The tourism big picture for Destination Canada still has many dark clouds, but work by the organization is starting to render a brighter outlook for the coming years, reports Press Today’s Ted Davis.
With the many challenges of the past 21 months comes the opportunity to rebuild the Canadian tourism industry with new marketing concepts and directions, said Marsha Walden, president and CEO of Destination Canada. Strategies at Destination Canada have been shaped by the need to help generate this tourism renaissance, she said during the DMO’s annual public meeting.
But before...
Aruba is teaming up with OK2Roam and VFS Global to launch a new service that eliminates the need to make travellers wait for their PCR test results to be manually verified and the need to upload test certificates.
In partnership with OK2Roam, travellers can authorize an approved laboratory to send their negative test result directly to Aruba’s Embarkation-Disembarkation card entry platform and be confident that it will be instantly accepted.
As part of the entry process to Aruba, the ED card registration is mandatory for all travellers, including minors and infants.
Proof of a...
Costsaver is expanding to two additional destinations with brand new itineraries in Australia and New Zealand for 2022.
As international borders begin to reopen, these new itineraries offer the expertise of a guided experience with all the essentials and opportunities for clients to tailor the trip to create their perfect bucket list adventure. The new itineraries are available for booking now for travel in 2022 and 2023.
Wolf Paunic, President of Trafalgar, Brendan Vacations and Costsaver Canada, explained: “We saw amazing growth before the pandemic and with high demand for...
Seven global travel industry associations – including ASTA, the Association of South African Travel Agencies (ASATA), ACTA, the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), the European Travel Agents’ and Tour Operators’ Associations (ECTAA) and the World Travel Agents Associations Alliance (WTAAA) – argue that closing borders and implementing new travel restrictions is “putting already vulnerable businesses at further risk.”
The groups represent hundreds of thousands of people who work at travel agencies and related businesses around the world and they are calling on...
Canadians are gearing up to travel over the holidays, according to Finder.com’s newly released Travel Index.
According to the Index, one in five Canadian adults (22%) plan to travel over the months of December, January and February, up from just 13% last month.
It also reports that Canadians are now just as likely to be planning domestic travel as they are international travel; with 12% of Canadians planning to travel domestically and 12% planning to travel internationally.
Of note is the fact that international travel plans are also at the highest they’ve been since Finder...
Cuban prime minister Manuel Marrero Cruz says his country is both a sunny and safe destination for coronavirus-wary travellers who continue to hear media reports of countries struggling with the pandemic, reports Press Today's Ian Stalker who's in Cuba attending the event.
Marrero Cruz said during a Wednesday presentation at a tourism fair held by Cuban tourism company Gaviota that his country of over 11 million people saw only 77 reported coronavirus cases on Dec. 8, while its capital of Havana -- home to over 3 million people -- saw a scant 14 cases.
Cuban cases peaked at 9,907 on...
TL Network Canada is celebrating the success of its recently concluded, in-person events in Toronto, Vancouver and Edmonton.
The three regionals hosted more than 355 agents and 82 supplier partners attended with the PEAK themed events enabling agents to leverage the tools and training available to help grow their business and help TL Network members across Canada continue their quest to PEAK -- “Programmes, Education, Advisors and Knowledge,” -- while facilitating networking opportunities, supplier partner roundtable discussions and a rewarding trade show.
TL Network’s vice...
With over 100 bookings set to depart over the next month, Caitlin Lajeunesse felt a jolt of panic and fear when the news of testing requirements for all arriving air passengers outside of the US came out.
“I was worried this news would bring a wave of cancellations, again,” the owner of Vacations by Caitlin with Independent by Flight Centre told Travel Courier. “As the days have passed, and after a meeting with my MP to get some further details and clarification, I feel confident that travel will remain as planned.”
Lajeunesse says the measures are not meant to deter travel,...
After so many virtual events over the past two years, Sandals Resorts celebrated its 40th anniversary in Toronto last night during an in person agent appreciation dinner at The Miller Tavern.
Giselle Williams, Business Development Manager – Central Ontario & Ottawa, noted that agents were hand selected for the event as a way of saying thank you for their support over the years and especially over the last two years. Agents in attendance ranged from those who are new to the brand to those who have booked sold out group trips.
Best of all, Williams announced that unlike...
In a message to the industry, the Travel Industry Council of Ontario (TICO) says that it recognizes the difficulty that many registrants have faced resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic; observing that the prolonged industry downturn has led to great financial strain and uncertainty, forcing some registrants to make the difficult decision to voluntarily terminate or allow their registration to expire.
Now TICO is pleased to share that effective Dec. 6, 2021, it has updated the Registrant Reinstatement Policy in order to encourage registrants considering reinstatement to do so without...