Travelography #134: Barack Obama's Travel and Tourism Impact

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Stories discussed in this podcast are from the Travelography Twitter Blog for the week of 3 November 2008. This podcast is also available at Blubrry.com and Travelgeography.info.

• Will Obama's holiday habits catch on?

  President-elect and body-surfing fan Barack Obama could break the [previous] trend of White House incumbents by travelling overseas for his holidays. As well as trips to Hawaii to catch a few waves and take walks along the beach with his wife and children,

• Officials Aim To Use Inaugural To Promote Hawaii

  ...national media already are generating interest in Hawaii sites connected to Obama. It likely won't be long before local tour companies are offering tours of Obama's childhood neighborhood, his grandparents' apartment and where he went to school.

• For Inaugural, Obama Faithful Say It's Washington or Bust

  Despite some rates surpassing the $1,000 per night mark, rooms are also booking, on average, three times faster than for the last inauguration, according to the travel Web site Expedia.com. Many hotels have imposed two- and three-night minimum stays.

• Thousands clamour to see realisation of dream

  Officials said the crowd could surpass the 1.2 million who attended Lyndon Johnson's inauguration in 1965. Senator Obama's election set off an instant desire to see his inauguration and frenetic efforts last week to be present for what will be a milestone in American history.

• Barack Obama factor boosts US tourism

  A [UK] Telegraph poll shows that 80 per cent of readers are more likely to visit the US now than they were before the presidential election. Until now many Telegraph readers have said they have been put off the US by its draconian border security arrangements and the foreign policy decisions made by George Bush.

• Some Truth To An Irish O'Bama?

  Moneygall, a town of 300 on the road between Dublin and Limerick, says that Barack Obama's great, great, great grandfather was born there and hopes for an onslaught of American tourism.

• Illinois Banks on Obama Buzz to Boost Tourism

  "experience the city the Obamas enjoy." The Illinois Bureau of Tourism plans to launch a three-day getaway promotion featuring Barack Obama sites.

• Hotel prices, bookings soar for inauguration

  ...a $20,000 "Live Like a President" package. It includes tickets to an inaugural event, replica of an inauguration ball meal prepared by a personal chef, in-room massage and $1,000 shopping spree. There's a sanitizer (to combat germy glad-handing) and lip balm to aid in baby-kissing.

• Jamaica may suffer ... If US lifts Cuban embargo

  On Wednesday, the United Nations General Assembly voted to lift the American trade embargo on Cuba. The vote in the 192-member world body was 185 to three, with two abstentions. The US, Israel and Palau voted no, while Micronesia and the Marshall Islands abstained.

• Japan’s hottest new tourist destination: Obama

  “We started this as a joke,” said Yasunori Maeno of the “Obama for Obama” campaign he helped organize. “But as we came to know more about him … and his emphasis on community, the more we liked him. It is important to love the place you are from and to work to promote it.”

• Obama may mean higher airline labor costs, fewer route auctions

  Obama's mediation board may take steps such as granting quicker releases from mediation, which would let unions start countdowns to possible strikes sooner, said Andrew Steinberg, former transportation assistant secretary under President George W. Bush.

Travelography #118: Travel Woes and the Jamaican Bobsled Returns

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Stories discussed in this podcast are from the Travelography Twitter Blog for the week of 1 July 2008:

1. Car rental companies issue profit warning

   "...As with the entire industry, we are confronting rising fuel costs, weaker-than-expected enplanements, lower commercial travel volumes and lower time and mileage rates per day," said [the Avis Budget Group Inc] Chairman

2. Yellowstone reports record June visitation

   Visitation to Yellowstone National Park hit a new record in June, and is on a near-record pace for the first six months of the year. Park officials say Yellowstone recorded more than 612,000 recreational visits last month.

3. Rental Upgrade to Gas Guzzler? No T'anks

   When I went to the counter, they had upgraded me from a compact to a big SUV at the same price [as my compact reservation]. After arguing with the counter person, the manager came out...He then explained that all they had left were the big SUV.

