Travel to Nova Scotia

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In my years of traveling I have never met more seasoned and hardy travelers than the Aussies and their Kiwi brothers from New Zealand. I was told that this is because they live way down in the South Seas and have to come a long way to see Europe and North America. Over the years I’ve met them everywhere imaginable and heard about the infamous “Hippy Trail” and Bali, which are both immortalized in a song by Red Gum entitled, I’ve Been to Bali Too.

Yes, you have to go a long way before you find a group of people who travel more and who are dissuaded less by wild creatures, civil wars and the such. So it with great amusement that I read a report on the website produced by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade called “Smart Traveller” which stated that Aussies should”exercise caution” when traveling to our Great White North. It seems Canada is 4th in a rating out of 5. (5  means “do not travel.”)

Why, you may ask? Well, Australians are advised to be cautious because of “the risk of a terrorist attack” in Canada, heavy snow, windchill and ice in the winter, and forest fires that can erupt “at any time.” Now, the worst was British Columbia, a land where parts look very much like New Zealand. (New Zealanders south of Christchurch will tell you to dress warmly in the winter too)  Unbeknown to it occupants, B.C. was also singled out as being in an active earthquake zone and “subject to avalanches,” along with Alberta.

So, where does this put us in this amazing rating system: the U.S., Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Serbia, Kazakhstan, Bosnia, Albania, Spain, Malaysia, Greece and Cambodia.

Now, here’s the kicker: China, Chile, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Belarus, Romania, South Korea, Ireland, Norway (avalanches), Japan (more earthquakes in one day than we get in a year) and Latvia get the best rating.

Australian High Commissioner Bill Fisher also said that “The warning is a general one for all Western countries and it followed some quite nasty statements by al-Qaida two or three years ago about attacks on Western countries.” Sure, Canada is in Afghanistan clearing mines and building schools and wells – and some are getting killed for it. However, has the travel-sensitive Fisher forgotten that it was Australia who followed the U.S. into Iraq? As well, statistics show that brush fires in Australia are more deadly to humans than forest fire in Canada

My point is this: Canada is a huge country with more mountains than Australia has Great White Sharks. So if someone goes snowboarding in an area posted with “No Skiing” signs then they are tempting many Darwinian laws, just like someone who swims in a no swimming area in Surfer’s Paradise, posted because sharks have been sited.

The trouble with the High Commissioner’s claim about Canada is that it’s bad for all tourism. And it’s also pretty wild claim about a country that consistently places 2nd or 3rd on the United Nations list of”Best Countries to Live In.”

Now the good news: The Canadian Embassy website in Australia says that Australia sends the fifth largest number of overseas visitors to Canada each year. It seems these guys know more than the High Commissioner. Good on yah!

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With the advent of the “fanny pack,” which is a rendition of the Scotsman’s “sporran,” the money belt has been forgotten as an outmoded form of protecting your valuable documents while traveling. Travel expert, Rick Steves, writes: “Money belts are your key to peace of mind. I never travel without one. ”

For those of you who don’t know a money belt is a small, nylon-zippered or velcro-attached pouch that fastens around the waist either under your pants or skirt or shirt. It is completely hidden — out of sight, out of mind – and can be shifted if one part of your midrift gets uncomfortable.

Now, they are not waterproof so keep your passport and documents in baggies to keep them dry.

Steve’s suggested procedures:

• Passport: You’re legally supposed to have it with you at all times.
• Plane ticket: Put essential pages in your money belt, nonessential pages (like the receipt) in your luggage.
• Railpass: This is as valuable as cash.
• Driver’s license: This works just about anywhere in Europe and is necessary if you want to rent a car on the spur of the moment.
• Credit card: It’s required for car rental and handy to have if your cash runs low.
• Debit card: A Visa debit card is the most versatile for ATM withdrawals. (I no longer use traveler’s checks.)
• Cash: Keep only major bills in your money belt.
• Plastic sheath: Money belts easily get slimy and sweaty. Damp plane tickets and railpasses can be disgusting and sometimes worthless. Even a plain old baggie helps keep things dry.
• Contact list: Print small, and include every phone number or email address of importance in your life.
• Trip calendar page: Include your hotel list and all necessary details from your itinerary

The best protection is not flaunting your wares. A money belt addresses part of this.

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I was excited to hear that Icelandair is set to resume seasonal service starting in May. The Icelandic carrier says it will resume passenger flights to Halifax in the spring more than five years after scrapping the route.

In a recent release the airline stated that it plans to offer 3 flights a week from Keflavik, Reykjavik’s airport. However the service will only be offered from May to September.

Icelandair stopped passenger flights between Reykjavik and Halifax in October 2001, citing Ottawa’s refusal to allow daily service, a downturn in the economy and high fuel prices. Many felt that this was a political move to help the bloated Air Canada retain its dominance over air prices. Air Canada had recently swallowed Canadian Airlines, giving Canadians the choice of one airline – take it or leave it. The departure of Icelandair was just another shoe dropping on badly-beaten-up Nova Scotia tourism.

Icelandair sales and marketing executive Gunnar Mar Sigurfinnsson said in an offical release. “In the past, due to restrictions on the number of flights to Canada, we’ve not been able to build up our services to Canada. It now appears the Canadian authorities have a more positive attitude towards our needs and we have therefore, decided to add Halifax again to our destination network following a hiatus of a few years.”

