In case you missed it, and even if you didn’t, here’s a quick look at some of last week’s need-to-know travel news:
AIR
WestJet has announced its summer schedule from Calgary featuring more than 90 new flights, including new non-stop WestJet Link service to Dawson Creek, B.C. In addition, beginning May 14, WestJet will begin new service between Calgary and Boston. The airline previously announced new four-times weekly service between Calgary and Charlottetown. There will also be frequency increases from Calgary to Portland, Ore., Victoria, Nanaimo, Comox, Grand Prairie, Fort McMurray, Brandon, Winnipeg, Abbotsford and Yellowknife.
Air Canada customers can now use PayPal when purchasing tickets online in Canada. The online service allows customers to able to pay for their flights in a secure and convenient with their preferred payment method – bank account, credit cards or Visa Debit card – linked to their PayPal account.
Ultra-low-cost Flair Airlines is offering travel passes starting at $499 when booked by Feb. 12. The Go Travel Pass allows passengers to fly across Canada between Feb. 13 and May 13 as often as they like. The pass can be purchased on the company’s web site.
DEALS
Through Feb. 14, Sunwing is encouraging travellers to head to the tropics with 35% savings on winter vacation packages. The Seize the Sun Sale includes such resorts as Grand Memories Punta Cana, Riu Playacar, Ocean Casa del Mar and Grand Palladium Vallarta Resort and Spa. Agents can also take advantage of a host of added inclusions and perks at Palladium Hotels & Resorts through February with Sunwing’s Partner of the Month promotion.
Clients can receive their second trip for 50% off with Air Canada Vacations through a series of special BOGO offers available through Feb. 23. The annual promotion includes select flight and hotel packages to Europe this year (May and June), Sun departures from June to October, and cruises in Europe (with bookings of a balcony state room or higher).
Until Feb. 25, clients can choose from nine Club Med beach resorts for a seven-night air-inclusive package from $1,599, including free first checked luggage and no single supplement on select dates. This deal also includes 50% off for kids under 16 years old and a free stay for children under four. Select properties include Sandpiper Bay, Buccaneer’s Creek and Columbus Isle.
TOURS
Known for its small group touring itineraries in the U.K. and Europe with Blue Roads Touring, Burlington, Ont. tour operator DHTour reminds that it also offers two other alternatives in mini-coach touring. “Discover More” includes stays and three meals a day at one of 18 “glorious” country houses throughout England, Wales and Scotland coupled with daily tours to the surrounding countryside; also, “Bed ‘n Breakfast” tours through the U.K. and Ireland in genuine, small B&Bs, or 3-star hotels and across Europe, between Paris, Nice, Rome, Madrid and Lisbon, staying in 3- to 4-star hotels.
The Travel Corporation, which includes 42 brands including the likes Trafalgar, Insight and Contiki, is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2020 by sharing memorable moments throughout the year. Each month, TTC will highlight its milestone with inspiring personal stories and shareable video content. Team members will also participate in giving back opportunities through TTC’s CSR initiatives and TreadRight’s sustainable travel projects. To view an anniversary celebration video, click here.
Leading guidebook publisher Lonely Planet has “joined forces” with Intrepid Travel to introduce over 300 sustainable group tours across the globe. The new trip range of carbon neutral tours will feature 200 day-tours operated by Intrepid’s day-tour company, Urban Adventures, and more than 130 multi-day excursions, including walking, cycling, food, festivals, family and marine adventures. The Lonely Planet Experiences will feature explorations of local food and drink, behind-the-scenes access to hidden gems, interactions with locals and insights from trusted travel experts, while having a low environmental footprint and a positive impact on local communities. Tours will have a maximum of 16 travellers.
HOTELS
The El San Juan Hotel is now a Fairmont. First opened in the 1958, the landmark hotel welcomed performers such a Sammy Davis Jr., Paul Anka and Milton Berle during the ‘60s. It re-opened in 2018 after a renovation that reflects its notable past and Old World elegance.
Grenada is growing in the hotel sector. The Royalton Grenada hotel will become the Caribbean island’s largest hotel when it opens on March 1 with 269 rooms, surpassing Sandals (257) and the Radisson (227). Another 220 rooms is on the way later in the year with the Kimpton Kawana Bay hotel, and the first Six Senses hotel in the Caribbean is slated for 2022.
Now open:
Choice Hotels’ upscale Cambria brand has opened its 50th and largest location just outside Disneyworld in Anaheim, Ca. Highlights of the 12-story, 352-room hotel include a 2,800 sq.-m. waterpark and proximity to the theme park.
RESORTS
The Grand at Moon Palace Cancun recently hosted 160 agents on a Palace Resorts’ Canadian “MegaFam” (a few of them shown in this photo). The fourth annual event, hosted by Juan Carlos Calderon, corporate director of sales in Canada, showcased the resort’s offerings and enabled agents to engage in talks and training with Palace Resorts experts. The FAM also included visits to other Palace properties in Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and Cozumel and some “epic” theme parties at night.
A last-minute getaway to participating Zoëtry Wellness & Spa Resorts, Secrets, Breathless, Dreams, Now, Reflect and Sunscape Resorts & Spas can score clients 40% off and $200 in resort coupons when they book an AMResorts’ Winter Wanderlust stay by Feb. 25 for travel through April 11.
