Three of Canada’s loyalty powerhouses captured eight out of the twelve categories in Canada’s Choice 2024. Rewards Canada’s annual survey of Canadians had an excellent turnout of over 35,000 votes cast over the course of two weeks which saw Aeroplan, TD Bank and Scotiabank/Scene+ dominate the rankings. Marriott Bonvoy also scored a big win. “In general the results do show the prowess that the large loyalty programs and credit card issuers have,” said Patrick Sojka, founder of RewardsCanada.ca. “Several categories were hard fought battles that were closely contested. The overall Credit Card Rewards program saw 1st and 2nd place separated by Read more
Marriott Bonvoy
A new study has found Vancouver to be Canada’s most expensive city for renting Airbnbs. The research, carried out by financial advice website Money.ca, calculated the cost of renting property on Airbnb in different cities. They used Airbnb’s earnings calculator to work out the average cost of renting out an entire one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom property in Canada’s 50 most populated cities. TOP 11 MOST EXPENSIVE CITIES IN CANADA Ranking Location Average Airbnb cost per night (CAD) 1. Vancouver, British Columbia $325 2. Toronto, Ontario $315 3. Mississauga, Ontario $305 =4. Kelowna, British Columbia $286 Lévis, Quebec 6. Quebec Read more
Leisure travel is booming in Canada. The loyalty program is going strong. And there are new Marriott hotels coming across the country. I recently sat down with Paul Cahill, the Senior Vice-President for Canada Operations for Marriott International Inc., to talk about Marriott Bonvoy’s portfolio of hotels in Canada. There are currently 275 Marriott properties in Canada, and 90 more are in the pipeline. Cahill said Marriott is especially focused on lifestyle, upper-midscale and extended stay brands. Ninety new hotels is a lot, but Cahill noted that Marriott saw leisure revenue in Canada increase by a remarkable 36% in 2023, Read more
Come for the desert. Stay for the museums, fabulous food, great hiking, luxurious hotels, sensational sports, wellness retreats, local wines and more. Arizona Tourism officials made a strategic stop in Toronto last night (March 20) to tout the benefits of Canadian visits to the Grand Canyon State. Arizona had nearly one million Canadian visitors in 2019. The figures for last year aren’t in but they’re not expecting to reach that level for anther year or so. In a one-on-one chat, Joanna Tejeda, Senior Travel Industry Marketing Manager, Arizona Office of Tourism, told me there are a number of great new Read more
The Israel Ministry of Tourism says Air Canada will resume flights from Toronto to Tel Aviv on April 8. The ministry sent out a release today (Feb. 29, 2024) showing the dates that various airlines will resume flights to airports in Israel. Air Canada is one of the airlines listed for flight resumptions in April. “We have always said we intend to resume service to TLV, and we are finalizing the logistics at this point for a potential resumption in April,” an Air Canada spokesman told me. Citing the war in Israel, Air Canada temporarily cancelled flights to Tel Aviv Read more
