News

Airlines, hotels/resorts, cruising, tours, events, FAMS/incentives, deals, destinations and more are covered in our weekly round-up of travel industry news that you may have missed.

Sunwing launched its winter campaign Wednesday at events in Toronto and Montreal, and virtually in the West, putting travel advisors at the heart of the travel company’s “obsessive” mission to not only deliver value to Canadians, but to effectively communicate that message.

To show gratitude to travel advisors for their “unwavering dedication, hard work and year-round commitment” to their clients, Sunwing Vacations has declared October “Sunwing Loves Advisors” month. The full 31-day fete follows similar sentiment shown in May on Travel Agent Appreciation Day in May, which the tour company says, “was simply not enough.”

An unexploded US bomb from World War II that had been buried at a Japanese airport exploded Wednesday, causing a large crater in a taxiway and the cancellation of more than 80 flights but no injuries. Japanese Land and Transport Ministry officials said there were no aircraft nearby when the bomb exploded at Miyazaki Airport in southwestern Japan.

“The Power of You” was a fitting theme for Ensemble’s recent Horizons event, where the consortium’s president Michael Johnson declared current times as nothing less than the ‘golden age of travel advisors.” Taking place in Las Vegas, the Sept. 16-19 event brought together over 800 attendees, including the network’s owners, managers, advisors, and key supplier partners, in an experience designed to inspire, inform, and empower professionals across the industry.   

Declaring a “new era for doing business with Collette,” the 107-year-old tour operator has opened access to four new and enhanced self-service and learning tools for travel advisors. Dubbed the EnCompass Campaign, they include four main components.

Officials in Johannesburg have proposed renaming a major street after a Palestinian woman who was involved in a hijacking more than 50 years ago, sparking criticism from several political parties and the city’s Jewish community. The city council is considering naming the street in its financial district of Sandton after Leila Khaled, a Palestinian militant and member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine group.

Transat Distribution Canada is ‘humbly, carefully’ confident about the prospects for 2025, says the network’s GM Karine Gagnon, who notes that 2023 was an exceptional year for members. And while 2024 has not been quite as a strong, it has not been far behind. And “for me,” she says, “that’s a great place to be.

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), in collaboration with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Tourism, has released a new report revealing the stark impact of the pandemic on woman and youth employment within the global Travel & Tourism sector.

Jordan will welcome tourism professionals from around the globe to the next G Adventures GX Summit in 2025. The middle eastern destination was unveiled at this year’s event in India. Taking place Sept. 23-Oct. 1 and notably coinciding with World Tourism Day on Sept. 27, the event will bring together agents, suppliers, media and travellers from around the globe to experience firsthand the impact that community tourism can have.

Air Canada Vacations wrapped its fall ‘DreamMakers’ series of cross-Canada fall product launches Thursday with an enthusiastic crowd of close to a thousand travel advisors at a venue north of Toronto. The event also attracted one special guest: Sandals Resorts executive chairman Adam Stewart, who received a standing ovation when entering the stage.

The soup-throwing days of two British climate activists have been halted, at least temporarily, when they were sentenced Friday for throwing tomato soup over Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” two years ago, nearly destroying one of the great masterpieces at London’s National Gallery.

In this week’s round-up, a Sunwing survey reveals Canadians’ travel intentions; the global travel industry edges ever-closer to pre-pandemic parity; a new cholera vaccine is made available in Canada; IHG has designs on Dubai’s latest epic venture: the tallest all-hotel tower in the world; how to earn a free AmaWaterways cruise – and, of course, much more.

As overtourism reaches a tipping point, Intrepid Travel has released its annual Not Hot List, featuring 10 lesser-known destinations that the tour operator believes deserve the spotlight for travel in 2025. The list seeks to address overtourism by inspiring travellers to discover different and unique experiences around the world – and that are largely off travellers’ radar – with communities that can truly benefit from more visitors.