Mike Baginski

1 week ago | travelindustrytoday.com | Mike Baginski

Chicago is the place to be for the travel trade this week as U.S. Travel hosts its signature IPW trade show, where U.S. suppliers and destinations – and the host city, of course – pull out all the stops to put on a show for the world and position the U.S. as a pre-eminent place to visit. At the same time, the event never fails to capture the zeitgeist of the host country – both in travel and in general – and, as such, this year ought to be a doozy.

2 weeks ago | travelindustrytoday.com | Mike Baginski

The endless summer has come to an end. Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys’ visionary and fragile leader whose genius for melody, arrangements and wide-eyed self-expression inspired “Good Vibrations,” “California Girls” and other summertime anthems and made him one of the world’s most influential recording artists, has died at 82. Wilson’s family posted news of his death to his website and social media accounts on Wednesday.

2 weeks ago | travelindustrytoday.com | Mike Baginski

More than 250 travel advisors turned out last week in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver to experience the La Pura Vida lifestyle as a delegation of more than a dozen suppliers from Costa Rica, plus the country’s tourism minister, made the case that there’s no better time for Canadians for visit.

3 weeks ago | travelindustrytoday.com | Mike Baginski

By Michael Baginski/    I recently spent a minute (several, in fact) in New York – a visit that transpired during the nascent times of tariffs and the 51st state. Perhaps not surprisingly, I was asked by some why I went, and what my experience was like. Simply put, it was New York – no more, no less. Frenetic, mesmerizing, limitless, a world unto itself. And utterly unconcerned, even oblivious, of my Canadianness and critical gaze.

3 weeks ago | travelindustrytoday.com | Mike Baginski

By Michael Baginski/    There’s no better time for Canadians to discover, or return to, Berlin – on many levels – says the CEO of Visit Berlin, who noted to Canadian media last week that, “When we read the news about south of here, we immediately thought that we should go and visit our friends in Canada.”Referencing the city’s landmark Brandenburg Gate, Burkhard Kieker added, “Our hearts and gates are open to you,” and he laughed, “Germans don’t want to go to the U.S. either.