Canadians have always had plenty of reasons to visit Ireland. Now they have 92 more. According to Tourism Ireland’s Alison Metcalfe, a full 92% of Irish adults aged 12 and older have received their full dose of COVID-19 vaccines. As if that’s not enough, the latest COVID Resilience Report from Bloomberg put the island nation as the best in the world at handling the virus. “Ireland was in a very strict lockdown and handled COVID I think pretty well,” Metcalfe, Executive Vice President USA and Canada for Tourism Ireland, told me in a one-on-one interview in downtown Toronto on Tuesday, Read more

It’s a small change, but an important one. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today announced that he is appointing a Minister of Tourism for his federal cabinet. Trudeau said Edmonton MP Randy Boissonnault will be Minister of Tourism and also Associate Minister of Finance. For years, even decades, tourism ministers in Ottawa have had their tourism duties lumped in with other things, such as small business; even though tourism is a big business that accounts for roughly 10% of our GDP. Now, however, we won’t have a “Minister of Agriculture, Children’s Shoes and Tourism,” but a real “Minister of Tourism.” Read more

Air Transat is expanding its California horizons. Air Transat, named World’s Best Leisure Airline, is proud to announce that four new routes will be added to its 2022 summer flight program. For the first time ever, the airline will be serving the San Francisco, Los Angeles and Amsterdam airports from Montreal. Furthermore, it will offer an exclusive direct flight between Quebec City and London, strengthening its role as the leading international carrier from the Jean-Lesage Airport. Finally, Air Transat will operate routes to Fort Lauderdale and Miami year-round. “By analyzing travel trends, it’s clear that the United States is still one of the top destinations for Quebecers and Canadians in the wake of the Read more

CAA South Central Ontario (CAA SCO) has compiled a list of ten things that Ontarians should be aware of if they are considering travelling abroad. “Now that the Canadian government is no longer advising against non-essential travel due to COVID-19, those who are considering booking a trip should make sure they understand the scope of what travel looks like at the moment,” said Kaitlynn Furse, director, corporate communications, CAA Club Group. “The checklist for planning a trip has changed and we want to help people navigate this new environment.” The U.S. land border will open to fully vaccinated Canadians on Read more

This sounds like a game changer for Canadian travellers. Air Canada today announced the introduction of new testing products, including portable self-administered COVID-19 molecular and antigen test kits, through a partnership with Switch Health, a Canadian-based healthcare company. Using the Switch Health COVID-19 RT-LAMP Kit, customers can test themselves while travelling abroad prior to their flight to Canada to meet Government of Canada testing entry requirements without the need to visit a foreign COVID-19 testing clinic. These tests are conducted under the remote supervision of a Telehealth professional from Switch Health and include an electronic report suitable for travel. An Read more

It looks like a lot of Canadians are looking to stay close to home again this fall and winter. Which means it’s a great year to explore this great country of ours. Here are some great things to see and do in Quebec. An installation outside the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. JIM BYERS PHOTO MONTREAL Truly one of the world’s great cities, with fabulous food and wonderful neighbourhoods to explore. Saint Henri is one of the hottest areas of town, with great restaurants and bars and independent shops. Mile End has been one of the most vibrant regions of Read more