STILL THE BIG APPLE

Word out of New York on Monday is that the city generated a record 47 million visitors and $30 billion in tourism spending last year,

That's like the entire population of Canada visiting the city, plus a couple provinces making a repeat trip.

Despite the worldwide economic downturn, New York managed to increase its numbers from 46 million visitors in 2007 (and $28.9 billion in spending).

Didn't know this, but New York last year surpassed Orlando and Las Vegas - and even Wichita - to rank number one in tourism spending in the United States.

New York hotels are offering some great deals, but officials say the city still has a hotel occupancy rate that's more than 20 per cent higher than the national average.

New York certainly can't be accused of resting on its haunches. Over the past year, NYC and Company opened new tourism marketing offices in Toronto (gee, somebody likes us), Sydney and Mumbai, brigning the total number of offices to a whopping 18.

ON THE OTHER HAND

A story in Travel Week magazine says the world's airlines are expected to lose $2.5 billion (U.S.) in 2009.

"We face the worst revenue environment in 50 years," said Giovanni Bisignani, director general of the International Air Transport Association.

Geez, Giovanni, ya gotta stop sugarcoating it.

LOCAL DEAL

The Delta Toronto Airport West has a "Bon Voyage Stop Over" promotion in place that includes a night's accomodation, complimentary 24-hour shuttle to Pearson and free covered parking for up to eight days. Rates start at a reasonable $99 and are based on double occupancy for a maximum one-night stay.

"We understand travellers' concerns over missing their flights due to the bad weather and traffic delays that are common during Canadian winters," says Debbie Hastings, director of sales and marketing. "Our goal is to provide travellers with a solution, and help ease them into 'vacation mode' before they even leave the city."

Visit deltatorontoairportwest.com or call 1-800-737-3211.

BOGOTA CALLING

Another item in Travel Week says Colombia is eliminating the need for travellers' visas for 87 countries, including Canada. Temporary visitors apparently will be issued a special permit by the Department of Security Administration upon arrival.

LOOKING BACK - AND FORWARD

A rollercoaster ride for the loonie. A plummeting economy. And trouble in Thailand, Mumbai and Athens.

It was a pretty interesting year in the travel biz, all things considered. From a personal standpoint, I was lucky enough to squeeze in some pretty cool trips. Not to make it too much about me (then again, it's my blog, so what the hay), here are some personal highlights:

I wasn't sure how I'd feel about a golf trip I took to Georgia in February for the Star's golf magazine, which I edit. I've never been big on Atlanta as a city as a like compact, urban downtowns and don't like staying in hotels where they warn you not to walk down the street at night. But I fell in love with the people and the golf resorts of Georgia, which are pretty stunning.

The setup at Reynolds Plantation, a couple hours south and east of Atlanta, is outstanding. A night at the Ritz Carlton revealed giant barbeque pits and a lakefront setting with muskoka chairs and lakeside walking trails. Terrific golf courses, too. The nearby Cuscowilla Resort has remarkable golf and lakeside cottages with docks; a little taste of Muskoka in the Peach State.

But the best part was the coast. The Cloisters at Sea Island gave me a personal butler and stationery with my name on it "Jim Byers, in residence at the Cloister." Oh, my. And I had one of the great meals in recent memory at the hotel dining room. The golf course is a stunner, nestled along the coastal marshes.

That was decadent. But if you can't afford $500 a night, and most of us can't, check out Jekyll Island Club Hotel, where I was lucky enough to see one of the most beautiful sunsets imaginable (for a few images of Georgia and other personal faves from 2008, go to Jim Byers' Top photos of 2008.

Jekyll used to be the playground of folks like the Rockefellers, but it's still not overly high-brow. The lodge is lovely, but there are cheap alternatives nearby. The beach goes on forever, and the public golf courses on Jekyll are one of the great bargains in North America.

Pebble Beach is a course I've always wanted to play. Still haven't, but I did get to walk around it on a glorious day in February as I tracked down Canada's Mike Weir for a 2009 Golf magazine story. I parked in the wrong lot (bad advice from a local and some poor map-reading by mois) and had to hitchhike and walk three miles to one of the other Monterey peninsula courses to find him but it all worked out.

