Taking off Travel blog

Travel Strategy

The big news in travel in the past week was the announcement of initiatives to improve travel and tourism in the US. The industry accounted for 7.5 million jobs in 2010 and 2.7% of GDP.  Among the measures announced were the easing of restrictions for regular travelers who pass a background check, resulting in lower waiting times at airports, an increase in the number of countries from which visitors can enter without a visa and quicker processing for visitors from countries like China and Brazil. There will also be an interagency task force to develop a National Travel and Tourism Strategy. See the video below for more info:

Response from the industry has been largely positive, as a snapshot from Travel Market Report reveals. In particular, many felt that the industry was at last being respected as a major force in the US economy.

Sustainable Travel Finalists

The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) has announced the finalists in the 2012 Tourism for Tomorrow Awards, which recognize sustainable travel initiatives industry wide.  There are four categories: destination stewardship, global tourism business, conservation and community benefit. The finalists are

Destination Stewardship

• Destination Røros, Norway

• Misool Eco Resort, Indonesia

• Tanabe City, Japan

Global Tourism Business

• Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts, Singapore

• REI Adventures, USA
• Wilderness, South Africa

Conservation

• Cheli & Peacock, Kenya

• Inkaterra Peru, Peru

• NamibRand Safaris: Wolwedans Collection, Namibia

Community Benefit

• Saunders Hotel Group, USA

• Soria Moria Boutique Hotel, Cambodia

• The Thailand Community Tourism Based Institute, Thailand

The next stage of the 3-stage judging process includes on-site visits to the finalists. The winners will be recognized at WTTC’s global summit in Tokyo, Japan, to be held from 16-19 April.

No More Hidden Travel Fees

In other news, new protections for air passengers are about to come into force. These mean that when you book and pay for a ticket, that’s the price you should pay. Airlines will have to include fees and taxes in the price they are advertising (only the mandatory ones), and to disclose the costs of the optional extras. Once a flight is purchased, the price stays the same. (Full story on NewsNet5.)

Want discount airport parking ? Find out about our airport parking coupon here.

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We’re all accustomed to getting around our home country using menial methods of transportation that have defined the act of transporting oneself between point A and Point B as exceedingly boring. However, locations around the world have become iconic for their alternative take on transport, and this can make our travels more eventful and exciting simply taking a trip between two locations. Although in many cases this involves a hideous violation of any concerns for one’s health and safety, we will not focus purely on these (sorry South East Asia) but will also incorporate flash, stylish and romantic ways of arriving at our destination. It is up to you though on whether you deem it flash or foolish.

The Family Scooter

Scooters are common forms of transport the world over. In most countries the scooter is a 1-2 seater form of transport, but lax rules of health and safety in developing nations means that families of 3, 4 or even 5 can be seen whizzing around. With simple engines that are cheap and reliable, the scooter covers terrain from the congested urban metropolis to the unpaved, muddy and step mountain trail.

Tuk Tuk

Due to its loyal serving of Bangkok, Thailand, this is often the first weird method of transport that travelers to the popular South East Asia experience. The cheerful name serves as an ideal sales call from the many Tuk Tuk drivers and their daring and exciting driving practices make riding a Tuk Tuk an experience never to forget. Cheap prices abound, travelers must be wary of a deal too good to be true. Often, Tuk Tuk drivers will deposit you outside an entertainment venue with the offer of a return trip for a mere 20 Baht. However, the venue is always more expensive to get into than originally promised and when you leave, your Tuk Tuk driver is never there. This results in having to pay an incredibly higher price to one of the few present drivers to get back to your original location. Read more »

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It may not be a federal holiday, but there will still be a lot of people celebrating Chinese New Year on January 23 as the Year of the Rabbit comes to an end and the Year of the Dragon begins. Known as Pinyin (the Spring Festival) in China, it’s the country’s most important traditional holiday. It’s also called the Lunar New Year, as the Chinese follow a lunar calendar. Everywhere where there’s a large Chinese population, there are celebrations, so if you want to see what it’s all about, check out your nearest Chinatown.

