As Tropical Storm Gustav approaches, the Gulf Coast's tourism industry is gearing up for the key holiday weekend while keeping a wary eye on the storm and preparing for the mixed bag it may bring next week.
From treks in the Arctic circle to luxury "eco-lodges" in Costa Rica, there are many types of vacations and holiday companies that like to highlight just how much they care about the environment.
Ecotourism represents a set of principles that have been successfully implemented in various global communities, and are supported by extensive industry and academic research. The following definition of ecotourism, established by TIES in 1990, is the most widely used and recognized definition of ecotourism: "responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people" (TIES, 1990). Ecotourism is an important and growing segment of the global tourism industry that is making significant positive contributions to the environmental, social, cultural and economic well-being of destinations and local communities around the world. Furthermore, ecotourism has provided an impetus to assist in greening the tourism industry on many fronts.
An ad campaign aimed to lure gay tourist dollars stokes a furor in the Palmetto State
Flying solo? Prepare to pay up.
A balmy breeze gently blows across the beach, with the warm, clear water of the Pacific Ocean just a few feet away. It's a place honeymooners and families go to get away from it all. But these days, things aren't so perfect in paradise.
Violence in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince is holding back the nation's dreams of building a viable tourism industry, despite its success in neighboring Caribbean nations
ShoreTrips' business is booming, so you'd think owners Julie and Barry Karp could relax a bit. The couple developed a niche - arranging land tours for Caribbean cruise ship travelers. While cruise vessels have been disgorging hordes of passengers into ports and onto buses and walking tours for decades, their operators faced increased competition from landlubbers when the Karps founded their firm in 2001.
Who needs a travel agent anymore?
As Tropical Storm Gustav approaches, the Gulf Coast's tourism industry is gearing up for the key holiday weekend while keeping a wary eye on the storm and preparing for the mixed bag it may bring next week.
From treks in the Arctic circle to luxury "eco-lodges" in Costa Rica, there are many types of vacations and holiday companies that like to highlight just how much they care about the environment.
Ecotourism represents a set of principles that have been successfully implemented in various global communities, and are supported by extensive industry and academic research. The following definition of ecotourism, established by TIES in 1990, is the most widely used and recognized definition of ecotourism: "responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people" (TIES, 1990). Ecotourism is an important and growing segment of the global tourism industry that is making significant positive contributions to the environmental, social, cultural and economic well-being of destinations and local communities around the world. Furthermore, ecotourism has provided an impetus to assist in greening the tourism industry on many fronts.
An ad campaign aimed to lure gay tourist dollars stokes a furor in the Palmetto State
Flying solo? Prepare to pay up.
A balmy breeze gently blows across the beach, with the warm, clear water of the Pacific Ocean just a few feet away. It's a place honeymooners and families go to get away from it all. But these days, things aren't so perfect in paradise.
Violence in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince is holding back the nation's dreams of building a viable tourism industry, despite its success in neighboring Caribbean nations
ShoreTrips' business is booming, so you'd think owners Julie and Barry Karp could relax a bit. The couple developed a niche - arranging land tours for Caribbean cruise ship travelers. While cruise vessels have been disgorging hordes of passengers into ports and onto buses and walking tours for decades, their operators faced increased competition from landlubbers when the Karps founded their firm in 2001.
Who needs a travel agent anymore?
In honor of his last big family vacation before his son graduates from high school and joins the Marines, Mark Fitzgerald booked a trip to Hawaii this summer.
Mick Fleming arrived by dugout canoe; Lucy Fleming on horseback a day later.
Despite the recent spate of airline cancellations and record gas prices, Americans don't appear to be abandoning their summer travel plans.
When tour operators such as Traveland implode, their customers get burned. Here's what to do if ...
The North African country with the fastest growth rate in tourism sent out a clear message that its own private sector will now play a more prominent role in developing its all-important travel industry, indicating that it is ready to use expertise acquired over several decades of steady growth to spearhead new initiatives that would put a large number of unknown sub-Saharan countries on the map.
Thinking of taking a cruise? Then you picked the right time -- and you're reading the right story.
Travel is the world's biggest business and one of its fastest-growing too. But hotels, resorts, airlines and cruise lines have been slow to grapple with the huge environmental and social consequences of what they do.
I just enjoyed a brainstorming breakfast with a "tour organizer consultant." He's shrewd because tour organizers across the United States think he's smart, hire him, and discuss their situation with him. Therefore he knows everyone's business and can give excellent advice to competing tour companies. Anyone considering booking a tour might enjoy an overview of tour trends and an insight into how organizers sharpen their marketing. Here's a bit of what I learned between the omelet and the English muffin:
Tourism industry leaders will propose a $10 fee for visitors from England, France, Germany and 24 other "visa waiver countries" -- money that would be spent to promote travel to the United States and to pay for ways to ease border inspection bottlenecks, it was announced Friday.
