Vegas baby, Vegas...Caribbean crime issues...More British Airways...Deals of day

Our friends at travelalerts.ca sent out a note the other day that outlined $29 hotel rooms in Las Vegas. I also spotted a story from USA Today's Kitty Bean Yancey (isn't that a GREAT byline?) saying there are great deals from now to Dec. 24; I guess cuz folks are saving their sinful behaviour until after Santa visits.

Anyway, The Las Vegas Advisor is said to have found 43 Las Vegas casino hotels with rooms for less than $40, compared to 38 last December. Among the properties available were Harrah's, Bally's and Excalibur.

They also found 27 properties for less than $30, two more than last year. Among those are Circus Circus, the Tropicana and Sahara.

Even more amazing, they mentioned seven casinos with rates less than $20; among them the Golden Gate and Hooters, reputed to be Tiger Woods' fave hangout. The Hard Rock was down to $47, Paris was $55 and New York-New York available for as little as $48. All prices are subject to change, so they may not be available right now. Still, there appear to be no end to the bargains.

The Star's Richard Ouzounian, our resident theatre expert and the author of our monthly "Six Meals In" feature in Star Travel, is on his way there today for the big opening of the much ballyhooed, $8.5 billion City Center project, said to be the largest privately financed development in American history and that's saying a lot. There are new hotels (see photo of the Aria at right), shops and glitzy restaurants, as well as a couple casinos, and they'll be pulling out all kinds of stops to make it a splashy entry.

Richard will be filing to the star.com/travel, so check our web site and my blog tomorrow (Wednesday) for his thoughts. And again on Thursday. And check our print version on Saturday for another report as we keep you up to date on one of the most popular destinations for GTA travelers.

CARIBBEAN CRIME?

Folks in Caribbean tourism know how important public perception is, and they're showing understandable concern about recent crime reports.

A dozen Carnival passengers were robbed at gunpoint near Nassau's Queen's Staircase in October. Last month, two groups of passengers from Royal Caribbean and Disney Cruise Line ships were on ship-sponsored tours when they were robbed by men carrying shotguns.

The Nassau Guardian says armed robberies in the Bahamas are up 17 per cent from 2008. It's serious enough that Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham is pledging a new year's press conference to introduce new anti-crime legislation.

"The current crime wave is totally unacceptable and must be brought under control," he said. "I think that you will see an accelerated set of policing - prevention - taking place very soon and we will seek to make our streets safer and our homes safer," the newspaper reported today.

The Bahamas are not the only place where there are concerns, of course. The New York Times reported the other day that a retired British couple was seriously wounded in a machete attack in Tobago in August and that a pregnant American tourist was abducted and killed during a morning jog in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, in February.

A colleague at the Star correctly points out there's plenty of crime in Toronto and U.S. cities. But do foreign governments warn people about coming to North America? I don't know. I do know that crime happens all over the world. But when you're as dependent on tourism as the folks are in the Caribbean, any crime takes on an even greater importance.

On a related note, the U.S. State Department has lifted its travel alert for Honduras, saying improved security means Americans aren't under immediate threat. The alert was issued following a June 28 coup.

Tourism is said to have dropped 85 per cent on the island of Roatan after the coup, even though it's far from the capital of Tegucigalpa. There's great diving in Roatan, as well as a new, world-class golf course development under construction.

BRITISH AIRWAYS UPDATE

As passengers continue to lash out over a potential Christmas walkout by British Airways cabin crew, the airline is beginning last-ditch legal action to avert a holiday horror show.

Associated Press reports that BA has applied to the High Court for an injunction to prevent the planned 12-day walkout, which is due to start Dec. 22.

"An emergency hearing was schedule for Wednesday," AP said, "But that still left passengers in limbo, contemplating soaring prices for alternative flights - or train journeys."

Virgin Atlantic says it will bring in bigger planes on key routes out of London, including flights to New Yor and Delhi. BMI ran newspaper advertisements saying that "BA is grounded, but you needn't be."

A London accountant hoping to fly from Heathrow to Vancouver on Christmas Day for a vacation with his wife said he's looking at prices of around $3,500 Canadian.

"The likely revenue gift to its competitors couldn’t come at a worse time for BA, which has been one of the airlines worst hit by the global recession because of its heavy running costs and reliance on increasingly unpopular premium fares," AP said.

THIS AND THAT; News from Chicago, New Delhi and Victoria

The Blackstone Hotel in Chicago is celebrating its 100th birthday with $100 rates from Jan. 1 to April 10, 2010. Guests also can get a champagne cocktail, a Singapore Sling and other drinks for just a buck. Wow, that's even cheaper than the Air Canada Centre...The New Leela Palace is set to open in early fall in New Delhi. The Leela Palace Kempinski New Delhi is a five-star spot with 260 rooms and suites, five restaurants, two bars, an ESPA spa and a rooftop swimming pool...Did you know there wasn't a carousel anywhere on Vancouver Island until recently, when they unveiled one at Butchart Gardens in Victoria? Either did I, but they say the Rose Carousel is all decked out for Christmas and has handcarved likenesses of bears, ostriches, zebras and horses.

JIM'S DEALS OF THE DAY

It's time to start thinking of your winter/spring break. Here are a couple solid options, brought to you by the folks at travelalerts.ca:

$133 - Toronto to Cancun, return flight during the holidays ($411 w/tax): save $100

http://www.travelalerts.ca/ccount12/click.php?id=1907

$347 - Toronto to Puerto Plata, DR, 1 week all-inclusive getaway ($667 w/tax)

http://www.travelalerts.ca/ccount12/click.php?id=1908

New Air Canada baggage fees...Healthiest Airport Food...Jim's Deals of the Day

I guess it was a matter of time, but it's still a shame to see Canadians have to pay more for air travel.

