The World Health Organization says the coronavirus pandemic “no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.” COVID-19 does, however, remain an “established and ongoing health issue.”
After decades of protests against a 50-year-old proposal to build an airport in Pickering, Ontario, opponents of the project are optimistic it will soon be abandoned for good.
Air Transat has announced details of its 2023-24 winter flight program, slated to begin on Nov. 1. At the peak of the season, the carrier’s steadily growing program will include over 300 direct flights per week departing from eight Canadian cities: Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, London, Montreal, Quebec City, Moncton, and Halifax.
Luxury cruise brand Cunard celebrated a construction milestone last week with the float out of Queen Anne at the Fincantieri Marghera shipyard in Venice, Italy. The 249th ship to sail under the Cunard flag, Queen Anne officially touched water for the first time exactly 365 days before she will set sail on her maiden voyage to Lisbon on May 3, 2024.
A new study has revealed visitors to downtown Montreal are highly satisfied with the destination – particularly tourists from outside Quebec. In fact, visitors tend to like the city better than those who live there.
Six people were hurt – two critically – when part of a heating and ventilation system collapsed at a resort pool in Colorado on Saturday. There were 50 to 100 guests in the pool when the collapse occurred about 9:50 a.m. at the Gaylord Rockies resort near Denver International Airport, Aurora Fire Rescue said.
WestJet made all kinds of news last week, while Canadian passport office and some border staff were back at it as federal workers settled their two-week strike. Amongst the other round-up items: an interesting opinion on the prospects of the Canadian airline industry and – wait for it – the US finally ended vaccine requirements at the Canada-US border.
Pilots are speaking out against an aviation industry push toward having a sole crew member in the cockpit. At a news conference in Montreal, leaders of three of the largest pilot unions representing more than 150,000 workers say a proposal to Europe’s aviation regulator aims to boost airline profits at the cost of safety.
Most personal finance advice boils down to this: Save as much as you can, and spend as little as you can. Yet when it comes to travel rewards – those points and miles earned through airline, hotel, and credit card programs – this conventional wisdom is turned on its head. Saving a million miles might sound impressive, but it’s generally a poor financial decision.
The UK will be rocking tomorrow (May 6) with the coronation of Charles III. But if you’re not already in London, odds are there’s a TV remote with your name on it. But not all is lost: the capital, and the rest of the country, will be celebrating for weeks and months to come, and visitors will find a host of special events and exhibitions, experiences, hotel packages, plus food and drink – all dedicated to the UK’s royal history, and the remarkable milestone of its present king.
Canada’s Wonderland opens today (May 5) with new rides and a full lineup of events and entertainment in store for the 2023 season, including a new Brazilian food festival and the return of guest favourites: long weekend fireworks, Celebration Canada, KidZFest, and Halloween Haunts.
Carnival knows margaritas. After all, the cruise line says it will serve over 15,000 of incomparable frozen cocktails on its ships fleetwide today alone. With this mind, and in celebration of Cinco de Mayo (that’s May 5!), Carnival has revealed its top five most-ordered tequila-based concoctions from its Mexican-inspired BlueIguana Tequila Bar.
In the not-too-distant past, asking for a vegan or vegetarian option on a cruise might have been greeted with a choice of a plate of steamed vegetables or a green salad. But increasingly, cruise lines are rolling out daily vegetarian menus and many are including vegan options for each course.
Like a great many Canadians I was saddened by the news of Gordon Lightfoot’s death last week. I bought his first album ‘Lightfoot’ when it was released in 1966 mainly because he was related to a friend and I thought he was cute. However, while the Lightfoot look was attractive, the Lightfoot sound hooked me. I bought all the albums as they were released and headed off to hear him live at Yorkville’s famous Riverboat Café in Toronto. What you may not know however, is that way back in those pre-album days, Lightfoot had a strong connection to an early travel industry founder.