Later, a quick visit to Cap Cana in the Dominican Republic revealed how the DR is quickly becoming an upscale favourite. The Donald is building a golf course on site and there already are a couple beauties, most notably Punta Espada. The beach at the Caleton is great for swimming, and if you want one of those three-mile walks on the sand you can go a little further north to the main Cap Cana beach. A very classy stretch of the DR, where even more upscale resorts and golf courses are in the works.

The highlight of the year was China, where I spent a month for the Olympics. Got to see Michael Phelps win his record eighth gold medal of the Summer Games and was in the crowd for Usain Bolt's 100 metre win, plus the stunning opening and closing ceremonies. Very blessed. The Chinese people were lovely, but the Olympics still felt a little sterile. And I'd love to go back in a year or two and see if all those nice flowers they planted for the media village are still in place. I suspect not.

I squeezed in a couple trips to Vancouver, as well, and got to eat at legendary Tojo's for the most amazing sushi you'll find. And there are few things as lovely as a sunny, fall day in British Columbia or a crisp, winter's day in the mountains near Whistler. There's a reason real estate sells for gazillions of dollars out there.

We'll see what the new year brings, but I'm hoping to get over to Europe a couple times to check out some tried-and-true and some new locations. If you have any ideas, lemme know.

Anywho, thanks for listening and talk to you again in the new year.

ANNIKA AND JACK GO TO BAT FOR GOLF

It's a good thing when you can throw around lobbyists who don't need to use their last names.

So it is for the International Golf Federation, which is trying to elbow its way onto the Olympic stage by signing up Annika Sorenstam and Jack Nicklaus as global ambassadors.

Arguably the greatest golfers ever on both the male and female sides of the equation, Jack and Annika will be tremendous lobbyists for the sport, which faces something of an uphill battle to get onto the Olympic calendar. But Sorenstam just retired, so at least she's got time on her hands when she's not designing golf courses. Ditto for Nicklaus.

"Golf truly embodies the Olympic spirit with a foundation built upon honour, integrity, dignity and sportsmanship," Nicklaus said in a statement.

Apparently, that doesn't include Stevie Williams, Tiger Woods caddy, but there you go.

Sorenstam said she's honoured and privileged to have a role in getting golf into the Olympics.

"A major objective of mine is to help grow the game around the world, and I can think of no better way to grow it than through the Olympics."

Several sports have been lobbying members of the International Olympic Committee (gee, you think they like the attention?) to try to get into the Olympics.

The IOC voted a couple years back to dump softball and baseball. Both are trying hard to get back into the Games, with softball having the best shot given the seeming fall of American dominance at the Beijing Summer Olympics.

That would leave golf, baseball, squash, rugby sevens, roller sports (be serious, please) and karate as the main contenders for Olympic status. The IOC will meet in Copenhagen next October and appears likely to vote on including two "new" sports on the Olympic program for 2016.

The IOC consistently has said it doesn't want to include any sport that won't send its biggest names. If golf really wants to elbow its way onto the Olympic dance floor, it will need more than Annika and Jack. They'll need a Tiger.

MUMBAI RECOVERY

Word out of Mumbai is the Taj Mahal hotel is reopening.

The 105-year-old hotel, one of two luxury hotels hit by terrorists in the Mumbai attacks, will reopen on Sunday evening, according to travelmole.com.

"However," the website states, "only the newer Tower rooms and suites will re-open – along with several of the hotel’s restaurants. The iconic older part of the Taj is still under repair after gunmen took scores of guests hostage and battled commandos during a 60-hour siege."

SPARKS ARE FLYING ON THE TTC

Boy, it's hard for a travel writer to get out of town when he can't even get to work on time.

That's almost one hour today on the glorious TTC from Lawrence to Union Station. It could've been worse, of course, but my back and neck still hurt from the constant lurching and hitting of brakes. Why can't these guys just sit tight more often and wait for a green light and then go slowly instead of driving fast and slamming on the brakes?

Actually, in fairness, when we stopped at Summerhill one guy did just that. He also was pretty funny.

"We're going to sit here for a few minutes," the TTC announcer told a packed train. "I could pull up but then half the cars would be in the station. And we can't go anywhere, anyway. So we'll be a few minutes. We had earlier problems between Lawrence and Eglinton. But I really don't know what the problem is."

