Canada Day Events and Festivals

For a list of Canada Day celebrations with links to events, and festivals, provinces and major cities. See Canada Travel News. Links to Canadian events, summer time activities, beaches and more. Book Canada Hotels on-line.

From TIAC and Transport Canada - changes will allow more flights from Mexico

"Canada's Government Designates More Canadian Carriers to Serve Mexico Canada's Transport Minister, John Baird, announced June 25 changes to air designation allocations for scheduled Air Canada, Air Transat, WestJet and Sunwing air services between Canada and Mexico, which will benefit travellers and our country's tourism industry.

"This is excellent news for our tourism industry. Mexico is a growing market for Canada," said Diane Ablonczy, Minister of State for Small Business and Tourism. "There will now be more routes to take visitors to the spectacular destinations and attractions our country has to offer."
"Increased air access to Canada for the growing Mexico market is an important development that is a good step in meeting the tourism industries needs," said Randy Williams, President and CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada."

For the full release visit Tiac.Travel's TIAC Talk June 26

Municipal workers on Strike in Toronto

The Labour Movement that arose from the Industrial Revolution and grew slowly and strongly during the first half of the 20th Century was a just cause, a noble endeavour. The Labour Movement in many countries helped most workers, not just unions. It fostered labour laws that protect all and influenced how all workers might be treated. But, as an observer, who is neither a member of the management elites, nor a member of the union elites, I think modern unions have lost touch with reality and with the times, especially these tough economic days. Unions, over the years, have become spoiled and seem to have a sense of entitlement out of place in today's world. In recent times we've seen how greed almost made the world's economy collapse. Those responsible may never really be accountable, and that's a lesson for the future.

Unions fight for their members and that's fine. But they should be mindful who suffers as a consequence of their actions. We are in the midst of one of the worse recessions in recent times. Those of us who have work, seem to be working more and harder for less income and without any significant benefits. Our taxes, in the end pay for the salaries of those who demand more and more benefits than the average among us can only dream of having. The timing of this strike may backfire on the unions. Many hardworking taxpayers look forward to enjoying as much of the summer as possible, utilizing the services that they fund with their taxes, and breathing air free of the stench of garbage. Of all years, it's a shame that unions and management could not reach an understanding to avoid this strike in this particular one. Not too mention how this strike could affect tourism in Toronto. Just as Americans are now looking at managing the risks of having companies that are too big, we should look at how to deal with unions that are too big as well.

I hope it's over in a couple of days. Anything longer and a "pox on both their houses."


-- Post From My iPhone

Gananoque, Ontario

beautiful, isn't it (read post below).

Jaime

Visiting Gananoque, the Gateway to the Thousand Islands

I am in Gananoque for a brief two day visit. I was invited by Kathy from Gananoque Boatline to spend some time here, attend a special event she organizes every year to show appreciation to partners and collaborators. It's been a very interesting visit where I've learned about some of the challenges the area faces as well as some of the opportunities Gananoque has to further develop their destination. I was surprised to learn that that no one in the area seems to have participated in the localsknow CTC campaign. One of the challenges, it seems, has been the timing which is understandable given the fact that the campaign has been put together in virtually no time so it may be that many inthe industry will not benefit directly from it. Today I played some golf with another visitor, a former Gananoque Boatline Captain, now town councillor, and the mayor. It was a lot of fun, but also very productive in terms of learning more about this beautiful part of the country. I hope to be able to work with tourism stakeholders to promote Gananoque as an overnight spot for Hispanic independent travellers in the future. Many Hispanic visitors stop here (or in Kingston) to take tours of the Thousand Islands, but they don't spend more time in the town. I think there is an opportunity to engage Hispanic travellers to Ontario and Quebec to stay longer by educating them in what they can do here in a 24 hour period.

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I am staying at the Gananoque Inn where Lori and her staff have been wonderful. I knew about the Gananoque Inn, but I have only been in Gananoque once before and only to take the cruise of the Thousand Islands. Lori and I had some good conversations and I am glad that she's interested in Hispanic tourists. The Gananoque Inn is ideal for a segment of the Hispanic travelling public that travels independently and wants to see and experience authentic Canadian experiences (small families, couples, honeymooners). What we must do is communicate effectively to educate the market (not just Hispanic markets) as to what there is to do here. One way is to show them not just tell them, and by show I mean video, not just pictures. The Gananoque Inn is also an excellent option for small meetings (sales retreats, incentive meetings, board meetings). Hope to come back soon.

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Tonight I'll go on a Gananoque Boatline Drinks and Entertainment Cruise. Hope the weather cooperates as it did this morning when I played golf.

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Jaime Horwitz

CTC launches LocalsKnow.ca and SecretDici.ca to help Canadians promote our country

The Canadian Tourism Commission has launched LocalsKnow.ca and SecretDici.ca asking Canadians to upload pictures of their favourite spots (because locals know where the best spots are, of course), that perhaps are not as well known as iconic Canadian attractions . The sites look very good with Canada Brand colours and layout and the pictures are quite good, for the most part (the CTC approves the photos before they're posted). Being very new, there aren't many spots up yet. As of this writing the English site had a bit less than 80 spots and the French version only 15 (all CTC uploads), but I think once the public gets a hold of it, it should be a hit. But it's not all roses. There are some issues with the site that a little tweaking can fix. You have to register to be able to upload photos, but once you register, there's no "sign in" link on the site. When you go to upload a new spot, then you sign in (or register, if you're new to the site). For every spot you upload, you get an entry to a contest to win one million Aeroplan miles - that's a lot of flying. But again, every time you upload a photo you have to re-enter your name and Aeroplan number. Not a big deal, but it'd be better if you only had to do it once. And finally, you can't seem to go back to your spots if you want to edit something. I was uploading one and before I could finish the description, I don't know what key I must have pressed in haste, but I think the photo was submitted (again, because I don't have an account like setup I can't go over the photos I uploaded - maybe this will be a future iteration of the site - to turn it into a full social media website a la Concierge.com)

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If you live in Canada, go to the site of your choice, LocalsKnow.ca or SecretDici.ca and show us your favourite spot.

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Jaime