Destinations
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...
HAVE HORS DOEUVRES WILL TRAVEL
Maiku Wong's lucky night saw the travel video blogger go from tea set to jet set within a matter of minutes at a Taiwan Tourism Bureau event in Toronto last night (Sept. 15). Wong, who had won a tea set earlier in the evening, also turned out to be the grand prize winner of an instant trip to Taipei that was to depart from Pearson International Airport just six hours later aboard EVA Air. The unusual promotion advised event attendees to bring their passports and luggage with them to the downtown Toronto gallery the event was held in, with the winner to begin his or her journey via...
Air Transat Unveils 2017 Transatlantic Sked
Air Transat's 2017 transatlantic flight program will offer 27 European destinations that will be accessible to a greater number of travellers thanks to its new connecting flights. Destinations include France, the UK, Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Croatia, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium and Czech Republic. The airline is strengthening its flight program to France and the UK, where it has been present for nearly 30 years, offering direct flights several times a week to a variety of cities. Flights to Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Nice, Nantes, London, Glasgow,...
More Sunwing Sun From the ‘Peg
Sunwing Vacations will have more vacation packages departing directly from Winnipeg with the introduction of two weekly, direct flight services this winter, bringing the number of destinations offered from Winnipeg to 15. New for this coming season, customers will be able to choose between Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, and Mazatlán in Pacific Mexico. Departing Thursdays between Dec. 15 and March 30, the service to Puerto Plata will allow Winnipeg residents to reach the destination with ease. Customers that opt for Mexico’s Pacific Coast can take advantage of a weekly Friday flight...
Let’s Meet in Ireland
Meetings and incentive (MICE) travel was at the forefront of a Tourism Ireland event in Toronto Tuesday night with eight Ireland suppliers on hand to meet with meeting planners at the Four Seasons Hotel. Alison Metcalfe, executive vice-president, USA & Canada at Tourism Ireland, was on hand and noted that the MICE market is growing from Canada, with the Emerald Isle offering groups a great selection of venues, from purpose-built to castles and even a lighthouse, a good variety of accommodation options and endless unique experiences. "Our goal is to educate planners on why...