Destinations
Israel Set To Welcome International Travellers In May
Mark May 23 in your calendar. That’s when Israel will begin welcoming vaccinated groups of international travellers back into the country through a phased approach after more than a year without tourism due to COVID-19 restrictions. Eyal Carlin, Tourism Commissioner for North America, said: “I am happy to share the news that Israel is taking great strides in reopening to international travel this May.” Carlin continued: “We have been working to develop a plan that allows not only for the country to reopen to visitors, but also to ensure that everyone stays safe....
Get Ready For Take Off
Finally, some good news. And it comes with the expectation that there will be more ahead. The conclusion of the long-awaited deal between the Canadian government and Air Canada has this country’s travel industry celebrating – virtually, of course – as the industry now looks ahead for announcements on further agreements with WestJet, Transat and Sunwing. Hopefully, those announcements will come soon. In announcing that it had reached an agreement with Air Canada, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, and the Minister of...
WestJet, Government Continue Discussions
All eyes on WestJet. With yesterday's deal between Air Canada and the federal government done, the industry is now turning its attention to where things stand with WestJet's talks with the government. In a statement released last night (April 12), the company said: "The WestJet Group of Companies continues discussions with the Government of Canada on a safe travel-restart framework. We remain focused on a long-term solution that will serve the best interests of Canadians.” And it indicated that: “We will provide updates on our discussions with the Government of Canada at the...
Roach Leaving BTMI
Petra Roach is leaving her role as Global Head of Markets and Interim CEO at Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI), and will join the Grenada Tourist Board later this year. Thanking Roach for her contributions, BTMI Chairman Roseanne Myers said: “She has been a tremendous asset to Barbados for two decades and her contribution to the growth and development of tourism sector has been outstanding.” Roach joined the Barbados tourism board in 2002 working with the United Kingdom team as Vice-President. Following a brief stint as interim CEO in 2014 during the Barbados Tourism...
Flair Adds Ottawa-Kelowna Lift
Flair Airlines is adding a new, non-stop route between Ottawa International Airport (YOW) and Kelowna International Airport (YLW) beginning Aug. 4, 2021, with flights on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The carrier is expanding its network to include 19 destinations by summer; and it is will be adding 13 new aircraft to its fleet in 2021 in preparation for the safe restart of travel. Stephen Jones, president & CEO of Flair, said: “Growing our service by connecting two iconic destinations on each side of the country is an important step in our bringing low fares and affordable travel...
Air Canada Rolls Out Its Refund Plans
Air Canada has moved quickly to roll it is refund plans, advising that eligible customers who purchased a non-refundable ticket for travel on or after Feb. 1, 2020 but did not fly can now obtain a refund from the carrier by submitting a request online or with their travel agent. The revised COVID-19 refund policy covers tickets and Air Canada Vacations packages purchased before April 13, 2021 for flights cancelled either by the airline or by the customer for any reason. Lucie Guillemette, Executive Vice-President and Chief Commercial Officer at Air Canada, explained: “Air...
ACV Ready To Process Refunds Today
Air Canada Vacations is advising that beginning today (April 13) it will begin accepting and processing refund requests from eligible customers whose vacations were cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The tour company indicates that its revised policy covers trips cancelled by Air Canada Vacations or by the customer. Customers have the option to request a refund for any reason if their booking was made before April 13, 2021 for travel on or after Feb.1, 2020. ACV also said that it is “pleased to announce that we will not be recalling commissions from agents once...
St. Vincent and the Grenadines Needs Help
St. Vincent and the Grenadines has issued an urgent appeal to the public for relief for those directly impacted by the April 9 eruption of the La Soufrière volcano. Eruptions continue and are now generating pyroclastic density currents. Explosions and accompanying ash fall are likely to continue to occur over the next few days at least. More than 16,000 people have had to be evacuated from their homes in the Red Zone to the safer Green Zone to shelters, personal homes and hotels. The need for assistance is tremendous as the country battles with excessive amounts of ash fall, water...