NAJ News Center

News Archive May 2008 Apr 2008 Mar 2008 Jan 2008 Dec 2007 Nov 2007 Oct 2007 Sep 2007 Aug 2007 Jul 2007 Jun 2007 May 2007 Apr 2007 Mar 2007 Feb 2007 Jan 2007 Oct 2006 Aug 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 Apr 2006 Mar 2006 Feb 2006 Jan 2006 Dec 2005 Nov 2005 Oct 2005 Sep 2005 Aug 2005 Jul 2005 Jun 2005 May 2005 Apr 2005 Feb 2005 Jan 2005

TOP OF THE NEWS: June 2008

Travel Agent on the Lam: Apparently on the run away from Woodburn, Ore., as of most recent accounts, is travel agent Salvador Rodriguez-Meza, who worked at Costa Azul Travel in Woodburn. Local police are after him because, they say, he pretended to make travel reservations for customers, never purchased the tickets and then kept their money for himself. One case is that of Rosalba and Teofilo Cruz, who said they were victims of the scam. When they tried to buy an airplane ticket to Mexico and look into tickets for Arizona, they said Rodriguez-Meza told them the agency didn't accept credit cards or checks and that they had to pay in cash."He says I'm going to take your money from you and you can come tomorrow and pick up the tickets," Rosalba Cruz told a local newspaper. "I said, 'why tomorrow?' And he said, 'well, it's a little late and I have to type in everything.'" Cruz said Rodriguez-Meza gave them a receipt for her husband's ticket and then gave her a signed business card for tickets to Arizona. When they returned the next day, Rodriguez-Meza gave them a piece of paper to give to the airline, which would then give them the tickets. But when Cruz called the travel agency a few weeks later, a new agent told them there were no reservations for Arizona. As a result, the couple said they were out more than $900.

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The Canadian tourism industry is on the precipice of an unprecedented decline , which could have a massive impact on the 1.6 million Canadians whose jobs depend on this sector, according to a report by Canada’s Tourism Competitiveness. “ Canada's tourism sector is on the brink of a crisis today, and we need urgent action from governments at all levels to address some long-standing structural burdens on our industry,” said Randy Williams, president and CEO of TIAC.
Mr. Williams points out that “in recent years a low Canadian dollar and cheap fuel prices concealed or mitigated the many challenges facing our competitiveness as a world class destination.”
The report says that if Canada's tourism sector is to regain its footing and compete with other players in the global marketplace, there is an urgent need to address two fundamental areas: Access to Canada and Product Animation. The report said visitors need to be able to reach Canada with ease, easily cross the border, and then be able to travel within Canada as seamlessly as possible. Travel options must also be cost effective and competitive with other destinations around the world.
The report also makes the point out that one example of competing on an uneven playing field is the lack of an agreement on Approved Destination Status with China, the fastest growing outbound market in the world.
In terms of product animation, the report says that along with improving access to Canada, “we need to ensure that there are persuasive and compelling reasons to visit our country. A concerted effort on the part of both the private and public sectors is required to make sure that new product is introduced and that the products that we currently offer are world-class. Products must be enhanced continually to meet changing market trends and the standards of today's discerning travelers.”

How does cost to travel by plane, train or car? a comparison . The Chicago Sun-Times did an experiment comparing those transportation modes from Chicago to New York.
Their findings:

Plane: $279 per round-trip ticket (1.2 hours/each way)

Train: $181 per round-trip ticket (20 hours each way)

Car: $392 in gas and maintenance round-trip (18 hours each way)

“We plugged in our dates on United Airlines' Web site, united.com, and found the lowest fare was $279 round-trip per person between O'Hare and LaGuardia,” said the newspaper.
The paper consulted with AAA spokeswoman Beth Mosher on car costs, figuring current costs for an average sedan of almost 25 cents per mile. That came to just over $196 each way for car expenses, or $392 round-trip. Assuming the car trip would take two days, and meals and lodging for one night were factored in. AAA estimates two people will spend on average $244 per day for meals and lodging this summer.

What’s Bugging You? Insectarium opening in New Orleans . The Audubon Insectarium is opening in New Orleans, the first major attraction to open there since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The museum features creatures that outnumber people 1.5 million to one, and account for 90% of all the animals on the planet. The multi-sensory museum will explore insects from ancient history to modern times. It will have live insect interactions and mounted specimens, an immersion theatre and a Japanese-style butterfly garden. Audubon Insectarium is housed in the US Custom House, the most historic building in New Orleans. The 23,000-square-foot museum occupies a former carriageway, originally used for delivery of goods arriving via the port of New Orleans. The building was also a thriving center of business and immigration; at one time with more immigrants coming through this building than any other entry port in the US.

 Group Travel Planet/Coachquote Sold: The GTP Travel Group, with the support of the Pritzker Group of Chicago and Los Angeles, which led a group of strategic investors that provided the capital, has acquired Group Travel Planet, which is based in Sevierville, Tenn. Group Travel Planet is best known for its website, www.grouptravelplanet.com, which offers hotel rooms, attraction and event tickets, restaurant fare, cruises, bus charters and air and rail tickets, primarily to small groups. The company began as Coachquote, a system where motorcoach owners bid on RFP’s submitted through the website, and expanded into hotels and attractions for groups. The company will supplement the existing leadership team with experienced management from the travel technology marketplace. The team will be led by 22-year industry veteran Ed Tromczynski, co-founder of the Cleveland-based PlanSoft Corporation and former president of PlanSoft and OnVantage, Inc. Scott Harness, co-founder of Group Travel Planet, will serve as executive vice president of the company.

Michigan Boosting Budget in the Face of a Projected Shortfall: With projections calling for a two percent drop in travelers statewide in 2008—it is the worst tourism forecast in years—Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm unveiled plans to spend an additional $60 million marketing the state. She made the announcement April 15 in front of a noisy and supportive group of 500 people who gathered in Grand Rapids for the Driving Tourism 2008 Conference. The additional funding returns the marketing budget to its 2007 level, before it was shrunk by budget cuts. About $5 million to $6 million will be added to this year's budget, but the marketing budget will double to $30 million in 2009. The projected two percent decline in travelers statewide came out of a forecast by Michigan State University's Travel, Tourism and Recreation Resource Center.

 TAP To The Rescue. Orchestrates Bail Out Of Failed Tour Operator. There have been a fair number of stories in the travel trade press, including TDM, that have detailed how failed tour operators have bilked clients out money that was already paid for tours or cruises that were never taken. Apparently sensing that such operator collapses would shake the confidence of key market segments in their ability to deliver, several operators members of Travel Alliance Professionals (TAP) put together a Restitution Fund that came to the rescue of Incredible Journeys of San Antonio, which shut down over 18 months ago, and defaulted on its ability to deliver product worth more than $150,000.  Although not officially endorsed by TAP, several TAP partners took on the task of operating 14 tours and cruises that were still on the books when Incredible Journeys went out of business in the hopes of obtaining future business from the clients who stood to lose not only funds but credibility if the tours were not operated. “Many of these tours were in the red, which meant that customer deposits and final payments had already been spent,” said a statement put out by the Fund. “If these tours had not been operated, then these payments would have been lost by the travelers and their clubs.”

First Quarter Results Have Las Vegas Officials Worried: In what could be a certain sign that no destination is recession proof, the Las Vegas CVA last week reported that fewer leisure visitors and conventioneers are coming to the most popular destination in the U.S. The numbers:

● Visitor volume fell 1 percent in March, compared with a 0.5 percent decline in February (minus the extra Leap Year day) and a 0.6 percent drop in January.

● Room nights booked by conventioneers were down 16 percent in March and 11 percent for the three months ended March 31 compared with the same period last year.

● Average hotel room rates fell 1 percent in March, and were down 3 percent for the first quarter.

With another 40,000 hotel rooms becoming available in the next year, the question is whether there is enough business to sustain the unbridled growth in product that the destination has produced.