Worries about inflation are tugging at the U.S. economy again, as consumers pay more for everything from gas to groceries. But that's not the only place where our purchasing power is declining.
Rising gas prices got you down? The travel industry wants to help.
The U.S. currency is king no more, but not everyone is spilling tears over the dollar's decline.
California is the top destination for travelers whose vacation plans include food festivals, wine tours and other culinary pursuits, according to a new study from the Travel Industry Association.
Travel industry leaders meeting in Washington Wednesday said they want the U.S. government to stop treating tourists like terrorists, and to take steps to reverse a steep decline in overseas travel to the United States that followed the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Adventure was the goal when John and Karen Lewis liquidated their assets to buy a large tract of Costa Rican rainforest in 1990.
This year, David and Laurie Bergthold, of Oceanside, California, are celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary -- surprising to some, considering the couple got engaged after knowing each other only four months, and were married four months after that.
Who hasn't looked up at the stars and wondered what it must be like to travel through space? Only a fortunate few have made the trip, and at enormous cost. But soon, the excitement and adventure may be within reach of many more of us.
Posted: September 25, 2006
Travelers seem to have a healthy appetite for culinary tourism, whether it involves making caldo verde or sipping Cabernet Sauvignon.
The basics of ecotourism are fairly easy to grasp: Businesses that cater to tourists follow special policies to protect the environment, aid the local community and educate travelers.
A note from Erick Schonfeld: After six years of writing Future Boy, I'm handing the reins to my colleague Chris Taylor to focus on features for the magazine and my B2Day blog, which you can also subscribe to by e-mail or RSS. Taylor shares my interest in the Internet and new media, but he's also interested in other boundaries of technology, like space, the subject of his first Future Boy column.
Tourism officials in the hurricane-battered Mexican state of Quintana Roo hope to have 80 percent of the accommodations and amenities in the affected Caribbean coast resorts fully operational by February.
A good travel agent was once a valuable friend to the business traveler, finding last minute plane seats, comfortable hotels and making the frantic calls needed when plans suddenly change.
Mexican authorities were still assessing the damage from Hurricane Wilma as they worked to get aid to the storm-ravaged Yucatan Peninsula, but the country's tourism minister said the region stands to lose hundreds of millions of dollars.
Next time you are in Hong Kong for business, you may want to take a tour of the city using your mobile phone.
Britain's tourist industry was bracing itself for a significant drop in the numbers of overseas visitors in the wake of this month's bomb attacks on the capital's transport system.
Libya. Rwanda. Croatia. Nicaragua. We expect to see these names on the evening news, not travel brochures. A war or another well-publicized horror can keep tourists away for generations, but these ...
On the 83-kilometer ferry journey towards the town of Yangshuo, in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, our guide for the day pulled us aside to introduce the wonders of the Li River.
Fine food has always been a prime reason to leave home. For many tourists, epicurean delights are a main ingredient in their recipes for vacation fun.
CNN International is examining the economic impact of the Indian Ocean tsunami on the region. And we are asking for your questions on how the disaster has affected the vital tourism industry.
One of only two people to pay their own way into space says space tourism will become an integral part of the industry, eventually leading to more trips to the moon.
Within Barry Diller's online empire, InterActiveCorp, there's no business more vital than IAC Travel—which makes Erik Blachford his most important lieutenant. Overseeing Expedia, Hotels.com, Hotwir...
Can you build a business on a dream?
The travel industry is hoping a new charm offensive will attract more sophisticated tourists and high-spending business travelers to the British capital.
If anyone could get you a sweet deal on a vacation to Rome, you'd think it would be New Jersey-based Perillo Tours. After all, the company's website says it "pioneered the concept of the package to...
Athletes have dedicated years, even decades, to practicing and training, inching their way, one competition after another, closer to next month's Olympic Games in Athens. You, on the other hand, ca...
References to eco-tours are popping up in magazines, guidebooks and ads for everything from rainforest tours in Bangladesh to birding trips through Oaxaca, Mexico.
Record-high gas prices aren't putting a dent in Americans' travel plans this Memorial Day weekend, or their plans for more expensive vacations this summer.
With 10 more countries about to swell the ranks of the EU come May 1, the one business sector likely to get a boost is the travel industry -- both for leisure and business.
For travelers, it is the best of times. Discount airlines are rapidly expanding, bringing their low fares, simple pricing, and perks like extra legroom and live TV to dozens of cities and hundreds ...
WHAT'S THAT CREAKING NOISE? The days are dark and cold, and everything and everybody seems worn down--that's the sound of midwinter.
