Millennials Prefer Travel to Sex, Arizona Tourism Hits Vancouver: This Week's JimBits

We all know millennials love to travel. Well, apparently, they love travel more than sex and more than that local craft beer they take so many Instagram photos of.

Contiki asked US millennials (not Canadians) what they would give up for six months if they could travel the world for free. Eighty per cent said they'd give up Netflix, while 77 per cent said they'd give up coffee and 73 per cent said they'd forgo alcohol. A pretty solid 57 per cent said they'd give up sex for the travel privileges, but only 41 per cent said they'd give up their cell phone. Which isn't surprising, as 49 per cent of American millennials said they spend eight to ten hours a day on their phones.

On a more serious note, 35 per cent of those aged 18-35 say they travel three to five times a year. Another 48 per cent said they travel once or twice a year. The others were too busy on their cell phones to answer the survey, we presume.

Another interesting note is that 57 per cent of respondents said they spend one to three hours researching a place to eat, compared to 51 per cent who spend that much looking for a place to sleep.

Contiki believes in living life with #NoRegrets and encourages young people to travel more often, offering bucket list experiences around the world. Visit www.Contiki.com to find your next trip.

Arizona Tourism officials held a great event in Vancouver on Oct. 29, highlighting all the amazing things to do up and down the state.

Air Canada has launched two new daily, seasonal transborder routes. Celebrations were held prior to the departure of the inaugural flights from Edmonton to Las Vegas and from Calgary to Palm Springs last Sunday.

"We are delighted to offer more travel options to Albertans with the addition of daily, seasonal services from both Calgary and Edmonton, which means golf, entertainment and the desert sun are a short flight away every day this fall and winter. With our flexible and diverse North American fleet, we are continuing to strategically add services to popular destinations," said Mark Galardo, Vice President, Network Planning at Air Canada.

The Edmonton to Las Vegas and Calgary to Palm Springs flights are onboard Air Canada Rouge A319 and Air Canada A320 aircraft, respectively, both offering premium and economy cabins.

Flights are timed to connect with Air Canada's extensive domestic schedule, provides for Aeroplan accumulation and redemption, Star Alliance reciprocal benefits, and for eligible customers, priority check-in, Maple Leaf Lounge access at Canadian airports, priority boarding and other benefits.

In a story carried by The Canadian Press, Air Canada and WestJet have joined a group of airlines who have severed ties to SeaWorld. It's part of a worldwide movement against whale and dolphin abuse, including a bill in the U.S. Senate that passed last week that would make it a criminal offence to keep certain animals in captivity.

Air Canada says Air Canada Vacations ceased offering SeaWorld tickets for purchase on its website last week. WestJet said it dropped its vacation packages with Seaworld tickets last August.

Other airlines previously cut ties with SeaWorld, including JetBlue and Southwest, CP reported.

SeaWorld has theme parks in Florida, California and Texas

The latest Virtuoso® Luxe Report shows travel in 2019 will be highly personalized and inspired by a desire to experience new destinations in unusual ways. Every year global luxury travel network Virtuoso surveys its industry-leading force of travel agencies and advisors in 50 countries, including 185 locations in Canada, to forecast what the coming year will bring. The Luxe Report, which has established Virtuoso as a trusted trend predictor, unveils consumer preferences in high-end and experiential travel.

Virtuoso's affiliated travel advisors revealed client requests that illustrate the desire for a deeper level of personalization and one-of-a-kind experiences. From specific seat numbers on planes and hotel room numbers to particular rental car types, travelers are more vocal about their precise preferences. Nothing is left to chance, as increasingly clients ask for prearranged meals and appointments. They are seeking not just restaurant reservations, but exact tables at in-demand hot spots as well as pre-ordering wine to accompany the meal. They also ask their advisor to book sessions with hairdressers, massage therapists and even tattoo artists.

Through the Luxe Report, Virtuoso uncovered five trends - all with an overarching movement toward personalization - shaping how Canada's most affluent travelers will roam the world in 2019.

Motivation: Social media's influence is unmistakable, as it drives travellers' desire to find the most captivating backdrops and the best time of day for snapping images. Clients are requesting on-site photography sessions to create Instagram-worthy content, including replicating shots they admired online. Virtuoso advisors are arranging themed photoshoots characteristic of destinations, such as wearing traditional geisha attire in Kyoto or ball gowns in Venice.

Transportation: When flying commercial, airlines with state-of-the-art business and first-class cabins are a favorite. Upon landing, VIP airport arrival services that whisk travellers through customs and ease tight connections are growing in demand. Requests are on the rise for private helicopter transfers to and from airports as well as from one city or resort island to another.

Accommodation: Experiential travellers who have seen it all are craving stays in unconventional accommodations. Those range from a treehouse to a monastery to an igloo in Norway, a tent in the Moroccan desert, the shores of the Red Sea, and even a bubble nestled in nature so they can gaze at stars before drifting off to sleep.

Recreation: People want to explore their passions through bucket-list experiences. Sports fans are asking for tickets to major events such as the Olympics, Super Bowl and Wimbledon. Art aficionados are inquiring about private tours of locales like the Vatican after hours. Shoppers want appointments at high-end stores such as Hermès to purchase signature items like a Birkin bag. Music lovers are booking trips to summer festivals and concerts. Advisors are also arranging private dinners with influential local figures.

Conservation: Travellers are expressing heightened interest in animal-related experiences. Some request visits to animal protection facilities or to observe animals in the wild, such as whale watching and viewing rhinos at close range. Some want to interact more directly with animals, such as at the Giraffe House in Nairobi or dog sledding to the North Pole. They also exhibit concern for animal welfare and want to ensure that interactions are sustainable.

Brand USA, the destination marketing organization for the United States, recently launched their GoUSA TV App - the first-of-its kind connected TV network, featuring best-in-class created, curated and licensed video content to inspire, invite and welcome travellers to visit the USA. The app is available for iOS devices, as well as on Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV.

The launch of the GoUSA TV app is an extension of Brand USA's strategy to immerse audiences in an entertainment-led point of view of the USA. Brand USA created GoUSA TV to harness the power of visual storytelling to get people to actively consider a U.S. destination for their next holiday.

Initial programming categories include:

Great Outdoors

Road Trips

Food & Drink

Culture & Events

Currently, GoUSA TV is in the process of enriching its programming content by releasing new programing each Thursday and plans to expand its library to feature more themes and formats, including series, films and live videos.

Air Transat, named the 2018 World's Best Leisure Airline at the Skytrax World Airline Awards, is proud to introduce Click a Vacation, a fun online quiz that tells travellers which of Air Transat's winter destinations is best suited to their interests and travel goals. Click a Vacation is the best way for travellers to find their ideal city or beach destination, whether they're flying solo, as a couple or as a family. All they have to do is answer a few fun questions. Beaches of Portugal or Mexico? Week of sightseeing in London or lounging on white sands in the Dominican Republic? Click a Vacation will always offer the perfect destination match.

"With Click a Vacation, Air Transat is once again living up to its billing as a vacation expert. We're helping people find THE ideal travel destination to brighten the everyday with the joy of vacations," says Geneviève LeBrun, Vice-President of Marketing at Transat. "It's an amusing quiz, but a lot of effort went into it to make sure it offers the right destination based on travellers' interests. It will surely inspire Canadians this winter."

Canadians who complete the quiz on the Click a Vacation site will be able to enter a contest for a chance to win an all-inclusive package at the Air Transat destination of their choice in the Caribbean, Mexico or Central or South America. What's more, anyone who takes the Click a Vacation quiz and share their result on their Facebook page will earn an additional chance to win[1].