TRAVEL WEB SITES...ONTARIO DEALS...CANADA BLOGGING

Yet another good-looking web site out there for you travel fans to check on.

Trax (www.trax.com) calls itself "the real deal" and seems to have some pretty decent bargains, scouring web sites from orbitz and tripgenius and gtahotels (didn't know about that one) and skoosh (great name!) to come up with hotel, car and flight deals. They had a Toronto-Miami flight for about $310 Cdn in July, as well as hotels in cities around the world.

Folks on a strict budget might want to check out the "Go Frugal" blog at www.freeshipping.org, a site that usually offers shopping and other value tips but now has a "Go Frugal in New York City" blog. It's got the usual stuff about museums and such but also a few different takes, including kayaking on the Hudson and a visit to the Little Red Lighthouse near the George Washington Bridge.

Also, Lonely Planet has launched an iPhone Travel Guidebook application with 15 cities and, as a promotion, is giving away the San Francisco iPhone guidebook for free until the end of June. It's a $15.99 value, they say.

COTTAGE COUNTRY DEALS

To celebrate tourism week in Canada, more than 30 members of Ontario Travel North of Toronto are offering deals on everything from cottages in Haliburton to inns in Port Severn. Go to www.400eleven.com for more information.

BLOGGING ... FROM BONAVISTA TO VANCOUVER ISLAND

As part of its promotion for Canada tourism, the Canadian Tourism Commssion on June 21 will send two bloggers across the country for seven weeks. Check www.canadaisabigplace.ca in the coming weeks.

The promotion is impressive. One of the web sites is called localsknow.ca and you can check out lots of cool spots from Georgian Bay to the Northwest Territories.

Meanwhile, a few miles away, Tourism New Zealand has launched www.trenzblog.com, with blog editor Ruth Atherley writing from several key tourism destinations in Kiwi-land.

MEXICO ON SALE

The Los Cabos Convention and Visitors Bureau has launched something called "Los Cabos a la Carte," where folks can select a vacation package of their choice from a menu of savings. Go to www.visitloscabos.travel for more information on deals that include free room nights, $350 resort credits, free rounds of golf and more.

 

 

MEXICO - THE REBOUND BEGINS?

Apparently the big push to get tourists back to Mexico is having an effect. USA Today reported that bookings in Cancun over the American Memorial Day weekend were up quite a bit and that occupancy at some resorts was around 43 per cent.

Not great by usual standards, of course, but about double what they'd been before the swine flu travel warnings were lifted.

Mexican government officials are talking about getting singer Placido Domingo to urge tourists to come their way. They also plan to use LPGA star Lorena Ochoa. Hey, what about Rafael Nadal? He's not doing anything this week. Neither is Bob Cole, come to think of it. Or LeBron James.

SLOVENIAN DRIVERS

I had been warned by a Slovenian friend here in Toronto that they drive fast on the highways. But I don't know why she was worried. I found that drivers rigidly followed the "keep your distance" rule of one inch between you and the car in front of you  for every 50 km per hour.

I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW

I hadn't noticed them until a couple from Canada pointed them out to me. But on some of the highways in Slovenia they've installed roadside fences that are clear; likely some sort of heavy-duty plastic. You're still protected from having your car tumble into a creek or what have you, but you don't get your views of the mountains blocked by ugly, cement walls like we have on the 401 and other highways in Canada.

Good idea, not that we have so many mountains to look at here in Ontario.