ROUND-UP: SEP. 23 to 27, 2019

30 SEP 2019:  In case you missed it – or even if you didn’t – here’s a round-up of last week’s news and information in travel and tourism.

AIR

Sunseekers departing from Hamilton, London, Abbotsford, Edmonton and Winnipeg can now book Sunwing vacation packages with the tour operator that include a Swoop flight thanks to a new agreement between the tour operator and the ultra-low-cost airline. All Sunwing vacation packages with Swoop flights include one complimentary item of checked luggage, round-trip airport to hotel transfers, assistance from Sunwing Experiences representatives throughout, the option to pre-purchase Sunwing Experiences excursions at the time of booking and more.

Take a Wizz: Hungary-based low-cost carrier Wizz Air, one of Europe’s fastest growing airlines and the largest low-cost carrier in Central and Eastern Europe, has massively expanded its Polish operations, basing four new aircraft in Poland. Starting next summer 2020 Wizz will launch 15 new routes from Gdansk, Krakow and Warsaw as well as increase weekly frequencies on the most popular services, adding a total of 24 incremental weekly flights to its Polish schedule for a total of 193 routes to 28 countries from nine Polish airports.

Major modernization initiatives are underway at Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway international airports. At Midway, nearly $400 million is being spent to improve travel to and from the airport, including a larger security checkpoint for faster screening plus more dining and shopping options. The improvements are set to be completed by summer 2020.

DEALS

 Jamaica Inn, a luxury boutique property 4 km. from Ocho Rios (photo) is offering free nights plus food and beverage credits during October. Guests staying three nights receive one free night, two nights for a five-night stay and four for 10; the promotion is valid for new bookings through by Oct. 31. From Nov. 1 to Dec. 1, the “Fall Into Savings” promotion offers between 15 and 25% off for stays from three to 11 nights. Located on 325 hectares with a 215-metre private beach, the inn has 48 suites, four two-bedroom cottages, a three-bedroom villa and three beach bungalows, all of them intentionally lacking TVs, clocks and radios that “intrude between guests and rest.”

Another “Fall into Savings” promotion from AMResorts will give guests staying at any of its seven brands in the Caribbean and Mexico discounted room upgrades and up to $400 in resort coupons when booking by Oct. 21 for travel until Dec. 22.

Running through October, Goway’s “World on Sale” event features over 30 trips to six continents with savings of up to 45%. Destinations include New Zealand, England, Mexico and Kenya.

TOURS

North America’s oldest tour operator, Pawtucket, Rhode Island-based  Collette, launched its 102nd season to the Canadian trade last week in Toronto, introducing over 20 new tours across several travel styles, including, “The Azores Jewels of Portugal,” “Spotlight on Nashville,” and “Greece Island Hopper.” Joining staff from its Canadian headquarters in Streetsville, Ont. (photo), were company CEO Dan Sullivan, president Jacklyn Leibl-Cote, and Sr. VP Christian Leibl-Cote.

In 2020, Globus and Cosmos are unveiling 11 “Undiscovered Mediterranean tours – including six new vacations that range from eight to 19 days – designed to takes travellers beyond the “usual”

tourist destinations to “experience small villages, winding roads, and take time to connect with the locals,” and, says Stéphanie Bishop of the Globus family of brands, “take them where the other tour companies don’t go, and where the cruise ships don’t visit.” Sample tours include

the new “Greek Island Adventure” (8 days, from $2,499) that whisks travellers away to the lesser-known isles of Greece via high speed ferry and the new “Discover the Eastern Med” (11 days priced from $2,159), which includes a stop in Shkodra, Albania, one of the oldest cities in Europe and boasting a pastel-painted Old Town known as the City of Bicycles.

Gros Morne in Newfoundland has been added by Trafalgar to its extensive North American national park offerings in 2020, joining Rocky Mountain National Park, Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Saguaro, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve as well as UNESCO World Heritage Sites like Chaco Culture National Historic Park.

