Travel Blog: News and Briefs
Hooters Casino Hotel Opens Today in Las Vegas
by Michael Yessis | 02.03.06 | 4:51 AM ET
First came the airline. Now comes what the folks over at the Best Week Ever are calling “a place for boobs to go.” The new Hooters Casino Hotel takes the place of the Hotel San Remo, just off the south end of the Las Vegas Strip, and will be hosting grand opening festivities all weekend.
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Yahoo! BuzzJam Band Cruises: “You Won’t Have People Selling Grilled Cheeses to Get Money to Get on the Boat.”
by Michael Yessis | 02.03.06 | 12:35 AM ET
But music fans are still laying out gobs of cash to be able to scuba dive with String Cheese Incident and play bingo with the Disco Biscuits. In the latest issue of Rolling Stone, Evan Serpick reports that musical cruises are a hot travel ticket.
Visitors Slow to Return to Bali
by Jim Benning | 02.02.06 | 8:40 PM ET
After a terrorist attack in Bali last October left 20 dead, experts predicted the island’s tourism industry would rebound within a year or two. That may yet happen, but at the moment, four months after the attack, the tourism business is still in a major slump, and owners are worried, according to an AP story on CNN. The numbers tell the story. Said the director general of Indonesia’s Tourism Ministry: “Just before the bombing, the number of tourists arriving every day had reached 5,000. Today it’s about 2,100.” If you’ve been reading World Hum, you already know that Bali-lover Liz Sinclair has been undeterred by the attack.
“Flight 93” Most Watched A&E Program Ever
by Michael Yessis | 02.02.06 | 1:06 PM ET
The second of at least four movies to be produced about Flight 93, the plane that crashed in a Pennsylvania field on September 11, 2001, drew 5.9 million viewers to A&E Monday. More people watched the program than any other in the 20+ year history of the cable channel. A&E will replay the movie Saturday at noon ET and Sunday at 3 p.m. A major motion picture about the flight from director Paul Greengrass will be released in the spring.
7,083 Miles From Lagos to Detroit: An Epic Super Bowl Road Trip
by Michael Yessis | 02.02.06 | 9:15 AM ET
Kathy and Fred Richardson, two teachers from Lagos, Nigeria, are flying to Detroit, Michigan this week to attend Sunday’s Super Bowl XL between the Pittsburgh Steelers and their beloved Seattle Seahawks (the couple used to live in Tacoma, Washington). The trip will take 24 hours and cost about $12,000, which seems like a hell of a lot of money to travel to a city that can’t even entice its own citizens to hang around. John McGrath of the Tacoma News Tribune has the couple’s story.
‘Brokeback Mountain’ Tourism: If You Film it in Canada, They’ll Still Go to Wyoming
by Michael Yessis | 01.31.06 | 11:23 AM ET
Like “Sideways” did last year and the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy before that, “Brokeback Mountain” is inspiring a surge in travel. But people are going to the wrong place. The Oscar-nominated film about two cowboys who fall in love was filmed in Canada, but according to an AP story it’s inspiring travelers to head to Wyoming. That’s where the characters meet and fall in love. “When we tell them it was shot in Canada, they’re still interested in Wyoming,” said Michell Howard, manager of the Wyoming Business Council’s film, arts and entertainment office. “They don’t hang up and call Alberta. They’re intrigued in the story.”
Houston’s Enron Tour: Inside the Lifestyles of the Rich and Infamous
by Michael Yessis | 01.30.06 | 11:40 PM ET
Former Enron bigwigs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling face fraud charges this week in a Houston, Texas federal courtroom, or, as Sandra Lord likes to think of the building, the final showstopper on a $30 tour of landmarks in one of the U.S.‘s most shameful business sagas.
Happy Lunar New Year
by Jim Benning | 01.29.06 | 2:52 PM ET
The Asian Lunar New Year begins today. If you’re a dog like me, it’s time to celebrate.
