“Travel briefs - Dayton Daily News” plus 4 more

Travel briefs - Dayton Daily News
US Travel Association spent $288K on 2Q lobbying - Forbes
Michelle Obama Doesn’t Travel Light - Nymag.com
Jet Blue offers travel deal through Friday - Spectrum
'Domestic-like' travel to ease trips to Aust - Stuff

Posted: 17 Aug 2009 09:30 AM PDT

The Associated Press 12:26 PM Monday, August 17, 2009

NEW YORK (AP) — Retailers in 13 countries will invite the public to celebrate the world of fashion with the first-ever "Fashion's Night Out" Sept. 10.

Boutiques and stores will stay open until 11 p.m. for the event, hosting fashion shows, giveaways, charity tie-ins, model and celebrity appearances, parties with food and drink, live music and DJs, makeovers, product launches, and raffles.

The global initiative is designed to promote the retail apparel industry and restore consumer confidence. It's being coordinated by U.S. and international editions of Vogue magazine.

In the U.S., 700 retailers in New York City are participating, from boutiques to Macy's, in addition to the King of Prussia Mall in Pennsylvania, and all 40 Neiman Marcus stores around the country. Stores in the United Kingdom, Greece, Italy, Russia, France, Brazil, India, Spain, China, Germany, Japan and Taiwan will also take part.

The Sept. 10 date coincides with the first night of New York Fashion Week. In the U.S., Vogue is partnering with New York City, the Council of Fashion Designers of America and NYC&Company, the local tourism and marketing agency.

Some of the splashiest events will take place in Manhattan, with appearances expected by top designers like Manolo Blahnik, Kenneth Cole, Sean Combs, Carolina Herrera, Tommy Hilfiger, Donna Karan, Michael Kors, Derek Lam, Nanette Lepore, Isaac Mizrahi, Narciso Rodriguez, Diane von Furstenberg, Vera Wang, and Jason Wu among many others. Celebrities and models taking part are scheduled to include Cindy Crawford, Hugh Jackman, Karolina Kurkova, Sienna Miller, Coco Rocha and Charlize Theron.

Among the special events: Barneys New York will offer salsa lessons and will also host Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen as guest bartenders; Stuart Weitzman, which sells high-end shoes and bags, will host a pingpong tournament; and Oscar de la Renta will sing at his Madison Avenue boutique. Details at http://www.fashionsnightout.com.

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Drives of a lifetime from National Geographic Traveler

WASHINGTON (AP) — With another few weeks of summer holding out the possibility of an old-fashioned road trip, followed by the lure of leaf-peeping come autumn, consider planning a long scenic drive.

National Geographic Traveler is featuring 50 "Drives of a Lifetime" on its Web site at http://traveler.nationalgeographic.com/drives. Traveler magazine editor-in-chief Keith Bellows picked these five as a representative sample from around the country:

—Cherohala Skyway, a 42-mile byway that connects Highway 165 in Tennessee and 143 in North Carolina, climbing to a mile above sea level at the road's highest point, the Santeetlah Overlook in the Great Smoky Mountains.

—Cheese Trail, Vermont, a 280-mile loop that begins in Plymouth Notch, accessible from I-89 via Route 4 and Route 100A, then follows Route 100 north to Lincoln Gap Road, which descends to Route 7 in the Champlain Valley. Route 7 links several cheesemakers and other attractions along with Burlington, and connects near the Canadian border with I-89.

—Cascade Lakes, Oregon, an 83-mile route running from Bend to Sunriver on Oregon 372 and County Roads 46 and 42. It can be driven in three hours and includes forests, lakes, meadows and prehistoric volcanoes.

—Shipwreck Coast, Michigan, in the Upper Peninsula between Marquette and Whitefish Point, about 175 miles along the shores of Lake Superior, past sandstone cliffs at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and the shifting sands of Grand Sable Dunes.

—Navajo and Hopi lands, Arizona, a 425-mile loop from Tuba City northeast to Kayenta, southeast to Canyon de Chelly, south to Ganado and back west to Tuba City. Native American and national park sites are among the attractions.

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Hilton hotel in Va. holds contest to give away $10,000 meeting

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A Hilton hotel in Virginia just outside of Washington is holding a contest to award $10,000 worth of space and services to be used by a company holding a business meeting at the property in 2010.

The Hilton Alexandria Old Town is asking meeting planners across the U.S. to share their thoughts on how the economy is affecting travel and meeting budgets. Applicants can focus on one of three themes in their entries: how a meeting would stimulate business for their company; how a meeting held at the Hilton would benefit the local Alexandria economy; or, if applicable, a description of the business or organization's philanthropic commitments.

The winning prize is a two-day meeting or event at the hotel.

