The United Nations’ World Tourism Organization has issued a list of the countries with the most visitors for 2021. It was, admittedly, a difficult year for tourism. But the stats paint an interesting picture. Given the state of COVID and the restrictions around travel throughout most of Asia, you’ll notice that there are no Asian countries on the list. TOP TOURISM DESTINATIONS IN 2021 10. Hungary, 7.9 million visitors 9. Croatia, 10.6 million 8. Germany, 11.7 million 7. Austria, 12.7 million (I was in Vienna earlier this year and found it fantastic) 6. Greece, 14.7 million 5. United States, 22.1 Read more

Air travel has been something of a mess in Canada lately. Gas prices and a lack of rental cars have stymied some would-be travellers, as well. Now, there could be a VIA Rail strike. In a note posted on the Unifor workers web site, union officials with Council 4000 and Local 100 said they resumed negotiations with VIA Rail last week in Montreal. “Unfortunately, talks have not progressed in the way we had hoped. In consultation with the National Union, both Council 4000 and Local 100 issued strike notice to VIA Rail,” Unifor officials said. “It is required by law, Read more

  Ottawa says it has hired some 1,200 security workers to deal with ongoing congestion problems at Canadian airports. The federal government on Wednesday July 6 issued the following statement: “On Monday, July 4, Minister Alghabra met with the CEO of Air Canada to discuss current and planned actions being taken by the airline to quickly bring on more employees and to bolster core operations to better respond to the challenges of rapidly increasing demands. This meeting followed similar meetings that Minister Alghabra had with the CEOs of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority and WestJet last week. Transport Canada is Read more

The Canada Day weekend is behind us, but it’s still busy at Canadian airports. Flight Aware stats show that 54% of flights out of Toronto Pearson were delayed on Tuesday, while six per cent were cancelled. For Montreal-Trudeau, 42% were delayed and four per cent cancelled. Both of those were among the highest delay percentages in the world. Air Canada Jazz had 53% of its flights delayed on Tuesday, while 12% were cancelled. For Air Canada mainline, 64% were delayed and two per cent cancelled. For Air Canada Rouge, 52% were delayed and two per cent cancelled. For Swoop Airlines, Read more

Air Canada last week announced it was trimming roughly 15% of its flights as it deals with unprecedented demand and airport issues. Their website now has a list of the changes they’ve made, including flights between Toronto and several major Canadian cities, such as Ottawa, Calgary Charlottetown and Vancouver. The list also includes changes in flights to Miami, San Francisco and other U.S. cities. Here’s a copy of what I found posted on their site on Sunday night (July 3). This week, Air Canada announced changes to its summer schedule to support unprecedented and unforeseen strains on our organization. International flights Read more

Ottawa says it’s making progress on Canadian airport congestion and passport backlogs in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. This week, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra met once again with the CEOs of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority and WestJet. They discussed current and planned actions being taken by industry to quickly bring on more employees and to bolster core operations to better respond to the challenges of rapidly increasing demands as the number of Canadians travelling by air continues to grow. Minister Alghabra will also meet next week with the CEO of Air Canada. The Government of Canada and air industry partners Read more