Last year, Black Friday emerged as the busiest shopping day of the year in Canada, edging out Boxing Day and other pre-Christmas sales. With this year’s bargain-fest set for Nov. 28, many travel retailers have already launched savings events leading up to the frenzied Friday, some of which extend into Cyber Monday (Dec.1), Travel Tuesday (Dec. 2), and beyond. In reality, it should be called Black November.

At last week’s WTM London, British TV stars Bettany Hughes and Maisie Adam took to the stage at WTM London to share their tips about marketing travel and holidays, the latter as part of a marketing summit panel titled “Comedy Sells.”

It’s not only the U.S. that is tightening border security. European countries are rolling out a border management system to register people for short stays and, starting late next year, many visitors will need to obtain electronic travel authorizations in advance.

Travel agents are celebrating Beijing’s decision to resume group tourism to Canada after a five-year halt, hoping for the return of big-spending Chinese visitors who were a dominant presence for the industry before the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the U.S. government shutdown leads to thousands of cancelled flights, some Canadian travellers might be caught up in the stateside travel chaos. But there’s a chance that even those who bought travel insurance might be left holding the bag.

Ensemble recently hosted its annual Summit at the iconic Fairmont Le Château Frontenac in Quebec City, welcoming more than 200 attendees from across North America for three days of learning, leadership, and collaboration under the theme “Reimagine the Future.” 

The flight cancellations at airports across the U.S. are expected to worsen this week and continue to persist even after the government shutdown ends. The U.S. Senate took a first step toward ending the shutdown Sunday, but final passage could still be several days away. However, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy made clear last week that flight cuts will remain in place until the FAA sees safety metrics improve.

Concerns about safety, politics, and border treatment now rank ahead of cost or exchange rates as the top reasons Canadians are cutting back on travel, according to a new poll by Angus Reid. That said, experiences at the border for those who have travelled are no more difficult than they were in previous iterations of this survey.

With this year’s successful GX Summit in the books, G Adventures has announced the return of its ‘Change Makers’ global incentive program, which will give 15 Canadian travel advisors the chance to earn their way to the next year’s fourth annual Summit event in Morocco.

A car explosion near the historic Red Fort in New Delhi on Monday killed at least eight people and injured at least 19 others. No tourists were reported harmed, nor the UNESCO site damaged. The 17th-century Red Fort monument is one of India’s most high-profile tourist attractions.

There’s a cold front at the border and it’s not just Canada’s now arrived winter weather. According to a new poll from Angus Reid, Canadians are giving the U.S. the cold shoulder as the once reliable relationship between the two countries appears to have entered a new phase of elevated enmity.

The travel industry is set to grow at a faster pace than the global economy over the next 10 years, according to the World Travel Market Global Travel Report. Released at WTM London – the world’s largest English language travel show last week – the report’s optimism comes as the global travel industry reaches record levels in 2025, with international arrivals set to top 1.5 billion, surpassing the previous record achieved in 2019.

On Jan. 5, 2026, the Travel Industry Council of Ontario is launching a new, enhanced Certification Program and exam for individuals aspiring to become Travel Counsellors and agency Supervisors/Managers. The interactive online education program will replace the existing static study manual with a new fee structure.

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.

On the Mercator projection, one of the world’s most popular maps, Greenland and Africa appear to be about the same size. But on the Equal Earth projection showing continents in their true proportions, 14 Greenlands would easily fit inside the African continent.

Getting there isn’t half the fun if a poorly packed suitcase yields an unexpected mess, or damaged, items upon arrival. With this in mind, experts at Global Work & Travel, an Australian work-travel brand (with offices in Canada), has a assembled a list of 10 everyday items that can crack, burst, spoil or disappear entirely by the time you land.