I mentioned Edmonton in a blog a couple weeks ago, showing some photos of a city that’s very much on the rise. Today I’ll stick to the mountains and a bit of Calgary as I continue my look at great Canadian destinations.
Waterton Lakes National Park
David Whitaker was hired in May of this year as chief marketing officer for Brand USA, which was set up in 2010 to market the U.S. to the world. He served as head of Tourism Toronto from 2007 until taking the Brand USA job. Prior to his Toronto job the Georgia native spent 17 years with the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau. I sat down with him this week in Orlando at IPW, the massive, annual U.S. tourism session that attracts thousands of travel, trade and media types to talk business and book U.S. travel. Whitaker was in constant Read more
This is getting harder. Now that I’m travelling a lot more (and not tied to the desk as much as when I was the Toronto Star Travel editor, a post I left in August, 2013), my year-end “Jimmy Awards” are proving a little more tricky. I did a fair bit of travelling in Canada this year, hitting all the provinces except Newfoundland and New Brunswick. Which means I have a great many more things to single out than in previous years. Which is why I’m splitting up the Jimmy’s into two categories: Canada and the rest of the world. I’ll Read more
WATERTON LAKES NATIONAL PARK – This might be the most under-appreciated national park in Canada. Ask Canadians about Waterton Lakes , and probably half the time you’ll get a blank stare. Other times, you’ll get a small nod and the response, “I’ve heard it’s beautiful.” Most of the time, the latter phrase is followed by “But I haven’t made it yet.” Me? I don’t remember when the place first entered my mind. But I get reminded it of every time I go home to my Dad’s house in California. For years, he’s had a black and white drawing of Waterton Read more
