DISCOVER AMERICA

Okay, Columbus - or maybe the Vikings or maybe sailors from Portugal or China or Micronesia, depending on who you believe - already did that. But the folks down south of the border are hoping to make inroads into the Canadian market - and others - with the re-launch of the new discoveramerica.com website.

It's a combo effort by the Travel Industry Association and the U.S. Department of Commerce and offers visitors a "one-stop site" with "content on all 50 states, dozens of cities, the five U.S. territories (can you name them? Answers at bottom of my blog) and a community section where travellers can post messages."

It's a nice site and offers plenty of useful stuff. Apparently, Canadian users last year accounted for 38 per cent of overall traffic, and they're expecting a whopping 330 per cent hike in Canadian traffic this year.

HALIFAX AND OTTAWA AIRPORTS ROCK

The Airports Council International has announced its top airports around the globe. Incheon International in South Korea copped the top spot, while Singapore's Changi was second and Hong Kong International Airport third. Talk about owning the podium; that's a clean sweep for Asia.

Top spot in North America went to Halifax - an airport I've never had the pleasure of checking out. Europe's best was Zurich, which I can attest to as a fine spot with restaurants, great shopping and lots of conveniences, including escalators where you can take your luggage trolley and direct access to local and European trains. Tel Aviv was best in the Middle East, George, South Africa was tops in Africa and the Guayaquil, Ecuador airport was best in Latin America/the Caribbean.

Ottawa came second in the North American category, followed by Austin, Texas, Houston Hobby Airport in Texas and Jacksonville, Florida. Halifax was voted tops of any airport in the world with fewer than five million passengers, with Ottawa taking the silver medal in that category. Halifax was second and Ottawa third in the "best domestic airport" category.

Vancouver was fifth in the 15-25 million passenger a year department.

Not surprisingly, Pearson didn't make any lists. The shopping is mediocre at best, the restaurant choices are far too limiting and the baggage service is nothing short of awful. But that's just my opinion.

AUSSIE LOVE

While the U.S. casts a covetous eye on Canada (who wouldn't, I mean, Obama loves us, right?), the opposite is happening south of the equator. Travelmole reports Air New Zealand will spend NZ$2.5 million on a major promotional campaign, matching the NZ government’s additional tourism funding for Australia.

“We’re committed to getting international tourists to all of New Zealand, not just the main ports," said Air New Zealand group general manager, Bruce Parton.

Kiwis hate being mistaken for Aussies on the road, much like Canadians can get uppity if some assumes we're Am-ur-uh-cuhns. But they certainly love it when their cousins from across the water come to visit.

The New Zealand dollar is worth about 68 cents Canadian today, making a trip a remarkable bargain if you can find a good air fare.

OOH-LA-SHANGRI-LA

The folks behind the Shangri-La in Vancouver and the new hotel planned for Toronto are hosting a reception here in T.O on April 6. As we've stated in this corner before, the hotel industry seems more than pumped about opportunities in Toronto, especially for luxury properties.

TRIVIA ANSWER:

There are five territories in the U.S.; Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, The U.S. Virgin Islands and Canada, sorry, the Northern Mariana islands in the Pacific. That last one? I had no idea. There are three main islands; Saipan, Rota and Tinian, and they look like they've got glorious beaches and great diving.

 

BIG APPLE BOOM

Damn the recession, full speed ahead.

That seems to be the motto in Manhattan these days, not to mention Brooklyn and the other boroughs. For one, you've got the new Yankee Stadium giving tours to folks in the hopes they'll drop hundreds of dollars for a single seat to a baseball game. The Mets also have a new playground. And the hotel industry shows no signs of slowing down.

Many of the new spots were, of course, designed and had their construction started before everyone in the world knew about AIG bonuses and Bernard Madoff. Still, it's interesting to note the relentless barrage of new hotels being built in the city that never sleeps (in which case, when you think about it, why do they need hotels in the first place?).

Among the places due to open in the not-too-distant future are a slew of family-friendly places: The Holiday Inn Express at Times Square, a Hampton Inn-Times Square North and a Doubletree on West 29th Street. Hyatt will open one of its high-end Andaz, all-suite affairs at 75 Wall Street, and a sixth W hotel also is slated to open, this one near the former World Trade Center.

