By MICHAEL BAGINSKI/ With St. Patrick’s Day past, and the appreciation of Irish culture having hit its zenith in mid March, it behooves us to remember that the Emerald’s isle’s musical contributions to the world can’t simply be pigeonholed into ethereal folk songs or and lively jigs and reels (“trad” – traditional – music as it is called).
Airports across the U.S. could close their doors as the government shutdown has brought on the highest security wait times in decades. On Wednesday, the 40th day of the shutdown, TSA acting administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill told the House Homeland Security Committee that the agency is now ‘being forced to consolidate,’ meaning smaller airports would have no choice but to shutter.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released its 2025 Annual Safety Report demonstrating “a solid year of safety performance” and continuing overall improvement, despite some blips.
Noted OTA Cruiseline.com has announced the winners of its 2026 Member Choice Awards – honorifics that come from the most authentic experts – “real people” – who sailed and reviewed cruises between January and December 2025.
Visiting a new country, destination or continent is the top travel resolution for 2026, according to the Global Rescue Winter 2026 Traveller Sentiment and Safety Survey. That signals a strong appetite for exploration and global mobility despite ongoing uncertainty in the travel environment.
Positioned at the “crossroads of the world,” the sprawling international lounge inside Gander airport – a facility that was opened by Queen Elizabeth and at one time used by dozens of celebrities and global VIPs, from The Beatles to Fidel Castro – has been officially recognized as a heritage structure.
The crowing starts well before the sun rises over Mason Aiona’s home in Hawaii. But the 3 a.m. rooster alarm isn’t what bothers the retiree the most. It’s spending most of the day shooing away wild chickens that dig holes in his yard, listening to constant squawking and feather-flapping, and scolding people who feed the feral birds at a park steps from his house.
Senators are discussing a proposal to end the Homeland Security budget stalemate by funding much of the department, including Transportation Security Administration airport workers who are going without pay. The deal would exclude U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s removal operations, which have been core to the dispute.
U.S. state lawmakers are rapidly advancing a new wave of legislation aimed at restricting algorithmic and AI‑driven pricing – including what many are calling “price surveillance” bills – which threaten dynamic pricing for flights and hotels.
The Association of Canadian Travel Agencies and Travel Advisors (ACTA) met with Senators, Members of Parliament and federal officials to discuss how federal policy can better support travel businesses as changing consumer demand, border pressures and global market shifts continue to reshape the travel landscape.
Porter Airlines has announced plans to offer flights on a dozen routes from the revitalized Montreal Metropolitan Airport (MET). The airline says flights to and from the airport in Longueuil, Que., on Montreal’s south shore will begin on June 15.
The era of 47 open browser tabs and crowdsourced vacation spreadsheets may be losing its shine. According to Globus’s 2025/26 Wish List Survey of more than 25,000 North American travellers, today’s travellers are recalibrating. After years of do-it-yourself trip planning, they are gravitating towards expertly designed journeys that balance access, flexibility and breathing room – with an expert on-hand to take care of everything.
This week: Nexion fights back against fraud; Travel Leaders Network has a new preferred supplier – AIC Hotel Group; Collette is set to host its next quarterly travel advisor update; and Goway’s Travel Academy hits a milestone.
A fatal collision between an Air Canada jet and a fire truck at LaGuardia Airport late Sunday has drawn attention to the demands that a strained navigation system places on traffic controllers, and how even strict protocols failed to prevent tragedy.
Ontario will declare Toronto’s island airport the province’s first special economic zone as it moves to take over land owned by the city, Premier Doug Ford said Monday. This is the latest move by the Ford government to push expansion of Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport to include jets.
Nassau & Paradise Island is synonymous with sun, sand and surf, still there’s always time for shopping. And where better than the Bahamian capital, where palm trees line the streets, the air hums with Junkanoo rhythms, and the ocean breeze carries a sense of joy you can feel in your bones.
By MICHAEL BAGINSKI /- Travel Nevada and its partners showed Canadians how to “Get a Little Out There” with a cross-country road show to Toronto, Montreal and Calgary last week, engaging with travel advisors and trade partners, as well as exhibiting at the Calgary Outdoor Adventure & Travel Show.
Sandals Resorts International (SRI) is taking advantage of the forced closure of three of its Jamaican properties after Hurricane Melissa to give the resorts a comprehensive “Sandals 2.0 transformation” that is more extensive than originally intended. The US$200-million reimagining of Sandals South Coast, Sandals Montego Bay and Sandals Royal Caribbean, and is now underway with the resorts due to open Nov. 18, Dec. 18 and Dec. 18 respectively.
A memorandum of understand (MOU) recently signed amongst tourism associations from the three territories will ensure northern travel businesses can collaborate and share industry knowledge, according to the president and CEO of Travel Nunavut.
TSA officers haven’t gotten a paycheck since Feb. 14. The vast majority of employees at TSA are considered essential, and roughly 50,000 continue to work without pay. But hundreds have quit or called in sick and absentee rates were two or three times higher in places. While frustrated travellers are calling for TSA agents to be paid, Tom Homan, the White House “border czar”, confirmed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would be deployed to U.S. airports on Monday…more
Iran’s top military spokesman warned Friday that “parks, recreational areas and tourist destinations” worldwide won’t be safe for Tehran’s enemies. The threat renewed concerns that Iran may revert to using militant attacks beyond the Middle East as a pressure tactic in the war.
Singapore Changi Airport has been named the World’s Best Airport 2026 – again – in the prestigious World Airport Awards, held last week in London. Notably, Vancouver was named the best airport in the world of its size (20-30 million passengers) and 10th overall (all sizes) in the Awards’ pre-eminent best-overall category, leading a trio Canadian airport rankings in the top 100.
By MICHAEL BAGINSKI/ With record visitations by Canadians in 2025 and this country accounting for 9.3% of all international visitors to Los Cabos, Canada has become the second-largest international source market for the west coast Mexican destination (after the U.S.), say tourism officials. And with airlift continuing to grow, there is no end in sight.
With Cuba currently facing repeated nationwide power outages, including the March 16 island-wide blackout that left roughly 10 million people without electricity, Intrepid Travel says it is cancelling its upcoming trips to Cuba through April 30.
Major U.S. airlines say they are not expecting a significant dent in quarterly profits despite soaring jet fuel costs tied to the war in the Middle East adding hundreds of millions of dollars in expenses. That because strong ticket sales are helping offset those higher costs, executives from Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and United Airlines told investors this week, with all three carriers reporting record bookings this year.
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.
A new poll suggests that most Canadians want the government to ban or regulate the use of algorithms to set prices – a common practice in travel – with half of respondents saying the practice of dynamic pricing is unfair because it can result in people paying different prices for the same product.
Cuba is preparing to receive its first shipment of Russian oil this year, just days after the government announced it was operating on natural gas, solar power and thermoelectric plants as severe power outages continue to hit an island whose power grid is crumbling.
Four Seasons opened its first hotel on March 21, 1961, in Toronto. Sixty-five years later, the luxury hotel and hospitality giant boasts a global portfolio of 135 hotels and resorts and 61 residential properties in major city centres and resort destinations in 47 countries.
Finland has once again been ranked the happiest country in the world in the United Nations’ World Happiness Report 2026, marking the ninth consecutive year the Nordic nation has topped the global ranking. (Canada ranked 25th). This year, the message from Finland is simple: happiness starts with switching off, preferably somewhere by a lake and far away from notifications.