I'm worried about Michael. In fact, all I can think about is Michael Jordan and his deeply bruised right thigh. I wonder if the trainer is taking good care of him. I wonder if he's been stretching ...
Super-low cruise prices, which were the norm in the post-9/11 travel lull, have sailed off into the sunset. Among other reasons: Travelers started taking notice of the growing number of ships departing port cities that were previously unassociated with cruising, like Baltimore and Seattle.
When Delta announced in March that it would eliminate travel agent commissions, and five major carriers followed suit, you probably figured the move would cost you money. You were right. Expect to ...
You've no doubt heard stories about what it's been like to travel since Sept. 11. Interminable lines snaking through airports. Rifle-toting National Guardsmen. Random bag checks and body searches. ...
When Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery opened in 1838, it was only the third large, landscaped cemetery in America. As such, it was not an immediate hit with the people of New York City, who were used...
What a great time to be an American--an American tourist, that is. Even though many world economies have started to recover from the 1998 global meltdown, dozens of destinations remain on sale for ...
One of the ironies of modern travel is that, although we typically spend thousands of dollars on a vacation, it's often the first $15 or so that we lay out--for a guidebook--that ends up determinin...
In 1799, 12-year-old Conrad Reed was wandering down by a creek on his family's North Carolina farm when he found a large yellow rock. He'd never seen anything like it, and neither had his father, J...
Why, despite the explosion of travel information on the Web, does it seem harder than ever to be sure you're getting a good deal?
Okay, you'd like to travel overseas. And you're weighing the exotic appeal of exploring a foreign country against the daunting task of planning such a trip. You want to get the most out of your vac...
Long before packing his bags for a three-week summer vacation to Europe, Dave Hatunen traveled to the World Wide Web. He downloaded city maps and railway schedules, made plans for the theater in Lo...
So you thought trip traumas explode only in Chevy Chase movies? Well, repack that suitcase. Consider Camarillo, Calif. husband and wife Cindy Marks, 37, and Jon LeConey, 43 (right). Last September,...
Travel agents vowed to pull the wings off Delta Air Lines and its CEO, Ron Allen, after the airline put a $50 cap on commissions for domestic flights.
Friendly skies? Fiendish skies is more like it. As 1995 takes off, the U.S. airline industry is lumbering away from what looks like its fourth straight year of monumental losses. The red ink since ...
The U.S. may play host to a record number of foreign visitors this summer, as the booming U.S. tourist industry gets an extra kick from the World Cup. And while the overseas guests enjoy their own ...
Wouldn't you rather have a hotel suite with a view of the sea for the price of a puny room overlooking the parking lot? Or a sporty compact convertible instead of a dull economy-size rental, at no ...
Tour packages may be your low-priced ticket to an ever more sophisticated and shrinking world. The old image of regiments of retirees marching through a dozen European capitals in as many days has ...
Confused and confounded by today's fast-changing travel packages and prices? Here's a solution: team up with a dedicated travel agent who can save you hundreds of dollars -- and steer you around tr...
All travelers may have undeniable rights to the comfort and convenience they pay for, but that hardly means suppliers automatically deliver. ''You must assert yourself,'' says San Francisco travel ...
An airline war suddenly erupted in March. Overnight, newspaper ads fairly shrieked with come-ons: ROUND TRIP TO LONDON FOR $318 . . . DENVER TO HONOLULU FOR $446. An industry watchdog, editor Ed Pe...
Hikes in air fares and park passes make travel to Walt Disney World harder than ever on the wallet this season. Still, Orlando -- with 76,260 hotel and motel rooms (6,000 more than New York City) -...
A quick quiz: You are going skiing for the weekend. The car is packed. Your - friends in snow country are ready to receive you. Just as you head out the door, your travel agent calls to say he's fo...
Next time you want to check out a new travel agent, use this simple test. Tell the agent that you and your spouse need a vacation. Someplace warm and relaxing but with night life. Ballpark of $3,00...
With a record 455 million people flying last year -- nearly double the number just a decade ago -- you might think that U.S. airlines would be reaping windfall profits. They're not, and that's the ...
When a one-inch-by-one-inch ad in your Sunday newspaper promises a round-trip flight to Paris for only $400, or to Tokyo for $600, is it too good to be true? Not necessarily. The slack demand for f...
You enter the travel agency to book a budget weekend trip, but the agent won't even talk to you until you pay a $20 service charge. When you express vague interest in a South Seas jaunt later in th...
THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY is scrambling to cope with the millions of missing tourists and business travelers scared away from Europe by the threat of terrorism. Companies that work both sides of the Atla...
ALBANIA IS OUT -- ''No U.S. citizens are admitted,'' harrumphs a spokesman at its mission to the United Nations. So is Libya. Otherwise, the world beckons U.S. tourists and their robust dollars mor...
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