Guests can save up to 35% with Sonesta Resorts’ “Winter Warm Up Sale” at the Sonesta Ocean Point and the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort, Casino & Spa in St. Maarten. To qualify, a minimum of two nights is required on bookings made through March 31 for travel by April 18. Use promo code: WARMUP.
CRUISE
Reshma Saujani, founder and CEO of international non-profit Girls Who Code and author of international bestseller, “Brave, Not Perfect,” has been named godmother for Celebrity Apex, Celebrity Cruises second ship in the brand’s Edge Series of vessels. She will name the new ship at the official inaugural ceremony in Southampton, UK, on March 30.
The first guests have been welcomed at Royal Caribbean’s Coco Beach Club at CocoCay, Bahamas. The private island club features floating cabanas, an oceanfront infinity pool, beach cabanas, dedicated restaurant with upscale dining and an exclusive bar. There are also two “refreshed beaches” – Breezy Bay at Chill Island and South Beach – open to all guests on the island.
Small-ship Victory Cruise Lines, which sails the Great Lakes and the North American and Canadian coasts, is introducing new itineraries for its Victory II vessel this summer, including a Great Lakes voyage from Chicago to Niagara Falls (or reverse) with a new hotel stay in Niagara Falls that includes Hornblower boat excursion, Falls Incline Railway all-day pass, and narrated driving tour to Whirlpool Rapids, the Floral Clock and Table Rock Park. VCL’s Wave season campaign offers discounts up to $2,000 off per stateroom available till March 31.
ATTRACTIONS/THEME PARKS
Mardi Gras 2020 has kicked off at Universal Orlando Resort, running through April 2, featuring concerts, parades and Cajun cuisine. Highlighting the former is chart-topping DJ Marshmello. The Mardi Gras celebration is billed as a “family-friendly version of the iconic Big Easy (New Orleans) bash.”
EVENTS
Sandals has several webinars planned for February with all starting at 1:30 EST for 30 minutes. To register input https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/ and add the following codes (in brackets): Feb. 14 – Day of Romance (6222200477401); Feb. 21 – Sandals South Coast (4602053601198764545); and Feb. 28 (65117880785739265).
FAMS/INCENTIVES
TravelBrands wants to show extra love to agents during February with 15% commission on a variety of products, including hotel only, TravelGenie and packages for all departures until July 31. Bookings must be made by Feb. 29. Also, Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line can now be booked through TravelBrands Cruises, by Encore Cruises. To celebrate the new partnership, one lucky travel agent has the opportunity to win a free cruise for two when booking a qualifying BPCL cruise product before Feb. 29.
PEOPLE/APPOINTMENTS
Destination marketing and PR agency VoX International is welcoming back Lea-Ann Goltz to the role of Travel Trade Account Manager. Goltz began her career at Canada 3000 and has worked for Princess Cruises as well tour operators, hotels, and in retail travel. With her previous six years with VoX, she represented various clients in Western Canada. She can be reached at: Lea-Ann@voxinternational.com.
Also at VoX, Jan Lapointe has been appointed director of sales & marketing North America for Haven Resorts & Spas, whose first property debuted in Cancun in October, 2018. Lapointe formerly was part of AMResorts’ leadership team for more than 16 years.
NEWS
The Globus family of brands (Globus, Cosmos, Monograms and Avalon Waterways) advises that travel agents and their clients can help support The Ocean Cleanup, an environmental initiative founded to rid the world of the ocean’s plastics. Each time a client opts for e-docs, rather than paper travel documents, the GFOB make a contribution to organization, which was founded in 2013 by 18-year-old Dutch inventor Boyan Slat. The Ocean Cleanup has three main initiatives: to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch; to place interceptors into rivers to prevent from more garbage from entering oceans; and to manufacture goods from reclaimed plastics.
BY THE NUMBERS
The Montserrat Tourism Division reports that visitor arrivals to the island in 2019 increased by 14% over 2018 resulting in the first time the Caribbean destination has exceeded 20,000 visitors since the eruption of the Soufriere Hills Volcano in 1995. From January to September Montserrat recorded 20,956 total visitor arrivals compared to 18,338 for the same period in 2018, including a 59% increase in cruise visits. The Caribbean region led the way, generating 19% of total stayover visits, followed by the UK, which accounted for 13.4% and the US, which produced 12.6%.
DESTINATIONS
The Sea to Sky Gondola in Squamish, BC (photo) near Vancouver will re-open on Feb. 14 – after being closed for over six months due to a senseless act of vandalism on Aug. 10, 2019 that saw its two-kilometre cable cut. The opening will be in time for the Family Day weekend, during which 50% off lift tickets will be offered to users, who, company officials say, will be able to travel to the summit “with complete confidence,” in part because new security measures have been installed.
GRAMMY Award-nominated trio Jonas Brothers have announced a Las Vegas residency at Park Theater at Park MGM beginning April 1.
Québec City has erected warming stations in the Old Town and beyond to provide residents and visitors with communal meeting places to get toasty. The warming stations feature Chalet-style lounge chairs, gas fireplaces, fir trees for wind protection, patio heaters, and cozy cabins designed to offer visitors a respite from the chilly winter weather. Warming stations can be found in a number of high-traffic areas throughout the capital, including Parc Champlain Place d’Youville and Place Richard-Garneau.