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.
Sleepy (and chilly) Niagara on the Lake, Ont., got a healthy dose of California tourism sunshine last week as the state’s tourist board checked into town for its annual Canadian sales mission, attracting close to 40 members of the Canadian travel trade, along with an equal cohort of destination and supplier representatives from the Golden State.
Canadians will be able to fly to the Martinique directly from Toronto for the first time with the launch of new Air Canada flights this winter to the French Caribbean island, complimenting existing service from Montreal.
The head of the Hawaii Tourism Authority says the organization is “in jeopardy” after being left out of the state’s most recent budget bill, and that “tough decisions” are ahead for the state-run agency.
Japan has lifted most of its coronavirus border controls, including a requirement that entrants show proof of three vaccinations or a pre-departure negative test.
All entrants with symptoms will still be required to take COVID-19 tests after arriving until May 8, and those who test positive will be placed in designated quarantine facilities, however, after May 9, testing of those with symptoms will be voluntary.
The 43rd edition of Tourism Australia’s largest annual trade event, the Australian Tourism Exchange 2023 (ATE23), is underway on the Gold Coast with around 2,300 delegates expected to take part in the event at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre.
It’s not WestJet pilots, who are in a position to strike later this month, but the 350 members of Unifor Local 531 have reached their first tentative deal with WestJet at Pearson International Airport in Toronto. The members unit are primarily customer service agents and baggage agents at YYZ.
Vacation deprivation levels have reached a 10-year high as working adults navigate inflation, workplace labour shortages and busy schedules, according to a new report by Expedia. That includes nearly six in 10 Canadians, the second highest rate in the past decade.
The US Treasury Department has announced sanctions against members or associates of the Jalisco New Generation drug cartel who apparently went into a side business of timeshare fraud that allegedly targeted elderly people. The sanctions also include almost two dozen Mexican tourism or real estate companies, notably in the Puerto Vallarta area.
Ahead of Travel Agent Day on May 3 and in celebration of Travel Agent Appreciation Month, Royal Irish Tours has revealed a couple of incentives for travel counsellors in May, including a grand prize trip
Philip Rose – a familiar to the Canadian trade as the former head of the Jamaica Tourist Board in this country – has been named Deputy Director of Tourism for the Americas, with responsibility for the US, Caribbean and Latin America.
The US Coast Guard suspended the search for an Australian cruise ship passenger who went overboard from a Royal Caribbean ship in waters south of Hawaii last week. Kevin Cooper, a search and rescue mission coordinator for the Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu, said in a news release that the Coast Guard decided to call off the search after reviewing the case and discussing it with Australian consular officials and the passenger’s next of kin.
In was Tourism Week in Canada last week, while amongst other round-up dispatches, a report suggested Canadian airports are still struggling, YVR unveiled new flights, and IGH Hotels made news in Nepal.
Travel is back, but have travellers learned anything since the pandemic? And are new fears and behaviours replacing old ones? The answers, according to the recent Global Rescue Traveller Sentiment and Safety Survey, are mixed – amidst surging traveller confidence, but shifting fears.
Well Canadian foodies, if you want a Michelin star dining experience, get your wallet out – Canada is at the top of the list when it comes to the most expensive country for Michelin Star dining. The study conducted by Spin Genie, analyzed the average price value of Michelin-starred restaurants in each country to reveal the cheapest, and most expensive, countries for a Michelin-star meal.
The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus has been reimagined and reborn without animals as a high-octane family event with highwire tricks, soaring trapeze artists and bicycles leaping on trampolines.