Destinations
Family Day weekend deals at Silver Star
To celebrate Ontario’s and Saskatchewan’s Family Day weekend Feb. 14-17 this year, Silver Star Mountain Resort in south central BC is offering deep discounts on lift tickets and accommodations. Those who stay three nights and ski two days at Silver Star will receive 15% off slope side lodging and lift tickets. Also, those who present their valid Ontario/Saskatchewan driver’s license on Feb. 17 will receive 50% off the price of a lift ticket. Silver Star is amongst 24 BC resorts that are participating in the lift ticket promotion. To book, call Silver Star Holidays and quote...
Outrigger appointment
Outrigger Enterprises Group has announced the appointment of Pam Cabrera as director of sales and marketing for the company’s condominium resort division. Cabrera was most recently general manager of the Outrigger Luana Waikiki. In her new position, Cabrera will provide leadership and co-ordination to the Outrigger condominium resort team working closely with island-level management, individual property teams and corporate marketing and sales resources in the development and implementation of new plans and programs to grow revenue and achieve goals for the division. Cabrera...
Houston adds to hotel portfolio
Houston, Texas is getting a second convention hotel, with construction of a 1,000-room Marriott Marquis set for this year with a scheduled completion date of mid-2016. The estimated US$335 million hotel will be connected to the north side of George R. Brown Convention Center, opposite the 1,200-room Hilton Americas-Houston. In addition, five other hotel properties will be added in Houston by 2016, all near the convention centre. These include JW Marriott (323 rooms, opening this spring); Hampton Inn/Homewood Suites (300 rooms, opening September 2015); Hyatt Place (261 rooms, opening...
2013 new all-time high for tourism to Israel
More than 3.5 million visitors from around the world arrived in Israel in 2013, a new all-time high in travel to Israel, says Haim Gutin, Israel Commissioner for Tourism, North and South America. The US is the number one source of tourism to Israel (20% of tourists to Israel come from North America), followed by Russia, France, Germany and the U.K. Tourists from Canada continue to meet or exceed targeted projections with record breaking months throughout 2013. “It is an unheard of phenomenon that any country’s largest and highest-spending source of tourism comes from 6,000 plus...
Get the goods on Costa Rica Jan. 21
Connection Tours and Jaco VIP will host a free webinar on Jan. 21 (12 noon EST) to demonstrate the ultimate travel experience for your client to the exotic, yet easily accessible, destination of Costa Rica. To register, visit http://promo.baxter.net/contest/webinars/Connection_CostaRica.asp . For an individual or group, of any age, interest or length of stay, Costa Rica has unique travel experiences to offer. Corporate incentive, family vacation, adventure, solo, romantic getaway or weddings… join the live broadcast on Jaco Beach with Connection Tours and Jaco VIP to discover how...
Working together to promote the Caribbean
Delegates to a the Caribbean Hotels and Tourism Association conference in Montego Bay have been urged to work together for the common good. “Help us help each other,” association head Richard Doumeng (pictured) said. But Doumeng also praised the Caribbean as a “tough cookie” and said the region remains one of “the most desirable places on the planet to come to." He later said that those in the Caribbean’s tourist trade have to realize that “we’re not competing against each other anymore. We are competing against the rest of the world... We are stronger together as a...
Get social with Tobago
Tourism Tobago has come up with a unique initiative for the Canadian market that will see it using social media to raise awareness of the innumerable attractions that the southern Caribbean island offers to its visitors. That initiative sees Tobago launching a competition that will see one lucky Canadian becoming Tobago’s Island Connoisseur and spending 60 days in paradise experiencing all the island has to offer and using social media to tell Canadians all about the experience. The program kicked off this week and potential Island Connoisseurs will need to put together a short...
Aston opens new luxury penthouse suite
Aston Hotels & Resorts is unveiling one of the most luxurious accommodations in Waikiki, offering sweeping unobstructed ocean views from near the top of the Aston Waikiki Beachside Hotel, conveniently located across the street from Waikiki Beach in the heart of world-class shopping, nightlife, restaurants and attractions. This fully renovated penthouse suite encompasses the 11th floor of the hotel, offering floor-to-ceiling windows and a private 160-square-foot lanai to take in the Pacific Ocean and world-famous Waikiki Beach below. With a top-of-the-line gourmet kitchen,...