Stupid photo tricks (mea culpa)...More Hong Kong Flights...Jim's Deals of the Day

The things an old guy learns.

I took a bunch of photos on my recent trip to San Francisco, including a half-ton of shots of my family out in my dad's backyard on American Thanksgiving. Clever fellow that I thought I was, I put them all into my Picasa photo program at home and started cropping them to get rid of the edge of the barbeque and all those other, silly things that were in my photos because I wasn't smart enough to arrange the pictures in a more attractive part of the yard.

Anyway, I thought the pictures were wonderfully edited and cropped, so I put them onto a CD and took them down to Black's. I got them back the next day, yesterday, and was outraged at how they'd cropped my son's head off and ruined a bunch of other shots by cutting off arms or legs. I couldn't believe this had happened, so I marched down in outrage.

After a half hour of patient explaining (thanks, guys), I discovered that one CANNOT simply edit photos on your computer and expect them to come out right. Apparently I've been doing a "manual" crop on many of my pictures and I was turning them into squares instead of rectangles. I hadn't thought about it, but it don't work like that. Photos are made in, for the most part, four by six or five by seven or eight by ten formats. In other words, they're rectangles. But I was giving the Black's machine square shapes, so naturally it wasn't fitting properly.

I went back this morning and downloaded the original photos into the Black's computer, then cropped them on site. I think they'll be fine. But I also just a few minutes ago went into Picasa and discovered (HELLO?) that one can go into the cropping program and CHOOSE 4 by 6 shapes. In other words, you can crop pictures and keep them in a rectangular format so the Black's people don't mistakenly whack off my son's head. Yeah, he's 6-2 and five inches taller than me and I resent it, but I still would like to keep his forehead intact in our family photos.

So there's the lesson, folks. And thanks again to the good folks at Black's for holding their tempers and helping me out.

IMPROVED HONG KONG ACCESS FROM T.O.

Cathay Pacific Airways today announced that, starting next March 28, they'll add three flights per week to the existing daily non-stop service between Toronto and Hong Kong. The additional services will depart Toronto at 09:35 every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday while the existing daily flights will depart at 01:30 from Toronto.

"With the recent announcement from the Government of China granting Canada Approved Destination Status, this is a great time to strengthen services on a very popular route," said Cathay Pacific Vice President Canada Alex Shum. "The addition of three extra flights per week will bring the service to ten flights weekly and offer more choice to those travelling between Toronto and Hong Kong now, and accommodate a future increase in demand to and from Mainland China.” 

KUDOS TO CANADIAN TOURISM COMMISSION

Marketing magazine and marketingmag.ca has named the Canadian Tourism Commission its' Canadian marketer of the year.

On its web site, the magazine wrote that "the Vancouver-based CTC, whose agency of record is DDB Canada, embarked on an innovative social media strategy, launched its first integrated global marketing platform and created the "Locals Know" campaign, aimed at getting Canadians to travel within their own country."

"In the past few years, a lot of marketers have experimented with social media and user-generated content in their marketing," said Rebecca Harris, co-managing editor of Marketing. "But in our opinion, few have done it so well as the CTC."

"And while the shift away from ‘moose, mountains and maple syrup' actually began a few years ago, we felt 2009 was truly the culmination of the CTC's branding efforts for this country," she added. "Their marketing strategy has resulted in a fundamental shift in how travellers from around the world view Canada. The country is no longer seen as a beautiful but boring place: it's fun, exciting, and even a little exotic."

JIM'S DEALS OF THE DAY

$598 - Toronto to St. Kitts, 1 week Christmas holiday ($831 w/tax)
http://www.travelalerts.ca/ccount12/click.php?id=1812

 

US$209 - Save 77% on this 4 night 4* Baja Mexico cruise (US$258 w/tax)
http://www.travelalerts.ca/ccount12/click.php?id=1811

On the United team? No thanks....Terrific Tweets...Jim's Deals of the Day

Call me old-fashioned, but I'm not real big on chatty airline pilots and overly folksy flight attendants.

I was on a United flight from SF to Toronto on Monday, and the pilot kept going on about how happy United was to have me on their team for the day.

"Hey, great to have you on board. Hey, they're just filling up the baggage pits so if you folks would take a seat we can get going. Hey, we're about 10 minutes early but if you look out to your right you can see Lake Tahoe."

