Hertz, Nickelodeon Team For Kids' Sake
Travel Briefs
From Local, Wire Reports
NEW YORK - If you're renting a car from Hertz, you can also rent a media player packed with programming from Nickelodeon to entertain the kids.
The cost is $17 a day, and if you rent for five days, you get days six and seven free.
Hertz began offering the media player, called "Nick on the Go," on Dec. 15 at airports in Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago (O'Hare), Dallas/Fort Worth, Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, Oakland, Orange County, Orlando, Palm Beach, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle and Tampa. Hertz plans to add 25 more locations where the unit will be available in 2008.
"Nick on the Go" is preloaded with more than 40 hours of episodes from shows such as "SpongeBob SquarePants," "Drake & Josh," "Unfabulous," "Zoey 101," "Dora the Explorer," "Blue's Clues" and others.
"Nick on the Go" uses touch-screen technology and can either be taken with you and used as a handheld portable device, or mounted on the back of the front seats for backseat viewing. It comes with a rechargeable battery and charger.
You can reserve the unit by calling 800-654-3131.
High Rise For Hotel Prices?
NEW YORK - Be prepared to pay more for a hotel room next year, according to the annual lodging industry report from PricewaterhouseCoopers' Hospitality & Leisure Practice, which was released Dec. 13.
Hotel rates increased 7.5 percent in 2006, and are likely to finish 2007 with a 5.7 percent increase, according to spokesman Bjorn Hansen. For 2008, the price of a hotel room is forecast to go up another 5.6 percent, he said.
Hansen said that while occupancy for hotels was down a bit overall for the year, travelers do not appear to be "trading down," or staying in less expensive hotels than they normally would. "They seem to be paying the prices appropriate for their preferences in levels of service and amenity," Hansen said.
Nicaragua's Latest Hot Spot
MANAGUA, Nicaragua - Peer into a steamy crater, kayak in thermal waters, hike up a mountain rising 4,000 feet from a flat coastal plain, or slide down a slope of black sand.
These are some of the adventures available to travelers exploring Nicaragua's volcanoes, dubbed the "Ring of Fire" by the Central American nation's tourism board.
For example, you can hike up the Momotombo volcano, a cone rising 4,200 feet above Lake Nicaragua. Or visit the Masaya volcano, in a national park 45 minutes from Managua, where you can look inside a steamy crater.
On the island of Ometepe, you'll find twin volcanoes - Maderas, which is extinct, its crater filled with a lagoon in a cloud forest, and Concepcion, which is still active and has slopes covered by a tropical dry forest. On Cerro Negro, which erupted just eight years ago, you can "volcano surf," descending the black slope on ski-like boards. At the Mombacho volcano, you can see orchids in the tropical cloud forest at the top and coffee plantations on the land below.
A variety of tours are available to help you experience Nicaraguas "Ring of Fire." For more information, contact the Nicaragua Tourism Board at 888-733-6422 or visit http://www.vianica.com.
Party Calendar Offerings
NEW YORK - The new year always starts with celebrations around the world, and Outside magazine's January issue offers a list of events to keep you partying through 2008. Here are a few of them.
Kitzbuhel, Austria, Jan. 18-20: Annual ski party to celebrate the Hahnenkamm downhill race.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Feb. 2-5: The legendary carnival with floats, dancers and parades.
Hong Kong, March 28-30: A rugby tournament with teams of seven, instead of the traditional 15 players.
Louisville, Ky., May 3: Kentucky Derby, the famed horse race.
Manchester, Tenn., June 12-15: Bonnaroo, the summertime band festival.
Glastonbury, England, June 27-29: Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, Europe's largest music and arts festival.
Pamplona, Spain, July 6-14: Fiesta de San Fermin, the famous running of the bulls.
Sturgis, S.D., Aug. 4-10: Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, which draws several hundred thousand bikers.
Black Rock City, Nev., Aug. 25-Sept. 1: Burning Man, the free-for-all arts carnival in the desert.