You think? Maybe it’s because the former government screwed the pooch and couldn’t admit that a small island in the Atlantic could run an airline better than a Canadian-government sponsored carrier.

Here is the official Canadian stance:

Jadrino Huot, a spokesman for the Canadian Transportation Agency, which helps negotiate and implement international air agreements, said the agreement between Canada and Iceland hasn’t changed. It allows Icelandair to operate two flights per week between Iceland and Halifax, Montreal, and either St. John’s, N.L., or Winnipeg. The airline is allowed up to three additional flights per week to and from Halifax under certain conditions.

Can’t blame the Liberals on this one. It’s the same bureaucratic mish-mash. Sigurfinnsson said Halifax was popular with Icelanders and wanted daily flights. But when the ball began to roll in Halifax’s favor the Feds cried foul.

The point is that Nova Scotia tour operators and government people worked like dogs to get Icelandair in here. And with so many other things hitting us in the teeth – demise of the ferry service, the high Canadian dollar, etc. – let us at least have a level playing field.

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At an ASTA (American Society of Travel Agents) convention in New Orleans in 1996 one of the guest speakers warned us that “the day of the ‘Mom and Pop’ travel agencies was at an end.” His explanation was that the big guys were beginning to buy up or squeeze out the independent travel agents and it would only be a matter of time before there would be no more unaffiliated travel businesses. He also advised us that we better become familiar with this new thing called the Internet because it was going to be our new mode of business.

The woman sitting next to me was not impressed. At 60, she had built up an agency with a loyal clientele and had no interest in selling out to the giants. In addition she exclaimed, “I’ll be damned if my people would ask a computer the best way to get to Tahiti!” With that she got up and walked out muttering, “Well this was a waste of time!” Then she ducked into the next room where the topic revolved around traveling to former East Block countries.

Well, we all know that she was shouting into the darkness about the changes being made but she was not altogether wrong. Because according to an article on ClickZ here is how it stands with regards to the traveler in the latter part of this decade:

8% are dedicated Web users and rely on mobile applications.

23% are heavy, pragmatic tech users who use gadgets to to keep up with social networs or to be productive at home.

10% rely on mobile devices for voice, text, or entertainment communications.

49% use devices only occasionally, and many of these users resent all electronic connectivity.

So, it would seem that the trend is toward digital marketing however, despite my reliance on electronic gadgets to some extent, I still have my foot in the 49%. I like connecting to a “humanoid” and especially for traveling:

Why do I like Francis, my agent?

1. She’s been in the business 30 years and understands travel.

2. She travels 4-5 times a year and attends travel conventions.

3. She can juggle numerous items at once and rarely drops the ball.

4. She knows where to look for bargains or can access the internet to find any for me.

5. I can phone her in a pinch and she can get me flight, a hotel room or a rental car.

Yes, and Francis lets me know other items that online sites can’t tell me:

1. What formerly-great hotel in the Dominican is having management problems (and that I should avoid staying there again).

2 . What is going on in the industry that affects my travel plans and she can have informed choices for me. These could be important items that even pouring over RSS feeds might never be revealed to me.

Sure, in a tight situation I will turn to Expedia for a hotel room or something like that. And I will pop off a quick flight on Air Miles. But for trip like taking my family overseas having Francis over see the plans is like having an angel on my shoulder.

american society of travel agents, asta, independent travel agents, travel agencies, travel businesses

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Ten years ago the American traveler migrated north in the summer in droves. In the past they had always come north and the icing on the cake for 10 or so years was that they got almost $1.50 Canadian for their U.S. greenback.

Last fall the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC) mentioned factors affecting Americans’ travel choices

1) Strong Canadian dollar

2) Slowing U.S. economy

3) High gas prices

4) Confusion over documentation requirements

5) Lack of awareness of Canada as a destination for Americans who could travel.

This has thrown water over Canada’s “Field of Dreams” idea of tourism: “It-is-here-so-they-will-come.” As tourists coming to this country is big business and a piston of economic growth the attitude toward this sector of the economy was treated with a lackluster approach: Attend a few shows in Europe and the U.S. show a few slides and parade around some scarlet-jacketed Mounties.

The report goes on to say that Canada is viewed by all as a friendly, courteous, traditional and safe place to visit. But it does not inspire awe and sense of wonderment of, say, Australia or France.

Americans living close to the border know Canadian tourism and lifestyle attractions. But even these U.S. citizens are distracted by the new regulations like the WHTI (Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative which requires not only Canadians to have special documentation but also American visitors. And these regulations have not been made clear to the American people yet. “So,” many might ask, “why should we go to Manitoba when Michigan and North Dakota have similar natural attractions?” Or, “Let’s just go to Mt. Rushmore.”

Another distressing bit of news is that much of Canada’s winter product including skiing, snowmobiling and snowboarding is of no interest to over 40% of would-be American tourists.

So, is Canada in trouble in this area? No, it is not. As much as the American buck is sorely missed the absence of this currency did not create the large vacuum for which the soothsayers of doom had originally braced. When the U.S. dollar was high Canadians began traveling their own country and now are taking the pace of Americans in the resorts and attractions. In addition, with a high Euro and Pound, visitors from across the Atlantic are increasing.

Where now? Well, I’ll give you a big hint: The rise of the Chinese middle class.

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