Pointing out the important role that the tourism industry plays in stimulating economic growth and in creating jobs, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is urging European Union (EU) finance ministers to avoid making "unproductive knee-jerk tax hikes at a time of austerity." In a letter to all 27 EU finance ministers, WTTC chairman, Dr Michael Frenzel reminded them that travel and tourism is a key generator of employment across the European Union directly generating 10 million jobs across Europe, substantially more than the automotive manufacturing (3.2 million), mining (3.6 million)...
Sunwing's new Sunwing Selection program has launched a "Steal of a Deal,"offering travellers "the best value vacation package at an all-inclusive four-star resort."Savings of up to $800 per couple can be obtained by letting Sunwing choose the hotel from its selection of all-inclusive four-star or higher beach resorts. Travellers only need to choose from one of the destinations offered in the promotion (Riviera Maya, Varadero, Punta Cana, or Jamaica), specify a departure date and duration, then leave the rest up to Sunwing. They will be accommodated at one of the operator's most popular...
Air Canada Vacations (ADV) has enhanced its reservation system with the goal of helping agents save time and get needed information faster and easier. According to officials, finding ACV products is now quicker than ever with the addition of a few useful search filters, searchable by keyword, that include hotel name, room category, meal plan and sort by price functionalities -- now available via REVNET (blue screen). "We wanted to make it easier for our partners who use REVNET. They now have a more flexible tool to search, filter and sort our product. These changes make it easier than ever to...
Insight Vacations' new 2013-2014 USA & Canada brochure offers a wide range of premium and luxury itineraries that include a range of new inclusions and upgrades. Now, for a limited time, Insight is offering $400 in savings per couple on their 2013 USA & Canada trips. Cris David, president of Insight Vacations, said,"We are pleased to provide options that leave behind the big cities and delve into the immense natural beauty and diverse wildlife that exists in the USA, offered at a more leisurely pace." He pointed out that "We encourage travellers to discover their own backyard, and we're...
Merit Travel Group is partnering with social enterprise, Me to We -- becoming the exclusive travel partner of Me to We Trips for Adult and Family Volunteer Adventures in Kenya, as well as the exclusive retail partner for Group Trips with university students to all Me to We destinations. Michael Merrithew, chairman and CEO of Merit Travel Group Inc, explained that: "Travelling with a purpose is an exciting trend in our industry and Merit strongly believes that the truly unique adventures and culture immersions provided by Me to We Trips will allow our clients to experience overseas travel in...
Trafalgar Tours has been voted "favourite"motorcoach operator in the 2012 Agents' Choice Awards survey of Canadian travel agents. Shown here receiving the award is Trafalgar Canada president Doug Patterson. The survey was conducted earlier this year by Baxter Travel Media in Canadian Travel Press, Travel Courier and TravelPress.com. It is the 11th straight year for Trafalgar. For more winners and awards, click on the icon at https://www.travelpress.com...
Transat is redefining its commission program for travel agencies by offering commission on fuel surcharge and service fees for Transat Holidays and Nolitours package bookings, giving travel agents more compensation on each package they sell. As of Sept. 1, agents booking Sun, Florida or Europe vacation packages for departures as of Nov. 1 onwards will not only earn commission on the package base price, but on fuel surcharge and service fees as well. "This is one more initiative that demonstrates Transat's commitment to its travel agent partners,"says Denise Heffron, vice-president, National...
CarTrawler, has launched an open source version of its global car rental platform for Facebook. The CarTrawler car rental booking engine connects some of the world's top travel brands with over 879 car rental agents at 30,000 city and airport locations across 174 countries. The same advanced technology has now been packaged into a Facebook app, the source code of which can be downloaded free of charge from http://www.cartrawler.com. CarTrawler has already released of an open source car rental app for iPhone and the world's first mapping of car rental search results. The tools were designed to...
WestJet is adding four new sun destinations and extend two more from seasonal to year-round as part of its 2012-2013 winter schedule. In the Caribbean, WestJet is adding Antigua & Barbuda, Curacao and Costa Rica -- all from Toronto Pearson International Airport. The carrier's newest Mexican destination is Manzanillo, via Calgary International Airport. John MacLeod, WestJet's vice-president, alliances, strategy and chief network officer, said that: "The addition of these new sun destinations as part of our 2012-2013 winter schedule demonstrates our ongoing strategic focus on expanding our...
Kumuka Worldwide Inc has ceased trading. The company informed its customers and the travel trade in an announcement on its web site that any tours scheduled after July 22, 2012 would not operate and that travellers booked on trips after this date would need to re-book with another operator. In Ontario, Kumuka Worldwide Inc is located in Mississauga, Ontario and in an advisory on the TICO web site, it is indicated that the company voluntarily terminated its Ontario Travel Industry Act, 2002 registration to do business as a travel retailer and as a travel wholesaler in Ontario effective July...