Archives February 25, 2005 Travel News

FAA in United States proposes stricter black box rules for aircraft
The black boxes key to determining the causes of aircraft crashes will have to hold more data and have a more reliable power supply under a plan outlined Thursday by the Federal Aviation Administration. However, the FAA rejected a recommendation from the National Transportation Safety Board that aircraft be required to have video cameras in the cockpit. Some pilots have expressed concerns about invasion of privacy and said the constant presence of a camera could make it harder to do their jobs.

Minister Delivers Wrong Message

Raymon J. Kaduck

Jean-C. Lapierre

At a conference on international air policy, Minister Lapierre�s feelgood message on liberalization fell flat with an audience that had clearly expected a freeze or roll-back of airport rents in the Federal Budget. The industry players from the airlines, airports and tourism industry have been vocal on the need to reduce what amounts to a hidden tax on travel. The Federal government will extract $304 million in rents in fiscal 2005-06 and $367 million in 2006-07. Prior to the commercialization of the airports, it paid cost $125 million to operate them. The hidden tax costs travelers an average of $7 every time they board an aircraft.
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Air Canada Urges Canada and U.S. Governments to Move to Modernize 1995 Canada-U.S. Open Skies Agreement

Robert Milton

Air Canada today urged the Canadian and U.S. governments to accelerate plans to modernize the 1995 Canada-U.S. Open Skies Agreement by progressively removing restrictions in order to create a fully integrated common air transport market in North America. "We are encouraged by Minister LaPierre and Secretary Mineta's commitment to renewed discussion to modernize the 1995 agreement," said Robert Milton, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, ACE Aviation Holdings Inc.
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Royal Caribbean Opens New Attraction On Labadee

A new attraction is changing Royal Caribbean's exclusive port of call Labadee from a private paradise to a privateer's paradise. The line has opened a new pirate-themed water playground, sponsored by The Coca-Cola Company, featuring a "sunken" pirate ship and a new mascot, Labadee Luc, who will appear on signage throughout the peninsula.
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Cayman Islands Department of Tourism Presents Annual TMAC Award for Excellence in Caribbean Travel Writing

Ms. Sarah Brathwaite and Ms. Theresa Storm

The Cayman Islands Department of Tourism (Canada) recently presented their annual award for Excellence in Caribbean Travel Writing to Canadian writer Theresa Storm. The award is open to all media members of the Travel Media Association of Canada (TMAC) and was presented during their annual conference, recently in Hamilton, Ontario. Ms. Storm accepted the prize for her article �It�s time to party: Get ready to fete. It�s Soon Carnival Time in Trinidad�, originally published in the Calgary Herald Newspaper on January 3, 2004.
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Cuban tourism workers told to keep their distance from foreign visitors

Cuba's tourism ministry issued a resolution telling its workers to keep their mingling with foreigners to a minimum, prohibiting everything from accepting personal gifts to attending events in the homes or embassies of foreigners without written permission. The resolution was signed by Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero in January and went into effect last week. It applies to Cubans working in tourism on the island, as well as overseas. The action is the latest in a series of attempts by the government to further tighten state control on the island, which embraced tourism in the 1990s as a necessary evil after the fall of the Soviet Union thrust Cuba into an economic crisis.
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Jetsgo to expand routes to Western Canada; adds Regina to schedule
Discount airline Jetsgo is expanding its Western Canada schedule, the airline said Thursday. Jetsgo said it will add Regina to its network and introduce 12 daily Vancouver-Calgary flights, while increasing capacity on existing routes. Adding Regina to its schedule gives Jetsgo 19 year-round destinations. Additional capacity will be added to three existing routes: Vancouver-Edmonton will move to eight daily flights from the current two, Vancouver-Winnipeg and Vancouver-Prince George, B.C., will be increased to four daily flights from two, the company said.

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B.C. boosts tourism spending, improves signage into province
British Columbia wants to spend $14 million to promote tourism by, among other things, improving road signs at entry points to the province, Premier Gordon Campbell said Thursday. The province plans to help tourism by building a new visitor centre in Osoyoos, near the U.S. border in the south Okanagan; installing new signs at all major highway entry points into the province, welcoming visitors to the Best Place on Earth; and giving extra funding to the new Golden visitor centre to allow it to encourage environmentally friendly building practices.

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Hotelier Host Marriott Q4 profit tumbles 63 per cent, other measures up
Fourth-quarter income at American hotelier Host Marriott Corp., which owns 107 hotels, fell from last year, when results were boosted by an insurance-settlement for the New York Marriott World Trade Center hotel. In a press release Thursday, the Bethesda-based company said fourth-quarter net income fell 63 per cent to $52 million US, or 15 cents a share, from $142 million, or 46 cents a share, a year earlier. The loss figures include the payment of dividends on preferred stock.

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Transat stockholders approve new share structure to attract foreign investors
Shareholders of travel company Transat A.T. Inc. have approved a new class of variable voting shares, to allow more non-Canadians to invest in the company without exceeding the legal limit of 25 per cent foreign control. Transat's foreign ownership is restricted by federal law because it owns charter airline Air Transat.