VIKING WELCOMES NEW SHIPS IN PORTUGAL AND EGYPT

Viking has welcomed two new ships, enhancing its fleets in both Portugal and Egypt. The cruise line says the additions reflect long-term growth plans as part of a strategy toward maintaining a leadership position in experiential travel. Based on Viking’s committed orderbook, the company expects to take delivery of 26 additional river ships by 2028 and 10 additional ocean ships by 2031. With these orders, Viking will have 112 river ships in 2028 and 23 ocean and expedition ships in 2031. 

ADVISORS COULD WIN GRAND PALLADIUM STAY WITH SUNWING

As Sunwing’s September Partner of the Month, Grand Palladium is offering travel advisors up to 8X STAR Points on all vacation packages across Mexico, the DR and Jamaica, plus exclusive perks for their clients. Additionally, on every vacation package booking at a participating Grand Palladium and TRS property, travel advisors will be automatically entered into a draw to win a hotel stay at either Grand Palladium Vallarta Resort & Spa or Grand Palladium Colonial Resort & Spa.

AFGHANISTAN UNVEILED: Tours for women by women

They wandered through the museum, listening attentively as their guide explained the antiquities in display cabinets. It could have been any tour group, anywhere in the world. But there was something unusual about this one. The group of foreigners visiting the National Museum of Afghanistan was made up only of women.

HOT OR NOT: FlightHub ‘unveils’ latest trends, destinations

Montreal-based OTA FlightHub has released the second edition of its Unveiled list, offering fresh insight into today’s travel and booking behaviour. The report also highlights the most booked Canadian destinations, reinforcing continued demand for domestic travel across the country.

CLIA SUES HAWAII OVER TOURIST TAX

A lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Hawaii imposing a tourist tax to deal with consequences of climate change seeks to stop officials from enforcing the new law on cruise ship passengers.

AMEX GBT COMPLETE ACQUISTION OF CWT

American Express Global Business Travel has announced that it has completed its US$540-million acquisition of global business travel and meetings solutions provider CWT. With the close of the acquisition, Amex GBT welcomes CWT’s customers and employees to its software solutions and services for travel, expense, meetings and events.

NATHALIE BOMBARDIER JOINS TRAVELBRANDS

TravelBrands has named Nathalie Bombardier as its new Business Development Manager for Québec. In her role, she will focus on supporting travel agents in Rive-Sud, West Montreal, Downtown Montreal, Estrie, Abitibi, and Gatineau regions.

AIRFARE SUBSIDY TO HELP LABRADOR RESIDENTS

Newfoundland and Labrador’s government has announced an “Air Access Pilot Program” that allows people of Labrador and parts of the Great Northern Peninsula to access a subsidy to help lower the soaring cost of air travel in the province.

CANADIANS NOT SHUFFLING OFF TO BUFFALO: US travel downturn forecast to continue

For a few hopeful weeks this summer, a bright billboard on the major highway linking Toronto to New York greeted Canadian drivers with a simple message: “Buffalo Loves Canada.” The marketing campaign, which included a $500 gift card giveaway, was meant to show Buffalo’s northern neighbours they were welcome, wanted and missed.

PAT DINEEN: Remembering a rare elite everyman

By Michael Baginski/   I first met Canadian travel industry legend Pat Dineen on a press trip to Greece in the early 1990s. We got to know each other sipping ouzo in a harbour café in a postcard-perfect Greek fishing village, moon overhead, the strains of bouzouki in the air, and Pat was talking about… sumo.

HERE COMES THE SUN: ACV launches new digital brochure

With its annual cross-country “Dream Makers” tour hitting the road this week – starting in Halifax on Wednesday – Air Canada Vacations has released its 2025/26 Digital Sun Brochure for a fourth consecutive year, featuring more hotels, more destinations, and more cruise options than ever before.

JODINE CLEMENT TAKES NEW ROLE AT TTC TOUR BRANDS

Citing a continued investment in Canada and commitment to the travel advisor community, TTC Tour Brands has promoted Jodine Clement to Director of Sales, Canada. In her new role, Clement will oversee national sales strategies, strengthen partnerships with travel advisors and continue building on the company’s growth in the Canadian market.

SPIRIT FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY AGAIN BUT VOWS TO KEEP FLYING

Budget carrier Spirit Airlines said Friday that it has filed for fresh bankruptcy protection months after emerging from a Chapter 11 reorganization. The ultra low-cost airline said it plans to keep flying as usual during the restructuring process, meaning passengers can still book trips and use their tickets, credits and loyalty points. Employees and contractors will also continue to get paid, the company said.

