Via Rail gets more entertaining ... Transat attendants falling ... Deal of Day: DR

Train trips with VIA Rail are about to get a little better.

Canada's rail giant has announced that they'll now be showing CBC news and other shows on board their trains, as well as top documentaries and other entertainment.

Starting in Spring 2013, the new interactive digital platform will provide passengers on VIA trains in the Windsor-Quebec City corridor (sorry, that's all for now) "free access to Canadian programming, including CBC/Radio-Canada TV shows programs, documentaries and animation from the NFB, and "Heritage Minutes" vignettes and Memory Project veteran interviews produced by The Historica-Dominion Institute."

Over time, they said, entertainment will be added from other organizations.

"Over the past two years, VIA Rail passengers have become accustomed to world-class Wi-Fi on our trains. Today, we are pleased to extend our Wi-Fi offer with entertainment and information produced by Canadians, for Canadians," officials said.

Okay, it's not quite Netflix. But it's certainly a nice step, and fitting that the content will be Canadian.

The VIA press release says the "on-board entertainment initiative required a total investment of $543,000 by VIA Rail. This program is part of VIA Rail's modernization plan launched in 2007, and was made possible by the nearly $1 billion in capital funding announced by the Government of Canada since 2007 to rebuild aging equipment, refurbish stations, upgrade infrastructure, improve accessibility and support critical information technology projects."

Rail officials posted a YouTube video about the coming system, which you can find here.

FAIRMONT ANNIVERSARY DEALS

The legendary Fairmont Banff Springs hotel is celebrating its 125th birthday with a year-long deal. The special 125th Castle Celebration Package offers two nights in luxury and a daily resort credit of $125. Guests can enjoy sumptuous dining with expansive mountain views, golf on the world-famous Stanley Thompson golf course, hikes down the Spray Valley to the site of the original Rundle stone quarry or a sojourn in the world-class Willow Stream Spa. Available year-round, rates start from $359 per night with a minimum two night stay.

This is also an eventful year for Quebec City’s Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, which Fairmont said "is celebrating 120 years as the most photographed hotel in the world." The 120th Anniversary Package highlights the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac’s inauguration in 1893 with a special rate and historic gift. The package includes accommodation in a Fairmont room, a full buffet breakfast for two at Le Café de la Terrasse restaurant, a vintage reprint poster of the famed Château Frontenac, and access to the hotel’s indoor pool. Available through June 24, 2013, rates start from $189.30 per night (to celebrate the hotel’s opening in 1893).

(I don't know about that most photographed hotel in the world bit. But it probably makes sense when you think about the hordes of tourists in and around Quebec City in summer. There's no way to quantify these things and I guess there could be a hotel somewhere next to a famous landmark that has its picture taken more often, but I can't honestly think of one. I mean, there's no Hyatt Machu Picchu I know of and there's not yet a Comfort Suites at the end of the Golden Gate Bridge or a Ritz Carlton under the Eiffel Tower.)

In Arizona, Fairmont Scottsdale Princess is celebrating a quarter century of luxury. The AAA Five-Diamond resort’s 25th Anniversary Early-Bird Special is perfect for a summer getaway. The package includes nightly accommodation and a daily $25 USD food and beverage credit. Available for stays from May 27, 2013 to September 2, 2013, rates start at $125 USD per night.

TRANSAT CHANGES

The Star's Vanessa Lu reports on looming changes to staff on board Transat flights.Writing in today's paper, she says that because of stiff competition in the leisure travel business, "Air Transat’s flight attendants have agreed to $9 million in cost-saving measures.

About 1,750 flight attendants, represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees, voted 66 per cent in favour of the company’s plan, which will reduce the number of flight attendants on Airbus 330 wide-body planes to 10, from the current 11.

“They haven’t touched our salaries,” said Peter Buzzell, president of CUPE’s Air Transat component, in an interview. “Working with one person less, that just means we have to work a little bit harder.”

 

JAUNT.CA DEAL OF THE DAY: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Jaunt.ca, a division of Torstar, has a deal on tap for the sunny D.R. this week for $1,087, including $388 in taxes.

Jaunt Highlights

• EXCLUSIVE SAVINGS: Save $300 per couple with Jaunt compared to what you'd pay for the same vacation on other sites!
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• All-inclusive 7-night stay at the 4-Star Grand Bahia Principe El Portillo, located in Samana, Dominican Republic
• Includes return airfare from Toronto to Samana, and round-trip airport/hotel transfers
• Accommodations include a Standard Room featuring 1 king or 2 twin beds and a balcony or terrace. Maximum occupancy: 2 adults, or 2 adults and 1 child
• Daily breakfast, lunch and dinner, and unlimited alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks
• The exquisite natural beauty on the Samana peninsula
• It's a charming property that's perfect for family getaways
• Close the beautiful town of Las Terrenas

Offer Details

• Valid for travel on March 17, 23 & 24, 2013
  Other DATES and GATEWAYS available. Call us at 1-855-687-5925.
• Pricing (Rates are per person, plus tax):
  
  Toronto:
  Double: $699
  Single: $1039
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• Valid passport required for travel from Canada
• This offer is 100% non-refundable at time of booking

 

 

Another Toronto Olympic bid (this time 2024); maybe third time is the charm?

I try to stick to travel on my travel blog (what a concept). But sometimes I can't help delving into other topics for a bit, especially when it's something as global and political and fascinating as the Olympics.

I headed up the Star's coverage of Toronto's 1996 bid against Atlanta, et al..., and also our coverage of the 2008 bid against Beijing. Both, as I recall, were losing efforts on Toronto's part. I also covered Vancouver's bid for the 2010 Winter Games, which had a happier ending.

It is, therefore, with great interest that I see yet another bid in the making. Bob Richardson, the chief operating officer for the 2008 Toronto bid and an unabashed Olympic junkie, is talking up a bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

He'll have to get the okay from Mayor Rob Ford, and probably from the province and also from the feds. First up would be the city, without which nothing happens.

