TokyoTomo Travel Guide

Air Canada (AC) launched the “Air Canada Night 2010” on November 24, inviting travel industry-related people, following the sales seminar where the airline introduced the flight connections to the United States and South America via Toronto or Vancouver and the possibility of clearing the U.S. immigration at these airports. The seminar also unveiled Air Canada’s three weekly flights from Narita to Calgary to be reinstated next summer, extolling its short minimum connecting time (MCT) and a number of destinations to be served out of Calgary.

Also, Air Canada explained that its new Haneda/Vancouver route slated for an inauguration on January 31, 2011 will provide the same day connections from Vancouver to 11 domestic destinations in Canada and four cities in the United States. Commenting on Vancouver as a travel destination, Tomoko Kikuchi, Manager-Japan, Tourism British Columbia said, “Until now we have showcased Vancouver as a destination for a long stay. As far as the Haneda/Vancouver flight is concerned, however, we would like to promote the city also as a short stay destination,” suggesting a weekend trip of four days and two nights by the “Bullet-like Flight” from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. She emphasized that as a customer can leave for Vancouver after work and also a return flight is scheduled at 19:00, an actual stay there will be comparatively long. Kikuchi continued, “A weekend trip, which has so far attracted only Asian destinations, will be possible also for Vancouver, Canada,” adding that the airline’s new Haneda route would help capture a new market segment such as young people in their twenties and a company outing.

Kiyo Weiss, Sales and Marketing Manager Japan at Air Canada also said that she is hopeful that its Haneda route is going to stimulate travel demand by young people. Asked to comment on the current booking situation of the Haneda/Vancouver route, Weiss said, “The average seat load factor continues to grow steadily every week by five percentage points,” indicating that the aggregate number of bookings including the Narita route is increasing when compared to the previous year. Also in the future, Air Canada intends to continue to extol its Haneda route through advertising focusing on general consumers. The airline has meanwhile launched a “booking campaign” as part of its sales promotion targeting the sales agencies in an effort to boost sales.

Source: Travel Vision

Travel Vision Inc. provides information on the travel industry in Japan via "Daily Travel Vision", a Japanese-language e-mail newsletter, and the "Travel Vision" website. There are nearly 110,000 people working in the Japanese travel industry, and Travel Vision is proud to be bringing travel news to more than 30,000 people through Daily Travel Vision.

Air Canada (AC) and Northwest Territories Tourism jointly held the “Aurora Week” from November 15 to 21 at Marunouchi House in the Shin Marunouchi Building in central Tokyo. On the occasion of the event, they co-hosted a reception on November 15 inviting travel industry-related people. Delivering his opening address for the reception, Hiroshi Sawabe, Director, VWC 20 Million Travelers Promotion Office said, ”The number of Japanese visitors to Canada this year has posted an excellent increase of 270,000. The challenge remains, however, how to promote Canada for the period from this November to the next spring. In order to sell ‘White Canada’ we would like to see more package tours produced featuring Aurora.”

A concern regarding the product and promotion of the Aurora-watching package tours is the rate of Auroral occurrence. As a period of high solar activity is expected over next several years starting this winter, a rate of is incident is reported to become higher. Kazushige Morita of Aurora Village stressed that Aurora was actually observed for 29 consecutive days during the month of March this year. During the “Aurora Week” at Marunouchi House, the photographs of Aurora taken by a photographer Masami Tanaka were on display. Also shown was his footage of Aurora. Nine restaurants including a bar in the Shin Marunouchi Building offered special cocktails reflecting the image of Aurora.

The new Haneda/Vancouver route which Air Canada is scheduled to launch next January attracted the attention of the guests attending the reception. Explaining about the access to Yellowknife by the Haneda/Vancouver route, Kiyo Weiss, Sales and Marketing Manager Japan, Air Canada (AC) said, “A connecting flight from Vancouver to Yellowknife is not available until the following morning, but there are greater options for access via other routes such as the Vancouver/Edmond and Vancouver/Calgary routes,” adding that she thus expects a capacity to increase for Yellowknife. “As Air Canada’s AC005 departs from Vancouver in the evening, customers who have a lack of sleep from the Aurora viewing may find their last day less hectic,” she pointed out as a merit of its evening departure.

Ron Ostrom, Director of Marketing, Northwest Territories Tourism, also said that he is hopeful that the new Haneda route will be a key to capture travelers. The number of Japanese visitor arrivals in Yellow Knife is rebounding, expecting to increase by 30 percent year-on-year to 80,000. “Northwest Territories Tourism expects to see a boost from the Japanese market,” said Ostrom, indicating that it continues to focus on the Japanese market.

Source: Travel Vision

Travel Vision Inc. provides information on the travel industry in Japan via "Daily Travel Vision", a Japanese-language e-mail newsletter, and the "Travel Vision" website. There are nearly 110,000 people working in the Japanese travel industry, and Travel Vision is proud to be bringing travel news to more than 30,000 people through Daily Travel Vision.

Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC), Ontario Tourism, Tourism Toronto, Air Canada (AC), Niagara Parks, and HIS jointly launch “Toronto Winter Campaign” until 30th November 2010. In order to disseminate Toronto’s attractiveness and points of interest for the winter season, they have opened a campaign website which can be accessed from the CTC’s official site. The campaign site introduces entertainments, gourmet and shopping experience in Toronto together with recommended spots where history and nature merge.

Visitors to the site can join the campaign “Vote and get original goods every week!” on Twitter. Entry to the campaign is acceptable by tweeting from the Toronto’s photo gallery site. Meanwhile, the latest updates and the winner announcement are sent to its Followers.

Moreover, there is another campaign which offers applicants a chance to win a pair of Air Canada’s return tickets to Toronto.

Source: Travel Vision

Travel Vision Inc. provides information on the travel industry in Japan via "Daily Travel Vision", a Japanese-language e-mail newsletter, and the "Travel Vision" website. There are nearly 110,000 people working in the Japanese travel industry, and Travel Vision is proud to be bringing travel news to more than 30,000 people through Daily Travel Vision.