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Today's Travel News
Friday-Monday, February 15-18, 2008
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Active Vacations: A Growing Trend
By Rich Steck and Judi Janofsky
If you’re getting bored with “stay put” vacations, like a week at the beach or up in the mountains, you’re not alone. According to a new informal poll of leading tour operators, Americans are increasingly looking for adventure on vacation. Two-thirds of the US Tour Operators Association members responding to a recent survey said that adventure travel is on the rise. The new interest in active vacations was reflected in the types of packaged vacations being booked. Increasingly popular are independent arrangements wherea tour operator custom-designs separate elements into an individual package. More than 80% of respondents said this category has experienced growth in 2007 compared to 2006.Independent tours (usuallyprepackaged hotel and other arrangements) are also growing, with 73% of respondents reporting gains in this area, followed by escorted tours (60% reporting year over year growth). “Previous research indicated that baby boomers are clearly fueling the growth in active vacations,” says Bob Whitley, USTOA president. “Today Americans --- especially the baby boomer generation -- are no longer content to simply sightsee; they want to ’site do,’ and experience a destination. “And as Americans have grown more sophisticated and seen more of the world they are increasingly turning to tour operators to help them plan their own tailored and individual travel experiences.Because tour operators have intimate knowledge of the areas they serve, they are able to arrange special experiences that travelers might have difficulty finding otherwise.For instance,” he explains, “if a couple wants a wedding ceremony in Tanzania or Tahiti, a tour operator can arrange that.If you want to stay in a yurt in Mongolia, practice yoga in India, or any number of experiences that would be hard to plan on your own, there is a USTOA tour operator who can put together almost any arrangements for you,” states Whitley. The USTOA website --- www.USTOA.com or www.USTOA.travel --- contains a drop-down list of member companies by type of activity, from heli-hiking to whale watching.All USTOA members have met the travel industry’s strictest requirements, including participating in the USTOA travelers assistance program, which among other things requires each USTOA corporate member to set aside $1 million to protect consumer payments in the case of bankruptcy or insolvency. Action and financial protection make a nice foundation for today’s vacation trends.
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Briefly
With more hotels than ever in key cities like Shanghai and Beijing, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts rings in the Chinese “Year of the Rat” with a collection of properties ready to host guests for the upcoming 2008 Summer Olympic Games. In Shanghai, Hyatt on the Bund and Grand Hyatt Shanghai will be joined by the new Park Hyatt Shanghai opening in July. According to TripAdvisor.com, 32% of travelers are planning to engage in educational activities or learning experiences while on vacation in 2008, an increase of 7% from the previous year. Of those who plan a “learning” vacation, 35% will take sports-oriented sessions. In response to the desire of travelers to become better athletes and sportsmen (or women!), the Marco Island Marriott Beach Resort is offering a weekend golf school for couples or friends hoping to conquer the greens. The City of Alpharetta and the Alpharetta Historical Society recently unveiled 17 historical markers. Identifying, creating and erecting the historical markers is one of the major projects that was carried out in support of Alpharetta’s 150th anniversary. |
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