Mayor Ford's team turned away Richardson's effort to drum up support for a 2020 bid, saying the city's financial situation didn't allow for such things. It's a fair point, but in August Councillor Doug Ford - the mayor's brother and sometimes political spokesman - said he'd be open to a bid at a future date.

There was talk of a Quebec City bid for the 2022 Winter Games, which would've put Toronto on ice. But Quebec's mayor ruled out a bid a couple months ago, clearing the decks for a Canadian entry for 2024, at least in theory.

There's still a huge need for better amateur sporting facilities in Canada, especially of the summer variety and most notably in our most populous province. The Pan Am Games would help, but the Olympics are a star of a much greater intensity and would, if handled properly from a financial standpoint, bring in that much more.

I don't know if the security costs are worth it these days, but if you don't mind a billion dollars or two in federal/provincial/local money for fences and x-ray machines and police overtime it could work.

The issue becomes, of course, whether 2024 is winnable. Toronto 1996 bid leader Paul Henderson was right when he said Athens wasn't guaranteed the 1996 Games, notwithstanding it was the 100th anniversary of the birth of the modern Olympics, held in Athens in 1896. He was right, but it was Atlanta that elbowed its way into the winners circle for the 1996 Games.

The Toronto folks knew they were up against it for 2008, when they took on the behemoth Beijing bid. They shot themselves in the foot with Mayor Mel Lastman's talk about cannibals in Africa, but they were never going to win the 2008 Games unless China did something really stupid on the international front. They didn't, and they ran a very good Games, albeit one lacking in soul (see photo of the famous Birds Nest stadium in Beijing).

So now we come to 2011. The last Olympics in North America were the largely forgettable 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah. The last Summer Games - and the IOC tends to think of their two babies as separate entities - on our continent were the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

Here's how the Games have gone since Atlanta: Nagano, Sydney, Salt Lake, Athens, Turin, Beijing. Vancouver. Next: London, Sochi (Russia), Rio de Janeiro and Pyeongchang, South Korea (the 2018 Winter Olympics).

Those bidding for the 2020 Summer Games? Doha (Qatar), Rome, Madrid, Istanbul, Tokyo and Baku, Azerbaijan. The short list comes out next May and the vote will be in 2013.

None of those cities are in North America, of course. But there’s talk of Denver or Reno-Lake Tahoe for 2022, as well as Munich and Norway (a sentimental favourite given the now-legendary status of the Lillehammer Winter Olympics).

The IOC and the United States Olympic Committee still aren’t on the best of terms given disputes over television money and other issues, but there’s at least a possibility of a North American winner. That might scupper a Toronto bid, but, given the vagaries and outright unpredictability at times of the International Olympic Committee, it might not.

Either way, 2024 appears at this early stage to be a lot more winnable than the 2008 effort.

Is it worth doing? I don’t quite know yet. Is it worth watching? Absolutely.

 

 

 

 

Outstanding Hawaiian band Makaha Sons coming to Toronto ... What earthquake?

Just listening to this Makaha Sons song via YouTube is making me smile. And they're coming to town in a few weeks as part of a Hawaiian/Polynesian entertainment extravaganza.

There are few things better in the world than the mellow sounds of a Hawaiian singing group. The rhythm sounds like the gentle beating of the waves on a golden beach, and the harmonies are spectactular. It's a warm, wonderful and engaging sound like nothing else I've found on earth.

The great news is that The Makaha Sons will be at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre - Kobayashi Hall on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. This “Evening of Aloha” will include performances by the Children’s Ukulele Ensemble, local Hula Dance Schools and other surprises.  Net proceeds from the concerts will go to the Children’s Ukulele Program directed by Juno Award Winner, Melanie Doane which gives a group of elementary school children from the Toronto School Board the chance to experience the joy of music through the ukulele.

Local organizer Pam Pitz has been working like a madwoman to put this show together, and I love her dedication. In a press release, she explained that for nearly three decades, "The Makaha Sons have committed themselves to perpetuate traditional Hawaiian music throughout the world. They are recognized as one of Hawai‘i’s premiere Hawaiian musical groups, maintaining a vibrant sound, full and rich with harmonies that only they can create. Their incomparable vocal arrangements and delightful stage presence filled with comical antics have won the hearts of thousands of fans worldwide."

Indeed. Check them out on YouTube. Better yet, pick up a ticket for the show and support Hawaiian music here in Toronto. Tickets are $45.00 and are available by cash or certified cheque/money order through the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre Box Office at 416-441-2345 or On-Line at www.ticketweb.ca (type in "The Makaha Sons.")

For more information: www.eveningofaloha.webs.com, www.makahasons.com, www.melaniedoane.com.

And for a little added fun, check this YouTube video of Melanie Doane and James Hill doing "Avalon" on a pair of ukeleles. You can't help but smile at something that's that much fun. I hadn't heard of James Hill but this B.C. artist is outstanding. Hope he comes to Toronto some time soon.

THAT'S NO EARTHQUAKE...

Well, okay, maybe 5.8 is something spectacular in Virginia. And there's no doubt there was some damage caused in Washington D.C., although reports that the Washington Monument was suddenly leaning like the Tower of Pisa were quickly rebuked as a figment of someone's imagination.

There was a little shaking going on. But when you grow up in California, 5.8 is barely a blip. And it's not much compared to the one that shook Ottawa last year. THAT was fairly noticeable in Toronto. But not Tuesday's mild shake.

To hear people in Toronto talk about it like it was some major event was beyond silly. My favourite spoof was former Star Travel writer Reb Stevenson, who found an old photo and posted it on her Facebook page.

Oh, the humanity...

VIRGIN AMERICA ADDS NFL, NCAA

Now THIS is something worth celebrating. USAToday reports that, to beef up its sports content in time for the football season, Virgin America is adding more network channels to its in-flight entertainment system.

