Air Canada going all soft and mushy ... New Caribbean web site ... Deal of day

First it was a press conference to talk about how the folks they hire for their new discount airline, Rouge, might get trained by Disney management.

Then, just this week, a top Air Canada official was telling a business panel in Toronto about the airline's "culture change."

Hmmm. A suspicious person might sense there's a pattern or something.

Speaking at a meeting of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives at the Ritz Carlton hotel this week, Air Canada Director of Sales Kathy Mason was asked to gaze into her crystal ball and talk about the future. Mason told the group Air Canada last year celebrated its 75th anniversary and that the airline finally is on the other side of a series of labour disputes.

"I think we're looking at a culture change," she said. "We have to have happy employees to have happy customers."

The issue wasn't pursued but I still found it pretty interesting. Especially when a similar line of thinking was brought up at the press conference late last year to announce Rouge, the new Air Canada discount line that will serve Europe and the sunny south starting this summer.

At the December session on Rouge, officials promised that flight attendants will be trained for both safety and "warm, welcoming service." They also suggested that Disney might be brought in to help make the Rouge attendants smiling, happy people.

It's clearly a nod at WestJet. So I asked at the time if Air Canada would give the same training for "warm, welcoming service" to regular (non-Rouge) crew members if it seems to work.

Naturally, they suggested Air Canada folks are just wonderful as things are and reminded me they've won the Skytrax award as best North American airline several years in a row. Which is true. It's a very good airline most of the time. And I wouldn't want to see them start telling jokes like some of the WestJet attendants I've flown with. But AIr Canada clearly sees room for improvement and seems intent on making changes.

NEW CARIBBEAN WEBSITE

It's tough to turn dozens of small islands and bigger nations into one marketing force. But the various Caribbean tourism associations have banded together to create www.CaribbeanTravel.com.

There are great photos, of course, and plenty of information on great beaches and food. It's quite a lovely site.

"Improvements to the design and search facilities have been made after all 33 destinations joined forces to develop a new site and agreed to use common formatting," according to a report on travelmole.com, explaining the site was created by the Caribbean Tourism Development Company, the Caribbean Tourism Organisation, and the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association.

"In the next stage of the development, visitors who register will be entered into a monthly prize draw to win a free Caribbean holiday, and will be eligible for the Grand Prize one-week 'Caribbean Vacation of the Lifetime' at the end of a year-long promotion on the new website."

JAUNT.CA DEAL OF THE DAY

Jaunt.ca, a division of Torstar, has a deal on offer for sunny Cancun, Mexico for eight days and seven nights for $1,446.

Jaunt Highlights

• BONUS: $1500 Resort Credit per room that can be used towards spa treatments, golf, select tours, upgraded wine list, wedding packages and more!
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• BONUS: FREE WIFI and Unlimited phone calls to Canada
• All-inclusive 7-night stay at the 5-Star Hard Rock Hotel Cancun, located in Cancun, Mexico
• Includes return airfare from Toronto to Cancun and round-trip airport/hotel transfers in Mexico
• Daily breakfast, lunch and dinner, and unlimited alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks

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• Use your $1500 resort credit for a range of perks including spa treatments, selected excursions, golf and more
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Offer Details

• Valid for travel on April 12 & 19, 2013
• Pricing (Rates are per person. plus tax):
  
  Toronto:
  
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  Double: $1099
  Triple: $1059
  Quad: $1039
  1st & 2nd child up to 12 years: $549
  Tax: $346.82
• Valid passport required for travel from Canada
• This offer is 100% non-refundable at time of booking