News

This week: Flight Centre makes a strategic investment in Toronto; Miami was on the FAM roster with Air Canada; and Virtuoso revealed the location of its 2026 Symposium.

G Adventures and its non-profit partner Planeterra have unveiled details of this year’s GX event, taking place in Jordan this September. Notably, the Toronto-based small group adventure operator has revealed that the mega event will conclude with a performance by The Jacksons.

Despite Canadians’ cross-border travel bookings declining in the “mid-to-high-teens percentage points” in the next couple of months compared to last year, WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech says his airline is already seeing signs the U.S. market is picking up a bit. 

A massive cloud of dust from the Sahara Desert blanketed most of the Caribbean on Monday in the biggest event of its kind this year as it heads toward the United States. The cloud extended some 3,200 km. from Jamaica to well past Barbados in the eastern Caribbean, and some 750 1,200 km. from the Turks and Caicos Islands in the northern Caribbean down south to Trinidad and Tobago.

When David Bennett decided to escape Canada’s icy winter with a weeklong trip to the Dominican Republic, he never imagined he’d be fighting to get back on Canadian soil for more than two months. Bennett has finally returned to his Burlington, Ont., home after being arrested in the Caribbean country and accused of smuggling drugs. Even after the charges were withdrawn, he was stuck in the island nation for weeks due to court delays. 

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.

The chief executive of WestJet Group says the federal government should not treat air travel as a luxury in a country as vast as Canada and reducing costs to the industry would help foster national unity. 

COVID-19 cases are rising again as a new variant begins to circulate in some parts of the world. The World Health Organization says the rise in cases is primarily in the eastern Mediterranean, Southeast Asia and western Pacific regions and airport screening in the United States has detected the new variant in travellers arriving from those regions to destinations in California, Washington state, Virginia, and New York.

Despite long-standing advice to avoid ice abroad, it’s not the drinks you need to worry about when it comes to food-poisoning and illness, it may be lukewarm lasagna, according to a travel expert, who warns sunseekers to be cautious of lesser-known food poisoning risks – especially E. coli – that often go unnoticed on the buffet table.

Following its successful inaugural International Destination Conference in 2024, ACTA has partnered with the Tourist Office of Spain for its 2025 event, to be held in Castilla y Leon, Oct. 27-Nov. 1. Applications are now open with a deadline of July 13.

Over 300 million tourists travelled internationally in the first three months of 2025, about 14 million more than in the same months of 2024, according to the May 2025 World Tourism Barometer from UN Tourism. That represents a 5% rise on last year and is 3% more than in pre-pandemic year 2019.

With Canada’s new parliament now reconvened after the federal election and throne speech Tuesday, ACTA has laid out its list of key priorities for the incoming federal government, which includes presenting the priorities of travel agencies and independent travel advisors.

This week: TRAVELSAVERS owners were in full “retreat” mode – in a good way; Nexion members cruised to success at an inaugural conference; Transat hosted “rookie camp” for travel advisors; and Trevello revealed the anticipated location of its next annual conference in 2026.