Saint Lucia Golf, WestJet Hawaii, Cruise News and More

Cabot, Canada's premier luxury golf resort and residential community, announces its plan to develop, manage and operate a new master planned resort community in Saint Lucia - the brand's first international property.

\Located on Point Hardy, a 375-acre peninsula at the northern tip of Saint Lucia, Cabot Saint Lucia will expand upon its legacy of excellence with a golf club, residential community and resort. Following the successes of the highly acclaimed Cabot Links and Cabot Cliffs in Nova Scotia, this stunning property will include Cabot's third golf course and second resort in its expanding portfolio of world-class properties.

"Mike Keiser (who built the renowned Bandon Dunes courses in Oregon) and I have long-awaited the perfect opportunity to expand the Cabot brand internationally," said Ben Cowan-Dewar, CEO and Co-founder of Cabot Links. "With the tropical allure found in Saint Lucia and the magnificent ocean views from every corner of this spectacular site, we feel honored to be involved with such a special property within an incredible country."

The crown jewel of the luxury resort will be the 18-hole Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw designed golf course, Cabot Point, the famed designers' carefully chosen first Caribbean project.

Cabot Point will be carved into the lush landscape with sweeping Caribbean ocean views, including seven holes that play directly along the ocean. Following suit behind Cabot's other courses, both of which were recently named among Golf Digest's "World's 100 Greatest Golf Courses", the course route will feature dramatic clifftop greens jutting into the ocean and meandering valleys leading from the upper elevations to meadows by the sea.

Starting on Halloween Day, WestJet's 787 Dreamliner will carry guests for the first time between Calgary and Maui providing Hawaii-loving travellers the opportunity to experience WestJet's state-of-the-art aircraft and award-winning guest experience while flying over the Pacific.

"As the Canadian carrier with the most flights to Hawaii we're providing a superior experience for our guests flying across the Pacific this winter," said Arved von zur Muehlen, WestJet Chief Commercial Officer. "WestJet is the first to offer scheduled Dreamliner service to Maui and we're confident guests will enjoy their travel experience onboard our Dreamliners as they head to and from Hawaiian paradise."

WestJet is the Canadian airline with the most flights to Hawaii and this winter will operate up to 54 weekly flights to four destinations. During peak season, the airline will operate 22 weekly flights between Western Canada and Maui and up to 28 weekly flights between Vancouver and Honolulu, Lihue and Kona.

"Our guests love a direct getaway to beautiful Maui, adding Dreamliner service to one of Hawaii's most desirable places makes the journey even better," said Bob Sartor, President & CEO, The Calgary Airport Authority. "We're proud to be WestJet's hub and the home to its Dreamliner fleet and will continue to support our strategic partner's exciting growth."

The WestJet Dreamliner features 320 seats in three cabins: Business, Premium and Economy, all of which contain a high-level of comfort and WestJet's award-winning guest service. The Dreamliner's Business cabin features all-aisle-access, lie-flat seats with on-demand dining and entertainment. The upscale Premium cabin is the ideal combination of comfort, value and guest service including a separate cabin, elevated meal service and signature welcome perks featuring sparkling wine and an amenity case. WestJet's improved Economy cabin features on-demand inflight entertainment, blankets and pillows and complimentary food and beverages with a select number of extra legroom seats available for purchase.

Ensemble Travel Group has announced the appointment of Úna O'Leary as Vice President of Supplier Relations effective November 12.

In this new role and in keeping with the consortia's commitment in this area, she will oversee supplier partnerships with a focus on growing existing relationships and building new ones as well.

With experience in supplier partnership relationships and the luxury travel space, O'Leary was most recently with Carlson Wagonlit Travel since 2014 where she held positions as Senior Director, Marketing & Strategic Partnerships and previously as Senior Director, Marketing and Supplier Management, North American Leisure. Prior to that, O'Leary held positions with American Express Travel Partner Network (TPN), and AmEx Canada Inc.

"We are so excited to welcome someone with Úna's background and experience to the Ensemble team," states David Harris, CEO of Ensemble Travel Group. "We are committed to being strategic with our partnerships and will look to Una's expertise to help us facilitate unique opportunities with meaningful ROI in terms of products and their potential to build value to our members' businesses."

