“Carry On” Notebook: Sleek, New Montreal Hotel + Fully Operational Vegas + Tourists Welcomed to New York and L.A.

April 15, 2021 Jim Byers

Our “Carry On” notebook has news about a stylish new hotel for downtown Montreal coming in June, as well as Vegas (and Reno) opening to 100% capacity and tourists being welcomed back to Israel and New York State.

SLEEK NEW HOTEL FOR MONTREAL

This June, Humaniti Hotel, Autograph Collection will make its Montreal debut. This is one of the first luxury hotels to open in Canada since the start of the pandemic, and it will stand as an important symbol of confident optimism for the future of Canadian tourism.

The 193 room property is the focal-point of the newly constructed Humaniti Montreal. This European-inspired, mixed-use development is being billed as “the city’s first Smart Vertical Community.” It’s a fully-connected environment combining retail, residential living, commercial office space, with the striking new hotel concept.

This forward-thinking design, by Montreal’s Andres Escobar and the team at Lemay + Escobar, has already been internationally recognized. It was a finalist for Best Futura Project – dedicated to projects that provide a glimpse into the future through distinct architectural and environmental qualities.

The hotel is at Place Jean-Paul Riopelle in the Quartier International, next to Montreal’s Palais des Congrès convention centre. Historic Old Montreal and the Quartier Des Spectacles are just steps away.

VEGAS FULLY OPERATIONAL

Las Vegas, Reno and the rest of Nevada’s hotel casinos can begin to operate at full capacity starting June 1 according to Governor Steve Sisolak.

“The wide availability and rapid administration of vaccines will allow our valued events industry to reconvene with confidence and in its entirety,” Steve Hill, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said in a statement. “Las Vegas will continue providing the gold standard for health, wellness and safety precautions for the benefit of its workforce, the community and our visitors.”

Seems hard for a Canadian to believe given our situation, but there you go.

NIAGARA RAIL PROPOSAL

As part of President’s Biden’s proposed $2.2 trillion American Jobs plan, $80 billion would go toward improvements to Amtrak’s train service.

Congressman Brian Higgins, a New York democrat, says some of that money should go to enhancing the route between Niagara Falls, N.Y. and Toronto. 

“A robust schedule of train service between Western New York and Ontario will be important not just to the local economy, but to the national economic recovery as well,” Higgins said.

LOS ANGELES WELCOMING GROUPS, UNVEILS NEW CAMPAIGN

It was announced this week that, effective immediately, professional meetings – groups of under 300 – can resume in Los Angeles. With Los Angeles starting its comeback – safely reopening museums, indoor dining, theme parks and outdoor live events including spectator sports, with appropriate capacity controls and safety protocols – the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board is inviting meeting professionals to plan their comeback.

To instill further confidence in the Los Angeles experience, Los Angeles Tourism announced an initiative powered by digital health company Sharecare and Forbes Travel Guide, the global authority on hospitality excellence, to verify the health security of all hotels with 50 or more rooms in the City of Los Angeles. By making health security verification a universal standard across this category of hotels, Los Angeles is set to become the first Sharecare VERIFIED destination in the U.S. This comprehensive verification process assures guests and travel planners that all L.A. hotels with the distinction have appropriate safety procedures in place, covering over 360 standards across health and hygiene protocols, cleaning products and procedures, ventilation, physical distancing, the guest experience, and health safety communication with guests and employees.

Coinciding with L.A.’s reopening and the pinnacle of awards season, Los Angeles Tourism launched a new advertising campaign today, viewable here, that presents the concept of L.A. being a movie; specifically, a comeback story. A double entendre, the comeback story is a nod to the challenges the destination has faced over the past year, while acknowledging the overflowing optimism for the future – with the campaign’s creative aiming to inspire visitors to come back to L.A. The creative will be featured in an IMDb Oscars Sponsorship – the first ever by a Destination Marketing Organization – through May 2.

2021 is an exciting year for Los Angeles, with a number of future projects planned that offer flexible open-air options such as the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, set to open September 30, 2021, which boasts an open-air rooftop with views of the Hollywood Hills. This year also marks the first time the state-of-the-art SoFi Stadium, opened in 2020 and home to Super Bowl LVI 2022, will be able to host groups.

An impressive list of hotels is slated to open their doors in L.A. beginning this spring, including:

• Downtown L.A. Proper, which offers meeting space and a rooftop within walking distance of the Los Angeles Convention Center
• Fairmont Century Plaza, boasting nearly 24,000 square feet of fully-renovated meeting and event space and private, VIP access
• The Godfrey Hotel Hollywood, a 220-room hotel in the heart of Hollywood with one of the largest rooftops in L.A.
• Thompson Hollywood, a 200-room boutique property with a rooftop garden featuring 360-degree views of Hollywood

Last week, Governor Newsom also announced a target date of June 15^th – two months after all adults in California become eligible to receive the vaccine – to fully reopen California’s economy with appropriate precautions, including the continued use of effective face coverings in public. The State has set a target date of October 1^st to permit conventions and tradeshows with more than 5,000 participants.

NY OPENS FOR BUSINESS

New York state says it has lifted its COVID-19 testing and quarantine requirements for inbound international travellers. The move comes on the heels of another policy change, which ended New York’s quarantine mandate on visitors arriving from other U.S. states and territories as of April 1.

“Asymptomatic travelers entering New York from another country, U.S. state, or territory are no longer required to test or quarantine as of April 10, 2021,” the state Department of Health announced on its website.

The state said that a quarantine, consistent with guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is still recommended for all travellers who are not fully vaccinated or have not recovered from laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 during the previous three months.

ISRAEL OPEN FOR VISITORS

The Israel Ministry of Tourism says it will open its borders to international travellers starting May 23, but only if they’ve been vaccinated.

Israel has been closed to tourism for more than a year.

MALTA: DESPERATELY SEEKING TOURISTS

Malta is so desperate for visitors that it’s willing to pay people to take their vacations there.

The island’s tourism board is offering payouts for hotel stays of at least three nights. The amount someone can get is based on the type of hotel they stay at.

A five-star hotel stay of at least three nights would generate a savings of 200 Euros ($300 CAD), while a four-star hotel stay generates 75 Euros ($150 CAD) in savings. A three-star hotel for three nights nets a savings of 50 Euros, about $100 CAD.

Interesting.

WHERE AMERICANS WANT TO HOLIDAY

 Allianz Partners recently analyzed more than 985,000 flight itineraries for trips of five to eight days to determine the most popular domestic and international destinations for Americans for summer travel in 2021. 

The top 10 domestic places were, from one to ten, Orlando, Maui, Honolulu/Oahu, Seattle, Anchorage, Las Vegas, Kauai, Hawai’I Big Island, Boston and Miami. That’s four of ten places for Hawai’I, which is pretty impressive and speaks to the popularity of the islands.

For international travel, the top ten spots were Cancun, San Jose del Cabo in Mexico, Aruba, San Juan in Puerto Rico, St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Montego Bay, Providenciales in the Turks & Caicos, Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Vallarta and Nassau in the Bahamas. All sun places, and not a real city destination in sight.

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