London goes to the dogs (sorry, elephants)..Hotels looking better..Deals of day
Chicago did it first with the cows. Then came a host of other cities, including Toronto with its lame moose on the street.
(I know, I know. Some folks liked the moose. But I thought it was a stupid, copycat move. Better than another walk of fame, mind you. Oh wait, they've done that in Toronto, too.)
Anyway, I read now that designers and artists who want to protect endangered Asian elephants have decorated some 250 fiberglass animals to put out in London on May 2.
Among the artists taking part are Diane Von Furstenberg and Tommy Hilfiger, according to Bloomberg News. Each of the pachyderms weighs 154 pounds and will be mounted in such spots as Buckingham Palace (provide your own punchline here, folks) and Parliament Square.
The top pieces will be auctioned off on June 30, and organizers hope to raise some $3 million for the Elephant Family and other charities.
As much as its a copycat (copyelephant?) idea, this one escapes my criticism as un-creative because there's a charity involved.
Also on the subject of London, it seems that organizers of the London 2012 Summer Olympics (yikes; not that far away) have set up a website for fans to indicate what events they'd like to attend. Folks can go to http://www.tickets.london2012.com and let organizers know if they're more into rowing or field hockey, which should help them gauge demand and set ticket numbers and prices.
Tickets aren't slated to go on sale until next year. But organizers say they hope to sell eight million ducats in all.
Some 40,000 people registered in the first four hours that the website was up and running.
HOTELS ON THE MEND?A company called PKF Hospitality Research is forecasting a strong rebound for the hotel industry. But it won't happen until 2012, the company says.
According to Business Travel News, PKF is forecasting a 1.4 per cent year-over-year decline in average daily rates this year and a 1.1 per cent decline in revenue per available room.
Some areas, however, are expected to get pretty solid RevPAR increases this year; including Newark, Boston, Anaheim, Salt Lake City and Oahu. (Newark? Salt Lake? I don't quite get it, myself). Cities expecting the biggest RevPAR drops include Phoenix (that's a surprise to me), Austin (ditto), Houston and Washington D.C.
Sadly, I didn't see any Canadian cities mentioned in the story.
JIM'S DEALS OF THE DAY
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