PROPOSE AT JULIET'S PLACE

How romantic is this? Associated Press reports The House of Juliet in Verona, Italy, will soon be used as a venue for weddings.

It's said to be the spot where Romeo stood under the balcony and called out to his lover in the famous Shakespeare play, although who really knows?

"Verona is known worldwide as the city of love," said Daniele Polato, the city official who made the proposal. "We have inherited this splendid reputation and we want to promote it."

AP reports it'll cost Verona residents about $925 for the wedding spot, but non-EU citizens not living in town will have to pay more like $1,500 as there's more paperwork involved.

It's a lot, but who's got the nerve to tell his or her sweetheart that they're not worth it? Even more of a burning question in my mind - why did it take Verona tourism people to think this up?

HAWAII SALES CONTINUE

Airfare to Hawaii from cities in the continental United States has plummeted more than 30 percent in some markets, according to FareCompare.com, an airfare research Web site. Pleasant Holidays, one of the nation's largest privately owned travel companies, is offering some Americans vacation packages that include flight and three nights hotel stay in Oahu starting at $299 U.S.

A story at cnn.com says "online travel giants Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz are all offering sales on Hawaii flights, hotels and activities, and some luxury hotels have rooms for less than $150 (U.S.) a night."

"You won't see prices to Hawaii like this again in your lifetime," FareCompare CEO Rick Seaney said. "It might be worth it to take that once-in-a-lifetime trip."

A couple Canadian companies have been offering one-week stays in Honolulu at around $1,000 Canadian, including flight and hotels. Air fares alone often hover above that rate, which makes it a steal.

I'm biased, but I still think Hawaii's the greatest place in the world; romance and music and beaches and sunsets and mountains and water and whales and golf and great food and more. With American health care and no visible poverty.

We've still got a couple Hawaii music videos on our web site, so check out thestar.com/travel.

 

 

 

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DON'T WORRY ... BE UTAH

Maybe it's the great skiing. Or the weak beer. Or the marriage laws? Sorry, that's not very nice, is it?

Anyway, a U.S. study I stumbled across the other day ranked the Beehive State as number one in its well-being index, grabbing a mark of 69.2.

Hawaii, and how's that for a study in contrasting weather and culture, was second at 68.2, followed by Wyoming (????) at 68.0.

California was ninth, in case you were wondering, with a mark of 67.0.

Bringing up the caboose were Mississippi (61.9), Kentucky (61.4) and West Virginia (61.2).

MEXICO MEDIA MELEE

There's been lots of talk in the media lately about drug violence in Mexico. Law enforcement officials in Vancouver have blamed a recent spate of shootings on the drug wars down south, and there have been warnings in some quarters that folks should avoid Mexican vacations for a while.

This, of course, doesnt' sit well with tourism officials who sell Mexican holidays and golf trips to sun-starved Canadians.

Travel Weekly weighed in this week with a panel discussion and came away that coverage has been "unfair, alarmist and distorted."

Check it out and decide for yourself.

MAKE LOVE IN A KAYAK?

Former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau is said to have said that "A Canadian is someone who knows how to make love in a canoe."

Never been sure about that, myself. It sounds like fun, but I gotta tell ya that, sadly, it wasn't part of my citizenship test.

Trudeau isn't around today to offer his opinion on kayaking, which appears to be picking up steam as an alternative to the canoe. We can assume he'd opt for a double kayak; there being a little more space for a traveller of the female variety and all.

I hadn't tried a kayak until last summer in Muskoka, when a friend let me borrow his and I spent an hour scooting around Stonewall Island and had a fabulous time. Anyway, the point (yes, there is one) is this particular blogger just loves a good list, and the folks at the Canadian Tourism Commission have come up with a pretty cool one on the best spots to kayak in our wonderful country.

Writer Suzanne Morphet picked the following spots for her best-of list: Desolation Sound, B.C., Broken Group Islands, B.C., Lake Athabasca (Alberta and Saskatchewan), Pukaskwa National Park, Ont., The Thousand Islands, Ont., Saguenay Fjord, Que., Kane Basin, Nunavut and Borgeo, Newfoundland.