 

Air Canada today announced that it will start charging passengers with Tango, Tango Plus and Latitude fares $30 for a second,checked bag on all flights to the U.S. (except Puerto Rico) and $50 for second bags on flights to Europe and Israel. The policy takes effect for flights on or after Jan. 19. 2010 for tickets purchased from today onwards.

 

Passengers with Economy Class tickets will continue to get two free, checked bags on flights within Canada, as well as to and from Mexico, the Caribbean, South and Central America, Asia and Australia, which I find kinda weird. I mean, if you're charging $50 for a second bag to Europe, why not $50 for a second bag to Asia or South America?

 

The fee for a second checked bag to/from the United States, Europe and Israel will not apply to Air Canada Prestige, Elite, Super Elite members or Star Alliance Silver and Gold members. Executive Class and Executive First customers continue to receive an allowance of three checked bags on all flights, regardless of destination.

 

That's great for those of us who travel a lot, but the average guy gets screwed. A family of four flying to Europe in economy with two checked bags per person would end up forking over another $200. A family flying to Orlando to see the Mouse - or take in a tour of the Tiger Woods domestic bliss display in Isleworth - would pay another $120.

 

Air Canada, of course, couched this in very public relations-like terms, stating not that they were hiking baggage fees but merely saying it had "matched the prevailing checked bag policy of international carriers on U.S. transborder and transatlantic routes." Which makes it sound like it's not their fault and that they simply HAD to fall in line.

 

Customers purchasing Economy Class tickets for travel on or after January 19, 2010 to/from the United States, Europe and Israel will still be able to check one bag for free, in addition to permitted carry-on baggage. But you'll have to pay for bag number two.

 

"This change in baggage policy to match our U.S. and European competitors is an important step as we work toward sustained profitability," said Ben Smith, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer. "In this weak economy it is more critical than ever to continue reviewing all our activities on a regular basis and making adjustments as necessary to remain competitive with our industry peers. We are committed to offering our customers a full range of competitively priced travel options."

Yes, some airlines charge for each bag. And yes, air travel is expensive. But don't you just HATE getting nickeled and dimed sorry, thirtied and fiftied - like this?

For the record, WestJet's p.r. guy tells me they haven't changed their policy; it's still two bags free on all flights.

 

HEALTHY AIRPORT FOOD

 

No offence, but I wouldn't have expected the Detroit Metro airport to have topped a list I spotted of airports in the U.S. with the healthiest meals.

 

A study by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine looked at 17 U.S. airports and said 79% offer at least one healthy option (low-fat, high-fibre, cholesterol-free). Detroit Metro scored 100%, meaning all their restaurants have at least one healthy option, and good for them. San Francisco rose to 94%, while the next three were Phoenix Sky Harbour, Houston Intercontinental and Newark.

 

Las Vegas was last with just 66% of places offering a healthy choice. The study said too many Vegas eateries offered only burgers, sausages, hot dogs or pre-made items "full of fat and cholesterol." Chicago O'Hare and Dulles in Washington D.C. each got scores of just 68 %.

 

Time to pull up your socks, folks. 

 

 

JIM'S DEALS OF THE DAY

 

Up to 50% off - Cheap flights to every Canadian destination with Air Canada

http://www.travelalerts.ca/ccount12/click.php?id=1769

 

US$69 - Over 75% off! - Peak holiday sale in Orlando near theme parks (sale ends soon)

http://www.travelalerts.ca/ccount12/click.php?id=1755

 

US$444 taxes included - 4 night 4* Disney Bahamas cruise: early January

http://www.travelalerts.ca/ccount12/click.php?id=1756

 

USA, Canada 1-2 in Country Rankings...West Jet news...Jim's Deal of the Day

They like us. They just like the USA a little more.

The fifth annual Country Brand Index report names the USA as the "top country brand" in the world, followed on the podium by Canada and Australia. It marks the first time the US of A has been number one on the charts. Australia had been first the last three years. Canada was second last year and again in 2009.

"It's logical to assume that the shift in the political climate and renewed optimism surrounding the election of President Obama was a key influencer in the U.S. topping the list," said Rene Mack, president of Weber Shandwick's Travel & Lifestyle Global Practice. The study was conducted by FutureBrand, a consultancy firm, and public relations firm Web Shandwick after a survey of 3,000 international business and leisure travellers.

While the USA was numero uno overall, Canada placed first in several categories; Best Country Brand for Families, Best Country Brand for Resort and Lodging Options (pretty good, I'd say), Best Country Brand for Safety, Best Country Brand for Political Freedom and, best of all, Best Country Brand You Would Most Like to Live In.

Canada came second in the category of best standard of living and was third in natural beauty, environmentalism and "easiest to do business in."

A quote in the report said Canada "continues to do an exceptional job with its branding. Using all the country has to offer, it promotes the experience of adventure, friendly people, diverse culture and beautiful landscapes."

Pretty dang good all around, I'd say.

The USA, in case you were wondering, was tops in Best for Business. But I didn't see any American first-place finishes in other categories, which is interesting. The USA did, however, make the top five in a number of categories where Canada didn't place, including best for advanced technology, best for quality products, best for nightlife (Canada didn't make the top five for nightlife? I guess the experts have never been to Oshawa) and best for shopping.