I DO like being told about interesting vistas from a plane. I find it endless fascinating to look at dry creek beds in Nevada and croplands in Saskatchewan and mountains just about anywhere. But I don't like professionals acting so folksy that it makes me think they're not taking their jobs seriously enough. Travel is serious business, and I want people who exude a sense of professionalism.

I appreciate the inclusiveness, United, but I don't want to be on your team. You guys fly the plane and keep an eye on my safety and I'll just sit back and try to relax in my crammed, little window seat in economy and tune into the movie. Oh, wait, this isn't Air Canada. I dont' have a seat-back entertainment system. Instead, it's the old flip-down screens you can barely see and only one movie choice - The Time Traveler's Wife. No, thanks.

Still, it was an uneventful flight and we landed safely. So thanks for that, guys. And ladies. The flight attendants were quite good, and I do find that United and other American carriers have have friendlier attendants than Air Canada.

TERRIFIC TWEETERS

Thanks to worldhum for a look at some great "tweets" over the last month. Here are a few of my faves:

@SpudHilton
Vancouver travel tip: Do not get your bearings based on “that tall, skinny apartment building.”

@alexanderbasek
Lesson from last night’s Central Europe Experience party: stuffed cabbage and jaeger schnitzel are not easily transformed into canapés.

@sarahcuda
Middle seat, coach, behind TWO babies for 15 hrs. Thank you whoever invented ambien.

@bhammerling
OH at pool in Mexico: “ask me anything” “ok where’s Dubai?” “India, silly. Ask me a hard one. Like from Cranium”.

JIM'S DEALS OF THE DAY

$172 - Toronto to Turks and Caicos, return flight this Christmas ($403 w/tax)
http://www.travelalerts.ca/ccount12/click.php?id=1733

$347 - Toronto to Puerto Plata, 1 week all-inclusive beachfront holiday ($667 w/tax)
http://www.travelalerts.ca/ccount12/click.php?id=1734

US$59/nt - 12 night 4.5* cruise of Spain, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and Greece
http://www.travelalerts.ca/ccount12/click.php?id=1735

HARD ROCK RESORT

USA Today reports the Hard Rock chain plans to open its first all-inclusive resort and casino next spring, when it begins operating the 121-acre Moon Palace Resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. The Hard Rock chain - known for a music memorabilia collection that includes an Eric Clapton guitar (and probably a bunch of junk from overrated AC/DC) - runs hotel and casinos in Tampa and Hollywood, Fla. The 1,800-room Punta Cana resort will mark the chain's 13th hotel.

Hard Rock International plans to target couples, bridal parties, families, music fans - and gamblers. Expect a major casino with 457 slots, 40 tables, and a high-limit poker room, according to the company's press release.

Yeah, this is just what the world needs.

.

Stupid Canada Visitor Questions...Caribbean Dreaming...Jim's Deal of the Day

A government friend of mine (thanks!) today sent me a great list of what she said were REAL questions people asked on an international tourism website. I'm a little dubious of these things, as folks might INTENTIONALLY ask really stupid questions.

Nonetheless, as we seek to entertain ourselves on a rainy Friday, here's a few of the offerings, with the country from which the query originated in parentheses:

- I have never seen it warm on Canadian TV, so how do the plants grow? (England)

- Will I be able to see polar bears in the street? (USA)

- I want to walk from Vancouver to Toronto, can I follow the railroad tracks? (Sweden).

- Is it safe to run around in the bushes of Canada? (Sweden)

- Are they any ATM's in Canada? Can you send me a list of them in Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton and Halifax? (England)

- Can you give me some information about hippo racing in Canada?

- Can you send me the Vienna Boys' Choir Schedule? (USA)

- Can you tell me the regions in British Columbia where the female population is smaller than (the male) population? (Italy)

- Are there supermarkets in Toronto and is milk available all year round? (Germany)

A few minutes before I got this list, I met a friend who swore she'd heard that a couple of Americans showed up in Trinity, Newfoundland this summer and asked where all the Finnish people were. Puzzled, her friend asked what they meant. "Well," came the reply, "aren't we in New Finland?"

She insists it's true. But if people are really this stupid, there's very little hope for the human race. That's all I can say....

CARIBBEAN CRAZY

They held a smashing lunch/reception in the Distillery District today to celebrate Caribbean week in Canada. Star freelancer Janie Robinson was awarded top newspaper story honours for a piece about delivering the mail by boat in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Hugh Riley, secretary general of the Caribbean Tourism Association, told a packed press conference that Canadian arrivals in 2008 were up 15.3 per cent over 2007 and that total 2009 Canadian arrivals between January and July of this year were up 7.4 per cent over 2008.

