Destinations
ACV Does ‘Europe Your Way’
Air Canada Vacations (ACV) has unveiled its Europe Your Way brochure for 2018, highlighted by122 vacation packages (66 of them new) and 50 cruises. The program focuses on Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Ireland, Scotland, England, France, Iceland, Croatia and Central Europe, all segmented into different categories – Fly & Drive Vacations, Fly & Rail Vacations, Guided Rail Tours, Urban Getaways, Design Your Own Urban Getaways, Guided Tours, Island Hopping, Amalfi Coast Escapes, French Riviera Escapes, Seaside Escapes, Family Getaways, Journeys at Sea (cruises) and River...
A Window To The Wilderness
Anyone skeptical that the staff at Ecuador's Mashpi lodge don't know its stuff need only look at tour guide Nestor Paladines, reports Ian Stalker in this week's Travel Courier cover story. Paladines, a guide at the National Geographic-affiliated property, can identify some 1,068 bird species in his country by their English and Spanish names and about 400 by their scientific monikers. And to top that off he can recognize hundres of species by their calls, with those feats taking three years. And says lodge manager Marc Bery, that sort of dedication enables Mashpi guests to head home...
Belfast International Re-Named ‘Westeros Airport’
Over the festive season, travellers heading to and from Northern Ireland will have to double-check their tickets, as Belfast International Airport is being re-named as “Westeros Airport.” With 5.8 million people travelling through the airport each year, travellers during the month of December will now be greeted with a large scale “Welcome to Westeros” sign on arrival. The momentous airport takeover will celebrate Northern Ireland’s involvement as a major filming location for Game of Thrones and marks the Home Entertainment release of Season 7. Production of HBO’s Game...
NYC Set For New ‘Broadway Week’ Campaign
NYC & Company, New York City’s official destination marketing organization, has introduced the first-ever NYC Broadway Week Winter Stay hotel promotion to coincide with its celebrated biannual Broadway ticket offering, NYC Broadway Week, taking place in early 2018. Through the promotion running Jan. 15 through Feb. 5, visitors with NYC Broadway Week 2-for-1 tickets who stay at one of more than 25 participating hotels will receive a daily $25 food and beverage on-property credit – perfect to use before or after attending a Broadway show. All 26 participating hotels are centrally...
Carnival Bringing Sunshine to Charleston
Carnival Cruise Line will position a newer, larger ship to Charleston when the 3,002-passenger Carnival Sunshine kicks off a year-round schedule of four- and five-day cruises in May 2019. Carnival Sunshine provides a new vacation choice from Charleston and features one of the widest arrays of food, beverage and entertainment options within the Carnival fleet, including open-air attractions like the WaterWorks aqua park and SportSquare recreation area, a three-deck-high adults-only retreat featuring a waterfall and adjoining pool, several specialty restaurants and more than 550...
Tahiti Welcomes The World At TTE
The Tahiti Travel Exchange (TTE) took place last week at the Tahiti Pearl Island Resort, with over 120 travel agents, suppliers and tour operators taking part, reports PressToday's James Donald who attended the event. Some 30 suppliers – including the likes of Air Tahiti Nui, Sofitel Hotels and Paul Gauguin Cruises – were on hand for the Exchange, and moved from table to table offering agents nine minute presentations on their products and services. And it was certainly a popular format with the agents that we travelled with on our FAM trip. Before the roundtable presentations...
European Waterways Brings Back Italy Opera Cruise
European Waterways is bringing back its popular Opera Cruise for guests who book the seven-night, Aug. 26, 2018 departure of its La Bella Vita hotel barge, the largest vessel in the company’s fleet with capacity for up to 20 guests. In addition to a cruise on the Po Valley in Venice, the Opera Cruise includes a stay in a four-star hotel on the night prior to the cruise, extra dinner, and premium seats to watch Georges Bizet’s “Carmen” in the Arena di Verona, a Roman amphitheatre renowned for staging some of the most lavish, large-scale productions in the world. Opera cruise...
Trafalgar Unveils Italy 2018
Trafalgar has launched its 2018 Italy program featuring 17 itineraries ranging from seven to 17 days and including Sicily and a four-day Aegean cruise option on the Best of Italy and Greece excursion. In celebration of the new Italy program, Trafalgar is offering travellers a 10% Early Payment Discount. “Italy is the number one European destination for our Canadian guests who simply fall under the spell of la dolce vita and every year we continue to innovate and further enhance our program with a myriad of authentic experiences,” said Wolf Paunic, president of Trafalgar Canada....