The only thing that surprised me was the lack of anything in Nova Scotia or PEI. When I was lucky enough to drive along the north shore of Nova Scotia a few years ago on the way to PEI I noticed mile after mile (sorry, kilometre after kilometre) of lovely waterways that seemed just perfect for a kayak. As does the area down around Mahone Bay.

Guess I'll just have to give it a shot and give Ms. Morphet a call when I'm finished.

BC GOLF STILL ON THE RISE

Hadn't noticed it until now, but I see that Tower Ranch out in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley has been chosen as a top new course in North America.

Travel + Leisure Golf named The Club at Tower Ranch, just outside Kelowna, as one of the "Ten Best New Courses in the World."

The magazine cited Tower Ranch's "broad vistas" and "bulging hills" and credited Toronto designer Thomas McBroom for a "bold shotmaking agenda."

It's another notch in the belt of McBroom, who earned an award for Best New Course in Canada last year with Tobiano in Kamloops. B.C.

Other great courses in the interior of B.C. include Predator Ridge near Vernon, where Toronto's Doug Carrick is working on a new layout and where Mike Weir has plans to add his first-ever design.

So kudos to Tom for Tower Ranch. And now I've got another addition on my list of "must-play" courses in what is clearly a great golfing nation.

Also on my "untapped" list: Bigwin Island in Ontario, Dakota Dunes in Saskatchewan, Big Sky, Bear Mountain, Tobiano and Furry Creek in B.C. (my Dad's fave!), Crowbush Cove in PEI and Banff Springs.

VICTOR VICTORIOUS

Funny how some dining spots get all the hype, and other, just as worthy places get squat. I'm no dining expert, but such appears to be the case with Victor, the lovely restaurant at the sleek Le Germain Hotel on Mercer Street.

It's a great hotel with all the amenities but a nice sense of style and a great lobby that's modern without being cold and calculating like some too-cool-for-words places you'll find. But you don't hear much about the restaurant.

I had a chance to check it out Tuesday and thought it was outstanding. A new friend and I shared a monstrous plate of moist and flavourful pot roast that was falling off a carefully arranged bone about the size of something you'd see on the Flintstones. Rare rib eye steak slices were arranged on top, and it came with two large servings of rosti (yum) and sauteed mushrooms.

And they have a nicely robust California zinfandel by the glass, too.

Heaven.

While we're still on the hotel front, a colleague in the travel biz insists the rumours I was spreading the other day about the Hotel Gansevoort looking to open a boutique spot in Toronto are true. Which is pretty interesting when you think about all the high-end properties casting covetous eyes on the Big Smoke, including Shangri-La and the Ritz-Carlton.

GERMANY LEADS THE WAY

Reports out of the giant travel show going on in Berlin (The Star's Travel Show, he said in a shameless plug for the home side, goes March 27-29 at the Metro Toronto Convention centre) are that Germans led the way in terms of per capita travel spending in 2008.

Their most popular destinations? Spain, followed by Italy and Austria. And, no, I'm not making any political comments about those three choices. No, sir.

PEE GATE

So, the travel rumour mill has it that the head of Ryanair was just seeking some free publicity for his company when he talked about making customers pay to pee. Pretty cheap p.r., when you think about it.

And us folks in the media, who love nothing more than a good toilet story, fell for it hook, line and plunger.

There's a great report by Paul Smith at bitterwallet on the issue. I particularly like his closing line where he suggests O'Leary next week will "casually let slip that he’s considering a limb tax on able-bodied individuals taking up too much space on flights, and that children will be considered as hand luggage."

JAMAICA, SOUTH AMERICA GOING STRONG

Jamaica’s tourism industry posted a 2 percent increase in visitor arrivals in February, on top of a 3.9 percent rise in overall visitors in 2008, according to breakingtravelnews.com.

The site quotes Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett as saying the Canadian market is particularly strong with double-digit growth, and that the U.S. is showing a strong recovery.

Travelweekly, meanwhile, says South America also is proving popular. According to a January report from the United Nations World Tourism Organization, international leisure arrivals to South America in 2008 increased by 5.9%, to 21.1 million, compared with 2007. That growth is only slightly lower than the 6.4% increase in 2007 over 2006.

Folks who've made the trip say one great advantage to South America is you're in pretty much the same time zone as North America, which saves a lot of wear and tear on the old body.