We all had a laugh, and at least he was honest.

What was weird, and maybe it happens all the time, but when we were stuck (again) between Rosedale and Bloor, a fellow passenger and I on the southbound TTC train looked over as a train going northbound sped past and there were constant sparks rising up from the tracks. I don't usually look down at passing trains on the subway so I don't know if that's common. But we both looked at each other and laughed nervously, as if to say, "uh, is that NORMAL?"

PARK HYATT UPGRADES

The lovely Park Hyatt at Avenue Road and Bloor is upgrading its rooms,with new bathrooms and sleek furnishings that officials say will be "contemporary, but not minimalistic." Bravo to that. Personally, I don't go for the whole minimalist thing. This is an age of recession, so I think we ought to aim for maximist, if that's a word.

The Hyatt folks plan to re-open the old Holiday Inn on King Street West as a Hyatt property in the spring of next year, with lots of improvements to that hotel as well.

CALIFORNIA DREAMING

Golf Vacation Insiders reports the new Bayonet and Blackhorse golf courses (www.bayonetblackhorse.com) are about to open in the Monterey Bay area of California. The pictures look stunning, and it could prove a hugely popular alternative to the big boys like Pebble Beach and Spyglass.

 

WEST JET/SOUTHWEST DANCE

I didn't hear about from WestJet folks, which is kinda surprising, but I did get word that WestJet and Southwest Airlines in the U.S. are forming some kind of alliance.

Seems that Southwest, a cheap and reliable outfit south of the border with great deals out of Buffalo and other airports, on Tuesday began offering a link on its site that allows customers to buy tickets on WestJet. The two airlines earlier this year said they'd eventually sell seats on each other's flights as if they were a single airline, Associated Press reports. Southwest also is working on a similar deal with Volaris in Mexico and hopes to find partners for Caribbean travel and perhaps Europe.

WestJet doesn't fly to Europe now, but perhaps if there's some sort of deal down the road with Southwest it could provide some competition in the marketplace, which should benefit Canadian travellers.

SCARY TIMES

There was a report out of the Denver the other day that hotel staff was being trained in anti-terrorist activities, which in a way is heartening but also a little weird and spooky. Still, better they know a little about how to respond to an emergency than being totally in the dark.

Of course, the issue of terrorism and travellers' safety is paramount in many parts of the world today. The recent riots in Athens have tourism folks in Greece plenty worried. Apparently more than 2,000 bookings were canceled in the last week for Thessaloniki.

Over in India, tourism folks are talking about declaring 2009 as the year to "Visit India." Incentives from the government and individual hotels are likely in the wake of the recent terrorist attack on Mumbai.

The number of foreign tourist arrivals dropped by 2.1 per cent in November, according to a story posted on the web site travelmole.com.

DULLSVILLE

Boy, I'd love to have access to their voice mail or email system.

The website Forbes.com recently issued a list of what it calls the 10 most boring cities in the U.S. It's a subjective list, of course, but the people of Forbes said there was a method to their madness. To make it scientific, they looked at 2008 news coverage of the country's largest cities in various national media outlets, including big newspapers, national magazines and business magazines, including, naturally, Forbes.

What they found was that big cities overshadowed by larger neighbours were the least newsworthy. And most of them were in the west.

So you don't stay in suspense too long, we can reveal now that the most boring cities in the U.S. are Chula Vista, California (near San Diego), Mesa, Arizona (a suburb of Phoenix), Chandler, Arizona (ditto), North Las Vegas, Nevada, Henderson, Nevada, Santa Ana, California (near Los Angeles, in Orange County), Hialeah, Florida, Bakersfield, California, Gilbert, Arizona (another Phoenix suburb) and Aurora, Colorado.

(Having a friend in Santa Ana and once dating a girl in Bakersfield, I can testify to the fact that they're really, really dull. I don't know how they missed Fresno but there you go.)

"The people who live there might not be bored, and they could be fun places to live, but they're certainly not in the national spotlight," Forbes said of the cities. "Being subsumed in a larger metropolitan area can make for a vibrant economic region, but one consequence is that these smaller cities often lose their distinct identities and places in the national conscience."

