Winter Is Coming: U.S. bookings slowly return & Tulum 2.0 – ACV’s Nino Montagnese unpacks 2025-26 trends, strategy

Winter Is Coming is a special PAX series that offers a glimpse into the war rooms of Canada’s leading travel companies as the winter booking season takes flight. Stay tuned for exclusive interviews with industry leaders as PAX unpacks what’s new and next this season.

Air Canada Vacations (ACV) is heading into winter with one of its most expansive product lineups to date.

The tour operator recently released its 2025-26 Digital Sun Brochure, featuring 620 hotels in total, including 41 new Sun properties and 32 new additions across the United States.

In all, the collection now spans 64 destinations worldwide, with five brand-new options: Cartagena in Colombia, Miches in the Dominican Republic, Palm Springs and Napa Valley in California, and San Juan in Puerto Rico.

The release comes as ACV’s highly-anticipated Dream Makers tour rolls across Canada, bringing travel advisors together to celebrate the launch.

The series kicked off in Halifax on September 3 and continues with stops in Edmonton (Sept. 9), Vancouver (Sept. 11), Montreal (Sept. 16) and Toronto (Sept. 18).

Winter Is Coming and ACV has a master plan. PAX caught up with Nino Montagnese, vice-president at Air Canada Vacations, on Monday (Sept. 8) to discuss the new brochure, booking trends, cruise growth, and what’s next for Canadian travellers.

Tours & camper vans

Asked what stands out in this year’s Sun Collection, Montagnese didn’t hesitate to mention new choices in Colombia, the D.R. and United States. But what’s noteworthy, in places like Cartagena (for example), are ACV’s tour options.

“Over the last couple of years, we've added a lot more tours to the product line,” Montagnese said.

Tours are increasingly becoming part of ACV’s strategy, appealing to travellers who want more than just sun and sand, he said.

Even in popular Sun markets, travellers are looking for more than beach chairs.

“If I look at the Cubas, the Colombias, all of these destinations now have some sort of tour component,” he said. “Yes, people want the sun and beach, but they also want to explore a little bit." 

That experience-driven approach is also shaping ACV’s expansion in New Zealand and Australia, where the company has added camper vans to its lineup.

A few months ago, Montagnese checked out these vans personally while attending an Australian tourism summit.

“I was so impressed with what they fit in these vans. You just get up and go. It’s for people who want to investigate, who are not afraid to drive. The vans are clean, they give you maps, you drive and end up where you end up.”

He said ACV has made it easy for travel advisors to book different products like this because everything is loaded in the system.

“Everything is now on a shelf for our travel agent partners to purchase for their customers,” he said.

Sales are up, Cuba comeback

As for sun, the core destinations are “doing extremely well,” Montagnese said.

Overall, ACV is ahead of last year (and the year before that) with sales up by eight to 10 per cent, he said. To meet the demand, ACV has added 10 to 15 per cent more capacity to its product line.  

“People are still booking their sun vacations,” Montagnese said, noting that Cuba, which experienced turbulence last year due to several high-profile power outages, is making a comeback.

So much so that Air Canada and Air Canada Vacations are boosting capacity to Cuba this winter.

What’s going on in Tulum?

And what about Tulum? Last year, the Mexican beach town on the Caribbean coast of the Yucatan Peninsula was all the rage with the opening of Tulum International Airport.

Over the past year, however, many airlines have adjusted their capacity, and presence, at the airport.

What happened? Air Canada and ACV, notably, were first out of the gate when Tulum’s new airport opened – “but then, all of a sudden, the whole world flew in,” Montagnese said.

“People didn’t even know what Tulum was. They didn’t even know what the airport code was. It was way too much, all at once.”

Regardless, ACV is bringing back Tulum this winter, with Air Canada flights starting in November out of Toronto and Montreal.

Part of the challenge in Tulum, Montagnese explained, has been rising prices - with local taxis, in particular

For the longest time, visitors would pay taxi drivers one price, one way, but that price would then double for a return trip. 

This has recently changed due to new taxi regulations (which also led to cameras being installed in vehicles), said Montagnese, who knows this personally because he recently bought a condo in Tulum.

He also points to government action on beach access. “They had built all of these beach clubs, which were closing off access to people who just wanted to go to beach. The government is changing that,” he said.

With these tweaks, “I think Tulum is turning around and capacity is where it needs to be now,” he said.

U.S. travel is rebounding — slowly

Montagnese acknowledged that travel to the U.S. was impacted by the geopolitical climate.

“We obviously saw a decline, but it is slowly coming back. Customers are starting to come back for Las Vegas, Hawai’i and Florida. We have to push our new destinations, like Palm Springs. All of California needs a little boost, but people are starting to come back,” he said.

While Canadian visitation numbers to the U.S. dipped dramatically this past spring and summer, Montagnese sees signs of recovery.