 We’re Not Dead Yet: Travel Agents Still a Factor in U.S. Travelers’ Plans: A new PhoCusWright study has found that, although online travel sales have soared, the travel agency distribution channel is still a big part of the industry and represents 41 percent of all travel booked in the U.S. In fact, the travel agency distribution channel represents a large and dynamic opportunity accounting for nearly $110 billion in sales, or 41 percent of all travel booked in the United States, PhoCusWright reports in the study, which included interviews with 1,900 agents involved with the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA), the Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC) and the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA). PhoCusWright says the study presents the first definitive sizing and analysis of the complex and dynamic agency channel. “Facing significant upheaval in their industry, many in the agency community have responded strategically, tactically and—most of all—aggressively to adapt, survive and succeed,” the report says. PhoCusWright projects that 21 percent of all travel agency sales will be booked online by 2009.

NY State To Spend Half of it’s marketing budget online: NY State Tourism will be reintroducing the old “I love New York” theme with a $17 million budget, about half of which will be spent in online media. Last year, the first time the campaign used online media, the Web accounted for a negligible amount out of the total 2007 budget of $16 million.

New York State’s 31-year-old theme, “I love New York” — is being updated to reflect everything from the new media choices consumers are making to higher prices for gasoline and other travel expenses. The ads are the first work from the tourism campaign’s new agency, the New York office of Saatchi & Saatchi, part of the Publicis Group, which was hired in May 2007. The familiar slogan is back, and so is the familiar logo (“I ♥ NY”). But there are significant shifts in what the ads will say as well as where they will appear.

●The campaign will step up the promotion of New York State, not just New York City, as a vacation destination.

● They will also play up the idea that New York State is perfect for the shorter trips that are likely for tourists because of rising travel costs. For example, a state vacation book that ran almost 200 pages is being replaced with a 40-page “Getaway Guide,” featuring journeys of three or four days. To underline the emphasis on proximity, the ads will be concentrated in nearby Northeastern states and Canadian provinces.

● A much greater reliance on the Internet. There will be banner ads and search engine marketing in addition to new content on the Web site ( iloveny.com ) like video clips and brochures that can be customized. Other plans include a contest with partners like the IFC cable network, which will ask consumers to create “I love New York” commercials that will run online.

Receptive Turns the Tables on Suppliers by paying for drinks . What does it say about the inbound travel industry when buyers are throwing the parties for sellers? Michael Fitzpatrick, president of AmericanTours International ( ATI), once quipped that, over the years he developed a barometer for accurately assessing the timing as to when hotels became hungry for business: if the sales staff came to visit armed to kiss-up to his staff with Krispy Kreme donuts, their rates were coming down. Recently, with availability at a premium for receptive allotments, Richie Karabarun, president of GTA-USA, is the first receptive operator company—a group not particularly known to lavish social largesse on anyone—to spend money hosting hotel revenue managers, general managers and sales staff in the form of an appreciation reception. Between 40-50 hoteliers attended the event, recently held in San Francisco. The hotel staffers were a little perlexed that they were the ones being feted, but they enjoyed the moment. They knew what GTA was after—more availability, even at higher rates, and fewer blackouts and stop-sells. In his remarks to the invited guests, Karabarun reminded hoteliers that receptive tour operators in general could offer business to the hotels during times of low demand. A handful of revenue managers, a group not necessarily known for their social skills, were on hand sipping wine and discussing the fact that it was nice to get away from their spreadsheets and meet customers, though they weren’t sure how it would affect their allocation decisions to GTA. “It couldn’t hurt,” was the most committal remark we could glean from one revenue manager for a cluster of hotels in San Francisco. As a brand-building initiative, Karabarun is planning similar “appreciation” receptions in New York and Miami.

INTERNATIONAL

International Visitors Help Drive Record Numbers for New York City in Q1: According to a just released report from New York City & Co., which runs the city’s tourism promotion operation, an estimated 9.5 million tourists visited the City between Jan. 1 and March 31, up from a forecasted 8.5 million during the same quarter a year ago. The city expects that approximately 19 percent of total visitors -- or about 1.8 million -- will come from international markets. While domestic visitors still dominate, first-quarter 2008 indicators show an estimated 20 percent increase in the number of international visitors to the city over last year's figures for the same quarter. New York City continues to garner a 27 percent market share of all overseas travel to the U.S.

Thomas Cook Says Summer Business up 12 Percent over 2007: Despite mounting evidence that major national economies are weakening and lift capacity from the UK has been reduced, British consumers are booking their holidays at a relatively brisk pace. And north European sales are booming, reports Thomas Cook,the second-largest tour operator in Europe. The company said orders for summer holidays were up 12 percent year-on-year while prices were 8 percent higher, even though there has been just a small increase in capacity for the buoyant north European sector. In Britain, where capacity has been cut by 10 percent, there has only been a 3 percent year-on-year reduction in bookings, allowing the company to increase selling prices by 2 percent at a time when brick-and-mortar street retail sales have fallen heavily owing to tighter credit and rising energy bills. The UK market accounts for 40 percent over overall sales for Thomas Cook. British holidaygoers are still finding cheap breaks in America as holidays on the continent has become much more expensive because the Britsh pound has slipped to a record low against the euro.

 

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TRENDS AND RESEARCH

AOL Travel / Zogby Survey Finds More Than Half of Americans Have Less Money to Spend This Year on Summer Vacations than in 2007: According to a survey from AOL Travel and Zogby International, 57 percent of Americans feel they have less money to spend this year on summer vacations than they did in 2007 and are looking at ways to save on their travel costs. Other key findings in the survey:

● To save money, 33 percent of Americans are planning to stay with friends/family for lodging while 37 percent plan to drive rather than fly.

● Twenty percent of those surveyed are planning a vacation rental instead of a hotel this summer.

● The survey found that increases in fuel prices and threats of terrorism are not affecting travel plans. Sixty nine percent of those surveyed said fuel prices will not influence where they plan to vacation and 79 percent said terrorism is not a concern.

● Fifty-three percent of Americans are planning week-long or longer vacations and 60 percent of those surveyed are planning to travel to destinations that are more than six hours from their homes.

● Sixty-six percent of Americans said they plan to stay in the U.S. this summer while 46 percent plan to use their vacations to visit family and friends.

● Fifty-one percent of those surveyed plan to book all of their summer vacation plans on the Internet but 42 percent prefer to speak with a real person when booking summer travel. Finally, 48 percent of Americans said they are influenced by Internet user reviews of where to go and that these reviews play a role in helping them decide where they will stay.

The survey was conducted among a national sample of 6,678 adults ages 18 and older. Interviews were conducted February 15, 2008 through February 18, 2008. Members of the online Internet panel were recruited by Zogby. The margin of error is plus or minus 1.2 percentage points.

California Tops TripAdvisor Traveler’s Choice Awards. The winners of the first TripAdvisor 2008 Travelers' Choice Destinations Awards have been announced and California is the most popular destination in the U.S. with six out of the top 10 places selected. Winners were determined by a combination of TripAdvisor's travelers' favorite places and overall popularity on TripAdvisor.

2008 Travelers' Choice U.S. Destinations

1. Lake Tahoe, California

2. Big Sur, California

3. San Francisco, California

4. Poipu, Hawaii

5. Sedona, Arizona

6. New Orleans, Louisiana

7. Carmel, California

8. Napa, California

9. Lahaina, Hawaii

10. La Jolla, California

 U.S. Workaholics Get Less Vacation Days and Still Don’t Use Them All: The Eighth Annual Vacation Deprivation Survey by Expedia shows that American workers get and use much less vacation time than their European counterparts. Despite reporting an average of 14 paid vacation days in 2008 -- the same as in 2007 -- an estimated 47.5 million Americans, or 31 percent of employed U.S. adults, will not use all of their vacation days. Employed U.S. adults will leave an average of three vacation days unused, giving back more than 460 million vacation days in 2008, according to the report. Deterrents to taking a vacation include:

● Eighteen percent of U.S. adults admit to canceling or postponing vacation plans because of work;

● Twenty-nine percent confess they have trouble coping with stress from work at some point in the vacation cycle; and

● About 24 percent report checking work e-mail or voice mail while vacationing; this is up from 16 percent in 2005.

