal and renovate one of the five current terminals, airline and airport officials said Tuesday.

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts its preparing to open a new luxury property in the Moroccan capital of Rabat, the luxury chain’s fourth hotel in the country. Expected to open later this year, Four Seasons Hotel Rabat at Kasr Al Bahr will be set within a 19th-century palace overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, 90 minutes from Casablanca’s Mohammed V International Airport.

Travellers may have little say on how climate crisis affects the places they visit and love, but they could play a more prominent role in helping them recover from environmental calamities if a bold idea by Jamaica’s tourism minister takes hold.

Several heat records were broken over weekend as British Columbia continues to be gripped by heat, fire, flood risk. Unseasonably hot temperatures are afflicting much of province with a heat warnings issued for the north coast, including Kitimat and Terrace.

The historic Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan shuttered three years ago, but it will soon be bustling again – reopening to accommodate an anticipated influx of asylum seekers just as other New York City hotels are being converted to emergency shelters.

After a hiatus of three years due to the pandemic, PATA Travel Mart 2023 will return Oct. 4-6 in New Delhi, India. The annual trade show of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) will be hosted by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.

With travel to the Caribbean at 99% of pre pandemic levels the region is in a “pretty fantastic” place, the president of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association told delegates at last week’s 41st annual Caribbean Travel Marketplace in Barbados.

The National Airlines Council has released a report calling on Ottawa to implement “shared accountability” in aviation, with the goal of smoother travel – and across-the-board accountability for flight disruptions.

Eurail is growing in 2023 with the addition of new routes and travel options across the continent, including in Italy and Denmark.

An “influencer” who staged a California plane crash to make a YouTube video of himself parachuting to safety has agreed to plead guilty to obstructing the investigation by destroying the wreckage, says the US Justice Department.

A new look passport is coming for Canadians, plus the ability to renew online. Also last week, Emirates announced a new country manager in Canada and interline agreement with Etihad; Qantas added new meaning to the term ‘long haul’; travel agent month incentives continue; and German rail workers cancelled a planned strike.