He called the figures "gratifying" and said Canadians have been "a real saviour" for the Caribbean.

I hadn't thought of it like that, but Riley said Caribbean nations are "probably the most tourism dependent region in the world."

As for why Canadians continue to flock south, Riley said proximity and ease of access obviously is a huge factor. There's also tremendous cultural diversity, with French, English, Spanish and native histories, not to mention Dutch and South Asian influences and, of course, black/African culture. Naturally, there's also "unmatched beauty and spectacular weather," not to mention "hospitable people."

While numbers from Canada have been good, Riley said the value-added promotions laid on by operators and hotel owners have taken a toll on the bottom line.

"Some of these deals I hope we never have to see again," he joked.

Riley said people definitely are taking longer to book; staying up at 2 a.m. to find the best deals, "then doing it again the next night."

There are signs of improvement, but he said many experts suggest things won't really improve until the third quarter of 2010.

Riley said Caribbean nations are casting an eye on Western Canada. So stay tuned for more on that.

As for what's happening down south, here are a few tidbits I picked up:

- Air Canada Vacations is now offering B and B's and villa apartments in Barbados. They also have a deal where you can upgrade to executive class on some flight/hotel packages for Cuba and Costa Rica for just $99, including access to the Maple Leaf Lounge.

- Delta is adding more flights to St. Lucia from Atlanta.

- Plans in St. Kitts are proceeding for the Christophe Harbour project on the southern part of the island, complete with a Tom Fazio golf course.

- It's gonna be a busy winter in the Cayman Islands. There's a Jazz Festival Dec. 3-5 with Alicia Keys, as well as a marathon. January will see an international cooking event held on Seven mile beach in front of the Ritz Carlton.

- The Jumby Bay Resort on Antigua is slated to reopen Dec. 1 and the Sugar Ridge Hotel later that month.

- Jamaica is said to have the most licensed attractions in the Caribbean; some 170 in all. Direct flights from London, Ontario to Jamaica begin Dec. 21; a huge improvement for London-area residents and even folks in Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge.

- Starting Nov. 4, West Jet will fly from Toronto to Providenciales, Turks and Caicos on Wednesdays, as well as Saturdays.

JIM'S DEAL OF THE DAY

Transat Holidays’ Bite-Sized Price promotion includes not just Mexico and the Caribbean but Spain too. In Mexico, all-inclusive packages start at $449 at the NH Krystal Puerto Vallarta, for departures Nov. 9. In the Riviera Maya, Gran Bahia Principe Coba Royal Golden is priced from $699 (Nov. 28, Dec. 5 and 12). For the same departure dates, the D.R. is leading in at $479 for the Grand Oasis Marien in Puerto Plata and Jamaica, $769 at the Grand Palladium Lady Hamilton Resort & Spa. And in Malaga, Spain, Transat Holidays is offering long-stays with 22 nights in a self-catering apartment with full kitchen for $1,099 per person, including airfare, for departures Feb. 9 and 16. See www.transatholidays.com.

MARRIOTT MADNESS

Available exclusively for bookings made in November, Marriott and Renaissance Caribbean, Mexico and Costa Rica resorts are offering 40 per cent off leisure rates for travel from Jan. 1 to April 30, 2010. The discount applies to room rate only and isn't valid for groups of ten rooms or more. Reservations must be made through marriott.com or by calling toll-free 1-888-727-2347 and requesting promotional code LLF.

 

New York winning Twitter battle?...Smelly Cruise ships...Jim's Deal of the Day

Got a press release from the I Love New York people saying that they've become the most followed state tourism site on Twitter.

Seems they had actor Peter Facinelli (WHO IS HE?) tweeted about New York to his 1 million-plus followers the other day and gave folks a chance to meet him in his hometown as part of an 

 
  
I Love New York campaign (www.iloveny.com) As of a few minutes ago, when I joined their twitter feed (http://twitter.com/i_LOVE_NY), the Empire State was up to 8,932 followers.

I have no idea how many the other states have, but I was surprised when I went onto the California tourism site, www.visitcalifornia.com, and found no obvious Twitter link. Looking on Twitter, it seems they've only got a couple thousand Twitter followers (http://twitter.com/CATourism).  