Here's the full top-10 list of Top Country Brands:

1. USA 2. Canada 3. Australia 4. New Zealand 5. France 6. Italy 7. Japan 8. UK 9. Germany 10. Spain

I'm not so sure I agree with some of the experts, however. Having just returned from Tahiti, I wouldn't rank it first for beaches. Great lagoons and beautiful water, but not a huge number of great beaches. Beaches are much better in Hawaii and Florida and California, although you don't want to swim in California's cool ocean waters in anything other than the heat of the summer.

By the way, the top five for beaches were Tahiti, Bermuda, Aruba, Barbados and the Bahamas.

I WOULD put Tahiti (see photo of Club Bali Hai resort in Moorea, below)  first for natural beauty, yes.

 
And for rest and relaxation, definitely. So no quibbles there.

WEST JET WANDERINGS

Had a cup of coffee with the folks from West Jet and West Jet Vacations yesterday. They're making a big push on the vacations front these days, with 66 destinations in a dozen countries and 11 new ones this fall.

"It's our largest single expansion ever," said Gregg Saretsky, vice president of West Jet Vacations. "We're expecting a million visitors to the sun this year, a 45 per cent hike."

As for specific deals, he says Cuba remains hot, hot and still hot.

"You can get an all-inclusive deal including air, hotel, food and your alcohol for $599 from Toronto," he said. "That's cheaper than staying home."

Saretsky said Cuba expects to attract a million Canadians this year.

"It's interesting that the US might allow visitors to Cuba," he said. "That might drive rates up."

New West Jet destinations this year include Varadero, Cayo Coco and Holguin in Cuba, Turks and Caicos, St. Maarten, Freeport (Grand Bahamas), Miami, Atlantic City, Cozumel, Lihue (Kauai, Hawaii) and Ixtapa.

"We're the only carrier offering service to all four main islands in Hawaii; Kauai, Oahu, Maui and the Big Island of Hawaii," he said. "And we offer 74 weekly services to Las Vegas."

JIM'S DEAL OF THE DAY

Quebec’s Chateau Beauvallon has a special $99.99 rate available through Dec. 18. This lead-in per night rate applies to one-bedroom suites, outfitted with both a king-sized bed in the bedroom and a pull-down Murphy bed in the living room. For two-bedroom suites, the lead-in is $159 and for three-bedroom suites, $209. Each suite’s kitchenette is equipped with a stove top, microwave and a dishwasher. And more crucial for some, the bathrooms have heated floors. Chateau Beauvallon is on the doorstep of Mont Tremblant, offering every winter sport imaginable from skiing and snowboarding to dog-sledding, snowshoeing and snow tubing. See www.chateaubeauvallon.com.

Stupid Canada Visitor Questions...Caribbean Dreaming...Jim's Deal of the Day

A government friend of mine (thanks!) today sent me a great list of what she said were REAL questions people asked on an international tourism website. I'm a little dubious of these things, as folks might INTENTIONALLY ask really stupid questions.

Nonetheless, as we seek to entertain ourselves on a rainy Friday, here's a few of the offerings, with the country from which the query originated in parentheses:

- I have never seen it warm on Canadian TV, so how do the plants grow? (England)

- Will I be able to see polar bears in the street? (USA)

- I want to walk from Vancouver to Toronto, can I follow the railroad tracks? (Sweden).

- Is it safe to run around in the bushes of Canada? (Sweden)

- Are they any ATM's in Canada? Can you send me a list of them in Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton and Halifax? (England)

- Can you give me some information about hippo racing in Canada?

- Can you send me the Vienna Boys' Choir Schedule? (USA)

- Can you tell me the regions in British Columbia where the female population is smaller than (the male) population? (Italy)

- Are there supermarkets in Toronto and is milk available all year round? (Germany)

A few minutes before I got this list, I met a friend who swore she'd heard that a couple of Americans showed up in Trinity, Newfoundland this summer and asked where all the Finnish people were. Puzzled, her friend asked what they meant. "Well," came the reply, "aren't we in New Finland?"

She insists it's true. But if people are really this stupid, there's very little hope for the human race. That's all I can say....

CARIBBEAN CRAZY

They held a smashing lunch/reception in the Distillery District today to celebrate Caribbean week in Canada. Star freelancer Janie Robinson was awarded top newspaper story honours for a piece about delivering the mail by boat in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Hugh Riley, secretary general of the Caribbean Tourism Association, told a packed press conference that Canadian arrivals in 2008 were up 15.3 per cent over 2007 and that total 2009 Canadian arrivals between January and July of this year were up 7.4 per cent over 2008.

He called the figures "gratifying" and said Canadians have been "a real saviour" for the Caribbean.

I hadn't thought of it like that, but Riley said Caribbean nations are "probably the most tourism dependent region in the world."

As for why Canadians continue to flock south, Riley said proximity and ease of access obviously is a huge factor. There's also tremendous cultural diversity, with French, English, Spanish and native histories, not to mention Dutch and South Asian influences and, of course, black/African culture. Naturally, there's also "unmatched beauty and spectacular weather," not to mention "hospitable people."

While numbers from Canada have been good, Riley said the value-added promotions laid on by operators and hotel owners have taken a toll on the bottom line.

"Some of these deals I hope we never have to see again," he joked.

Riley said people definitely are taking longer to book; staying up at 2 a.m. to find the best deals, "then doing it again the next night."