HOTELS

No city is more strongly associated with a type of music than Vienna with its waltz. And for only $36,000 per couple the “Kempinski Waltz Time” package offered by Palais Hansen Kempinski allows guests to dance to their own individual waltz, premiered in their room (photo), the Presidential Suite. The three-night package at the five-star property also includes champagne welcome, breakfast, a nine-course dinner with accompanying wines at the gourmet restaurant Edvard, as well as the composition and performance of the waltz by professional musicians, filming of the premiere, concert tickets and limousine transfers from and to the airport and concert.

Open:

The brand new Best Western Premier NOHO Inn has opened its doors in North Hollywood. The property features 70 spacious, upscale guest rooms with detailed finishes and equipped with a large flat-screen television, microwave and mini fridge. Travellers can book a room with a private balcony to enjoy the stunning mountain views.

It’s a bit of an unwieldy name, but W Aspen & The Sky Residences at W Aspen is now open. The first alpine Escape hotel in North America for W, it has 88 rooms and suites, 11 private residences, mountainside rooftop “Wet Deck,” signature W Living Room that extends to an outdoor patio, fitness centre and après ski bar.

RESORTS

For all new bookings of six nights or longer (in any room category) made before Dec. 19 for travel through Dec. 26, 2020 – guests at Sandals and Beaches resorts are eligible to receive the “PADI Discover Scuba Diving Experience” – a three-hour introductory diving course – for up to two people per room at Sandals or the whole family at Beaches (up to 12 people staying in one room). Additional terms and conditions, including blackout dates, apply and agents must register their clients’ bookings with 72 hours of making it.

CRUISES

Bahamas Cruise Line has resumed commercial operations with two-night round-trip sailings from Palm Beach, Fla., to Grand Bahama Island.  With its return to Freeport, the company becomes the first cruise line to bring leisure travellers back to Grand Bahama Island following Hurricane Dorian. The company will also add a second destination, Nassau, with sailings onboard Grand Classica, the cruise line’s second ship, beginning Oct. 12.

The Miami-Dade County Commission has approved Carnival Cruise Line’s proposal for a complete renovation and major expansion of Cruise Terminal F at Port Miami, which will be capable of supporting the operations of Carnival’s new Excel class ship – clearing the way for the yet-to-be-named sister ship of Mardi Gras to be homeported in Miami when it is delivered in 2022.

Holland America’s Volendam will sail to South America and Antarctica, departing Jan. 5 for a 77-day journey. During the cruise, the ship will visit 37 ports in seven countries and several Caribbean islands including Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, with Chilean Fjord and Glacier Alley scenic cruising, a four-day Antarctica Experience and Amazon River journey. Guests looking for a shorter cruise can book a 41-day segment from Fort Lauderdale to Buenos Aires or a 36-day segment from Buenos Aires to Fort Lauderdale.

THEME PARKS

Dive Bahrain, the world’s largest underwater theme park spanning an area of 100,000 sq. m., is now open to diving enthusiasts. The site, in close proximity to Bahrain International Airport, has a 70 m.-long decommissioned Boeing 747 as its centerpiece, the largest aircraft ever to be intentionally submerged. The newly opened underwater theme park will feature a replica of a traditional Bahraini pearl merchant’s house, artificial coral reefs and other sculptures that will be fabricated and submerged to provide a safe haven for coral reef growth and to ensure a sustainable habitat for marine life.

LEGOLAND Pirate Island Hotel, the first LEGO Pirate hotel in North America, is set to open April 17, 2020. The newest on-site accommodation at LEGOLAND Florida Resort will invite brick fans to vacation like a pirate just steps from the entrance to the theme park built for kids.

FAMS & INCENTIVES

Goway Travel is offering travel agents up to $75 per passenger when booking a New Zealand vacation flying Air New Zealand. Agents who book an Air New Zealand airfare from Canada or the US to New Zealand, in conjunction with at least seven nights lands arrangements, are eligible for the following incentives: Economy Class – $25 per passenger; Premium Economy – $50 p.p.; Business Premier – $75 p.p.

