WestJet is set to introduce 10 new routes and return or extend 16 routes this summer, offering a significant increase in coast-to-coast travel options for travellers. Underpinning its growth strategy, the increases on domestic, leisure and international travel routes represent a 15 percent gain year-over-year.
A celebration has been launched to mark ‘85 Years of Flight’ at Toronto’s downtown island airport. Conceived in the 1930s as the main airport for Toronto, the construction of what is now Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ) was completed in 1939 at the same time that Malton Airport (now Toronto Pearson International Airport) was constructed as a secondary, alternate airport to be used in the event of bad weather.
The Federal Aviation Administration is warning the US Congress not to raise the mandatory retirement age for airline pilots until the agency can study whether older pilots would raise safety risks. The House voted last year to raise the retirement age from 65 to 67 as part of a larger bill covering FAA operations.
U.S. News & World Report has published its 14th annual rankings of the Best Hotels. The 2024 rankings highlight more than 37,000 hotels across more than 400 destinations to help travellers find the hotel that suits their needs.
When Regent Seven Seas Cruises set out to define and deliver “the world’s most luxurious cruise” it understood the lifestyle values of the elite cruise guests it aims to cultivate. In launching Seven Seas Grandeur, RSSC – itself trademarked as ‘The World’s Most Luxurious Fleet’ – ensured its all-suite, all-balcony, all-inclusive new ship would embody the sumptuous cruise environment craved by people accustomed to splendid surrounds, service, and food.
A woman suffered serious leg injuries after being attacked last week by a suspected bull shark in Sydney Harbour. The victim, a woman reported to be in her late 20s, was bitten on the right leg as she swam at Elizabeth Bay in Sydney’s east at about 8 p.m.
This year’s hotspots are looking a lot cooler with the rise of Northern Lights tourism, spurred by reports that the astronomical phenomenon will be extraordinarily visible in 2024. According to a survey commissioned by Expedia, searches by Aurora Borealis hunters are up by triple digits and almost three-quarters of Canadians (71%) says the aspire to see the Northern Lights in their lifetime but haven’t yet crossed the item off their bucket-list.
Montreal Saint-Hubert Airport (YUH) has revealed a new brand identity, reflecting its transformation into commercial aviation as construction of its new terminal, in partnership with Porter Airlines, progresses. Located in Saint-Hubert since 1927, the airport will now be known as MET – Montreal Metropolitan Airport.
Air Canada Vacations’ 2024 Europe Travel Agent Toolkit is back and packed with opportunities to boost sales and earn bonus commission, plus savings on personal vacation travel to Europe. The updated toolkit features new additions and enhancements aimed at empowering travel professionals with comprehensive resources to support travel agents as they navigate the tour company’s extensive Europe portfolio.
Ensemble jams with Jamaica, TDC is cruising to success with Celebrity, and Amex GBT is fighting fraud with Expedia in our weekly round-up of travel agency news.
Solidifying its reputation as the leading provider of all-inclusive mountain resorts, Club Med has unveiled its latest property in Hokkaido, Japan. Club Med Kiroro Grand is the company’s fourth resort on the northern island – an internationally renowned ski destination – and is located only a three-minute gondola ride from its sister resort, Club Med Kiroro Peak.
Canadian airlines are calling on the federal government to roll out measures that will spark production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in Canada and catch up to programs south of the border, thus enabling them to cut down on pollution that accounts for about two percent of carbon dioxide emissions globally, according to the International Energy Agency.
Mexico’s government has acknowledged that at least two well-known Mayan ruin sites in the southern part of the country are unreachable by visitors because of a toxic mix of cartel violence and land disputes.
Ihsan Abdul Salam describes himself as a “loyal” customer of Flight Centre, booking tickets with the international travel company since 1995. But when he went to a Vancouver branch of the firm to pick up tickets to Brazil he had booked through a consultant online, he was in for a shock – the $2,280 booking didn’t exist.
