TRAVELHotNews.com Magazine

ONE-ON-ONE WITH ROGER DOW

TRAVELHotNews.com sits down with TIA President & CEO to get the scoop on the new DiscoverAmerica.com website, Pow Wow and more
Charmaine Pang

TIA's Roger Dow, President/CEO; Rebecca Pearson, Director of Marketing; Greg Staley, Manager, Communications

Yesterday afternoon, TRAVELHotNews.com conducted a one-on-one interview with the Travel Industry Association (TIA)’s president and CEO, Roger Dow. Two days ago, TRAVELHotNews.com reported the launch of the DiscoverAmerica.com website, a brand-new official web portal for Canadian travellers wishing to visit the U.S. Currently, the website is offered in English for Canadians, and will soon be launched in French. Other versions will be rolling out, corresponding to the top five inbound markets: Canada, Mexico, the U.K., Japan and Germany. [Full text and pictures]

AIR FRANCE CANADA’S NEW GM & VP

Bénédicte Duval is new GM and Vice-President of Air France Canada as of June 1st

Bénédicte Duval will be the new General Manager and Vice-President of Air France Canada effective June 1. She will succeed Christian Lahccen, who has overseen the airline's Canadian operations since April 2004. Duval becomes the 13th person to lead Air France Canada since it was established in 1950. Yesterday, a cocktail reception was held in Montreal to introduce Duval and to honour Lahccen, with tour operators, industry friends, travel agents and the media in attendance. Bénédicte Duval joined Air France in 1986. She has since occupied management positions in various fields. Lahccen will take over the helm of Air France Midi Pyrénées, headquartered in Toulouse, France. [Full text and pictures]

ROYAL SCENIC’S NEW PRODUCT MANAGER

Cindy Lam joins Toronto head office as Product Development Manager

Cindy Lam, new Product Development Manager, Royal Scenic

Royal Scenic has announced the appointment of Cindy Lam as Product Development Manager at the company’s Toronto head office. Lam has a background in worldwide destination product knowledge and also possesses a wealth of experience in the airline side of the travel industry at Air Canada, Cathay Pacific, Harmony Airways and most recently, South African Airways. Lam and Royal Scenic’s Product Specialists in Vancouver, Toronto & Montreal offices bring great enthusiasm with a variety of tour products and value for money to the outbound travel market. The product team at Royal Scenic look forward to servicing our retail agency partners across Canada. Lam can be reached at 905-946-2228 ext 235 or at cindy.lam@royalscenic.com.

SIGNATURE SAYS "I DO"

Signature Vacations launches 2nd annual Weddings brochure
The Signature Vacations 2nd Annual Weddings brochure provides information for planning destination wedding nuptials and over 70 pages of tips, facts and advice such as: Resort and wedding package information for properties in Cuba, Costa Rica, Mexico, St. Kitts and the Dominican Republic; real-life testimonials, advice and photographs from five Signature couples; a 12-month calendar countdown to the big day; guidelines to the individual legal requirements for five popular destinations; reference chart for all resorts listed in the brochure; ‘Just Married’ flip-flops and a chance to win a honeymoon with Signature Vacations and Divine.ca. Copies are available online at signaturevacations.com.

PORTER’S PLANS FOR THE FUTURE

Porter’s expansion plans include 1 more U.S. destination this year; and another in 2009
Charmaine Pang

Wrigley Field, Chicago

Yesterday afternoon, TRAVELHotNews.com spoke to Brad Cicero, Manager, Communications and Public Affairs, about Porter’s expansion plans as an airline. Proposed routes in the Porter Airlines network include, in the U.S., Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Washington, D.C. Proposed regional routes in Ontario include Thunder Bay, Timmins, Sault Ste Marie, Sudbury and Windsor. Cicero said that there are no “firm” dates with regards to rollout of new destinations, but noted that the airline is “tracking towards one new U.S. destination before the end of the year”, most likely Chicago or Boston. Other leading destinations that may be added include Washington, D.C. or Philadelphia. [Full text and pictures]

SUNSPOTS HOLIDAYS ADDS AVIANCA AIRLINES

Fly Avianca with Sunspots Holidays; commissionable rates
Sunspots Holidays has just added Avianca Airlines to its lineup of air partners, offering a commissionable program to travel professionals. Avianca is the second-oldest airline in the world still in operations. With its codeshare Partners (AA, CO, US, DL, UA NW) Sunspots can offer fares from any points in Canada and USA through AV gateways Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, NY and LA, Bogota and beyond to Latin America. Agents can earn commissions on most gateways from North America to Latin America, and special added commissions on departures from Miami or Fort Lauderdale to all Colombian destinations. Learn more by visiting sunspotsholidays.com or call 416-484-8144 / 1-800-657-8721.

INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL DEFICIT DROPS

Soaring International travel deficit subsides in 1st quarter
Canadian Press
The recent surge in Canada's international travel deficit subsided in the first quarter of 2008 due to a significant drop in Canadian travel spending in the United States. The deficit, which is created from the difference in spending by Canadian residents abroad and spending by foreigners in the country, fell to about $3.1 billion in the first quarter, down $295 million from the record high set in the fourth quarter of 2007. The deficit increased by $744 million in the third quarter and $620 million in the fourth quarter of 2007, fuelled by a significant increase in cross-border shopping by Canadians in the United States. [Full text and pictures]