Air Canada Vacations says it’s temporarily suspending some of its winter/early spring schedule due to rising cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. In a letter to members of the industry today, company vice president Nino Montagnese said new virus cases and government regulations have led to “unavoidable disruptions” for ACV. The cancellations are from January 24 to April 30, 2022, he said. “At first glance, 2022 can be mistaken for its predecessor,” he said. “Omicron ushered in a wave of renewed uncertainty that coincided with the holidays and impacted our industry yet again.” Suspended destinations include Antigua, Aruba, Samaná Read more
Caribbean
The U.S. is adding more countries to its “do not travel” list, which now numbers close to 90 countries and includes some of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday added Sweden, Malta and Moldova to its level-four COVID-19 advisory category, the highest level in its ranking of destinations for the coronavirus. Level four is for countries with a “very high” rate of COVID-19. The CDC tells U.S. residents to “avoid travel” to those destinations, and to make sure they’re fully vaccinated if they have to go. Also at level Read more
Several ocean cruise ships were turned away from ports of call or were prohibited from letting passengers disembark in the Americas this week because of Covid-19 cases aboard, CNN reports. That’s nothing like the massive disruption when the pandemic hit in March of last year, but it comes at a time when the cruise industry was just getting back in the swing of things. An Expedia Group study released in late November found that there had been more than a 20% month on month increase in demand in Canadian cruise searches for travel in the fourth quarter of 2021 and Read more
It’s hard to predict what 2022 will look like for travellers, but here’s a look at some potentially hot destinations for the year ahead. AUSTRALIA There’s going to be tons of pent-up demand for trips Down Under if the world can get past Omicron, and avoid the next variant. In Queensland, the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, Dreamtime Dive & Snorkel will allow visitors to learn about conservation efforts and the local ecological system from indigenous guides. The Tasman, Marriott’s first Luxury Collection Property in Australia opened last week (Dec. 15) in Hobart. It’s the first big hotel in Read more
The Caribbean has been performing very strongly late in 2021 and is poised for a great year in 2022, Caribbean tourism officials and other experts say. Speaking at a Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association virtual meeting this week, Nicola Madden-Greig, president of the CHTA, said things have improved drastically in the region since the height of the pandemic. “We are recovering, and we are recovering well,” she said. Madden-Greig said tourism levels late this year are roughly 70% of what they were in 2019, which was a phenomenal year for Caribbean tourism. She also noted that testing of travellers in Read more