EVENTS

WestJet recently rolled through several cities – Victoria and Kelowna, BC, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and Regina – with its fifth annual Fall Travel Trade Expos. The final stop is Ottawa Ont., on Oct. 8. Close to 1,000 agents had a chance to interact with the airline’s preferred hotel and destination partners and get the latest on WJ product enhancements, new Dreamliner routes and the airline’s new Business cabin.

Visit Orlando reports that there are still limited spaces available for its upcoming sales mission shows in Ottawa on Oct. 2 and Montreal on Oct. 3. Toronto is sold out on Oct. 1, but agents can join the waiting list. Registration and trade show begin at 5 p.m. and the evening will end at 8:30 p.m.

PEOPLE/APPOINTMENTS

Tourism Toronto has announced the appointment of Scott Beck as president and CEO. For the past 14 years, Beck has served as the president and CEO of Visit Salt Lake in Utah, and will begin his new role on Oct. 15

Michelle Gaudet, owner of Inspired Travel Adventures in Fort Erie, Ont. has been named Nexion Travel Group’s “2019 Rising Star” at the annual CoNexion conference in Orlando, Fla. The award recognizes a newer NTG-Canada member who has demonstrated notable success as a new entrant to the travel industry. Among her accomplishments are winning the inaugural G Adventures Changemaker Award and being nominated for the Niagara Falls Review Reader Choice Awards for Best Travel Agency 2019.

NEWS

A new Director of Security has been appointed by Jamaica’s minister of tourism and analysis of a recent security audit is expected to be completed by October, after which specific recommendations and projects will be implemented.

California’s Sonoma County Tourism has launched its first-ever training platform that will certify travel professionals as Sonoma County destination experts. Created in coordination with TravPro Mobile [travpromobile.com], the new Sonoma County Travel Pro training and sales enablement program takes travel advisors through an introductory course to “all things Sonoma Wine Country,” with the idea they will be better prepared to share, sell, and promote the destination. The platform is both desktop and mobile-friendly and is free to all agents who register.

BY THE NUMBERS

At 130 metres wide and 67.5-metres high (taller than the Leaning Tower of Pisa), the Al Wasl Plaza dome being built as the centrepiece of Expo 2020 in Dubai has an interior a space of 724,000 cubic metres – the volume of almost 300 Olympic-size swimming pools. When the dome was put in place, 830 tons of steel was raised hundreds of metres into the air with a margin of error of three millimetres. In total, the dome uses 13.6 km. of steel, the equivalent of the height of 16 Burj Khalifas; weighs 2,544 ton, the same as 25 blue whales; and is almost as wide as two Airbus A380 aircraft lined up wing to wing.

DESTINATIONS

The Jasper Dark Sky Festival, the largest annual stargazing celebration in the Canadian Rockies, returns for its ninth year Oct. 18-27. The 10-day festival brings together renowned scientists, astronauts, researchers and “fascinating folks inspired by the wonders of the universe and beyond.” New this year, the cost of the STAR package has been reduced to $50. Highlights include a keynote presentation by Jad Abumrad, creator and host of Radiolab, and a SPACEtalks panel where the race to Mars will be discussed.

As a means of encouraging visitors to hike the various trails in Dominica, the Discover Dominica Authority has developed an official Trail Hiker’s Logbook and Passport, designed to be a fun way to record one’s hiking experiences; hikers will be awarded for their achievements, based on the number of trails hiked. Dominica has a vast network of hiking trails that suit all interests and levels of ability. Most trails traverse through diverse natural habitats such as rainforest, montane thicket or elfin woodland. The scale and diversity of hiking in Dominica makes the island unique in the Caribbean region. Passports are free of charge and can be obtained from tourist information offices on the island.

A renovation and expansion project is underway at New York’s Museum of Modern Art to enhance galleries and public spaces when it reopens on Oct. 21. The project will increase the museum’s gallery space by a third, allowing MoMA to showcase its collection in new ways, with an emphasis on art and artists from diverse backgrounds and perspectives.