Pictures Worth The Trip
SARASOTA, Fla. - If you've always wondered about that little village in Ireland or Germany that your great-grandma came from, but you can't make the trip yourself, James Derheim will go there for you.
Derheim travels around Europe, photographing ancestral villages for those interested in their family history. He has been offering his unusual service for 17 years through his company, http://www.europeanfocus.com. Customers receive a portfolio (both on a CD and color prints) of 30 pictures, including landscapes, buildings, churches and any other places that might be relevant to their family. Derheim chooses the places that he photographs based on whatever details clients can provide about their ancestors' background, religion and the years they lived in a particular place.
Starting rates range from $450-$1,000 depending on the country. If you're interested in a second town near the first location, Derheim can usually add those photos for another $300. "Lots of peoples' great-grandfather came from one village and their great-grandmother came from another nearby village," he explained.
He also offers custom-designed trips to let you to walk in your ancestors' footsteps.
He routinely offers his services in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and Wales, and can arrange to work elsewhere by special request.
Derheim spends April through November in Europe and the rest of the year in Sarasota, Fla.
Anthony's House Restored
ADAMS, Mass. (AP) - A house in Adams will be transformed over the next 14 months to look as it did in 1820 - the year Susan B. Anthony was born there.
The founder of the women's rights movement lived in the federal-styled home until the age of 7, when her family moved to New York state.
The house stood vacant when it was purchased in August 2006 by Carol Crossed and designated as the Susan B. Anthony Birthplace and Museum.
Plans for the house include adding a period fence and restoring windows on the south-facing facade.
Crossed calls Anthony one of the most significant women in US history. She founded the women's suffrage movement, which culminated in 1920 with passage of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote.
Details at http://www.susanbanthonybirthplace.com.
Hunting In Cambodia Park?
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - The Cambodian government is studying a Spanish company's proposal to convert a huge tract of jungle in the country's wild northeast into a game hunting park for big-spending tourists, a wildlife protection official said.
The Madrid-based NSOK Safaris company wants to use 247,100 acres in Rattanakiri province, which is home to an abundance of wildlife, including several endangered species, as well as several indigenous tribal minorities. The province is about 200 miles from the capital Phnom Penh.
The project envisages bungalows and luxury lodging built "for high-class, VIP tourists...or professional hunters," said Dany Chheang, deputy director of the Wildlife Protection Office of Cambodia's Agriculture Ministry.
NSOK made the proposal more than two years ago, but it remains unclear how much money it would invest in the project and when it could launch, he said.
Tourism is now one of Cambodia's major foreign exchange earners. But land disputes have become common between the rich and indigenous people, who are under pressure to give up their ancestral land to commercial developers.
Dany Chheang said setting up hunting safaris fits the government's efforts "to diversify options for eco-tourism activity in Cambodia."
He said about 30 types of animals, including deer, pigs and wild boar as well as reptiles and birds, could be put up for hunting, but shooting tigers would not be allowed.
Chris Greenwood, a spokesman from the World Wildlife Fund in Cambodia, called on the government to release more information about the plan. "Anything that threatens the survival of already endangered species is not a good thing for conservation in Cambodia," he said.
Crime Hurting New Orleans Tourism
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Amid misperceptions about New Orleans 27 months after Hurricane Katrina, the cold hard fact of a crime wave is creating headaches for tourism officials.
Just over half of respondents to a University of New Orleans poll released Dec. 10 rated the city a 1, 2 or 3 in crime on a scale of 10, with 1 being "the worst city in the U.S." The poll of 775 people was taken Nov. 29-Dec. 4 and gauged the impressions of Americans outside Louisiana. Its margin of error was plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.
So far in 2007, New Orleans had had at least 200 murders, nearly 40 more than all of 2006.
And in an alarming note for tourism, roughly one-third of respondents to the UNO poll said they were "extremely unlikely" to visit the city for "business or pleasure" over the next two years.
"We can't dismiss it and say it's not true. We know New Orleans has a crime problem," Mary Beth Romig, spokeswoman for the New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau, said. "All we can say is, statistics continue to point to the fact that much of the crime is taking place in historically crime-ridden parts of the city.
