Article for PAXnewsWest.com: Air New Zealand marks 75 years

file_17158224452_mLast night, Air New Zealand hosted an intimate dinner for a group of travel partners and esteemed guests in a private room at Vancouver's Hawksworth restaurant as an early celebration of the airline's 75th anniversary. The company's inaugural flight was from Sydney to Auckland on April 30, 1940.

Chris Allison, Air New Zealand's manager – sales and market development, Canada, told the group that the last six to 12 months have been the most successful in the airline's history…

Read the rest at PAXnewsWest.com

Article for REW.ca: Five Great Things About Living In … Downtown East Vancouver

Downtown East Vancouver is a neighbourhood of contrasts. It's a historic neighbourhood in which heritage buildings house hip new cocktail bars, and where hot young chefs are taking advantage of lower rents to open up innovative restaurants. The MLS-defined boundaries of Main and Carrall to the east and west and the waterfront and Pacific Boulevard to the north and south create a slice of town that incorporates the eastern parts Chinatown and Gastown along with a small corner of Railtown – all neighbourhoods that are changing fast. This area has plenty of challenges, including crippling urban poverty in the Downtown Eastside, and it's not for everyone. But those who live here love their neighbourhood…

Article for PAXnewsWest: Governments of Canada, B.C. announce strong tourism growth for 2014

state_of_tourism

The Canadian and British Columbian Ministers of State for Small Business and Tourism held a joint press conference in Vancouver yesterday to announce that 2014 was a strong year for tourism, with year-over-year visitor increases both nationally and provincially.

"We are here today to tell Canadians what a great year 2014 was for the tourism industry,” said Maxime Bernier, Canada's Minister of State for Small Business and Tourism…

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Article for REW.ca: Five Great Things About Living in … Yaletown

With its unique combination of heritage brick buildings, modern boutiques and cocktail bars, cobblestone streets and sparkling waterfront, what's not to love about this trendy enclave of downtown?

1. Walk to Work (and Everywhere Else)

Yaletown is home to many creative and high-tech enterprises, a good number of law and medical/dental offices, and plenty of shops and restaurants, meaning there are professional and service sector jobs right in the neighbourhood…

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Recent work for REW.ca

I’ve just wrapped up a couple of weeks providing regular news coverage for REW.ca to cover a staff vacation. Here’s what I got up to:

REW.ca is the online arm of the largest real estate market newspaper in the Lower Mainland: Real Estate Weekly.

New article for PAXnewsWest.com: Agents spend a night in Europe with Transat

transat_europe_mainTransat Holidays welcomed 130 travel agents to the Coast Coal Harbour Hotel last night for its 2015 Europe Training Academy.

The big change for Transat's Western Canadian offering this year are the new connector flights to Toronto. The weekly YVR-YYZ flight connects Vancouver passengers with Transat flights to four new destinations: Dublin, Rome, Venice, and Barcelona. It also increases the number of weekly flights available for Western Canadians flying to Paris, Glasgow, and Manchester…

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New article for PAXnewsWest.com: Air Canada marks the Year of the Ram in Vancouver

ac_chinese_new_yearOn Feb. 13, Air Canada hosted 80 travel agency partners, media guests, and staff from its various divisions for dinner at Vancouver’s Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel to celebrate Chinese New Year.

Rocky Lo, Air Canada's general manager of business development – Asia, who organized the event, told PAX the airline embraces the Chinese tradition of "getting the family together” once a year before the festival…

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A freelance travel & lifestyle writer/editor