Nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, and boasting 12 distinct microclimates, Costa Rica provides visitors with a unique opportunity to explore lush rainforests, pristine beaches, and volcanic peaks.
Imagine planning a vacation and not being able to check Airbnb or another online booking site for an apartment in which to spend a few days walking, shopping and eating among the locals.
Environmental activists caused disruptions outside Montreal’s Trudeau International Airport for several days last week in protest of Canadian fossil fuel policy. The latest action took place on Friday around 12:30 p.m. when three people with activist group Last Generation Canada glued their hands to a road that connects the airport’s departure and arrival ramps, temporarily blocking vehicle access to the terminal.
The devastation of Jasper by wildfire is just the latest sign that climate change “cannot be ignored,” says the Canadian Association of Tour Operators, which has urged the tourism industry to “prioritize sustainability and take proactive measures to address the challenges posed by climate change.”
It was big news for a big state: Texas is getting its own Michelin guide. The welcome development for Travel Texas broke as representatives from the state visited Canada last week, talking up and recent developments and current trends in the Lone Star state in both Montreal and Toronto.
Toronto-based Siren Communications has been named the Canadian public relations Agency of Record (AOR) for Los Cabos, which bills itself as Mexico’s fastest growing destination. Siren will oversee a “robust” fall campaign designed to attract more visitors from this country to the Pacific resort destination with a focus on key pillars of wellness, gastronomy, sustainability and adventure.
A surprise eruption of steam in a Yellowstone National Park geyser basin sent people scrambling for safety as basketball-sized rocks flew overhead, highlighting the US parks hydrothermal activities that attract millions of tourists annually are dangerous and not as predictable as Old Faithful, which erupts “like clockwork.”
Canada’s passport was ranked among the best in the world in this week’s round-up; also, Southwest is breaking a 50-year tradition; Carnival Cruise Line ordered three more massive ships (biggest in the world); WestJet announced free onboard internet; dog owners at the US border got a reprieve; and (in case you might have missed it), the Summer Olympic Games kicked off, putting the spotlight of the world on France.
Air Canada hosted an official send-off celebration at Pearson airport for Team Canada athletes and delegation members Wednesday night for 2024 Paris Olympic Games onboard a Boeing 777 complete with a special celebratory livery for Team Canada. And the airline promised that, thanks to its ‘Going for Gold’ program, the athletes would arrive “rested and ready to compete at their best.”
“The notion of connection is one of the biggest reasons why ECHO is important”, says Writer and Director Mukhtar Omar Sharif Mukhtar of the new Cirque du Soleil production currently performing in Toronto, perhaps that is why DT Minich, President/CEO at Experience Kissimmee and his team chose ECHO to conclude a busy week in Toronto meeting and connecting with associates, partners and media, before, finally, relaxing at a casual get together to gasp at a spectacular performance of ECHO.
Southwest Airlines says that it plans to drop the open-boarding system it has used for more than 50 years and will start assigning passengers to seats, just like all the other big airlines. The airline said it has been studying seating options, running tests and surveying customers and concluded that that preferences have changed over the years and the vast majority of travellers now want to know where they are sitting before they get to the airport.
Among the throngs of tourists in cowboy attire who flock to Nashville’s famed downtown honky-tonks, a small but unsettling group has distracted locals and visitors from the neon lights lately with Nazi salutes and white supremacist rhetoric.
Welcome aboard, hope you are standing comfortably. For the horses on the US eventing team, the journey to France for the Paris Olympics was – quite literally – a four-legged journey.
Young travellers are driving a cruise boom, according to the CLIA’s 2024 State of the Cruise Industry report. Its surveys find that 88 percent of Millennials and 86 percent of Gen-X who have taken a cruise are planning to cruise again. And the surge is particularly strong in Canada, says Ian Patterson, MSC Cruises Canada country manager.
Big Bon Jovi hits can fill up most of your fingers, but we’re going to stretch that onto the toes this week with “Keep the Faith,” a lesser hit spawned from the 1992 album of the same name, an effort that was notable as the last recording by the original lineup of the New Jersey band, but also a turning point when the Jon Bon Jovi pop-rockers are deemed to become a little more serious.