Number of Paid Annual Worker Vacation Days
Nation	2008 Vacation Days	2007 Vacation Days
U.S.	14	14
Canada	17	19
UK	26	24
Germany	27	26
Spain	31	30
France	37	36

 

TRADE EVENT REPORTS

TRAVELCOM

Parked on a Plateau with an Overcast Recession: If there were any prevailing messages that emerged this year from TIA’s TravelCom conference—a conference that focuses on Internet distribution—it was that the online travel industry has matured, and that the growth of online booking in the U.S. is now flat, at best. And, one after another, the assembled group of TravelCom presenters prefaced their presentations and remarks with the acknowledgement that, regardless of what our Bush Administration admits to, the U.S. has entered an economic recession; so, the most viable sales and marketing approach in such an environment is for companies to resist the temptation to discount by instead offering superior levels of value.

Where Online Travel Consumers Go for Information
Source of Information	% of Online Travelers Who Use Source
Online Travel Agents (Travelocity/Expedia/Orbitz etc)	50%
Supplier websites	37%
Other specific sites (YouTube, MySpace, etc.)	35%
Web-enabled phones	34%*
* Thirty-four percent of businessmen and women have such phones, though they might not necessarily use them. Source: Forrester Research

No New Platforms to Excite the Industry. This year’s event offered no sweeping new platforms such as Web 2.0 or user generated content (UGC), which had been adopted with such alacrity by the travel industry that they have actually transformed online strategies of many key companies. Delegates to the conference this year learned mostly of nuanced application enhancements designed to more deeply “engage” the online travel consumer and that would increase the average time a consumer spends on a particular site. This, hypothetically, would lead to more booking conversion and text ad clicks. In an industry that has experienced nothing but double digit growth and exuberance the past ten years, it seemed difficult for those at TravelCom to re-calibrate things to a maturing industry in which intense market share wars are the norm.

Just over 500 attendees came to Chicago for the 2008 version of TravelCom. This total reflected a mix of DMOs, hotel technology providers, marketing and research firms and consultation businesses who came primarily to listen to the presenters. Internet guru Henry H. Harteveldt, vice president, Forrester Research, keynoted the event by telling delegates that fewer people were booking online because online travel agency (OTA) websites had become stale and that the sites now had to offer greater value and personal service to get people back. Other points and supporting data offered by Harteveldt:

● There were $112 billion in Internet travel bookings in 2007 in the U.S., which is the peak year for such activity.

● Fifty-nine percent of the population booked online in 2007 and 61 percent in 2008; for statistical purposes, this represents no change.

● Twenty percent of online consumers read reviews before they book.

● The number who have visited blogs or online forums is 10 percent.

● Those who still do not trust the Internet make up 12 percent.

● Eight per cent have visited a travel-related social networking site.

● OTAs have introduced a “blended” model for hotels online. With nearly every supplier offering BAR (best available rate) on their own sites, OTAs have begun losing market share. As a consequence, they have restructured their business model by blending” advertising with distribution by charging suppliers a pay-per-click fee.

ACTIVE AMERICA TRAVEL SUMMIT REPORT (April 17-19, Detroit)

The Merger, The Merger: For the 55 delegates who came to Detroit for the 17th Annual Active America Travel Summit (staged by North American Journeys, the parent company of Inbound) it was “Sayonara NWA” and “Hello Delta,” as the event kicked off in the wake of the announcement less than 48 hours earlier that Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines had agreed to a merger that would create the world’s largest airline. The event’s principal sponsor from the first year it was staged, NWA brought from Japan to Detroit, its largest international hub, 38 of its key tour operators who met with the 55 destinations and suppliers to build more tour programs.

The Overview: Delegates were treated to an hour-long, in-depth analysis and explanation of the Japanese market by Mashiro Isogai, chief consultant for the Tokyo-based Japan Tourist Marketing Company. In doing so, Isogai helped to explain why visitor arrivals to the U.S. from Japan have been in a state of decline for the past three years. Some of Isogai’s observations include the following:

● Potential travelers are staying home and “buying Japanese.” In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Japanese flocked to the U.S. in droves to experience what they read about in guide books and saw in movies. Over the past 15 years, leading food chains, fashion brands, theme parks and even outlet malls have all opened throughout Japan; travelers see no need to go abroad to experience what they want when they can find it so close to home

● The once-lucrative “office ladies” segment—women 25-29 years old, who had been the primary driver of the market growth in the 1990s—is no longer traveling as much because corporations, in an effort to reduce their fixed costs, have restructured many administrative positions to non-permanent contract workers. The office ladies segment has, in effect, shrunk by 30%.

● As the economy in Japan continues to stagnate, one segment that continues to go to the U.S. is the business traveler, although these travelers are trying to reduce costs as much as possible by scaling back to coach class tickets, or in some cases, lower category hotels.

● Many U.S. carriers have reduced air service to the U.S. mainland and Hawaii to redeploy aircraft to prepare to expand into more fertile international markets such as China and India.

● Another disincentive to travel to the U.S. is the size of fuel surcharges on flights there—as $350 per ticket.

● The younger generation has turned its travel to other Asian countries, such as China and Korea, mostly, but a large percentage return unsatisfied with their experiences, especially from Korea.

● The key segment that is growing for travel is the 60-70 year old age group, whose numbers feel an urgency to see the world before declining health prevents them from doing so. These travelers are interested in experiencing history and culture and healthy living, and Europe is their primary destination.

● For the Japanese, the U.S has become a destination of niches. Student ESL programs, baseball pilgrimages and kindred itineraries are what has resonated with operators. The Seattle CVB which, in past years, has highlighted baseball, movies, access to nature and the safety aspects of its destination, is now leveraging the fact that the destination has several chocolate manufacturers that have earned worldwide acclaim and operators have embraced it as something quirky and new that they can promote in their brochures.

● One overlooked opportunity is to convince business travelers to stay extra nights for leisure purposes. Detroit, for example, hosted Active America for the first time because Northwest Airlines was able to provide them with information that over 45,000 Japanese travelers spend at least one night in Detroit and, by exposing operators to the area’s attractions (and recent studies about the city’s safeness), they would be able to make more money by extending the stay and selling add-ons to the area’s attractions. Destinations such as Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas and Indiana, which all have Japanese manufacturers that are serviced by hundreds of small and mid-sized suppliers in Japan, can also convert business travelers in a similar manner.

The Active America Travel Summit, coinciding as it did with the announcement of the NWA-Delta merger, allowed Northwest staff to herald the dawning of a new era for the carrier. In discussions with some of the staff, Inbound learned that they privately lamented the demise of a brand with 60 years of history, but they knew that, with fuel skyrocketing fuel costs, Delta was their best option. And since Delta’s CEO, Richard Anderson, had also been president of Northwest as recently as 2004, and Delta has only 25 staff in Japan while Northwest has over 1300, they speculated—perhaps it was wishful thinking—that little would change for the airline beyond the name. Time will tell.

 

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 NAJ PEOPLE: (Covering 42 people and 38 organizations)

Janice Becker, a 20-year veteran of AlliedTPro who opened the group tour division of Team America in 2005, accepted the position of president of Magic Tours, a New York-based receptive operator that is in the processing of expanding beyond their Israeli base of business.++Helen Tsui, formerly director of tourism sales for the Sheraton Fishermans Wharf Hotel, is the new tourism sales manager for the San Francisco CVB , where she will be managing the Asia territory. ++Hotelbeds Accommodation and Destination Services is opening offices next month in New York City, Las Vegas and Vancouver, adding to its locations in Orlando, Miami, Honolulu and Toronto. Mark Ryan, formerly Gulliver’s Travel Associates’ senior director of commercial and revenue management, will be heading up the new New York City office. Ted Ladomerszky, formerly the senior development manager for Vegas.com, joins Hotelbeds as destination manager, West Coast USA and will be heading up Hotelbeds’ new Las Vegas office.  Jo Leighton, formerly the resort manager for Travel City Direct (UK), is joining Hotelbeds as product manager, West Canada, based in Hotelbeds’ new Vancouver office. 

