The folks at The World’s 50 Best Bars have put out a list of the best 50 places for a drink in North America, and Canada is well-represented. Four bars in Toronto, two in Montreal and one each in Vancouver and Halifax made the list, which is pretty good if you ask me. Canada is quite small in population, so to snag eight out of 50 spots when you’re up against both the U.S. and Mexico is pretty terrific. Civil Liberties, located on Bloor Street West near Ossington Avenue in Toronto, cracked the top 10 by finishing tenth overall on Read more

Wait times for security continue to decrease at all major airports, and only three per cent of all passengers at Pearson and Vancouver International Airport are now waiting more than 30 minutes in line, the Trudeau government said in a statement today. Omar Alghabra, Minister of Transport, Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health, Marco Mendicino, Minister of Public Safety, and Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance, issued this statement today to provide an update on actions the Government of Canada and industry partners are taking to reduce wait times at Canadian airports: “The Government of Canada recognizes Read more

The Toronto tourism economy is rebounding strongly, but there are plenty of cautionary flags flying in the June breeze. I had a chance to sit down (virtually) the other day with Andrew Weir, Executive Vice President Destination Development for Destination Toronto, to talk about where the city is headed. Nobody’s popping the champagne corks just yet, but they might be thinking of what they might want to order at the LCBO when the time comes. “There’s absolutely a sentiment in the community now that we’re on the on-ramp back to that state of a thriving visitor economy,” Weir said. “I Read more

Tourism continues to recover at a strong pace, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization. Globally, destinations welcomed almost three times as many international arrivals in the first quarter of 2022 as in the same period of 2021, with Europe leading the sector’s rebound. According to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, international tourism saw a 182% year-on-year increase in January-March 2022, with destinations worldwide welcoming an estimated 117 million international arrivals compared to 41 million in Q1 2021. Of the extra 76 million international arrivals for the first three months, about 47 million were recorded in March, showing that the Read more

Air Transat proudly announces its partnership with 4Ukraine.ca to help relocate Ukrainians displaced by war coming to Canada. Air Transat will be providing available seats to Ukrainian nationals on their flights operated from Paris and London mainly to Montréal or Toronto. 4Ukraine.ca will be covering taxes and airport charges. In addition to operating a donation-based airfare program, 4Ukraine.ca includes a rigorous vetting process, host family background checks, and job prospecting for Ukrainians relocating to Canada. “We are thrilled to work with Air Transat on this initiative,” said 4Ukraine.ca co-founder and director, Anna Chif. “This partnership means the world to Ukrainians Read more

WestJet today, is celebrating the launch of service to Edinburgh with the departure of WS16 from Toronto Pearson International Airport at 9:25 p.m. local time last night. With the addition of the airline’s latest connection to Europe, WestJet will now fly non-stop to five European destinations from Toronto this summer including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dublin, London-Gatwick and Barcelona, Spain.  “We are thrilled that Edinburgh is the final European connection to inaugurate from Toronto this summer, rounding out the restoration of our network and strengthening our offerings from Toronto. These cities are some of the world’s most vibrant and iconic destinations and Read more