The Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA) has launched new targeted campaigns as part of its global marketing and visitor education efforts. The purpose of these initiatives is to reinvigorate responsible travel demand from key markets around the world to the Hawaiian Islands. “We are being more assertive in our messaging strategy with inspiring campaigns that spotlight Hawai‘i’s people, culture and experiences unlike anywhere else in the world,” said Mufi Hannemann, HTA board chair. “We need to ensure that the Hawaiian Islands stay top-of-mind among travelers amidst the competitive global market, especially as we head into the summer and fall.” “The Read more
Edmonton
Muscat, Oman has the world’s best airport, Minneapolis is best in the U.S., and Calgary is tops in Canada, a new study from AirHelp says. The company ranked 200 world airports for on-time performance, customer opinion (based on surveys) and food + drink, then issued a final score. AirHelp puts on-time performance as the main component, worth a full 60% of an airport’s final score. A score of 8.5 indicates 85% of flights arrived on time. They count a plane as on time if it arrives within 15 minutes of its scheduled arrival. Customer opinion (they were asked about wait Read more
WestJet is making it easier for Western Canadians to visit several great U.S. destinations, including San Francisco, Nashville and Detroit. WestJet today announced four new routes as part of the airline’s summer schedule, unveiling significant opportunities for Western Canadians and Americans to explore both sides of the border this summer. Offering a comprehensive network of connectivity between two major Western Canadian cities and the United States, WestJet’s summer schedule will feature new routes between Edmonton and Atlanta, Nashville and San Francisco, along with new service connecting Vancouver and Detroit. “We are thrilled to be expanding transborder connectivity from Edmonton and Read more
Victoria, British Columbia has been named the world’s best city in this year’s Conde Nast Travellers’ Readers Choice Awards, while Canada owned the top three picks for world’s friendliest cities. Victoria was third in the friendly category, while Edmonton came second and Calgary was first. Dublin, Ireland was fourth and Quebec City fifth, giving Canada four of the top five spots. I might push for St. John’s or Saskatoon or Regina as the friendliest city in the country if I had a vote, but I suspect Conde Nast readers aren’t as familiar with them as they are with the winning Read more
Porter Airlines is expanding its Western Canada network with the addition of a non-stop route between Ottawa International Airport (YOW) and Edmonton International Airport (YEG). The new route begins October 4, with one daily roundtrip flight operated on the 132-seat Embraer E195-E2 aircraft. Introductory roundtrip fares start at $184. The Edmonton-Ottawa route offers a variety of connections to Eastern Canada via Ottawa. Porter also operates multiple non-stop daily flights between Edmonton and Toronto-Pearson. Here’s a story I wrote about Ottawa a few years ago. And one from Edmonton back in 2014. Route Departure Arrival Ottawa-Edmonton 7:15 p.m. 9:40 p.m. Edmonton-Ottawa Read more