"The California-based airline, which is one of the few carriers to offer seatback TV for domestic flights, says the NFL, college football and other sports games televised on NBC and FOX in the New York area will be broadcast live starting this month, adding to its current broadcast of ESPN and CBS content."

Too bad they don't fly into Toronto any more. Damn. I doubt Air Canada or WestJet will bend over backwards to give us our NFL fix....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A European hotel with floors for just women...what about us guys?

I spotted an item at travelmole.com this morning about how a hotel in Copenhagen, the Bella Sky Comwell (horrible name but interesting architecture, as you can see), is going to dedicate an entire floor to women travellers.

I believe this has been done before in North America and other spots, but it's still an interesting concept. Apparently the hotel had women serve on a focus group and found out they liked the idea of being more secure (i.e., away from guys). They also feel rooms are going to be more hygienic if only women use them (a suggestion I resent, being a person who picks up after myself in a room so the poor cleaning staff can get a break), and that they, naturally, favour somewhat different amenities than male customers.

Big bathrooms with a tub (I'm all for that, especially in the winter), large shower heads (I don't know why), a good hairdryer and a mirror that magnifies for make-up application. The travelmole story said women also want free wi-fi (don't we all?), iPod docking stations, a full-length mirror, good magazines (probably not the same ones the guys want), plants and slippers.

I don't know, but I suspect most women would like this picture I spotted of the Peninsula Tokyo Hotel and one of its bathrooms. Not bad, eh?

They also said they want lighting stations that are easy to understand, and hail to that. I can't tell you the number of rooms I've stayed in, including one in New Delhi last week, where I was simply buffaloed trying to figure out how to turn up lights.

Why do hotels feel the need to install systems that give you six types of lighting and fancy buttons and crazy switches? What's wrong with a simple light switch, or maybe a dimmer? Do I really need a program that takes a half hour to figure out just so I can have my drapes open 3/4 of an inch at a time and slowly raise the level of sound on the radio so I can ease into my morning? No, I do not.

When I wake up at night to pee, I want to flick a switch and find the toilet and not launch into arithmetic algorithms and get out a manual that tells me how to turn on the friggin' bathroom light.

There are, of course, some things us guys would want to see in a hotel room. How about urinals? Wouldn't that be nice? Also: giant tv screens that get all the latest channels and, in Canada, also get ESPN so we can watch all the March Madness we want and not rely on Canadian stations. Mini-bars that don't charge $15 for a bottle of beer would be nice.

The women in the Copenhagen hotel group said they'd like some place in the hotel to buy tights and emergency kits of lip gloss, eye shadow and mascara. Me? I want a hotel shop that sells spicy chicken wings 24/7 and good-value California Cabernet Sauvignon, not to mention better bookshops with more than just those horrendous Girl with the Dragon Tattoo novels.

I see the point of female-only floors. But this creates a real problem because I think what most guys want on their floor, more than beer and chicken wings and giant TV's and even free movies and wi-fi, are women.

Just a hunch.

AIR CANADA DISCOUNT NEWS

Some interesting comments came out in the wake of Air Canada's suggestion that it might launch a discount airline. It's certainly good news, but one expert quoted by Canadian Press suggests we might not want to open the Champagne just yet.

A new low-cost airline flying to vacation spots in Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe would inflict more pressure on the industry to constrain fares, at least until a rival is driven out of business, said Chris Murray of PI Financial Corp.

“In the short run there may be (some bargains) but ...I wouldn’t expect it to be driving fares down to the craziness like we’ve seen before, the $1 to London flights,” he said in the CP interview.

Quoted in the Toronto Sun, analyst Rick Erickson of R.J. Erickson & Associates said the move likely would help keep prices in check. He suggests flights might commenct next fall or winter.

Erickson noted that Air Canada has steadily been losing market share to such discount airlines as Transat A.T., Westjet Vacations and Sunwing Travel Group.

PAT DOWN OF A SIX-YEAR-OLD? GET REAL, TSA

This I spotted from Associated Press today, and it really makes me wonder about some folks in the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. (Most of them are great, so please, no letters).

A Kentucky couple wants the TSA to change how it screens children after their 6-year-old daughter was frisked at the New Orleans airport.

Selena Drexel told ABC's "Good Morning America" Wednesday the family was returning home from a vacation earlier this month when their daughter Anna was selected for a pat-down.

The couple posted a video of the search on YouTube.

The girl's father, Todd Drexel, says Anna was confused by the search and started crying afterward because she thought she'd done something wrong.

Selena Drexel says such searches are inappropriate for children because they're usually told not to let adults touch them in sensitive areas.

In a statement, the Transportation Security Administration says the officer followed proper procedure but that the agency is reviewing its screening policies.

No kidding.

 

 

 

Virgin America comes to Toronto - good news for consumers...and showgirls?

Virgin America's first flight into Toronto landed today around 4:25 p.m. Toronto time, and consumers should've been out at Pearson with bottles of champagne.

Canadian sparkling wine would do just fine, of course, but it's a big deal, because any time there's more competition we all win.

The fares aren't quite what they had hoped, and Virgin America officials say that's because of heavy fees at Pearson. Too bad, but there's still nothing terrible about a $509 return flight, which is what I got when I pretended to book a July 21-July 26 flight from Toronto to San Francisco and back.

Virgin America says their Toronto to Los Angeles and San Francisco flights start at $195 and include wireless internet (hurray!!!!!), live television (World Cup, here we come), leather seats, snacks on demand, mood-lighting, video games, 3,000 MP's for listening and a choice of your own movie.

It'll be interesting to see how Air Canada reacts. Not to mention WestJet. WestJet chief Gregg Saretsky admitted recently that his company has lower brand awareness in Toronto than upstart Porter Airlines.

``We do suffer in Eastern Canada from a low top-of-mind awareness,'' he told a transportation conference in New York. ``I'm almost embarrassed to say that in the Toronto market we have a lower brand awareness than does Porter."

