National Geographic recognizes Muskoka as top holiday spot for 2011

Muskoka region is a outdoor wonderland.

For years, Ontario’s gorgeous Muskoka region has been in the spotlight because of the Hollywood stars – Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell among them – who have chosen to vacation there.

Now Muskoka is the star – thanks to National Geographic Traveler magazine choosing it the No. 1 summer vacation spot for 2011.

Of course, anyone who has ever visited Muskoka and enjoyed its breathtaking Canadian Shield scenery, spectacular lakes, quaint towns and villages and awesome golf courses, probably are wondering what took National Geographic Traveler – the best of all travel magazines in my humble opinion – so long

Better late than never, though.

Muskoka tourism officials this week have been inundated with phone calls from all over the world and they’re basking in the limelight.

According to National Geographic Traveler, Muskoka offers “an unplugged pace that’s a world away from Canada’s largest city.”

“The 2,500-square-mile natural playground includes 8,699 miles of shoreline; 17 historic towns and villages; and countless waterfalls and lakes bordered by the granite peaks of Algonquin Provincial Park to the east and the 30,000 islands of Georgian Bay Islands National Park to the west,” the magazine story said.

National Geographic's 10 best trips of summer 2011

1. Muskoka Cottage Country

2. Patagonia, Argentina

3. San Juan Islands, Washington

4. Minneapolis, Minnesota

5. Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska

6. Cardiff, Wales

7. Stockholm Archipelago, Sweden

8. Azores, Portugal

9. Roatan, Honduras

10. Istria, Croatia

Congratulations Muskoka – the attention is well deserved.

Canada shut out for China license

I’m happy to see China continues to open up more international travel opportunities for its citizens - this week China granted “outbound” licenses to three foreign companies, thus allowing those firms and their joint venture partners in China to organize tours for Chinese tourists abroad.

The three companies, European giant TUI based in Germany, America’s CITS American Express Travel Services and JTB New Century International Tours of Japan were granted the outbound licenses as part of a three-year pilot program launched by the all-powerful China National Tourism Authority.

Canada’s travel industry was shut out – that leaves Toronto-based Tour East Holidays as the only Canadian company licensed to operate offices in China (the 35-year-old Tour East Holidays has offices in Beijing and Shanghai). Tour East was one of several Canadian companies who did apply for an outbound license but were rejected. Maybe it’s time Stephen Harper and his Conservative government put pressure on the Chinese to give us a slice of the juicy outbound pie. The outbound licenses, after all, are the most coveted documents in the travel world right now, with companies worldwide hoping to tap directly into the Chinese thirst for foreign travel. Last year, almost 50 million Chinese travelled abroad and that figure is expected to grow to over 90 million by the end of 2011.

The three companies granted the license have had long relations with the Chinese. All three set up shop in China many years ago. However, I find it curious that American Express is ramping up its operations in China and winding them down in Canada – AmEx recently announced it was ending its retail travel operations in Canada, which will affect over 100 agencies. It’s also odd that AmEx is pulling out of Canada at a time when record numbers of Canadians are crossing the border into the U.S.

I’m left to wonder – is AmEx finding it easier to do business in communist China than Canada?