If you’re one of my American friends and are looking for a last-minute option for the Fourth of July, here are some of my fave places in the U.S., including California, New York State, Hawaii, Texas and Florida. VERMONT – Lovely villages with brilliant white church steeples and pretty mountain scenery. Also likely to be cooler than many U.S. destinations in July. Burlington is a great city to check out. DENVER – Not sure being a mile high will keep you cool, but there are always the nearby mountains to explore. Try an electric Tuk Tuk ride of downtown Denver Read more
Santa Monica
Canadian tourism is setting an ambitious goal to move up the tourism ladder. Whether it can be achieved is something nobody will know for several years. Destination Canada on Thursday May 16 launched its new tourism strategy, ‘A World of Opportunity‘ which sets a firm focus on transforming the Canadian tourism sector and catapulting Canada back into the top seven global destinations by 2030. Destination Canada President and CEO, Marsha Walden, and Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Minister of Tourism, officially presented the tourism roadmap designed to increase Canada’s global competitiveness and bring in up to $160 billion in annual revenue by 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
With hot new openings and under-the-radar surprises to cultural icons and globally held accolades, the reasons to jet off to Los Angeles in 2024 are endless. Beckoning travelers to discover a place where magic happens and dreams come true, the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board is spotlighting the most significant milestones and must-visit spots from the Eastside to the Westside in the year ahead. “The city of Los Angeles is undergoing transformational change that visitors and Angelenos will experience across every touchpoint in 2024, especially travelers who haven’t visited in recent years, from world-renowned dining to major developments in sports, Read more
Thinking of a trip to Europe next year? You’ll likely need a special waiver form/authorization statement. Americans, Canadians, Australians, Mexico citizens and many others heading to Europe have traditionally not needed special documentation, other than a passport. But the European Union is changing the rules for 2024, and will now require a special authorization for people travelling from visa-exempt countries (1.4 billion people in all) to so-called Schengen Zone countries, which you can apply for in advance through the European Travel Information and Authorization System, or ETIAS. NOTE: This does not apply to the United Kingdom or Ireland, which are Read more