Hey, Golden State guys, isn't Silicon valley your home turf? You gonna let New York get away with kicking your Twitter butt?

This wouldn't happen if Arnold Schwarzenegger was alive. Oh, wait...

CRUISES WITH AROMA APPEAL

Another fun item, this courtesy of USA Today's cruise blogger, Gene Sloan. Seems Silversea Cruises' next ship, the 540-passenger Silver Spirit, will offer a menu of fragrances that folks can have infused in their cabin on request.

They apparently got Italian perfumer Laura Tonatto to develop three options; a basic scent, Oltre, which "is designed to evoke the boundless sea." Hmmmm, what on earth does that smell like?

Another has an orange scent and is called Fiori d'Arancio. It's supposed to make people calm.

The last one has lavender and is called Albi. It's touted as a de-stresser.

What kind of stress do you have on a cruise ship? What, they're out of chocolate mousse and you have to settle for cheesecake?

Stress AFTER the cruise I can see, like the day your Visa statement comes.

JIM'S DEAL OF THE DAY

Air Canada Vacations’ three night packages in Bermuda come with a fourth night free when booked by Oct. 31, for travel Nov. 1, 2009 to Jan. 31, 2010. Flying time to Bermuda is just about two hours, making it ideal for a short getaway. Participating properties include the five-star Cambridge Beaches in Somerset, with three a la carte restaurants and two pools including a two-tiered infinity pool. Also at the high-end are The Fairmont Hamilton Princess and The Fairmont Southampton – a ferry service connects the two so you can stay at one and play at the other. Other options include the three and a half star Grotto Bay Beach Resort and the three-star Surf Side Beach Hotel. All bookings come with a Bermuda Savings Booklet while supplies last. See www.aircanadavacations.com.

Good West Jet Idea, Caribbean Week in TO,Torstar Digital Makes Key Purchase

It's such an obvious solution, you gotta wonder why nobody thought of it earlier. Or at least why they haven't done it.

The folks at WestJet say they're contemplating a plan that would take middle seats off the market on some long-distance flights, apparently Calgary to Hawaii (see photo). 

 

That would lessen the weight of the planes and thus reduce the amount of fuel needed. Which would allow them to better utilize existing planes and not buy bigger, more expensive ones.

The talk is that next year they'll leave up to 20 middle seats open on the Boeing 737-700 planes, which seat 136 folks.

Of course, they'd forgo some revenue so the thought is that folks (HELLO, YOU THINK?) would pay a little extra to have an empty seat next to them. I find it's a HUGE benefit to have half a seat for my book or iPod or what have you, and to be able to use half the tray to hold a drink while I put my laptop or whatever on the tray in front of my seat.

Personally, I'd pay $100 for the extra seat on a long flight. Even a five-hour flight it might be worth it. Or at least $50.

Interesting idea, and I'll be watching to see how this works.

RUM AND RHYTHM

The second annual Caribbean Rum & Rhythm Festival goes next Friday in the Distillery District as part of Caribbean Week in Toronto.

 

There's a party Friday night Oct. 30 from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Fermenting Cellar, with a variety of award-winning rums and some tasty cocktails, plus mouth-watering cuisine, music and a silent auction that includes Caribbean vacations. Ooh, I hope they have some Chairman's Reserve from St. Lucia (see photo)

Tickets are available for $55 per person and be purchased online at Ticketweb.com and at www.caribbeanweek.ca or by calling (888) 222-6608.

TORSTAR DIGITAL BUYS TRAVEL ALERTS

Interesting to see our friends at Torstar Digital have purchased Travelwire Inc., owner of TravelAlerts.ca (www.travelalerts.ca), a leading travel website and weekly newsletter that provides 700,000 Canadians with information about the best travel deals.

"We are excited to work collaboratively with the Travelwire team to further extend this fantastic product to Torstar Digital's broad consumer audience and advertiser base," Torstar Digital officials said. "Travelwire is unique in that it offers 10 regional TravelAlerts.ca newsletters across Canada with geo-targeted travel deals for each region."

Personally, I'm pretty excited to see what direction this goes. Could be some changes for our website down the road?

CRUISE DOINGS

The first Caribbean sailing of MSC Poesia goes Nov. 10 from Fort Lauderdale, touching base at Ocho Rios and Grand Cayman in a five-night cruise.

MSC Poesia was launched last year. For information, go to www.msccruisesusa.com

FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD (WEST)

The West Hollywood Marketing and Visitors Bureau has announced the relaunch of www.gogaywesthollywood.com, "the premier source of information for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered travelers to West Hollywood."

