The new Forbes hotel, spa and restaurant rankings contain good news for travellers in Canada and for Canadian properties. The Forbes people today put out a “sneak peek” of their 2021 ratings. As part of the 2021 awards selection, six hotels and spas from Toronto-based Four Seasons were awarded new five-star ratings, adding to the existing 2020 award winners. A total of 46 Four Seasons hotels and resorts, 13 spas and two restaurants have received the five-star designation. Three Four Seasons properties received a new five-star designation this year, including Four Seasons Hotel Montreal and Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia Comcast Read more
Vancouver
The Trudeau government says Canadians shouldn’t expect open borders anytime soon. Also, Air Canada is teaming up with the Cleveland Clinic, a look at the best hotels in Canada as voted by Travel + Leisure, and new social distancing rules for cruise ships. My Future of Travel blog for July 9. Canada’s Borders Staying Shut For Now BNN Bloomberg has this report on the Canadian border situation: Finance Minister Bill Morneau says he doesn’t expect Canada to lift travel restrictions with the U.S. set in place to curtail the spread of COVID-19, and opening the border would create “additional risk” Read more
Air France says it’s re-instating flights from France to cities around the world, including some in North America. Sunwing, meanwhile, will launch its Canadian domestic service again this summer. The province of British Columbia and the Caribbean island of Aruba also are opening up for visitors. I’ve also got news on British tourism and United States cruises. Oh, and a crazy quote from the head of the Dubai Airport that will make you think twice about flying any time soon. Here’s my May 19 Future of Travel report. SUNWING CANADIAN DOMESTIC SERVICE FOR 2020 Seeing the great sights of Canada Read more
A month or two ago, when all this crazy coronavirus stuff hit the fan, I suggested that 2020 may be The Summer of Canada given our reluctance (and, for now, inability) to travel anywhere else over the next few months, and given the low Canadian dollar and the damage COVID-19 has done to our collective pocketbooks. I’m taking another look at the issue today given a Conference Board of Canada study I spotted the other day (and one I referenced on the weekend during my live interview on CTV News). Today’s Future of Travel Blog also looks at a new Read more
Air Canada is taking its service to a whole new level, and is giving other North American airlines something to seriously think about. Canada’s largest airline today announced its new “Signature Service,” including lie-flat seats on some flights. Available today for international customers and, starting June 1 on select flights within North America, the new service makes Air Canada the first North American airline to designate aircraft with lie-flat seats for premium customers on select non-stop, transcontinental flights within Canada and to the U.S., including overnight daily flights from Vancouver, Los Angeles and San Francisco to Toronto. I don’t know Read more
