Memories created every week
Writers and photographers continue to highlight fascinating destinations within Canada and around the world
Alot has changed in the way people travel since the Toronto Star launched this Travel section 50 years ago.
That was1967, the year Canada celebrated its 100th birthday, Montreal’s Expo 67 invited the world to visit, and the Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup.
Commercial air travel had become affordable for the average person with some airliners capable of transporting 200 or more passengers to places 5,000 kilometres and beyond non-stop.
Marshall McLuhan’s “global village” expression, coined five years earlier, was a reality, and countries all over the world started to develop tourist commissions and travel boards to serve a growing jetsetting demographic.
The Star Travel section remains a popular venue for writers and photographers highlighting fascinating destinations within Canada and around the world.
And it’s still a viable venue for tour operators, transportation providers, and resorts and attractions to advertise their services, and a valuable hard copy resource for readers planning trips.
Travel preparation takes a lot less time now with technological advances enabling us to search numerous sources and check customer reviews online in just a few minutes, from home or on the go.
“The world certainly is a smaller place,” says Dorian Werda, vice-president of operations for the Travel Industry Council of Ontario (TICO).
“And the internet has allowed consumers to be engaged in the travel process,” Werda adds.
Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, TICO enforces the Ontario Travel Industry Act and provincial standards regulating Ontario’s 2,500 travel firms and administering the Travel Compensation Fund, financed by member travel companies.
“Preferences and expectations have evolved and people aren’t just looking for a beach vacation anymore. They want to experience more and go to a wider variety of places, like the Arctic or on rainforest eco-tours,” she says.
“With more people travelling, there are more levels of travel, ranging from opulent cruises to backpacking adventures, but the internet has also posed new risks, whether its fraud or booking errors, so the consumer has to be cautious as well,” Werda adds.
Booking flights, hotels, car rentals, buying tickets to shows and attractions, making dinner reservations and getting complete details and confirmation has never been easier, or quicker.
With smartphones we can research, book, pay, use digital boarding passes, communicate with friends and loved ones, take and send pictures in an instant wherever we are.
Lost, stolen or delayed GPS connected luggage can be located whenever it goes astray, and there are even motorized suitcases you can ride on from the airport entrance to the boarding gate.
By air, cruise ship, rail, RV or car, today’s tourists have more travel, lodging, dining, sightseeing and entertainment options than ever before, whether it’s at longestablished destinations, or exotic and remote places travel adventure tour operators offer way off the beaten path.
And whether it’s trekking to the other side of the world or within our own vast and varied country, there are myriad possibilities — and the Star’s Travel section features them every Thursday and Saturday.
From the Maritimes, across our heartland, prairies and mountains, to the West Coast and far north, there’s much to see and do right here at home and we’ve been focusing on each of our 10 provinces and three territories throughout Canada’s 150th year.
Look for our section devoted to Saskatchewan coming up in the Star’s Saturday Travel section on Oct. 7. hstancu@thestar.ca