Here are some new travel bits from today’s news, as well as a recap of some items from earlier this week that you might have missed. Canada’s Travel Guy, at your service.
PORTER AIRLINES TRIMS SCHEDULE
The Globe and Mail today reports that Toronto-based Porter Airlines has made “extensive” cuts to its flight schedule.
The airline in the last couple months has with great fanfare announced a series of new routes on its new Embraer jets, including Toronto-Calgary and Toronto-Vancouver. I spotted airline founder Bob Deluce at Toronto Pearson a few weeks ago and he said more big announcements were coming very soon.
A map of proposed Porter Airlines’ destinations.
But it’s been very quiet in the past month or so. And now comes the Globe report, which quotes airline data company Cirium as saying Porter cancelled 22 per cent of its flights departing Toronto Pearson International Airport, almost 20 per cent of its schedule at Vancouver International Airport, and 17 per cent at Calgary International Airport.
It quotes airline spokesman Brad Cicero as saying Porter made some “pro-active” cancellations to allow time to prepare the planes for duty, and train crew members.
Porter has said it plans to extend its reach to Mexico and the Caribbean. Their route map also suggests flights to California and Arizona, as well as south Florida and The Bahamas.
The Mrs. Maisel tour of New York City includes the famous butcher shop from the “We got the rabbi” episode. JIM BYERS PHOTO
SET-JETTING : TV SHOW AND MOVIE TRAVEL TAKES OFF
It’s a trend that’s been happening for quite some time. A big movie comes out and visitors flock to the places where filming took place. 73 people in the world knew about Skellig Michael 15 years ago, but when Star Wars used the remote Irish island as the secret home for Luke Skywalker it became a tourism sensation. Ditto for Northern Ireland, where a good deal of the TV show “Game of Thrones” is shot.
If you go to New York, you’ll find special tours based on film sites for Seinfeld, Sex in the City and The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel. I did a tour of Mrs. Maisel places in NYC a few years ago and loved it.
A poll taken for American Express Travel states that 64% of world travelers say they have been inspired to travel to a destination after seeing it featured on a TV show, news source, or movie. For Gen-Z and Millennial travellers, that jumps to 70%.
Nexus
NEXUS OFFICES REOPENING AT CANADIAN AIRPORTS
There’s excellent news for folks who regularly cross the Canada-U.S. border. The Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection say they’ll reopen all NEXUS enrolment centres in Canadian airports by Spring 2023.
Officials said this will both expand the program’s capacity and help the thousands of travellers who request NEXUS memberships each month get their cards faster. The system, which drastically speeds up border crossings between Canada and the U.S., will be back in place at Vancouver International Airport by April 3, Calgary International by April 12, Montreal-Trudeau by 17 and Toronto Pearson by April 24.
NEXUS airport offices were closed during the pandemic, and hadn’t reopened in the past few months due to a dispute over the issue of U.S. Customs officers being able to carry guns in Nexus offices at Canadian airports. The CBC states that a compromise was reached, calling for U.S. customs officers to do their Nexus interviews in pre-clearance areas of the airport, where presumably they already have guns, and not at Nexus offices.
Hotel Pennsylvania, New York City. JIM BYERS PHOTO
WORLD’S MOST EXPENSIVE BUSINESS TRAVEL CITY
Anyone who’s bought an airline ticket lately knows what inflation has done to the travel business. But here’s a scary number. According to a survey by ECA International, an average day in New York City for a business traveller (a four-star hotel, meals, transportation and incidentals) now costs $796 USD! The next most expensive was Geneva at $700 and then Washington D.C. at $658. For Toronto, it’s $472 USD and for Vancouver just $401; roughly one-half the cost of New York City. If you’re booking a business trip, keep that in mind.
Tel Aviv, Israel. Shai Pal – Unsplash Photo
THIS AND THAT AND HERE AND THERE
Israel Tourism says visits from Canada in February of this year were 95% of pre-pandemic levels. That’s despite the fact that air fares have jumped, and that flight capacity on routes between Canada and Israel is down roughly 30% … Skift.com says Amsterdam is “launching a ‘Stay Away’ campaign to actively discourage party tourists.” Measures for the city’s infamous red light district include a ban on smoking cannabis in public, earlier closing times for bars and restaurants and earlier closing times for sex worker venues. The city also has plans to move 100 of the 249 (!) brothel windows to a multi-story adult entertainment center, which sounds kinda creepy … Open Jaw reports that German unions are calling for another transport strike which would see thousands of workers walk off the job and disrupt trains, planes, and local transit. The strike is scheduled for Sunday, March 26 and Monday, March 27 … The Greater Toronto Airports Authority says passenger activity at Toronto Pearson Airport increased significantly last year as the pandemic eased and demand for travel surged. The authority said passenger counts rose from 12.7 million in 2021 to 35.6 million last year. That’s a lot, but well below the 50.5 million that passed through Pearson in 2019.
