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| AC’S EURO EXPANSION |
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Air Canada Vacations launches 2010 European Collection brochure; adds 33 destinations to product offerings
Air Canada Vacations has added 33 destinations to its European lineup. The Europe brochure, launched this week, includes the newly added destinations, hotels, tours, rail passes and open-jaw, as well as Air Canada Vacations’ most recent cruise partner, Louis Cruises. Air Canada Vacations has added the following destinations: Manchester in England; Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland; Belfast in Ireland; Nice, Bordeaux, Marseille, Lyon and Cannes in France; Milan, Florence, Naples, Sorrento, Palermo and Venice in Italy; Bruges in Belgium; Cologne in Germany; Basel, Lausanne, Lucerne and Lugano in Switzerland; Mykonos, Santorini, Paros and Crete in Greece and Sitges, Ibiza, Mallorca, Seville, Valencia, Bilbao and Costa del Sol in Spain. Keep reading for informaiton on two-city combination packages.
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| V.COM COMES TO TOWN |
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Vacation.com holds press conference, offers forecast on 2010 and highlights what’s new
Charmaine Pang, photos by Lisa Raffaele
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| Tiffany Glass, Steve Tracas, Christine James, Stephen McGillivray | | Yesterday afternoon, Vacation.com hosted a press conference for Canadian trade media, discussing the year ahead and providing journalists with the latest news on the company. President and CEO of Vacation.com, Steve Tracas, brought several members of his team to Toronto, including Tiffany Glass, Vice President of E-commerce and Technology and Stephen McGillivray, Vice President of Marketing. They joined Christine James, Vice President, Canada. What else is new for Vacation.com this year? Keep reading to find out more.
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| VISITENGLAND LAUNCHES IN NORTH AMERICA |
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| James Berresford | | Official tourism body for England, VisitEngland, now launches in North America
VisitEngland CEO James Berresford recently travelled to New York City to announce and celebrate the official launch of VisitEngland in North America. Having launched in the UK in April 2009, the official tourism body for England will now expand its network to include the U.S and Canada. VisitEngland’s PR efforts aimed at the North American market will include promoting England via raising the profile of its culinary landscape. “The North American visitor market is England’s number one long haul market and is vital and valued, providing a 13 per cent market share of all visits to the country,” said Berresford. How many Canadians travelled to England last year? Keep reading to find out.
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| CANADIAN TOURISM TRICKLING BACK |
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Foreign visits to Canada, especially by Americans, rise in December: StatsCan
Canadian Press
Travel to Canada by foreign residents increased 0.9 per cent in December to two million trips, largely due to more overnight trips by U.S. residents. Statistics Canada reports increases in all modes of travel by American residents - overnight plane travel was up 2.4 per cent, overnight car trips rose 0.9, and same-day car trips increased 0.2. Residents of overseas countries made 343,000 trips to Canada in December, 0.2 per cent more than in November.
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| U.S. GRANTS ONEWORLD IMMUNITY |
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U.S. Department of Transportation grants antitrust immunity to alliance between American Airlines, British Airways, Iberia, Finnair, Royal Jordanian
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has proposed to grant antitrust immunity to American Airlines, British Airways, Iberia Airlines, Finnair and Royal Jordanian Airlines to form a global alliance on Friday. Under the proposal, the airlines must agree to conditions to protect consumers and preserve competition. The ruling, if finalized, would allow the two giant carriers and their partners in the Oneworld alliance to cooperate in ways normally forbidden under antitrust laws as collusion, such as coordinating fares and schedules. Keep reading for more.
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| HUNTINGTON’S VISA AGENT REWARDS |
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Huntington Travel launches spring break/early summer agent hotel promotion; receive $2 Visa Rewards per room night booked
Effective February 11, 2010, Huntington Travel launched its hotel promotion giving travel agents the opportunity to earn $2 Visa Rewards per room night for all hotel bookings made on huntingtontravel.net. Agents are asked to add their Visa Rewards number (the four digits located below their name on the Visa Rewards card) in the “Add Remarks” field when confirming their booking. Please note that this promotion is not combinable with any other promotional offer and is valid for new bookings made from February 11, 2010 until April 30, 2010. Keep reading for more information on the Agent Scotiabank Visa Rewards Program.
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| DIRECTOR KEVIN SMITH TOO FAT TO FLY? |
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| Kevin Smith | | Hefty Kevin Smith tweets foul after Southwest Airlines rejects him for being fat
Canadian Press
Kevin Smith says he's "way fat,'' but that shouldn't stop him from flying. The director and actor says a pilot ejected him from a Southwest Airlines flight from Oakland to Burbank, Calif., saying he didn't fit properly in a single seat. Smith raised a stink about the incident on his Twitter page Sunday, saying "I'm way fat, but I'm not there just yet,'' and "If you look like me, you may be ejected from Southwest Air.'' He posted a picture of himself sitting on the plane with his cheeks puffed out. Southwest says its "Customer of Size'' policy requires that travellers must be able to fit safely and comfortably in one seat or make other arrangements.
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WESTJET Q4 DROPS
WestJet reported a 64% drop in adjusted fourth-quarter profit Wednesday, as Canada's second-biggest carrier was unable to avoid industry-wide problems with an H1N1 scare and increased security measures at airports. For the quarter ended Dec. 31, Calgary-based WestJet earned $15.1 million, adjusted for a one-time income tax reduction in 2009, compared with $42 million in the same period in 2008. Revenues were down 7.4% to $570 million, while load factor rose 80 basis points to 78.4% in the quarter.
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VISA'S OLYMPIC SPENDERS
Visa Inc. said nearly US$5.2 million was spent on Visa cards on the first day of the Olympic Games 2010. Money spent by visitors on their Visa credit, debit and prepaid cards on Feb. 12 showed an increase of 46% over the same day last year. The biggest spenders were from the US, followed by China, the UK, South Korea, Australia, and Hong Kong. These six countries accounted for more than 70% of all Visa card spend on opening day.
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