Travel Industry Archive

Recently, Delta announced that it would begin flights from Pittsburgh and Raleigh/Durham to Paris. These flights are unique in that they don’t touch a Delta hub, but the fact that they touch partner Air France’s hub in Paris makes them interesting. This is a new concept that may be a massive failure, so is it worth the risk? Most definitely. I say it’s worth the risk...

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Versace mansion opens to the public as hotel and restaurant – The Miami Beach home of murdered fashion designer Gianni Versace has been opened as a restaurant and hotel with suites starting at $1,200 a night. The 26,000-square-foot home, known as Casa Casuarina, has been owned by businessman Peter Loftin since 2000. Loftin began opening the home to the public gradually, first as an...

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It would be easy for the new combined Delta/Northwest to pull out of some markets (yes, Cincinnati and Memphis, I’m still looking at you), but Minneapolis/St Paul isn’t one of them. Thanks to an agreement from the early 1990’s, there would be a steep penalty and rent increase for the airline if Northwest’s headquarters left town. Delta has now renegotiated the deal,...

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Phil Ruffin, the new owner of MGM Mirage Treasure Island, bought the casino resort for $775 million, approximately $500 million in cash and $275 million in secured notes.  The Wichita billionaire is known for investing in gambling enterprises, including Kansas dog racing tracks he’s trying to convert to “racinos,” or dog racing with slot machines. He’s also Donald...

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One of the unfortunate byproducts of plunging oil prices is that there will be less incentive to focus on alternative energy generation. Of course, that doesn’t mean that projects will stop completely, but it will take some pretty exciting projects to keep people interested. The world’s first LEED Platinum hangar could be one of those in the aviation world. The project to make...

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MGM Mirage to sell Treasure Island Resort & Casino – MGM Mirage agreed Monday to sell its Treasure Island Resort & Casino to businessman Phil Ruffin Sr. for $775 million. The casino company will sell the 2,885-room resort to Ruffin Acquisition LLC for $500 million in cash and $275 million in secured notes. Ruffin, a Wichita real estate mogul, sold the New Frontier Casino...

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Forrester Research released a study recently saying that brand loyalty among online leisure travelers is disappearing rapidly. In 2006, 31 percent of online leisure travelers considered themselves brand loyal, but that’s now down to 25 percent. What is going on here? Some of the reasons are to be expected. People are saying that the products are becoming more generic so there’s...

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Layaway isn’t just for discount retailers anymore. Layaway, essentially a low-payment installment plan offered by merchants with added fees and/or interest, is now gaining momentum in the travel industry. Hyatt Hotels and Resorts recently partnered with eLayaway, a Florida-based Web site which offers all kinds of merchandise that can be purchased on layaway, including gift cards...

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If you’re a fan of the industry’s must-read publication Aviation Daily, you know that every year around this time they come out with a spoof issue called Aviation Dilly. Word is out that this year, it’s not happening, so I’ve joined with a few other people and we’ve taken things into our own hands. Head on over to see Aviation Dally for some quality satire on this...

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Las Vegas Sands Corp. lays off 200 — Las Vegas Sands Corp. is dropping 200 workers from its Las Vegas Strip casino hotels in an effort to save the company $100 million.  The cuts, which will come from its Venetian and Palazzo properties, will be about 2 percent of its 10,000 employees. This comes on the heels of a previous 50-employee layoff and a spokesman didn’t rule out more...

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