NEWS ABOUT: travel
travel stories: 153 news briefs
TRAVEL
Times (UK) Jul 4, 09 11:36 AM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
It’s quaint, relatively cheap, breakfast is included in the price, and oh yes, everyone’s naked. Welcome to Hylteberga gård, one of the first naturist bed and breakfasts in Europe. Helena Frith Powell of the UK Times took a holiday there, and found it a tad … distracting, especially at meal times. “I am not used to being sandwiched between two naked bodies while I tuck into a plate of sausages.”
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ANALYSIS
Jaunts to Paris, Kabul cost $13M last year, 10 times 1995 figure
Wall Street Journal Jul 2, 09 7:10 AM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
Spending by Congress on taxpayer-funded trips overseas is nearly ten times what it was in 1995 and triple the amount spent in 2001, the Wall Street Journal finds in an analysis of some 60,000 travel records. Last year, hundreds of members of Congress went abroad at a cost of some $13 million. Lawmakers defend the use of tax dollars, saying the trips give them a chance to improve their understanding of the world, check on US assets, and improve their own working relationships.
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Glass balconies jut 4 feet into the air
Chicago Tribune Jul 1, 09 4:33 PM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
The view from Chicago’s Sears Tower just got more vivid. Starting tomorrow, visitors can step into glass enclosures that extend 4 feet out from the building’s 103rd floor and see all 1,353 feet straight down, the Tribune reports. Designed by the original architects of the soon-to-be-renamed Willis Tower, the Ledge has three layers of thick glass that weigh 1,500 pounds.
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TRAVEL
Reuters Jun 27, 09 1:46 AM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
Even the most enjoyable vacation can leave you in need of a drink, and bars make great, offbeat places to learn about the history of your destination. The staff of VirtualTourist.com shares its favorite legendary watering holes with Reuters: Harry’s Bar, Venice: Famed Hemingway haunt claims to have invented the Bellini, and carpaccio. The Blind Beggar, London: Opened by the Salvation Army in 1894; site of a gangster's murder in 1966.
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Wall Street Journal Jun 25, 09 10:24 AM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
If you’re planning on flying this summer, book your tickets now. After a long period of dropping fares and constant sales, prices went up earlier this month and appear likely to keep rising throughout the summer, the Wall Street Journal reports. “I think for the consumer, it’s as good as we’re going to get right now,” said the CEO of FareCompare.com.
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TRAVEL
Serene Polynesian land draws modern Gauguins, artist's fans
Time Jun 11, 09 1:35 PM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
Tucked into French Polynesia is Hiva Oa, the Marquesan island that French painter Paul Gauguin made his home 100 years ago. Remnants of Gauguin litter the remote settlement of 2,000 people, as do heaps of skulls left from its violent past. But today, Hiva Oa serves as a serene destination for modern escape artists, Matthew Link writes for Time .
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Foreign governments, private firms back officials' trips
Washington Post Jun 11, 09 10:39 AM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
Pentagon officials have taken some 22,000 trips whose $26 million tab was picked up by non-governmental sources like private firms and foreign governments, a study finds. The travel is “riddled with conflicts of interest,” said the head of a group behind the study. The medical industry was the top source, he said, paying for $10 million in jaunts for military doctors and pharmacists, the Washington Post reports.
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Hawaii's Hanalei Bay comes out on top in 'Dr. Beach's' annual list
Boston Globe Jun 4, 09 1:24 PM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
The magnificent setting of Hawaii's Hanalei Bay helps make its beach this year's best in the US, according to Florida-based expert Steven "Dr. Beach" Leatherman. The runners-up, judged on 50 criteria including water quality and facilities: Siesta Beach in Sarasota, Fla. Coopers Beach in Southampton, NY Coronado Beach in San Diego
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From ten stories up to inside a crater, these pools are sure to excite
Woman's Day May 31, 09 4:23 AM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
On the lookout for a unique summer vacation experience? Woman’s Day recommends eight stunning pools in some of the world’s most beautiful locations: The hanging pool atop the Joule hotel in Dallas projects 8 feet over the edge of the building. The Homestead Crater at Homestead Resort in Utah is a 55-foot-high dome filled with warm spring water, popular with water skiers and scuba divers.
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New York Times May 26, 09 2:13 PM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
The recession is igniting new hotel wars: not battles for customers, but between owners of luxury hotels and the properties’ operators, the New York Times reports. The owners are often struggling to keep up with big debt payments, hindered by a more than 16% average drop in hotel bookings across the sector. But operators are loathe to cut rates or amenities, saying that doing so will diminish a property’s brand.
