Canadians will soon be able to visit Israel again. At midnight January 9th, Israel is reopening to tourists and other visitors from Orange designated countries, including Canada. “Fully vaccinated people coming to Israel from a country on the ORANGE list must go into 24-hour isolation or isolate until they receive negative PCR or Rapid Test results, which must be taken at Ben Gurion International Airport, whichever is earlier. Testing is done at upon arrival, just following luggage claim, before exiting the terminal,” officials said. Referring to the abolition of isolation for vaccinated people returning from abroad and the return of Read more

Tourism Ireland welcomes news about the lifting of additional pre-testing requirement for travel to the island of Ireland. For visitors arriving into the Republic of Ireland from today (January 6) onward, vaccinated people with a valid Digital Covid Certificate or another valid proof of recent infection or vaccination will not need a test. Unvaccinated people will need a “not detected” PCR test result taken within 72 hours of their arrival into Ireland. These new regulations are effective immediately for the Republic of Ireland: • Vaccinated or recovered travellers into Ireland will be required to present evidence of a valid Digital Read more

The Omicron variant is wreaking havoc with Canadian airlines. A day after Air Canada Vacations said it was trimming flights and packages to a dozen or so sun destinations, Transat A.T. said it’s slashing its winter routes by 30%, and Porter Airlines said they’ll likely have to make cuts of their own. A Canadian Press story on the Global News site today said Transat blamed “the ongoing impact of the Omicron variant and the federal government’s Dec. 15 recommendation against non-essential travel abroad have triggered a wave of trip cancellations.” The cuts are due to stay in place until February Read more

It appears that some of the passengers on board the controversial Sunwing “party flight” to Mexico are back on Canadian soil. CTV News Montreal reports that roughly a dozen passengers managed to arrive in Montreal Wednesday night from Cancun. The network said passengers refused to answer questions from journalists who were waiting for them outside the terminal. Video footage of a Sunwing flight from Montreal to Cancun on December 30 showed reality television stars and Quebec social media influencers whooping it up and dancing in the aisles mid-flight. Many passengers were not wearing masks, while at least one person was Read more

The video of travellers partying like its 1999 on a Sunwing flight to Mexico has gone viral, and the Prime Minister of Canada is not amused. The party folks likely aren’t very happy, either, as it appears they’re having trouble getting home. Video footage of a flight from Montreal to Mexico on Dec. 30 started making the rounds a day or so ago. The footage shows passengers dancing in the aisles without masks. Some appear to be vaping, and one passenger seems to have a bottle of Grey Goose vodka. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau strongly condemned the passengers today Read more

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the U.S. recently bumped cruise ship travel to its highest travel advisory level, recommending that Americans avoid cruise travel due to “very high” COVID-19 levels. But Avalon Waterways says they operated more than 100 cruises this past summer and fall without incident. “In fact, after operating more than 100 cruises this summer and fall across Europe, Egypt and the Galapagos Islands – and testing every single cruise passenger in preparation for their journeys home – Avalon Waterways ended its 2021 cruise season with ZERO (0) COVID-19 cases onboard. Not one of our Read more