Tour Operators
TIABC Seeking $680 Million Recovery Stimulus Package
The Tourism Industry Association of British Columbia, along with a coalition of dozens of sector associations representing British Columbia’s more than 19,000 tourism and hospitality businesses, have presented the provincial government with a recovery stimulus proposal that would see the government allocate $680 million from its $1.5 billion recovery package as an initial investment to help mitigate the unprecedented impacts of COVID-19 on the B.C. visitor economy and its workforce. TIABC points out in its request that in 2018 (latest statistics available), the tourism and...
ACV Launches ePackages With Free Checked Bags
Air Canada Vacations has launched a new tool designed to provide travel agents with the ability to easily book flight and hotel packages for their customers. With flexible booking options for customers and the lowest available fares, the new user-friendly ePackages shopping tool allows travel agents to search for flight and hotel options across Air Canada’s extensive route network including Canada, the United States, and Europe. The shopping tool also provides travel agents with cabin upgrade and itinerary options. And to celebrate the launch of the ePackages tool, the tour...
Transat Relaxes FTC Policy
Transat has announced that effective immediately, future travel credits are now transferable and have no expiry date. The move is designed to offer greater flexibility to customers whose bookings have been cancelled due to COVID-19 or who cancelled their trips as part of Transat’s flexibility policy. Now Transat is relaxing the terms around the use of the future travel credits (FTCs) issued as a result and those FTCs are now fully transferable, with no expiry date. As before, any residual credit will remain on file. This new flexible policy applies to flights, packages and...
A Message from Jean-Marc Eustache To Travel Agencies
Dear Travel Consultant, July 23 is, and will remain, a very special day in Transat’s history. Tonight, after four months of inactivity, we are making our first three international commercial flights — Montreal-Toulouse, Montreal-Paris and Toronto-London — in addition to our three domestic flights — Montreal-Toronto, Toronto-Montreal and Toronto-Vancouver. These first departures will certainly be a very emotional moment for the entire Transat team, for me especially. Our entire reduced summer program, which includes 24 routes to some 20 destinations, will be up and running...
Curaçao Is Calling
On July 1, Canada joined the list of select markets like Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, and The Netherlands to get the green light to visit the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao. Ahead of reopening to international travel, the destination introduced new hospitality protocols called “A Dushi Stay the Healthy Way.” In the first 12 days since the borders reopened, close to 3,000 stayover visitors headed to the colourful ABC island, mainly from Western Europe and the Caribbean region. “We’ve put certain prerequisites in. We are approaching this in a very methodical, gradual...
Europe Ready To Welcome Canadians
Not surprisingly, the European Travel Commission’s (ETC) latest quarterly report -- European Tourism Trends and Prospects – reveals that during the first four months of the year, Europe saw a dramatic 44% decline in international tourist arrivals compared to the same period in 2019. It was a decrease that was in line with global performance, with eight out of 16 destinations reporting that arrivals to April/May registered falls in excess of 50%. Ahead of the summer season, tourism businesses are resuming activities and destinations across Europe are gradually re-opening their...
Jamaica Pays Tribute To Jim Proctor
Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, the honourable Edmund Bartlett paid tribute to Air Canada Vacation’s long-time product director, Jim Proctor. The Ministry of Tourism and its agencies were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Canadian travel industry veteran Jim Proctor, who died earlier this month at the age of 72. A long-time advocate for Destination Jamaica, Jim began his career at the Vancouver Airport working in a customer service role for Pacific Western Airlines in 1970. He later went on to join Air Canada Vacations (ACV) in 1982, where he worked for 24 years until...
Transat Tours Making It Easier For Agents
Transat Tours Canada is making life easier for travel agents. In order to facilitate bookings at Transat Tours Canada with future travel credits (FTCs) issued as a result of COVID-19, agents can now book directly in Revnet or Sirev and complete a dedicated form to request that an FTC be applied to the new booking. The procedure also eliminates the need for agents to call Transat Tours Canada’s Contact Centre. This form will serve as a temporary solution until a fully automated solution is made available. The procedure is simple: make a new booking with a cheque guarantee, then...