Tag: Barack Obama
Reviving Brand America
by Rick Steves | 09.17.09 | 11:57 AM ET
REUTERS/Tobias Schwarz Exploring Europe, exploring travel as a political act
Email to friend
del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Furl
Ma.gnolia
Mixx
Reddit
StumbleUpon
Yahoo! BuzzPhoto We Love: Obama on Holiday
by World Hum | 08.28.09 | 10:59 AM ET
REUTERS/Jason Reed President Obama, who clearly didn’t read Tom Swick’s open letter about his vacation plans, cycles on Martha’s Vineyard.
Have We Entered a New Age of American Travel?
by Michael Yessis | 08.20.09 | 9:34 AM ET
Yes, says Conde Nast Traveler editor in chief Klara Glowczewska. She writes:
Today, Americans appear increasingly ready to reject wariness toward the rest of the world. Something new is afoot—a rediscovery of the sheer pleasure of being abroad and a resurgence of pride in being curious, culturally aware, peripatetic Americans.
Glowczewska believes President Obama and his family have played a role in this transition. “Some of the exuberance we are sensing may derive from a new First Family that is as enthusiastic a globe-traveling bunch as any in American history,” she writes. “They are a reassertion of a particularly appealing aspect of the American character—social energy.”
World Leaders on Vacation
by Michael Yessis | 08.14.09 | 1:54 PM ET
President Obama isn’t the only one taking a break this month. This Newsweek story looks at where other world leaders are going or have gone, including Russian macho man/Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Check out the spectacular photo accompanying the piece.
William Shatner: America’s Favorite Negotiator?
by Eva Holland | 08.13.09 | 10:16 AM ET
Christopher Elliott has come across an unexpected statistic: According to a recent survey, 10 percent of Americans believe that William Shatner, the public face of travel clearinghouse Priceline.com, is “the best negotiator out there.”
Barack Obama clocked in just behind Shatner, with 9 percent of the vote—maybe the President should recruit “The Negotiator” for his ongoing battles with Congress?
Has the ‘Obama Effect’ hit Hawaii?
by Eva Holland | 08.03.09 | 3:41 PM ET
Slate’s Moneybox columnist, Daniel Gross, recently headed to Hawaii to see if the islands’ tourism industry was seeing an Obama bump. The verdict: “This unreimbursed, hazard-filled assignment—sunburn, expensive macadamia nuts—yielded some surprising findings. Like the stimulus package, the Obama Effect, while holding the promise of gains down the road, hasn’t been able to overcome a sour economic climate.”
In Defense of Martha’s Vineyard
by Eva Holland | 08.03.09 | 12:08 PM ET
Tom Swick may think President Obama could have done better for a vacation spot, but Lonely Planet’s Robert Reid begs to differ. Here’s his compelling list of 22 reasons why Obama was right to pick Martha.
Incidentally, Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. would probably agree. Gates told Travel + Leisure in 2007 that the Vineyard was his favorite place.
An Open Letter to President Obama: Martha’s Vineyard?
by Tom Swick | 07.24.09 | 10:24 AM ET
iStockPhoto Contemplating and celebrating travel
Australia’s Prime Minister: ‘Hotter Than Obama’
by Eva Holland | 06.29.09 | 7:05 PM ET
Publicity still via IGN That was the verdict from Bruno, comedian Sasha Baron Cohen’s gay Austrian alter ego, during a visit to Sydney for his movie‘s Australian premiere. Said the ostensible fashion TV reporter after meeting Prime Minister Kevin Rudd: “That guy is like, uber-cute. I thought Obama was like the hottest guy in the world until I met Kevin.”
Ooh. Them’s fighting words, Bruno. President Obama, care to respond?
The White House Luau: President Obama ‘Wants his Hawaii Grinds’
by Michael Yessis | 06.25.09 | 11:27 AM ET
The first-ever White House Hawaiian-style luau is scheduled to take place tonight, with President Obama hosting a meal created and prepared by Alan Wong.
Good for Obama. He loves his home state of Hawaii, and Hawaii loves him back—though, as seen in this slideshow, sometimes it loves him in funny ways.