ROUND-UP: Aug. 25-29, 2025

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.

US FLIGHT ATTENDANTS FED UP TOO: But why they are unlikely, or unable, to strike

At the end of work trips, Nathan Miller goes home to a makeshift bedroom in his parents’ house in Virginia. The 29-year-old flight attendant is part of a PSA Airlines crew based in Philadelphia, but he can’t afford to live there. Miller says he makes about US$24,000 a year staffing multiple flights a day as a full-time attendant for the American Airlines subsidiary.

WESTJET, COPA AIRLINE SIGN INTERLINE AGREEMENT

WestJet and Copa Airlines have announced an interline agreement that will significantly enhance connectivity across both carriers’ networks. The agreement allows WestJet guests to seamlessly travel beyond its newly announced destination, Panama City, with access to 37 Copa Airlines destinations across Central and South America. Additionally, Copa guests travelling north will gain access to WestJet’s extensive North American network.

DUST IN THE WIND: Phoenix walloped by massive storm

A powerful dust storm roared through the Phoenix area earlier this week with a wall of dust towering hundreds metre high dwarfing the city’s neighbourhoods. Called a haboob, the wind-driven phenomenon blackened skies and knocked out electricity for 15,000 customers late Monday afternoon.

IT’S A DOG’S LIFE: Helsinki unveils sightseeing tour for man’s best friend

With more than 1,000 dogs in attendance, Finland’s capital, Helsinki, launched what is believed to be the world’s first sightseeing route designed especially for man’s best friend earlier this month. The “Doggy Route to Happiness” featured a canine-sized stick-built tribute to the world-famous Sibelius Monument, “a pup-up” dog café, a dedicated dog island, and even special advertising aimed at four-legged viewers.

TURNING UP THE TASTES ON A TALL SHIP

Talk about a Big Fish Fry! The grill tonight features a grouper so massive it’s almost larger than any of the cooks who are grilling it. But it will somehow vanish like magic into scrumptious filets over the course of a sunset dinner on the Sea Cloud Spirit. It’s just one taste of why dining on the world’s largest fully rigged sailing cruise ship, which carries only 136 pampered guests, is among the most varied and inventive at sea.

LISTENING IN: Richards and Jones know a thing or two

By Michael Baginski/ Mick Jagger has certainly had his fair share of amazing duet partners, including the likes of Tina Turner, David Bowie and Lady Gaga. Not to be outdone, the second most famous Rolling Stone paired up with the incomparable jazz-pop singer Norah Jones to register his own claim on the well-known ballad “Love Hurts.”

STRUGGLE NOT OVER: Air Canada flight attendants deliver message to pax

As Air Canada flight attendants begin voting this week on whether to accept a settlement offer from the airline, the workers union has issued a message to passengers and the public at large, expressing gratitude and forbearance, but also showing the ongoing frustration that ultimately resulted in a strike action from Aug. 16 to 19, and which may influence the result of the vote.

CANADA COMPASS: Icy Parks Canada initiative helps visitors monitor glacier

When you take a photo of yourself, that’s a selfie. When you take a cool photo of a glacier, that’s an “Icy,” says Parks Canada, which has launched a community science program dubbed the Icy Initiative that allows park visitors to help scientists monitor glacier change over time simply by taking and submitting photos in two national and three provincial parks across the country.

NEW YORK CONSIDERS ENDING POPULAR TOURIST ACTIVITY

For more than 150 years, horse-drawn carriages have been trotting through Manhattan’s Central Park, weathering the arrival of the automobile, years of criticism from animal rights activists and even a mayoral administration that vowed to ban the tourist activity. But now the influential nonprofit that manages the 341-hectare park – and has previously stayed out of the debate – has now thrown its support behind a proposal to wind down the industry as early as next summer.

HOTEL HAPPENINGS: Rosewood readying for Maldives

Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, which manages 30 one-of-a-kind luxury hotels, resorts, and residences in 18 countries, is preparing to add the Maldives – a destination the company calls “a preeminent tropical paradise” – to its roster.

WHAT HAPPENS IF FLIGHT ATTENDANTS DON’T RATIFY DEAL?

With an online petition – and some chirping on social media – of nearly half (4,800) of Air Canada’s 10,000 flight attendants expressing dissatisfaction over the airline’s wage offer, union members begin voting today (Aug. 27) on a new tentative agreement.

GOWAY ADVISORY BOARD IS NO GAME

By Michael Baginski/   It was only natural that Goway would convene the inaugural gathering of its recently constituted Travel Advisory Board on one of the travel company’s most important days of the year: its annual exhibition cricket match gala with Air New Zealand at the Toronto Cricket Club.

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