It's a great area, for sure, including parts of the Sunset strip and other districts. It's more or less sandwiched between Beverly Hills and Hollywood itself, which is a region of Los Angeles and not a separate city.

JIM'S DEAL OF THE DAY

Air Canada Vacations has extended the booking deadline on its Early Booking Bonus deal to Europe. From now until Nov. 30, you can save $200 per couple, or $100 per person, on all Air & Hotel packages to Europe, as long as travel is taken between Nov. 1, 2009 and April 30, 2010. Air Canada Vacations’ Europe  

line up includes London, Madrid, Paris, Geneva, Zurich, Dublin, Frankfurt and Munich, with flights and hotels as well as car rentals, airport/hotel transfers, sightseeing tours and theatre tickets. See www.aircanadavacations.com.

 

More Sunwing outfall...Disney deal and UCLA jazz...Jim's deal of the day

It's interesting to note some of the comments made by Sunwing folks in the wake of the announced merger of Sunwing and Signature. And to note how some of my fellow media types phrased their stories.

There was some sense of a larger company being able to offer more efficiencies, but by and large the tone seemed to be the one I took in this space yesterday, which is to suggest that any reduced competition is probably not a great thing for the average Canadian consumer. I hope that's wrong, but it usually seems to work that way.

For now, Sunwing says nothing will change and that Signature will keep operating as normal. There's talk that Sunwing will put a new emphasis on Mexico over the winter, and that's certainly good news for Mexico tourism folks.

I got a bit of reaction from readers to my Tuesday blog. Here are two competing thoughts:

"I hope that Sunwing learns a little bit of customer service from the merger. I travelled recently with Sunwing. There was an issue with my return flight. I hear that Air Canada has bad customer service .. trust me they are great compared to SW. I am not sure why they even have a CS (customer service) department. I am using WestJet for my next trip.. they have the best customer service in the industry."

Another person thought Sunwing was the cat's nightgown.

"I think Sunwing is great and I hope they keep their service just as it is. I've traveled down south a lot over the past 20 years, both with my extended family and with my wife and of all the companies we've flown with, Sunwing has been the best. Reading that they went (from revenues) of $30 million (to) $660 million was a shock, but I guess that's what happens when you provide good service. Good for them."

I've never flown Sunwing, but if money talks they're obviously doing some things right. Or a lot of things.

NICE WORK BY THE MOUSE

Disney is offering a free days' admission to a million guests who complete a day of volunteer work next year, and I gotta give them credit for a lovely idea.

Associated Press reports the "Give a Day, Get a Disney Day" program will give certified volunteers a one-day ticket at Walt Disney World in Orlando or Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif. Disney is partnering with HandsOn Network to connect people with projects and to make sure work is done.

Duncan Dickson, who teaches theme park management at the University of Central Florida (who knew there was such a thing?), called it a "smart marketing move," and I couldn't agree more.

(Okay, I can make fun of theme park management, but I confess I took a course in jazz when I was at UCLA. My professor was a guy who had played in Glenn Miller's band, Paul Tanner. One day he told us invented the "electro-theremin," which played the weird, trippy sounding thingy that goes "oooh, oooh, oooh, oooh, oooh" in the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations." I didn't believe him but I later looked it up and he was right. Of course, it took a little more doing as there was no Internet to look these things up on. I also found out he was born in Skunk Hollow, Kentucky, which is one of the great-sounding towns in America, apropo of nothing).

JIM'S DEAL OF THE DAY

Transat Holidays is the latest tour operator to promote holiday season getaways at sale prices. Some of the lowest rates are for Cuba, including a seven night air and hotel package at the Hotetur Palma Real in Varadero for $1,069 departing Dec. 19. And in the Dominican Republic, staying at the Bahia Principe San Juan Golden Club, packages are priced at $1,149 for the Dec. 31 departure. Prices are higher on islands like Antigua ($1,699 for the Jolly Beach Resort & Spa) and St. Lucia ($1,759 at Coconut Bay Beach Resort), both flying out Dec. 20. Transat lists all of its hotels and prices at www.transatholidays.com.

TWICK OR TWEET...CUTE

Nine Marriott/Renaissance Caribbean and Mexico resorts on Oct. 1 will launch a Halloween Twitter promotion called "Twick-or-Tweet."