Well, Gregg, now you have not only the wily Bob Deluce of Porter Airlines to worry about but Sir Richard Branson, who's not afraid to spend his money and who likes to make a splash, as you can see in the recent photo of him celebrating his airline's connections between London and Las Vegas.

I wrote that earlier today. Then, around 4:30 p.m., I got an email saying that WestJet is moving its vice president of sales, Duncan Bureau, to Toronto effective Aug. 1.

"With this move, WestJet will have a senior sales presence in Toronto to enhance the airline's support for the travel trade and corporate Canada," officials said in a press release. "With WestJet's continued expansion into the business and corporate markets, this move reflects how much WestJet values the travel trade and our corporate relationships in Central Canada. By having Duncan Bureau in Ontario, we will be better able to nurture these relationships for our mutual success."

It's quite a signficant move, I think, and one that only illustrates how much WestJet realizes the importance of the Toronto/eastern Canadian market.

As for Virgin, I had to miss their flight into Toronto today. But I was lucky enough to get invited to their "official" arrival in Toronto next Tuesday. They're starting with a 6:30 a.m. flight from LA to San Francisco, then departing for Pearson. They'll arrive in Toronto for a red carpet tarmac treatment around 4 p.m., then head down to the posh (I'm told) new Thompson Hotel on Wellington St. for a "private poolside, rooftop pre-party." Then, from nine p.m. to midnight, there's a Virgin America launch party at the Thompson. They told me to dress west coast casual, which has me a little worried. Probably my

nice jeans and a rumpled shirt is all I need, but if I'm going to meet burlesque artist Dita Von Teese (the decent-looking girl on Branson's shoulders) I'm thinking I might want to step it up a bit.

Also appearing on the flight, I'm told, will be Toronto hip hop star Drake, as well as Jesse Metcalfe from  Desperate Housewives, Gilles Marini from Brothers and Sisters and Kristin Cavallari from The Hills. I gotta admit I don't watch TV so I had to check who these folks were, but they seem to be pretty attractive and well-known in TMZ circles. The party next Tuesday certainly sounds a lot splashier than you'd likely see for a new Air Canada or WestJet flight. Or even Porter.

Let the airline publicity wars begin, I say.

On a side note, I had to chuckle when I felt that earthquake today. Not at the quake, which was rather sizable for these parts, but at the fact that it happened just a couple hours before the first Virgin America flight landed here from....San Francisco. Great timing, doncha think? But not a very nice welcome for our friends from California.

On a related note, Star artist Spencer Wynn sent a note around our newsroom shortly after the quake was felt and wondered if there was a "fake lake tsunami" at the G20 press building in Toronto, where they built an artificial lake to celebrate the joys of Muskoka for reporters bound to the city. A great line, Spencer.

FAIRMONT ROYAL YORK DEAL

Here's a good concept. The Fairmont Royal York is celebrating the G20 summit of world leaders  (it's in Toronto this weekend in case you've been sleeping under a rock) with what they call a T20 package.

Rates start at $159 for a prime downtown location in an historic hotel, and you get a Much More Toronto booklet with 20 discounts, such as 20 per cent off tickets to Jersey Boys (great show) or South Pacific, as well as discounts at the ROM, the Science Centre, Toronto Tours and the Steam Whistle Brewery. The deal is available June 28 through Sept. 6.

Two great French villages...The Star's Linda Barnard does Sex in the City

SARLAT, France - Sometimes you can research a place to death before you go there. Then you arrive, and it's basically lunchbag letdown. Then, there's my Sunday evening here in Sarlat and my Saturday afternoon in St. Emilion.

I've seen pictures of the Dordogne region of France for years and dreamed of beautiful villages perched high on hills overlooking lazy blue rivers. To get ready for this particular trip, I spent many a late night perusing guide books and web sites to see exactly what I thought I wanted. But....things change. I attended a France tourism event a few weeks back at the Royal Ontario Museum and met folks who represent the Aquitaine region. They endorsed some of my late-night findings, but also suggested a few other spots to check out, including St. Emilion near Bordeaux.

I figured they knew a lot more than I did (not that that's unusual), so I said, "sure." I flew overnight from Toronto to Paris on Friday on Air France (nice job, folks),  then jumped on a regional flight to Bordeaux. After giving up on a GPS device that had never heard of St. Emilion, or the hotel that had been arranged for me, I finally arrived on the outskirts of St. Emilion around 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. And promptly fell in love.

It's a remarkably beautiful town in the Bordeaux wine-growing region, swirling up the side of a hill with incredibly beautiful views and row upon row of lovely wine shops. It's a stunningly beautiful town, with a giant bell tower and a church carved out of the living rock and lovely shopkeepers. I didn't have time for a full, sit-down lunch, so I wanted to grab a sandwich. How hard can it be to find a jambon/fromage on a baguette in France, I thought? Well, pretty hard in St. Emilion. Then, I happened to poke my head into a shop that specializes in macaroons, a local delicacy, and asked about getting a sandwich. A young girl promptly walked out of the shop and insisted on walking two blocks with me until she could point out a shop that would fulfill my simple desire.

I later went for a tour of the village and the church and the lovely, swirling streets and passed by the macaroon shop. The young girl seemed embarrased, but I had to thank her for her help in easing my hunger pangs. I had a great tour of the town, and a wonderful hour learning about the local wines.

I had hoped to have dinner in town but most of the restaurants were closed until later in the evening, so I opted for dinner at my hotel, the Chateau Franc Mayne just outside the village. It's a wonderful chateau/hotel with great wine and exotic, underground wine caves carved out of the limestone. I could've done without the giant gazelle horns and elephant shapes in my room, which was called the Out of Africa suite, but it was still a lovely place to rest my weary bones, with the best rainfall shower I've ever had.