 

PHILIPPINE ACCESS ON THE RISE

Potentially good news for Toronto folks headed to the Philippines.

Philippine Airlines said Tuesday it will increase flights to Canada and the U.S. despite the global financial crisis. AP reports airline officials say they'll add one weekly flight to both Los Angeles and San Francisco, increasing weekly flights to LA to 10 and SF to eight.

PAL also said it will also fly daily direct to Vancouver starting March 23 to service a "sizeable Filipino migrant community" in Canada as well as business and leisure travellers.

IRELAND WOES

It can't be anything but bad news for Ireland's tourism industry to see the recent incidents in Northern Ireland. With three killings in two days being claimed by an Irish Republican Army splinter group, tempers are dedicedly frayed.

The good news is that Protestant and Catholic leaders in the Northern Ireland coalition government, according to wire service reports, have jointly pledged to crush the dissident group and end a renewal of hostilities.

Police say they arrested two suspects in regards to Monday's shooting of a policeman in a Catholic neighborhood southwest of Belfast. Two British soldiers were gunned down in Northern Ireland on the weekend.

North Ireland leaders are to meet in Washington with American president Barack Obama on St. Patrick's Day, March 17.

ST. PATRICK'S DAY ON THE WAY

With the big day approaching, cnn.com put together a list of top spots in the U.S. to "Get your green on" on the 17th. We knew Boston, Chicago and New York were big on all things Irish, but hadn't thought about Seattle, Phoenix or Savannah, Georgia.

If you're talking about Canada, the best spot has to George Street in St. John's. Doncha think?

 

ALL ATWITTER

Baltimore-Washington International airport is joining the Twitter craze.

BWI says it's providing "followers" with travel information and flight status and that it proved quite useful during last week's big snowstorm in the eastern U.S. Today they were giving out info about parking garage availability, which is certainly handy.

The airport in Orlando also has a twitter feed but it doesn't appear to be used as much. Ditto for Paris and Schiphol in Amsterdam.

We're not sure why nothing is happening at our dearly beloved Pearson. This city claims to be on the cutting edge of technology, and Mayor David Miller has caught on pretty quick. But nothing yet I can find from Pearson.

There's also a Holiday Inn in Pittsburgh that seems to be active and has 43 people following their alerts for some odd reason. Fairmont Hotels, on the other hand, has a solid 1,240 followers at last check.

Yours truly has been using it pretty regularly. You can find me at twitter.com under the user name jbyers11.

TORONTO CHANGES

Easton

’s Group of Hotels has just opened a Hilton Garden Inn Downtown at 92 Peter Street in Toronto's Entertainment District. They're claiming it's much more funky and sophisticated than most Hilton Garden Inn but I haven't seen it.

Easton officials also say they're converting a Comfort Suites at Jarvis and Dundas into an HGI and they'll open an HGI this summer at Dixie and Eglinton.

TAKING A POWDER

A friendly p.r. person sends me a press release, and it seems there's a web site out there where folks can rate public washrooms all across Canada.

Sometimes, of course, it's all about proximity and timing, especially for those of us of a certain age. But if you've got time to walk that extra block, why not indulge in something a little more exotic?

The website, www.powderroom.ca, has reader reviews on washrooms around the country, from Bonavista to the Queen Charlotte Islands and from everything from McDonald's to Holt Renfrew.

Here's one person's description of the Restoration Hardware store on Yonge Street, north of Eglinton from a couple months back:

"Best publicly accessible washroom in Toronto. Always pristine and stocked with their own high-end products."

The ten top-rated places are singled out and given the "Powder Room Seal of Approval," along with a silver plaque. Yorkdale Shopping Centre copped the top award for Ontario last year, in case you want to check it out.

TWIN TOWERS

Okay, today is the 175th anniversary of Toronto, the city with the (formerly) tallest freestanding symbol of malehood on the planet, that being the CN Tower of course.  But did you know this year marks the 10th anniversary of Viagra in Canada?

Coincidence? I don't think so.

GO NOW. I SAID "NOW!"

