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

G Adventures has cancelled all tours in Russia, and will no longer accept Russian nationals residing inside Russia on their trips. In a press release issued this morning, G Adventures founder Bruce Poon Tip said it’s heartbreaking to see the devastation in Ukraine. Below is the release in full. It’s as though we’ve learned nothing in the past 75 years – I would have hoped we had learned from our collective experience. The past two years we have been living through a global pandemic that has caused physical separation for millions around the world. For the first time in our Read more

International airline traffic could surpass pre-COVID levels by 2024, a new study says. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is projecting that overall traveller numbers will hit 4 billion in 2024, which would put it at 103% of 2019’s total. “The trajectory for the recovery in passenger numbers from COVID-19 was not changed by the omicron variant,” said IATA’s Director General, Willie Walsh. “People want to travel. And when travel restrictions are lifted, they return to the skies. “There is still a long way to go to reach a normal state of affairs, but the forecast for the evolution in Read more

WestJet has a throwback sale listed on their website today. “Our birthday may be over, but the fun hasn’t stopped,” the site says. “Enjoy throwback pricing with our week-long sale. Plus, today only, we’re offering a limited number of Canadian flights for travel by June 24, 2022 with fares inspired by our birth year. “Fares so low, you would think you’re back in 1996. Booyah!” The site shows one-way flights from Calgary to Victoria from $56, from Vancouver to Kelowna from $46, and from Saskatoon to Edmonton for $56. The site says flights must be booked by March 7 at Read more

By Jim Byers Member, Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) KA’ANAPALI, MAUI, HAWAI’I – The Ka’anapali Beach Hotel is often voted the most Hawaiian hotel in the state. Now it’s even better and brighter than ever, and the food has been kicked up several notches. I had a chance to stay in one of their renovated rooms last month, and it was terrific. The décor was light and bright, with restful taupe accents and restrained, pretty floral prints on the wall. All the new rooms have works of art made by KBH employees, many of whom have been with the Read more