Tour Operators
Canadian tourism: an industry in crisis
In a letter to its members, Hotel Association of Canada (HAC) president, Tony Pollard says that "plain and simple," Canada's tourism industry is in crisis. HAC's president points out that funding for the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) has declined from $100 million in 2001 to $72 million in 2012 and will drop further in 2013 to $58.5 million. Observes Pollard: "The cuts come when Canada faces increasing competition from international competitors including the new $200 million [Brand USA] program - $20 million of which is being spent in Canada." The result, says HAC's boss is that a decade...
Breezes Trelawny sale completed
Blue Diamond Hotels & Resorts has completed its purchase of the Breezes Trelawny Resort & Spa in Jamaica. Earlier this year, SuperClubs announced that the property was going to be sold. Blue Diamond Hotels & Resorts is a subsidiary of the Sunwing Travel Group. Plans -- details of which will be released shortly -- call for the resort to temporarily close on June 1, 2012, and undergo a $40 million renovation. It will reopen to guests as a 4 star plus resort on Nov. 1, 2012, under the new name of Memories White Sands Beach Resort & Spa. The purchase signals the increasing importance of Jamaica...
Goway’s cruising in OZ
Goway has launched its first brochure dedicated to cruise travellers bound for Australia. The operator notes that selling cruise trip packages can be challenging for agents these days with the amount of non- commissionable elements, including airfares, shore excursions, etc. A strategy to improve selling cruises is by offering add-on services from land extensions, pre- or post-cruise accommodations or shore excursions in Australia, all of which are fully commissionable through Goway. Goway points out that travellers should spend time on land to see more of Australia and it offers many cruise...
It’s all about the beach
Well, the truth is out. Forty-five per cent of Canadians say that they prefer a beach vacation to all other types of vacations -- and that puts Canucks far ahead of the global average which was 33%. The findings are part of the newly released 2012 Flip Flop Report that was conducted by Harris Interactive for Expedia.ca and which looked at the behaviour and preferences of over 8,000 adults in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia in a total of 21 countries. Globally, the average beach holiday is just over one week in length at 7.7 days. Canadians inch past the global average...
ACV unveils new collection
Air Canada Vacations has launched its 2012 South America, Asia, South Pacific Collection. The 100-page brochure features a variety of newly-added tours, such as treks in Australia or along the Peruvian Inca Trail, Spaceship campervan rentals in Australia and New Zealand and that's just a sampling of what ACV is offering in over 15 countries. As well, when you book your client an ACV Air & Hotel or Air & Tour package in any destination in South America or the South Pacific by July 15, 2012, you can save your clients $250 per couple. And if you book an Air & Hotel or Air & Tour package in any...
Want more visitors, don’t raise taxes
Leave it to the Irish to come up with a pretty straightforward approach to increasing tourist arrivals -- don't raise taxes. Tourism Ireland reports that the value added tax (VAT) on tourism services in the Republic of Ireland will remain at 9% until the end of 2013. Jayne Shackleford, manager of Tourism Ireland in Canada, points out that: "The island of Ireland continues to offer great value to visitors throughout 2012 and into 2013. Value for money remains one of our key messages this year as we promote Ireland as a vacation destination to Canadian holidaymakers. The perception of value...
Rugby Canada partners with Merit Travel
Rugby Canada has picked Toronto-based Merit Travel Group as its Official Travel Partner leading up to the 2015 Pan Am games and 2015 Rugby World Cup. Merit will provide a full service travel program to all of the National teams and programs operated by Rugby Canada. Nick Taylor, director of commercial operations for Rugby Canada, said: "Ensuring that our athletes arrive at their destination in the safest and most efficient manner means that they, and our management team will be able to focus on the training and competitive aspects of their tours." He noted as well that the new relationship...
New Sunquest Wedding Guide available
The latest edition of Sunquest's popular Wedding Guide is now available and filled with all sorts of useful information for clients planning a destination wedding, honeymoon escape or renewal of vows ceremony. Acting as a complement to Sunquest's Southern Sun brochure (the 2012/13 edition will be available within the next couple of months), this guide contains all the other "need-to-know"information (facilities, services, etc.) about the many resorts that Sunquest offers that specialize is making those "I do's"extra special. Destinations throughout the Caribbean, Mexico, Costa Rica and...