News

The first time I visited Florida was a long long time ago. Disney World was only a couple of years old and I was relatively new to the industry, working for Adventure Tours. I flew into St. Pete-Clearwater Airport (PIE) to fill in for the vacationing Eileen Forrow, who then, at the very beginning of an illustrious career, was our rep at the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater which was still owned by Jack Tar (it is now the Scientology Centre). I was back at PIE last week – what a difference!

Lynx marks it’s first anniversary Friday, having taken to the skies one year ago with its first flight from Calgary to Vancouver on April 7, 2022. To celebrate, the discount carrier has launched a contest for Canadians to win free flights for a year.

Even as Canada’s economic numbers continue to improve, the Bank of Canada says business and consumers are preparing for an expected slowdown that could result in less spending on activities such as travel.

TD Insurance survey reveals that most Canadians planning to travel don’t intend to purchase travel insurance, even though over half of Canadians can’t afford an out-of-pocket expense exceeding $5,000.

With arrivals forecast to grow 20 percent over 2019 numbers this spring and nearly 50% in summer, the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association says it has a “very, very positive outlook” for the year.

Registration is now open for ACTA’s annual travel industry golf tournament, set to take place on Thursday, July 13, at the Royal Ontario Golf Course in Milton.

Spending on tourism continued to grow last year as travellers returned to planes and patios, but it remained well below pre-pandemic levels, according to Statistics Canada. Tourism expenditures between October and December rose for the seventh consecutive quarter as the last of the COVID restrictions on travel lifted, increasing by 2.1% from the third quarter to $20.1 billion, the agency said in a report late last week.

The Global Tourism Film Festival (GTFF), set to take place in North Bay, Ont., April 28-30, has announced a special presentation by the Ukraine Government Agency responsible for the country’s tourism development, joining a full roster of Canadian and international presentations and professional development for travel counsellors.

A federal budget and US travel tidbits (borders crossings, vaccine mandates) lead this week’s round-up of last week’s travel news, along with the naming of a new Ontario registrar, a Disney Cruise Line milestone, and the announcement of new Dubai reps in Canada.

A new cross-border study finds Canadians take more pride in their country than Americans do in theirs – and are more unified than Americans in viewing their country as a caring and safe place to call home, and a positive contributor to the globe. And Americans, it seems, agree.

Board members picked by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to oversee the governance of Walt Disney World say that their Disney-controlled predecessors pulled a fast one on them by passing restrictive covenants that strip the new board of many of its powers.

Visitors to one of Florence’s most iconic monuments – the Baptistry of San Giovanni, opposite the city’s Duomo – are getting a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see its ceiling mosaics up close thanks to an innovative approach to a planned restoration effort. Rather than limit the public’s access during the six-year cleaning of the vault, officials have built a scaffolding platform for the art restorers that will also allow small numbers of visitors to see the ceiling mosaics at eye level.

For Canadians fed up with air-travel disruptions the Federal government says help is on the way. However, travellers will also face higher airport security fees in 2023, according to this week’s budget. And as for help for travel retailers, ACTA says simply it is “discouraged but not surprised.”

Despite two in three Ontarian’s expressing concern about having their travel plans delayed or cancelled nearly the same amount says they intend to travel this spring and summer anyways, according to new research from the Travel Industry Council of Ontario (TICO).