Air Canada's ban on small pets traveling as checked luggage cargo on passenger planes has been overturned by the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA).
Last summer, Air Canada had imposed a ban on pets that passengers wanted to have travel with them on the same flight; and pet-unfriendly airline Air Canada had started to enforce their new pet airline travel regulation that restricted pet to only being allowed to fly on cargo planes not passenger flights.
Air Canada had argued that its restrictions on pet travel were to make more space for luggage. Pet lovers who didn't want to have their cat or dog sent on different flights and neglected as cargo, had boycotted the airline, taking their pet travel business to more pet-friendly airlines.
The CTA ruled this week that the ban was unreasonable, and has given Air Canada until May 5 to allow animals (and their pet travel carriers that weigh less than 70 lbs (31.7 kilograms) back on passenger flights. The order allows Air Canada to continue banning pets in the cabin as carry-on luggage, a restriction the airline had implemented in 2006 over allergy concerns.
An Air Canada spokesperson said the airline is reviewing the ruling and has not made a decision on whether the airline will appeal.
World Travel Guide thinks Air Canada should catch up with the times and the sentiments of most pet owners and realize that to many, pets are part of the family and should be treated as such; otherwise, pet owners will take their business to more pet-friendly airlines.
Port Hope's annual "Float Your Fanny Down The Ganny" river race takes place on Saturday, April 5th, in Port Hope, Ontario.
Float Your Fanny Down the Ganny is an exciting ten-kilometer race that takes place on the Ganaraska River, and draws crowds of up to 15,000 spectators.
River mania takes over this picturesque historic town of 15,000 every spring as the population doubles when river racing enthusiasts from around the globe descend on Port Hope to either participate in the river race or to cheer from the banks of the Ganaraska River that flows through the center of town and out in Lake Ontario.
The river race festival is held annually in April to commemorate when the Ganarask River flooded the downtown in 1980. Categories include canoes, kayaks and crazy crafts which are made up of just about anything imaginable that can float! Wet suits are recommended and life jackets are mandatory.
The canoe/kayak launch starts 10:00 a.m. Saturday morning at Canton Bridge just north of the town of Port Hope, and runs down river with one portage around the Ganaraska fish ladder. Crazycraft launch is at 11am from Sylvan Glen Conservation Area just north of the town.
Event organizers are hoping for sunny weather, high water, and huge crowds. The usual variety of canoes, kayaks and crazycraft are expected to keep everyone entertained. Lots of fun, food booths and activities take place.
For more information, visit www.floatyourfanny.ca or contact Port Hope Tourism at 1-888-767-8467 or e-mail tourism@porthope.ca.
Vienna lawyer Markus Groh, 49, had a fatal shark encounter about 50 miles off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
He was part of a group of Austrian tourists taking part in a tour conducted by Scuba Adventures, a Riviera Beach Florida business which advertises "unique shark trips" and "face to face" encounters with sharks off the Florida coast. To ensure shark encounters, sharks are lured to the site with fish and fish parts. The Scuba Adventures website promises that its hammerhead and tiger shark expeditions in the Bahamas are "These unique shark trips are being run exclusively for shark enthusiasts and photographers. The site also says "Even in a “baiting” situation they tend to be very cautious.
Groh was in the open water without a cage or similar protection when the shark adventure turned fatal and he was biten on the leg and mauled by one of the lured sharks. He later died after being air-lifted to a Fort Lauderdale hospital.
Couples who thought getting married at a tropical resort in Dominican Republic was the dream wedding setting may be in for a rude and illegal awakening. That romantic wedding ceremony on the beach in Dominican Republic may have been picture perfect - but not legal.
Investigators in Dominican's National Department of Investigations have uncovered what they are calling a wedding scam involving more than 200 British and Canadian couples who paid hundreds of dollars for Dominican marriages that were never officially registered. Four employees, uncertified officials of the Central Electoral Board that oversees civil marriages, have been detained, and are suspected of colluding with local Dominican Republic hotels to swindle foreign couples with Caribbean wedding packages where fraudulent wedding ceremonies took place.
The Dominican Republic is a popular destination for couples combining a wedding and honeymoon. The Dominican Republic's tourism website states that wedding registration fees are $455. but fees can run much higher if a resort plans the ceremony which is the case for most foreign brides and groom intent on a romantic Caribbean wedding and honeymoon.
The wedding ceremonies in question took place from July 2007 to February 2008 in the eastern Dominican Republic.
If you or someone you know was married at a hotel resort in the Dominican Republic during that time, it would be prudent to verify whether or not the marriage papers are legitimate or part of this wedding scam.
Canadians who travel would be wise to subscribe to Canadian airline Westjet's e-newsletter. The email from Westjet airlines that I received on February 28, 2008 offered a one-day 80% off sale on major route flights - the only catch was that the sale was just for that one day and flight had to be booked on that day. (Travel was valid from March 1 to June 25, 2008).
Example super sale air fares were Toronto to Montreal or Ottawa, regularly $79. for only $12. Or flights from Toronto to either Charlottetown, Halifax, Moncton, Saint John, or Saskatoon, regularly from $196-341. was on sale for only $39.
So if traveling on any of Westjet flight routes could be in your upcoming travel plans, you should hurry on over to www.westjet.com and subscribe.
Porter Airlines starts flights Toronto New York Newark
It's official - Porter Airline starts 7 flights daily Toronto - New York via Newark.
Porter Airlines has officially announced that beginning March 31, 2008, the airline operating out of Toronto City Centre Airport in downtown Toronto, will start offering air service between Toronto and New York.
Porter adding the New York - Toronto flight route has been much anticipated ever since Porter Airlines started their full page color ads in major Canadian newspapers like the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail a few weeks ago.
Flights booked by February 20, 2008 for travel by April 30, 2008, will be at a special rate of $95. one-way. (not including taxes, fees or surcharges). You can book online at www.flyporter.com or 1-888-619-8622 or through travel agents.
Toxic garbage in Naples Italy worries tourists and residents
Hazardous Waste Enrages Residents of Naples and Worries Tourists Travelers touring Italy might start giving Naples in the Campania region of Italy a wider berth as garbage - and damning health reports - continue to pile up.
Research released last year by Italy's National Research Council found that people living closest to the waste disposal sites with the least regulation - where trash is dumped in fields or burnt without any controls - had a mortality rate that was 12 per cent greater than normal for women and 9 per cent greater for men.
Fatal liver cancers were much more common - up 29 per cent for women and 19 per cent for men in the most at-risk areas - and there were huge increases in congenital malformations of the nervous and urinary systems.
This part of the Campania region, of which Naples is the capital, has been dubbed "the triangle of death" and daily receives hazardous industrial waste from the north of Italy.
Residents in Naples have been taking to the streets in protest, convinced their health has suffered, and in some cases family members haved died, as a result of the toxic pollution.
Health-conscious travelers may want to reconsider renting a villa and foregoing extended stays in the Naples area, and instead leave it for a day visit.
Air Canada's ban on small pets traveling as checked luggage cargo on passenger planes has been overturned by the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA). 
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Vienna lawyer Markus Groh, 49, had a fatal shark encounter about 50 miles off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. 