In any case, Obama will get some Hawaiian food—the chef’s shopping list includes 84 pounds of Hawaiian macadamia nuts, 130 pounds of salmon and 650 pounds of pork butt—cooked by the proprietor of one of his favorite restaurants. And Hawaii hopes it will get what it desperately needs: a boost for tourism.
When the President Goes to Vegas: Hail Obama?
by Alexander Basek | 06.02.09 | 10:20 AM ET
Photo by Alexander Basek It’s easy to ignore the language surrounding hotel stays. Spas have therapists and there’s a concierge or a butler for your pillow and your bath. In fact, it gets to be difficult when you need something but don’t know whom you’re supposed to talk to about it. Does an order for ice fall under the purview of the cooling concierge or the cocktail consultant? We may never know the answer.
Hawaii to Obama: Save Our Business Travel!
by Pam Mandel | 04.14.09 | 10:36 AM ET
According to Hawaii tourism leaders, “Workers who attend meetings in Hawaii are happier, more productive and more focused afterward.” That quote (from lots of sources, including the Los Angeles Times) is part of a campaign Hawaii has launched to further promote the islands as a business travel destination. Is anyone surprised to hear that a business trip to Hawaii cheers a lackluster worker right up?
But here’s the catch, courtesy of the Honolulu Star Bulletin: “Public anger at extravagant spending by companies receiving bailout tax dollars has extended throughout corporate America and created a sharp decline in travel to meetings in Hawaii, described as junkets. The state’s tourism industry is suffering as a result and faces a huge challenge in trying to revitalize business travel to the islands.”
Kenyan Eco-Tourism Camp Draws on the ‘Obama Magic’
by Joanna Kakissis | 03.30.09 | 11:20 AM ET
In 2006, then-Senator Barack Obama stayed in a room at Basecamp Explorer, which is set on 40 acres at the edge of the Masai Mara National Game Reserve. Now that he’s President Obama, the room where he stayed is already popular with visitors, camp general manager Annette Bulman told Business Daily Africa.
The so-called “Obama room” is spare, with a bed, two African stools and a table with a framed photo of Obama and some Basecamp employees. Its wooden porch has a hammock and overlooks the Talek River. Basecamp Explorer is already one of the top eco-tourism facilities in Kenya. Could the “Obama room” also make it one of the most popular in Africa?
Heard on the Tokyo Street: ‘Yes, We Can’
by Julia Ross | 02.23.09 | 10:27 AM ET
They loved him in Canada last week for buying maple leaf cookies, but in Japan, they’re hanging on Barack Obama’s every word. It seems the President’s speeches have kicked off the latest language-learning trend among English-crazy Japanese. In the country’s ubiquitous English schools, teachers are urging students to memorize Obama’s speeches line by line, with a passion to match. Reports the Wall Street Journal: “‘The Speeches of Barack Obama,’ a best-selling book that comes with a CD and a glossary for phrases like ‘spin master’ and ‘stop-gap measures,’ sold 480,000 copies in Japan in three months.” I think that qualifies as a trend.
Funny, I haven’t tried this approach in my long struggle to learn Mandarin. Hu Jintao’s speeches somehow lack equivalent ... charisma.
Are the Obamas Headed to Hogwarts?
by Eva Holland | 02.02.09 | 12:47 PM ET
In a wide-ranging interview with The Daily Beast, “Harry Potter” star Daniel Radcliffe had this to say to the new First Family: “I’d like to take this opportunity to issue a public invitation to the Obamas that if their daughters would like a private tour of the Harry Potter set, I would be honored to be their personal tour guide.” Over at MuggleNet, the debate over whether the Obama girls are worthy of such a magnanimous gesture is already getting heated. (Via The Book Bench)
Ni Hao from Down Under
by Julia Ross | 01.29.09 | 11:21 AM ET
I gave President Obama high marks last week for trying out his Indonesian while on a visit to the State Department. Well, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd does Obama one better. Here he is, wishing China a happy new year in perfectly fluent Mandarin, apparently the only world leader to record such a message.
