18 April 2024

More Europe, More Asia and More North America: Air Canada Unveils Summer Flight Schedule + New Hilton Hotels Worldwide

New and enhanced flights to exotic destinations such as Singapore and Stockholm, plus 120 destinations in North America.

Air Canada has released its plan for the busy summer travel season, and it features a 30% growth in capacity to the Asia-Pacific region, including flights to Osaka, Seoul and Singapore. There’s also a 25% boost for key leisure destinations in Southern Europe compared to last year, including flights to Stockholm and Madrid.

“We continue to see strong demand for southern European destinations, and have increased capacity to countries such as Italy, Greece and especially Spain for this summer,” said Mark Galardo, Executive Vice President, Revenue and Network Planning, at Air Canada. “Air Canada is also focused on strategically expanding its Pacific hub in Vancouver and we are thrilled to have launched service to Singapore earlier this month, as well as increasing service to Hong Kong and Japan.

“With continued high demand for visiting friends, relatives and leisure travel, our increased services to key destinations give customers more options than ever before.”

(I’ll be hopping on the new Air Canada flight from Vancouver to Singapore early Friday morning, April 19. Look for a story here in a week or so, and check for social media posts on my various channels: @jimbyerstravel for Twitter/X and Threads, and @jimbyerstravel1 for Instagram).

“Within North America, Air Canada’s domestic and trans-border network will grow to 120 destinations this summer, with the addition of Tulum, Mexico and Charleston, South Carolina, and be further strengthened by our joint business agreement with United Airlines,” Galardo said.

“Taken together, our domestic, trans-border and international schedules, alongside our airline and intermodal partnerships, create a global network unrivalled among Canadian carriers. We have continued to build scale at our Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver hubs, each offering convenient and easy connections and such amenities as our Maple Leaf Lounges and Signature Suites in Toronto and Vancouver for our premium customers,” he said.

STOCKHOLM SYNDROME: MORE EUROPE THIS SUMMER

Stockholm, Sweden. Raphael Andres/Unsplash

Air Canada’s Atlantic schedule will provide the most non-stop service between Canada and Europe of any carrier. From Montreal and Toronto, Air Canada is launching new non-stop routes to Stockholm, and will increase frequencies to Rome and Athens.

From Montreal Trudeau, the carrier will also launch year-round service to Madrid, increase flights to Paris to up to three-times daily during the summer peak, and restore service to Lyon. From Toronto Pearson, service will increase to Copenhagen and will commence Edinburgh and Brussels earlier in the season.

Across the Pacific, Air Canada continues to build its Vancouver hub as the gateway to the Pacific. The carrier recently started year-round service to Singapore from Vancouver, and will increase capacity to Hong Kong, Osaka and Seoul. On the East Coast, the airline is excited to start seasonal service from Toronto to Osaka and increase capacity to Tokyo, while from Montreal, Air Canada will begin seasonal service to Seoul, complementing enhanced capacity to Tokyo.

NORTH AMERICA BOOST

In North America, new routes will be offered from Toronto and Montreal to Tulum, from Toronto to Charleston, and from Montreal to St. Louis, Austin and New Orleans. Within Canada, Ottawa-Calgary and Halifax-Vancouver flights will resume, and there will be frequency or capacity increases, including between Toronto and Saskatoon, Regina, Victoria, Sydney and Gander, as well as between Montreal and Regina, Saskatoon, Victoria, Edmonton, Moncton, Fredericton and Deer Lake.

MAUI CHOCOLATE EXPERIENCE OPEN AGAIN

Maui Ku’ia Chocolate Estate.

Following the impact of the Lahaina Wildfires in August 2023, Maui Chocolate Tour will reopen its immersive cacao farm experience this month. Guests can once again enjoy a captivating journey through the Maui Ku’ia Estate cacao farm and the largest chocolate factory in Hawaii where tours are available daily. For $85, guests can book their guided cacao farm tour by visiting mauichocolatetour.com.

Led by an expert guide, visitors will be transported to the private cacao farm situated in the serene foothills of the West Maui mountains. Spanning more than 20 acres of lush cacao trees, the tour provides a comprehensive journey from “farm to bar” through the chocolate-making process. Engaging activities include interactive and educational sessions that showcase cacao tree insights, hands-on harvesting techniques, culminating in an indulgent and exclusive 9-piece tasting of Maui Ku’ia Estate’s award-winning chocolates.

In addition to the farm tour, a new behind-the-scenes offering will be launched called “The Chocolate Factory Experience.” The 90-minute tour offers a look inside the Maui Ku’ia Estate Chocolate factory and how Lahaina-grown cacao is turned into chocolate, led by Founder and CEO Dr. Gunars Valkirs himself.

I’ve tried Maui Ku’ia Estate chocolate, and it’s delicious!

I met with some folks from the Maui Visitors and Convention Bureau while I was in Vancouver last night; Leanne Pletcher and Daryl Fujiwara. As a child, Daryl used to dance at the children’s or keiki show at the Napili Kai Beach Resort, so I probably saw him perform as a kid.

Maui is still recovering from the stunning wildfires that destroyed most of beautiful, historic Lahaina last August, they told me. They told me they’re still getting calls and emails from people who wonder if it’s a good time to visit the island. They’re in the tourism business, so they have a certain point of view. But, to them, it’s a no-brainer.

Maui has an economy that relies heavily on visitors. A majority of local jobs are dependent on tourism.

“We need tourism money so people can pay their mortgages,” Fujiwara told me. “They also need to work so they can get important health benefits.”

Maui and Hawai’i tourism officials have been urging tourists to visit responsibly and avoid fire zones in Lahaina, which are undergoing rehabilitation. They also encourage visitors to shop local and dine at mom and pop places; not just the big resorts. Those need support, too, of course, as many workers are employed at major resorts on Maui.

NEW HILTON HOTELS AROUND THE WORLD

The Azores are beautiful islands a couple hours west of the Portuguese mainland. JIM BYERS PHOTO

Hilton is expanding to five new markets this year and has a number of cool properties opening this spring, including hotels in Nashville, Bermuda, Croatia, The Azores and Toronto.

Hilton Enters Five New Markets in 2024

Hilton now has more new rooms under construction than any other hotel company with approximately one in every five hotel rooms under construction globally slated to join the company’s portfolio. After entering new markets including Monaco, Tunisia and the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2023, this year Hilton is slated to open its first hotels in Bermuda, Paraguay, Nepal, Laos and Timor-Leste.

Hilton’s newest brands, including LivSmart Studios by Hilton, Tempo by Hilton and Spark by Hilton, will accelerate their growth in the U.S. with new locations across the country, with Spark by Hilton anticipated to enter Canada later this year with properties in Toronto/Markham and Oshawa. More details about Hilton’s continued expansion can be found here.

Upcoming Openings and Renovations this Spring

From the first Hilton hotel in the Azores Islands (totally stunning destination) with the opening of DoubleTree by Hilton Lagoa Azores to the first Curio Collection by Hilton property in Croatia, Hilton has some incredible openings anticipated to open this quarter. For a sneak peek at what’s to come, you can read more here.

Tagged as: Athens, Azores, Bermuda, Cairo, chocolate, Croatia, Egypt, Flights to Asia, flights to Europe, flights to Greece flights to Stockholm, flights to Singapore, Hilton Hotels, Japan, Korea, Lahaina, Maui, Maui chocolates, new hotels, Ottawa, Portugal, Rome, Saskatoon, Seoul, Singapore, Stockholm, summer travel, Tokyo, Toronto hotels

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