A strong increase in Canadian domestic visits helped Montreal boost its visitor numbers by more than seven per cent last year. Tourisme Montréal today (Feb. 17) said the city attracted 11.8 million visitors last year, up 7.3% from 2024. Domestic travel continued to rise, with the Canadian market up 10%, fuelled by strong gains from several provinces, especially those in the Atlantic region (+17%). U.S. visits dipped in the middle of 2024, but the year ended with a more moderate decline of 5%. Overseas markets posted 2% growth overall. France set a new record with more than 470,000 visitors, a Read more
Canada
A new Flight Centre Canada national YouGov survey suggests the shift away from U.S. travel for Canadians isn’t going away. It also says three times as many Canadians are interested in a Europe trip as they are in a visit to the States. The study found that 62% of Canadians say they are less likely to visit the U.S. in 2026 compared to last year. The U.S. also placed fifth on the list of where Canadians would like to go this year, finishing far behind trips within Canada and trips to Europe and slightly behind visits to Mexico and Asia. Read more
A new list of top hotels from Forbes. Tourism jumps for Anguilla, Curacao and Shanghai. A new Marriott hotel in Barbados. And a continued drop in Canadian visits to the States. That plus a Cuba tourism update and TPC Sawgrass PGA Tour golf in today’s travel report. FORBES HOTEL, SPA, RESTAURANT AND CRUISE RATINGS FOR 2026 Forbes has come out with its annual list of top hotels, restaurants, spas and cruise ships around the world. Totaling 2,422 properties, the winners include 343 Five-Star, 708 Four-Star and 679 Recommended hotels and 82 Five-Star, 138 Four-Star and 80 Recommended restaurants. They also Read more
U.S. News has come out with its much=awaited list of the top hotels around the world, and Four Seasons is definitely in the driver’s seat. Four Seasons, which is based in Toronto, came out on top for the best hotel in the USA (Four Seasons Resort Hualalai on Hawaii’s Big Island), while Four Seasons Hotel Toronto was named best hotel in Canada. Four Seasons Lana’i was named second best USA hotel, while Four Seasons Firenze in Italy was tagged as number two in Europe. Four Seasons Whistler Resort was number three in Canada, and Four Seasons Hotel Montreal was fifth. Read more
Talk about a wild day for travel. Air Canada today (Feb. 9) said it’s suspending all flights into Cuba due to an aviation fuel shortage, and will operate flights to bring home some 3,000 Canadians currently visiting the island nation. WestJet followed suit later in the day, saying it was beginning an “orderly wind down” of winter flights to Cuba for WestJet, WestJet Vacations, Sunwing Vacations and Vacances WestJet Quebec. Around 8:30 p.m. ET, Air Transat posted a note on its website saying it would suspend operations to Cuba from now until April 30, 2026. “Due to a jet fuel Read more
