Road Warrior - conference ambassdors recognised, serviced apartment market growing, electronic entry to Canada

E-visas required for Canada from March Entry to Canada is going electronic from March 15th, when visitors to the country will have to have an electronic travel authorisation, eTA.

Travellers from visa-exempt countries, which include Ireland, will need to apply online before they depart for Canadian airports. It means Canada can screen visitors before arrival.

The authorisation eTA will be linked to your passport and will be valid for five years or until the passport expires.

The cost will be Can $7 C per application. See the website http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/eta.asp?utm_ source =partner-eng&utm_ medium =website&utm_campaign= eta.

If it is anything like the similar US ESTA service, expect fake websites to appear.

Ambassadors honoured Fáilte Ireland honoured 79 conference ambassadors last week at a recognition ceremony in Royal Hospital Kilmainham.

The recipients were given awards for bidding and hosting international conferences or events in Dublin. The conference ambassadors delivered 73,000 international delegates to Ireland and €101 million to the economy.

Brian Stapleton, MD of Periploi Aviation, was singled out as the inaugural conference ambassador for his contribution in delivering seven International Air Transport Association (IATA) conferences to Dublin. The conferences are valued at €5.6 million to the Irish economy, with another five conferences in the pipeline with an estimated value of €5.4 million.

Dr Pearse Lyons founder and president of Alltech, was selected for his outstanding contribution to business tourism during the Gathering in 2013. Reservations for apartments grow Booking. com, the accommodation reservation service, is reporting strong growth in the serviced apartment market.

There are now 3,000 properties for rent in the UK market on booking.com, with 1,000 in the London area. New openings are expected in 2016 with Staycity expected to rise from 1,000 to 3,500 properties. Go Native is set to double its portfolio to 3,000 by next year.

Extended stay and apart-hotels are the fastest growing area of the hospitality industry according to a report by Savills, released last month.