It makes you wonder what cities in Canada might make the list. If you've got ideas, let me know by sending a note to travel@thestar.ca.

AIR CANADA BIZ KUDOS

Air Canada has been voted by readers of Business Traveler Magazine as offering the best in-flight services in North America, as well as being the Best Airline for Business Class Service in North America and Best North American Airline for International Travel. Star Alliance, of which Air Canada was a founding member, was voted best Airline Alliance Program.

"We're thrilled," said Ben Smith, executive vice president and chief commercial officer. "We have been receiving extremely positive feedback from customers on the new additions to our fleet and the major enhancements we've made to our in-flight amenities and travel experience in general."

As a frequent Air Canada flier, I gotta admit the in-flight entertainment is a huge improvement. It's great to get a choice of so many movies and tv shows to watch, especially on longer flights.

MONTREAL ON SALE

Coach Canada says it's selling bus tickets between Toronto and Montreal, which is remarkable even if you do have to pay the GST.

Officials say the deal is valid for travel between Jan. 5 and March 8, 2009 and that they have more than 10,000 tickets available at the price. Go to coachcanada.com or call 1-800-461-7661.

CRUISING FOR A BRUISING

A story on openjaw.com says folks who sell cruises in the U.S. are fighting for survival, with prices plummeting and commissions on the decline.

"A year ago, belt tightening began for many agents," says Rick Kaplan of WeCanPartners, a strategic planning company specializing in the hospitality industry. "Now, for the first time, I'm hearing friends at large agencies talking about survival."

"It was costing one individual $75,000 a month right out of his own pocket to stay open; another it was costing $100,000 a month to stay open," reports Kaplan. "Whatever their model, there are very few organizations that are getting stronger."

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DEALS, DEALS, DEALS

We'll have plenty more to say about this in our Dec. 27 edition of the Star, but a conversation with a couple travel experts today reveals even more about how this is a good time to travel for those folks lucky enough to have the cash.

Jennifer Gaines of travelocity.ca tells me that hotel rates are down in many parts of the U.S., which more than makes up for the recent weakness of the Canadian dollar versus the greenback.

"Vegas, which is the number one U.S. destination for Canadians, is down 20 per cent in terms of daily (hotel) rates," Gaines said. "Orlando is down 14 per cent, and south Florida (Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Key West) is down six per cent."

Gaines said Chicago is down eight per cent and San Diego, surprisingly, has dropped hotel rates about seven per cent. Combine that fact with cheaper air fares to Toronto for both destinations - Porter now flies into Chicago - and you've got some pretty good deals.

Expect to hear more in the future, but Air Transat is picking up lots of the slack left by the demise of Zoom airways. Lyne Chayer, vice president of marketing for Air Transat, Transat Holidays and Nolitours, says they're doing well with flights to Italy and Spain and that a weekly flight to Malaga, Spain from Toronto will start January 13.

AMERICAN DECLINE

The U.S. hotel industry figures for the week ending Dec. 6 bear out what Gaines is saying about hotel rates. Industry figures supplied by Smith Travel Research show that U.S. hotel occupancy rates fell 9.8 per cent, to 50.2 per cent. The average daily rate was $103.46 U.S., down 3.2 per cent from $106.92 the year before.

Smith Travel Research said luxury chain-scale hotels suffered a 13 per cent drop in occupancy, down to 61.1 per cent.

The company said the only silver lining was convention business in Chicago, New Orleans and San Francisco.

AND ONE MORE VOICE

In a story posted on the Business Travel News website (btnonline.com), industry analyst Bjorn Hanson is quoted as saying the hotel/lodging "is experiencing the strongest buyer's market in 33 years with no recovery on the horizon."

Hanson, associate professor at New York University's Tisch Center, said hotels are throwing in things like free breakfast and fitness center usage more so than in the past.

TTC TRAVEL BLUES

Okay, I might have added a quarter-inch to my waist size after a lovely Mexico tourism meal on Tuesday night, featuring beef tenderloin and then a great butter tart (about the size of a catcher's mitt) with vanilla ice cream laced with screech. But I think the real problem with travelling on the TTC some days, aside from the ridiculous delays, are the size of the seats.