O'Leary will be based at Ensemble's headquarters in Toronto.

With this week's delivery of Carnival Panorama at the Fincantieri shipyard in Marghera, Italy, Carnival Cruise Line officially welcomes its 27th ship and the third vessel in the popular Vista class. Carnival Panorama will now head to Long Beach, Calif. for its naming ceremony and inaugural sailing in December.

"Carnival Panorama is the 15th ship built by Fincantieri for Carnival Cruise Line and once again, the skill and hard work of hundreds of talented craftspeople are on display here aboard the beautiful Carnival Panorama," said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. "Our guests absolutely love Carnival Vista and Horizon and we are certain they are going to love their sister Carnival Panorama."

Carnival Panorama will launch year-round service from Long Beach, Calif., on Dec. 11, becoming the line's first new ship homeported on the West Coast in more than 20 years.

As the name implies, Carnival Panorama reflects design inspiration with more opportunities to connect with the sea. The ship features a number of innovations including the first Sky Zone trampoline park at sea as well as a first-in-fleet culinary studio where guests can participate in hands-on cooking classes, tastings and other food-related activities hosted by the ship's chefs.

Carnival Panorama also offers a variety of longtime guest favorites such as a massive WaterWorks aqua park, Sky Ride, the popular bike in the sky with breathtaking views, a suspended ropes course and dining venues like Bonsai Teppanyaki and Guy's Pig & Anchor Smokehouse Brewhouse with barbecue favorites from Food Network star and longtime Carnival partner Guy Fieri along with craft beers brewed on board.

A wide range of staterooms and suites are available as well, including spa staterooms with exclusive privileges at the luxurious Cloud 9 Spa, extra-spacious staterooms in Family Harbor and tropical-inspired Havana staterooms with access to a Cuban-themed bar and pool.

To learn more about Carnival Cruise Line, visit Carnival.com

African Travel, Inc., North America's longest established travel company focused exclusively on Africa, has launched their 2020 brochure for the first time in Canada.

As the #1 safari outfitter voted by Travel + Leisure readers in 2019 and an Honoree in the 2019 Departures Legacy Award for adventure experiences, African Travel, Inc. is delighted to provide a remarkable array of adventures to Canadian travellers. All South Africa itineraries are available in CAD, where travel advisors can earn 15% commission per booking. All other itineraries are offered only in USD.

"We are thrilled to expand our market into Canada to provide more travellers with magical experiences to Africa," said Sherwin Banda, president of African Travel, Inc. "We are dedicated to turning travel dreams into reality by providing our guests with the ultimate luxury safari experience. When advisors in Canada hear us say 'We Know Africa,' they can depend on us to help them craft the right African experience for their clients."

African Travel, Inc.'s handcrafted safari vacations are the culmination of more than 40 years of passion for creating spectacular, meaningful and life-changing safari experiences.

As the longest established luxury safari operator with exclusive focus on the African continent, African Travel, Inc. crafts unique and magical journeys to suit different travel styles and interests. While their aim is always to match the right client with the right African destination, African Travel's passion goes beyond safari.

Dallas and Fort Worth joined forces to meet with travel media in Toronto this week.

Tourism officials described a visit to the area as being like "two vacations in one."

Dallas has an amazing cultural district with world-class museums designed by some of the world's best architects. It also was named 2019 Restaurant City of the Year by Bon Appetit magazine.

One great feature in the area is the Margarita Mile, where folks can get stamps and even win prizes for visiting about 20 different restaurants, each serving a wicked margarita. They provided four tasty samples at the media lunch.

Fort Worth has a growing arts and music scene and also has new boutique hotels and a Fort Worth Ale Trail for craft beer lovers. The historic Stock Yards area is undergoing a $450 million USD renovation, and the Near South Side is a growing spot for hipsters.

Air Canada and American Airlines both fly direct to Dallas Fort Worth airport, which offers light rail links to both cities for just a couple dollars. Mark Thompson from Dallas tourism said the area's transit system is the largest and fastest-growing light rail system in the U.S.

"Canada is a huge market for Texas and Dallas Fort-Worth, and Toronto is incredibly important to us," he said.