Tour Operators
Ontario Makes Testing Mandatory
Ontario is making testing mandatory for all incoming international travellers, implementing six-point plan to battle COVID-19 variants. Ontario Premier Doug Ford unveiled the plan following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s announcement of strict new measures that will essentially shutdown the country’s travel industry until the end of April. Premier Ford said: “We welcome the new measures announced by the federal government today, but we need a stop gap to prevent new cases, including variant cases, from arriving in Ontario until those measures are fully in place.” And the...
Canada’s Carriers Agree To Suspend Sun Flights
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced this morning that Canada’s four major airlines – Air Canada, WestJet, Sunwing and Transat – are “stepping up” and have agreed to suspend service to sun destinations immediately. The suspension covers the period of Jan. 31 to April 30. The Prime Minister also confirmed that there will be additional measures implemented that will include an additional compulsory COVID-19 PCR test for passengers arriving in Canada and they will be required to wait for those test results for a minimum of three days in Health Canada-approved...
TreadRight Takes On Food Insecurity
The TreadRight Foundation has added two new partnerships to the 55-plus projects it supports through its planet, people and wildlife pillars. Green Bronx Machine in New York and Flourish Forever in Los Angeles, California, are TreadRight’s first project partners in the United States and are both dedicated to addressing issues of food insecurity in some of the country’s most underserved communities. On opposite coasts, both organizations are family-run and based on the belief that the foundation for community empowerment, equality, and resilience includes access to fresh,...
Tauck Is Back
Tauck has operated its first tour departures since the outbreak of COVID-19 last spring. The company recently completed its initial “Wonderland: Yellowstone in Winter” itineraries of the new year, with additional departures of the eight-day Montana and Wyoming national parks tour scheduled for February. In the coming months, Tauck is looking forward to restarting operations in earnest, with company CEO Dan Mahar observing that: “Tauck is a family-owned and operated company and for 96 years the safety and well-being of our guests have been our very highest...
Transat Suspends Toronto Winter Season Flights
Citing the continued travel restrictions and the numerous measures imposed by the federal government -- including the requirement to present a negative COVID-19 test and to quarantine upon return to Canada – Transat said it is suspending all flights out of Toronto for the remainder of the winter season (Jan. 28 to April 30, 2021). The company said that the restrictions have had “a significant impact on our bookings, and as a result, “we must, therefore, revise our winter flight schedule, as we have been doing since the beginning of the pandemic, based on the evolution of the...
What’s Next For The Travel Industry
Yesterday was a busy day and the travel industry was the focus of a large part of the discussions. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continued to warn Canadians against any and all non-essential travel, reinforcing that message with a warning that new travel restrictions could be announced at any time. Ontario Premier Doug Ford called for testing of all passengers on arrival in Canada and he also continued to demand a temporary ban on direct flights from countries where new variants of COVID-19 have been detected. In Manitoba, Premier Brian Pallister announced that travellers coming...
Coping With COVID-19
A new survey commissioned by Exodus Travels – and conducted by OnePoll – found that 70% of North Americans are coping with the pandemic by taking up hobbies that will enhance their future adventures. Digging into the behaviors of 2,000 self-identified travellers who have been grounded during the pandemic, the poll discovered that 79% found embracing their hobbies and travel-related activities were key to combating things like boredom, loneliness and being unable to travel due to COVID-19. In fact, 77% of respondents said that they’ve started completely new...
Transat Web Page Features Hotel Partner Test Info
In an effort to help travellers comply with the new government measure requiring proof of a negative COVID-19 test result to travel to Canada, some of Transat's hotel partners are now offering COVID-19 testing services on-site or at an external clinic. To simplify the process for travel agents and their clients, Transat has compiled a list of these hotels on its website along with details relating to the testing service (price, appointment scheduling, processing time, etc.). Furthermore, a clearly marked logo has been added to each resort’s information page. For any...