Travel Industry Archive

New York City looks to gay and lesbian tourism – New York City officials want gay and lesbians tourism to help fix their $4 billion budget deficit. The Rainbow Pilgrimage campaign comes as the economy is faltering and tourism is down across the country. The campaign is scheduled to come a few months in advance of the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in Manhattan, considered the...

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I figured it was only a matter of time before Orbitz followed Expedia, Travelocity, and Priceline and dropped their booking fees for air travel. It’s finally happened, but they did it with a twist. This doesn’t apply to all itineraries, and while it may be a smart financial move, it could have customer service consequences. Priceline started this battle ages ago by permanently (or...

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The travel industry is nothing if not resourceful, so when news hit that furloughed and unemployed workers would be sitting around the house, they started special rates at ski resorts and had contests for those unemployed for six months to get a vacation. While others are offering money back on cruises or flights made before patrons were laid off, the new push is getting those workers out of...

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I’m still compiling all of the March traffic numbers for publication, but there has been a very telling trend that has shown up in most results. The international numbers are far, far worse than the domestic ones. If we go back a little, it’s easy to see why this is the case. Airlines have rushed to fly more internationally as their domestic turf continued to be invaded by low...

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United States wants to limit Antarctica tourism –The Obama administration wants to limit tourism and travel to Antarctica to protect its fragile ecology. A U.S. proposed amendment to the 50-year-old Antarctic Treaty would impose mandatory limits on the size of cruise ships and the number of passengers brought ashore. The proposal would also bar ships with more than 500 passengers...

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Over at Flightglobal.com, blogger Jon Ostrower says he’s seen internal Boeing documents that show that: Delta Air Lines, Royal Air Maroc of Morocco and several Chinese airlines that had been scheduled to take some of the first 20 787s have backed away and now will take later Dreamliners; Japan’s All Nippon Airways, which was the 787’s launch customer, will take 11 of the...

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If you thought revenues looked bad before, just wait until you see March’s numbers. The quick decline has gotten even worse, according to the estimates released by Continental and US Airways. Let’s start with Continental. The airline anticipates that revenue per available seat mile (RASM) will be down 19.5 to 20.5 percent year-over-year once the March numbers are finalized. Load...

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Furlough Friday? Travel zeroes in on unemployed — More than 810 California state employees  bought discounted $30 lift tickets at Squaw Valley ski resort, aimed at furloughed state workers. A spokeswoman for the resort said that the promotion was to attract visitors who wouldn’t otherwise come to ski. Travel industry analysts say travel aimed at the furloughed and laid-off...

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If you read Cranky, you’ve already seen my interview with Dave Barger, CEO of JetBlue (part 1 and part 2), but he wasn’t the only JetBlue exec I was able to sit with last week. I also had the chance to talk to President and COO Russ Chew while I was there, and he had plenty to say about the internal transformation of JetBlue as a company. When I asked him to describe his role at...

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Las Vegas Sands Co., the beleaguered casino operator who abandoned its Macao casino resorts and other developments in November when credit markets dried up, said it would likely continue the project if financing is found. The company said it needs another $2 billion to finish off three casinos and hotel towers. It’s imperative that the company finance the project in the next year or...

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