“Las Vegas, specifically, is a big adult playground. It’s one niche we’ll grab. For places like Florida and Arizona, you have people who have condos there and family and friends that want to visit,” he said.

U.S. travel may be down, but it has “stabilized,” Montagnese shared.

“We can't look at last year and say we're down so many percent. But what we can do is look at the past few months and say it hasn't dropped any further. It has started to climb - a little bit,” he said.

On the other hand, ACV has seen growth elsewhere: in domestic Canadian travel and European bookings, which have “skyrocketed” into fall and winter, he said.

Leaning into long stays 

To appeal to winter snowbirds still hesitant about the U.S., ACV is leaning into expanded long-stay programs.

“Typically, snowbirds would go south – and some of them still are. But what we've done is opened up new products for long-stay programs like in Portugal. You’ll find it across Europe, into Thailand. We have long stays in Australia. We're also promoting world cruises now – 100-day cruises, because we know people (who might go to Florida or Arizona) are looking for something different.

For ACV, a “long stay” is anything over 21 days, with options for extending longer. And most packages unfold in hotels, and some have kitchens for people who want to cook their own meals.

Cruises keep gaining momentum

ACV is also seeing momentum on the cruise side, expanding its lineup with river partners like CroisiEurope and ocean lines like Virgin Voyages and Seabourn.

In terms of river, CroisiEurope, a French line with all kinds of price points, balances out ACV’s higher-end option, Uniworld. The company is also adding Avalon Waterways and “working on a couple of others,” said Montagnese.

From an ocean perspective, bringing in a brand like Virgin Voyages was about reaching a new customer base.

“We brought them on because they’re adults only and different from everyone else,” said Montagnese. “We recently sent our staff to New York City for the inaugural of Brilliant Lady, Virgin Voyages’ new ship, and they raved about it. It’s just a different demographic.”

“We have a good core of cruise product now – and it’s selling.”

What’s driving sales?

“My number one point for cruising is that customers get on board, they unpack once, and they’re able to see many destinations,” Montagnese explained. “They don’t just want the beach. They want to see other destinations, cities and islands, potentially setting themselves up for their next land vacation.”

“What we’re seeing is people criss-crossing between land and cruise. A cruiser might go on a cruise, but they will probably go on a land-based vacation as well.”

Free beer & wine on sun routes

Travel advisors will also notice new tools and upgrades this season.

ACV’s latest Travel Agent Toolkit offers detailed hotel information, while self-serve tools now let advisors book infants – any child that is under age two on the return portion of the flight – online. This task once required a call to the call centre.

And for sun-seekers, Air Canada has added a fresh perk: as of September 1, complimentary beer, wine and snacks are now available on sun routes to Mexico and the Caribbean, aligning with what domestic and transborder passengers already enjoy.

“It’s value-added perk. It'll give Air Canada Vacations customers a surprise and delight because they booked, not knowing it was there,” he said.

Book early, sell value

As always, ACV is advising people to book early in order to secure the experience they want.

But Montagnese warns that hotel prices, much like air fares, are expected to fluctuate.

“Everything is dynamic now,” he said. “You'll see prices change frequently, not just with us, but with everyone. And in most cases, it’s upward. Hotels are managing revenue the way airlines do. They’re looking at their loads and saying, “Okay, I have five rooms left. I can increase the price. Whoever wants it, is going to pay more.’”

“You're always going to have pockets of destinations or dates that need help, and you'll find a deal. But book early to get exactly what you want.”

His advice to the trade is to emphasize the benefits and experience of a vacation, not merely the cost.

“If someone is paying $2,000, what are they going to get out of it? It’s not always about the cheapest price. It’s all about communicating value,” he said.

And what about last month’s flight attendant strike at Air Canada? It was a tense and turbulent event that grounded the airline’s aircraft, leaving some 500,000 customers stranded in destinations. Will that have any impact on consumer confidence this winter?

“It was a rough week, but Air Canada has done a good job at showing the people and humanity behind it all,” Montagnese said. “Every vice president went out to talk about what we're trying to do, what we're hoping for.”

While the strike certainly presented a lot of uncertainty in the moment, “it’s behind us now,” Montagnese said.

“We’re now focused on the future and people are booking,” he said.

Celebrating with travel advisors

The launch of ACV’s Sun collection coincides with the company’s Dream Makers live tour, which kicked off in Halifax last week.

“These launches are the biggest we've ever had,” Montagnese said.

The Montreal event is expected to draw 1,300 travel advisors, while Toronto’s event may see up to a whopping 1,500 attendees.

And there’s more to come as ACV gears up to celebrate its 50th anniversary with travel advisors  in Cancun, Mexico, from Nov. 4-7.

This exclusive event will bring together agents from across Canada for an inspiring few days of connection, learning, and celebration. The team is working on some fun entertainment, Montagnese said, but at heart, the focus will be on expressing thanks. 

“It’s our way of expressing gratitude and honouring the trust and dedication of those who have been with us every step of the way,” Montagnese said.

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