DIGITAL WALLET GROWTH RESHAPES TRAVEL PAYMENTS
Digital wallets, including Apple Pay and Google Pay, now account for nearly one-third of all online spending in Canada, according to new research from Global Payments, highlighting the growing importance of offering travellers greater payment flexibility when booking flights, accommodations, cruises, and vacation packages.
WHICH COUNTRIES ARE DRIVING GLOBAL TOURISM?
Global Travel & Tourism investment exceeded $1 trillion in 2025, growing by 8.5% year-on-year, as the whole sector outperformed the wider global economy, according to World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).
BOOKING.COM FACES MAJOR LEGAL BATTLES: Billions of euros at stake
Booking.com is facing several major legal battles, over anti-competitive price parity clauses. More than 10,000 hotels across Europe have joined a landmark European class-action lawsuit, significantly expanding a case against the hotel booking company that could ultimately involve claims worth several billion euros.
CANADA HELPS FUEL TURKS AND CAICOS SURGE
The Turks and Caicos Islands welcomed over two million visitors in 2025 and continued that momentum into 2026 with recording-breaking first-half visitation, says Experience Turk and Caicos.
WHAT’S THE RUSH? St. Helena’s is patient, unhurried, enduring
By CINDY-LOU DALE/ In a world obsessed with speed, there is one remarkable creature who has spent almost two centuries proving that life’s greatest journeys are never rushed. His name is Jonathan and he has witnessed the reign of eight British monarchs, survived two World Wars, seen the invention of the telephone, motor car, aeroplane and internet, and quietly grazed his way through almost 200 years of history.
BRAZILIAN AMAZON UNIFIES FOR TOURISM
For the first time, Brazil’s Amazon region has come together under a single, unified brand to promote tourism and sustainable actions in one of the richest, most diverse, and symbolic territories in the world.
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CANADIANS CHOOSE TO TRAVEL RESPONSIBLY: Connections key awareness translates into action
As Canadians engage in the peak summer travel season, new research from Intrepid Travel, suggests they are looking beyond crowded and social media-driven hotspots in favour of local connections, human expertise and experiences that positively impact the people and places they visit.
ELECTRICITY A ‘MIRACLE’ IN CUBA:Blackouts stretch for days:
A 20-minute burst of electricity is a small miracle in Havana nowadays – a miracle that sometimes comes at 3 a.m. That’s when 72-year-old Leidis Rodríguez frantically cooked beans after the lights switched on this week following hours of uninterrupted blackouts.
ACV OPENS REGISTRATION FOR SEPT. PRODUCT LAUNCHES
Kicking off in less than a month, Air Canada Vacations has opened registration for its 2026 Product Launch Events and agents are advised to sign-up early to ensure attendance. The typically packed presentations return this September with an expanded cross-country tour that will visit seven Canadian cities, including new stops in Calgary and Quebec City.
RECALCITRANT CHILD CAUSES FLIGHT OVERNIGHT DELAY
A Porter Airline flight was cancelled due to child refusing to fasten its seatbelt. An airline spokesman said in an email that its plane left the terminal in Victoria on Thursday and was headed to the runway for departure to Toronto, but a young child was standing in their seat and would not secure their seatbelt despite attempts by the accompanying parent and cabin crew.
BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR AND LORETO’S ENDURING APPEAL
Long before mega-ships and crowded ports came to dominate much of the cruise industry, Mexico’s Baja California Sur built a quieter reputation as one of North America’s most noteworthy small-ship cruising destinations, where private yachts, scientific expeditions, and adventure travellers have long used the Gulf of California as a gateway to some of the continent’s most remote and biologically rich marine environments.
NUNUVAT TRAVEL ‘IN A GOOD PLACE’: Spending up as travel sector continues to grow
Nunavut saw fewer visitors but more money spent in the territory between July and September 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, Statistics Canada data shows. There were 22,800 out-of-territory visitors to Nunavut during the three-month stretch last year, well down from the 25,000 tourists that visited during the summer of 2024.