A WARM CHUCKLE OVER CHILLY NEWFOUNDLAND

Newfoundlanders were having a chuckle on Monday over international media reports saying passengers on a British Airways flight diverted to St. John’s last week were stranded on a frozen island somewhere in Canada.

‘PURE SURVIVAL’: Skyrocketing fuel costs prompt WestJet changes

WestJet says it will be introducing a temporary $60 surcharge for certain bookings and has consolidated numerous flights due to skyrocketing fuel prices. The moves come as some U.S. carriers have also announced higher checked baggage fees to cover the increasing fuel costs.

CANARY ISLANDS HIGHLIGHT NEW AIR CANADA SUN ROUTES

Air Canada will fly to several new destinations for the Winter 2026-27 season, including the only non-stop flights from North America to Tenerife in the Canary Islands (beginning Oct. 25 and 31 respectively from Toronto and Montreal). The flights will operate seasonally.

HOW AGENTS CAN SCORE BIG WITH THE WORLD CUP

By ROBIN LAWTHER/ Soccer isn’t just a game – it’s a global movement that mobilizes millions and reshapes travel patterns every four years. In 2026, the world’s biggest soccer event will make history: 48 teams, 16 cities, and three countries – the United States, Canada, and Mexico – hosting an event that transcends the sport and becomes a cultural phenomenon.

BRAND USA APPOINTS TRADE MANAGER FOR CANADA

Brand USA has announced the appointment of Marion Certain as Trade Manager for Canada, notably filling a position that had been vacant since the death last May of Casey Canevari.

REEFER MADNESS: Cruise ship runs aground on ‘Cast Away’ island

Thirty passengers were evacuated from a cruise ship that ran aground on a reef in Fiji, the ship’s owner said Monday. The MV Fiji Princess, operated by Blue Lagoon Cruises, ran aground Saturday near Monuriki Island, scene of the 2000 movie starring Tom Hanks “Cast Away,” the Fiji-based tourism company said in a statement.

CANADA SETS ALL-TIME CAYMAN RECORD

The Cayman Islands welcomed over 49,000 stayover visitors in February, representing a 10.1% increase year over year and marking the second-strongest February on record. Canada led February’s performance and continued its record-setting momentum with double-digit percentage increases in stayover visitation for the fourth consecutive month.

SLIP SLIDING AWAY: Canadian Caribbean visits dip in 2025

Caribbean tourism continued its expansion in 2025, recording a 2.5% increase in international stay-over arrivals to an estimated 35 million visits, according to the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO). However, a decline in Canadian arrivals tempered the gains.

G ADVENTURES RENEWS GOODALL PARTNERSHIP AND ROAD SHOW WRAP

G Adventures marked the first ‘Jane Goodall Day’ – April 3, on what would have been the late pioneering British primatologist, ethologist, and conservationist’s 92 birthday – with the news that it has renewed its partnership the Jane Goodall Institute of Canada for an additional 10 years.

ROUND-UP: March 30-April 3, 2026

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.

THE HUMAN TOUCH: Travellers show growing concerns about AI

Despite the rapid rise of generative AI tools in travel planning, 60% of travellers still prefer human-curated recommendations and verified information, according to a survey of more than 7,000 users conducted by Civitatis, a leading global marketplace for guided tours and excursions in Spanish and Portuguese.

GUADELOUPE, EH!: An English-speaking guide to a French Caribbean gem

By MICHAEL BAGINSKI/ Start with the name. It’s Guad-el-oup – which is to say, not Guad-a -loup-eh (a city in Mexico). You could call it “the biggest small island in the Caribbean,” as some inhabitants boast, or, better still, just call it Gwada, as the locals do in their creole dialect.

BARE NECESSITIES: WestJet warns pax to keep piggies covered

With warm weather on the horizon, WestJet says it is underlining its in-flight footwear expectations and putting a ban on bare feet. Guests are required to keep shoes, socks, slippers or other forms of foot coverage on at all times, including during takeoff, landing. and while moving about the cabin, warns the airline.

WIN A SWEDISH ISLAND: It could be all yours for a year

With over 267,000 islands, Sweden has more islands than any other country on Earth – islands that are defined by calm, rest, clean air and restorative nature, large or small, set in the sea or emerging from a lake. With a rethinking of what luxury means, Sweden is now offering five of them for free to use and care for during a year.

SO LONG MIDDLE EAST, HOW ABOUT THE MED NEXT WINTER?

By WALLACE IMMEN/ Explora Journeys has joined a roster of cruise lines changing course from the Middle East and sailing throughout the winter in the Mediterranean. MSC Cruises, and Windstar Cruises are also rerouting to sail in Europe and North Africa through the winter months as the closing of the Gulf of Hormuz continues with no end in sight.

LISTENING IN: The gospel of Primal Scream

By MICHAEL BAGINSKI/ Last summer I shared my discovery of the year (which held for the rest of the calendar) – a “brand new” 30-year-old band from Scotland I had managed to miss before, prompting an enraged Scottish fellow to point at me at a trade show in Mexico of all places and yell – in full, glorious brogue – “How could ya ha’ missed Primal Scream?”

TOURISM WILL RECOVER FROM WAR

Despite the current challenges in the Middle East that are further disrupting both global and regional travel and costing the travel industry hundreds of millions of dollars daily, The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) says research of previous crises shows that tourism demand following security-related incidents, with the right response, can recover in as little as two months when governments and industry act quickly to restore traveller confidence. 

RETAIL ROUND-UP: Agent news, fams & incentives

This week: ACTA opens applications for its annual cruise summit, plus a new education experience in Iceland; TTAND savours Celebrity Cruises awards; Nexion launches its inaugural CANex conference; First in Service Travel marks a milestone; and agents could win a spot on a FAM to Bermuda…

JAPAN’S LUXURY HOTEL RENAISSANCE: Four landmark openings shaping 2026

By CINDY-LOU DALE/ Japan’s hospitality sector is entering a defining new phase. After years of recalibration following the pandemic, the country’s luxury hotel pipeline for 2026 reveals a confident, carefully considered return to growth – one that prioritises cultural sensitivity, adaptive reuse and regional diversification over sheer scale.

HERE COMES THE SUN: Sunwing releases summer schedule

Sunwing Vacations has released its 2026 summer schedule, featuring flight options from key gateways across Canada to a wide range of popular sun destinations across Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America. including Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, Punta Cana, Montego Bay and more.

RINALDI RETURNS TO PORTER: Takes helm as director for Quebec

Porter Airlines has appointed Carlo Rinaldi as Director, Quebec Market Development, to lead the company’s commercial presence in the province. Based in Montreal, Rinaldi will drive Porter’s market development strategy, with a focus on growing corporate travel, expanding agency partnerships, and deepening engagement across the travel trade and corporate sectors.

CALM AFTER CHAOS: U.S. airport bottlenecks ease with TSA paychecks promised

After weeks of chaos in U.S. airports, the Transportation Safety Administration said the first paychecks in weeks were being sent as early as Monday to its workers, giving the beleaguered aviation system a boost of optimism. As a result, wait times at some TSA security bottlenecks, such as the airport checkpoints in Atlanta and Houston, improved significantly Monday morning.

RECIPE FOR CHANGE: Tackling food waste on the menu for global tourism industry

On “Zero Waste Day” Monday, global tourism leaders pledged to tackle a major global sustainability challenge: food waste. Launched today by the United Nations Environment Program and UN Tourism, the groundbreaking “Recipe of Change” initiative will see major tourism stakeholders measure food waste in their operations and implement operational and behavioural solutions to halve food waste by 2030.

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