Christine James is celebrating 25 years at Travel Leaders Network; TTAND added to its trophy case; TRAVELSAVERS CANADA members cruised in South America; and Virtuoso revealed soaring sales data.
Thousands of giant panda sculptures will greet residents and tourists starting Saturday in Hong Kong, where enthusiasm for the bears has grown since two cubs were born in a local theme park. The 2,500 exhibits were showcased in a launch ceremony of PANDA GO! FEST HK, the city’s largest panda-themed exhibition, at Hong Kong’s airport on Monday.
According to the latest Longwoods International tracking study of American travellers, 7% will travel more internationally because of the results of the 2024 presidential election. In contrast, only 3% will travel less internationally during the next 12 months.
With hurricanes, heat and drought afflicting many regions of the world, Canadian travellers are increasingly taking the weather into account when planning their holidays, according to Virtuoso’s 2025 Luxe Report, which reveals that 44% of Canadian travel advisors surveyed say their clients are adjusting their plans to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Starting in Vancouver Tuesday (Dec. 3), Air Canada will be the first Canadian airline to offer customers the ability to use facial recognition to board domestic flights. The voluntary Digital Identification program is designed to create faster, seamless boarding by eliminating the need for passengers to produce passports or other physical ID. It will soon be rolled out at additional airports across the country.
Five years after a catastrophic fire reduced Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris to a smoldering shell, journalists got a first glimpse of the Gothic masterpiece’s fully restored interiors during a visit with French President Emmanuel Macron. The transformation is nothing short of breathtaking: light dances across brilliant stone, gilded accents gleam anew, and the iconic monument’s majesty is reborn. From Dec. 8, visitors will once again marvel at the cathedral’s blend of history and craftsmanship.
Trevello is going public, expanding in the US, adding agents, and making waves in the cruise sector, but they’re all just steps towards total towards “world domination,” laughs the host agency’s CEO Zeina Gedeon, who entertained and informed industry partners at a Toronto gathering late week.
ACTA president Wendy Paradis has been named chair of the executive committee of World Travel Agents Associations Alliance (WTAAA), a global organization that focuses and advocates on issues impacting the global travel agency community.
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 biggest shopping day of the year is here and there are travel deals are a-plenty, some extending into Cyber Monday, ‘Travel Tuesday’ (Dec. 3) and even further. Here is an updated at-a-glance look at some of this year’s best travel deals for travel advisors and clients.
A new route between Montreal and Valencia, Spain, highlights Air Transat’s just-released 2025 summer schedule, which in sum will include 275 weekly non-stop flights to over 40 destinations from Montreal, Toronto and Quebec City.
With winter starting and many Canadians planning escapes from the snow and cold, Service Canada is encouraging travellers to make sure their passports are up to date, or to apply well ahead of their trip if they don’t already have one.
Between finding openings, sending out your resume and interviewing, looking for a job is tough. Now a growing trend of scammers impersonating recruiters is making it even harder.
Windstar Cruises is adding a new itinerary in 2026 to its popular Canada & New England season of sailings, which are fall travel favourites thanks to the line’s ability to visit many smaller, scenic ports where big ships don’t go. The line’s 312-guest motor yacht Star Pride sails in the region during the prime fall colour months of September and October.
Andrew John Hozier-Byrne (aka Hozier), the thoughtful Irish singer-songwriter, sure gets his money’s worth out of his music – not syrupy ballads or inane love songs for him. His breakthrough smash “Take Me to Church” in 2013 was an audacious indictment of the Catholic church’s homophobic doctrine; and the song we covered previously, “Nina Cries Power,” was an homage to the legacy of protest songs and singers who were there at the beginning of the movement.
Airfares are forecast to see modest increases across most regions globally in 2025 as airline capacity continues to rise, according to American Express Global Business Travel’s (Amex GBT) latest Air Monitor 2025. The report anticipates that, after a period of sharp fluctuations, airfare prices are starting to stabilize globally, marking a shift from the more volatile pricing patterns of previous years. However, the underlying cost of air travel is likely to remain high.
