Pedestrians are getting a permanent break in Banff. Hawaii Tourism Boasts Strong Holiday Numbers. And indigenous tourism is poised for a Canadian boom. A few travel tidbits for today. BANFF PED ZONE NOW PERMANENT Banff’s popular downtown pedestrian zone is now a permanent feature in the wildly popular Alberta destination. Town officials have decided to keep the zone in place from the May long weekend to Thanksgiving weekend every year. Canadian Press reports the town decided to permanently fund the project, which began during the COVID-19 pandemic, as part of its annual operating budget. “It is, however, still unclear whether Read more
Australia/New Zealand/PAC
Tremendous food and wine. Super comfortable seats. And, best of all, some of the nicest crew I’ve ever spent time in the air with. My wife and I recently flew from San Francisco to Auckland and then on to Sydney with Air New Zealand. We got upgraded from Premium Economy to Business Premier about a half-hour before boarding, and were understandably thrilled. Business Premier for long-haul flights features wide, comfortable seats. We were flying at night so there was soft, purple-pink mood lighting that was very relaxing. We were given a glass of sparkling wine (I could’ve had water or Read more
Travel rewards programs are a great, no-cost way to save money and earn valuable points towards great trips. And Air Canada’s Aeroplan is one of the best for Canadians. With help from Aeroplan, you can turn your travel dreams into reality with endless redemption opportunities on flights to more than 1,300 destinations worldwide through the biggest network of airline partners. Better still, there are no restrictions or blackout dates to hold you back. I’ve been an Aeroplan member for a good 30-40 years now. I’ve used my points to book dozens of great trips around the world; Europe, Hawaii, Vancouver, Read more
A new study rates Canada as the second-best country on earth for 2023, behind only Switzerland. The study, conducted by global marketing and communications services company WPP and The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, looked at 73 country attributes; terms that can be used to describe a country and that are also relevant to the success of a modern nation. Various attributes and nations were presented in a survey of more than 17,000 people from across the globe from March 17 to June 12. Each country was then scored on each of the 73 country attributes based on Read more
I had some great visits outside of Canada and the U.S. this year, visiting Sydney, Tasmania, Western Australia, Dominica, Puerto Rico, Martinique, Scotland and England. Here are some highlights. BEST RENTAL CAR EMPLOYEE My reservation was all messed up and the Budget Rental Car counter was closed when I landed at the airport in Esperance, Western Australia. I called the phone number for after hours help and reached a very kind woman named Hope. She was about to head off to a gender reveal party but said she could drive out and get my car set up for me, which Read more