The UNO poll found that one-third of respondents believed the French Quarter was among areas hardest hit by Katrina. In fact, the area emerged virtually unscathed. And 26.5 percent of respondents also wrongly believed parts of the city remained under water.
The French Quarter and other downtown attractions are better destinations than before the storm, thanks to an effort to keep streets clean, said Mark Wilson, president of the French Quarter Business Association.
Tourism leaders have hosted visits for national tour operators and advertised. An estimated 6 million people are expected to visit by the time the year ends. That would be up from 3.8 million in 2006 but far short of the roughly 10 million who visited in 2004, a record year.
The next few weeks will thrust New Orleans into the national tourism spotlight with a series of college bowl games. Following closely will be Mardi Gras in February and then the National Basketball Association All-Star game.
Smoke-Free Oktoberfest
MUNICH, Germany (AP) - The German state of Bavaria has approved plans to introduce the country's toughest smoking restrictions in January, passing legislation that should see Munich's famed Oktoberfest go smoke-free.
The partial ban on smoking in the southeastern state will take effect Jan. 1 - the latest piece in an expanding patchwork of smoking restrictions in what has traditionally been one of western Europe's most nicotine-friendly countries.
The state legislature in Munich approved the plan by a 140-18 margin, with eight abstentions, after conservative lawmakers toughened the original proposal from the state government. Smoking in bars, restaurants, discos and state offices will be banned.
Unlike other states that have introduced bans, Bavaria will not allow for special rooms to be set aside for smokers at restaurants, and also will not exempt beer tents - including those at the Oktoberfest, Munich's annual celebration of the national brew.
Only private functions will be exempted.
---
Group to ski 17 Maine mountains in 3 1/2 days
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - A group of eight skiers is planning to whoosh down 17 of Maine's ski mountains over a 3 1/2-day span to promote the state's ski industry.
The event is scheduled for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend and is being organized by Ski Maine Association.
The challenge aims to make Mainers aware of the state's variety of places to ski and snowboard. Ski Maine Executive Director Greg Sweetser said the state's 17 member mountains have a total of 560 trails and 83 lifts.
The skiers will start at Spruce Mountain in Jay on Jan. 18 and end up at the Camden Snow Bowl on Jan. 21. In between, they will travel nearly 1,000 miles and ski 85 trails on 15 other mountains.
Details on skiing in Maine at Ski Maine Association, http://www.skimaine.com.
From Local, Wire Reports
NEW YORK - If you're renting a car from Hertz, you can also rent a media player packed with programming from Nickelodeon to entertain the kids.
The cost is $17 a day, and if you rent for five days, you get days six and seven free.
Hertz began offering the media player, called "Nick on the Go," on Dec. 15 at airports in Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago (O'Hare), Dallas/Fort Worth, Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, Oakland, Orange County, Orlando, Palm Beach, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle and Tampa. Hertz plans to add 25 more locations where the unit will be available in 2008.
"Nick on the Go" is preloaded with more than 40 hours of episodes from shows such as "SpongeBob SquarePants," "Drake & Josh," "Unfabulous," "Zoey 101," "Dora the Explorer," "Blue's Clues" and others.
"Nick on the Go" uses touch-screen technology and can either be taken with you and used as a handheld portable device, or mounted on the back of the front seats for backseat viewing. It comes with a rechargeable battery and charger.
You can reserve the unit by calling 800-654-3131.
High Rise For Hotel Prices?
NEW YORK - Be prepared to pay more for a hotel room next year, according to the annual lodging industry report from PricewaterhouseCoopers' Hospitality & Leisure Practice, which was released Dec. 13.
Hotel rates increased 7.5 percent in 2006, and are likely to finish 2007 with a 5.7 percent increase, according to spokesman Bjorn Hansen. For 2008, the price of a hotel room is forecast to go up another 5.6 percent, he said.
