Big ship orders and a buoyant future for cruising were the buzz at Seatrade Cruise Global, the cruise industry’s biggest confab of the year, held in this week in Miami. Record levels of early booking for 2025 are not a result of left-over demand from the shutdowns of the pandemic era, but the new normal, Josh Weinstein, CEO of Carnival Corp. declared in the State of the Industry panel discussion at the conference.
If you love Elton John (and Bernie Taupin), the performance honouring the pair with the prestigious Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song for 2024 is a must. The gala aired on PBS earlier this week and featured a host of performances, including Joni Mitchell, Brandi Carlisle, and Garth Brooks covering John/Taupin classics. Even Metallica weighed in for “Funeral for a Friend/Loves Lies Bleeding” (oddly, it worked!).
Brazil’s government has postponed until April 2025 tourist visa exemptions for Canadians that had been scheduled to end on Wednesday. The decision (which similarly applies to Americans and Australians) was delivered late Tuesday and marks the third time Brazil has delayed lifting the visa requirement since President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office in 2023.
TravelBrands celebrated its relationship with travel advisors and partners at gala evening events held in Toronto (Tuesday) and Montreal (Wednesday) this week. About 1,000 attendees were expected at the Agent Appreciation Events, which featured presentations, reception, and a massive trade show.
Dedicated to sustainable practices and the preservation of natural heritage around the world, Goway has donated $14,000 to Project Rhino, an alliance of dedicated organizations focused on safeguarding the rhinoceros population in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa from poaching.
Strong demand heading into the summer-vacation season is an indication that travellers seem unfazed by recent incidents in the industry that ranged from a panel blowing off a jetliner midflight flight to a tire falling off another plane during takeoff, according to the head of Delta Airlines.
MSC Poesia docked at the Port of Québec April 10, officially kicking off the 2024 Destination Saint Lawrence international cruise season. Nine ports of call are gearing up to welcome 46 different ships from 29 cruise lines in 2024, while bookings to date are estimated to represent over 400,000 passenger-days and some 500 days in port.
2024 and 2025 are shaping up to be especially busy years for property openings in Los Cabos, Mexico, with some of the finest hoteliers in the world expected to introduce new marvels of architecture – each rich in amenities – to the coastlines of Los Cabos’ tourism corridor.
A passenger has been fined for urinating in a cup during a delay in deplaning after landing at Sydney Airport. The incident, after a three-hour Air New Zealand flight from Auckland, occurred last December and a Sydney court fined the 53-year-old man AUS$600 for offensive behaviour in February, officials said Friday.
ACTA says its review of American Airlines’ policy statements on loyalty points and NDCs in February has only reinforced its strong opposition to the measures and is urging the airline to reconsider.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holidays has revealed an “unprecedented decades-long strategy” that includes building eight new vessels across its three brands plus the construction of a multi-ship pier at Great Stirrup Cay, the company’s private island destination in the Bahamas.
The Travel Industry Council of Ontario (TICO) has announced the members of its two new advisory councils – the Consumer Advisory Council (CAC) and Industry Advisory Council (IAC). Part of a contentious review and reorganization of the provincial regulator, the bodies were mandated following “Minister’s Orders” in August 2023.
Ensemble went off the charts, CAA is minding the (knowledge) gap, and SkyTeam named its Canadian honour roll of travel partners in this week’s round-up.
A strike by over 800 workers at a catering company could mean no food and beverages on many flights out of Toronto Pearson Airport this month. The job action could begin as early as April 16, according to Teamsters Local Union 647.
When Boeing boss David Calhoun steps down at the end of the year, he’ll be forgoing compensation that in 2023 was valued at US$33 million. Admittedly the figure – nearly all of it in stock awards – will be cut by nearly a fourth in 2024, but will still total approximately $25 million.
Drink it or bin it: That phrase should have become history this summer at all UK airports.
Travel means so much to some Canadians that one in 10 are willing to skip their housing payments to do so, according to a recent Flight Centre Travel Group survey. And while those decisions may be hopeful for the travel business, it’s also a risky financial strategy that warrants caution, admits the travel company.
With 180 hotels open and nearly 90 hotels in the pipeline – including the imminent launch of its Spark and Motto brands – Hilton says it is accelerating development efforts in Canada with plans to expand its portfolio of hotels by 50% over the next five years.
WestJet has announced additions to its Winnipeg network, featuring new year-round, daily service to Montreal, as well as increased, daily, year-round service to Ottawa, beginning June 3. The airline also announced new seasonal service between Winnipeg and Nashville, set to take off on Sept. 16.
During the month of April, travel advisors can earn an extra 1% bonus commission on all new bookings made with Unique Vacations Inc. or on the Sandals Travel Agent Portal to any Sandals or Beaches resort in Jamaica, Bahamas, Curaçao or Saint Vincent. Agents could also win a trip to the new Sandals Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, which opened its doors on March 27.
In response to a “wish list” survey of past cruisers earlier this year, Avalon Waterways says it will introduce a series of new, longer cruises, checking in at 10 days and more to meet interest and demand.
A Southwest Airlines jet returned to Denver Sunday morning after the engine cover fell off and struck the wing flap during takeoff, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The Boeing 737 landed safely, and the passengers headed to Houston were being put onto another aircraft, Southwest Airlines said in a statement.
After almost 20 years, a man has been convicted of the murder of a British police officer who was shot dead during an armed robbery of a travel agency in northern England in 2005.
A new Caribbean tourism group founded by the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s former Canadian BDM has launched in Canada. One Caribbean Canada is the brainchild of Nancy Drolet, who has assembled an inaugural list of 18 destinations and several hotels in the region, with the notion of banding together to better promote the Caribbean in this country.
The authority overseeing the Montreal airport plans to spend nearly $4 billion in a bid to reduce congestion and ramp up capacity at the country’s second-biggest flight hub. The announcement comes after rising passenger volumes and surging car traffic last summer prompted a wave of frustration among travellers trying to make their planes on time.
National Tourism Week (NTW) – April 15-19 – is coming up. The campaign is orchestrated by the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC) and billed as a crucial platform for highlighting the pivotal role of tourism in Canada.
Spring training for ball players may be over, but it’s continuing for travel advisors, with Transat’s inaugural ‘Rookie Camp’ taking place this week in Mexico. The exclusive training initiative for new travel professionals, which the travel company calls “unprecedented” in Canada, is aimed at agents with less than three years’ experience and represents a “significant step forward in Transat’s ongoing commitment to nurturing talent and fostering growth within the travel industry.”
The adults-only Hyatt Vivid Hotels & Resorts brand has debuted with the opening of Hyatt Vivid Grand Island in Cancun, Mexico. The newest resort in Hyatt’s Inclusive Collection marks the continued growth of Hyatt’s brand footprint in Mexico with additional openings to follow later this year.
A bull elephant charged a truck that a 79-year-old American was riding in with other tourists on a game drive in a Zambian national park, flipping over the vehicle and killing her, a safari company said. The attack injured five others on March 30 in the vast Kafue National Park, which covers 22,400 sq. km. and is one of Africa’s largest animal reserves.
NEXUS rates are set to go up substantially in the Fall; WestJet Encore pilots are closer to striking; a landmark hotel is leaving Las Vegas, and there’s a new man set to take the helm at Brand USA – all this and more in this week’s round-up of last week’s news.