Jay Burress , a 20-year veteran of the Dallas CVB, serving most recently as the bureau’s vice president of sales and marketing, has left the bureau to take over as president and CEO of the nearby Arlington CVB, effective June 2. He succeeds interim chief Doug Harman, the former president and CEO of the Ft. Worth CVB, who took over after Linda Howell DiMario, who stepped down from the post last December. ++After weeks of speculation that she would resign or be asked to step down, Reba Pittman Walker has left her post as CEO and general manager of the Washington Convention Center Authority. The group’s board of directors announced her resignation May 2nd, effective May 30. Walker, who held the post for two years, cited personal reasons for her decision. But local news accounts took note of sub-par convention center bookings and a poor relationship with Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty and with Fenty’s appointees to the authority’s board. ++ Sandy Brown has been appointed director of the Fort Madison (Iowa) CVB. A 35-year resident of the city, Brown has a connection to the bureau; she is the mother-in-law of former director Rachel Brenda, who resigned the post in March after less than a year on the job to take a position as director of the Kensington, an assisted living center in Fort Madison. ++ The Daytona Beach Area CVB has appointed two new staffers. Linda McMahon will serve as sales manager for the meetings and conventions department, and Shannon Sampson will be the department’s new business development consultant. Previously a travel manager with World Travel Partners of Orlando, McMahon brings more than 13 years of travel, management and sales experience to the position. Simpson has 26 years of hospitality and sales experience with hoteliers in Central Florida and New Hampshire.

++ In Canada, Tourism Victoria has named Robert Gialloreto as its new president and CEP. Gialloreto comes from Calgary, where he was CEO of Travel Alberta International. ++ WorldVentures Marketing, LLC has announced that 30-year travel veteran and co-founder of America West Airlines Michael J. Conway has been named its new CEO. Founded in December 2005, WorldVentures is a privately held company based in Plano, Texas, with representatives and members in all 50 states.++ Bonnie Grant has been named executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Life Sciences Congress , which is a division of the Philadelphia CVB. The Life Sciences Congress grew out of Philadelphia's hosting of the 2005 BIO Convention, which drew 18,000 people to the city and had an economic impact of $35 million. Grant previously spent nine years as deputy city representative under former Philadelphia mayor (now governor of Pennsylvania) Ed Rendell and former mayor John F. Street. ++ Nicole Davis , a native of Long Beach, Calif., has been appointed travel sales manager for the Long Beach Area CVB. . ++The Magna Hospitality Group, which manages or has under development more than 20 properties in the U.S., has announced the appointment of Brian Dunne to the position of vice president, sales and marketing. Dunne replaces Felicia Comer, who was recently promoted to chief operating officer. Prior to joining Magna Hospitality, Dunne, with nearly two decades of experience in the travel and tourism industry, served as director of sales and marketing for the Doubletree Metropolitan and Radisson Lexington Hotels in New York City. ++ Travel Portland recently named Veronique Meunier to the position of public relations manager, sustainability. The move reflects Travel Portland’s decision to substitute a niche focus for the more traditional, broad-based approach to destination promotion. A native of France, she relocated to Oregon in 2003 with her American husband. Meunier first worked as a producer for Henry V, an event production company. ++ David E. Rotenizer, director of tourism with the Martinsville-Henry County (Va.) Economic Development Corp., has resigned to explore other opportunities. “It is important that I move on with my career to other horizons,” he said in a release announcing his decision. The release gave no other explanation for his resignation. Rotenizer had been with the agency since October 2005. ++ The Atlantic City CVA has appointed Carrie P. Harris as national sales manager for its Washington, D.C. office. In previous positions, Harris worked as a conference manager for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics in Reston, Va. and as a meeting planner for The National Grange in Washington, D.C.+Merlin Candelario, currently with Hotelbeds Dominican Republic, joins Hotelbeds’ Canadian team as yield manager Canada, based in Toronto.  Yanira Spahr, formerly of Travel Counsellors, joins Hotelbeds as yield analyst for East/Central USA, based in Orlando. ++ From San Diego comes the news that Benjamin Eastman has left the San Diego Zoo, where he served as Internet and in-market sales manager, to take on the position of travel industry development manager for the San Diego CVB. July Chavarria has left her position as director of travel industry sales at JC Resorts to join the sales team at the new Setai Hotel in downtown San Diego; the property opens later this year). And Patti Perez has move the travel industry sales department at Evans Hotels to join the travel industry sales department at the Pelican Hill Resort in Newport Beach, Calif.

WHAT’S NEW IN HOTELS AND RESORTS ( 21 ITEMS)

 BRITISH COLUMBIA: Executive Suites Garibaldi Springs Golf Resort has opened in Squamish. The all-suite resort is located along the “Sea-to-Sky” corridor, about 45 minutes from Vancouver. The 111-room resort has studios and one- and two-bedroom suites with views of the golf course, each with a full kitchen and separate dining area. The 18-hole course was designed by Les Furber. There are two pools and a hot tub. The steakhouse bar and grill is scheduled to open in June, with a spacious outdoor patio. Contact: www.executivesuitesgaribaldi.com .

 ONTARIO: Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites has opened in Vaughn, near Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. In addition to the usual Holiday Inn facilities, the property has an indoor pool. Contact: www.ichotelsgroup.com.

CALIFORNIA : InterContinental Hotels & Resorts opened the doors to the second of three planned hotels in the Western Region of the U.S. with the unveiling of InterContinental The Clement Monterey. The 208-room hotel is located on Cannery Row directly on Monterey Bay next door to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The property's signature restaurant, The C Restaurant + Bar, provides indoor and outdoor seating overlooking the bay and showcases fresh seafood and local organic produce in addition to a "cuisine-to-go" menu. Other hotel amenities include Energia Body Centre Spa and a fitness center. InterContinental The Clement Monterey follows the opening of InterContinental San Francisco in late February and is a prelude to InterContinental's continued expansion into Paradise Valley, Arizona, where the brand's first resort property in the North America, InterContinental Montelucia Resort & Spa, will be unveiled in fall 2008. Contact: www.ichotelsgroup.com, 800-IC-HOTELS.

 COLORADO : The 13-story Curtis Hotel has opened in Denver’s theater district with 336 rooms, including 172 king rooms and two master suites. The hotel’s overall theme is pop culture, evidenced by a Wii console in the lo lobby. Free wired and wireless Internet access is provided in the rooms. The hotel describes its signature restaurant, The Corner Office, as a “chic, funky, modern retro-style eatery.” It serves both small plates and family-sized portions that are meant to be shared. Contact: www.thecurtis.com.

 FLORIDA : The Point Orlando Resort, a new luxury condo-hotel, opened with 144 suites. The contemporary European-designed property is located on International Drive near the Orange County Convention Center. Amenities include complimentary continental breakfast, Internet and local calls; a business center; fitness room; and poolside Jacuzzi.
Contact: www. thepoint-orlando.com, 407-956-2000.

Courtyard by Marriott recently opened in the heart of Gulf Coast Town Center, Fort Myers, providing guests with access to one of the area's growing business, shopping and entertainment districts. The four-story hotel has 134 guest rooms with six suites. Services include the Courtyard Café restaurant, an outdoor swimming pool with whirlpool spa, exercise room, full-service bar, in-room dinner delivery, and guest laundry and business center. Free high-speed Internet access is also available. Contact: www.courtyard.com, 239-332-4747.

 The Orlando Sun Resort, under new management, has become the Ramada Orlando Celebration Resort and Convention Center. The property has 919 rooms and 28 suites on a 77-acre site, with three tennis courts and four pools.Contact: www.ramadaorlandocelebration.com , 877-467-5786.