Hansen said that while occupancy for hotels was down a bit overall for the year, travelers do not appear to be "trading down," or staying in less expensive hotels than they normally would. "They seem to be paying the prices appropriate for their preferences in levels of service and amenity," Hansen said.
Nicaragua's Latest Hot Spot
MANAGUA, Nicaragua - Peer into a steamy crater, kayak in thermal waters, hike up a mountain rising 4,000 feet from a flat coastal plain, or slide down a slope of black sand.
These are some of the adventures available to travelers exploring Nicaragua's volcanoes, dubbed the "Ring of Fire" by the Central American nation's tourism board.
For example, you can hike up the Momotombo volcano, a cone rising 4,200 feet above Lake Nicaragua. Or visit the Masaya volcano, in a national park 45 minutes from Managua, where you can look inside a steamy crater.
On the island of Ometepe, you'll find twin volcanoes - Maderas, which is extinct, its crater filled with a lagoon in a cloud forest, and Concepcion, which is still active and has slopes covered by a tropical dry forest. On Cerro Negro, which erupted just eight years ago, you can "volcano surf," descending the black slope on ski-like boards. At the Mombacho volcano, you can see orchids in the tropical cloud forest at the top and coffee plantations on the land below.
A variety of tours are available to help you experience Nicaraguas "Ring of Fire." For more information, contact the Nicaragua Tourism Board at 888-733-6422 or visit http://www.vianica.com.
Party Calendar Offerings
NEW YORK - The new year always starts with celebrations around the world, and Outside magazine's January issue offers a list of events to keep you partying through 2008. Here are a few of them.
Pictures Worth The Trip
SARASOTA, Fla. - If you've always wondered about that little village in Ireland or Germany that your great-grandma came from, but you can't make the trip yourself, James Derheim will go there for you.
Derheim travels around Europe, photographing ancestral villages for those interested in their family history. He has been offering his unusual service for 17 years through his company, http://www.europeanfocus.com. Customers receive a portfolio (both on a CD and color prints) of 30 pictures, including landscapes, buildings, churches and any other places that might be relevant to their family. Derheim chooses the places that he photographs based on whatever details clients can provide about their ancestors' background, religion and the years they lived in a particular place.
Starting rates range from $450-$1,000 depending on the country. If you're interested in a second town near the first location, Derheim can usually add those photos for another $300. "Lots of peoples' great-grandfather came from one village and their great-grandmother came from another nearby village," he explained.
He also offers custom-designed trips to let you to walk in your ancestors' footsteps.
He routinely offers his services in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and Wales, and can arrange to work elsewhere by special request.
Derheim spends April through November in Europe and the rest of the year in Sarasota, Fla.
Anthony's House Restored
ADAMS, Mass. (AP) - A house in Adams will be transformed over the next 14 months to look as it did in 1820 - the year Susan B. Anthony was born there.
The founder of the women's rights movement lived in the federal-styled home until the age of 7, when her family moved to New York state.
The house stood vacant when it was purchased in August 2006 by Carol Crossed and designated as the Susan B. Anthony Birthplace and Museum.
Plans for the house include adding a period fence and restoring windows on the south-facing facade.
Crossed calls Anthony one of the most significant women in US history. She founded the women's suffrage movement, which culminated in 1920 with passage of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote.
Details at http://www.susanbanthonybirthplace.com.
Hunting In Cambodia Park?
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - The Cambodian government is studying a Spanish company's proposal to convert a huge tract of jungle in the country's wild northeast into a game hunting park for big-spending tourists, a wildlife protection official said.
The Madrid-based NSOK Safaris company wants to use 247,100 acres in Rattanakiri province, which is home to an abundance of wildlife, including several endangered species, as well as several indigenous tribal minorities. The province is about 200 miles from the capital Phnom Penh.
The project envisages bungalows and luxury lodging built "for high-class, VIP tourists...or professional hunters," said Dany Chheang, deputy director of the Wildlife Protection Office of Cambodia's Agriculture Ministry.
NSOK made the proposal more than two years ago, but it remains unclear how much money it would invest in the project and when it could launch, he said.
