More Canadians are visiting Australia than ever, and Tourism Australia touched down in Toronto last week to say thank you. Karen Fitzgerald, General Manager, Experiences, Tourism Australia, said the downtown meeting was an opportunity to connect with Canadian travel advisors and to make sure they’re aware of the country’s luxury travel experiences. Fitzgerald took time to introduce agents and Aussie specialists to the Signature Experiences of Australia program, a Tourism Australia initiative with seven marketing collectives that offer unique experiences for the luxury traveller. Together the seven marketing collectives represent 176 operators across Australia and offer more 800 experiences. Australian Read more
luxury travel
Lists of great travel destinations are always arbitrary. But I still enjoy looking at lists of things like “World’s Best Cities,” or “Most Attractive Miniature Golf Courses.” The latest list to grab my attention is one of the 50 Best Beaches in North America, as compiled by World50Beaches. As always, there are some I quibble with, and some I think were wrongfully omitted. Yet this list is nice in that it points out a number of places I’ve never heard of, including a beauty in western Canada called San Josef Bay, which is on the far northwest tip of Vancouver Read more
Forbes Travel has released its list of the top hotels around the world. It’s a big world, and it’s winter in the northern hemisphere, and I’m based in Toronto, so I’m going to only mention Canadian properties and those in the Caribbean. Toronto claimed four of the five-star hotels in Canada, which surprised me a little. But there are plenty of four-star properties in Montreal and Vancouver, not to mention one each in Banff and Halifax. For the Caribbean, luxury destinations such as the Cayman Islands and Anguilla dominate the five-star list. FIVE-STAR HOTELS IN CANADA Four Seasons, Toronto (haven’t Read more
PRINCEVILLE, KAUAI – I almost thought I was in the wrong place. My wife and I recently pulled up in front of 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay on the lush north shore of Kaua’i. I stayed at the property eight years ago when it was a St. Regis hotel. I have a pretty good memory for places and hotels, but this didn’t look remotely familiar. As it turns out, there’ s a very good reason for that. The former hotel, which featured a pretty, enclosed lobby with a nice Hawaiian feel, was purchased by Starwood Capital in 2018 for USD$225 millon. Read more
The travel boom continues for most of the world, and 2025 is shaping up to be a great year. But where to go? Well, that depends on what you like and what you want to pay and how tolerant of crowds you are. If you like Europe, please go. But don’t visit in summer when it’s packed with tourists. Instead, go in spring or mid-to-late fall. If you want to go to a place where the Canadian dollar is relatively strong, try Australia, Japan, or New Zealand. Of course, flights there can be expensive, so you have to take that Read more