Not all of the Canadian airlines currently jockeying for position in a crowded market are likely to survive in the long-term, says the CEO of Edmonton-based Flair Airlines. Stephen Jones made the comments at the Calgary International Airport on Tuesday, where discount carrier Flair is establishing a new base of operations as part of its ongoing aggressive expansion plans.
Congressional investigators in the US say that an increase in flight cancellations as travel recovered from the pandemic was due mostly to factors that airlines controlled, including cancellations for maintenance issues or lack of a crew.
G Adventures is planning the world’s biggest community tourism summit this fall in Peru. The multi-day mega-event will include the inaugural GX summit, the first World Community Tourism Summit, and G’s 2023 Change Makers event and will be a travel convention “unlike any the travel industry has seen before,” according to G founder Bruce Poon Tip.
With Travel Agent Appreciation Week (and month) now in full swing, a host of suppliers and trade partners have stepped up to thank agents for the important work they do. Here is a sampling of just some of the messages, programs, events, and – most importantly – incentive offers communicated on Travel Agent Appreciation Day yesterday (May 3).
Bounteous Belize, a colourful combo of Central America and the Caribbean,
is reporting a positive outlook for its tourism sector and expects to come close to full post-pandemic recovery this year, in part with the help of the Canadian market.
Bell is teaming up with Air Canada to offer free messaging for all Aeroplan members worldwide on Wi-Fi-equipped airplanes. The telecommunications giant will sponsor inflight Wi-Fi services across the airline’s fleet, including Air Canada Rouge and Air Canada Express planes, starting May 15.
What a busy week in the retail community as agencies introduced a new name, new conference and events, new team members, and presumably new a record for selling out an event. This week’s round-up includes Tripcentral.ca, Uniglobe, Trevello, The Travel Agent Next Door, Travelsavers, and Ensemble.
Effective May 12, the US is officially lifting COVID-19 vaccination requirements for foreign air travellers and at the Canada-US border. The day before, May 11, will mark the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency the US imposed back in 2020 as the world was coming to grips with the scale of the pandemic.
Perhaps lost in the hoopla of its approved takeover of Sunwing and tentative agreement with staff at Pearson airport (though not pilots), WestJet’s conducted its first-ever flight to Asia, with WS80 from Calgary arriving at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport on Monday.
Today, May 3, is an auspicious day. It is national lumpy rug day. Tomorrow, national Star Wars day, Friday tuba day, and so forth, until packaging design day at the end of the week. But in the annals of national day lore, the first Wednesday of May is also, most importantly, Travel Agent Appreciation Day.
Like putting pineapple on pizza, Air Transat’s new promotional campaign ‘Time to go’ encourages Canadians to step out of their comfort zone, at the same time maintaining that it’s essential to travel in order to recharge one’s batteries and escape the monotony of everyday life.
The first member of the three-vessel Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection fleet, Evrima, finally began accepting passengers in October 2022. I was on the christening cruise, which left Lisbon Nov. 5, for Funchal, Tenerife, and Barbados. It was a 13-day indulgence, which, for some of my fellow travellers, meant sipping champagne from breakfast to bedtime.
Days after Disney sued Florida’s governor in federal court for what it described as retaliation for opposing the state’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill, Disney World’s governing board – made up of Gov. Ron DeSantis appointees – filed a lawsuit Monday against the entertainment giant.
Some engineers for the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) wanted to ground the Boeing 737 Max soon after a second deadly crash, but top officials in the agency overruled them, according to a government watchdog.
The WestJet Group says it has completed its acquisition of Sunwing Vacations and Sunwing Airlines. The transaction, which will see the two brands maintain independent operations, signals a “bright future” for WestJet’s ambitious growth strategy, says the company. Notably, now former Sunwing CEO Stephen Hunter has been appointed CEO of the WestJet Group’s Vacations Business, responsible for all tour operating and vacation package businesses of both brands.
Passport workers and some border staff were back at work Monday with the announcement that the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) had reached a tentative contract agreement with the Treasury Board covering more than 120,000 federal government workers across the country.