Sounds like more tweet than twick to me. What you have to do, I'm told, is follow @MarriottResorts on Twitter (hey, while you're at it, follow me to @jbyers11) and then you can check each day for a link that will pull up what they're calling the twick-or-tweet "landing page." Free massages or free nights will be on offer, as well as "tweets" such as free golf in St. Kitts or a $100 resort credit in Cancun.

FREE ROOMS AT SHERATON

Sheraton Hotels and Resorts is celebrating $6 billion in renovations around the world with free rooms for one night only at 86 hotels in North America. Consumers can visit www.sheraton.com/freenight from Oct. 6-9 to reigster for a free room on Oct. 23 at such hotels as the Sheraton Boston, Sheraton Waikiki and Sheraton Phoenix Downtown.

Officials say they have 70,000 new or newly renovated rooms, 50,000 of them in North America, as well as 300 new lobbies and new "sweet sleeper" beds in 83,000 guestrooms. Nearly half the company's North American properties have been renovated, including the Sheraton Montreal.

 

 

 

 

TRAVEL WEB SITES...ONTARIO DEALS...CANADA BLOGGING

Yet another good-looking web site out there for you travel fans to check on.

Trax (www.trax.com) calls itself "the real deal" and seems to have some pretty decent bargains, scouring web sites from orbitz and tripgenius and gtahotels (didn't know about that one) and skoosh (great name!) to come up with hotel, car and flight deals. They had a Toronto-Miami flight for about $310 Cdn in July, as well as hotels in cities around the world.

Folks on a strict budget might want to check out the "Go Frugal" blog at www.freeshipping.org, a site that usually offers shopping and other value tips but now has a "Go Frugal in New York City" blog. It's got the usual stuff about museums and such but also a few different takes, including kayaking on the Hudson and a visit to the Little Red Lighthouse near the George Washington Bridge.

Also, Lonely Planet has launched an iPhone Travel Guidebook application with 15 cities and, as a promotion, is giving away the San Francisco iPhone guidebook for free until the end of June. It's a $15.99 value, they say.

COTTAGE COUNTRY DEALS

To celebrate tourism week in Canada, more than 30 members of Ontario Travel North of Toronto are offering deals on everything from cottages in Haliburton to inns in Port Severn. Go to www.400eleven.com for more information.

BLOGGING ... FROM BONAVISTA TO VANCOUVER ISLAND

As part of its promotion for Canada tourism, the Canadian Tourism Commssion on June 21 will send two bloggers across the country for seven weeks. Check www.canadaisabigplace.ca in the coming weeks.

The promotion is impressive. One of the web sites is called localsknow.ca and you can check out lots of cool spots from Georgian Bay to the Northwest Territories.

Meanwhile, a few miles away, Tourism New Zealand has launched www.trenzblog.com, with blog editor Ruth Atherley writing from several key tourism destinations in Kiwi-land.

MEXICO ON SALE

The Los Cabos Convention and Visitors Bureau has launched something called "Los Cabos a la Carte," where folks can select a vacation package of their choice from a menu of savings. Go to www.visitloscabos.travel for more information on deals that include free room nights, $350 resort credits, free rounds of golf and more.

 

 

HOTEL DEALS GALORE ... AND WHERE NOT TO DRIVE

You could ramble over to Reno for about $57 U.S. a night for a four-star hotel. Or, if Vegas is more your cup of darjeeling, you can get a four-star spot there for about $85 U.S.

But the biggest price drop in the last year was in Vancouver, according to the May 2009 Hotel Rate Report by hotwire.com. According to the company, hotels in Vancouver are going for 35 per cent less than a year ago. It says you can find a 3-star hotel in the city today for just $68 U.S.

New York's hotels are 31 per cent cheaper than last year, while the average price in Tampa has dropped 28 per cent and the average in Toronto has fallen 25 per cent. Other cities included Orlando (24 per cent), Austin (22 per cent) Reno/Tahoe (20 per cent) Vegas (20 per cent), San Diego (20 per cent) and San Francisco (17 per cent).

Hotwire said folks can find 3-star hotels in Vancouver for just $68 U.S., compared to $70 in Austin, $71 in San Diego, $76 in San Francisco and $130 in New York. For four-star hotels, they said rooms can be had in Reno-Tahoe for $57, in Tampa for $66, in Toronto for $71 (again, that's U.S. dollars), in Orlando for $75 and in Vegas for $85.