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 GEORGIA: Doubletree Hotels has opened its tenth Georgia hotel in suburban Atlanta. The 183-room Doubletree Hotel Atlanta NE/Northlake was formerly a Radisson, before a major renovation project. It is located near the Northlake Mall and more than 40 restaurants, stores and entertainment venues. Wireless internet access is available in all rooms, The business center is open 24 hours. Contact: www.atlantanenorthlake.doubletree.com .

InterContinental Hotels Group will open its second Indigo Hotel in Atlanta in December on Ellis Street. The structure is the former historic Carnegie building. The boutique property will have wall murals that change every four years in guest rooms and a lobby with changing backgrounds, music and scents to complement the seasons. Contact: www.ichotelsgroup.com .

 ILLINOIS : Hotel Indigo Chicago-Vernon Hills has opened in what used to be an AmeriSuites hotel. The 127-room property is in the suburb of Vernon Hills. The guest rooms are all “studio-suites,” equipped with free WiFi, flat-panel TV and a small refrigerator. The hotel has a heated indoor pool, a 24-hour gym and a business center. Contact: www.hotelindigo.com, 877-8-INDIGO.

INDIANA: Renaissance Indianapolis North / Carmel opened May 30 with 263 guest rooms, including four suites, all decked out with LCD TVs and Marriott's new Revive(R) bedding package. On-site amenities include high speed Internet access throughout the hotel. The lobby bar operates all day. The restaurant, Grille 39, is chic and simple. Business library, 24-hour indoor lap pool and fitness center, concierge floors and lounge are also available. The hotel is smoke-free. A number of upscale restaurants are in the area. Contact: www.renaissanceindianapolis.com.

MARYLAND: The Hilton Baltimore is scheduled to open in August in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. Guests in 348 rooms of the 757-room property will have views of Oriole Park, which is directly across from it. The guestrooms all have Hilton’s top linens and amenities. There are also large in-room work stations, with a 37-inch plasma screen television. The hotel is equipped with a heated indoor pool, whirlpool and sauna. The Diamond Tavern restaurant is complemented by a lobby bar. Contact: www.baltimore.hilton.com, 800-HILTONS .   The Westin National Harbor has opened as part of the National Harbor development about a 10-minute drive from Washington in Prince George’s county. The hotel has 195 rooms. The capital and many landmarks can be seen from the property. Guest rooms have a work area and Westin’s proprietary bed and bath amenities. The hotel has a fitness center and Sauciety, a full-service restaurant. The National Harbor complex includes entertainment, shopping and dining. Contact: www.starwoodhotels.com, www.westin.com .

 MASSACHUSETTS : Recently re-opened following extensive renovation, the former Radisson Cambridgeis nowthe 203-room Courtyard by Marriott Boston-Cambridge at 777 Memorial Drive, Cambridge. All rooms feature panoramic views of the Boston skyline, Cambridge, or the Charles River . Contact: www.marriott.com.

The newest Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG) property to open in the Boston-area is located just outside of Boston in Newton, MA, but what sets the Hotel Indigo apart is that it offers all the modern and luxurious amenities not usually found in suburban hotels. 191 guest rooms are equipped with 32” flat-screen, high-definition TVs, iPod Docking stations on the clock radios, complimentary wireless high-speed Internet and down bedding. The hotel offers guest laundry services, same-day dry cleaning and onsite sales and meeting professionals for meetings . A new restaurant with a 'rock-and-roll' theme is expected to open soon. Hotel Indigo is adjacent to the Riverside MBTA Green Line station and a short drive to the Massachusetts Turnpike. Contact: www.newtonboutiquehotel.com , 617-969-5300.

 InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) will open Holiday Inn Express Hotel and Suites in downtown Bostonthis summer. The opening follows a $2 million renovation of a historic 100-year-old building. Located at 280 Friend Street, the property will allow guests to be within walking distance of Boston’s historical attractions. Boston City Hall, Massachusetts General Hospital and the Tip O’Neill Federal Building are near by. The hotel’s newly enhanced breakfast bar will serve a full selection of breakfast items and the brand’s proprietary cinnamon roll and Smart Roast® coffee. The five-story property will offer business travelers a variety of key amenities such as free high speed wireless Internet access throughout the hotel, free local phone calls (U.S. and Canada only), phone with private voicemail and free daily delivery of USA Today. Guests will also have access to an on-site fitness center and business center, and all guestrooms will have a 32" LCD flat panel television. Standard Holiday Inn Express guest rooms are furnished with a king-sized bed, or two double beds, a sitting area with a lounge chair and an in-room coffee machine. The hotel will include 15 suites with wet bar, microwave and refrigerator. Contact: www.ichotelsgroup.com.

MISSISSIPPI : Nearly three years after Hurricane Katrina's devastation along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, the Courtyard by Marriott Gulfport -- located at 1600 East Beach Boulevard in Gulfport -- opened a beachfront hotel and meetings destination. The upscale property was to have begun its transformation on Aug. 29, 2005, the day the hurricane reached land. The Courtyard by Marriott Gulfport, converted from the independent Gulfport Beachfront Hotel, boasts the largest meeting and event facilities within a non-casino hotel on the Gulf Coast. Located along 26 miles of beach on the Gulf of Mexico, the hotel is seven miles from downtown Biloxi and near the Gulfport-Biloxi Regional Airport, Gulfport businesses, recreation, championship golf, casinos and nightlife. The five-story, smoke-free Courtyard by Marriott Gulfport is comprised of 148 guestrooms, including five two-room suites. Each provides a 32-inch flat panel HD television and MP3 clock radio (iPod compatible); complimentary WiFi; refrigerator and coffee maker, and two line speakerphones. The hotel also incorporates the new Courtyard by Marriott outdoor patio concept with seating near a fire pit and the outdoor pool.. Shrimper's Cafe and bar introduces a new regional restaurant concept. Guests can also take advantage of a fitness center, an outdoor Olympic-size swimming pool, and the adjacent Gulf Coast beach with numerous water and beachfront activities. Contact: www.marriott.com.

PENNSYLVANIA : TownePlace Suites Harrisburg/Hershey, located between downtown Harrisburg and nearby Hershey attractions, has opened, with 107 rooms. Marriott’s latest design and amenities for TownePlace Suites have been incorporated, including a new lobby style and suites with full kitchens. Continental breakfast buffet is provided daily. There’s an indoor swimming pool and a whirlpool, fitness center, guest laundry, outdoor patio and an “In a Pinch” marketplace. Contact: www.marriott.com , 800-236-2427.

TEXAS : Hilton Hotels in May opened the 231-room Hilton Bella Harbor, a North Texas destination that combines first-class accommodations and waterfront features. Located 22 miles east of downtown Dallas, the hotel was designed for and around water. Seventy five percent of the luxury property’s rooms have a lake view and floor-to-ceiling windows throughout the hotel frame the lakeside pool and lake views. An interior water-wall and water-like reflective surfaces with metallic-flecked granite floors and art glass chandeliers bring the sound and look of water inside. Additional custom features like a majestic fireplace and in-laid walls with handcrafted rosewood detail complete the experience. In support of local artists, the design team commissioned more than 700 original paintings, sculptures and photographs from local artists and the gift shop features jewelry, skincare products, collectibles and more from local merchants. There is an outdoor pool with hot tub, a 24-hour fitness center, sailing, golf, horseback riding, and upscale shopping. Contact: www.dallasrockwall.hilton.com, 214-771-3700 .

WASHINGTON : Tulalip Resort Casino will be Washington State’s largest gaming, entertainment and shopping destination when it opens summer on Interstate 5, between Seattle and Vancouver, BC. All 370 rooms will be decorated with authentic, local Tulalip tribal art. There will also be a full-service spa. The site is the 83 acre Tulalip Indian Reservation. Contact: www.tulalipcasino.com , 360-651-1111.