There are signs of improvement, but he said many experts suggest things won't really improve until the third quarter of 2010.

Riley said Caribbean nations are casting an eye on Western Canada. So stay tuned for more on that.

As for what's happening down south, here are a few tidbits I picked up:

- Air Canada Vacations is now offering B and B's and villa apartments in Barbados. They also have a deal where you can upgrade to executive class on some flight/hotel packages for Cuba and Costa Rica for just $99, including access to the Maple Leaf Lounge.

- Delta is adding more flights to St. Lucia from Atlanta.

- Plans in St. Kitts are proceeding for the Christophe Harbour project on the southern part of the island, complete with a Tom Fazio golf course.

- It's gonna be a busy winter in the Cayman Islands. There's a Jazz Festival Dec. 3-5 with Alicia Keys, as well as a marathon. January will see an international cooking event held on Seven mile beach in front of the Ritz Carlton.

- The Jumby Bay Resort on Antigua is slated to reopen Dec. 1 and the Sugar Ridge Hotel later that month.

- Jamaica is said to have the most licensed attractions in the Caribbean; some 170 in all. Direct flights from London, Ontario to Jamaica begin Dec. 21; a huge improvement for London-area residents and even folks in Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge.

- Starting Nov. 4, West Jet will fly from Toronto to Providenciales, Turks and Caicos on Wednesdays, as well as Saturdays.

JIM'S DEAL OF THE DAY

Transat Holidays’ Bite-Sized Price promotion includes not just Mexico and the Caribbean but Spain too. In Mexico, all-inclusive packages start at $449 at the NH Krystal Puerto Vallarta, for departures Nov. 9. In the Riviera Maya, Gran Bahia Principe Coba Royal Golden is priced from $699 (Nov. 28, Dec. 5 and 12). For the same departure dates, the D.R. is leading in at $479 for the Grand Oasis Marien in Puerto Plata and Jamaica, $769 at the Grand Palladium Lady Hamilton Resort & Spa. And in Malaga, Spain, Transat Holidays is offering long-stays with 22 nights in a self-catering apartment with full kitchen for $1,099 per person, including airfare, for departures Feb. 9 and 16. See www.transatholidays.com.

MARRIOTT MADNESS

Available exclusively for bookings made in November, Marriott and Renaissance Caribbean, Mexico and Costa Rica resorts are offering 40 per cent off leisure rates for travel from Jan. 1 to April 30, 2010. The discount applies to room rate only and isn't valid for groups of ten rooms or more. Reservations must be made through marriott.com or by calling toll-free 1-888-727-2347 and requesting promotional code LLF.

 

Park'N Fly Food Drive...Worst Airports...Caribbean Warning...Jim's Deal/Day

Here's a nice idea. Park'N Fly here in Toronto is supporting the Daily Break Food Bank in an effort to help stampt out hunger and poverty and give families a happier holiday season.

Between Nov. 2 and Dec. 21, consumers can drop off a non-perishable food item at the Toronto Park'N Fly Valet Location and get one free parking day, with no strings or limitations or restriction. In addition, you can make a cash donation to the Food Bank in that period and get your free day by bringing the electronic donation receipt; just in case it's not handy to get the grocery store. Park'N Fly will match every dollar donated - up to $5,000 during this period.

I say GOOD ON PARK'N FLY for this promotion. And, hey, nice as the offer is, how about taking a big basket or bagful of groceries and not just a single item, folks?

CARIBBEAN UPS AND DOWNS

Interesting International Monetary Fund report the other day on Caribbean travel. The IMF says that as the financial crisis hit the U.S., countries most dependent on American tourism suffered the worst. Countries less dependent on U.S. visitors, including Barbados, the Dominican Republic and Cuba (duh), fared better.

From April to June, the IMF said visits to Mexico dropped 27.6 %, while those to St. Kitts and Nevis were down a surprising 25.5 % and visits to St. Vincent and the Grenadines dropped 24.1 %.

  
 

On the other hand, Barbados (see photo) was down 12. 5 % andSt. Lucia was down only 5.2 per cent. Jamaica was up 6.7 %, while Colombia grew by 13.2 % and Cuba by 3.8 %.

Don't forget it's Caribbean week here in Toronto, culminating with the Rum and Rhythm event at the Distillery District on Friday.

WORST AIRPORTS: LONDON CALLING

A survey by the Priority Pass airport lounge program finds that London Heathrow tops a list of the five worst airports in the world. Paris' Charles de Gaulle came in second, followed by LAX, Frankfurt International in Germany and Miami International.

Singapore Changi was voted the best airport by Priority Pass members, some 14,500 of whom were queried.

Singapore's airport is almost always singled out as world's best, with its massage chairs and movie theatres and rooftop gardens and dozens of other features that make our little Toronto Pearson look rather pathetic. But enough of that.

I don't know about Heathrow being worst. It's HUGELY busy, which can't be good for service. But I've been there twice in the last year, most recently a week ago in the new Terminal 5, and I thought it was pretty good. Haven't been to Paris in a while (note to self - remedy that) or LAX, although I'll be at LAX on Saturday for five hours so I can check it out. I recall my last visit to Frankfurt - on my way to Athens, I think - was dreadful. Miami's pretty poor but I believe it's being rebuilt/renovated.

