Destinations
Porter Tees Off Myrtle Beach Season
Porter Airlines has launched its annual winter/spring service to Myrtle Beach, the family friendly beach destination and haven for golfers. Flight frequency during the season is as follows: through Feb. 28, twice weekly; March 1-15, five times weekly; March 16-22, daily during March Break; March 23 to April 26, five times weekly; April 27 to May 18, twice weekly. Porter Escapes (http://www.porterescapes.com) has vacation packages available featuring such resorts as Sonesta ES Suites, Island Vista Oceanfront Resort, Hilton Myrtle Beach, Courtyard Myrtle Beach Broadway, Kingston...
Air Transat Expands European Portfolio
Air Transat has introduced new destinations from Vancouver, Quebec City and Halifax, giving travellers more access and flight frequencies in Europe, thanks to new flights connecting in Montreal from Quebec City and Halifax, and in Toronto from Vancouver. Residents of Western Canada can add Dublin, Rome and Barcelona to their vacation options by connecting in Toronto. From Quebec City, additional destinations including Rome, Brussels and Bordeaux will be available when connecting in Montreal. From Halifax, this wider offering includes Rome, Brussels and Paris via domestic flight to...
Caribbean Sees Record Tourist Arrivals, Earnings
The Caribbean welcomed a record 26.3 million tourists in 2014, a 5.3% rise over the previous year, resulting in expenditures of US$29.2 billion, also a new record for the region. The chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), Richard Sealy, and secretary general, Hugh Riley, along with the CTO’s director of research, Winfield Griffith, announced the record performance at a news conference streamed live to a global audience from the CTO headquarters yesterday. “Last year, we received more visitors than ever before – recording our fifth straight year of growth as a...
SkyGreece Goes Year-Round Toronto-Budapest
SkyGreece will launch two weekly flights, non-stop from Toronto to Budapest starting May 20 and will continue its service bi-weekly all year long. “I had the pleasure to meet the Budapest International Airport on numerous occasions in the last few years and the numbers they provided during our latest discussions clearly demonstrated that SkyGreece should be the first international carrier to offer direct, non-stop, yearly service between Canada and Hungary,” said Denis Codere, deputy chief commercial officer of SkyGreece Airlines. “We definitely received a warm welcome from the...
Hawaii’s National Parks Recognized
Significant parks and sites in the state of Hawaii, as designated by the National Park Service (NPS), were recently recognized by the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) for their role in generating tourism. “The National Park Service overseas eight parks and sites throughout the Hawaiian Islands, which welcomed nearly five million visitors and generated US$312-million in economic benefits to the state last year,” said Mike McCartney, president and CEO of the HTA. “They not only help to preserve the natural beauty of the destination, but help to perpetuate and promote the people,...
Ultimate Destinations
America’s two largest cities posted bi-coastal record-breaking visitor numbers last year, with New York snagging top honours by beating out Los Angeles by a whopping 13 million arrivals, reports Montreal editor, Mike Dunbar in this week's digital edition of Travel Courier. The all-time record for New York was announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio and now stands at 56.4 million. The mayor stated, ``Our excellent quality of life, low levels of crime and constant dynamism continue to attract record tourism each year and 2014 was no exception. According to NYC & Company, the city’s...
Transat Haiti Flights on GDS
Air Transat reports its regular aviation activities between Canada and Haiti, and between Haiti and Canada, are available on GDS booking systems available to travel agents. According to officials, this designation reflects the growth of Haiti’s tourism industry, which benefits from development strategies formulated by the Haitian Ministry of Tourism and the collaboration of partners like Transat and Air Transat. Considered a scheduled airline for Haiti since April 2014, Air Transat has been providing weekly service between Montreal and Port-au-Prince for over 15 years. This recent...
Record Year
It seems everything is “irie” between Canada and Jamaica as the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) reports that 2014 was a hallmark year for Canadian visitor arrivals to the destination. A record 419,898 Canadian visitors was tallied for 2014 (January to December), an increase of 5.2% over 2013. This figure is the highest number of annual Canadian visitor arrivals recorded to date. “We are thrilled to report our best year ever in terms of Canadian visitors to Jamaica,” said Philip Rose, regional director of Canada for the Jamaica Tourist Board. “It is clear that Canadians love...