Interesting but depressing item a couple weeks back from cnn.com/travel talked about five places people shouldn't miss before they're ruined by global warming. Cnn spoke with Bob Henson, author of "The Rough Guide to Climate Change," and came up with a list based on changes that already are taking place around the globe and others that are expected soon. Here's the list and some comments:

1. The Great Barrier Reef, Australia. "Many of the world's reefs already are experiencing 'bleaching,' in which algae living in the coral die and leave behind whitened skeletons."

2. New Orleans, Louisiana. Henson says rising sea levels "could spell trouble for tourists and residents alike."

3. Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Pine beetles are "destroying large patches of trees."

4. Alpine Glaciers, Switzerland. "The European Alps sit at a lower altitude than the Rocky Mountains, and their glaciers and ski resorts are therefore more susceptible to melting."

5. Amazon Rain Forest, Brazil. "Deforestation continues to be the major environmental issue in the Amazon, the world's largest tropical rain forest. But as locals and corporations chop down the Amazon's rich forests to create farmland to harvest biofuels, climate change may make things worse."

SURF'S UP

Interesting item from Yahoo Canada and Leger Marketing shows 82 per cent of Canadian boomers use the Internet for travel info and prefer booking travel online so they can read reviews of hotels and attractions. The poll also found 59 per cent of boomers say they look for last-minute deals online.

On a related note, the poll found that 89 per cent of boomers feel the Internet allows them to share information with their loved ones more easily than they could in the past. Oddly, it found that 60 per cent of female boomers use the Internet to play games, compared to 46 per cent of males. Maybe that's not odd, but I find it a little counter-intuitive.

Certainly no surprise here, but the poll also found that 36 per cent of unmarried baby boomers use the Internet to look up personals and dating sites.

AUGUSTA ON SALE

Even the folks who rent out housing for the annual Masters Golf Tournament in Georgia are feeling the economic pinch. In most years, you can't get near Augusta for the tourney, one of the most prestigious in golf. But this clearly is not like most years.

Bloomberg is quoting the president of Corporate Quarters Inc., Diane Starr, as saying that business has never been this bad in 35 years of helping golf fans find housing at the Masters.

"Everybody assumes that the Masters weathers it all, but not in a crisis like this," she says. "There are a lot of houses on the market."

The tourney starts a little over a month from now, on Thursday April 9 (same day as the Star's annual golf magazine, by the way) and Starr says some house prices are down 50 per cent. Bloomberg reports four-day tickets for the tourney are selling for 15 per cent less than last year on EBay Inc.'s Stubhub.

 

NO JELLO SHOTS

I don't want jello on my dessert plate, no offence to the manufacturers of the stuff. And I certainly don't want to partake in jello shots at the bar.

Call me old-fashioned, or even just plain old, but I'll take a nice, quiet bar with a hefty glass of California Cab or a cold Creemore or Stella over anything that involves Red Bull or Jagermeister or glasses filled with jiggly, gelatinous substances and mystery liqeurs. There seem to be a lot of folks of a similar mind set, judging by a story I found on forbestraveller.com called "Spring Break for Grown-Ups."

The post is a little old, but author Stephanie Stephens (either she got married or her parents are a tiny bit cruel, methinks), recommended Amelia Island, Fla. (nice beaches and cyclings in a low-key atmosphere), Asheville, N.C. (lots of galleries and the Blue Ridge Mountains) and Palm Springs, Calif. Personally, I like Palm Desert - just down the road from Palm Springs - a little more. But both are solid options in March and April. As is Hawaii, where you might find some crazy kids on Waikiki or downtown Lahaina but mostly you'll find relatively sophisticated travel.

Stephens also recommended adults-only resorts in Mexico.

POSTCARDS FROM ANYWHERE

LA travel blogger deluxe Johnny Jet (we spoke on the phone the other day, during which he confirmed his status as a good guy by claiming to prefer UCLA to USC), had an interesting item in his blog today - johnnyjet.com - about a web site called hazelmail.com where you can download your pictures, write out a message and let someone create and mail a postcard for you. Not sure I'd bother, personally, but undoubtedly it would be attractive to some folks. It's said to cost only $1.50 U.S.

PARIS FASHION

Hadn't heard about this, but spotted something in the LA Times the other day about a new fashion and design centre on the Seine in Paris. It's near the Gare d'Austerlitz in the Docks en Seine area and it's a long, sleek building covered in wavy, green glass and it has French tongues wagging. Which is usually a good thing.