After a day touring around Les Eyzies and the Dordogne Valley and checking out the lovely gardens at Le Manoir Eyrignac, I stumbled into my hotel here in Sarlat. I had just a half hour to rest up before I was to get a tour of the town, and it was the last thing in the world I wanted.

I was tired from driving a good portion of the day and from fightiing a nasty head cold. I really wanted to sleep, but I had agreed to a tour of the town. So I went to the lobby at 6:30 and met tour guide Francoise Martinet.

Within five minutes, I was transfixed. The town looks, well, kinda boring when you drive in with your car. But off the main road there is a huge, hidden maze of medieval streets, with church spires and rose bushes and narrow walkways and pedestrian alleys and incredibly sharp views in nearly every direction. It's a stunningly beautiful maze of a town with great restaurants, welcoming patios with orange and reg lights and about 1,043 shops selling foie gras or duck confit, more or less. I think I took 200 photos in 60 minutes.

After the tour was a simple but remarkable dinner at the Plaza Madeliene, with a thick cut of local foie gras served alongside spicy, sweet, sauteed onions, local sliced potatoes and the sweetest, moistest confit of duck I've ever tasted. Toss in a couple slices of local cheese (tome blanche might be my new fave) and a creme brulee the size of a softball and you've got a helluva meal, all served in a wonderful, bistro-like setting.

God, I love France. Off today for some canoeing on the Dordogne.

While I'm suffering through mornings with strong coffee and chocolate croissants, my Star colleague, the ever-lovable and entertaining Linda Barnard, was in New York for the Sex and the City movie weekend.

She's, naturally, having a pretty good time herself, although she wishes she was rich...and a size 2.

You can click here to check on her traveblog and read for yourself how things are going. Tough view you had from your hotel, there, kiddo!

Taking advantage of the Olympics...West Jet aims high...Jim's Deals of the Day

SAN FRANCISCO - Out here on some personal business and didn't have a chance to do any touring. But I was struck this morning when I looked at a note about how the Canadian Tourism Commission is hoping to take advantage of the good feelings left around the world by the Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games.

It's funny. I got to play nine holes of golf on Saturday at my favourite little municipal course, Willow Park in suburban Castro Valley, and the guy there who knows me gave me a thumbs-up as my Dad and I checked  in on a glorious, sunshine-filled day. "Great job you guys did at the Olympics," said the young guy behind the counter.

I can hardly take credit for Vancouver/Whistler's general success, but his sentiment was genuine and I

had to admit it made me feel pretty good as a Canadian (and American; I have dual citizenship as my cousin Laura kinda reminded me on Sunday, giving me a verbal poke in the ribs for sometimes making fun of Americans in this space). Canada did a great job at the Games, and folks genuinely were moved.

There are few things in life as momentous as the Olympics. I remember being in Atlanta on our way to Florida in, I think, March of 2002 - just after the Salt Lake City Winter Games - when we stopped at a barbeque restaurant. The waiter, a good old boy from the south, asked where we were from. We answered Toronto and he nodded his head.

"Y'all done whupped us at the Ohh-lympics," he said, drawing out the Ohhhh in true southern style. He was referrring to the gold medal hockey game, of course.

Anyway, this morning I see that the Canadian Tourism Commission smartly wants to take advantage of the roughly three million eyeballs that checked us out over the past few weeks of Ohh-lympic action.

CTC officials today said they're launching a print, TV and online campaign that focusses on five major U.S. cities; Boston, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago. In addition to using Facebook, Twitter and other, on-line outlets, the CTC will do major magazine ads and front-page, "wrap-around" ads in the L.A. Times, San Francisco Chronicle, New York Times, Boston Globe and Chicago Tribune.

One of the many partners will be Tourism Toronto, which last week was trumpeting the announcement that Virgin America will start flying to Toronto from Los Angeles and San Francisco in June.

"I would wager that right now, Canada is the coolest national brand in the world and Vancouver is its signature," Tourism Vancouver president Rick Antonson said in today's Vancouver Sun. "But if we don't follow up [with more global marketing], that feeling could be gone in six months."

Tourism Vancouver will pluck hundreds of thousands of dollars from its reserves to pay for post-Games multimedia marketing campaigns in key North American markets over the next few months, the Sun

reported.

The Canadian Tourism Commission, which received an extra $26 million in federal funding in 2007 for Olympicrelated marketing, still has about half that money left and will spend it over the next two years, the Sun said.

"We're going to expand tactically driven sales and marketing campaigns to keep Canada front and centre in our core markets," said commission vice-president Susan Iris.

She noted the commission's consumer websites had a 120-per-cent increase in traffic during the Olympics and overseas tour operators reported a doubling and tripling in the number of inquiries about trips to Canada last month.

Iris feels strategic post-Games tourism marketing could increase the number of visits to Canada this year

but expects the real boost will come over a longer time frame.

"It was never an immediate impact strategy," she said. "It was always long term to ensure Canada is in the public eye for years to come."

WEST JET AIMING HIGH

New WestJet chief Gregg Saretsky says he wants to get to the point where his airline has half the domestic market.

"We're at 37 per cent now, so we think we'll grow that to 50 per cent or so," he told the Montreal Gazette.

Saretsky pointed to a number of new tactics that his company is using to take on the likes of Air Canada a and Air Transat, including package-tour vacations, the new frequent-flyer program and MasterCard deal with the Royal Bank and the coming codeshare agreements with other North American and European or Asian airlines. A deal with Southwest has been talked about for some time, and there were reports last week that WestJet wants to link with Virgin America. They're also doing deals with Air France/KLM and with China Airlines.

JIM'S DEALS OF THE DAY

$58 - Toronto to Fort Lauderdale, cheap non-stop return flight ($289 w/tax)
http://www.travelalerts.ca/ccount12/click.php?id=2791

 

From $51 per night - Save up to 30% off your hotel stay in sunny California
http://www.travelalerts.ca/ccount12/click.php?id=2790

 

$325 - Toronto to Manzanillo de Cuba, 1 week all-inclusive vacation ($535 w/tax)
http://www.travelalerts.ca/ccount12/click.php?id=2789

 

Vancouver Glam...Carrying a torch for the Governator...Shania Twain Pic!!

