Air travel can easily be a family affair
Heather Greenwood-Davis isn’t kidding when she says it can be very rewarding for parents to travel with their youngins. Greenwood-Davis, a mother of two teenagers who’s visited dozens of countries and who’s on the advisory board of the Family Travel Association, notes she’s travelled with her entire family many times, including an epic year-long journey around the world… Read >>

Ride the rails, but not the roof
Tren Ecuador has decided to sacrifice some much sought-after discomfort. The Ecuadorian train company provides train travel in different parts of Ecuador, including the Devil’s Nose Tram, which has journeys that begin and end in the Andean community of Alausi, which provide dramatic views of Andean landscapes and insights into native populations in the region… Read >>

Trafalgar
Committed to taking care of agents
Trafalgar president Wolf Paunic flatly states this country’s travel agent community should be confident that they’ll always have a loyal ally in the company that he oversees… Read >>

Ethiopian monastery reveals wonders of early Christianity
The Lake Tana area of Ethiopia has picture-perfect signs of early Christianity.
The area is home to several religious structures, among them the Ura Kidane Mihret Monastery famed for its interior walls of floor-to-ceiling, Christian images dating back to the religion’s earliest days… Read >>

Sunspots Holidays stands by agents
Tour operator has built up a global presence
Christy Kurian vows his company will always befriend travel agents. Kurian, director of Sunspots Holidays, says agents who may not be convinced that his company has agents’ best interests at heart need only look at its business practices… Read >>

Ecuador’s Cajas National Park may just cure all ills
Does Ecuador’s Cajas National Park serve as a natural medicine cabinet of sorts? Sebastian Cardenas says that may well be the case. Tourism guide Cardenas says the park – found a short distance from the Andean city of Cuenca – is host to a number of plants that have medicinal uses, including bolarium, used to help people sleep… Read >>

A mix of history and culture that Canadians love
Sebastian Cardenas cites the number of Canadians living in his interior Ecuadorean city as proof it deserves to be on Canadian tourism itineraries. Cuenca is home to a large number of Canadian and American expatriates, many of whom believe that the city’s pleasant climate makes it an attractive place to retire… Read >>

Transat teaching agents all about its Europe offerings
School’s in for travel agents wanting to learn about Transat’s Europe program. The tour operator has begun hosting 12 workshops across the country this month, familiarizing attending travel agents with what it offers those wanting to see Europe… Read >>

Toronto’s tourism trade is on a roll
A growing number of Mexicans and other Latin Americans are saying si to the idea of visiting Toronto and that sort of interest in the city from points afar is helping fuel record-breaking numbers of visitors to the Ontario capital… Read >>

ACV has Europe covered from A to Z
Tour operator offers 15% commission on bookings
Air Canada Vacations’ new Europe program covers Europe from A(msterdam) to Z(agreb). The tour operator last week held a Europe product launch in Toronto that showcased a vast European region reaching from Iceland to Croatia, with the latter among new additions to its program… Read >>

Hockey in the Himalayas
Now this is one for the record books – Guinness, that is
Adam Sherlip is inviting people to take in a little Hockey Night in Ladakh, with entire games certain to be true high-lights. Sherlip is executive director of The Hockey Foundation, which “uses hockey to change lives around the world” for the better, and the foundation is touting the Feb. 5–7 Hockey Goes Higher tournament in the lofty Indian region of Ladakh… Read >>

Tourists are safe in MoBay, tourist board says
The Jamaica Tourism Board’s Canadian office acknowledges that the state of emergency the Jamaican government imposed on the parish home to the tourism cornerstone of Montego Bay will lead to negative images among some of the travelling public but insists tourists shouldn’t be nervous about visiting the famed seaside locale… Read >>

Mauna Kea visits may leave visitors starry-eyed
Maile Brown says those visiting the Hawaiian island of Hawaii may end up feeling a little star-struck. Brown, speaking on behalf of both the islands of Hawaii and Kauai during a recent Hawaii promotion in Toronto, told the audience Hawaii’s 4,205-metre-high Mauna Kea Mountain enables people to “actually see 90% of all visible stars.”.. Read >>

Security remains sound in Jordan
Visit Jordan says people shouldn’t assume that Jordan’s unsafe because of what happens outside its borders. Visit Jordan Canadian representative Avril Matthews says violence is a common occurrence in bordering countries, but not in Jordan itself… Read >>

Porter brings Florida’s Space Coast closer to home
Region offers 72 miles of beaches, close to theme parks
Porter Airlines is delivering Ontario residents wanting to flee winter weather to a Florida destination that’s seen as cool, but not cold. The carrier now has winter service to Atlantic Ocean-fronting Florida’s Space Coast from Toronto, Ottawa and Windsor, with Toronto service continuing until April 7 and Ottawa and Windsor service running through March… Read >>

Major events mark milestone year for Ontario Parks
Bruce Bateman knows of some great parking spots. The Ontario Parks director noted during a Jan. 9 Toronto gathering that this year marks the 125th anniversary of Ontario’s provincial parks system, which has grown from one park – Algonquin Provincial Park, this country’s oldest provincial park – to over 330 covering almost 8% of the province’s territory or over 8.2 million hectares of land. That amounts to more territory than Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island combined… Read >>

Jordan is an Epicurean’s dream
Expect to dine well in Jordan. Food is very much part of Jordanian culture, with serving it often seen as a demonstration of hospitality in a country where hospitality is seen as all-important… Read >>

A toucan’s-eye view of Ecuador’s Cloud Forest
Ecuador’s Mashpi Lodge is inviting pedal-pushers and their possibly less-energetic companions to enjoy a toucan’s-eye view of the surrounding cloud forest. National Geographic-affiliated Mashpi’s attractions include the Sky Bike, which has cloud forest explorers travel for some 200 metres both through and above trees two at a time… Read >>

Cloud forest lodge’s staff knows its feathered friends
Anyone skeptical that the staff at Ecuador’s Mashpi Lodge don’t know their stuff need only look at tour guide Nestor Paladines. Paladines, a guide at the National Geographic-affiliated property, can identify some 1,068 bird species in his country by their English and Spanish names and about 400 by their scientific monikers… Read >>