WYOMING : Cody’s newest hotel, a luxury property called The Cody, opened in May on the west side of town near the Cody Rodeo Grounds. The Cody has 78 rooms, mostly with two queen beds or a king bed. Many have patios or balconies. The hotel also has queen and king suites with whirlpool baths and patios; some have fireplaces. Rooms have coffee makers, microwaves, refrigerators, flat-screen TV, irons, free wireless and DSL access and amenities such as feather pillows and comforters and terrycloth robes. Complimentary coffee and continental breakfast is served each morning; complimentary refreshments and coffee area provided in the lobby in the evening. Shuttle service is provided to and from the airport, downtown and to popular attractions such as the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. Contact: www.thecody.com .

WHAT’S NEW IN TRANSPORTATION AND TOURS (18 ITEMS)

ALBERTA : Lufthansa is beginning daily flights between Calgary and Frankfurt, providing the only first class service between Calgary and continental Europe. Contact: www.lufthansa.com.   ONTARIO : Zoom Airlines has added Rome to its roster with non-stop flights twice weekly to Toronto and once weekly to Montréal. Contact: www.flyzoom.com .   QUÉBEC: Porter Airlines is bringing its distinctive approach to Québec City as part of the carrier’s summer schedule. One daily Toronto-Québec City flight will connect passengers in Canada’s most historic city to the heart of its largest urban center, using the Toronto City Centre Airport (TCCA), located minutes from downtown. The summer schedule will run from June 27 to September 2. Porter is also introducing the only scheduled non-stop flights between Halifax and Québec City, operating daily . Contact : www.flyporter.com .   United Airlines will start flying daily to Quebec City on June 5. United Express service between Chicago and Quebec City will be operated by regional partner Shuttle America with an Embraer 170 aircraft. Contact: www.united.com.   CALIFORNIA : Starline Tours has seen so much success with its Hollywood "Hop On, Hop Off" sightseeing bus that it will expand services to include two additional routes. The double-decker bus will take passengers through Downtown LA and the Beach Cities beginning summer 2008. The additional routes will connect with the original Hollywood "Hop On, Hop Off" loop, allowing visitors a unique option of getting from Downtown to the coast and hopping on and off at any of the selected stops along the way. Major stops for the Beach Cities will include Venice Beach and Santa Monica, while stops for Downtown LA will include the L.A. LIVE entertainment district, Broadway Boulevard's historic theaters and the famed Bradbury Building. Contact: www.starlinetours.com .
Zoom Airlines will begin nonstop flights between San Diego and London beginning June 20. The twice-weekly flights will depart San Diego International Airport at 4:35 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays and arrive at Gatwick Airport in London at 11:05 a.m. the following day. Guests can depart from London at 11:30 a.m. on Mondays and Fridays and arrive in San Diego at 2:50 p.m. that same day. Zoom Airlines offers all economy or premium economy seats; costs will range from $498-$898 round-trip.  Contact: www.flyzoom.com, 866-359-9666.

JetBlue Airways began daily nonstop service from San Diego to Seattle on May 21, 2008 and has added a second daily flight from San Diego to Salt Lake City.  The low-fare airline currently offers year-round service from San Diego to Boston, New York, Salt Lake City and Washington, D.C. Contact: www.jetblue.com, 800- JET- BLUE .   Jet Airways of India is scheduled to begin flying from Mumbai and Shanghai to San Francisco on June 14. There is currently only one other carrier (United) flying non-stop from Shanghai to San Francisco. Contact: www.jetairways.com.  

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA : In response to rising travel costs and a shaky economy, Destination DC is making a trip to Washington, DC easier on the wallet with its new " Staying Power" promotion, encouraging travelers to take advantage of DC’s lengthy list of free and affordable activities and attractions and hotel rates starting at just $99 per night. Travelers can also increase their "staying power" by scoring an additional savings of 30% on their total stay when they book a three-night stay including a Thursday or Sunday night. Hotels offering "Staying Power" packages include the newly-renovated and centrally-located Renaissance M Street Hotel (starting at $111/night); the boutique chic Hotel Rouge (starting at $139/night); the new Liaison Capitol Hill (starting at $189/night); and many more. The "Staying Power" promotion illustrates the values that await travelers to DC this summer. Families can book "Staying Power" packages and create a low-cost vacation with: A three-night stay at the family-friendly Savoy Suites near fashionable Georgetown (starting at $250, including taxes); Admission to dozens of award-winning museums and attractions like the Library of Congress, U.S. Capitol and Smithsonian museums (free); A walking tour loaded with fun facts and trivia from DC by Foot (free; gratuity suggested); An outing at Nationals Park ($5 for grandstand seats; a $14 Family Fun Pack comes with a hot dog, soda and upper deck seating); Daily Metro passes ($7.80 each) or tickets to ride the DC Circulator ($1 each); Meals at classic DC eateries like Ben’s Chili Bowl, Eastern Market, California Tortilla and Five Guys (less than $10 per person). Packages are available exclusively at Destination DC. Contact: www.washington.org, 800-422-8644.

FLORIDA : Orlando ’s second annual Endless Summer™ promotion, running from August 15 through November 15, keeps summer alive with “Get One Free” accommodations offers. Created by the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau, Inc. (Orlando CVB) getaway, the program provides such deals as “Stay 2 Nights, Get the 3rd Night Free,” “Stay 3 Nights, Get the 4th Night Free” with more offers available as the kick-off date approaches. The availability runs through a time when Orlando enjoys 70-degree temperatures, lighter crowds, and a variety of outdoor activities and special events. “Get One Free” offers are available at a wide range of accommodations from value to luxury including: Orlando World Center Marriott; Loews Portofino Bay Hotel, Loews Royal Pacific Resort and Hard Rock Hotel at Universal Orlando Resort; Summer Bay Resort and Radisson World Gate, and others. Visitors can peg their travel dates to an Endless Summer special events calendar filled with more than 15 culinary, cultural and sporting events and one of the world’s largest destination-wide Halloween celebrations. In September, the Orlando CVB launches the 3rd Annual "Magical Dining Month" to showcase Central Florida's expanding dining universe. September 1-30, 2008, participating restaurants will offer three-course prix-fixe dinners for $19 or $29 (excluding beverage, tax and gratuity) allowing locals and visitors alike to enjoy exceptional values at some of Orlando's most popular restaurants including Emeril’s, Le Coq au Vin, Bice Ristorante and Doc’s Restaurant. Additional events include: the 13th Annual Epcot International Food and Wine Festival featuring hundreds of wine, beer and culinary seminars and tastings; the Children’s Miracle Network Golf Classic, bringing together nearly 150 top PGA Tour players in early November; the 35th Annual Winter Park Autumn Art Festival, a juried art show featuring Florida artists and live entertainment; and a wide-variety of haunted happenings from Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando to SeaWorld Orlando’s Halloween Spooktacular. Contact: www.orlandoinfo.com/endlesssummer, 888-ORL4- FUN (888-675-4386).

HAWAII : Hawaii Superferry has increased its Oahu to Maui routes by offering afternoon and evening voyages four times a week. The ferry will sail Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from Honolulu Harbor leaving at 3:30 p.m. and arriving on Maui at 7:00 p.m. The following voyage departs Kahului at 8 p.m., arriving at Honolulu Harbor at 11 p.m.Contact: www.HawaiiSuperferry.com .

ILLINOIS : Chicago is the latest placewhere visitors can get around on a Segway, the self-balancing transportation device. Chicago Segway Experience and City Segway Tours both claim to be the city’s official company. City Segway claims to offer a three-hour tour for the same price as competitors’ two-hour tour. Tours are available day and night. Contact: www.mysegwayexperience.com; www.citysegwaytours.com.

