Expedia Reports Roman Travel Search Surge; Canada’s First Hard Rock Hotel; Toronto Pearson Shooting

There’s an old saying that all roads lead to Rome. It appears the same goes for airplanes and Internet travel searches.

With the funeral for Pope Francis taking place this weekend, and the election of a new pope coming in a few weeks at the Vatican, Expedia says global flight searches for Rome are up 125% for travel this week versus the same period last year.

US residents are seemingly looking to make it to Rome soon, as flight searches are up 250% on Expedia.com and lodging searches up 35%.

 

For Canada, flight searches to The Eternal City on Expedia.ca are up 110% this week, and searches for stays in Rome are up 5%.

“I can’t think of any other event that has caused a sudden spike in travel searches like this,” Expedia travel expert Melanie Fish told CBS MoneyWatch. “And it’s not only flight searches. It’s accommodation searches, too, and it’s clear why because of the travel dates.”

I used vrbo, which is part of the Expedia Group, to book a terrific apartment in the Trastevere area of Rome in March of last year. The apartment was great, and it was a blast to wander the streets and feel like a local for a few days.

CANADA’S FIRST HARD ROCK HOTEL OPENS IN LONDON, ONTARIO

 

MSN reports that Canada’s first-ever Hard Rock Hotels property has officially opened its doors. Part of 100 Kellogg Lane—Canada’s largest indoor entertainment complex—the new Hard Rock Hotel London, Ontario is ideally situated in the city’s Old East Village. This positions the new hotel mere minutes away from the Western Fair District and a short drive from downtown.

“The property will help strengthen London’s economy, and its culture and tourism industries, and is perfectly positioned within Canada’s only UNESCO City of Music,” said Hard Rock Hotel London, Ontario’s General Manager, Brendon Ainscow. “As a Londoner, I couldn’t be more proud and excited to see our city officially become home to Canada’s First Hard Rock Hotel. 

I’ll be there in early June and will be filing a blog post about the experience

LESSER-KNOWN (WELL, SOME) CANADIAN TOWNS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT

 

MSN.com had a recent story entitled “12 Underrated Canadian Towns You’ve Never Heard Of.”

This must have been aimed at a foreign audience, as I can’t imagine there are more than a few hundred Canadians who have never heard of Tofino, B.C. or Dawson City, Yukon.

Still, it’s a pretty thorough list that does highlight some cool Canadian destinations you should consider, whether you’re from California, China or Calgary.

Here’s their full list:

1. Dawson City, Yukon (a fabulous place I’ve visited a couple times)
2. St. Andrews, New Brunswick (a bit touristy, but lovely)
3. Almonte, Ontario (close to home but never been)
4. Kaslo, British Columbia (don’t know much about it)
5. Churchill, Manitoba (famous for polar bears, but haven’t had the pleasure)
6. Trinity, Newfoundland (beautiful, and close to the wonderful Skerwink Trail for amazing hiking)
7. Drumheller, Alberta (haven’t been)
8. Baie-Saint-Paul, Quebec (a lovely village I always enjoy visiting, and home to the fab Le Germain Charlevoix hotel)
9. Elora, Ontario (haven’t managed to visit in years, but a very pretty town)
10. Tofino, B.C. (utterly fantastic, but definitely not a place nobody has heard of)
11. Lunenburg, Nova Scotia (well known to most Canadians, a picture postcard village that’s home to the famous Canadian ship, The Bluenose II)
12. Fogo Island, Newfoundland (striking scenery, lovely locals, and the renowned Fogo Island Inn)

I’m lucky enough to have been to eight of the 12, and highly recommend them all for anyone searching to explore some lesser-known but wonderful destinations in this great country of ours.

AMERICAN AIRLINES WANTS FRIENDLIER SKIES

Facing an uncertain economic environment, American Airlines is calling for policies and action that spur demand for travel, both domestically and abroad, Aviation Week reports.

“This starts with making America a welcoming destination for international travelers,” CEO Robert Isom said during the carrier’s 2025 first quarter earnings call on April 24.

Isom cited upcoming events including FIFA World Cup 2026, of which it is a sponsor, describing the travel industry as a critical engine for the U.S. economy. Supporting its growth also means “expanding visa-free travel, lowering visa processing times and expediting the deployment of new technologies to make travel more seamless and secure,” he told investors.

I’ve got a story in today’s Open Jaw newsletter about how American and other US airlines are tossing their financial forecasts out the window given today’s uncertain economic climate, which is partly if not largely due to President Donald Trump’s tariff plans.

UNITED HAS NEW POLICY ON DRUNK PASSENGERS

 

Here’s an interesting item from liveandletsfly.com (nice name, by the way).

Federal law prohibits intoxicated passengers from boarding a commercial aircraft, but sometimes an intoxicated passenger can slip through the boarding process and board. When that happens, there is another opportunity to remove the intoxicated passengers before takeoff, but it requires careful coordination between flight attendants and ground staff, especially if the passenger exhibits signs of being boisterous or unruly.

To streamline this process, United is introducing a new “huddle process” that will begin on May 1, 2025, as outlined in a memo reviewed by Live And Let’s Fly.

As United describes it, “After boarding, if two flight attendants independently observe a customer exhibiting red light behavior(s) the Inflight team will call a mandatory huddle between Inflight, Flight Ops and Airport Operations to facilitate customer removal from the aircraft. This new huddle process is designed to handle situations where red light behaviors may not have been visible during boarding and a customer that appears to be intoxicated makes their way onto an aircraft.”

TORONTO PEARSON AIRPORT SHOOTING – WELL HANDLED BY AUTHORITIES

 

Kudos to Peel Regional Police and the folks at Toronto Pearson for how they handled yesterday’s shooting incident outside Terminal One. It’s terrible that a man lost his life, but it appears he pulled a gun on police, and we all know what happens when someone does that. He may have been mentally disturbed, but if you point a gun at  a police officer you’re almost certainly going to get shot.

The incident could have shut the airport down for a very long time, but Toronto Pearson authorities told me they didn’t have to lock down at all. Their website shows only a few flights were delayed.

Yes, some roads were closed and passengers had to carry their bags up a ramp to Terminal One. But, considering what might have happened in terms of disruptions at Canada’s busiest airport, that’s not so bad.