Actually, yours truly went on to their site around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday and found a four-star hotel in Toronto Downtown East (roughly from Yonge to Sherbourne and south of Bloor) for $56 U.S. a night, that being for a two-night stay starting tomorrow (May 21) which is remarkable. Hotwire uses an "opaque" system where you don't know the hotel name until you book it, but the web site promised it had a fitness centre and a pool.

The site also was promising a four-star hotel in the downtown-SoHo section of New York for Friday and Saturday of this week for $149 U.S. per night.

OUT OF THE WAY ... BUT WORTH IT

Forbes.com is always good for travel lists. They have one today that talks about ten beautiful destinations that might be a little out of the way but definitely are worth checking out. Here they are:

1. Cranberry Islands, Maine (never been but a nice state and a Canadian neighbour)

2. Cranberry Lakes, New York (in the Adirondacks, not far from T.O.)

3. Cabbage Key, Florida (nice but save it 'til winter)

4. Mammoth Lakes, California (lovely countryside and not too far from L.A.)

5. Mackinac Island, Michigan (a little further from T.O. but not horribly far)

6. Meadow Creek, B.C. (only one score for Canada, sorry)

7. Valdez, Alaska (looks interesting enough)

8. Vieques, Puerto Rico (Canadians don't know PR so well but it's worth checking out)

9. Jackson, Wyoming (beautiful, stunning country)

10. Isla Holbox, Mexico (they could use the tourism boost)

Also on the subject of Forbes, they analyzed some data and came up with the following 10 countries with the most dangerous driving:

1. Russia

2. Slovakia

3. Poland

4. Turkey

5. Hungary

6. Korea

7. Greece

8. U.S.A.

9. Czech Republic

10. Belgium (didn't see THAT one coming, did you?)

 

RECESSIONARY DEALS, ONTARIO CAMPING & NYTIMES ON TORONTO

Nice to see Air Canada being aggressive today with its new promotion.

Called the "Lowest Fare Guarantee," it says folks who "find a lower fare for the exact same Air Canada itinerary with another Canadian online travel retailer within 24 hours of completing a purchase on aircanada.com" will get "a $50 credit, plus the fare difference, per passenger."

Trips have to originate in Canada for travel within Canada or between Canada and the United States, excluding Puerto Rico.

It's not a bad deal, but it sounds like a fair bit of trouble for $50 and the fare difference. Especially when you go on-line and read stories in U.S. papers about $14 (okay, $14 U.S.) deals on Jet Blue between New York and San Francisco. Now, THAT'S a bargain, even if they only appeared on line for a day and you had to be lucky to find them.

A couple U.S. hotels have offered rooms on-line for as little as a dollar, including the Orchard Hotel in San Francisco and the Alexander Inn in Philadelphia. Haven't seen any similar deals in Canada yet.

Sites like travelocity (www.travelocity.com)  and travelzoo (www.travelzoo.com) and hotwire (www.hotwire.com) often advertise great deals, and check places like farecompare (www.farecompare.com) and a new one I stumbled across called voyij (www.voyij.com.) Also new on my horizon are www.tripkick.com and www.raveables.com. Finally a New York Times piece I spotted talks about sites called www.luxurylink.com, where you can bid on vacations, and www.FloridaVacationAuction.com, which should prove popular in Ontario.

Happy hunting.

KOA KAMPING

It makes sense given the economy. The folks who run KOA - Kampgrounds of America - say new campers have risen from 15.4 per cent of their business in 2007 to 21.3 % last year. They also say more people than ever report that they stayed at home the night before their first night at a campground, which suggests more folks are sticking close to home for their holidays.

KOA - www.koa.com - has camping facilities all over southern Ontario, from cottage country to London and Niagara Falls, to Owen Sound, the 1000 Islands and a couple in the Toronto area. They offer everything from ice cream socials and pancake breakfasts to heated pools, outdoor movies, basketball, kayaking, trampllines, horeseback riding and fishing, depending on the location of course.

T.O. REPORT CARD

Nice story from the New York Times on the Big Smoke came out on-line this morning. There's some nice stuff about how polite we all are (relatively true) and how the trolleys all run on time (hello?) and how clean the sidewalks are (we can't imagine where the reporter was hanging out). Anyway, it's terrific publicity for a town that needs a good tourism boost, not that everyone else doesn't (see item below on Britain's woes).