Starting April 1, the Travel Industry Council of Ontario will introduce a new fee structure that it says is more equitable for registrants across the board, but which will see rates for members increase 3.4 percent on average (based on 2019-20 sales). Notably, the new funding model for TICO and the provincial Compensation Fund will not include a consumer pay option.
Laser strikes aimed at aircraft – including airline planes – surged 41% in the US last year to a record high, according to federal officials. The Federal Aviation Administration says it received 13,304 reports from pilots, who can be blinded by the lights, about laser strikes last year, erasing a record set in 2021.
G Adventures’ popular ‘Change Makers’ travel advisor reward program is returning with 15 Canadian agents eligible to earn a space at the community tourism pioneer’s third Change Makers GX Summit later this year. To be held at yet-to-be-revealed destination, the event will include 75 winners from around the globe, brought together to celebrate the impact of community tourism.
Peru’s government has backtracked on plans to outsource the sale of entry tickets to Machu Picchu to a private company, amidst questions from the local tourism sector and a week after protesters blocked access to the country’s most famous tourist attraction and rail service to the area was suspended.
Hong Kong’s most eye-catching Chinese New Year celebration is making a grand comeback. The “Cathay International Chinese New Year Night Parade” returns after a five-year layoff and is set to take place on the first day of the Year of the Dragon on Feb. 10.
Air Transat flight attendants rejected a tentative deal with the company raising fears of a future job action, while the world’s largest cruise ship made its maiden voyage from Miami. In other Round-Up highlights, France was tipped to retain top global tourism status, while Whistler, BC, was named Canada’s “most welcoming destination.”
Days after Maui’s wildfires killed scores of people and destroyed thousands of homes last August, a shocking claim spread with alarming speed on YouTube and TikTok: The blaze on the Hawaiian island was set deliberately, using futuristic energy weapons developed by the US military.
Booking.com has opened its very big envelope to reveal the 2024 winners of its 12th annual Traveller Review Awards. Based on more than 309 million verified customer reviews, and in recognition of delivering consistently excellent service and hospitality, a record 1.48 million travel partners received a Booking.com Traveller Review Award 2024, including 7,725 in Canada.
Beyond keeping up with Karly (our host and a speed-walker of the first order), Las Vegas is meant to be experienced at double speed. The current concept of “slow tourism” does not apply here.
The spotlight will be on Gobbler’s Knob in western Pennsylvania early Friday morning, when handlers of a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil will announce whether he saw his own shadow and predicts six more weeks of winter or an early spring. Thousands are expected to attend the annual event that exploded in popularity after the 1993 Bill Murray movie, “Groundhog Day.”
New York’s American Museum of Natural History is closing two halls featuring Native American objects starting Saturday, acknowledging the exhibits are “severely outdated” and contain culturally sensitive items.
A new cruise destination is coming into focus as Carnival Cruise Line revealed details of Celebration Key, an exclusive destination on Grand Bahama designed to offer guests “a key for unlocking their slice of paradise.” Development of the cruise attraction on the south side of Grand Bahama Island, has been underway since 2017 and is finally set to open in the summer of 2025, Carnival says.
Late last month Mary Weiss, lead singer of the pioneering 1960s girl group The Shangri-Las passed away. The band was best known for its classic “Leader of the Pack,” but also the hit “(Remember) Walking in the Sand.”
Canada has followed the US in issuing a travel advisory for the Bahamas, warning travellers to “exercise a high degree of caution” due to high crime rates, particularly in Nassau and Freeport. In a statement, the Bahamas government says it is “is alert, attentive, and proactive” to the situation and “taking rigorous steps to maintain our well-earned reputation, including an enhanced police presence and additional police resources.”
Travel South USA arrived in Canada this week to court the travel trade at gala events in Toronto and Montreal, enticing guests with “bacon, bourbon and blues” – the latter courtesy of special guest, American Idol winner (and Alabaman) Taylor Hicks, whose rootsy refrains provided the soundtrack of the evenings.
A frantic air traffic controller shouting expletives at pilots to abort a takeoff helped narrowly avert a collision with another plane in an incident at JFK New York last year, according to documents from the investigation into the incident released Monday.