Destinations
WestJet Increases Service From Calgary
WestJet has launched new non-stop service from Calgary to Huatulco, its 10th destination in Mexico, and will add new non-stop flights from Calgary to Liberia, Costa Rica, beginning Dec. 19. With these new services, WestJet will operate 109 daily departures to 47 destinations from Calgary International Airport this winter, an increase of 12% and 17% respectively over last winter. The airline now offers non-stop service from Calgary to 26 Canadian, 10 US and 11 international...
WestJet Kicks Off Toronto-Merida Service
WestJet today begins its weekly service from Toronto to the Yucatan Peninsula city of Merida, which becomes only the second interior Mexican city to see direct air service from this country. The weekly service will run through winter and Dave Cecco, director, product, at WestJet Vacations, told a Monday audience in Toronto that the route's apparent popularity has already necessitated switching from a plane capable of carrying 130 passengers to one able to carry 168. WestJet Vacations is offering the all-inclusive Reef Club on the Beach, found on the nearby Gulf of Mexico, but Cecco...
Manhunt Underway at The Mob Museum
A manhunt is underway for the one-millionth visitor to The Mob Museum, The National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, in Las Vegas. No details are yet available about the suspect, who is expected to remain at large until sometime shortly after 11 a.m. today (Dec. 15). Immediately upon arrival at the Museum, the one-millionth visitor will be identified and receive a surprise welcome with classic, Las Vegas-style fanfare, including balloons, a confetti launch, showgirls and a Champagne toast. Founding Museum board member and visionary behind the Museum’s creation, Oscar...
Three in Four Still Travelling Despite Safety Concerns
Most travellers (73%) have not changed their vacation plans in the past year despite concerns about local safety, security or health, according to a recent survey conducted by Travelzoo. The international study, entitled “How Global Voices Shape Travel Choices: The Impact of Consumer Apprehension on Travel Intention,” was done in October in co-operation with the Chief Marketing Officer Council’s GeoBranding Centre and AIG Travel. It also revealed that 95% of respondents consider how world events will impact their safety before making travel plans. Other interesting findings...
A New Link
More than just Irish eyes were smiling at a recent Air Canada event at YVR airport to celebrate the announcement of new summertime flights between Dublin and Vancouver. Travel retailers of all stripes were part of the invitation-only reception on the departures level of the airport’s US/International terminal. They raised a glass to mark the new service, which will start flying early next June. The non-stop Vancouver-Dublin flights will operate three times weekly on Air Canada rouge, on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The schedule will kick off June 10, 2016 using Boeing...
WestJet Expands Services from Toronto Pearson
WestJet is launching new non-stop services from Toronto Pearson to six destinations, flights that kicked off Friday (Dec. 11) with new twice-weekly service to West Palm Beach. Other new non-stop destinations include Huatulco, Merida and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, San Jose, Costa Rica and Sarasota, Florida. WestJet will operate 92 daily departures to 59 destinations from Toronto Pearson this winter, an increase of 7% and 13%, respectively, compared to last winter. WestJet's 2015 winter schedule also contains a number of new non-stop routes including Vancouver, Kitchener-Waterloo and...
Up For The Challenge
Canada’s newly-minted small business and tourism minister recently received an enthusiastic round of applause from the nation’s top tourism marketers and receptive companies when she announced that, in concert with her cabinet immigration colleague, she will reinstate visa-free travel for Mexican visitors, reports Montreal editor, Mike Dunbar in this week's digital edition of Canadian Travel Press. The Mexican short-stay market had been decimated by the previous Tory administration’s requirement that tourists obtain visas to land here. Minister Bardish Chagger made the...
Out and About With Fairmont
At the Fairmont Orchid Hawaii resort, guests are invited to explore Hawaii history as members of the Hui Holokai Beach Club Program offer walking sticks and guided tours of the same lava footpaths travelled by early Hawaiians. They share the stories, lore and history of Kalahuipuaa ("the gathering place"), which is now home to Mauna Lani Resort. Highlights include visits to early Hawaiian lava cave dwellings, petroglyphs (lava etchings) and sacred ahu (shrines). The guided hikes also take guests to inland fishponds that were once reserved for alii (royalty), along oceanfront...