JIM'S DEAL OF THE DAY

The buzz in cruising these days seems to be either ‘go big’ or ‘go small’. Mega-ships like Royal Caribbean’s 220,000-ton Oasis of the Seas will carry 5,400 passengers when it hits the water later this year. That dwarfs the small and cozy river cruise ships gaining popularity on Europe’s waterways. No matter what your preference, there are plenty of deals out there. With Encore CruiseEscapes, you can save up to $200 per stateroom on Royal Caribbean cruises in Mexico, the Bahamas and the Caribbean, Alaska and Europe, plus Atlantic Ocean crossings, for ocean view staterooms on select ships and sailings booked by Oct. 31. Higher stateroom categories also qualify. For booking information see www.encorecruiseescapes.com.

AIR WARS IN THE U.S.

I think I'd need a calculator or a really good abacus to figure it out, but the deals sound extraordinary on Southwest and on AirTran down in the U.S. of A. Southwest has launched a goofy (but seemingly popular) sale in which tickets range from $25 to $100, depending on how you go. A flight of up to 375 miles is $25 each way, while flights between 375 and 549 miles are $50 and flights between 550 and 999 miles are $75 each way. Flights of 1,000 miles or more cost, wait for it, $100 each way.

The sale ends Thursday at 11:59 p.m. PST. The sale covers flights between Dec. 2 and 16 and Jan. 5 to Feb. 10 - thus avoiding Christmas and New Year's. Interesting it ends two days prior to the start of the Vancouver Olympics, too.

AirTran has a sale of its own but you'll have to go to their website - www.airtrain.com - to check. Sample flights include Boston to Baltimore/Washington for $39. I was able to find a one-way flight from Buffalo-Niagara to Orlando in mid-November for $67 U.S., which is pretty dang good.

The AirTran sale isn't valid for tickets on Nov. 25, Nov. 28-30, Dec. 18-20, Dec. 22-30 or Jan. 2-3. It, too, ends Feb. 10, and USA Today reports fares are cheapest for flights on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

HONDURAS CHAIR LIFT: LOOKS GREAT BUT IS THE COUNTRY SAFE?

Carnival passengers will be able to "fly" from the ship to the beach on a new elevated chair lift, when the line debuts its new Mahogany Bay Cruise Center in Roatan, Honduras, next month, says USA Today.

The six-minute lift ride, which Carnival is calling the "Magical Flying Beach Chair," will start directly at the cruise terminal and take passengers to Mahogany Beach. According to Carnival it's the first such transport in the Caribbean.

Four-passenger chairs will travel 67 feet above the ground. Carnival will charge a $5 fee for unlimited rides (chair lift passes will also be included in pre-sold beach activities).

The lift is part of Carnival's new $62 million cruise center which debuts with a visit of the 2,124-passenger Carnival Legend on Nov. 20. Mahogany Beach is a 10-acre private island featuring a long beach with loung chairs, floats, private cabanas, watersports, a restaurant and two bars.

It's something you don't see everyday, but the Tourism Minister of Honduras was quoted the other day as saying visitors should AVOID his country due to political instability.

"We are still a state without individual guarantees," he said. "The police can come into your house without court order, you can be arrested withour reason, and there's no freedom of movement."

Carnival argues Roatan is 30 miles from the coast and hasn't been affected by the political situation in Honduras and that "we have continued to call there through the past many weeks without incident."

Still....

 

Good West Jet Idea, Caribbean Week in TO,Torstar Digital Makes Key Purchase

It's such an obvious solution, you gotta wonder why nobody thought of it earlier. Or at least why they haven't done it.

The folks at WestJet say they're contemplating a plan that would take middle seats off the market on some long-distance flights, apparently Calgary to Hawaii (see photo). 

 

That would lessen the weight of the planes and thus reduce the amount of fuel needed. Which would allow them to better utilize existing planes and not buy bigger, more expensive ones.

The talk is that next year they'll leave up to 20 middle seats open on the Boeing 737-700 planes, which seat 136 folks.

Of course, they'd forgo some revenue so the thought is that folks (HELLO, YOU THINK?) would pay a little extra to have an empty seat next to them. I find it's a HUGE benefit to have half a seat for my book or iPod or what have you, and to be able to use half the tray to hold a drink while I put my laptop or whatever on the tray in front of my seat.

Personally, I'd pay $100 for the extra seat on a long flight. Even a five-hour flight it might be worth it. Or at least $50.

Interesting idea, and I'll be watching to see how this works.

RUM AND RHYTHM

The second annual Caribbean Rum & Rhythm Festival goes next Friday in the Distillery District as part of Caribbean Week in Toronto.

 

There's a party Friday night Oct. 30 from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Fermenting Cellar, with a variety of award-winning rums and some tasty cocktails, plus mouth-watering cuisine, music and a silent auction that includes Caribbean vacations. Ooh, I hope they have some Chairman's Reserve from St. Lucia (see photo)

Tickets are available for $55 per person and be purchased online at Ticketweb.com and at www.caribbeanweek.ca or by calling (888) 222-6608.

TORSTAR DIGITAL BUYS TRAVEL ALERTS

Interesting to see our friends at Torstar Digital have purchased Travelwire Inc., owner of TravelAlerts.ca (www.travelalerts.ca), a leading travel website and weekly newsletter that provides 700,000 Canadians with information about the best travel deals.

"We are excited to work collaboratively with the Travelwire team to further extend this fantastic product to Torstar Digital's broad consumer audience and advertiser base," Torstar Digital officials said. "Travelwire is unique in that it offers 10 regional TravelAlerts.ca newsletters across Canada with geo-targeted travel deals for each region."

