Air Transat today announced the relaunch of a significant number of its routes for the summer season, including flights to the Caribbean and new European destinations. At the height of the summer season, it will operate more than 250 direct weekly flights on 69 direct routes. “The numbers tell us clearly that with the gradual lifting of travel restrictions worldwide, people are more ready than ever to plan their next trip, whether to Europe, the U.S., Canada or to South destinations,” said Joseph Adamo, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Transat. “The outlook for the summer season is favourable, and our Read more
The most recent survey by the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) of its American and Canadian media and communications members highlights top travel destinations and motivations for travel this year. Hot destinations for the media in 2022 are the U.S., including Hawaii, the South Pacific, Canada, the Caribbean and Europe. These results dovetail with the tally that while American (80%) and Canadian media (60%) are comfortable traveling overseas this year, the appeal of domestic travel was more popular with the Americans (91%) and Canadians (94%). Elizabeth Harryman Lasley, President of SATW, said “Because travel is part of Read more
Two-thirds of British Columbians say they plan to travel internationally this year or next. And that’s good news for the travel and airline industry in Canada. With high vaccination rates, easing of travel restrictions, and changes to cross-border COVID-19 testing requirements, a new British Columbia Automobile Association (BCAA) Travel Confidence Survey reveals high travel confidence and a change in travelers’ worries when it comes to international travel. The survey, conducted for BCAA by Léger just as travel restrictions were lifted, found that 84% of British Columbians are concerned about getting stuck due to rules changing or testing positive and having Read more
The province of Nova Scotia has announced a $12 million investment in tourism marketing and digital adoption programming to help strengthen Nova Scotia’s tourism industry in 2022 and beyond. The funding includes: — $9.2 million for registered tourist accommodations to implement marketing activities and build demand in 2022 — $1.8 million for regional marketing initiatives aimed at attracting visitors to Nova Scotia and encouraging them to experience different regions of the province — $1 million to help tourism operators and event managers enhance their digital marketing and online presence, including online booking capabilities. “These investments deliver on our government’s commitment Read more
One of Canada’s most popular destinations is launching a campaign to lure visitors for this spring and summer. To drive recovery efforts from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Destination Greater Victoria is investing more than $2.2 million to market Greater Victoria in spring and summer 2022, officials said. This is Destination Greater Victoria’s largest marketing campaign investment ever and is designed to attract leisure visitors to book multi-night stays in the destination as travel restrictions ease. Beginning March 1, 2022, and running to August 20, 2022, Destination Greater Victoria will engage its core expertise by marketing the destination to Read more
West Coast business and tourism/travel leaders are calling on the Trudeau government to eliminate travel and testing restrictions for people coming into Canada. Together with the Canadian Travel and Tourism Roundtable, Vancouver-area business and Indigenous tourism leaders and industry associations, including the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada, the Tourism Industry Association of British Columbia, and the Vancouver Board of Trade, have come together to urge the federal government to remove unnecessary and non-science-based obstacles to international travel immediately. The Roundtable is calling on the government to remove the pre-departure rapid antigen test for fully vaccinated travellers by April 1, when Read more
Two of Canada’s largest travel companies are proposing a major merger. WestJet and Sunwing announced today that they have reached a definitive agreement under which the WestJet Group of companies will acquire Sunwing Vacations and Sunwing Airlines. “The transaction will bring together two distinctly Canadian travel and tourism success stories to deliver new travel options and greater value for travellers in the rapidly expanding leisure and work-from-anywhere travel markets,” officials said. “The combination will enable both companies to protect and create jobs and rebuild strength in the Canadian travel industry at a critical time.” Robert Kokonis, president of Toronto-based AirTrav, Read more
