Destinations
Celebrating Travel Together
Okay, here's your trivia question for today … both Thomas Cook and Cox & Kings have been around for 100 years … can you name another? Well, if you said Collette you'd be spot on and in 2018, the Rhode Island-headquartered tour company will be pulling out all the stops as it celebrates its a hundred years in the tour operating business. Not to put too fine a point on it, but that's a long, long time. Yet as Ron Lonsdale, director of strategic partnerships – Canada for Collette, sees it, the company's longevity is due to the quality of its leadership team and the fact...
Tourism Thriving in the Dominican Republic
Heading towards the end of 2017, the Dominican Republic continues to see strong tourism numbers. According to officials, the country is thriving as a tourist destination with several resorts and a national park recently recognized in highly regarded annual award lists – Los Haitises National Park named in Lonely Planet's Top Ten Best in Travel 2018 and five DR resorts made the Condé Nast Traveler Best in World 2017. In 2017 thus far, the Dominican has welcomed an impressive 5.1 million visitors between January and October, an increase of 190,198 additional passengers, or 3.9%, in...
Canada’s Global Brand Remains Strong
O Canada. Canada’s global brand remains among the top four in the world, tying Japan for fourth place with a strong showing in the latest Anholt-GfK Nations Brand Index (NBI) study. Germany retakes the top ranking from the US, which fell to sixth place from first. France climbs to second, with the UK holding on to third place. Canada remains number one in the world for the second consecutive year in three of six categories measured in the study – People, Governance, and Immigration/Investment. The data shows: Canadians are perceived as the friendliest by respondents,...
Cowboys and Culture
EXCLUSIVE: Last week PressToday was on location in The Lone Star State with Texas Tourism and a group of Canadian tour operators to discover the areas around Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, which boasts new and increased connectivity from Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal via Air Canada. To get a feel for the western lifestyle, look no further than Fort Worth, Texas, known as the City of Cowboys and Culture. Next year the destination in North Texas celebrates 100 years of indoor rodeo, which is a popular attraction for locals and visitors alike. One of the most...
Dominica’s Fort Young Hotel Set to Reopen
After experiencing devastation in the wake of Hurricane Maria, Fort Young Hotel, Dominica’s largest hotel, is planning to reopen Jan. 15, 2018, with 41 of its 72 rooms available for booking. In addition to the 41 rooms, many of the hotel’s core amenities, including its pool, Warner’s Bar and one of its meeting facilities are expected to be operational. Guests can also enjoy many of the hotel’s on-property activities and nearby excursions, including diving, snorkeling, canyoning, fishing and hiking among others. “We’re committed to accommodating relief workers,...
Great Escapes
As Marco Sorbara, executive director, Europe for Globus Family of Brands, explains it, in the tour operating business, it's always about figuring out what's next and then how to continue to be innovative. In fact, Sorbara told a group in Toronto last week that he's spent the last couple of years doing just that and one of the more recent innovations is Globus' new Escapes program that showcases winter trips to Europe that operate from November to March. So far, Sorbara says, the response to the program has been great, but that shouldn't be surprising as Escapes features the same...
NĀRAT Hosting Ultimate Kenya Fam
NĀRAT is hosting an April 13-22, 2018 fam to Kenya. Participating agents will learn and discover destination selling highlights of Kenya's legendary Maasai Mara, home of the Big 5 and the famous Masai Tribes. In addition to other well-known locations, agents will be introduced to Amboseli National Park in the vicinity of Mt. Kilimanjaro, regarded as the best place in the world to view free ranging African elephants, and Nakuru National Park, renown in addition to its rhinoceros, as Africa's Ornithological Paradise for its plethora of African bird species including its sea...
Interjet Celebrates Canadian Service
Mexican carrier Interjet is inviting passengers travelling with it between Canada and Mexico to stretch their legs a little while airborne. This fall has seen the airline begin linking Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver with both Mexico City and Cancun, and an airline that has traditionally had a somewhat low profile in this country says it has a couple of aces up its sleeve when it comes to attracting Canadian clients, among them being able to offer them added comfort. Miguel Arana Martinez of the airline's head office told PressToday during a Wednesday Toronto gathering that...