The cheapest cities to visit in Europe, Canadians in love with Japan, top summer travel spots for Americans and a facelift for the Four Seasons Hotel Toronto. I also have items on Via Rail, a new tourism campaign for Canada, and honours for the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. A look at what’s new in the travel and tourism world today. CHEAPEST CITIES TO VISIT IN EUROPE Europe is the favorite overseas getaway spot for American and Canadians. But it can get expensive. Yahoo and Insider Monkey have a nice list of the cheapest places to visit in Europe this summer. Read more

A FINE EVENING AT CHELSEA HOTEL TORONTO (AND LES MISERABLES) We had tickets for Les Miserables at Mirvish’s Princess of Wales Theatre on Friday night. The show was ending at 10:30, which is a little late for me. But we had been given a night’s stay at the Chelsea Hotel Toronto, so we were able to grab a quick uber after the show and be at hotel by 10:45. A match made in heaven, you might say. We couldn’t check in until 5 p.m., but we managed a half-hour rest in our lovely 25th floor room (a corner room, 2583). Read more

The smiles say it all. Canada’s not all the way back, but U.S. tourism reps at this year’s IPW conference in Los Angeles are pleased with how Canadians are returning to key states south of the border. Visit California statistics show Canada last year eclipsed pre-pandemic visitation levels, rising from 1.732 million visits in 2019 to 1.799 last year. Canadian visits to Florida last year were at 93% of pre-pandemic levels. Orlando says it attracted 1.256 million Canadians last year, a new, single-year record. For New York City, visitors from Canada were achingly close to 2019 numbers (995,000, compared to Read more

With the summer travel season almost upon us, Canadians are looking to explore some of Canada’s top cities, as well as key spots in the U.S. and Europe. Booking.com polled Canadians from March 28 to April 6, 2024 to find out where they’re interested in going. Here’s what they found.   TOP TRENDING WORLD DESTINATIONS   The top trending destinations around the world that Canadians are searching  on Booking.com from May 17th to 20th are:   NEW YORK CITY The number of Canadian travellers looking to travel to NYC over May 24th weekend is up 21% year-over-year.  The Big Apple ranked Read more

SINGAPORE – There’s plenty of flash in this island state at the southern tip of Malaysia; designer shops such as Gucci and Prada on dazzling Orchard Road, wondrous buildings by world-renowned architects, and the biggest names in luxury hotels. But the things that struck me on his most recent visit with Air Canada – my second time in Singapore – were the old neighbourhoods, the greenery and the food. I don’t know that I’ve been to any other destination that puts so much emphasis on recipes and finding the perfect restaurant. And not just the places looking for star ratings Read more

The Muskoka Discovery Centre is proud to announce that its acclaimed Misko-Aki: Confluence of Cultures exhibit has received an award for Outstanding Achievement in Exhibitions from the Canadian Museums Association. There were more than 25 organizations under consideration in a multi-juried process with criteria including potential impact and connection with community. “It is very satisfying for our team to compete successfully with some of the biggest museums in Canada”, said John Miller President of the Muskoka Discovery Centre. On behalf of the Muskoka Discovery Centre, Chippewas of Rama Chief Ted Williams and Project Director Tim Johnson accepted the award for Read more