As part of its worldwide “You Belong with G Experience” campaign, agents from Canada will be invited to join G Adventures to see ‘Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour’ live in Toronto this coming November. The tour company says the incentive is the biggest agent experience it has ever delivered, with top sellers from different countries around the world also heading to concerts in New Orleans and London.
Mark your calendars, the next edition of the Destination France road show will roll out in four Canadian cities in February: Montreal on Feb. 19; Toronto Feb. 20; Calgary Feb. 21 and Vancouver, Feb. 22. Details to come.
MSC Cruises, the world’s third largest cruise brand, is shedding light on five important travel trends that are driving guest holiday decisions for 2024 and beyond. The cruise line says it has observed heightened demand for products that offer extended stays in destinations, holidays rich in cultural experiences, upgraded adventures with touches of luxury, sustained enthusiasm for Europe’s vibrant cities, and guests looking for the biggest experience-value return.
Winnipeg is well-known for particularly brisk winters; but many residents lean into the weather by celebrating the season in creative and inspired ways – from the Guinness World Record holding largest snow maze to a fine dining festival on a frozen river, and an interactive art and architecture showcase on an ice-skating trail.
A man was found dead inside an airplane engine Monday night at Salt Lake City International Airport after police say he breached an emergency exit door, walked onto the tarmac, and climbed inside the jet’s engine.
A large Japan Airlines passenger plane and a Japanese coast guard aircraft collided on the runway at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on Tuesday and burst into flames, killing five people aboard the coast guard plane, officials said. All 379 people on Japan Airlines flight JAL-516 got out safely before the Airbus A350 was fully engulfed in flames, Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito confirmed.
A new report says Air Canada had the worst on-time performance among large airlines in North America in 2023. Aviation data firm Cirium says the country’s biggest carrier landed 63 percent of its flights on time last year, placing it last among the continent’s 10 biggest airlines. The best performance was delivered by Delta Airlines at 85 percent on-time.
The Italian city of Venice announced new limits on the size of tourist groups, the latest move to reduce the pressure of mass tourism on the famed canal city. Starting in June, groups will be limited to 25 people, or roughly half the capacity of a tourist bus.
Excitement flew high on the Atlantic breeze as we stood on the top deck of Polaris, counting seconds for the meteorologist to untether the massive weather balloon. As the helium-filled bubble soared 30 kilometers into space and out of view, everyone cheered, thrilled to witness the scientific mission, synchronized with weather stations around the globe, to simultaneously launch balloons to gather crucial atmospheric data for predicting weather.
With a first-of-its kind beach and safari resort in South Africa, and the brand’s first Exclusive Collection resort in South America on the drawing board, Club Med is continuing its upmarket shift to exclusively offering premium products in 2024 and beyond.
IATA has rolled out the next generation of travel documentation and verification system to support contactless travel and enhances the passenger experience. Timatic AutoCheck offers a streamlined and interactive experience enabling travellers, airlines, and travel professionals to easily access accurate and clearly worded immigration information. The entire document checking process has been automated with tailored instructions for each passenger.
Jamaica is expecting its best winter season ever in 2023-24 with tourism minister Edmund Bartlett declaring that for the first time in the island’s history, there will be over one million stopover travellers for the season.
With a new year of travel opportunities ahead, CheapOair.ca is sharing its annual look ahead at some of the top “challenges and surprises” that Canadian travellers can expect for 2024, from airline and hotel prices to assorted tourist taxes.
Canadians have been busy this past year, and it’s taken them across the land and sea in search of adventure, sun, and romance. To uncover the top travel trends of the year – and its most unique bookings – Flight Centre Canada dug deep into 2023 booking data. Here’s what they found.
British Columbia’s abnormally warm winter has left local ski resorts grappling with a lack of snow during the holiday tourism season, as resorts struggle to keep runs open. Fewer than half of Whistler Blackcomb’s trails are open, while Vancouver’s Mount Seymour is closed entirely while it waits for better conditions.