MASSACHUSETTS : Cambridge Office for Tourism’s new downloadable walking tour is now available. The audio and video walking tour offers a modern twist through Cambridge’s old walkways and distinct social fabric. Beginning & ending in Harvard Square, the tour offers visitors a first hand look at the people, sights and sounds that make Cambridge unique. The tour is available online as a virtual tour, or is downloadable to MP3 players, Windows mobile devices, and rental devices. Contact: www.cambridge-usa.org.   With a new 180-foot, $8 million three-diamond 600-passenger luxury dining yacht, Yacht Starship Cruises begins daily service May 30, 2008  from Boston’s CruisePort Terminal at 660 Summer Street. The Yacht will serve lunch, Sunday brunch and dinner harbor cruises. Yacht StarShip will be docked in the South Boston Seaport District from June through October. Yacht StarShip will be the newest dining yacht of its kind in the Boston Harbor area.  Yacht StarShip is America’s first three-diamond rated Dining yacht by AAA. Yacht Starship offers promenade deck entertainment and four-star cuisine. Contact: www.BostonUSA.com.   NEW YORK : Delta Airlines will begin non-stop Bogota- New York flights in August. The airline already flies from Bogota to Atlanta. Contact: www.delta.com.  

PENNSYLVANIA : Civil War enthusiasts will get an even better look at “The War of the Rebellion” with new interpretive and directional signs that will guide visitors along trails in six counties throughout the Dutch Country Roads region of the commonwealth. The signs expand “Pennsylvania Civil War Trails: Prelude to Gettysburg,” a program that presents visitors with the history, welcoming communities, small towns, and accommodations available along the trails. Pennsylvania is the first state in the nation to significantly interpret the Civil War from a northern state’s point-of-view. By Sept. 1 approximately 200 signs will link visitors to the story and experience of the Civil War in Pennsylvania. While the highways throughout the region will feature directional signs, Carlisle, Chambersburg , Columbia, Hanover , Harrisburg, and York will have informational signs, along with those that will guide visitors to points of interest.

The Pennsylvania Civil War Trails program tells the stories of the soldiers, the women and children under siege; African American contributions in the defense of the commonwealth; and the endurance of ordinary citizens during a time of upheaval. Contact: www.PACivilWarTrails.com.

 WASHINGTON : Northwest Airlines will begin flying from Beijing to Seattle on March 1, 2009, using Airbus A330 aircraft. Shanghai-Detroit flights will start at the same time, with Boeing 747-400s. Northwest now services the routes via Tokyo-Narita. Contact: www.nwa.com .

WHAT’S NEW IN ATTRACTIONS AND EVENTS (26 ITEMS)

BRITISH COLUMBIA : Formal opening of The Haida Heritage Centre at Kaay Linagaay will take place on Saturday, August 23. The Centre is the culmination of 15 years of planning and development. It had a “soft opening” last July. Since then it has added exhibits and expanded its programming. The Centre encompasses the expanded and revamped Haida Gwaii Museum with its many exhibits, artifacts and audio-visuals, including a video about the Haida culture. There is also a gift shop, Canoe House, Carving Shed, Performing House, the Bill Reid Teach Centre and a small café. The Centre is approximately one kilometer from the BC Ferry Terminal on what is known to the outside world as the Queen Charlotte Islands. Contact: www.haidaheritagecenter.com .   ONTARIO : Prince Edward County has a new Arts Trail, winding over 200 kilometers of bucolic countryside. The self-guided trail takes visitors to 22 of the island’s finest galleries and artists, leading with road signs, a print brochure/map and a web site. It’s the first attraction of its kind in Ontario. It links studios of painters, sculptors, potters, blacksmiths, glassblowers, jewelry makers, stained and fused glass artists and a photographer who prints by hand, with a handful of multi-artist galleries. Contact: www.artstrail.ca.  

QUÉBEC : The province has launched a new web site, www.agrotourismequebec.com to cover all the visitor activities offered by agricultural producers throughout Québec. There are also suggestions for getaway packages and agritourism circuits and routes. More than 700 farms offering accommodation, regional cuisine and products and activities for the family are listed. Contact : www.agricotours.qc.ca .

The SkySpa has just opened in Montérégie. It is a new concept: an urban spa open to the general public, where visitors can relax in large Finnish, Turkish, Californian and Nordic saunas.
SkySpa has both indoor and outdoor baths. Inside, SkySpa offers a central atrium for relaxing, a “view of the world” relaxation room, 20 massage rooms, two Finnish saunas, a eucalyptus steam bath and a Turkish steam bath. Outdoors there are two open-air Californian whirlpools, a Nordic basin and falls and a terrace with a heated floor open all year. SkySpa promotes relaxation, well-being, re-energizing and recreation. Quartier DIX30 has 1,500 underground parking spaces with elevator access to the spa on the fourth floor. Contact: www.skyspa.ca

CALIFORNIA : After a $20 million renovation, the Huntington Art Gallery (located on the grounds of the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens) is opened. The refurbished mansion, which originally opened to the public in 1928 as the first public art gallery in Southern California, will offer visitors an enhanced experience with one of the nation's finest collections of European art, as well as a more accurate sense of the lifestyle of one of the most prominent millionaires of the early 20th century. In addition to a thorough updated infrastructure, the Gallery will include 5,300 additional square feet of public space, new interpretive components and new gallery presentations of approximately 1,200 objects of European art from the 15th to the early 20th centuries. The renovation also will bring to light original architectural details that previously had been obscured. In February, the Huntington opened the all-new Chinese Garden. It was the first of nine gardens (four seasonal and five special collection gardens) that will make up the largest classical Chinese garden outside mainland China and one of the largest of the Huntington's 14 specialized gardens. Contact: www.huntington.org .  

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul , a landmark traveling exhibition, co-organized by the National Geographic Society and the National Gallery of Art, and comprising 228 extraordinary artifacts uncovered in modern-day Afghanistan began its U.S. tour at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, where it will be on view through Sept. 7, 2008. The Gallery will offer a diverse program of lectures, films, and family activities related to the exhibition. Most programs are free and open to the public. The National Gallery is at Fourth Street and Constitution Ave. Contact: www.nga.gov.

National Museum of Crime & Punishment opened May 23 on 7th Street NW between E and F streets. The Museum will dissect the concept of crime and the dark side of the criminal mind. Through intense interactive scenarios and educational galleries, the museum will explore the investigative techniques used by law enforcement and government agencies to solve crimes. Highlights include an exact replica of Al Capone's prison cell at Alcatraz, a realistic forensics lab and an on-site TV studio where " America's Most Wanted," will be filmed. Admission is $17.95 for adults, $14.95 for children (ages 5-11), seniors age 60 and older and law enforcement officers. Children under age five are free. Contact: www.crimemuseum.org.

The Pentagon Memorial, located on the grounds of the Pentagon, honors the 184 lives lost in the September 11 attacks on the Pentagon. Each victim is honored with a cantilevered bench designed for personal reflection. The benches honoring the 59 lives lost inside the Pentagon and the 125 passengers on board the plane face in opposite directions, and the victims are clustered according to their ages. The memorial is slated for dedication on Sept. 11. Contact: http://memorial.pentagon.mil/schedule.htm.  

FLORIDA : Prime Outlets International Orlando completed its $300 million expansion and renovation. Thirty-six new stores opened at the end of May including Victoria’s Secret Outlet, kate spade, Banana Republic Factory Store, Brooks Brothers Factory Store, Michael Kors, J. Crew Factory Store, Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5 TH, Betsey Johnson and Dooney & Bourke Outlet. The outlet center has a total of 175 stores, a food court with eight restaurants and a full-service restaurant, Kafe Kalik. Contact: www. primeoutlets.com, 407-352-9611 .

In Tampa, the Henry B. Plant Museum’s newly opened exhibit, Mementos from under the Minarets, gives visitors a glimpse of the Tampa Bay Hotel that Henry Plant publicized so enthusiastically when he began developing Florida. Mementos from under the Minarets showcases rare souvenirs, trinkets, remembrances and memorabilia featuring the hotel and explores letters and collectibles from well-known quests such as Frederick Remington, Clara Barton and Richard Harding Davis. Museum guests will hear excerpts from historic postcards and letters and view antique photographs of the hotel from a stereoscope. The time period spans 1891 through 1932, when the hotel closed. This exhibit continues until year-end. Contact: www.plantmuseum.com .