Personally, I'm pretty excited to see what direction this goes. Could be some changes for our website down the road?

CRUISE DOINGS

The first Caribbean sailing of MSC Poesia goes Nov. 10 from Fort Lauderdale, touching base at Ocho Rios and Grand Cayman in a five-night cruise.

MSC Poesia was launched last year. For information, go to www.msccruisesusa.com

FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD (WEST)

The West Hollywood Marketing and Visitors Bureau has announced the relaunch of www.gogaywesthollywood.com, "the premier source of information for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered travelers to West Hollywood."

It's a great area, for sure, including parts of the Sunset strip and other districts. It's more or less sandwiched between Beverly Hills and Hollywood itself, which is a region of Los Angeles and not a separate city.

JIM'S DEAL OF THE DAY

Air Canada Vacations has extended the booking deadline on its Early Booking Bonus deal to Europe. From now until Nov. 30, you can save $200 per couple, or $100 per person, on all Air & Hotel packages to Europe, as long as travel is taken between Nov. 1, 2009 and April 30, 2010. Air Canada Vacations’ Europe  

line up includes London, Madrid, Paris, Geneva, Zurich, Dublin, Frankfurt and Munich, with flights and hotels as well as car rentals, airport/hotel transfers, sightseeing tours and theatre tickets. See www.aircanadavacations.com.

 

More Sunwing outfall...Disney deal and UCLA jazz...Jim's deal of the day

It's interesting to note some of the comments made by Sunwing folks in the wake of the announced merger of Sunwing and Signature. And to note how some of my fellow media types phrased their stories.

There was some sense of a larger company being able to offer more efficiencies, but by and large the tone seemed to be the one I took in this space yesterday, which is to suggest that any reduced competition is probably not a great thing for the average Canadian consumer. I hope that's wrong, but it usually seems to work that way.

For now, Sunwing says nothing will change and that Signature will keep operating as normal. There's talk that Sunwing will put a new emphasis on Mexico over the winter, and that's certainly good news for Mexico tourism folks.

I got a bit of reaction from readers to my Tuesday blog. Here are two competing thoughts:

"I hope that Sunwing learns a little bit of customer service from the merger. I travelled recently with Sunwing. There was an issue with my return flight. I hear that Air Canada has bad customer service .. trust me they are great compared to SW. I am not sure why they even have a CS (customer service) department. I am using WestJet for my next trip.. they have the best customer service in the industry."

Another person thought Sunwing was the cat's nightgown.

"I think Sunwing is great and I hope they keep their service just as it is. I've traveled down south a lot over the past 20 years, both with my extended family and with my wife and of all the companies we've flown with, Sunwing has been the best. Reading that they went (from revenues) of $30 million (to) $660 million was a shock, but I guess that's what happens when you provide good service. Good for them."

I've never flown Sunwing, but if money talks they're obviously doing some things right. Or a lot of things.

NICE WORK BY THE MOUSE

Disney is offering a free days' admission to a million guests who complete a day of volunteer work next year, and I gotta give them credit for a lovely idea.

Associated Press reports the "Give a Day, Get a Disney Day" program will give certified volunteers a one-day ticket at Walt Disney World in Orlando or Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif. Disney is partnering with HandsOn Network to connect people with projects and to make sure work is done.

Duncan Dickson, who teaches theme park management at the University of Central Florida (who knew there was such a thing?), called it a "smart marketing move," and I couldn't agree more.

(Okay, I can make fun of theme park management, but I confess I took a course in jazz when I was at UCLA. My professor was a guy who had played in Glenn Miller's band, Paul Tanner. One day he told us invented the "electro-theremin," which played the weird, trippy sounding thingy that goes "oooh, oooh, oooh, oooh, oooh" in the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations." I didn't believe him but I later looked it up and he was right. Of course, it took a little more doing as there was no Internet to look these things up on. I also found out he was born in Skunk Hollow, Kentucky, which is one of the great-sounding towns in America, apropo of nothing).

JIM'S DEAL OF THE DAY

Transat Holidays is the latest tour operator to promote holiday season getaways at sale prices. Some of the lowest rates are for Cuba, including a seven night air and hotel package at the Hotetur Palma Real in Varadero for $1,069 departing Dec. 19. And in the Dominican Republic, staying at the Bahia Principe San Juan Golden Club, packages are priced at $1,149 for the Dec. 31 departure. Prices are higher on islands like Antigua ($1,699 for the Jolly Beach Resort & Spa) and St. Lucia ($1,759 at Coconut Bay Beach Resort), both flying out Dec. 20. Transat lists all of its hotels and prices at www.transatholidays.com.

TWICK OR TWEET...CUTE

Nine Marriott/Renaissance Caribbean and Mexico resorts on Oct. 1 will launch a Halloween Twitter promotion called "Twick-or-Tweet."

Sounds like more tweet than twick to me. What you have to do, I'm told, is follow @MarriottResorts on Twitter (hey, while you're at it, follow me to @jbyers11) and then you can check each day for a link that will pull up what they're calling the twick-or-tweet "landing page." Free massages or free nights will be on offer, as well as "tweets" such as free golf in St. Kitts or a $100 resort credit in Cancun.

FREE ROOMS AT SHERATON

Sheraton Hotels and Resorts is celebrating $6 billion in renovations around the world with free rooms for one night only at 86 hotels in North America. Consumers can visit www.sheraton.com/freenight from Oct. 6-9 to reigster for a free room on Oct. 23 at such hotels as the Sheraton Boston, Sheraton Waikiki and Sheraton Phoenix Downtown.

