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| TRAVELHOTNEWS.COM TALKS WITH CUBA’S NEW DIRECTOR |
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Jesus Garcia, Director, Cuba Tourist Board Toronto says 2009 was a great year; aims to maintain Canadian market share
Lisa Raffaele
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| Jesus Garcia | | Last Friday, TRAVELHotNews.com had the opportunity to sit down with Jesus Garcia, Cuba’s new director for the Cuba Tourist Board in Toronto, and ask him what he thinks this year will hold for Cuba’s tourism sector. According to Garcia, January 2010 did not reveal great visitation numbers into Cuba, but he did confirm that the tourist board remains "very optimistic" for the remainder of 2010. While 2009 showed a 12 per cent increase from the Canadian market, and a great year overall with 914,884 Canadian visitors and 2,429,809 international tourists, Garcia hopes that tourism to Cuba will maintain this momentum in 2010. Keep reading for more on TRAVELHotNews.com's interview with Garcia.
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| TRAVEL SOUTH USA COMES NORTH |
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| Front Row: Joanne Scalamogna, Mary Straton Smith, Maria Arbulu, Marc Rapport Back Row: Mike Cooper, Kevin Langston, Susan Melnyk, Liz Bittner | | Travel South USA hosts TMAC members at ‘Munch & Mingle’ event; showcases 6 southern states and latest news
Photos and text by Charmaine Pang
The Travel Media Association of Canada (TMAC) hosted a ‘Munch and Mingle’ event yesterday evening at Sassafraz restaurant in Toronto. TMAC media and industry colleagues had the opportunity to network with delegates from Travel South USA, a marketing organization which represents 12 southern U.S. states. Six state tourism office representatives – from Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia – were present to meet with journalists and give them the latest news and story ideas.
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| TOUR EAST GOES GREEN |
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Tour East Holidays to eliminate paper documents; will provide customers e-docs as of March 1
Tour East Holidays recently announced the launch of its “Going Green” initiative. That means all paper travel documents that were formerly sent to customers prior to leaving on their tours will now be replaced by electronic documentation. Starting March 1, 2010, Tour East Holidays will be utilizing e-docs; and items like day-by-day itineraries and e-tickets will be sent to customers or their travel agents electronically via email. Customer evaluation surveys will be issued in PDF format. In announcing the “Going Green” initiative, Tour East Holidays Executive Vice President Annie Tsu said the company was reacting to concerns over climate change and other environmental concerns.
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| CRUISE WITH ACV SPECIALS |
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Your clients save on cruises to San Juan when booking an Air & Cruise package with ACV between Feb. 24 and 26
Air Canada Vacations is offering a San Juan special – if your clients book an Air & Cruise package with Air Canada Vacations between February 24 and 26, 2010, the second passenger receives 50 per cent off the air portion of the package. This special is valid for Celebrity Summit sailings on March 27 and April 3, 2010, from Toronto; Carnival Victory sailings on March 28 and April 4, 2010, from Toronto and Montreal; and Caribbean Princess sailings on March 28 and April 4, 2010, from Montreal.
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| ANGUILLA POSITIVE FOR 2010 |
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Anguilla kicks off 2010 with a good start; unveils marketing initiatives and upcoming events
The Caribbean island of Anguilla says it’s off to a great start for 2010. The country kicked off the New Year with one of its busiest-ever days for private jet arrivals – 37 private jets landed on Jan. 2, 2010. The increase in visitor arrivals began in late December with celebrity and VIP passengers coming for the holidays. Dale Pusching, Canadian representative for Anguilla, said “though visitor figures were down from some markets last year I’m pleased to report we were off by just 50 passengers, year over year, from Canada.” Keep reading for more news.
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| SPAIN’S FACEBOOK CONTEST |
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Spanish tourism office offers free holiday to winner of Facebook competition
Canadian Press
Spain is offering free vacations to the person who best answers questions on Facebook about the country and its customs. The state tourism office Turespana says the contest will last through the end of February. Turespana said in a statement that the winner will get a week's holiday per year, for three years, plus air fare to and from Spain. Lodgings will be provided at Paradores hotels, many of which are refurbished castles or monasteries. Contestants have to answer a daily question on Spain that shows up at facebook.com/spainacountrytoshare.
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CARNIVAL REPORTS RECORD WAVE ACTIVITY
Carnival Cruise Lines is reporting record wave season bookings, with strong reservations activity for 2010 departures. As a result of the strong booking volumes, a general price increase will be implemented effective March 22 for all summer sailings in June, July and August. Carnival President and CEO Gerry Cahill said that the price increases will vary by departure date, but will be up to five per cent.
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