Dinosaurs! The Exhibition will make its debut at Tampa’s Museum of Science and Industry on Friday, June 13, 2008. The exhibition offers guests an opportunity to travel back in time to the Mesozoic era when dinosaurs ruled the earth. This 5,000-square-foot exhibit will give visitors an up-close view of nine robotic dinosaurs. Gaze at the Pteranodon–a huge flying reptile with a 23 foot wingspread–soaring high overhead. Visitors will enter the realm of the carnivorous Tyrannosaurus Rex – the “dinosaur king,” see a Maiasaura, the “good mother” dinosaur, with her three young and a nest of eggs and hatchlings, and marvel at the Pachycephalosaurus, a large herbivorous dinosaur with a domed ten-inch thick skull. Contact: www.mosi.org.

 After 15 years in its present location, Tampa’s only planetarium is moving and changing. The Saunders Planetarium will feature an all-new star projection system - the GOTO Space Simulator Chronos when it opens July 12. The new projector, located inside Kids In Charge!, can recreate the night time sky from any time -- past, present, or future – and transports audiences to any viewing site on Earth in 20 seconds or less! Contact: www.mosi.org.

GEORGIA : Atlanta ’s newest attraction is The Millennium Gate , which opened in May. The gateis a 73-foot tall monumental arch dedicated to Atlanta’s philanthropic families. The monument is located near Atlantic Station and can be compared to the Washington Arch in New York, the Wellington Arch in London, the Carousel Arch in Paris and the Siegestor Arch in Munich. Contact: www.atlanta.net .

Stone Mountain , Georgia ’s most visited attraction, celebrates its 50th year of outdoor fun with a new activity, Sky Hike. Daredevils have a new way to see the park with a trek through the treetops on the nation’s largest family adventure course. The Sky Hike consists of suspended bridges, high ropes and vertical nets. Visitors can experience new challenges - some up to 40 feet in the air - while secured to the patented overhead safety system. Contact: www.atlanta.net .   HAWAII : A lavish new show, Waikiki Nei, will open at the Royal Hawaiian Center in Waikiki in July. Dancers, acrobats, musicians and actors will perform, presenting a visual history of Waikiki with an emphasis on Hawaiian culture. Shows are scheduled Tuesday through Sunday at 6 p.m. and Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. The 80-minute show uses all forms of modern media in the presentation, including some not seen in Hawaii before. Tickets cost $49 to $99, plus tax. After the show, the theater becomes a nightclub, with a dance floor and DJs, with circus-style acts as well. The creative team includes a former Cirque du Soleil producer, who also is responsible for Ulalena, the show on Maui. Contact: www.royalhawaiianshoppingcenter.com . 

Visitors to the Big Island can now view the first lava flow to reach the sea since June 2007 at the Kalapana viewing area in Hilo. Lava Ocean Adventures offers boat tours departing from East Hawaii during sunset and sunrise daily, to see the lava pouring into the sea. Sunshine Helicopters offers another way to view the activity of the volcano goddess, Pele. Contact: www.hawaiiairtours.com, www.kalapanaviewing.com.

Wild Orchid Tours Guide on Hawaii ’s Big Island has created a new way to make adventures more memorable -- providing professional photographers who can take photos of your private group through the Big Island ’s most photogenic black sand beaches, waterfalls and volcanoes. Contact: www.wildorchidtours.com .

Waikiki Beach Walk’s Mana Hawaii offers vacationers an authentic Hawaiian experience. The cultural program provides workshops for visitors and hands-on experience with Hawaiian weaving experts. Along with the visual tutorial, they share their own cultural trends. Other activities include an authentic lomi lomi (massage), ukulele lessons, and hula performances. Contact: www.waikikibeachwalk.com .

 MARYLAND : Baltimore's 20-year-old excursion boat, the Bay Lady, has gotten a makeover and a new name. The makeover includes new upscale furnishings, DJ booths, bars, dance floors, and renovated dining halls, and bathrooms. The dinner cruise ship will be rechristened the Spirit of Baltimore. Contact: www.harborcruises , com, 410-727-3113 .

Baltimore's first pirate ship arrived in historic Fells Point on Saturday, April 19, during the fourth annual Privateer Day, an annual event that pays tribute to the history of the privateers who helped the American Navy fight off the British in the War of 1812. With a lively crew, visitors learn to dress, talk and tie ropes like a pirate; fight enemies with water cannons; navigate treacherous waters; and discover hidden treasures during an interactive excursion around the Inner Harbor. The 48' long ship with a 17-foot beam and three-foot draft can accommodate up to 49 passengers. Tours operate every day from through Labor Day. Contact: www.urbanpirates.us, 410-327-8378.

  NEW YORK : CityPass, the national museum and attraction marketing company that bundles a city’s most popular options in a ticket book, now allows travel agents to purchase CityPass booklets at a 10% discount. CityPass booklets are sold for New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, Hollywood, Atlanta, Toronto and Houston. The CityPass website directs travel agents to a request form requiring contact information and an IATA number. CityPass provides authorization and a special section of the site to order booklets and receive the discount, with the option of receiving actual ticket booklets or providing clients with a voucher redeemable at the first attraction visited. In New York, CityPass added the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Immigration to the program in May. Travelers reach Liberty and Ellis islands via Statue Cruises, a new National Park Service operator. Three to five hours are recommended. Another new option choice is a Circle Line Harbor Cruises, combining a narrated tour of the city skyline, lower Manhattan, Statue of Liberty and bridges and tunnels. Contact: annie@citypass.com, 888-330-5008, ext. 106., www.citypass.com .

WASHINGTON : June 6 has been confirmed as the date the Flying Heritage Collection, an assembly of rare World War II and Cold War-era military aircraft reopens in its new home at Everett’s Paine Field Airport. There are 15 planes in the collection, restored to flying condition, representing the United States, Britain, Russian, Germany and Japan. They are owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen Contact: www.flyingheritage.com, 206-342-4242.

SOUTH CAROLINA : After establishing a comprehensive program of medical care, educational outreach and conservation research focused on birds, the Center for Birds of Prey, part of the Avian Conservation Center located about 20 minutes north of Charleston, will open June 5 for public tours. Visitors will have the chance to see live birds of prey in a natural setting, watch regularly scheduled flight demonstrations and learn more about the role these birds play in our environment. The center will be open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Guided walking tours will be offered at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., with flight demonstrations at 11:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. Staff members and volunteers will be available to answer questions for visitors who wish to explore the public portions of the facility on their own. Admission costs $12 for adults. Contact: www.avianconservationcenter.org.

TEXAS: Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs , a remarkable exhibit of Egyptian treasures, will be seen in the Southwest for the first time at the Dallas Museum of Art. Dates are October 8, 2008 to May 17, 2009. The current exhibition includes more than 130 extraordinary artifacts from the tomb of Tutankhamun and other ancient Egyptian sites. The return of the exhibition to the United States will include a selection of artifacts that are new to the exhibit and have never before been seen outside of Egypt. The average visit is 60-90 minutes. Group tickets (10 or more) are on sale now at a price of $24 each ($32.50 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday). There are no group discounts without advance ticket purchase. Audio tours are available separately for $7 . Contact: groupsales@DallasMuseumofArt.org, www.dallasmuseumofart.org, 214-922-1222.

Houston is the latest city to join the CityPass program. . Tickets to the top eight attractions in Houston are in each CityPass. Houston is the first city in the Southwest to offer CityPass. It costs $34 for adults (a $63.40 value) and is valid for nine days. Attractions included are Space Center Houston, Downtown Aquarium, Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston Zoo, the Health Museum, George Ranch Historical Park, The Museum of Fine Arts and Children’s Museum of Houston, Contact: www.citypass.com .

Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium has opened its largest and most interactive odditorium in San Antonio’s historic Alamo Plaza, right across from the Alamo and next to the River Walk. San Antonio’s Ripley’s Believe it or Not! will attract visitors with locks of Marilyn Monroe’s hair, a 23-foot Eiffel Tower made from 110,000 wooden toothpicks, a Japanese kimono made from tea bags and a deer with eight feet on four legs, among other oddities. Contact: www.visitsanantonio.com, 800-ALAMO-07.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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