VANCOUVER - Everywhere you look there’s a party.

Took a cab from one of the nicest guys on the planet the other night, just a wonderful chap who took me from the Main Media Centre to the Opus Hotel, where Tourism Vancouver was putting on a nice wingding.
The driver told me business has been only so-so, but that drivers were hoping for a big weekend. The driver that took me home to my hotel was more blunt.

“Business sucks,” he said. “It’s terrible out here. I think it might be a little better in Toronto.”

Nothing surprising about that, but the guy also said he, wait for it, hears good things about Toronto and wouldn’t mind moving. How about that?

As for the Opus, there was lots of Skyy vodka being poured with grapefruit and other mixes, but I thought it best to stick with the Iniskillin Okanagan Cabernet. There were tons of glamourous people. Not to mention a couple journalists.

I got to stay there for a night last fall and didn’t check out the rooms, which have different “themes” based on the type of person you are, or want to pretend to be for a night. I was told they had people dressed in various roles for the different rooms, including the artsy film producer from Toronto.
Not my cup of tea, but some folks appeared to enjoy it.

Sports TV guy Rod Black was there, along with Jamie Sale and David Pelletier. That’s a small girl. But cute. She’s done her hair a little fluffier than usual, in case you were wondering.

Speaking of wild life, it was pretty cool to hear about the lynx jumping out at the downhill skiers during training.

According to Canadian Press, the “furry visitor with the bobbed tail and sharp claws emerged out of the woods, easily cleared a fence, then casually strolled across the course near the finish line.”

Canadian skier Manuel Osborne-Paradis of Invermere, B.C., got a good look at the lynx.

“You don’t want to get close to that,” he said.

Which made me think. What if Paradis was in the middle of a great run and the lynx appeared out of the corner of his eye and he fell or missed a gate or momentarily stumbled? There’s the obvious joke about a lynx jinx, but would he have any recourse if the critter actually veered out onto the course? You’d have to think so, but it’s not something I’ve heard about in the past.

PLEASE, NO DION

A People Magazine web poll recently asked readers which of five Canadian pop stars they wanted to see perform at the opening ceremonies, pitting Celine Dion against Shania Twain, Avril Lavigne, Nelly Furtado and Alanis Morissette.

The result? A solid 62 per cent of users voted for Twain, while Lavigne was second at 28 per cent. Dion was at seven per cent, while Morissette and Furtado each got just two per cent of votes.

I know she just re-signed a deal to keep singing in Vegas until 2064 or something, but I don’t get the Celine Dion thing. She’s one of those singers that just sticks in my craw, probably because she’s so busy trying to impress me with her vocal range, like most of the kids you see on American Idol. Sure, adapt the song to your own “style,” but don’t try to cover the entire range in 30 seconds, sweetheart. Try a little restraint.

The People magazine bit was fine, but why wouldn’t they put someone like Feist in there instead of Lavigne or Morissette, who hasn’t been heard from in years?

A CHANGE IN THE WEATHER

After just a wee drizzle or two in the past few days, the skies let loose pretty good out here on Wednesday. Not Southern-Ontario-it’s-raining-so-hard-I-can’t-see-out-the-window-we’re-gonna-crash-on-the-401 hard, but reasonably steady. It was great news up on Cypress Mountain, of course, as they’ve short of snow for some time.

But the last thing anyone wants on Friday night is rain, as the fireworks promise to be rather spectacular, and Olympic organizers have promised lots of festivities for folks who can’t afford Opening Ceremony ducats.

While it was snowing on Cypress on Wednesday, the forecast is for substantial rain the next couple days. Which wouldn’t be so great, but likely not fatal to the freestyle events.

There was snow and fog in Whistler Thursday morning, forcing a delay in alpine training. It's still early, but there's a chance the Saturday downhill could get delayed if things don't improve.

CTV DISCIPLINED?

CTV, which holds the broadcast rights in Canada for the Vancouver/Whistler Winter Olympics, appears to have been punished for showing footage it wasn’t supposed to.

 

A spokeswoman for the Vancouver Organizing Committee told the Star that a local CTV affiliate in British Columbia “ran a speculative story on their local evening news…that we felt took advantage of the consortium helicopter’s access to restricted airspace.”

Spokeswoman Renee Smith-Valade said organizers “trust in the integrity of the host broadcaster to use their judgement in airing that kind of footage.”

 

She refused to say CTV was punished for the misdeed. But she said organizers yesterday were too busy to conduct any of CTV’s requested interviews. Mind you, she was able to confirm the details of the story in an interview with the Star.

 

“As more and more international media arrive, it gets busier for us and, regrettably, we were unable to meet all of the media interview requests made of us today.”

 

Isn’t that a coincidence?

AND MAYBE AN ACADEMY AWARD OR TWO, AS WELL

I missed this, so thanks to Steve Wilson of the Associated Press for pointing out that at one stage of yesterday’s International Olympic Committee meeting (a snorefest if there ever was one), Syrian member Samih Moudallal turned on his microphone and, wait for it, suggested that the IOC should campaign for … the Nobel Peace Prize.

Wilson said a member from Uruguay seemed to agree vociferously with the concept. But IOC president Jacques Rogge, who’s a pretty smart cookie, shook his head.

 “Deploying diplomatic activities or lobbying activities would definitely not be in the spirit of this body,” Rogge said. “If something happens, fine, but we are not going to seek that.”

Good call, Jacques. But it still illustrated the incredible arrogance of many IOC members. They keep passing this thing called the Olympic Truce, asking nations lay down their arms during the Olympic Games. It’s a nice thought. But that’s all. So save the rhetoric, IOC, and stick to running your sports games. And try not to have any voting scandals, while you’re at it.

