Friday, August 29, 2008

Travel

Posted on Sunday, February 17, 2008

Email This

Print This

Travel Briefs

From Staff, Wire Reports

Sheraton Bans Resort Smoking

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - Sheraton Hotels & Resorts and Four Points by Sheraton Hotel brands will ban smoking at more than 300 hotels and resorts throughout the U.S., Caribbean and Canada.

The new policy follows one implemented at Westin Hotels & Resorts, which became smoke-free in 2006. Westin and Sheraton are both owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts.

Some 8,000 rooms at the hotels will be cleaned, including treatments for air conditioning, walls, rugs, upholstery and hard surfaces.

Smoking will also be banned in public areas in the hotels but there will be a designated outdoor area at each property for guests who smoke.

There are already 70 Sheraton and Four Points by Sheraton hotels in the U.S., Canada & Caribbean that are smoke-free.

Both hotel brands expect to be completely smoke-free in the United States and Canada by Dec. 31.

Tyler Junior College government professor and Fulbright scholar Dr. Manoucher Khosrowshahi is taking reservations for "Turkey: Biblical and Archeological Tour of Asia Minor," his annual 10- day travel study tour during the college's spring break in March.

Designed to enrich the American public's knowledge of early Christianity, archeology, Turkey and the Middle East, tour stops will include Istanbul, Ankara, Cappodocia, Konya, Termessos, Hierapolis, Assos, the Mediterranean Sea, Bosphorus, Canakkale, Dardanells, Ephesus and Troy.

According to Khosrowshahi, more than half of the places referred to in the Bible are also located in modern day Turkey - from Tarsus, Ephesus, Antioch, Harran, Noah's landing on Mount Ararat in the east, to the Aegean coast in the west where the Virgin Mary is believed to have spent her final mortal years and the Seven Churches of the Revelation.

The trips have been offered by TJC and Khosrowshahi for 20 years.

The all inclusive, 10 day tour, set for March 7-16, is $1,865 plus $360 tax ($2,225 total) for double occupancy and includes air and ground transportation; accommodations in four-star hotels; two meals per day; professional, English-speaking tour guides; and all taxes, tips and fees.

Students will travel with a $150 reduced cost of $2,075.

Because of space limitations, enrollment for both of these tours is on a first come, first serve basis. The tour is open to the public; however, TJC students may enroll in a special government course to receive three credit hours.

For more information, contact Khosrowshahi at 903-510-2279, E-mail him at mkho@tjc.edu, or visit the Web site http://www.tjc.edu/turkey.

AUSTIN - State officials hope that scenes of Tex-Mex dining in San Antonio and mountain biking in Big Bend National Park will convince couch potatoes to spend some money visiting scenic locations in Texas.

The state's tourism marketing organization plans to launch a television, print and online campaign to showcase Texas to the world.

Officials say the advertisements cost $2.3 million to produce, and they plan to spend $22.2 million placing them on cable TV, in magazines and on travel Web sites. The money comes from hotel and motel taxes.

"Texas offers visitors from across the state and around the world an unparalleled experience," said Gov. Rick Perry. "Once you visit Texas, you may never want to leave."

The spots are set in various locales from the beach on South Padre Island to the Wyler Aerial Tramway above El Paso to a minor league baseball game in Round Rock.

The TV ads will begin airing next week on national cable channels including the Travel Channel, HGTV, TLC and BBC America. Magazine and online ads have already begun.

Texas Tourism, the state's visitor-marketing organization, also launched a tool on TravelTex.com that lets people plan vacation itineraries to match the advertisements or check out driving tours of the state.

SAN FRANCISCO - Gov. Arnold Schwarz-enegger is heading a cast of California food and wine celebrities in a new tourism ad campaign.

The campaign focuses on a new Web site, http://www.landofwineandfood.com, and stems from a partnership between the California Wine Institute and the California Travel and Tourism Commission.

