Canadians have more ways to fly to sun destinations this winter. My travel notebook for today also looks at how the Toronto International Film Festival might impact the city’s tourism, how Canadian airports are faring with delays, and more mixed news about world business travel recovery. SWOOP ADDS MORE SUN Swoop, which bills itself as Canada’s leading ultra-low-cost airline, today announced that it’s expanding its winter sun-flying offering from John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport with new non-stop service to Fort Lauderdale and Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. Swoop will begin its ultra-affordable flying to Fort Lauderdale on December Read more
celebrities
Meredith Vieira has been all over the world in her role as a reporter, but her visit on the Avalon View from Avalon Waterways was her first trip on a cruise ship. Vieira (see my ship christening story) said she’s a little frightened of water, but loved being on a river where she could clearly see land. “I would definitely do this again,” she told a group of journalists the day after the christening. “You can make it whatever you want, and they help make it whatever you want.” “I didn’t realize how emotional I would get,” Vieira said. “I Read more
It’s tricky when you invite someone who’s afraid of the water to get on board a ship. It’s especially unusual to ask that person to christen the ship, become the ship’s godmother, and then take a four-day cruise. But everything went according to plan this week when television star and journalist Meredith Vieira christened the newest “suite ship” in the Avalon Waterways fleet. (See short video here) Vieira handled the honors with aplomb in Bratislava, Slovakia on Tuesday, and with a bit of emotion to boot, cutting a long cord with a pair of scissors and sending a bottle of Read more
NEWPORT BEACH, CALIFORNIA – Designer name shops? Check. Celebrity-studded waterfront? Check. Posh hotels with sumptuous spas overlooking the coast? Check on that, too. Newport Beach is known as one of the more elegant destinations in southern California, and rightfully so. But it’s also got its fun, casual side, with waterfront carnival rides and corn dogs, a remarkable set of beach homes you can rent for next to nothing, and an ongoing, decades-old fight between two businesses who both claim to have invented the frozen, chocolate-dipped banana. I recently had a weekend to explore the charms of this popular city, which Read more
Canadian millennials would rather take grandma on their bucket list trips than a movie star. Hotels.com surveyed Canadian millennials and found that 40% would rather complete their bucket list trips with their parents or grandparents than anyone else. Only 11 % said they’d want to complete their trips with a celebrity. 28% said they’d want to go with a sibling and 25% said they’d like to go alone. As well, almost one-in-five millennials (18%) said they get their travel inspiration from parents or grandparents. I don’t know about you, but in these days of negative news I love that millennials Read more