SCHWARZENEGGER SERVED HIS TIME?

Given his history with steroids, there’s been a little fuss out here over Vancouver organizers having invited California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to run the Olympic torch relay on Friday. It DOES seem a little contradictory.

Here’s what IOC spokesman Mark Adams had to say about it Wednesday night:

“I don’t know his history too well, but I presume that his admissions if there were such admissions came 20 or 30 years ago and I think we accept that all people have served time and if they’ve talked about what they’ve done we would  accept some concept of rehabilitation so I don’t think that’s particularly a problem. He’s now a very respectable governor of the largest state in the United States so I imagine that we under that circumstance we would be happy to have him carrying the torch.”

TWITTERERS POSTING OPENING CEREMONY PICS

I’ve seen a couple photos on Twitter of what looks to be the rehearsal for Friday’s Opening Ceremony. They look pretty good.

But it’s hard to verify if they’re real. For now, the Star has decided not to publish any.

VANOC spokeswoman Renee Smith-Valade told me last night that folks invited to the rehearsals were asked not to take photos or post them, so as not ruin the surprise. Several photos have been posted on various social networks, but so far they’ve been taken down quickly after organizers pleaded for their removal.

THE GREAT ONE PLAYING COY

Wayne Gretzky was in town yesterday but wouldn’t speak to the media directly. Which only makes everyone all the more sure that he’ll be lighting the torch Friday night at the Opening Ceremony for the Winter Games.

CALLING ATLANTA, CALLING ATLANTA

The Canadian women’s mogul team was twice this week stalled as their bus tried to chug up Cypress Mountain for training.

They had to sit on the bus for half an hour to get replacement buses. Jeff Lee of the Vancouver Sun told me the original buses were city buses from California and that VANOC had to send away for 99 new highway-style buses, presumably less environmentally friendly but likely with a bit more horsepower.
If all else fails, the Atlanta 1996 drivers are probably still available.

HOMERS?

Wow. The Vancouver Sun/CanWest team is calling for Canada to win a whopping 39 medals at the Winter Games. Sports Illustrated said 30 (I said 35 earlier; my apologies!), which is far more realistic. 

SECRET UNDERWEAR, TOO

We’ve heard a bit about how Canada has its top-secret equipment in use to help Own the Podium and capture the most medals in the coming Winter Olympics. Now I see a quote from Wang Linuo of China, who was asked about the support the Chinese women’s hockey team gets from the government.
“If we did not have good helmets, good equipment, we can't play very good hockey. Because Team Canada has very good pants, shin pads, so light, they skate faster.”

CTV Olympic studios something to behold...Wow: IOC sympathy for the media!

VANCOUVER – Had a tour of the CTV/TSN television setup at the International Broadcast Centre yesterday. Which is harder than it sounds.Anyone from the broadcast side of things can wander into the Main Media Centre, where the ink-stained (web-stained?) wretches from print or Internet media hang out. But for us to get over there requires 24-hour approval, surrendering of our accreditation in exchange for a temporary pass, giving over date of birth and other information, and then requiring an escort into the building and again back out.

Yeah, I know, someone is more likely to go after a glamorous TV type than some schmuck from the Toronto Star (and I say that with the kindest regard for my fellow workers). But it still rankles.

That issue aside, it was still pretty cool to see the setup. The set Brian Williams (and, yes, he IS a really, really good guy) will be using looks out over the Main Media Centre, which is the giant convention centre with the sails on top from the 1984 Expo. Lots of cool-looking wood and tons of glass; it should show wonderfully on the tube. He’s also got a, wait for it, 152-inch High Definition plasma TV next to his desk. That’s only slightly bigger than the one in Dave Perkins’ basement.

TSN’s Andrea Goldstein, who was nice enough to take me on the tour, said it’s the biggest TV in the world and that there are only four of them. CTV has two; the one we’ll see most days and, smartly, a backup just in case it blows a tube. NBC apparently has the other two screens.

There are five studios in all for the consortium, one of which overlooks Stanley Park and might be the best of the bunch. Of course, those are the glamour spots. Behind all of that there were hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of folks toiling on laptops in windowless rooms, including a couple of old buddies of mine at the Globe and Mail. There are seven control rooms and 22 editing suites and some 1,400 workers in all, most of whom seemed to be scurrying about yesterday and seemed quite earnest and buckle-down.

It’s hugely, hugely impressive. The engineering room has something like 10 huge towers with a billion blinking lights and cables threading into other cables threading into other cables and outlets and more blinking lights. It’s an amazing sight. If you can get past security, that is.

SWARMING WITH COPS? I DON’T THINK SO

A British journalist was quoted in the Vancouver Sun today as saying the city looked like a war zone

“With a police officer on every corner and military copters buzzing overhead, Vancouver looks more like postwar Berlin than an Olympic wonderland,” wrote Douglas Haddow in the Guardian.

Balderdash. Not to mention utterly wrong.

I walked to the Main Media Centre Monday - about 10 blocks - and didn’t encounter any security forces until I got within two blocks of the press centre. There are the odd copters overhead, but some of them might be delivering snow to Cypress Mountain for all we know. Or maybe ferrying IOC members to lunch.

AND NOW SOME REFRESHING HONESTY

You still get a lot of diplomatic bafflegab when you ask an IOC member a question. Not our own Dick Pound, of course, but many IOC members would rather jump into a pit of rattlesnakes than give a direct answer to a question.

That’s why it was a little refreshing on Monday to hear IOC president Jacques Rogge talk about his displeasure with the Russians over doping issues with winter athletes. And to see International Ski Federation chief Gian-Franco Kasper tell the publication Around The Rings that the Sea-to-Sky Highway improvements help athletes get to Whistler, but that it’s still a long way from Whistler to Vancouver.

“Of course the travelling time is less now but don’t forget the Olympic traffic. The worst thing is that everybody will have to go up by bus. That does not make it easy, including for spectators.”