Entries should be 200 words or less, sent to the Hilton Alexandria Old Town by Oct. 31 through this link: http://www.alexandriahilton.com/hiltonalexfreemeeting/. Certain rules and regulations apply; see the Web site for details.

The hotel will choose a winner by Nov. 30.

The recession has hit business meetings particularly hard, with many companies canceling meetings either because they can't afford them or because they fear a backlash over the perception that money spent on meetings might be better spent saving jobs or paying off debt. Meeting planners argue that face-to-face gatherings serve an important function, and that they cannot be replaced by webinars, conference calls or video chats.

The Alexandria hotel is 5 miles from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, 10 miles south of Washington D.C., and across the street from the King Street Metrorail and Amtrak stations.

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US Travel Association spent $288K on 2Q lobbying - Forbes

Posted: 17 Aug 2009 09:58 AM PDT

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Travel Association spent $288,000 in the second quarter to lobby on visa matters, airport funding and other issues, according to a recent disclosure report.

The trade group that represents the travel industry also lobbied on legislation related to the Transportation Security Administration, travel documents, border enforcement, Federal Aviation Administration funding, registered traveler programs, money for high-speed rail programs and response to the swine flu.

Article Controls

In the April-June period, the group lobbied Congress, the Commerce Department, FAA, Department of Homeland Security, TSA, Transportation Department, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, State Department, Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Health and Human Services, according to the report filed July 20 with the House clerk's office.

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Michelle Obama Doesn’t Travel Light - Nymag.com

Posted: 17 Aug 2009 09:58 AM PDT

Photo: Getty Images

The Obamas headed out west to check out Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, and other western sites over the weekend. On Saturday, Michelle Obama wore a very pretty dress arriving in Phoenix, Arizona. It was one of three outfits she wore that day (she had a different outfit for each state). In fact, you're five outfits behind if you neglected to MObama-outfit-watch over the weekend. See the full looks in the Michelle Obama Look Book.

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Jet Blue offers travel deal through Friday - Spectrum

Posted: 17 Aug 2009 09:15 AM PDT

About 30 years ago Eastern Airlines introduced what they called the Unlimited Mileage Fare. It was a ticket you could buy that allowed you to fly to as many destinations as you would like during a 21-day period. People loved it because they could jet from one city to another to another all at one price.

Jet Blue has now brought back a similar program for a short time.

Jet Blues program is called All You Can Jet and for $599 you can fly to as many of Jet Blues 64 destinations as you want during a specific 30 days. Jet Blue flies out of Las Vegas and Salt Lake City to New York and Long Beach where you can connect to cities across the country.

You can explore top destinations in the Caribbean; San Jose, Costa Rica; Bermuda and even Bogota, Colombia. The only problem is that Jet Blue does not fly nonstop between many destinations you will need to connect through one of their major airports: New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Fort Lauderdale or Long Beach.

The 30 days starts on Sept. 8 and continues until Oct. 8. You must buy the ticket no later than Friday and they are subject to selling out. The price includes taxes on domestic flights but you will need to pay any international taxes.

Individual flights need to be booked at least three days in advance and could sell out. The number of All You Can Jet tickets is limited so buy it right away. See www.jetblue.com for all of the details and have a great time exploring Jet Blues world!

Read more Travel Tips in Tuesday's Southern Utah Life, a section of The Spectrum & Daily News.

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'Domestic-like' travel to ease trips to Aust - Stuff

Posted: 17 Aug 2009 09:58 AM PDT

By COLIN ESPINER - The Press

Prime Minister John Key has dismissed reports he is set to announce a "common border" with Australia.

Key will leave for Australia today for a three-state visit. He will meet Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in Canberra, visit New Zealand-owned businesses and attend the New Zealand-Australia Leadership Forum in Sydney.

Australian newspapers say Key and Rudd are poised to announce domestic-style air travel between the two countries, including the scrapping of departure taxes, a single biosecurity and quarantine check and entry through domestic terminals.

Key said yesterday the reports were wrong. Border security and departure taxes would remain, and aircraft would still land at international terminals.

"It is not my expectation that planes will fly into domestic airports," he said. "That is something officials looked closely at, but in the end, for a variety of reasons, that wasn't progressed."

He said changes to be announced at a joint press conference with Rudd on Thursday would lead to a "domestic-like experience" that would encourage travel across the Tasman and speed up the process.

"There are real deliverables there that should see people be able to get off a trans-Tasman flight and progress very quickly out the other end," Key said.

It is understood the initial changes relate only to passport control and immigration clearance, which will be done at departure rather than arrival, and the introduction of "self-service" check-in kiosks.

He said the first "joint Cabinet meeting" between Australian and New Zealand ministers would be held in Sydney on Friday. Key and seven New Zealand ministers will join Rudd and seven ministers to discuss education, defence, business links and tourism.

Travel and Leisure

Monday, August 17, 2009