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
Super Bowl
It’s a great matchup on paper, with the NFL’s top quarterback (Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs, a number 10 draft pick) against San Francisco 49ers signal caller Brock Purdy, a kid taken last in the NFL draft in 2022, 262nd overall. It’s also a fun matchup of cities that are quite unalike; one smack dab in the middle of the American heartland and solid as Midwestern rock; the other perched on the edge of the continent and known for its breezy, live for today attitude. Here’s a look at the two cities. Full disclosure: I grew up in Read more
It’s almost Valentine’s Day, and that means it’s time for romance. The folks at Ubuy.com looked at TripAdvisor data to score each European capital city for romance. The criteria included the number of fine dining restaurants, 5-star hotels, and romantic tours. A romantic tour only gets one point, which I don’t understand. I also would put more emphasis on a five-star hotel than an expensive restaurant, if only because you’re likely to have more time to enjoy a hotel than a restaurant. It’s a tad arbitrary, and it doesn’t take the look or feel of a city into account. But Read more
This was not my most pleasant air experience, so forgive me if I’m a little cranky. I got up at 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday of this week for a flight from Toronto to San Francisco. Terminal One at Toronto Pearson was having baggage issues and there was a big line-up at the check-in counter. I wasn’t in a great mood on the flight, I admit. But I read a book for a couple hours and tried to sleep, or at least rest comfortably. That, however, was pretty much impossible as a couple across the aisle from me played some kind Read more
Las Vegas welcomed 38.8 million visitors in 2022, according to research published today by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA). This represents a 20.5 percent boost from 2021. Conventions also continued to ramp up in 2022, the first full calendar year of tradeshows and meetings since the pandemic, hosting nearly 5 million meeting attendees. That is more than double the 2.2 million convention attendees in 2021. Hotel occupancy for 2022 also came in at a strong 79 percent, with weekend occupancy at 89 percent and midweek occupancy a 75 percent. Las Vegas leads the nation in overall hotel Read more
