Great news out of Western Canada, Europe and the Caribbean today. The iconic Fairmont Banff Springs, Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge and Fairmont Chateau Whistler all re-open today after being closed since April 10 due to COVID-19. Greece re-opened its borders today, as well. And Jamaica will do so June 15. FAIRMONT RESORTS RE-OPEN OUT WEST One hundred and thirty two years ago today, the iconic Banff Springs Hotel opened its doors to guests for the very first time. So it is fitting that Fairmont Hotels & Resorts in Canada’s Western Mountain Region – Fairmont Banff Springs, Fairmont Read more
Greece
America’s favourite place to escape is opening for business. Meanwhile, Japan and Sicily will both apparently subsidize tourists who visit their countries and aid in their economic recovery. Meanwhile, both Spain and Greece are prepared to open their doors to some visitors. My Future of Travel blog for May 25. VEGAS COMING BACK Mark down the date June 4 for Vegas, baby. And Reno, too. We’ve seen some openings in Europe and elsewhere, but this is probably the biggest U.S. travel news of the last two month; word that Nevada casinos can fling open their doors on June 4; a Read more
This is another installment of my FUTURE OF TRAVEL series. Today I’m looking at a variety of topics, including closed borders. For all the talk of COVID-19 recoveries in some parts of the world, and it IS good news, it doesn’t mean we’ll be jetting off to Australia or Austria any time soon. In the words of The Eagles, “I’m stuck on the border.” The Canada-U.S. border, which is sometimes called the longest, undefended (for now, anyway) border in the world, has been closed since March 21. Only essential goods are allowed to cross, although people can go across if Read more
A lenswear company called Lensbest has released a new, data-driven list of the best places in the world to watch a sunset. As someone who tries to watch a sunset whenever he can (okay, I’m a romantic), I got a kick out of this. The company surveyed travel journalists (myself included) around the globe and came up with the top 100. Santorini, Greece, was the most nominated place to view a sunset worldwide, followed by the Grand Canyon in Arizona and Mykonos Greece, giving two podium spots to the country that gave us the first Olympics. Some 600 global locations Read more
Hong Kong makes sense. Certainly Tokyo. But Athens? And how does my home city of Toronto end up fifth best for food in Canada? Booking.com today released a list of the top destinations its travellers enjoy for great food. There are some obvious inclusions and some surprising exclusions, if you ask me. (Which you technically didn’t). Here’s what booking.com customers came up with for a ranking of the food scene in Canada: 1. Vancouver 2. Montreal 3. Halifax 4. Winnipeg 5. Toronto I don’t want to get all parochial here, but there’s not a chance Toronto is only the fifth Read more