Officials say they have 70,000 new or newly renovated rooms, 50,000 of them in North America, as well as 300 new lobbies and new "sweet sleeper" beds in 83,000 guestrooms. Nearly half the company's North American properties have been renovated, including the Sheraton Montreal.

 

 

 

 

Signature and Sunwing to fly together; good for consumers?...Jim's Deal of Day

A remarkable year in Canadian travel just got a whole lot more interesting.

The news today is that Sunwing Vacations has agreed to combine with Signature Vacations for what will be a huge player in the Canadian travel business. Sunwing has been flying high, while First Choice Canada, which runs Signature Vacations and SellOffVacations, has been having considerable trouble.

What it means to consumers is hard to say. On the one hand, the new company, called Sunwing Travel Group, will have more buying power. On the other hand, it means less competition for business; and that's usually not good for buyers.

Colin Hunter, chairman and majority shareholder of the Sunwing Travel Group, said the proposed amalgamation "will create a stronger company better able to compete against Canada's leading tour operators, while offering a broader range of travel destinations to the travelling public. The proposed company will be in a position to improve its product range and offer competitive prices with increased efficiencies resulting from the transaction."

Improved product range and competitive prices sound like good terms. But how competitive will they be? Certainly, Sunwing has been an aggressive travel company, seeing revenues go from something like $30 million to $660 million in the last five years.

Based in Toronto, Sunwing Vacations departs to 31 sun destinations, including standbys such as Cuba, Mexico, Florida and Jamaica but also "newer" spots such as Honduras and Belize.

Earlier this year, Conquest Vacations suddenly shut its doors after 37 years of operation. Conquest said it was a victim of overcapacity issues and a price war between groups such as Sunwing, WestJet Vacations, Air Canada Vacations and Transat A.T.

Meanwhile, in the airlines business, you have West Jet and Air Canada engaged in some solid price wars, while Porter Airlines continues to expand out of the Toronto Island Airport.

Interesting times.

JIM'S DEAL OF THE DAY.. NEW MEXICO

A number of Santa Fe hotels have put together special packages with savings over the winter – when average temperatures, at least during the day, hit the double-digits. The Inn and Spa at Loretto’s Santa Fe 400 package, marking the city’s 400th anniversary, includes two nights’ accommodation, a $40 (U.S.) dining credits as well as a $40 spa credit, plus valet parking and the daily resort fee. Travel must be completed by March 31, 2010. For details see www.innatloretto.com. Another promotion, at the Inn on the Alameda, offers third consecutive nights for $24 for travel Oct. 25 through Feb. 28, for all rooms and suites. Some black-out dates apply with this deal. See www.innonthealameda.com.

 

Vancouver to Osoyoos; a great British Columbia drive...Jim's Deal of the Day

Now, that's a great drive.

I've drive the Coquihalla Highway between Kelowna and Vancouver. On Thursday I did the Vancouver to Osoyoos drive on the the Crowsnest Highway, Highway 3. You slowly make your way out of Vancouver and roll past farms and fields out near Abbotsford before starting the climb toward sawtoothed peaks near Hope, then turn right on to Highway 3.

You hardly see a soul as you roll over the Allison Pass at 1,352 meters and make your way through Manning Provincial Park, hard by the U.S. border. You turn back north and follow the silky Similkameen River to Princeton, a great little town that didn't seem to have a Tim Horton's. But a checkout girl at the Shoppers Drug Mart pointed me to a great place called Cowboy Coffee (great name, too; no pretense here) that had dark, black stuff that would make Starbucks proud. You're pumping money, albeit only a bit, into the local economy so it's a nice feeling. Folks in Osoyoos and the lower Okanagan Valley say Cowboy Coffee is a de rigeur stop on the five hour trip to Vancouver, and it's easy to see why.

You get to follow the Similkameen even further as it dances in the sun between the highway and the mountains. The road's not at all treacherous, but you come right along the rock face several times and get some really lovely vistas before you roll down to Keremeos and Cawston, both sleepy little towns in a valley above Osoyoos.

Folks say the Similkameen is the next big wine area in British Columbia. I didn't get a chance to taste any of the local stuff, but there were a couple dozen wineries before I even reached Osoyoos.

We ran a story on Osoyoos in Star Travel earlier this year but I'd never been. I've seen some dry parts of B.C. up around Cache Creek on the Fraser, but the dry-as-toast chaparral on the roads around Osoyoos and the outcroppings of burnt rock and spindly trees looks more like the Ponderosa or the high deserts of Nevada than anything the average visitor would expect in Canada.

It's absolutely beautiful country. And the wine is smashingly good, especially the reds. I've never found many Canadian red wines with the polish and heft that I like. But the Meritage blend and the Syrah at Nk'Mip in Osoyoos, the first aboriginal-owned winery, were both remarkably good and powerful.

It's a great spot, set on a hill overlooking the lake in Osoyoos, with a lovely patio. The signature plate features grilled bison, medallions of venison, wild game sausage and grilled vegetables with distinctive cornbread that's stuffed with cranberries, grilled onions and other goodies. Dynamite stuff, and the view's a killer.

You go past some lovely orchards on your way from Osoyoos up to Kelowna, with names like King Tomato, O'Reilly's, Dhaliwal and Elm Tree. You can buy peaches, nectarines, apricots, watermelon, plums, asian pears, walnuts, apples, cucumbers, tomatoes, blueberries and just about everything else except fresh mangoes and pineapple.

