Australia/New Zealand/PAC

Is September becoming the new August for Canadian and American travelers? The traditional summer travel season may be shifting. Air Canada is forecasting record revenue for September and October, as travellers increasingly move trips outside the July and August peak to avoid heat and crowds. HomeExchange data suggests Canadians may be following that shift. September exchanges among Canadian members are up 44.2% year over year, while August activity remains relatively stable. And those September getaways are getting longer, with the average exchange now lasting just over five nights, an 8.2% increase year-over-year. The numbers point to an interesting shift in Read more

  This year marks the 25th anniversary of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and with a new film slated for release in 2027, there’s renewed momentum around Middle-earth, along with new reasons for fans to make the journey to the real-life landscapes behind the films. I’m a big fan of the movies and books and visited the Hobbiton movie set in Matamata when I visited New Zealand in 2016. It was truly fantastic to wander past the hobbit homes and see where parts of the movie were made. I also checked out a few other Read more

Statistics show Canadians are slowly but steadily increasing their visits to the U.S. And a new poll suggests anti-U.S. sentiment is on the wane with Canadian travellers. But a full recovery is still a ways away. Statistics Canada says Canadians returned from 2.3 million trips to the U.S. in July, up 10.2% from the same month in 2025. That marks the fourth consecutive month of year-over-year growth for U.S. travel from Canada. Stats Can said return automobile trips rose 12.8% last month, but air trips dropped 1.4%.   Their July travel report found that, while return trips by car were Read more

Tourism Australia has released its new 10-year strategic Tourism 2035 plan, aimed at creating future demand and competitiveness for Australia as a destination internationally and supporting the nation’s tourism sector. The strategy aims to grow total overnight high-yield traveller spend to between $61 and $69 billion by 2035, helping to boost the economic contribution of Australia’s second-largest export sector. Tourism Australia Managing Director, Robin Mack, said at a time when global competition has never been fiercer, Tourism 2035, had identified 10 key global factors influencing future demand for our tourism offering. “This strategy sets an ambitious course to create and Read more