Washington Lawmakers Propose Ban on Sex Tours
by Michael Yessis | 01.27.06 | 11:59 AM ET
Under the provisions of legislation proposed by Sen. Karen Fraser, travel agents in Washington State who book or sell “sex tours” would be committing a Class C felony. The penalty: up to five years in prison and fines up to $10,000. According to the AP, Hawaii already has a similar law on the books, and New York and New Jersey are considering legislation.
Happy 250th, Mozart
by Jim Benning | 01.27.06 | 3:08 AM ET
Wolfgang Amadeus was born 250 years ago today. The Independent has the low down on celebrations in Salzburg and beyond and offers a brief overview of the peripatetic composer’s European travels.
Expedition Everest: Disney Brings Nepal and Tibet to Orlando, Florida
by Michael Yessis | 01.27.06 | 1:06 AM ET
Whether you love Disney or curse it for devouring the world, you’ve got to admit that the mega-corporation sure understands the power of travel and the journey. Since Uncle Walt opened Disneyland in 1955, the company has drawn people to its theme parks by tapping into the mythology of many of the world’s iconic destinations and travel experiences. New Orleans. The Matterhorn. Pirates plundering the Caribbean. Huck and Tom on the Mississippi River. Then there’s California Adventure, an entire theme park that revolves around some of the state’s best known attractions. Even Disney’s $7.5 billion deal for Pixar supports the point. After all, aren’t “Toy Story” and “Finding Nemo,” at heart, about epic journeys?
Cunard Offers Queen Mary 2 Passengers a Full Refund*
by Jim Benning | 01.26.06 | 5:24 PM ET
If you’ve been following the story, you know that guests aboard the fabled luxury liner this week have been threatening a sit-in when the ship arrives in Rio to protest Cunard’s offer of a 50 percent refund after three port stops were cancelled. But reports CruiseCritic.com this afternoon: “Cunard has increased the original compensation offered to guests disembarking in Rio, which was a 50 percent refund. These guests now have two options: Receive a refund of full cruise fare including air, or take 50 percent of their refund in cash, plus another 75 percent as a future cruise credit for another Queen Mary 2 departure between now and the end of December 2007.”
Rejoice! Man Takes Revenge on Loud and Obnoxious Traveler Talking on a Mobile Phone!
by Michael Yessis | 01.25.06 | 1:02 AM ET
Short of the criminal act of grabbing someone’s mobile phone and hurling it across Concourse C, this just might be the best way that we’ve ever heard of to get revenge on an insufferable phone user. It comes from Jane L. Levere’s story in today’s New York Times about the rise in rude behavior among travelers.
World Hum’s Not-So-Exclusive Interview with a Defiant Queen Mary 2 Passenger
by Jim Benning | 01.24.06 | 9:18 PM ET
When we heard that passengers aboard the Queen Mary 2 were threatening to mutiny after propeller problems led to canceled port stops, we began linking to news reports. Then this afternoon, 61-year-old Brian Adler of Manchester, England posted a comment to our site—from the very wired QM2 itself. He wasn’t a happy cruiser. “The ship is very bumpy due to reduced employment of stabilisers to maintain speed so that the 1500 boarding at Rio will not be inconvenienced at all,” he wrote. “Many passengers have been seasick.” After exchanging e-mails with Adler, we dialed him up via satellite phone. (“Queen Mary 2,” a ship operator answered in a suprisingly chirpy British accent before patching us through to his cabin.) Adler spoke to us as the ship steamed toward Rio de Janeiro, where he is considering joining other passengers in staging a protest Friday before disembarking and returning home.
World Hum: Sorry to hear about the cruise.
Adler: It’s very sad, really, the way things have turned out. We just needed a bit of cooperation from Cunard and everything could have been sorted out.
What Country’s Citizens Take the Most Foreign Trips?
by Jim Benning | 01.24.06 | 12:38 PM ET
The answer is surprising. Germany is number one, and changes are coming to the number two and three slots. According to an interesting Reuters report on CNN, “Last year, Germans alone accounted for over 86.6 million trips abroad, with Britons in second place (65.3 million) and Americans trailing in third (58.3 million).”
