Berkshire Hathaway recently completed a study of the world’s safest cities and countries, and it’s fabulous news for Canada. Montreal was named the world’s safest city, and Canada was named as the world’s safest country. Here’s the top 15 for countries, and note the dominance of European nations (none in the top five, but ten in the top 15). I also love seeing New Zealand and Australia on the list, as they are two of my fave countries to visit. Canada New Zealand Australia Iceland Japan Austria Ireland Netherlands Denmark Portugal Norway Switzerland Italy Spain Germany Here’s the top 15 Read more
Wailea
Travel + Leisure readers recently named their fave 20 hotels and resorts in Hawai’i. As someone who’s been a good three dozen times and has probably spent a year of his life in the islands, I have to say it’s a good list. But even a ranking of 20 top places to stay misses a lot of fine places to rest your head in the Hawaiian islands. With that in mind, I’ve got a list of my own places to try that didn’t make the Travel + Leisure list. I also have some thoughts on the T + L readers’ Read more
A coordinated statewide effort to support Maui’s tourism recovery is now underway, with the launch of a $6 million Maui Emergency Marketing Campaign funded by the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority (HTA). With Maui’s visitor arrivals still 21% below pre-pandemic levels, the initiative addresses critical recovery needs that impact the entire state’s visitor industry ecosystem. By focusing efforts where they are needed most, the campaign will stimulate travel demand as early as this summer and through the end of 2025—supporting local businesses, preserving jobs, and restoring visitor confidence in the state’s most important economic driver. (Some people worry about the cost of Read more
I always knew I was ahead of my time. Okay, all joking aside, I was happy to read in Travel + Leisure magazine that a poll of 2,000 U.S. travellers found that Maui is the most romantic place on earth. The magazine said that FunJet Vacations recently released the findings of a poll it conducted with Talker Research looking into the most romantic destinations in the world. After polling 2,000 “general population Americans” to find out their preferred spots for romance, it turned out that Maui led the way, with 34% of respondents naming it the most romantic destination in Read more
It’s been a tough year for tourism on Maui, but positive signs are emerging. Virtuoso, a luxury travel agent network that books exclusive vacations around the world, said its sales for Maui resorts are up 4% for the first six months of the year. For the winter holiday or “festive” season, sales are up a whopping 66%. A network spokesperson on Monday, Aug. 12 said that West Maui/Lahaina bookings are about 7% lower than Wailea, which makes sense given the incredible fire damage to Lahaina in August of last year. “Even with the noticeable impacts on tourism to Maui, we Read more
