Palladium Hotel Group: Offering agents a rewarding experience

Podcast with Ron Pradinuk

In this podcast, Voices of Travel host, Ron Pradinuk, explores the recent improvements and expansion of the Palladium Hotel Group. Its Grand Palladium properties have undergone upgrades to their facilities, but the properties have also taken big steps forward in the gastronomical experiences they offer to guests. While it has been an established brand for a long time, the group now...

 

The new WestJet loves where it’s going

BOB MOWAT Richard Bartrem loves where WestJet is going these days. Which is a good thing, considering that as the Calgary-based carrier’s vice-president, marketing communications, he leads the team that’s responsible for “how we’re going to start defining WestJet going forward” – a process that’s already well underway with a host of initiatives already rolled out and its new...

 

Ensemble fast forwards in the Bahamas

On the shoulders of GIANTS

ILONA KAUREMSZKY Warren Buckner, the visionary behind GIANTS, had a hunch back in the swinging sixties that it would be a good idea to create an organization to help agents like himself seal the deal. “You know we didn’t have anything like this,” the veteran travel insider who is revered as the founding father of The Ensemble Travel Group told Canadian Travel Press at this year’s...

 

WTM 2018 Report: Shift in British travellers’ booking patterns bodes well for USA

MIKE DUNBAR The Brits love to travel! So much so that the UK’s share of worldwide seating capacity on international flights last year was 6.8%. Not bad for a population of some 67 million and exactly the same share enjoyed by the United States with almost five times as many residents. But that’s not all. Relatively tiny Britain is a major contributor to the global travel economy,...

 

Mother Nature has smiled on Belize

IAN STALKER Pictured above: Belize is home to some impressive birds, such as toucans. You too can see a toucan in Belize. The ecology-minded country has protected more than 40% of its terrain from development, and that in turn has provided a shelter for a host of exotic birds such as toucans, says Deborah Gilharry of the Belize Tourism Board, the logo of which actually has a toucan on...

 

Curaҫao is a painter’s paradise

IAN STALKER Pictured above: Curacao’s capital of Willemstad has distinctive Dutch architecture. CuraÇao can be picture perfect for people wanting to brush up on their art skills. The CuraÇao Tourist Board held a recent event in Toronto overseen by prominent Curacao artist Garrick Marchena, whose island has long-established ties to Holland, which produced such household names in art...

 

Cuba is accommodating visitors with a new flair

IAN STALKER Pictured above: On hand for a Cuba Tourist Board event in Toronto were Ernesto Manzanares of the Faro Luna Diving Center in Cienfuegos; two salsa dancers; and Eloy Govea of the tourist board’s Toronto office. Canadians planning to flee to Cuba in the coming months to escape Old Man Winter’s icy grip will arrive in a Caribbean country home to a number of enhancements to...

 

The TreadRight Foundation: Driven to make travel better

BOB MOWAT Pictured above: Posing at TreadRight’s 10th anniversary celebrations in Toronto recently in the front row, from l to r, are Zach Vanasse; Sarain Fox; Craig Kielburger. In the back row, from l to r, are TTC’s Marie Anne MacRae; ME to WE’s Russ McLeod; TTC’s CSR manager, Adeboye Oyegunle; Kardinal Offishall; TTC’s Brett Tollman; and TTC’s Jeff Element. “We’ve...

 

Air Canada wins big at WTM

MIKE DUNBAR Pictured above: Charlotte Alderslade, WTM portfolio conference manager, Tim Liu, Air Canada senior director - commercial strategy and David McClung, president of Baxter Media. Air Canada scored a major victory at this year’s World Travel Market, picking up two major awards in one day at the London event. AC senior director of commercial strategy Tim Liu was presented with...

 

Storyboot School

Using the power of indigenous craft and art to reach people

BOB MOWAT [caption id="attachment_115512" align="alignright" width="300"] Sarain Fox with a exquisite example of one of the Storyboot School’s mukluks.[/caption] Ask Sarain Fox what the Manitobah Mukluks Storyboot Project is all about, and she’ll tell you the following: “It’s really all about people. Indigenous people and the commitment to ensuring that indigenous craftsmanship and...