Opening hours are being extended at 42 border crossings with the United States and at several airports across the country as the Canada Border Services Agency returns to pre-pandemic hours. The changes will take effect on March 31. The border agency first restricted hours at land border crossings in April 2020, closing many points of entry early and stopping 24-hour service at seven crossings.

Ensemble has launched a new familiarization program for members and Flight Centre is “fizzing with inspo” in a cheeky, new promotional series on YouTube this week’s retail round-up. Also, well-earned acknowledgements for Trevello and The Travel Agent Next Door.

Short-term rental company Airbnb says it is pulling listings in Quebec that don’t have a permit from the provincial government, after a fatal fire earlier this month destroyed a historic Old Montreal building that housed illegal rentals.

An increased number of travellers in Germany boarded trains and planes on Sunday, a day before a major one-day strike that aims to bring the country’s transportation system to a standstill. However, even these advance travel plans were met with disruption.

The Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC) welcomed last week’s US presidential visit and expressed hopes that the meeting between Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would further bilateral relations between Canada and the US, particularly in strengthening both leisure and business tourism.

Calling the situation “so deeply regrettable,” Regina mayor Sandra Masters says a decision has not been made on whether the city’s tourism agency will keep its name after a controversial rebranding rollout that seemed to make light of the Saskatchewan capital’s name rhyming with vagina.

Good news for both those needing passport and NEXUS cards was delivered last week; the heat is on Heathrow as it prepares for a strike leading up to Easter, and the world’s top airport was revealed by Skytrax.

Labour strikes upended travel in France on Thursday as French trade unions held their first mass demonstrations since President Emmanuel Macron inflamed public anger by forcing a higher retirement age through parliament without a vote.

Following the lead of French workers, German unions are calling on thousands of workers across the country’s transport system to stage a one-day strike on Monday (March 27) that is expected to bring widespread disruption to planes, trains and local transit.

A deadly fire that swept through a building in Old Montreal last week where several apartments were being used as Airbnb units is raising safety concerns about short-term rental properties. There  are several steps guests can take to protect themselves:

A new survey from Virtuoso has identified when, where, and why (and how) upscale Canadians will be venturing in 2023. Notably, that includes a propensity for using travel agents, as well as other trends that differ from global norms.

Families Minister Karina Gould says that the federal government has now “completely eliminated” the backlog of passport applications that caused major delays – and major political strife – last year. Gould told reporters yesterday that she can guarantee that people who apply for passports will now get them on time, and though she urged people whose passports expire in 2023 to get them renewed immediately.

Business travel is back in a big way, according to American Express Global Business Travel. Amex GBT told company investors on a recent fourth-quarter 2022 earnings call that they expect total business travel spending to grow by 24% in 2023 to reach over a trillion dollars.