Calling the move an “appalling decision,” IATA has condemned a decision by the Spanish government to remove cabin baggage fees for passengers in Spain and fine airlines EUR 179 million. The air transport association charges that the move “undermines freedom of pricing which is fundamental to consumer choice and competition, a principle that has been long upheld by the European Court of Justice.”
One hundred and fifty travel advisors from across the Canada took part in ACTA’s first International Destination Conference in Portugal’s Azores islands last week. Travel Industry Today was there, pen – and camera – in hand. Yesterday, we reported on the conference (scroll down in the newsletter if you missed the story); today we offer some flavours and faces from the corresponding FAM.
The biggest November snowstorm to hit South Korea’s capital in more than a half century blanketed the capital on Wednesday, grounding hundreds of flights, disrupting commuter traffic and leaving at least two dead. South Korea’s weather agency said 20 to 26 cm of snow fell in northern areas of Seoul and nearby areas.
The travel industry is mourning the passing of noted Saint Lucian hotelier, developer and visionary Nick Troubetzkoy during a recent visit to London. Raised in western Canada, Troubetzkoy’s many notable accomplishments included building Anse Chastanet and the renowned Jade Mountain resorts.
SeaWorld Orlando has unveiled plans for its latest attraction, set to open in Spring 2025: the world’s first-of-its-kind Arctic flying theatre. The new experience will invite guests to soar over icy landscapes, dive beneath frozen waters, and come face-to-face with some of the planet’s most magnificent creatures – from beluga whales to orcas and walruses.
The Canadian dollar fell to its lowest level since May 2020 after Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on Canadian goods shipped to the United States once he takes office in January.
Pronouncing Azores properly, which is to say, in Portuguese, is an undeniable challenge for the English-speaking human mouth – so, in this case we’ll go with the Canadian version – ‘Eh-zores.’ Fortunately, almost everything else about the amazing archipelago – nine volcanic islands peaking out of the mid-Atlantic ocean 1500 kms (and a two-hour flight) due west of Lisbon – was much easier to grasp for 150 travel advisors from this country attending last week’s first annual ACTA International Destination Conference.
With Toronto having reverted to normal levels of chaos, Vancouver is preparing for the arrival of the recording breaking Taylor Swift tour with the expectation of nearly $160 million in economic impact for the city over the singer’s three tour dates, Dec. 6-8.
WestJet will launch new nonstop service connecting Vancouver and Austin, Texas, next spring. The three-times-weekly flights will commence May 11. Last week, the airline also announced new seasonal routes to Boston and Tampa beginning in June.
From a new ship in the Uniworld fleet and all-new FAM initiative to new itineraries in Albania and Peru for Contiki, expanded small group and women’s tour offerings from Insight Vacations, and five new itineraries from Trafalgar, there’s a lot going in the TTC Tour Brands portfolio in 2025. Here’s a look at some of the notable news.
Yuka Suzuki has been named Executive Director of the Japan National Tourism Organization office in Toronto. The veteran tourism professional, who has previously worked for Destination British Columbia in Tokyo, has a “strong passion” for both Canada and Japan, and has dedicated much of her career to fostering stronger connections between the two, making her uniquely qualified for the position, according to the JNTO.
It’s last call for ACTA members to make their voices heard on the implementation and impacts of New Distribution Capability (NDC). The deadline is today (Nov. 27) to complete a survey by the association designed to specifically examine members’ current engagement levels with NDC, identify any challenges they are encountering in their day-to-day operations, and explore potential areas for improvement in NDC implementation.
If you were having problems with opening Outlook or other Microsoft applications yesterday – you weren’t alone. Thousands of Microsoft 365 customers worldwide took to social media to report trouble seeing their emails, loading calendars or opening other Microsoft 365 applications such as Powerpoint and Teams.
Just as there are good odds the turkey will taste dry, airports and highways are expected to be jam-packed during Thanksgiving week, a holiday period likely to end in another record day for air travel in the United States. However, take heart, the people responsible for keeping security lines, boarding areas and jetliners moving — from the US transportation secretary and airline chiefs on down the line — swear they are prepared for the crowds.