By MICHAEL BAGINSKI/ TravelBrands celebrated its surprising “145 anniversary” at an evening gala at the swank Boulevard Club in Toronto Tuesday evening. And with a ballroom brimming with staff and industry partners – many with long connections to the company – in attendance for the milestone, what better occasion to unveil a new look for the company as it heads into the future?
As talk of privatization swirls, the head of Toronto’s Pearson airport says the existing public ownership model has served travellers well – but she remains open to “enhancements” that tap into private-sector investment.
Over 1,700 passengers and crew on a British cruise ship were ordered to remain on board after an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness, French authorities said Wednesday. They dismissed any link to a deadly hantavirus outbreak on another vessel that has put European health authorities on alert.
Driven in part by fears that the frozen landscapes of Antarctica may be irreversibly melting away because of climate change, tourism to the bottom of the world is soaring. And experts warn that with more visitors comes an increased risk of contamination, illness and other damage to the continent.
Over 50,000 Canadians have visited three casinos in Downtown Las Vegas during the last three months, coinciding with a promotional dollar at par program, which is set to will continue to Aug. 31.
Travel and tourism not only always recovers from a crisis – whether its recession, pandemic, or war – but typically accelerates as well, according to a new report from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).
Toronto’s Pearson airport is launching a multibillion-dollar upgrade that aims to boost passenger numbers by more than a third to 65 million a year by the early 2030s. The revitalization plan looks to ramp up traffic and tighten on-time performance with improvements ranging from repaved runways to “modernized retail” and possible terminal expansions.
WestJet has signed a new codeshare deal with Fiji Airways, a move that will make it easier for travellers to head to the South Pacific. The agreement will allow guests to travel across both airlines’ networks under a single booking.
This week: Trevello held its annual AGM in Belfast, Tourism Ireland host travel agents on a FAM with TourRadar, and ‘tis the season for travel agent advisory boards, with news from ACV, Antigua & Barbuda, and TICO; also, and Windstar Cruises introduced a marketing program for advisors, while more suppliers offer travel advisor month incentives.
The Hong Kong Tourism Board has introduced a new Director for Canada. Based in her home city, Toronto native Beverly Cheng brings a global perspective to the HKTB, shaped by more than a decade living and working in Hong Kong.
Orlando welcomed 76.7 million visitors in 2025, over one million of them from Canada. The total was the highest ever for the theme park mecca and represented a 1.8% increase over 2024. Canadian visitations, however, declined by 13.3%, but still remained Orlando’s top international market.
By MICHAEL BAGINSKI/ Canadian visitations to the U.S. have bottomed out and are set to rise for the next five years, according to the latest U.S. Travel Forecast. Newly released by the U.S. Travel Association, the report says the turnaround has already started (2026), but it won’t be until 2030 until visitations surpass the heady pre-pandemic numbers of 2019 when 20.7 million Canadians crossed border.
Ontario’s health minister says three people in the province with connections to a deadly hantavirus outbreak are not currently being tested for the rodent-borne illness. Sylvia Jones says the three individuals – a couple in Grey Bruce and a person in Peel Region – are still asymptomatic and isolating.
Air India has slashed its flight schedule due to soaring jet fuel prices, leaving Canadian residents hoping to visit the subcontinent with fewer options and higher fares. In an internal message to staff CEO Campbell Wilson said the airline has cut flight volumes for April and May, with plans for more schedule trims in June and July.
Goway is gathering travel professionals, destination suppliers, tourism boards, and its own team specialists for its inaugural Asia Forum on June 9 in Toronto. The full-day event all about the Asian travel market is inspired by the travel company’s successful Africa & Middle East Gathering and will feature 20 of Goway’s travel partners from across Asia, including China, Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Air Transat has announced the addition of a new destination to its winter 2026-27 program: Spain’s Canary Islands from both Montreal and Toronto. The seasonal flights to Las Palmas (LPA) will start Dec. 12, continuing weekly through April 4, 2027, with Saturday departures from Montreal and Sunday departures from Toronto.
Colombia recently brought its tourism momentum to Canada with a multi-city initiative designed to connect travel professionals with the South American country’s most dynamic and fast-growing tourism offerings.
Air Canada says it’s cutting the number of flights to the United States this summer as the war in Iran creates jet fuel shortages that have sent prices soaring. The airline said in a statement that flights from Toronto to Sacramento, Calif., will cease Aug. 1, and service to Charleston, S.C., will end Sept. 6.
Artificial Intelligence is shifting power in travel distribution away from visibility and toward trust, redefining how travellers discover, evaluate and book experiences. Rather than eliminating intermediaries, AI is reshaping where value – and control – sits across the travel ecosystem.
A new survey by the Travel Health Insurance Association of Canada (THIA) says that among Canadians who plan to travel this year, nearly two‑thirds (61%) of the Gen Z generation (aged up to 29 years) say the U.S. is on their itinerary. That leads older generations, including Millennials (48%), Gen X (28%), and Boomers (14%).
By MICHAEL BAGINSKI/ Nothing says love like tender sliced brisket, smoked ribs, corn bread and a hearty helping of “the best mac and cheese in the city.” And while served up in T.O. rather T.X. (at the delightful SmoQue N’ Bones on Baldwin), the feast was designed to provide a literal taste of the State – or, put another way, perhaps, “barbecue tourism.”
A person who jumped a fence and was on a runway at Denver International Airport was struck and killed by a Frontier Airlines plane during takeoff, airport authorities said. The collision sparked an engine fire and forced passengers to evacuate.
News nuggets, airlines, hotels/resorts, cruising, tours, events, FAMS/incentives, deals, destinations and more are covered in our weekly round-up of travel industry news you may have missed.
Health authorities across four continents Thursday were scrambling to track down and monitor passengers who disembarked a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship before its deadly outbreak was detected, and trying to trace others who may have come into contact with them since then.
Airlines in Canada and worldwide are cancelling flights as the war in the Middle East strains jet fuel supplies and pushes up prices – but the disruption doesn’t end there. For travellers, it can mean having to navigate a confusing web of passenger protections that vary widely depending on where they’re flying.
A life jacket worn by a passenger on RMS Titanic as she escaped the sinking steamship on a lifeboat sold recently at auction in the U.K. for 670,00 pounds ($1.3 million). The flotation device was worn by Laura Mabel Francatelli, a first-class passenger on the doomed ocean liner, and is signed by her and other survivors from the same lifeboat.
The flowers in that bright-purple lei you received on your last Hawaii visit almost certainly weren’t grown in the Aloha State. The vast majority of those odorless orchids are imported from Thailand, where it is cheaper to grow and string them into the garlands synonymous with Hawaiian culture.
By WALLACE IMMEN/ Cruisers choosing to stay close to home, repeat guests and smoother sailing have cruise lines planning a long future in the Great Lakes.
By MICHAEL BAGINSKI/ Some situations just call for Bad Manners. The band, that is. And I think the world could use a little more of the effervescent British “two-tone” outfit led by the irrepressible singer Douglas Trendle (aka Buster Bloodvessel) right about now.
A new Flight Centre Canada survey reveals that eight in 10 Canadians (78%) agree adventure travel today is defined by discovery, not adrenaline. In fact, 91% say a trip can feel adventurous without any thrill-seeking at all. This mindset is shaping how Canadians plan travel ahead of the busy summer season.