I’ve become acquainted with Marie-Pier Germain from the Germain Hotels Group over the past couple of years. We met in Montreal during the COVID-19 crisis and have spoken by Zoom or on the phone a couple times since then. Each time we spoke, I would gently ask her when her group, which runs sensational hotels across the country, would finally make an appearance west of Calgary. Germain, who’s ever so accommodating and delightful to speak with, would always look or sound pained when the question came up. “Jim,” she would say, and I’m paraphrasing here. “You KNOW we want to Read more
Europe
The Canadian government has new travel advisories up for citizens and residents who plan to visit the U.S. or China. Ottawa recently updated its travel advisory site to say that residents of Canada and other foreign nationals visiting the U.S. for longer than 30 days must register with the U.S. government. Canadians haven’t had to register with the government of the U.S. prior to this. U.S. President Donald Trump in January signed an executive order called “Protecting the American People Against Invasion.” The order requires all foreign nationals, including Canadians, to register with U.S. Customs and Immigration Services if they Read more
Hilton Hotels is constantly adding new properties, and fixing up existing ones. Here are some highlights for the next few months. The debut of Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts brand in Japan and Costa Rica, with Waldorf Astoria Osaka and Waldorf Astoria Costa Rica Punta Cacique opening in April A new all-inclusive resort inspired by the Taino culture, Zemi Miches Punta Cana All-Inclusive Resort, Curio Collection by Hilton, will open in June in the Dominican Republic Hilton’s first luxury hotel in the heart of Paris will arrive with Sax Paris, LXR Hotels & Resorts this spring I’m also excited about Read more
Lots of Canadian airline news to share this morning, including more great ways to get to Europe, a new dining option at Montreal Trudeau Airport, and possibly new ways to explore the Caribbean and Mexico. With the Canada-USA tariff war still carrying on, Canadians seem to be increasingly avoiding trips to the United States. Air Canada has started trimming routes to some U.S. destinations, including Florida, New Orleans and Kansas City, and now it seems WestJet is following suit. SimpleFlying says WestJet will go from eight to 11 flights per week for its Toronto-Dublin and Toronto-Edinburgh flights, but didn’t list Read more
Major awards for three Canadian airports. A nice Air Canada sale. New hotels for Maui. Turkish Airlines becomes third busiest in the world. A new marketing plan for Fort Lauderdale. And a spiffy new Fairmont hotel/resort in Spain. Today’s blog post covers a lot of ground! TORONTO, VICTORIA AND ST. JOHN’S AIRPORT AWARDS Toronto Pearson Airport, along with airports in Victoria, B.C. and St. John’s, have won awards from Airports Council International (ACI). As part of ACI’s annual Airport Service Quality awards, The Montreal-based group handed out three “Best Airport Awards” for North American facilities that serve Read more
