American lawmakers and business officials are ratcheting up the pressure on the Trudeau government Ottawa to get rid of the controversial ArriveCan app. Nearly 1,500 emails have been sent to federal MPs and Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino since the Canadian American Business Council’s new campaign, “Travel Like it’s 2019,” went live two weeks ago, The Canadian Press reports. The online campaign calls on Ottawa to scrap the troublesome ArriveCan app, a mandatory pre-screening tool for visitors to Canada, and to tackle the backlog plaguing the Canada-U.S. trusted-traveller system known as Nexus. Critics have blasted ArriveCan for causing airport congestion Read more
Niagara Falls
Toronto has a great new downtown attraction, and I’m giving away two pairs of free tickets. DETAILS BELOW. Little Canada is an amazing, miniature re-creation of several regions of the country. Toronto’s newest big attraction, Little Canada, has opened its doors at long last; giants and little ones alike can satisfy their wanderlust by visiting Canada’s striking landscapes and intricate landmarks by simply heading to downtown Toronto. The highly detailed and immersive miniature attraction offers spectacular scenery, enveloping soundscapes, animated features, and moving cars, trains, and boats that all operate on a 15-minute day cycle; upon sunset thousands of tiny Read more
Mayors of Canadian and U.S. border cities are pushing the Canadian government to jettison COVID testing requirements it says are both overly expensive and unnecessary. Mayors from the likes of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Windsor, Sarnia, and Niagara Falls, New York, as well as upstate New York Congressman Brian Higgins, gathered for a virtual press event on Monday to denounce the current rules implemented by the Trudeau government in Ottawa. In a tidy symbolic note, the event was held just hours after the U.S. government opened its land borders to fully vaccinated residents of Canada and Mexico, as well as opening Read more
New York City has unveiled a new campaign and recovery plan. I also have news on a Newfoundland hotel that’s been named best in Canada and number three in the world. I also have interesting polls on the thinking of Canadian and American consumers, and a report on Anguilla. My Future of Travel blog for July 8. NYC Recovery Plan The Coalition for NYC Hospitality & Tourism Recovery, an initiative of NYC & Company, the official destination marketing organization and convention and visitors bureau for the five boroughs of New York City, today unveiled its roadmap for tourism reimagining and recovery, Read more
Canada and the US are keeping the border closed until July 21. But the good news is two great Niagara experiences open soon; the Hornblower Cruise to the Falls and the Whirlpool Jet rides. I also look at Canada’s rating for adventure travel, the quarantine situation in Hawaii, re-openings in Europe, and LGBTQ travel news in my Future of Travel blog for June 16, 2020. Niagara Falls Re-Opening Starts This Week One of the world’s great destinations – and one that’s easy for many Canadians to reach without leaving their home province – is re-opening its amazing attractions. Read more
