The swimming pools are divine, the food excellent. and the sunsets amazing. But as I sit at home writing a story about my two-day visit to the Wailea Beach Resort, I keep thinking about a pair of trees. As you walk along the paved foot path that stretches across the resort (and, indeed, most of Wailea) you’ll pass massive, finely manicured lawns on small, undulating hills, with grass so green it would make the Irish envious. Near one of the buildings at the south end of the resort are two towering Kamani trees that rise gracefully into the Maui sky. Read more
Eastern Canadians are about to get vastly improved service to Europe, while Western Canadians are gaining an easy flight to Iceland. WestJet today said it is bringing back some of its Europe flights from Eastern Canada for next year, including Toronto-Dublin and Halifax to Edinburgh, Dublin and London Gatwick. They’re also instituting flights from Calgary to Reykjavik, Iceland and from St. John’s, Newfoundland to London Gatwick. As WestJet continues to strengthen its presence in Western Canada, the airline said it is also enhancing its 787 Dreamliner hub, increasing frequencies for international routes and adding daily exclusive service to Japan. “Today’s Read more
Air Canada is boosting its Asia presence. American travelers are eyeing the Caribbean, and Canadians are looking for lesser-known options. Meanwhile, Iceland could be poised for another volcano. Today’s blog post has all sorts of travel news and trends. AIR CANADA EXPANDS ASIA PRESENCE Asia travel has been slow to recover from COVID-19, but Air Canada is betting on the Asian continent in a big way. Air Canada today announced it is strategically boosting its Asia-Pacific network capacity beginning mid-December through to the end of next summer 2024. Among the changes: – Vancouver-Hong Kong operates up to 11 Read more
As you drive along the bypass road outside Lahaina, you’ll see several hand-made signs. “Respect the locals.” “Let Lahaina grieve.” And more. The sentiments are important. It’s only been three months and a few days since wildfires ripped through this once tranquil and beautiful seaside town, and many people are still living in hotels. Many others are still grieving lost parents and cherished uncles and aunties. Far too many children died in the fires, an unimaginable horror that a parent can never recover from. When we were on Maui recently, my wife chatted briefly with a hotel worker who said Read more
Canadians have a great, new way to get to Fort Myers, Florida. Porter Airlines has launched its daily, roundtrip service between Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) and Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) in Fort Myers. The Fort Myers area is home to exceptional resorts and beautiful islands, including Sanibel and Captiva. Captiva and Sanibel are known to have some of the best seashell hunting in the world. Fort Myers is the home of the Edison & Ford Winter Estates, where Thomas Edison and Henry Ford used to go to escape northern winters. The Fort Myers River District features monthly art Read more
Toronto Pearson Airport is nearly back to pre-pandemic traffic. The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (“GTAA”) today said passenger activity in the third quarter of the year was up 11.9% compared to the same period in 2022, rising from 11.2 million to 12.5 million. For the first nine months of 2023, passenger traffic rose 31.6% from 2022 levels, increasing to 33.8 million. Officials said passenger activity increased due to the strong travel demand and the travel industry partners’ ability to deliver more consistent levels of services following the pandemic, which created labour and supply challenges. During the third quarter and first nine Read more
Air Canada Adopts New Polices to Help PAX With Disabilities Passengers with disabilities will soon find significant improvements when they fly with the country’s largest airline. Air Canada today apologized for past problems suffered by passengers with disabilities and announced a series of measures to “reduce barriers and make travel simpler, more comfortable and consistently reliable for customers with disabilities.” The actions being taken will accelerate Air Canada’s Accessibility Plan 2023-26, a three-year strategy released in June, and are intended to reduce or eliminate major sources of dissatisfaction and trip disruption for customers with disabilities. Among the changes are priority boarding, Read more
