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According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, total transborder freight between the U.S. and Canada and Mexico reached $157.1 billion in June 2026, up 19.9% from June 2025. U.S.-Canada freight was $67.9 billion, up 17.0%; U.S.-Mexico freight was $89.2 billion, up 22.2%. Trucks moved $104.4 billion, up 23.0%; railways $17.1 billion, up 11.0%; air freight $6.2 billion, up 24.2%.
Air Canada is selling a 25% stake in its Aeroplan loyalty program to a Blackstone-led group for C$2.5 billion, implying a C$10 billion valuation—higher than Air Canada's own market cap. The airline retains 75% and full control, with an option to buy back between years five and eight. The deal settles August 17, with proceeds partly repaying a US$1.2 billion bond.
Statistics Canada data shows Canadian-resident return trips from the U.S. rose 10.2% year-over-year in July, a fourth consecutive month of growth, but largely due to a weak 2025 base. Car trips rose 12.8%, while air trips fell 1.4%. Compared to 2024, car and air travel remain about 27-29% lower. Canadians are shifting to destinations like the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica, while U.S. cities like New York offer discounts to lure visitors.
Air Canada reports Q2 results on Wednesday in what will be outgoing CEO Michael Rousseau's final earnings presentation before his August 31 retirement, leaving the airline to enter its toughest winter trading season without a permanent CEO until successor Anko van der Werff arrives from SAS in January. The market is braced for a sharp profit decline: Air Canada guided Q2 adjusted earnings to C$575–725 million (versus C$909 million a year earlier) and withdrew its full-year outlook, citing fuel volatility. Analysts will scrutinize fuel recapture rate, the sluggish U.S. transborder market recovery, World Cup demand, the leadership vacuum, and whether management restores full-year guidance and…
FCM Travel announced the appointment of Michael Hook as General Manager of FCM Canada, effective immediately. Hook, who has been with FCM for eight years and most recently served as Director of Sales for North America, brings over two decades of sales experience. He will oversee Canadian operations and join the Americas leadership team to drive growth.
Google Maps has updated its conversational interface Ask Maps with hotel and local event discovery, extending the service to more countries. Users can ask for hotels with specific price ranges and ratings using natural language, and Ask Maps returns real-time prices and availability, along with suggestions for nearby activities and booking links. Personal Intelligence has been added, allowing users to connect Ask Maps to Gmail for trip-related suggestions. The service is now available in over 150 countries, including Australia, Brazil, and Canada.
Hampton by Hilton launched its first guest-created waffle flavor, Peach Cobbler, available at nearly 2,500 hotels in the U.S. and Canada for a limited time. The flavor was created by Kaylee Voight, winner of the inaugural Guest Waffle Boss competition. Research shows 42% of travelers say a great hotel breakfast makes them happy before hitting the road.
Toast has been named an endorsed POS technology provider by BWH Hotels for its properties across the US and Canada, covering 18 global brands and ~4,300 properties. The partnership provides access to Toast Go handhelds, Mobile Order & Pay, Toast Kiosks, and more, unifying multi-outlet operations and integrating into existing hotel tech stacks and PMS.
Ground transportation specialist Busbud secured $40 million in credit financing from Vista Credit and formed a new parent company, Terra Mobility, combining Busbud, Buson, Recorrido, and operator OS TerraOS. TerraOS offers ticketing, inventory management, AI-powered revenue management, and demand forecasting. Erik Blachford was named chairman, and Sam Shank joined the board. Terra Mobility has 270 employees across 26 countries, connecting over 100 million travelers with 4,000 operators.
Vrbo released the Built to Stay Report, surveying over 1,700 travelers across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, UK, France, Germany, and Australia. The study found that 86% of travelers would pay more for a higher-quality listing, and 81% would pay more for a property with strong trust signals. Cleanliness, reliable amenities, and quick host response are key quality signals, while verified reviews and overall scores are important trust signals.
Amadeus and UN Tourism released the 'Travel Insights 2026: Focus on the Americas' report. Between May 2025 and April 2026, passenger traffic across the Americas grew 0.8%, with North America essentially flat (-0.1%), while Central America and South America grew 7.5% and 5.5%, respectively. North America remains the region's connectivity hub, with 2,965 new international routes announced in the past year. Canada, Jamaica, and the Republic of Korea recorded the strongest search growth into North America. Hotel performance remained resilient, with steady occupancy and continued ADR growth.
Travelport has introduced Air Canada Flight Pass capability within TripServices API and Smartpoint, enabling agencies to shop and book eligible Air Canada NDC offers using Flight Pass credits directly within the Travelport+ platform. Travelport says it is the first NDC GDS aggregator to implement Air Canada's Flight Pass credits. The capability removes the need to leave Smartpoint or rely on airline-direct channels to manage eligible Flight Pass bookings, and supports the associated payment and booking requirements.
Expedia Group released research based on a survey of 1,500 hotel decision makers across six markets, finding that full connectivity, not just basic connectivity, drives stronger revenue performance, less manual work, and lower operational risk. 81% of fully connected properties say connectivity improved occupancy, ADR, or RevPAR, compared to 52% with basic connectivity.
The UK FCDO updated its travel advice for Canada, adding information about entry requirements for those entering from Ebola-affected regions. Travelers are advised to research destinations and get appropriate travel insurance. FCDO provides risk advice to help make informed decisions.