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TRAVEL
Flights, hotels drop prices in economic slump
Wall Street Journal May 19, 09 11:53 AM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
When it comes to vacationing this summer, “the power is with the consumer,” says a consultant: The troubled economy has airlines, hotels, and cruises dropping prices dramatically. International airfares are down 14%, domestic fares 17%, Travelocity says; and for the first time since 2005, AAA predicts an uptick in Memorial Day travel, thanks to cheaper fuel and good deals, the Wall Street Journal reports.
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Resorts try to lure back vacationers with promotion
Times (UK) May 14, 09 12:41 PM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
Several Mexican resorts are offering free stays to tourists who catch swine flu while vacationing there, the Times of London reports. They hope to restore confidence in the sunny destination, which they say has been completely sanitized of the H1N1 virus. The hotel leading the promotion also slashed rates by 40%. Holiday bookings have fallen 83% during the flu outbreak.
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TALK SHOW ROUNDUP
Newest cabinet member seeks to allay swine flu fears
Politico May 3, 09 10:19 AM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
President Obama’s new Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius made the talk show rounds today, insisting that people should continue traveling, despite remarks to the contrary by Joe Biden. “Traveling and being in close places is certainly something we encourage people to continue to do,” she told Fox News Sunday.
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Convicts unescorted
in transfers; feds say there's little risk
WFAA Apr 28, 09 2:31 PM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
Federal convicts regularly transfer themselves between prisons unescorted, riding public transportation without a guard in sight, WFAA-TV reports. Some 5,300 have switched prisons on their own since April 2006; 54,000 have headed to halfway houses. And in 2003-05, 77 escaped while en route. “It’s an inherent safety and security risk for the industry as a whole,” says a Greyhound spokeswoman.
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US signs deal with Holland, and more
are on the way
USA Today Apr 24, 09 8:56 AM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
A new digital card will allow Americans to skip customs lines at a foreign airport for the first time, reports USA Today . In a deal between Homeland Security officials and the Netherlands, US travelers approved for the ID card will be able to speed through Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, while Dutch citizens can do the same at JFK and LAX. The new cards contain an embedded image of the traveler's iris that verifies identity.
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It bridges the gap between divided families: White House
Associated Press Apr 13, 09 3:30 PM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
President Obama officially announced new rules for Cuban remittances and travel today, lifting barriers implemented by his predecessor. The eased restrictions allow Cuban Americans to make limitless money transfers and trips to the island nation, the AP reports. It fulfills Obama’s campaign promise to bridge the gap between divided Cuban families, days before he attends a regional summit in Trinidad and Tobago.
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Tourism tanking,
state leaders urge prez not to block biz travel
Los Angeles Times Apr 8, 09 7:33 AM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
Hawaii is asking its most famous son to stop bad-mouthing business travel, the Los Angeles Times reports. The state's tourism industry has seen its worst winter in years. State leaders, believing at least some of the decline comes from hardening attitudes toward business travel after corporate bailouts, are urging President Obama against adopting any policy that limits business travel.
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Naturists want it to be family-friendly lodging
Times (UK) Apr 2, 09 8:50 AM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
Germany's first mandatory-nudity hotel hasn't even opened yet, but management is laying down the law: Towels must be placed wherever guests sit. The Black Forest resort's clothing ban is an oddity even in Germany, a hotbed of naturism for over a century, reports the Times of London. In fact, clothing will be a badge of shame, reserved for those who violate the rule strictly prohibiting sexual harassment of fellow guests at the kid-friendly hotel.
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First group of Western tourists since invasion arrive in Baghdad
Guardian (UK) Mar 21, 09 3:18 AM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
The first package tourists since the days of Saddam Hussein have arrived in Baghdad, the Guardian reports. The group—four Brits, two Americans, a Russian, and a Canadian—are on a 17-day tour of the country, taking in the sights of ancient Mesopotamia in a journey that would have been impossible less than a year ago.
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Except with Scientology escort, security
Daily Mirror (UK) Mar 9, 09 10:50 AM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
Who needs five-star hotels and gourmet restaurants? All the Cruise clan needs to have a grand vacation is a tent—and some security and a Scientologist friend, the Mirror reports. In a bid to “do things as a normal family,” Tom Cruise is planning a camping trip across the US, a source says. Katie Holmes revealed earlier this month that she and Cruise love camping.
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