Chinese New Year Traditions

Traditions surrounding this celebration include cleaning the house to get rid of bad luck and make room for good luck which will come with the new year. There’s lots of red decoration and much talk of wealth, happiness and long life. There’s feasting and fireworks. On the day itself, children wish their parents a happy new year and get money in red paper envelopes. This is the time to forget past troubles and wish happiness and peace to everyone. Celebrations can last for a couple of weeks, traditionally ending with the Lantern Festival.

Interesting facts about the Chinese New Year

• Red is worn because the color was once thought to banish evil spirits.
• most people wear new clothes as a symbol of a new start and of prosperity
• the floral decorations used during the period have symbolize what people hope will happen during the year. For example the plum blossom means luck and the narcissus means prosperity.
• Sydney, Australia claims to have the largest Chinese New Year celebrations outside China. In North America, there are significant celebrations in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto and Vancouver.
• Some people believe that the Chinese calendar has been in use since the second millenium BC, but no one can agree on exactly when it started, so the coming year might be Chinese year 4709, but then again it might not.

Where to Celebrate the Chinese New Year in the US

I’m not going to attempt to list all the Chinese New Year celebrations nationwide, but here are some to consider when making travel plans:

• the Golden Dragon Parade in Los Angeles, now in its 113th year
• the Chinese New Year Festival and Parade in San Francisco
• the New York Chinese New Year celebrations

As for me, I’ll be looking forward to next year’s celebrations since I was born in the Year of the Snake.

Image: Chinese New Year parade, Vancouver, BC, 2007 The Chinese Freemasons Athletic Club

Want discount airport parking when visiting the Chinese New Year celebrations? Find out about our airport parking coupon here.

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Chicago O’Hare (ORD) Airport Photos

Chicago O’Hare (ORD) Airport is one of our most popular off airport parking locations. So popular, in fact, that we’ve just added another parking lot, Blue Sky Parking, to our more than 150 locations nationwide. We don’t often think of airports as beautiful, but these photos from ORD airport show that they can be.

First up, Caged Sky by Clearly Ambiguous – doesn’t the blue seem to reverberate when you look at it?

Next, the Web of Color by San Diego Shooter – we often pass these areas and don’t even notice. I know I did.

Read more »

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Love to travel with your pet? Then you will enjoy the first of our travel blogger profiles this year. Teresa Matsui Sanders is the founder of DogWonderful, which focuses on pet friendly travel and accommodation, and a veteran travel industry professional.

Teresa, what’s your travel background?

I come to my online presence via 20+ years as a hotel owner & operator.  I founded my company, InnWorks, back in 1990 to manage a portfolio of 21 smaller hotels in 10 states, coast to coast.  In that time, I learned the ins and outs of the travel industry from the hotelier’s perspective.  Due to a variety of circumstances – business & personal – I decided in mid-2011 to leave hotel management and instead turn to online travel distribution.  I started with one site, DogWonderful, and am hoping to expand to multiple niche travel websites.

What’s different about your blog or site ?

DogWonderful combines a full-service travel booking engine with high-quality content which includes numerous destination articles penned by professional travel writers as well as informative pieces from well-known authorities such as celebrity veterinarian Dr. Bernadine Cruz and our charity partners.  I found that most other pet-travel websites lack quality content or their booking mechanisms are a little clunky.

What’s the most unexpected thing that has ever happened to you when you traveled and how did you handle it?

Fortunately, I’ve not had any horrific experiences while traveling!  Probably the worst thing was as an exchange student one summer I traveled to Europe without my Green Card.  When all the kids were assembling in preparation for our return trip to the States, the sponsors realized I had my Japanese passport but no Green Card.  Consequently, I was left behind while everyone else flew back home.  Read more »

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