4. China doubles the price of its tourist visas ahead of Olympics

   Many hotels in Beijing are struggling to find guests, some large travel agencies have temporarily closed branches, and people scheduled to travel here for seminars and conferences are cancelling...

5. Business Travel Coalition warns congress about airline industry failure

   "Unless something is done to move toward some kind of fix, we're going to see every one of our major airlines in bankruptcy....Virtually all airlines will be out of cash by early in 2009 if oil stays in its current range."

6. Canada's tourism industry on verge of crisis

   Many things have been blamed for recent downturn of the Canadian tourism industry including gas prices, the high Canadian dollar, the downturn in the U.S. economy, 9-11 and the SARS crisis.

7. New [US] Airline Passengers Rights Bill A Victory

   ...These plans must detail how the air carrier will provide food, water, restroom facilities, ventilation, and necessary medical treatment for passengers on board an aircraft that is on the ground for an extended time period without terminal access.

8. Bhutan increases tourism tariff for foreign tourists

   The country will increase daily tariff for tourists entering the country by US$50...from $200 to $250 [to offset the deline in the US$ and increase in tour operating costs]. However, the revised tariff will be applicable only during the peak seasons.

9. Australia | Desperately seeking a tourist trap

   Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has pilloried the previous government's "so where the bloody hell are you" tourism campaign, calling it a "rolled-gold disaster". Tourism Australia is expected to announce the name of the advertising agency this week that will...

10. TripAdvisor acquires VirtualTourist and OneTime

    TripAdvisor, the world's largest travel community and an operating company of Expedia, announced it has acquired VirtualTourist.com, Inc., a leader in user-generated travel content since 1999, and OneTime.com, Inc., a leader in travel booking comparison.

11. New Zealand tourism revenue hits record

    International tourism contributed $6.7 billion to total New Zealand exports, and domestic tourism expenditure was $8.6 billion, the agency said. International visitors increased 2.8 percent to 2.5 million in the year to March 2007...

12. Unique bobsled tourist attraction opens in Jamaica

    The expansive multi-million-dollar tourism attraction features an exciting and unique Jamaican Bobsled ride through the lush tropical forest, a chairlift journey over the verdant countryside, a zip-line canopy adventure through the treetops, an island...

Travelography #116: Carry-On Baggage Police + Other Innovations

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Stories discussed in this podcast are from the Travelography Twitter Blog for the week of 16 June 2008:

1. Olympic Fever in Xinjiang

   With the Beijing Olympic torch expected in Xinjiang on its nationwide tour, authorities have also confiscated the passports of some Muslims, Uighurs told AFP. "They are afraid people might travel abroad and join some sort of plot against the Olympics,"

2. Murders prompt warning to Jamaica tourists

   After three people were murdered in Jamaica last weekend, travellers to the island were warned not to hire self-drive cars but instead to take organised tours and taxis.

3. Orbitz to automatically refund travelers when their airfares drop

   If that happens, Orbitz will issue a refund for the difference, between $5 and $250 per traveler. Orbitz will continue tracking until the day of the customer's flight. Each time the price drops and another customer books, the refund amount will increase.

4. Turkish private airline restarts regular flights to Nothern Iraq

   Although Arbil is a high-risk area in terms of security, charter companies have always been interested in flying to the region because of the high profitability.

5. The carry-on-baggage police will soon be out in force at US airports

   American and United will station airline employees or hired contract workers at entrances to security screening lanes to intercept customers exceeding the carry-on limit of one bag small enough to fit in an overhead bin and one personal item like a purse>

6. 60 percent of couples fight on holiday

   The reasons for holiday tiffs differ enormously throughout Europe. With their latin temperaments, the Spanish are especially prone to react aggressively to their partners’ flirting: 60 percent of them named jealousy as the reason for arguments.

7. Top 10 travel innovations of the past 10 years

   So many ideas came in that they put the 20 finalists to a vote at BudgetTravel.com - results: Online maps, Digital cameras, Online checkin, GPS, Worldwide ATMs, Cell phones, Global Internet access, TripAdvisor, Online booking, and Roller bags