TravelOne Technologies has launched a Traveler DNA platform that analyzes 30 behavioral and psychological markers to generate personalized travel recommendations and itineraries. The startup targets consumers, travel agencies, and tour operators through paid Traveler DNA reports, vacation bookings, and subscription-based advisor tools. It positions itself as an alternative to traditional search-based travel planning.
Meadin Research released its June 2026 housing rental industry development report. The report shows that the rental market entered its peak season in June, with rents recovering in key cities and accelerated entry of affordable rental housing and talent apartments. Global rents showed mixed performance: US rents rose for the fifth consecutive month, Canada's decline narrowed, while the UK and Germany maintained growth. In China, Beijing and Shanghai rents both reached 96 yuan per square meter per month. On policy, MOHURD optimized provident fund rental withdrawal rules, and Beijing introduced measures such as no-invoice withdrawals. On corporate dynamics, REITs and ABS financing innovations…
Meadin Research released the July 2026 housing rental industry development report. In July, the State Council approved the '15th Five-Year Plan for Expanding Consumption', incorporating housing consumption into a national consumption plan for the first time. Global rents showed divergence: US median rent was $1,388 (up 0.2% MoM), Canada average rent was C$2,036 (down 4.0% YoY), UK average rent was £1,369 (up 4.3% YoY). In China, Beijing and Shanghai rents remained high at RMB 101 and RMB 94 per sqm per month respectively. The industry continued its mainline of 'revitalizing existing stock, state-owned leadership, and financial closure', with CCB Housing Rental Fund's RMB 5 billion ABS secon…
Expedia Group released Unpack '26 Summer, revealing a shift toward domestic travel, with global social conversation about domestic vacations up 77% YoY. The report also highlights trends like hotel hopping, beach readaways, sports events, and set-jetting.
ACI World released its Policy Agenda 2030 on 5 May 2026 in Montreal, setting out four airport-industry policy priorities: airports as businesses, airport capacity enhancement, safety, security and operations, and sustainable growth and decarbonization. ACI World warned that outdated regulatory frameworks risk constraining global air travel growth, capacity and sustainability, and urged governments and regulators to act on capacity, connectivity, resilience and socio-economic value. The agenda complements ACI World's 2025-2030 Strategic Plan and aligns with the ICAO Strategic Plan 2026-2050.
Intrepid Travel has acquired French adventure travel company Altaï Group, its largest acquisition to date. Altaï, headquartered in Lyon, operates brands including Atalante, Altaï Travel, and uses a vertically integrated model. The deal expands Intrepid's presence in France, making it the fourth-largest market, and strengthens operations in Chile and Canada, including a Montreal base. It aims to engage French-speaking travelers in Quebec and drive inbound demand to Canada, Peru, and Chile. This follows Intrepid's purchase of Dutch operator Sawadee Reizen.
ACI World published its 2025 rankings of the world's busiest airports on 14 April 2026. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport retained the top spot for total passengers with 106.3 million, followed by Dubai International and Tokyo Haneda; Chicago O'Hare ranked first for aircraft movements. Global total passengers are estimated at 9.8 billion in 2025, up 3.6% year over year; international passengers reached 4.0 billion, up 5.9%; air cargo rose 2.9% to almost 128.9 million metric tonnes. Shanghai Pudong posted the biggest jump in the top 10, rising from 10th to 5th.
ACI World opened submissions for the 2026 ACI World Airport Innovation Awards on 31 March 2026, inviting airports worldwide to showcase innovation in passenger experience, operations and sustainability. Now in its sixth year, the awards cover four categories: passenger-related processes, operations and installations management, individual innovation leadership, and airports handling 5 million passengers or fewer annually. Submissions close on 16 June 2026 and will be judged by an international expert panel; winners and top-five finalists per category will be announced at the ACI Airports Innovate event in Barcelona from 23 to 25 November 2026.
Affiliate revenue platform Stay22 has secured a $122 million minority growth investment from Summit Partners. The company plans to invest in infrastructure and partner ecosystem, expand internationally, and grow its team. Summit Partners' Colin Mistele and Daniel Kim joined Stay22's board. Montreal-based Stay22 provides an affiliate monetization platform for travel creators, media publishers, and event organizers, using AI to improve booking and conversion.
Amadeus data reveals that airline bookings to the US, Canada, and Mexico for the tournament period (June 5-July 19) are up 15% year-over-year as of January 8, 2026. Following the match schedule release on December 6, 37% of flight bookings have been made. British travelers lead with 18% of international bookings. Hotel occupancy in host cities like Vancouver, Toronto, and Mexico City has risen significantly.
SAP Concur's Global Business Travel Survey polled 700 travel managers across seven markets from April 30 to May 12, 2025. 78% expected their company's 2025 travel budget to increase, versus only 7% expecting a decrease, with Canada at 92%. 69% said budgets do not reflect how important business travel is to success, and 67% said company leaders undervalue their role. 43% of travel managers said they have the most influence over travel program changes, while 41% named the CFO. 99% said their company has updated, is updating, or is considering updating travel policies or training to protect employee data from cyber threats; 99% would be comfortable with travelers using AI for booking, rebookin…