Bulgaria and Romania have received permission to join Europe’s passport- and visa-free Schengen Area, starting in March. The move initially will apply only to travellers arriving by air and sea, while Austria has committed to continuing negotiations over the need for border checks when crossing from the two countries by land.
From a reimagined culinary journey with Chef’s Table and Carnival Culinary Centre curated by Chief Culinary Officer Emeril Lagasse to new online enhancements aimed at making debarkation more convenient, Carnival Cruise Line is deploying a series of new features designed to elevate the guest experience in 2024.
Security officers found 17 bullets concealed inside a disposable baby diaper during a flight over the holidays at New York’s LaGuardia Airport. Transportation Security Administration officers pulled the otherwise clean diaper from a passenger’s carry-on bag after it triggered an alarm in an X-ray machine at an airport security checkpoint, the TSA said.
There were a billion reasons that 2023 was a great year for travel and tourism (ed note: not all listed here!). Other round-up highlights over the holidays included the return of Mexicana airline (in unique fashion), ongoing Boxing Week sales from tour companies, and the return of Disney product to the Air Canada Vacations portfolio.
According to a recent global survey conducted by Hilton, travellers say they will reduce other areas of personal spending to prioritize leisure travel in 2024, with a majority across generations indicating their No. 1 reason to travel in 2024 will be to rest and recharge – with more emphasis on sleep than ever before.
Mexico launched its army-run airline Tuesday, when the first Mexicana airlines flight took off from Mexico City bound for the Caribbean resort of Tulum. The airline’s military-run holding company now also operates about a dozen airports, hotels, trains, the country’s customs service and tourist parks.
We get hundreds of news notifications and press releases every day, which means thousands each week and, well, you get the idea… That means that all the news that’s fit to print (or post these days) doesn’t always make it. Here’s a wrap for 2023 of our inbox, with some worthy news bites that we missed the first time around – and maybe you did too!
As the world anticipates the arrival of 2024, many eyes will turn to Hong Kong for the city’s largest New Year’s Eve firework display on Dec. 31, 2023 (Sunday). Set against the iconic Hong Kong skyline, spectators will be treated to a 12-minute firework musical, surpassing any previous New Year’s Eve displays in the city in both coverage and duration.
Cruise lines are reporting record bookings and that has them expanding their fleets with ever-larger ships. There’s a bumper crop arriving in 2024, each of which seems to offer more features than ever before. Two newcomers will be among the world’s largest, including an Iconic record-breaker with room for more than 7,000 guests.
No backstories or raisons d’etre this week. Just a simple video with a simple message: Happy New Year from us. The song from the Swedish superstars was released in 1980 but the sentiment remains the same. Hope you have the very best for 2024 – and see you next year!
Even before her job offer was finalized in 1973, Senka Dukovich realized her career as a flight attendant had an expiry date. “I had to sign a contract as a new hire that I would quit after 10 years, or that I would quit at 32 years old, whichever came first. Can you believe that?” she recalled.
The Eiffel Tower was closed to visitors Wednesday because of a strike over contract negotiations timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the death of its creator, Gustave Eiffel. Called a “symbolic action on a symbolic day,” the workers union said it was also worried about long-term prospects for the monument amid the need for repairs to the aging landmark.
Montreal has replaced Vancouver as the Canadian destination that First in Service (F1S) travel advisors across the country are booking the most, according to new survey results released by the independent travel agency. Meanwhile, Italy ranked as the top international destination.
With final year-end totals of 864,000 Canadians forecast to have visited New York in 2023, Canada will reclaim its second-place ranking amongst top source markets for the Big Apple. Tops is the UK (974,000), while the rest of the top five includes France (728,000), Brazil (589,000) and Germany (554,000).
TTC Tour Brands has unveiled new eLearning courses for travel advisors, The TTC Tour Brands Masterclass is a complete overhaul of the brands’ training modules, redesigned to be detailed, yet succinct overviews of their entire portfolio, including Trafalgar, Contiki, Costsaver, Brendan Vacations, Luxury Gold, and Insight Vacations. And to provide more perks for graduates.