The TV ad features a number of food and wine stars, including top chef Thomas Keller of The French Laundry restaurant in the Napa Valley and vintner Andrew Firestone, who also appeared on ABC's "The Bachelor."

The spot ends with a shot of Schwarzenegger and his wife Maria Shriver sitting at a restaurant overlooking the coast.

KINGSTON, Jamaica - Jamaica plans to tap into the thriving market for religious-oriented tourism to invigorate the island's sagging economy, government officials and business leaders said.

A new convention center, to be built by 2009, will attract some of the millions of travelers who attend religious conferences outside of their home countries, said Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett. The global religious tourism market is an $18 billion-a-year industry with some 300 million travelers, according to the Colorado-based World Religious Travel Association.

Oceanarium Repairs

CHICAGO (AP) - The popular Oceanarium marine mammal exhibit at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium will be closed for several months starting in September to allow construction crews to update and renovate existing exhibits and create new ones.

Shedd spokesman Roger Germann said there are some animals living in the 170,000-square-foot facility that will be moved to other institutions while the Oceanarium is undergoing renovations.

The $43 million Oceanarium, with its dolphin and whale shows, turned around the aquarium's fortunes when it opened in 1991, making it one the city's most-visited cultural attractions.

The aquarium regularly attracts more than 2 million people a year, up from fewer than a million visitors before the Oceanarium's debut.

Key West Aquarium

KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) - A new 2,400-gallon coral reef aquarium exhibit opened Feb. 2 to mark the one-year anniversary of the Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center, an environmental center in the Florida Keys.

Developed by Mote Marine Laboratory, the reef tank contains fish and invertebrates indigenous to the Keys. It was designed to educate people about preserving the coral reef environment.

The aquarium is part of the Living Reef Exhibit, which also features tanks of hard and soft corals and information about Mote's coral nursery, where more than 22 species of corals are being grown to replenish reefs.

Anniversary events also included the presentation of the Coastal America Partnership Award, honoring the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary's coral protection and restoration program.

Since 2003, the program has rescued more than 7,000 coral colonies, which are relocated to restore depleted areas, and used in education and research.

Williamsburg Sales Up

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - For the third straight year, Colonial Williamsburg recorded an increase in ticket sales.

Ticket sales in 2007 rose by 5 percent to 780,000, the historic attraction reported. It is the same percentage gain posted in 2006.

Last year also saw strong gains in donations and Williamsburg's endowment, which rose 5 percent to $816 million.

The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation had 118,000 donors nationwide contribute a total of $14.8 million, a 5 percent increase from 2006.

History Museum Delay

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History is delaying its reopening from this summer to the fall.

Museum Director Brent Glass said the museum has received inquiries from visitors making travel plans, and wanted to provide them with a more realistic time frame for the reopening. An exact date has not been set.

The museum closed in the fall of 2006 for a $85 million renovation. Some of its most popular artifacts, such as Dorothy's ruby slippers from "The Wizard of Oz," are on display at the nearby National Air and Space Museum during construction.

The renovation follows a 2002 blue-ribbon commission report that sharply criticized the museum for its confusing layout and its less-than-inclusive presentation of history.

Best N.J. Beach

SANDY HOOK, N.J. (AP) - Do you have fond memories of the Jersey shore?

Now you can vote for the best beaches in the state, whether it's Asbury Park, Atlantic City, Cape May, Wildwood, Sandy Hook, Seaside or any of the other 60 or so sand-and-surf destinations.

A coalition of environmental and tourism groups is sponsoring the poll to select the 10 best beaches in New Jersey.

Voting will run through the end of April online at http://www.njtoptenbeaches.org as well as in person at various tourism events.

You'll be asked to rate your favorite beach on accessibility, aesthetics, amenities, water quality and other factors.

The best beach in the state will be announced May 22 at Sandy Hook. Winning communities will receive signs announcing the honor.

Comment on this article!
Note: You must login or register to post comments. Comments must be approved by Moderator before appearing on the site. Use the links below to login or register.