Destinations
Air Canada to Launch Montreal-Shanghai Flights
Air Canada has announced the introduction of daily year-round flights from Montreal to Shanghai, China beginning Feb. 16, 2017, marking the airline's first direct service to China from Montreal, as well as the introduction of Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft on flights departing from Montreal. Tickets will be available for purchase on Sept. 28. “Building on Air Canada's success in the rapidly growing Chinese market we are delighted to announce Air Canada's first direct flights between Montreal and China with the launch of Montreal-Shanghai service next year,” said Air Canada...
Kazakhstan Set To Welcome The World
The Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan is getting ready to welcome the world as its hosts Expo 2017 (Future Energy) from June 10 to Sept. 10 of next year. For those unfamiliar with Kazakhstan, it is the ninth largest country in the world (about the size of Ontario and Quebec) with a population of 17 million – bordered by Russia to the north and China to the east. Rapil Zhoshybayev, commissioner of Expo 2017, was in Toronto yesterday (Sept. 21) to promote the upcoming World Expo, which is expected to attract around five million visitors. The big news for Canadians is that starting...
Tauck Expands Small Departures Portfolio
Small group departures are proving popular with travellers and Tauck has announced it will offer 415 of them on 60 different itineraries in 2017, providing a multitude of choices for travellers looking to combine the ease and convenience of guided travel with a small group experience. Tauck has seen strong growth in its small group departures over recent years and has responded by doubling its overall capacity in the category since 2011. For 2017, Tauck will offer small group departures on tours throughout Europe, North America, Central America, South America, Asia, the Middle East...
Drinking Up The Wonders Of Germany
Travellers have long flocked to Germany for Oktoberfest – in fact some 6 million guests attend the annual event now in its 183rd year – but the German beer scene extends far beyond the Munich-based festivities, reports Ann Ruppenstein in this week's digital edition of Travel Courier. The country is home to over 1,300 breweries and 5,500 different beers, and this year celebrates the 500th anniversary of the Beer Purity Law. Reinheitsgebot, as it is known in German, is said to be the world's oldest enforced food regulation, limiting beer ingredients to malt, hops, water and...
Turkey Open For Business and Welcoming Visitors
The woman overseeing Turkish tourism efforts in this country is insisting that those visiting her homeland can have a worry-free – and safe – holiday in her homeland. Derya Serbetci Acar said during a Sept. 20 Toronto gathering that this year's failed coup briefly disrupted tourism-related services, but all are now running normally. And she said those who visit traditionally popular tourism sites shouldn't be concerned about their security, with any anti-government violence generally targeting security forces in less-visited locales. Security measures have been heightened...
Germany Gears Up for Christmas Market Season
“It may be difficult to imagine as we look outside and the sun is shining, but Christmas is coming and the Christmas markets in Germany open in two months,” Juliane Ehrich, manager public relations, for the German National Tourist Office in Canada said yesterday (Sept. 19) at a travel trade event in Toronto. Despite the challenges facing travel to Europe this year, she says inbound tourism figures for Germany are recovering and the German National Tourist Board expects Canadian arrivals to break even with the 2015 numbers. In addition to providing fun facts about the festive...
Spotlight on Vienna
Vienna is alive with the sound of music. The city has a rich musical legacy that Elke Bachner of the Vienna Tourist Board says will be quickly evident to visitors. “There's always music in Vienna,” she told a Sept. 16 Toronto gathering. “Every night 10,000 people are listening to classical music in Vienna.” Next year marks the 150th anniversary of the famed Blue Danube Waltz, with visitors able to “waltz away the night in Vienna,” Bachner continued. Visitors can take an hour-long “crash course” on how to waltz, with ongoing balls featuring women wearing evening...
Sail On With Intrepid
Intrepid Travel has launched two sailing expeditions that will offer Canadian travellers the chance to experience familiar destinations in a different way. The tours, one in the Florida Keys and the other in the Bahamas, will begin departures in early 2017. The seven-day Florida Key West & Dry Tortugas Sailing Expedition will start March 5, 2017, at $2,282 p.p. and venture to one of the most remote national parks in the United States, Dry Tortugas. The expeditionary nature of the tour means no two departures will be the same; however, white-sand beaches, coral reefs and palm trees are...