Luxury and experiential travel specialist Virtuoso, which welcomed 4,800 industry professionals from 107 countries at its 37th annual Virtuoso Travel Week in Las Vegas last week, has revealed its latest findings on the sector, based on the opinions of its network of travel agencies and advisors, preferred partners and clientele. In a word, it is “robust.”
Hurricane Erin to a Category 3 hurricane Sunday as its outer bands continued to lash the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico with heavy rains and tropical-storm force winds. While Erin’s maximum winds diminished, the storm’s overall size grew and forecasters issued tropical storm warnings for the Turks and Caicos Islands and a watch for the southeast Bahamas.
Skeptics who think that Vancouverites exaggerate just how much rain the city gets as a means of discouraging others from moving there take note: Several rainfall records were shattered in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley in British Columbia last week, with the Vancouver International Airport smashing its record from over a century ago.
News nuggets, airlines, hotels/resorts, cruising, tours, events, FAMS/incentives, deals, destinations and more are covered in our weekly round-up of travel industry news you may have missed.
A demonstration by more than a dozen members of the union representing Air Canada’s flight attendants prompted the airline to shut down a press conference on Thursday as tensions between the two sides continue to mount ahead of a weekend work stoppage.
Service disruptions at Air Canada this week and the possibility of a strike by the carrier’s flight attendants this weekend highlight the critical role of travel advisors, says ACTA.
It can be challenging for customers – and the travel advisors who book them – to be stuck in the middle of a labour dispute, dealing with delays and cancellations. But travellers may be in luck if they booked their tickets with a credit card that has built-in travel insurance – with one caveat.
Navigating the line between work time and personal time is tricky for a lot of people. With laptop computers and smartphones making it possible to log in anytime to do work from anywhere, many find it hard to disconnect even when they take vacations.
A work stoppage looms for around 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants after their union and the airline issued 72-hour strike and lockout notices, respectively, early Wednesday morning. The airline says it will begin cancelling flights that were scheduled to take off today (Thursday), with increasingly more disruptions by the weekend if a last-minute deal can’t be reached before the work stoppage takes effect. Here’s what else you need to know – and what’s next.
With the potential for an imminent Air Canada labour disruption, Travel Industry Council of Ontario, the province’s travel regulator, is sharing information for Ontario consumers who booked travel services with Air Canada Vacations (a TICO-registered tour operator) either directly or through a TICO-registered travel retailer (including TICO-registered online booking websites).
Just five months after emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Spirit Airlines is warning about its future ability to stay in business. Spirit Aviation Holdings, the budget carrier’s parent company, says it has “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue as a going concern over the next year – which is accounting-speak for running out of money.
Toronto Pearson says it saw slight growth in its overall passenger volumes in both the second quarter and year to date – despite a slowing in transborder traffic. Canada’s busiest airport saw and increase of 0.3 million or 1.5% to 12 million for the second quarter and 0.1 million or 0.1% to 22.7 million year-to-date, when compared to the same periods of 2024.
A popular selfie spot for visitors to Banff National Park is being moved to what town officials say is a safer site. The two-metre-high, $350,000 sign that simply reads “Banff” was installed in 2017 on Mount Norquay Avenue, one of two entrances into the Alberta mountain park’s idyllic townsite.
A Swiss village has cashed in on a pay-for-entry turnstile used by avid tourists who flock each day to a lakeside dock featured in the hit South Korean Netflix series “Crash Landing On You,” often to snap souvenir photos.
Air Canada and the union representing its approximately 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants failed to reach an agreement overnight, putting the flight attendants in a position to potentially walk off the job Saturday at 12:58 a.m. ET if a deal isn’t reached by then to avoid a work stoppage.
Wildfires burned in parts of Europe on Tuesday as millions of people across the continent struggled to adapt to the new reality: record summer heat. Temperatures in some areas soared past 40 degrees Celsius.
Torrential rains forced Mexico City’s main airport to shut down flights for hours for the second consecutive day on Tuesday, stirring chaos in one of Latin America’s busiest airports (MEX). The flight disruptions come as the Mexican capital experiences one of its heaviest rainy seasons in years, leading to constant flooding in other parts of the city.
This week: Virtual Travel Week is underway in Las Vegas; Transat Distribution Canada has a social media solution for members; and TRAVELSAVERS leads the way on artificial intelligence.
WestJet says some personal data including information about travel documents such as passports was stolen in a cyberattack earlier this year, but credit and debit card numbers as well as user passwords were not compromised.
Small group adventure specialist Intrepid Travel is inviting travel advisors to “step up, compete, and claim the crown” during its August ‘World Sale’ – a booking blitz packed with savings, prizes, and serious bragging rights.
As the clock ticks down toward a possible strike that could begin as soon as this weekend, Air Canada flight attendants gathered for simultaneous demonstrations outside airports in some major Canadian cities Monday.
The Maritime provinces and Ottawa are spending $9 million to help restore air travel between Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Under a three-year pilot program with PAL Airlines, daily flights will be offered between Halifax, Sydney, N.S., Charlottetown, Fredericton and Moncton, N.B.
Nunavut’s travel industry had a $823.5 million output and supported 6,322 jobs in 2024, an “impressive” result that shows that travel is increasingly becoming big business in the territory.
In a welcome piece of cross-border travel news, American Airlines launched seasonal flights between Dallas and Quebec City on the weekend, offering a direct flight every Saturday between YQB and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) through Nov. 1.
Blue Diamond Resorts says it is taking the next step in its evolution: As of Aug. 11, the all-inclusive resort officially transitioned to Royalton Hotels & Resorts, consolidating its brand identity under the same name some 15 years after launch.
Firefighters battled Monday to tackle a large gorse fire that spread across Arthur’s Seat threatening the landmark hill in Edinburgh, which is a popular tourist attraction in the Scottish capital.
The Beyond Borders Tourism Coalition, a unified alliance of US and Canadian and U.S. tourism, trade, and association stakeholders, is calling for urgent policy clarity and coordinated action in the face of escalating tariffs and the recent funding cuts of critical NGOs and infrastructure support, while historic uncertainty grips cross-border travel.
Air Canada and the union representing 10,000 of its flight attendants resumed talks over the weekend in an attempt to avoid a strike that could potentially begin next week. The flight attendants can potentially walk off the job as soon as Aug. 16 at 12:01 a.m. with at least 72 hours’ notice provided.
More passengers are choosing the front of the bus when flying, according to IATA, which has released its annual World Air Transport Statistics (WATS) report with comprehensive statistical data for 2024.
Buoyed by consumer demand and an expanding travel industry, IHG Hotels & Resorts reports that it has surpassed one million open rooms around the world across its 20 brands, which include such well-known names as InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn, Crown Plaza, Holiday Inn Express, and Kimpton.