Kasper, and this is the TRULY AMAZING PART, said that he feels “sorry particularly for the media.”

“If they (media hordes) live in Richmond, they must first go by bus to the Main Media Centre and up by bus to Whistler, and then the whole thing back. So they spend more than half the day on the bus.”

He also pointed out that weather delays could wreak havoc

“You could go up to Whistler and find out that the event is postponed until the next day, so you back for nothing. You come up the next day, postponed again and down (the hill) again. I can’t imagine how much they will like it.”

They’ll probably dismiss him from the IOC for being soft on the media. Personally, I’d like to see the guy in charge of the IOC’s Press Commission.

Kasper had a few bon mots to toss at newspaper bean counters. Heh, heh.

“Most of the media wanted to live in the Whistler area and then of course because of cost or whatever, the chief editors of newspapers saw much cheaper accommodations, and that is in Richmond. They don’t care if their guys are on a bus or not, so they moved them to Richmond and now they have to travel.”

I will say, and not just to keep my job, that the Star sprung for digs that are almost entirely in Vancouver, plus a couple of very expensive condos in Whistler. One of our rooms is in Richmond, but that was an issue of availability, not cost. The Star has almost always been willing to spend whatever it takes to do the job. And I LOVE where I'm staying in downtown Vancouver. Still laughing over the fact I have a VCR on top of my TV, but the room at the Carmana Plaza on Alberni St. is IMMENSE and has everything I need.

2016 Olympic tourism and Toronto bid, Nachos with Mai Tais, Jim's Deal of Day

With Rio De Janeiro winning the 2016 Olympic bid, look for a major, major tourism boost to the fabled South American city.

Don't forget they've got the World Cup in Brazil in 2014, so this will be a double dose of visitors; assuming they can pull everything off. It's a huge undertaking, but presumably a lot of the infrastructure needed for 2014's football extravaganza will make things easier for the Olympics two years later. Certainly, I can't recall any other city that's had two enormous undertakings like that within a two-year period, so it's gonna be plenty interesting.

I wasn't surprised to see Chicago lose. The IOC is notoriously unpredictable, and the bloc voting often results in early-round shockers. Cities that have won bids have often come perilously close to losing in early voting due to IOC shenanigans.

And I fully expected Madrid to give a strong performance as former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch, a Spaniard, still wields enormous clout in the IOC and was pushing hard for the Spanish capital.

I know the IOC hates the US Olympic Committee and it's alleged arrogance, but I didn't expect Chicago to take it on the chin in the first round. Second perhaps. Third, maybe. But not right out of the gate.

I wouldn't be surprised to see the IOC go back to Europe for the 2020 Summer Olympics. If they did, or if they opted for Asia again, there would be a good chance for a North American bid for the 2024 Summer Games. And that COULD open the door to, dare I say it, another Toronto bid.

We didn't so well against Atlanta for the 1996 Games or Beijing for 2008, but the bids were technically very good. And if Toronto wins the 2015 Pan Am Games in a vote slated for next month, the city will ha've addressed a gaping hole in its sporting resume and would look better to the IOC for 2024. The fact we're not American and not part of the USOC might still be a huge factor in Toronto's favour, and the 2024 vote will take place in 2017, a full seven years after the Vancouver Winter Games.

Nobody can predict what the IOC will do. But stranger things have happened, and there's no doubt some folks in the Big Smoke already are thinking of a future Toronto summer bid, part three.

Guess this means I'll have to make a trip to Rio next year to see how things look down there, too! Reports say there were already 50,000 folks partying on the beach and that another 50,000 were expected on a bright, sunny day in Brazil.

On a side note regarding Chicago, AP had a great quote from chatty IOC member Kevan Gosper of Australia.

"I'm shocked," Gosper said. "The whole thing doesn't make sense other than there has been a stupid bloc vote."

Gosper said the Chicago exit could do "untold damage" to the rocky relations between the USOC and the IOC, who have fought over revenue sharing and a proposed USOC TV network.

"To have the president of the United States and his wife personally appear, then this should happen in the first round is awful and totally undeserving," Gosper said.

WEIRD FOOD AND DRINKS

Speaking of the Olympics, I got a press release from the Four Seasons in Whistler today to say they've come up with a cocktail called the Eternal Flame, with pear juice, an energy drink and lemongrass-infused vodka. So where's the flame? Apparently they put a brown sugar cube on top, perched on an inverted cocktail shaker lid. It's soaked in absinthe and set on fire, naturally. It's also served in a tall, "copper-hued glass flute and presented in a passing-of-the-torch" relay fasion.

Sounds like fun. I bet six or eight of those would really knock you out.

On a related note, I got another press release from the Renaissance Chicago Hotel (they won't be serving anything except an Olympic flame-out for a while, I guess, ba-dum-shh) explaining how their melted cheese nachos with smoked prime rib are a big hit, and I guess they would be. I'd be happy to try, but they suggested matching the nachos with a Mai Tai made with Appleton White Rum, Don Q Limon, Cointreau and Orgeat, and I can't even begin to imagine a fruity mai tai with spicy nachos.

Still, next time I'm in Chicago I'll stop by. I'll do almost ANYTHING for a good story.

JIM'S DEAL OF THE DAY

Prices are falling at New York City museums, theatres, restaurants and shops, with NYC & Company’s NYC: The Real Deal Fall promotion. Running Oct. 6 – 27, the program offers close to 150 deals, at venues including Carnegie Hall (15 per cent off select performances) and the Museum of Jewish Heritage (two-for-one admission), and live theatre shows including STOMP and Chicago (15 per cent off). Seeing the city just got cheaper too, with 10 per cent off Signature Tours, Inc., Wall Street Walks and Welcome to Harlem Tours. Savings booklets are available at NYC & Company’s Official NYC Information Center at 810 Seventh Ave., between 52nd and 53rd Streets. A full listing of deals can be found at www.nycgo.com/realdeal.