Tour Operators
TreadRight Partners With Rainbow Railroad
The Travel Corporation’s (TTC) non-profit foundation, TreadRight, is partnering with Rainbow Railroad -- an international non-profit based in Canada and the United States that’s dedicated to bringing LGBTQI+ individuals around the world to safety. In approximately 70 countries, LGBTQI+ people face violence and oppression simply because of who they love and who they are. Rainbow Railroad’s core program provides Emergency Travel Support to help LGBTQI+ individuals who live in significant risk find a pathway to safety in a new country where they can live free of persecution. In...
Wolf Says Good-Bye
Well known industry veteran, Wolf Paunic is leaving Trafalgar and as he does he has a message for his friends and colleagues in the industry. Paunic writes: “I am proud to announce that my 12 year-long stint with Trafalgar ended on March the 3. The time has come to close the book and express my love, gratitude and respect to many immediate and extended families who accompanied me on this amazing journey: First and foremost – my own family: kids wonderingly accepted the fact that Dad must go to a Caribbean Island for a week of work with huge groups of friends and business...
Travel Corporation Launches TTC Tour Brands
The Travel Corporation (TTC) is rolling out a global reorganization of its tour brands including Trafalgar, Insight Vacations, Luxury Gold, Costsaver, Contiki, Brendan Vacations, and Adventure World Travel under a new division, TTC Tour Brands. TTC Tour Brands will serve as a single source for sales, marketing and operations of the individual brands, whose identities and points of differentiation will be retained. The new entity will be led by Gavin Tollman who becomes CEO of the newly created division along with veteran TTC executives Ulla Hefel Böhler, who steps into the role of...
Poon Tip Says Thanks To Sabre
“Thank you, Sabre, for removing Aeroflot and supporting meaningful change,” G Adventures’ founder, Bruce Poon Tip said in a statement. “The power to have the most dramatic impact in travel right now lies in the hands of one company, and yesterday they stepped up and did the right thing. That company is Sabre, the reservations system for Russia’s national carrier, Aeroflot. Without Sabre, Aeroflot is unable to issue tickets, which will cause mass disruption for domestic travel in Russia,” Poon Tip said. He continued: “All across the travel industry, businesses are...
Collette Drops Tours, Business Interests In Russia
Collette has made the decision to cease operating tours in Russia and to withdraw from all other business interests in Russia in support of freedom and a peaceful resolution. The company said in a statement that: “At this time, we are dealing with a conflict that is isolated in nature, and distant from the parts of Europe where the majority of our European tours operate. We do not expect any significant impact on tour operations in 2022.” Jaclyn Leibl-Cote, president of Collette, said: “Our thoughts are with the people of Ukraine and we stand with them in support of freedom,...
Intrepid Foundation Launches Ukraine Crisis Appeal
The Intrepid Foundation has announced its support to the Australian Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Appeal to provide emergency relief for communities affected by the crisis in Ukraine. Intrepid’s not-for-profit organization has provided an upfront $50,000 donation towards the appeal. At least 1,000,000 people have been forced to flee from their homes and these numbers are expected to grow significantly in coming days and weeks. Many people who remain in Ukraine do not access to water, electricity and are seeking emergency shelter. This is an urgent humanitarian crisis. Red Cross...
WestJet Group, Sunwing Chart A New Course
Sunwing’s president of tour operations had a message for the Canadian travel trade following yesterday’s (March 2) announcement that the WestJet Group was acquiring Sunwing Vacations and Sunwing Airlines and would be joining forces to create a new tour operating business. Dawson writes: “We are excited to announce an agreement under which the WestJet Group will acquire Sunwing Vacations (inclusive of SellOffVacations and Vacation Express) and Sunwing Airlines to create a new, combined tour operating business which will be led by Sunwing’s CEO Stephen Hunter. As part of the...
I Stand With Ukraine
Editor’s Note: In a powerful commentary, Bruce Poon Tip makes it clear where he stands on Ukraine, observing that: “Travel is the most powerful way we can open our hearts, minds and eyes to the beauty of the world, especially in the darkest of times” and he urges everyone to stand together for peace. Poon Tip writes: “It’s as though we’ve learned nothing in the past 75 years -- I would have hoped we had learned from our collective experience. The past two years we have been living through a global pandemic that has caused physical separation for millions around the...