The reporter, Denny Lee, found an interesting Queen West restaurant I've never heard of called OddFellows, with bison meat loaf and venison burgers, and also raved about Little India and the new Frank Gehry addition to the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Lee called the AGO addition "a stunning homecoming for an architect credited with helping other cities flourish, not that Toronto needs a hand."

LONDON CALLING ... WHO'S ANSWERING?

Reuters reports the number of foreign tourists visiting Britain in the first three months of this year was 13 per cent lower than in 2008, and Britons made 19 per cent fewer trips abroad.

British tourism has been putting on a big push, talking about how prices are lower than any time in the past few years. Yours truly travelled to London in February for about $600 and found a decent, 3-star hotel in a good part of town for $70 Canadian. Meals don't have to be pricey in London, and many top attractions such as the big museums are free.

ALBERTA TRAVEL  PROMOTION

Ontario residents have a chance to be the star in their own adventure as part of Travel Alberta's "The Great Alberta Getaway Classic." The prize includes four days in June in Calgary, Edmonton and the Rockies, with ziplines and hikes and bungee jumping and other pursuits, and the winner's trip will be put on video at GoCanadianRockies.com for the world to see.

Applicants must upload their photo and a video or short story to GoCanadianRockies.com/GreatAlbertaGetaway and say whey they'd be the ideal candidates to become the Alberta Adventure Ambassador.

 

IT'S A WI-FI WORLD

We've ranted in this space (often, I'm afraid) about having to pay for wireless Internet access at airports and hotels and such. I was in San Francisco on personal business recently and was asked to pay for wi-fi, which is ridiculous in a city that's five miles from Silicon Valley and prides itself on being friendly to tourists.

Toronto Pearson, of course, also charges for wireless. At least San Francisco has good shops and lots of good restaurants for passengers who've cleared security.

Anyway, as I was typing this note I got a twitter notice from Star freelancer Reb Stevenson to say she was getting free wireless at the airport in Vienna and in Skopje, Macedonia. Skopje has free wi-fi and not Pearson or SFO? What's wrong with this picture?

As for internet access at hotels, it turns out a website called hotelchatter.com has been doing wi-fi surveys at major hotel chains for years, and bless their hearts for it. According to the web site, Holiday Inns and Best Western hotels always have free wi-fi, all the time, as do Personality Hotels (San Francisco) and Gansevoort Hotels, which are still pretty limited (New York, Miami both come to mind, and there's talk of one coming to Toronto).

Listed as "mostly free, depending on the brand" are Choice Hotels (all brands except Clarion, Rodeway Inn and Ascend Collection) and Intercontinental Hotels (not including Intercontinental and Crowne Plaza brands). Others are free for hotel loyalty club members, including Fairmont and Omni and many Hyatt brands.

Definitely worth checking out.

While we're on the wi-fi topic, USA Today reports that AirTran Airways in the U.S. is moving toward having wireless on its airplanes by the end of July.

I ONLY READ IT FOR THE TRAVEL ARTICLES

I'd never heard of her (honest, honey), but it seems there's a model/reality TV star/Playboy Playmate named Bridget Marquardt who will be showing something on the Travel Channel May 14 called "Bridget's Sexiest Beaches."

(Hmmmm....maybe it's time to upgrade the cable package at home. What? It's a U.S. channel?) Anyway, USA Today had an interview with her where she revealed some of her favourite travel spots. Apparently she loves Amsterdam and Tabacon resort in Arenal, Costa Rica. Inquiring minds wanted to know.

MOVE OVER, COLUMBUS

The folks who run Discover America, the official U.S. travel web site, have re-launched discoveramerica.com, with some 7,000 pages on all 50 states, the five U.S. territories and more than 100 cities.

It's interesting to look at the main page and find the cities/places that are highlighted with bright, orange dots. You can click on Ft. Myers and about eight other places in Florida, and there are 13 places highlighted for California, the most of any state. (For some reason, working-class Stockton gets a mention but not sexy Napa. And they've got San Mateo/Silicon Valley located south of Monterey instead of about 60 miles north. But we digress.)

Iowa's cities don't merit a highlight on the "destinations" map. But several other states are in the same situation, including Idaho, Kentucky, Alaska, Nebraska, South Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Mississippi.

You can find info on those states, of course, such as the Badlands and Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota and on the bluegrass country in Kentucky. It's just that their cities aren't so much destinations of their own.

That issue aside, there's tons of good information on a vast country and places where travelers can post photos, which is a nice touch.

T