Tour Operators
Intrepid Names New N.A. Managing Director
Intrepid has named Matt Berna as Managing Director of North America to oversee the tour operator’s Toronto headquarters and employees based throughout Canada and the U.S. The company notes that with the COVID-19 pandemic impacting international travel, it plans to expand the North American team’s remit beyond sales and marketing, focusing on increasing its operational capabilities to build more product in-house for its customers throughout the continent. Berna began his career in travel as a tour leader over 25 years ago, fully appreciating what it takes to deliver an...
BoC Could Hold Rate Until At Least 2023
According to half of the economists (47% or 7 out of 15) on Finder’s BoC Interest Rate Forecast panel, the Bank of Canada could hold the interest rate until at least 2023. A third of the panel expect the rate to hold until some point in 2023 while an additional 13% say it will hold beyond then; with Scotiabank deputy chief economist, Brett House believing the rate will remain unchanged until at least the end of 2023. Said House: “We forecast that the Bank of Canada will keep the overnight rate target on hold until the second half of 2023 owing to the magnitude of the output gap,...
ACV, Royal Irish Join CATO
Air Canada Vacations and Royal Irish Tours (RIT) have joined the Canadian Association of Tour Operators (CATO). The announcement comes as CATO continues to work to rebuild the travel industry; advocating and lobbying for the elimination of travel restrictions. CATO chair, Brett Walker commented: “The more members, the greater the influence and the better the chances we’ll see a recovery sooner rather than later. Successful lobbying by CATO and others has achieved its first milestone – essential aid. Now we must double-down and work even harder on recovery efforts.” To...
Cruising With TravelBrands’ $0 Deposit Offer
TravelBrands is offering a $0 deposit when booking a cruise vacation until six months prior to sailing. This exclusive offer lasts until Nov. 30, 2020 and is applicable on new individual bookings at least six months prior to departure. The TravelBrands offer is available with Azamara, Carnival, Celebrity Cruise Line, MSC Cruises Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean International. And it’s applicable to all sailings, room categories and durations. TravelBrands Encore Cruises is a premier cruising wholesaler with over 25 years of history in the travel...
Finding A New Mission
With a storm rolling in calling for rough seas with strong nautical winds and up to six metre swells, eco-tourism operators Kevin Smith and Russell Markel knew they were racing against time to remove the lift bags filled with tons of marine debris their crew and colleagues had collected over the last five weeks off the north coast of BC. “There’s no way we can be there in those conditions and we were worried that the bags were going to be washed out to sea,” says Markel, the owner of Outer Shores Expeditions, one of five small ship tour operators that made up the Marine Debris...
Softvoyage Automates FTCs
Softvoyage has introduced a simple electronic way to redeem Future Travel Credits (FTC). Now, Sirev users can easily, safely and promptly verify their customers’ future travel credits and apply the FTC as payment method. The process is simple: 1) Log on to Sirev 2) Click “future travel credit” (also available at the payment page) 3) Enter basic details: Name Booking number Date of birth Select supplier The FTC is listed as a payment method. Partial payment can also be used. This new tool will also be available shortly to Softvoyage customers using...
Don’t Miss Tomorrow’s Sun Peaks’ Agent Webinar
Join Megan Nelson, Senior Market Development Specialist at Tourism Sun Peaks, on Thursday, October 15th at 10am (PST) for a Sun Peaks Webinar. Learn why Canada’s 2nd largest ski area is the ideal destination for your clients this winter. Whether they are skiers or snowboarders, looking to explore the outdoors through unique winter experiences or wanting to cozy up in a condo by the fire with a private hot tub, there is something for everyone. This educational session will include an overview on the destination in both winter and summer, accommodation, activities, terrain and...
A Difficult Decision
WestJet has announced that it will be indefinitely suspending operations to Moncton, Fredericton, Sydney and Charlottetown while significantly reducing service to Halifax and St. John's. The suspension eliminates more than 100 flights weekly or almost 80% of seat capacity from the Atlantic region starting Nov. 2, 2020. Ed Sims, WestJet president and CEO, explained: “It has become unviable to serve these markets and these decisions were regrettably inevitable as demand is being obliterated by the Atlantic bubble and third-party fee increases.” And Sims continued: “Since the...