Destinations
Sheraton Waikiki Unveils ‘Sand-sational’ Holiday Displays
After 250 hours over 15 days and 32 tons of sand, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas around the Sheraton Waikiki. Sandsational Sand Sculpting, a company based in Melbourne, Fla., has put the finishing touches on the second of two holiday sculptures at the hotel. The first one, completed on Nov. 9 using eight tons of sand, is titled “Santa’s Serenade,” and features Santa Claus playing the ukulele and singing to Mrs. Claus in the hotel’s main lobby. The second sculpture in the Sheraton Waikiki Porte Cochere titled “Santa’s Selfie,” was completed on Nov. 18 and...
Opening Up Possibilities
Czech Tourism's director for North America is floating the possibility of a reopened tourist board office in this country, saying he believes interest in this country in the Czech Republic justifies a re-established presence, reports Ian Stalker in this week's digital edition of Canadian Travel Press. Jiri Duzar notes the Czech Republic had a Toronto-based office but it was closed several years ago, a move he attributes to a wish by tourism authorities to reallocate finances to particularly promising markets. Duzar now handles Canadian promotions from his New York office. But Duzar...
On The Road At Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos
A year after being laid low by Hurricane Odile, a “re-imagined” Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos officially reopened last night (Nov. 19) with close to 1,200 guests, most from the trade and including a significant Canadian contingent, on hand for the gala ceremony and party, reports PressToday's Mike Baginski from Los Cabos. The Sea of Cortez-fronting resort on the outskirts of San Jose del Cabo boasts 591 rooms, every one of which was “touched” in the renovation necessitated by the massive 2014 hurricane that devastated the entire Cabo district. While obviously not desirable, the...
Scenic Launches Mekong River Cruise Program
Scenic is expanding its geographic offerings into the heart of South East Asia with eight new itineraries exploring the culturally rich Mekong River destinations of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. Along the delta between Ho Chi Minh City and Siem Reap, guests will see floating canal villages, verdant paddy fields and picturesque islands, as well as the 12th-century Angkor Wat and World Heritage cities of Luang Prabang and Hoi An. In Myanmar, the imprint of colonial legacies is revealed in iconic temples, Buddhist art and the gold- and diamond-encrusted Shwedagon Pagoda. To...
AskMeWeddings Introduces Agent Specialist Program
AskMeWeddings has launched the Proactive Honeymoons & Destination Weddings Specialist Program (AskMePhD), a special business development course for travel agents who are currently booking destination weddings and honeymoons and want to increase revenues. The 12-month program includes quarterly strategy sessions, round table meetings, as well as sharing tips, tools and techniques to ensure a complete business path. The program starts in January and is $250 per agent. To apply or to learn more about the benefits and features, e-mail [email protected] or call...
Spotlight on Arizona
Blessing McAnlis-Vasquez' employer correctly bet that there's no shortage of people wanting to bet. McAnlis-Vasquez is marketing manager for Arizona's Talking Stick, which bills itself as a cultural and entertainment destination found on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian reservation, which in turn is in a location that provides quick access to urban life. And among the Talking Stick's tourist attributes is Talking Stick Resort, a 496-room, 15-floor retreat that features casino gambling all day and night, every day and night, she said during a Wednesday Arizona gathering in...
Topdeck Moves Into Asia
Topdeck Travel, which specializes in trips for 18- to 30-somethings, is expanding its global reach with the launch of 11 new trips in Asia. The program adds a new continent to the tour operator's current mix of destinations, spanning Europe, Australia & New Zealand, North America, Egypt & the Middle East and Africa. Trips feature smaller group sizes and local guides for an authentic Asian experience. Topdeck’s global brand director, Sarah Clark, said the decision to move into Asia was part of a bigger growth plan to meet the demands of the youth travel market. “The...
Air Canada Unveils Major US Expansion
Air Canada has unveiled new non-stop services between four key Canadian hubs and 12 US cities beginning in the summer of 2016. The new transborder routes will introduce new destinations that will include Toronto-Washington-Dulles; Toronto-Salt Lake City and Vancouver-San Jose, and will also create new city-pair routings, like Vancouver-Chicago, Montreal-Houston, Montreal-Denver, Montreal-Philadelphia and Calgary-San Francisco. The carrier's president, passenger airlines, Benjamin Smith observed, “Air Canada is the foreign carrier operating the most flights to the US, carrying the...