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
Ritz Carlton
The government of Canada has quietly issued travel advisories for a number of European countries that are very popular with Canadians. The Canadian government’s travel advisory site has been updated in the past 10 days or so and now includes warnings about terrorism threats and crime in several major European destinations. The following countries are all at level yellow, the second level in a four-group warning system, which advocates “a high degree of caution” for visitors. UNITED KINGDOM Last Updated: Feb. 6, 2024 Warning: Exercise a high degree of caution in the United Kingdom due to the threat of terrorism. There Read more
If you’ve noticed air fares are more reasonable these days, you’re definitely onto something. The latest StatsCan report states that consumers paid less for air transportation (21.1%) in September on a year-over-year basis. That coincides with a gradual increase in flights offered by airlines over the previous 12 months, the agency said. Robert Kokonis, president and managing director at AirTrav Inc., told me that the StatsCan figures estimate the average change of airfares within Canada and between Canadian cities and international destinations. “I am not surprised given the growth of seat capacity recovery over the past 12 months, particularly in Read more
He’s a top chef that has worked with some of the biggest names in North American cooking. He’s put his own touches on fancy, $100 dishes served up in some of the finest hotels in Canada and the United States. But Chef Paul Shewchuk doesn’t get noticed by the average Joe until a major league ballplayer posts a blog saying the man makes amazing chicken tenders. “I honestly don’t know how this happened,” Shewchuk says as he chats with a journalist at the posh Ritz-Carlton Toronto, where he carries the title Executive Chef. “This blog went up in 2018 or Read more
The man in charge of bringing visitors to Vancouver doesn’t seem terribly happy about the state of tourism in his city. Speaking to the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade last week, Royce Chwin, the CEO of Destination Vancouver, said there is a “great dearth” of new tourism experiences and attractions in Vancouver. The Daily Hive reports that “the last major attraction that opened in Vancouver was almost exactly a decade ago in 2013, when FlyOver Canada opened within the former IMAX theatre space at Canada Place.” The website said the city also has a shortage of hotel rooms, and that Read more
