Air Canada’s new daily nonstop service from Toronto to San Antonio launched May 1, 2017, five minutes early, following a ribbon cutting ceremony with dignitaries that included Russell Handy, aviation director, City of San Antonio and Dave Krupinski, chief operating officer, Visit San Antonio. Those on the inaugural flight were treated to a mariachi band, Texan food, and cake, and a small gift for each passenger as they boarded.

The new route will be operated with regional jet aircraft timed to connect with Air Canada's domestic and international flight at Toronto Pearson.

In anticipation of the launch, Visit San Antonio joined forced with Air Canada in Toronto last week to celebrate at a gathering of media and travel trade.

Held at Toronto’s Los Colibris Mexican restaurant, media and travel partners were greeted by the sounds of Mariachi by Toronto’s own Viva Mexico Mariachi, as they sampled Mexican fare such as Sope con Carnitas, Rajas Poblanos, and Crispy Chicken Flautas, prepared under the guidance of Chef Diana Barrios Treviño, owner and operator of San Antonio’s famous Los Barrios restaurant.

The group also had the opportunity to hear from several dignitaries in attendance, including Dave Krupinski, Russell Handy, and Duncan Bureau, vice president, global sales, Air Canada.

Photo: L-R Russell Handy, aviation director, City of San Antonio; Dave Krupinski, chief operating officer, Visit San Antonio; Duncan Bureau, vice president, global sales, Air Canada; and Diana Barrios Treviño, owner and operator of Los Barrios restaurant. (Photo by Brian Simpson/TravelPulse Canada).

“There aren’t many cities in the U.S. that can give you a distinction, and I’ll throw two out that you all know, maybe New Orleans, and San Francisco.” said Dave Krupinski, chief operating officer, Visit San Antonio. “You know when you go to those two cities that you have something unique, something special.  Well San Antonio is just like those two cities. But no other city in America really has such cherished assets as our world famous Riverwalk, and Alamo….now we’ve joined UNESCO in a recent 2015 world heritage designation. We joined the ranks …with the Statue of Liberty, the pyramids of Egypt, the Great Wall of China, it’s an honour.”

Russell Handy, aviation director, City of San Antonio, spoke to the crowd about enhancements to San Antonio International Airport, including a brand new consolidated rental car and parking facility a mere 35 metre walk from baggage claim, “getting rid of shuttle buses for good”. He also update the group on a multi-million dollar, two year project that will renovate and double the capacity of San Antonio’s Customs and Border Protection federal inspection station, allowing them to expand the number of international destinations served. “We’re anticipating that this is not the end of our relationship with Canada with this first nonstop but it’s very much the beginning, I think of this expanding market.” he said.

“This route will not work without your support…it really is about the trade, it is about our partnerships that make these routes successful.” said Duncan Bureau, vice president, global sales, Air Canada. “I think we’ve heard it said a few times that size matters in Texas. Air Canada is now the largest operator, certainly into Texas from Canada, and again this is another new route for us that expands our investment into Toronto as a super hub and continues to add more relevant to more of our partners and allows us to service more and more cities in the U.S.”

Photo: Toronto's Viva Mexico Mariachi entertained the crowd at Los Colibris as well as those at the gate for the inaugural flight. (Photo by Brian Simpson/TravelPulse Canada).

TravelPulse Canada spoke 1-2-1 with Diana Barrios Treviño about the restaurants she owns with her brother Louis Barrios, the first of which her mother started in 1979 in a former Dairy Queen, following the death of her husband. That location still stands today, having grown somewhat, and in 1981, the year after opening, “that restaurant, Los Barrios, was named one of the top 100 new restaurants in America in Esquire magazine.” Barrios Treviño said proudly. “We now have three restaurants; Los Barrios; La Hacienda de los Barrios, and Viola's Ventanas…what we do is casero-style [domestic or homemade] cooking, cooking the way Mexican mothers cook in their homes on a daily basis for their families, it’s comfort food.”

Photo: Chef Diana Barrios Treviño, owner of San Antonio's Los Barrios Restaurant. (Photo by Brian Simpson/TravelPulse Canada).

While much of the focus of the event was on San Antonio as a leisure destination, TravelPulse Canada also had the opportunity to sit down 1-2-1 with Visit San Antonio’s COO Dave Krupinski, as well as Dorah Putney, director of tourism for San Antonio. One of the areas we wanted more information on was San Antonio’s place as a destination for the corporate and M.I.C.E. (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) markets?

“I think the celebration of this inaugural flight coming in to SAT opens up that door for the M.I.C.E. markets, a lot more than what we’ve ever had in the past because when planners are looking at destinations, they’re looking for a nonstop.  Their attendees don’t have time so this new nonstop will really help.” said Krupinski. He also added that with incentive planners’ budgets often being cut that “San Antonio is a destination that can maximise that budget and still offer a five-star experience.  So I think there’s great opportunities.”

As for the Corporate market, San Antonio is home to companies in the fields of medicine, biosciences, and cyber technology, and “this nonstop will offer easier access to opportunities for small- to mid-sized companies here in Canada to create business relationships” while providing easier access to companies already doing business in San Antonio.

Many people are familiar with San Antonio’s key  tourism draws such as The Alamo, site of the battle of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution, and San Antonio River Walk, a network of paths and walkways along the San Antonio River that wind their way through the city centre, one story below the streets of the city. But what about those off-the-beaten path-type places?

“One of the big popular spots in San Antonio is called The Friendly Spot, you go and it’s gravel, and it’s old art deco metal chairs and people bring their dogs, it’s right in the centre of Southtown which is an historial district and you drive by and you see huge crowds there of people having fun.” said Krupinski. “It’s one of those great places in San Antonio where visitors and locals mix. We have several pockets of those throughout the city.”

We chatted briefly about how more and more, travellers want to see the tourist attractions, but they also want to experience their destination like a local, something more authentic.

“And so what could be more authentic than a mission, that was built in the early 1800’s, missions actually. Certainly everyone knows the Alamo, but some people sometimes forget there were actually four missions that were built and they are now UNESCO world heritage sites.” said Putney. “But they have masses, as well, because they still operate as churches. One of the very local things that someone can experience is the Mariachi Mass at Mission San José where you can actually go to mass and it’s actually a sung mass that’s hosted by Mariachis. It’s these little things like that that you can find while you’re roaming around and kind of be intrigued and kind of really immerse yourself into the culture.”

In 2018, San Antonio turns 300 and will be celebrating its tri-centennial throughout the year with events starting on New Year’s Eve featuring a concert series with top-name celebrity entertainment. Events will be held throughout the year with the primary week being the first week of May, and since San Antonio’s roots are in Spain, the King and Queen of Spain have even been invited.

In closing, Krupinski said that in his many years working in tourism, both at San Antonio and earlier, that “when people visit San Antonio, they’ve been known to say ‘I wish I had more time in San Antonio, I felt like that was someplace special.’” 

And having travelled there for business myself, this writer agrees.

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