Honestly, WHO WERE THESE THINGS DESIGNED FOR? The seat I tried to stick my relatively skinny butt into on Wednesday morning was maybe 10 inches wide. Okay, the guy sitting next to me was in a big jacket and looked like he'd never met a butter tart he didn't like. But come on, folks, and give us seats that reflect a little more of our true derrieres and don't design subway cars for emaciated models.

The other issue, and this sounds a bit like a Seinfeld skit, is that I was on the outside of three seats. The big guy with the butter tart problem was in the middle, and there was a woman squeezed into the other outside seat. But when she got up to leave at Bloor, the middle guy didn't move to the empty seat but stayed in the middle. WHO DOES THIS?

Isn't it common courtesy to move over and create some space? Wouldn't anyone rather sit on the side, anyway, with an empty seat between them and a fellow passenger instead of being crammed into the middle with someone bumping up against them? We have to take lessons and a test before we can drive; they ought to force people to take a courtesy exam before they're allowed onto the TTC.

"I RECOMMEND THE 2005 GERBER'S STRAINED PEAS"

Word out of Chicago the other day is that Hyatt Resorts has an on-site Kids Concierge service at some North American resorts, wherein the concierge will help with baby needs and share information about family-friendly services and activities. They can help plan birthday parties and coordinate things such as mini-fridges and microwaves. Sounds nice, but personally I'd rather be suggesting wines.

GOLF AWARDS

The Club at Tower Ranch, a golf course near Kelowna, B.C. designed by acclaimed Toronto golf architect Tom McBroom, was named one of the Best New Courses for 2008 by Travel + Leisure magazine. The magazine noted the "broad vistas, bulging hills and the bold shotmaking agenda."

Tobiano Golf Club in Kamloops, another McBroom design, has been given the 2008 Golf Digest Best New Canadian Course Award. Kudos to McBroom, who continues to shine in Canada and around the world with some top-notch golf designs.

The Star featured the British Columbia interior in our 2008 golf magazine (he said with a trace of modesty) and it's nice to see the rest of the world catching on to what's happening in beautiful B.C.

Golf Digest named Wyndance in Uxbridge, a Greg Norman design, as number two for new courses in Canada. Cobble Beach, just north of Owen Sound, was the third place finisher in the Canadian contest. It's a lovely, challenging course that was designed by another Toronto architect, Doug Carrick.

I haven't tried Tower Ranch, Tobiano or Wyndance, but I LOVED Cobble Beach when I played it a year or so ago.

Thar She Blows

Well, I've never been to Vegas. And I don't like Celine Dion. But it would be worth a trip just to see some of the funky architecture and crazy stuff that goes on.

The reason this comes to mind is word that the Mirage was to re-open its famous volcano on Dec. 8 at 5 p.m. Vegas time.

The volcano has undergone a $25 million renovation, which is a lot of dough even for Vegas, and is said to be even bigger and louder than ever, with 120 fireballs lighting up the sky. There's a new soundtrack, too, composed by Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart.

The volcano is set to spew forth lava every hour on the hour from dusk to 11 p.m.. Plans call for Robbie Knievel, son of the late Evil Knievel - to fly over the volcano on New Year's Eve on a motorcycle.

Take that, Dick Clark.

TRY SITTING IN COACH ...

Hard to believe, but an item moved the other day that said pilots who fly the Airbus 380 superjumbo are complaining the plane is TOO QUIET.

Apparently, pilots count on a little humming noise from a jet's engines to lull themselves to sleep while the co-pilot takes over (we presume). But there's not much noise from the A380, which makes it easier to hear all those poor schmucks in coach complaining about lousy food and extra baggage charges. Not to mention crying babies.

It's kinda hard what to make of this. I don't want my pilots having to down Red Bulls to stay awake at the wheel, but they should try sitting back where the rest of us do some time. I think the cockpit will seem pretty good by comparison, don't you?

CHRISTMAS TRAVEL

Travel and Leisure recently listed 10 favourite spots to spend Christmas. Making the list were Charleston, South Carolina, anywhere in New Zealand, Boston, Edinburgh, Bali, Montreal, Munich, Park City, Puerto Rico and Santa Cruz, California, where Santa arrives on a surfboard. How cool is that?