Dealing with tourism boards is sometimes a funny business for a travel writer. Most of us who’ve been doing this job for years often attend mass meetings where we chat one-on-one with destination marketing organization types, such as Tourism Toronto or Visit Britain. Inevitably, at some point, I ask PR people what’s new. But I’ve discovered – slowly, for the fact is I’m not that bright – that it’s often the wrong question because the person I’m talking to automatically starts focussing on a new hotel or attraction. Which means they ignore the things that people have been visiting their Read more
London
This story originally appeared under my byline at TravelPulse Canada, where I work as senior editor. AUSTIN, TEXAS – Canadian travel agents have no shortage of great product to sell when it comes to Great Britain. In my TravelPulse Canada capacity, I sat down with a dozen or suppliers at this week’s Destination Britain North America meeting in Texas and came away with a remarkably diverse number of great options for agents to consider when booking their next visit. It would take a small book to include everything I learned, but here are some highlights: MANCHESTER: Governments are spending nearly Read more
Here’s a cool bit. A study from Nestpick, a furnished apartment search engine, found that six of the world’s top 10 cities for millennials are right here in Canada. The study gave Berlin the nod as the top world city for millennials to live, work and play. But Montreal was second, Toronto fifth and Vancouver sixth. The Nestpick study looked at everything from recreation to business, housing, food, universities and “openness” before coming up with its rankings. “Millennials grew up in a shrinking world, where the internet opened doors their parents never could have dreamed of, and budget airlines made Read more
TORONTO – Bisha Hotel Toronto designer Alessandro Munge of Toronto’s highly successful Studio Munge is talking about his relationship with Bisha owner and developer Charles Khabouth. Munge has been friends with the Toronto nightclub and entertainment impresario for two dozen years and knows what he likes and what pushes his buttons. “It’s a constant push for quality, quality, quality,” Munge told a group of journalists on a preview tour Wednesday afternoon. “If it’s exciting, he’s okay with it. But if not, well, ….” I’m no designer, but I’ve seen a lot of hotels in my day and I can safely Read more
LONDON – I was attending a tourism conference in this southwest Ontario city in mid-spring and walked into a large, industrial space in the Old East Village Area of town. There was a gleaming coffee shop off to one side; the sort of place that looks like one you’d find in Toronto’s West Queen West area or Vancouver’s Gastown. Past that was a lovely, bright grocery store selling lots of local foods and organic products. Behind that was a series of small businesses that it turns out are part of something called the London Food Incubator; a building that charges Read more
