Canada Day is right around the corner and Expedia data is showing it to be the busiest travel weekend of the summer. Domestically, Toronto (32%), Vancouver (23%), Montréal (25%), Calgary (24%), and Edmonton (17%) are the most sought-after destinations for Canadians, and are also seeing double digit increases, up from Canada Day 2023. For international travel, New York came in as the top city overall (31%), but Cancun and Las Vegas prove to be the fastest growing with increases of 112% and 61% respectively. Canadians looking to celebrate the holiday abroad are also jet-setting to Rome (22%), Athens (25%), Los Read more

A new report from the highly respected Resonance Consultancy group and Ipsos gives New York City the nod as best city in the United States. Chicago came second, with Los Angeles placing third. San Francisco was number six, making California the only state with two cities in the top 10. San Diego just missed coming 11th, while San Jose was 26th and Sacramento 47th. Four other California cities were in the 90-100 range. New York City was ranked first for livability, lovability and prosperity, as well as first for shopping and sights/landmarks. Here’s some of what the group had to Read more

Air Canada has been recognized with the most awards of any Canadian airline at the 2024 Skytrax World Airline Awards. Canada’s biggest airline won for the world’s Best Business Class Airline Lounge Catering and also the Best Cabin Crew in Canada. The carrier was also named the Most Family Friendly Airline in North America, Best Premium Economy Class Onboard Catering in North America, and Cleanest Airline in North America. Overall, Air Canada placed higher than any Canadian airlines, coming second in the North American airline ratings. It also came in at 29th in the world ratings, up substantially from number Read more

A lot has been written about over-tourism of late. With the summer travel season just beginning, we’re likely to see more about crowding in popular parts of the world, especially Europe. The latest story on the matter comes from the legendary Cinque Terre in Italy, the five scenic villages that dot the coast east of Genoa. “Our problem isn’t overtourism but overcrowding, and during certain periods of the year,” Fabrizia Pecunia, the mayor of both Manarola and Riomaggiore, said in a story posted in The Guardian. “The main challenge is how to distribute tourism across the area, and we need Read more

It might have been 1962. Perhaps 1963. It was a simpler time. And I wore, to paraphrase Billy Joel, a much younger man’s clothes. My family lived in a small, suburban town in the San Francisco Bay Area called Castro Valley. And we were baseball fans. Football was catching on, and a few people liked the NBA at the time. But in the early 1960s, Americans were obsessed with baseball. We carried transistor radios to hear the ballgame announcers, and we tore into the local newspaper the next day to read the box scores. In my case, the local paper Read more

WestJet celebrated the departure of its inaugural service between Halifax and Edinburgh on Thursday, June 20,  with the departure of WS46 from Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ) scheduled for 10:35 p.m. local time. The new service marks an important milestone for the WestJet Group as it continues to bolster Halifax’s connectivity this summer. Additionally, the airline celebrated the return of non-stop service between Halifax and Dublin on Wednesday, June 19. WestJet also offers flights from Halifax to London, Gatwick. “Further solidifying our position as Canada’s leading leisure airline, this flight is another milestone in our commitment to enhancing Atlantic Canada’s Read more