Tourism is now one of Cambodia's major foreign exchange earners. But land disputes have become common between the rich and indigenous people, who are under pressure to give up their ancestral land to commercial developers.
Dany Chheang said setting up hunting safaris fits the government's efforts "to diversify options for eco-tourism activity in Cambodia."
He said about 30 types of animals, including deer, pigs and wild boar as well as reptiles and birds, could be put up for hunting, but shooting tigers would not be allowed.
Chris Greenwood, a spokesman from the World Wildlife Fund in Cambodia, called on the government to release more information about the plan. "Anything that threatens the survival of already endangered species is not a good thing for conservation in Cambodia," he said.
Crime Hurting New Orleans Tourism
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Amid misperceptions about New Orleans 27 months after Hurricane Katrina, the cold hard fact of a crime wave is creating headaches for tourism officials.
Just over half of respondents to a University of New Orleans poll released Dec. 10 rated the city a 1, 2 or 3 in crime on a scale of 10, with 1 being "the worst city in the U.S." The poll of 775 people was taken Nov. 29-Dec. 4 and gauged the impressions of Americans outside Louisiana. Its margin of error was plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.
So far in 2007, New Orleans had had at least 200 murders, nearly 40 more than all of 2006.
And in an alarming note for tourism, roughly one-third of respondents to the UNO poll said they were "extremely unlikely" to visit the city for "business or pleasure" over the next two years.
"We can't dismiss it and say it's not true. We know New Orleans has a crime problem," Mary Beth Romig, spokeswoman for the New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau, said. "All we can say is, statistics continue to point to the fact that much of the crime is taking place in historically crime-ridden parts of the city.
The UNO poll found that one-third of respondents believed the French Quarter was among areas hardest hit by Katrina. In fact, the area emerged virtually unscathed. And 26.5 percent of respondents also wrongly believed parts of the city remained under water.
The French Quarter and other downtown attractions are better destinations than before the storm, thanks to an effort to keep streets clean, said Mark Wilson, president of the French Quarter Business Association.
Tourism leaders have hosted visits for national tour operators and advertised. An estimated 6 million people are expected to visit by the time the year ends. That would be up from 3.8 million in 2006 but far short of the roughly 10 million who visited in 2004, a record year.
The next few weeks will thrust New Orleans into the national tourism spotlight with a series of college bowl games. Following closely will be Mardi Gras in February and then the National Basketball Association All-Star game.
Smoke-Free Oktoberfest
MUNICH, Germany (AP) - The German state of Bavaria has approved plans to introduce the country's toughest smoking restrictions in January, passing legislation that should see Munich's famed Oktoberfest go smoke-free.
The partial ban on smoking in the southeastern state will take effect Jan. 1 - the latest piece in an expanding patchwork of smoking restrictions in what has traditionally been one of western Europe's most nicotine-friendly countries.
The state legislature in Munich approved the plan by a 140-18 margin, with eight abstentions, after conservative lawmakers toughened the original proposal from the state government. Smoking in bars, restaurants, discos and state offices will be banned.
Unlike other states that have introduced bans, Bavaria will not allow for special rooms to be set aside for smokers at restaurants, and also will not exempt beer tents - including those at the Oktoberfest, Munich's annual celebration of the national brew.
Only private functions will be exempted.
---
Group to ski 17 Maine mountains in 3 1/2 days
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - A group of eight skiers is planning to whoosh down 17 of Maine's ski mountains over a 3 1/2-day span to promote the state's ski industry.
The event is scheduled for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend and is being organized by Ski Maine Association.
The challenge aims to make Mainers aware of the state's variety of places to ski and snowboard. Ski Maine Executive Director Greg Sweetser said the state's 17 member mountains have a total of 560 trails and 83 lifts.
The skiers will start at Spruce Mountain in Jay on Jan. 18 and end up at the Camden Snow Bowl on Jan. 21. In between, they will travel nearly 1,000 miles and ski 85 trails on 15 other mountains.
Details on skiing in Maine at Ski Maine Association, http://www.skimaine.com.
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