Canadian Affair is the UK's largest

tour operator A tour operator is a business that typically combines and organizes lodging, accommodations, meals, sightseeing and transportation components, in order to create a package tour. They advertise and produce brochures to promote their products, holi ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, providing services including scheduled passenger

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...

package holidays A package tour, package vacation, or package holiday comprises transport and accommodation advertised and sold together by a vendor known as a tour operator. Other services may be provided such as a rental car, activities or outings during the h ...

cruise line A cruise line is a company (law), company that operates cruise ships that operate on Cruising (maritime), ocean or River cruise, rivers and which markets cruises to the public. Cruise lines are distinct from Passenger ship, passenger lines whic ...

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

s, motorhome hire and

car hire A car rental, hire car or car hire agency is a company that rents automobiles for short periods of time to the public, generally ranging from a few hours to a few weeks. It is often organized with numerous local branches (which allow a user to ...

. Since it was founded in 1995, Canadian Affair has flown over one million passengers to Canada. The company specialises in package and tailor-made travel to both Canada and

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, including rail tours, cruises, fly drives,

escorted tour Escorted tours are a form of tourism in which travelers are escorted in a group to various destinations; they differ from a self-guided tour, where the tourist is not part of an organised group. Escorted tours (in US English) are also known as ' ...

s, wildlife holidays, ski holidays and activity holidays. In 2017, Canadian Affair won the British Travel Awards Gold Award for Best Holiday Company to Canada (Large) as well as the Silver Award for Best Rail Holiday Company (Large). The company is based in the UK, and employs approximately seventy people in two offices located in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

(Head Office) and

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Ownership

On 14 July 2006, Canadian Affair was acquired by

Transat A.T. Transat A.T. Inc. is an international, vertically integrated tour operator with nearly 20 business units in 8 countries. The company is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In May 2021, Jean-Marc Eustache, then CEO and one of the principal ...

for £20.4 million (approximately C$42.8 million). The deal enabled Transat's airline Air Transat to fly Canadian Affair passengers, thereby securing seat sales for its flights to Canada. The agreement was made between Transat A.T. and the Airline Seat Company, which trades as Canadian Affair.

Transat A.T.

is an international

and holiday travel specialist based in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. The company offers vacation packages, hotel stays and air travel to some 60 destinations in 26 countries in the Americas, Europe and the Middle East. Transat operates mainly in Canada, Europe, the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and the Mediterranean Basin. Transat is also active in

air transportation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as hot ai ...

, destination services and

distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations *Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a varia ...

Key people

Canadian Affair approximately 70 staff in London and Glasgow. Some of its key people include: *Chris Hedley - Managing Director *Lee Rogers - Product & Commercial Director *Tom Cook - Finance Director

Operations

Canadian Affair offers flights from

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

and

(United Kingdom), as well as

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

and

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

through its flights with

Air Transat Air Transat () is a List of airlines of Canada, Canadian airline headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1986, it operates scheduled and charter flights serving 60 destinations in 25 countries. Air Transat is owned and operated by Transa ...

. The company also offers hotel accommodation, Avis car hire,

Rocky Mountaineer The Rocky Mountaineer is a Canadian rail-tour company based in Vancouver that operates luxury scenic trains on four rail routes in British Columbia, Alberta, Colorado, and Utah. History Via Rail Canada The Rocky Mountaineer concept was creat ...

train tours, self-drive holidays,

Holland America Line Holland America Line N.V. (HAL) is an American cruise line operating as a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Founded in 1873 in Rotterdam, Netherlands as the Netherlands-America Steamship Company (NASM), the company operated regular trans ...

and

Celebrity Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...

cruises, motorhome hire with Fraserway, CanaDream and Cruise Canada, and escorted coach tours across Canada and Alaska.

Awards

Canadian Affair has been recognised with several awards over the past decade, including the Consumer Favourite Tour Operator Award, which it has won for the past five years at the British Annual Canada Travel Awards. Other awards include: * 2018 - British Travel Awards - Best Holiday Company to Canada * 2018 - British Travel Awards - Best Rail Holidays Company * 2017 - British Travel Awards - Best Holiday Company to Canada * 2017 - British Travel Awards - Best Rail Holidays Company * 2016 - British Travel Awards - Best Holiday Company to Canada * 2016 - British Travel Awards - Best Rail Holidays Company * 2015 - British Annual Canada Travel Awards - Best Canadian Ski Tour Operator * 2015 - British Travel Awards - Best Holiday Company to Canada * 2015 - British Travel Awards - Silver Award for Best Rail Holidays Company * 2015 - Travolution Awards - Best Website User Experience * 2014 - British Travel Awards - Silver Award for Best Holiday Company to Canada * 2013 - BACTA Explorer Award * 2012 - CIMTIG Best Travel TV Advert - Canadian Affair is top of the Most Popular TV Advert of the Year poll launched by Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIMTIG) * 2011 - Best Tour Operator to Canada * 2010 - Best Tour Operator to Canada * 2009 - Consumer Favourite Tour Operator * 2009 - Consumer Favourite Ski Operator * 2008 - Consumer Favourite Tour Operator * 2008 - Consumer Favourite Ski Operator * 2007 - Consumer Favourite Tour Operator * 2007 - Outstanding Contribution to the Promotion of Canada * 2006 - Tourism Contribution to the province of Alberta * 2005 - Best Direct Sale Tour Operator * 2004 - Best Direct Sale Tour Operator * 2003 - Best Canada Website * 2002 - Best Canada Website

Sponsorship

Since 2006, Canadian Affair has sponsored

Canada Day Canada Day, formerly known as Dominion Day, is the national day of Canada. A Public holidays in Canada, federal statutory holiday, it celebrates the anniversary of Canadian Confederation which occurred on July 1, 1867, with the passing of the B ...

in London. Each year Canada Day is celebrated at

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster in Central London. It was established in the early-19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. Its name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, the Royal Navy, ...

, where live Canadian acts, food stalls, and day-long celebrations take place. Since 2017, parent company Transat has sponsored the

Toronto Wolfpack Toronto Wolfpack RLFC is a Canadian professional rugby league club based in Toronto, Ontario. The club is the first and only professional rugby league club in North America, and as of 2023 competes in the self sponsored Canada Cup, an invitation ...

Rugby League team, which Canadian Affair supports by providing flight, hotel and match ticket packages for Toronto Wolfpack and UK opposition supporters. Transat also has a partnership with

SOS Children's Villages SOS Children's Villages is an independent, non-governmental, nonprofit international development organization headquartered in Innsbruck, Austria. The organization provides humanitarian and developmental assistance to families facing difficultie ...

which Canadian Affair supports each year through their Big Hearts fundraising initiative.

References

External links

* * * * *{{cite web , url = http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=490&pagetype=65&appid=2&mode=detail&atolNbr=3971 , title = UK Civil Aviation Authority ATOL No. 3971 Air Transat Travel and holiday companies of the United Kingdom