Save the Joshua Tree (Again)
by Joanna Kakissis | 01.27.09 | 2:18 PM ET
We’ve noted, rather sadly, that we can’t imagine Joshua Tree National Park without its signature Joshua tree. (Who can?) Scientists have warned that the giant yucca may disappear in 50 years because global warming is changing the desert’s fragile ecosystem. U2 famously showcased a Joshua tree on the Anton Corbijn-photographed cover of its 1987 album, and I wonder if the band silently praised it during its awesome pre-inaugural concert at the Lincoln Memorial (or at least after President Obama affirmed his faith in scientists and pledged to help them deal with a planet in peril.)
Ecopreneur John Ivanko is optimistic, if guardedly so. Ivanko, who recently visited the park with his family, offered this ode, with the hope that a new outlook will help save the imperiled, iconic tree and its park, and other “great places” in the natural world.
For nostalgia’s sake, here’s some Corbijn-shot footage of (then youthful) members of U2 wandering the desert.
Morning Links: Road Tripping ‘Amexica,’ Titty Ho and More
by Michael Yessis | 01.26.09 | 8:12 AM ET
- Ed Vulliamy drives the length of the U.S.-Mexico border. Or, as he calls it, “Amexica.”
- Is Mexico City now the world’s greatest food city?
- Paramedics bought Big Macs for stranded AeroMexico passengers in Portland. That might be the only pleasant news from the incident.
- The “tourism gold rush” has subsided in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Blame Mugabe.
- Toronto wrestles with its identity.
- USA Today explores the question of whether the Obama presidency will influence travel to the U.S.
- Super Bowl travel packages are “not exactly a hot ticket.”
- Looks who’s taking on the bad travel economy: William Shatner.
- Motherwell. Glenrothes. New Cumnock. These three towns are in the running for the most dismal in Scotland.
- Crapstone. Titty Ho. Penistone, These and other snicker-worthy place names in Britain have had bloggers, Tweeters and New York Times readers snickering all weekend. Myself included.
Got a suggestion? .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) your link.
What We Loved This Week: Street Food, Obama’s Inauguration and More
by World Hum | 01.23.09 | 4:42 PM ET
Our contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.
Frank Bures
I loved my new cookbook, The World of Street Foods: Easy Quick Meals to Cook at Home, which has everything from Tanzanian mango fritters to Thai tom yam to Libyan almond cookies to Mexican hot chocolate. Based I what I know, these recipes look like the real deal.
Jim Benning
Malcolm Gladwell’s hour-long talk on Book TV—you can watch it online here—about the role culture and communication can play in plane crashes. It’s utterly fascinating and changed the way I think about such things. (It’s also, it turns out, quite controversial.) Still, it makes me want to pick up his new book, Outliers: The Story of Success.
Valerie Conners
The inauguration of President Barack Obama, of course! But really, as I’ve tried to absorb the enormity of Tuesday, I’ve been moved by images from around the globe, particularly in this slideshow from Boston.com, which have offered such great perspective on how this moment has affected people well beyond U.S. borders.
Michael Yessis
Going to the National Mall and watching the inauguration. So, so cold out, but an overwhelming, beautiful experience.
Julia Ross
Of the many high points this week, I loved that Obama hightailed it over to the State Department on day two in office, bucked up our diplomats, and broke out his Indonesian. A global president = priceless.
Italian vs. I-talian vs. New Yorkese
by David Farley | 01.23.09 | 9:47 AM ET
Missy Robbins, the new chef at the posh New York City eatery A Voce, was relatively unknown to the New York City fooderati. That is, until Barack Obama came along. Robbins was the chef at Chicago’s Spiaggia restaurant. Like A Voce, Spiaggia serves up lauded Italian cuisine in a chic setting. And Obama was a regular, thanks, apparently, to Chef Robbins’ wood-fired scallops, among other menu items. With the circus surrounding the Inauguration, I decided to dine at A Voce a few days ago, hoping I’d get a chance to taste what kept Obama coming back to Spiaggia again and again (he was just there last month, in fact).
- « Prev Page
- Next Page »
