Tour Operators
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...
Community Tourism A Priority For Canadians: Survey
What are Canadians looking for from their next vacations? Making a difference, immersing themselves in culture and ensuring their travel benefits local people in the destinations. G Adventures recently surveyed 3,338 travellers, over 1,000 of whom were Canadian, to find out why they want to head out into the world again, what is most important to them when they do, and how they will change their travel behaviours to have a more positive impact on the planet and its people. When asked the main reason why they wanted to travel again, the top answer from travellers was to immerse...
Quebec Premier Calls For Non-Essential Travel Ban
Quebec Premier François Legault is calling on the federal government to ban non-essential international travel. The Premier indicated that he wants to avoid reliving the situation linked to the March 2020 March break, which could have disastrous consequences for the provinces health system. While Premier Legault said that it's understandable that some people have to travel for humanitarian reasons, he also made it clear that there is no reason to buy all-inclusive packages in the South as new, more contagious strains of coronavirus emerge. pretty much everywhere in the...
COVID PCR Testing Partnerships Offered In Canada
UK-based Chronomics, Ltd. has launched an ‘industry-first program’ to assist traveller safety and support the ongoing viability of the travel trade through the introduction of commercial partnerships for wholesale and retail partners engaged in the sale of its innovative, UK government-authorized COVID-19 PCR tests for travellers arriving in and departing from the United Kingdom. Dr. Tom Stubbs, CEO of Chronomics, said that: “In our efforts working with government on opening up travel responsibly, we very quickly realized that the travel trade is an integral part of helping...
Looking On The Bright Side
After a tumultuous start to the New Year, Travel Courier chats with the Association of Canadian Independent Travel Advisors (ACITA), TravelBrands and G Adventures about how they’re navigating past the challenges to take advantage of the opportunities that this year brings. Although government restrictions are the biggest hurdle to overcome in the short term, Nathalie Tanious, COO of TravelBrands, firmly believes there are still opportunities to take advantage of during this challenging time. “While people are discouraged from travelling abroad, we need to shift their mindset and...
Transat Clarifies Proposal Situation
Citing recent media and analyst reports that state that on Dec. 22, 2020, Pierre Karl Péladeau made a proposal to acquire the shares of Transat A.T. Inc. ("Transat" or the "Corporation") that would remain open for a period of 24 hours in the event of a rejection of the arrangement with Air Canada by regulatory authorities, Transat is clarifying the situation for shareholders and other stakeholders. Transat says that these reports may mislead some investors into believing that there is an offer from Pierre Karl Péladeau's investment firm, Gestion MTRHP Inc. ("MTRHP"), at $6.00 per...