TRAVELHotNews.com Magazine

Awards of merit 2007

Who will be the personality of the year 2007?
You have until January 20, 2008
to submit your candidates.

CUBA - HOLA SUN FAM

Hola Sun Holidays hosts agent fam in November to Santa Clara, Trinidad, Cienfuegos and Havana
Lisa Raffaele

The group posing in Cuba

Last month, Hola Sun Holidays hosted an intimate five-day, four-night fam to Cuba. The small 20-agent fam started in Santa Clara, travelling to Trinidad, Cienfuegos and ending in Havana. On December 21, 2007, the tour operator will be offering Santa Clara flights on Friday, and Cienfuegos flights on Thursdays. Read on for more details. [Full text and pictures]

RCI CRUISE FUEL SURCHARGE NEWS

Fuel supplements for Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Azamara apply to new Canadian bookings made on or after Nov. 16, 2007, for departures on or after Feb. 1, 2008

Royal Caribbean cruise ship

Brian Rice, Executive VP and CFO of the Royal Caribbean Cruises group wrote a letter to Canadian travel agent partners last week regarding updates to fuel surcharges. Three brands are affected - Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Azamara Cruises. The three lines implemented a fuel supplement of $5 per guest per day, applying only to the first and second guests in each stateroom, not to exceed $70 per person, per sailing. The fuel supplement will now only be applicable to new Canadian bookings made on or after November 16, 2007, for sailings that depart on or after February 1, 2008. Rice writes, "We hope this modification will be helpful to both you and your clients. Should you need additional information, we invite you to visit our travel agent website, CruisingPower.com." Travel agents will be compensated for fuel supplements collected before Dec. 21, 2007, which were related to sailings booked prior to November 16, 2007. Read on for more information about group bookings. [Full text and pictures]

INSIGHT VACATIONS CANADA WINS BIG

Insight Vacations' Canada office named #1 worldwide in 2007

The Insight Vacations Canada office with their trophy

Thanks in large part to the efforts of travel agents across Canada, Insight Vacations Canada was named Office of the Year from among all the company's worldwide offices, including the U.S., UK, Australia and Singapore. For the past four years, Insight has set new records in the Canadian market each year, with near sell-out on available inventory. Pictured celebrating the honour are, top row, left to right: Doug Patterson, President; Brad Gibson, Regional Sales Manager, Alberta; Dorothy Switalska, Regional Sales Manager, Eastern Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Provinces; Melissa Heath, Regional Sales Manager, GTA & Northern Ontario; and Mariela Castro, Marketing Manager. Bottom row (l to r): Claire Rottare, Sales & Marketing Manager BC/YT/NT; Amanda Warman, Regional Sales Executive, Southwestern Ontario.

AIR CANADA ASKS PAX TO SELF-TAG BAGS

Air Canada to have passengers self tag their luggage in YYZ, YUL, YVR
Canadian Press

Air Canada is considering asking passengers to tag their own luggage using the same electronic check-in kiosks at airports already used to print the boarding passes. The airline's chief executive Montie Brewer tells the Globe and Mail that consumers will save time by ``self-tagging'' their luggage. He says he expects travellers to embrace the concept, similar to the way bank customers gravitated to automated banking machines in the mid-1980s. The kiosks have been reprogrammed to also print baggage tags as part of a trial project in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Consumers can press the screen to print tags, attach them to luggage handles and then walk over to the drop-off area and place their bags on the conveyor belt. By the end of 2008, pending approval from Transport Canada and various airport authorities, the self-tagging option is scheduled to be introduced in Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Halifax.

COSTA OFFERS DIAMOND JUBILEE PROMOS

Travel agents can save clients 60% off; agents can win a cruise to Dubai with roundtrip airfare from Emirates

Guests sailing in the Caribbean have a chance to win this diamond necklace from Costa
Wave season is rolling in, and Costa Cruises offers rates of 60% off for your clients. Agents have the opportunity to win a cruise for two to Dubai with round trip airfare included from Emirates Airlines. The "Diamond Jubilee" promotion, in honour of Costa's "60th Diamond Anniversary" in 2008, will be offered for 60 days from January 1 through February 29, giving travellers the opportunity to save up to 60% off most of Costa's 2008 cruises. Guests will be able to choose from 423 sailings, 141 ports, 109 itineraries, 68 countries and 12 ships. As an added bonus, guests who sail in the Caribbean for the 2007-2008 season will have the opportunity to win a six-stone diamond necklace from Diamonds International once onboard. Additionally, travel agents may qualify to win a cruise for two to Dubai, one of Costa's newest destinations. Read on for details.

[Full text and pictures]

ROYAL SCENIC DISPLAY CONTEST WINNER

Kirti Mistry of Lets Go Travel in Brampton, ON wins trip to Asia for best 'Certified Asia Specialist' display

An image of the winning display at Lets Go Travel in Brampton, ON

Royal Scenic Holidays has announced the winner of their popular Certified Asia Specialist national display contest. Hundreds of entries were received from many retail agencies across the country who are using the 3D mobile display to promote travel to Asia. The winning entry is from Kirti Mistry of Lets Go Travel in Brampton, Ontario who won an air & land package to a UA online destination in Asia with three nights hotel, daily breakfast, transfer & city tour. The criteria of creativity, originality and aesthetic appeal were used to judge all entries. Certified Asia Specialists are encouraged to use these hanging displays to instil confidence to consumers that they are experts in selling Asia. Available free of charge, the 3D hanging displays are created to attract attention and interest from consumers that walk into any agency location across Canada. A limited supply of the hanging display is still available for order at royalscenic.com/cas/hanging_display/request.htm.