Canadian passport holders can enter 187 of the world’s 227 destinations visa-free, placing this country in 7th place on the respected Henley Passport Index, which rates the world’s most powerful passports based on visa-free accessibility. Canada’s ranking edged ahead by one over 2023, when it ranked 8th on the list.
WestJet and TELUS have unveiled the first step in a multi-year strategic partnership that will be a “significant leap forward for the airline’s inflight connectivity.” At the heart of the deal is fast, free internet for WestJet Rewards onboard flights, beginning before the end of the year.
With a capacity that would hold the entire current population of Goderich, Ont. – nearly 8,000 people – Carnival Cruise Line’s new ships will be the biggest in the world when they entire service in the summers of 2029, 2031 and 2033, respectively. The ships will be a new class of vessel and feature over 3,000 staterooms each.
Caribbean low-price airline Arajet is now selling routes connecting from Toronto and Montreal to Punta Cana, offering Canadian travellers a second destination and hub in the Dominican beyond the carrier’s Santo Domingo base. Service will begin Oct. 27 and onward connections to other destinations in the Caribbean and South and Central America will also be available.
Canadian interest in The Islands of Tahiti and overall tourism to the destination from Canada has been surging in 2024, with visitations already up 6.3% YTD versus last year. And Tahiti Tourisme is expecting a further wave of enthusiasm as host of the Summer Olympics’ surfing competition.
Polar adventures outfitter Quark Expeditions is offering travel advisors the chance to win an Arctic FAM of a lifetime. The ‘Ultimate Summer in The Arctic Sweepstakes’ will reward 10 agents, selected at random, with a spot on its a 13-day “Ultimate Arctic Voyage from Svalbard to Jan Mayen to Iceland,” hosted by one of the company’s Business Development Managers, in July 2025.
Venice officials say that the city’s new day-tripper tax netted 2.4 million euros ($3.6 million) during a test phase this summer, during which the 5-euro ($7.50) tax was paid 485,062 times over the 29 test days, mostly weekends and holidays, from April 25 to July 14. The final numbers included paper access tickets sold to bus tours, cruise ships and some tour operators, accounting for about 1,000 entrances on each of the test days.
“Choice is a tax on time and attention,” says NYC professor of marketing and author Scott Galloway, who adds, “Consumers don’t want more choice, but more confidence in the choices presented.” It’s a sentiment embodied in Travelport’s just-released 2024 State of Modern Retailing Report, which concludes that a majority of travellers feel overwhelmed by too many choices when it comes to trip planning. And that presents an opportunity for travel agencies, it adds.
Multiple wildfires in the Canadian Rockies’ largest national park sent up to 25,000 visitors and residents fleeing west over the last open mountain road Tuesday, navigating through darkness and soot following a government alert during the area’s busiest tourist time of the year.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control will not require onerous forms for dog owners crossing the border from Canada this summer. The agency had announced new rules in May that were aimed at keeping rabies out of the country.
Taking a page from the Olympics, AmaWaterways has launched its ‘Cruise for Gold’ travel advisor incentives, offering Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals to the three North American travel advisors who book the most river cruises to France with the company during the course of the Summer and Paralympic Games in Paris – July 26 to Sept. 8.
Wales is in the spotlight this week in Canada as Wrexham FC arrives to play the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday (July 27). The team, co-owned by Vancouver-born actor Ryan Reynolds, and featured in the documentary series ‘Welcome to Wrexham,’ has become a global phenomenon as the team channels its Hollywood ownership with success on the field, rising from non-league football/soccer to Britain’s League One in just a couple of years.
Anti-government protesters in Kenya’s capital clashed with an emerging pro-government group on Tuesday, escalating weeks of turmoil in East Africa’s economic hub that have led to dozens of deaths, the firing of most Cabinet members, and calls for President William Ruto’s resignation. The military made a rare deployment as the protests focused on the country’s main airport.
US federal officials are investigating an incident in which a Southwest Airlines jet flew as low as 45 metres (150 feet) over water while it was still about 8 kilometers from its intended landing spot at the airport in Tampa, Florida. The pilots skipped over the Tampa airport and landed instead at Fort Lauderdale, 320 km away.
The WestJet Group, which includes both the mainline carrier and Sunwing Airlines, has announced its complete 2024/25 winter schedule, providing Canadians more non-stop sun destination routes than any other airline, the company says.