This is another installment in my THE FUTURE OF TRAVEL blog series. Today I’m focussing on Aeroplan, probably Canada’s most popular travel rewards plan. Like many companies, they’re updating policies and extending deadlines to accommodate folks who’ve been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. These changes are definitely helpful for consumers. I also have the latest update on what U.S. travellers are thinking about future travel plans. Aeroplan officials sent this statement out today (April 28, 2020): “We are extending two earlier changes we made to the Aeroplan program: Full flexibility for cancelling flight rewards We’re extending our flexible policy for Read more

THE FUTURE OF TRAVEL This is a continuation of my Future of Travel blog series. Few areas of the travel industry have taken a bigger public relations hit than cruising. But there may be some surprising signs of strength. Here’s a story published the other day on the U.S. TravelWeekly website. TravelWeekly is part of the Northstar Travel Group, as is TravelPulse Canada, where I serve as senior editorial director. The media’s coverage of ships with Covid-19 outbreaks has left cruising arguably the hardest hit of any travel product. It was the first industry to shut down completely, and its Read more

I’ve been to Hong Kong four times now, and I always enjoy it. But, like most other popular tourist destinations, they’re going to have some challenges in the months – or even years – ahead. The COVID-19 virus is one problem, but they also have political issues to deal with. Hong Kong Tourism held a webinar the other day and laid out their blueprint for a tourism recovery. Here’s what they had to say. I’ve added a few comments in bold and in parentheses. The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) organized a web conference to provide the latest updates on Read more

What’s on the horizon for cruise lines. The importance of travel insurance. And perhaps an end to over-tourism. I listened in on a pair of travel webinars on Thursday, trying to glean some words of wisdom from people smarter than I am. I came away with some pretty interesting observations for my now regular FUTURE OF TRAVEL blog series. The second webinar of the day was put on by my friends at TravMedia (full disclosure, I’m on the advisory board for their IMM USA yearly event) and featured a number of top names, including Los Angeles Times Travel Editor Catharine Read more

This is the second in an ongoing series of posts on the FUTURE OF TRAVEL. I listened in on a couple of very good webinars, but I want to instead today talk about a great study that really hits the Canadian market. Abacus Data, which has offices in Toronto and Ottawa, did a survey of more than 1,000 Canadians the other day and came away with some very interesting stats that should be encouraging for folks in Canadian tourism. The study, conducted April 2 to 7, posited the following question: “Assuming travel restrictions are lifted at the end of June, Read more

THE FUTURE OF TRAVEL Stories and studies about the future of travel are rolling across my laptop every day. Sometimes every hour. We’re all curious about what the future looks like for air travel, hotels, destinations and cruise lines. Not to mention travel agents and travel journalists like me. With that in mind, and given my 11 years as a full-time travel writer and now 42-year (yikes) career as a full-time journalist, I’m going to be writing a “FUTURE OF TRAVEL” blog pretty much every weekday, or maybe every day, from now until we get a better picture of what’s Read more