The Paris Summer Olympics begin on Friday, July 26. And I’m very much looking forward to it. I covered the Toronto bid for the 1996 Summer Games (I seem to recall we lost to Atlanta) for the Toronto Star, and then the city’s (again) unsuccessful bid for the 2008 Olympics, which went to Beijing. It was a tad depressing, but then I handled the Star’s coverage of Vancouver’s winning bid (it was close, but they got it) for the 2010 Winter Games. Covering the bids, as well as the International Olympics Committee voting scandal in the early 2000’s, allowed me Read more
Olympics
The Paris Summer Olympics begin a week from tomorrow, on July 26. And I’m very much looking forward to it. I covered the Olympic Games for the Toronto Star for many, many years, including both of Toronto’s failed bids to stage the Games and then Vancouver’s successful gamble for the 2010 Winter Olympics I also was in Sydney, Salt Lake City, Athens, Turin, Beijing and Vancouver to cover the Games in person. I haven’t covered any Olympics since then, but it remains a magical event that I tune into when I can. This year’s Games will be especially cool because Read more
Air Canada has renewed its partnership with the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Committees until 2030. It also has unveiled a special new Boeing 777 with special decorations and Go Canada Go message. Air Canada will transport more than 1,000 Team Canada athletes and delegation members to the upcoming Games, showcasing the airline’s ongoing commitment to connecting the best of Canada with the world. The new agreement extends through the 2030 Winter Games, including Paris 2024, Cortina d’Ampezzo-Milan for the 2026 Winter Games and the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, and also the 2030 Winter Olympics. Air Canada has been the Official Airline Read more
The smiles say it all. Canada’s not all the way back, but U.S. tourism reps at this year’s IPW conference in Los Angeles are pleased with how Canadians are returning to key states south of the border. Visit California statistics show Canada last year eclipsed pre-pandemic visitation levels, rising from 1.732 million visits in 2019 to 1.799 last year. Canadian visits to Florida last year were at 93% of pre-pandemic levels. Orlando says it attracted 1.256 million Canadians last year, a new, single-year record. For New York City, visitors from Canada were achingly close to 2019 numbers (995,000, compared to Read more
Google Flights has revealed the top searches on its platform by people in the U.S. who are looking to travel between June 1 and Aug. 31, 2024. It’s a list that’s heavy on European favourites, plus some ever-popular U.S. destinations and one great Asian spot. As luck would have it, Air Canada has a sale on flights to Europe including top cities like Paris, Rome and London. Click here for more information. Here’s the top 10, along with suggestions from Google (and me). LONDON Google: Along with arts and culture aplenty, shop ‘til you drop in the land of Big Ben Read more