Up past Summerland and the lakeside town of Peachland to Kelowna, where I stayed the night at the lakeside Grand Okanagan. A really nice spot with all the amenities and a couple of pools(see photo below) one of which I MIGHT get a chance to dunk myself into later today.

The highlight of the day was a dinner hosted by Kelowna tourism. Ostensibly it was for some food and wine writers here for a seminar, but I got an invite and managed to fake my way into being something of a wine afficionado. They held the event at RauDZ Regional Table in downtown Kelowna, where chef Rod Butters will do everything from tuna casserole with fresh ahi to a pair of merguez sausage hot dogs, or dress things up with oat-crusted arctic char with maple butter, potato, bacon and spinach saute' or duck served on a vegetable bread pudding with morello cherry relish. Yum. Desserts are spectacularly beautiful, with lots of chocolate and fresh, local raspberries.

They had folks from Peller Estates, Calona Vineyards and SandHill (all owned by Peller) on hand to let us try some unoaked Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and a remarkably earthy and full-bodied Pinot Noir. The Chardonnay and Pinot both have won awards from the Lt. Governor of BC, and it was easy to see and taste why. We got to comparing wines to various celebrities and figured the Chardonnay was bright and sparkly like Cameron Diaz. I thought the pinot was George Harrison; complex and hard-to-read but delightful and grounded, and I think that's quite enough of that.

ADVENTURE TRAVEL DEALS

Nice item on the USA Today travel website about the 10 best bargains today in adventure travel. Snowshoeing in Switzerland and cycling in Sicily are two of the options, as well as whitewater rafting in northern California.

 
JIM'S DEAL OF THE DAY 

Norwegian Cruise Line’s three-day NOW sale runs through Sept. 18 with savings on more than 300 cruises in the Bahamas, Bermuda, Caribbean, Hawaii, the Mexican Riviera, South America, Canada and New England and Europe. Itineraries range from three to 29 days. With this sale, cruise fares have come down, plus you’ll get an onboard credit worth up to $250 (U.S.) to spend on shore excursions and at the spa, shops and casino. NCL has also made the booking process easier by cutting the standard cruise deposit by 50 per cent, so that most passengers only have to put down between $25 and $200 per person depending on the length of their cruise. For more details see www.ncl.com.

 

Reading Travel Trends, Harry Potter at Universal and Jim's deal of the day

On the one hand, things are terrible. On the other, they're looking up. Yet they're still really bad.

It gets tough reading the old tea leaves in the travel biz these days, as evidenced by the flurry of good news/terrible news emails that came over the wires on a Tuesday morning in mid-September.

First the good news, at least for consumers. Hotels.ca and hotels.com say the average price of a hotel room around the world fell by 17 per cent in the first half of this year. Prices in Latin America (their words, not mine) fell 18 per cent, while North America prices were down 17 per cent and Europe down 16 per cent. Hotels in the Caribbean, however, and this is interesting, dropped just 2 per cent.

As for individual cities, they said rates were down 12 per cent in Vienna and 11 per cent in both Dublin and Florence. Milan rates dropped nine per cent, while those in Madrid dropped just 5 per cent.

Here in Canada, there were reports Air Canada said its traffic fell less than one percentage point in August, compared to 3.3 per cent in July and 9.1 per cent in June. WestJet, just to continue the good news/not so good pattern, found traffic fell 4.7 per cent in August, compared to the same in July and compared to a 7.1 per cent fall in June.

Cameron Doerksen, an analyst with Versant Partners, told the FInancial Post that the latest news in Canada "may be a sign that the bottom has been reached."

Yet a few minutes after I read that report, I saw something that said business travel to Britain dropped by 25 per cent in the first six months of this year. So go figure what it all means.

Finally, it might be time to lock in your cruise for the winter. Travel Weekly says Oceania Cruises raised their prices a whopping 40 per cent on Sept. 1 for its 2010 departures. They said another price hike is coming in January, this after what they said was a record-breaking month of August.

Travel Weekly quoted officials in the industry as saying that cruise ticket prices are "beginning to show some sequential improvement," which in industry jargon means higher prices; good for them, bad for us.

HARRY POTTER ON THE WAY

Universal Orlando folks today unveiled details about the The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal's Islands of Adventure. They're promising a "one-of-a-kind experience complete with multiple attractions, shops and a signature eating establishment."

Hogwarts hot dogs? Muggles muffins?

All prices 9-3/4?

Who knows?

Anyway, they said there will be a Hogwarts Express, Zonko's joke shop, Honeydukes, The Owlery and Dragon Challenge, a twin, high-speed roller coaster with "many iconic elements from the Triwizard Tournament."

I only read one of the books but it sounds pretty cool. They might just make some money off it, too.

JIM'S DEAL OF THE DAY

You might not associate an off-the-beaten-track destination like El Salvador with a big travel company like Nolitours. But the capital, San Salvador, has been a Nolitours destination for several years. Day trips from San Salvador include the Mayan ruins of Joya de Ceren, Izalco Volcano or the colonial city of Antigua. Or, you can just soak up the sun on the beach. Nolitours’ fall and winter sale includes San Salvador’s Royal Decameron Salinitas, a four-star all-inclusive with 552 rooms and five a la carte restaurants. Prices start at $699 per person for a seven night stay. Two more sale properties are the Gran Caribe Club Puntarena Cameleon in Varadero, from $399, and the Grand Paradise Playa Dorada from $499. See www.nolitours.com.