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Lesser-known chocolate destinations to visit in February

Connie Ulman Food & Beverage

I really enjoy the month of February because it speaks both to the heart and the taste buds. February is the month of chocolate, and while the experts say that dark chocolate has health benefits, it is the taste I am after. Everywhere you look this month, you will find seemingly unlimited choices, ranging from chocolate covered pretzels to chocolate Amish fry pies and many, many more. I’d like to share with you some outside-the-box chocolate destinations that I have been to or are on my bucket list.

Fun and weird spots to visit in the Midwest

Cindy Belt Recreation & Leisure

While I enjoy the museums and normal tourist spots, I absolutely love the weird and unique places that show individuality and originality. The Midwest region has more than its fair share of fun places to visit. This article features balls of twine, an American automotive tribute to Stonehenge, Capt. James T Kirk's "future birthplace," canned meat museums and more.

The mad dash to quell drivers’ fears about autonomous vehicle safety

Ryan Clark Transportation Technology & Automotive

Apparently, in an attempt to ward off the Skynet-led techno-apocalypse, people in the American Southwest are attacking self-driving cars. While this sounds insane, in light of recent incidents where autonomous vehicles have led to the injury and even death of citizens, it makes sense in a sort of morbid way. This type of consumer anxiety is not what a budding industry should want, especially if it wants to grow. Recently, carmakers have made efforts to address consumer fears about self-driving cars.

Boutique airports, airlines are on the rise

Bambi Majumdar Travel, Hospitality & Event Management

In a world defined by stiff global competition, heightened user experiences, and demanding social media presences, the bigger is better mindset has been ruling for some time. But some regional airports and smaller airlines have been quietly rewriting this messaging. The reality of the travel industry is that a large percentage of travelers fall into the economy travel and short-haul categories. It is imperative that these travelers, who also bring in the volume of business, be addressed and served accordingly.

Skift reveals 12 megatrends in travel, tourism for 2019

Linchi Kwok Travel, Hospitality & Event Management

Skift released The Megatrends Defining Travel in 2019 earlier in January. Through surveys, interviews, and focus group research with travelers throughout the year, Skift reveals 12 megatrends in travel and tourism. For example, one trend is that brands give travelers more control over their experience. It is now very common for travelers to plan their own trips through price alerts and location-based apps.

8 great national parks for a winter visit

Dave G. Houser Recreation & Leisure

Summer may seem the ideal time for visiting America’s vast network of national parks, but winter offers a surprising variety of park getaways — with activities ranging from skiing to scuba diving. Here are eight national parks scattered across the country that provide a smorgasbord of winter adventures.

Travel2020: Uber’s futuristic air taxi lands at CES

Lark Gould Transportation Technology & Automotive

While Las Vegas is currently one of two cities in the U.S. allowing for consumer testing of driverless cars, the city got another driverless boost recently from CES2019: the driverless heli-taxi. Even though the annual Consumer Electronics Show brought a life-size prototype of the new aerial hybrid vehicle currently in development, it also brought a lot of debate about the future of urban transportation — the good, the bad and the seemingly impossible. The vision is this: sometime in the not too distant future, a traveler, a commuter, or a person in a hurry may be able to choose on a whim to hail an air taxi from a nearby rooftop and take that taxi to another rooftop stop, the airport or even some port on a high-rise rooftop of another nearby city.

Want to hunt in the Western states next season? Apply for your tags soon

John McAdams Recreation & Leisure

Even though deer season remains open in some parts of the country, it’s not too early to start planning for next hunting season. Specifically, application season is rapidly approaching for most of the Western states. So, if you'd like to hunt deer, elk, pronghorn, moose, mountain goat, or bighorn sheep next fall in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, or Wyoming, then pay close attention to the upcoming application deadlines to make sure you don't miss out on the chance to draw a tag.

Travel2020 at CES2019 — Technology for a better trip: Part 2

Lark Gould Travel, Hospitality & Event Management

There is no place like CES, the Consumer Electronics Show that happens in Las Vegas every year, to find the latest skills that Alexa can perform or new ways to conquer your world one robot, one pair of smart glasses, or one new 8K television at a time. Travel2020 cut through the clutter (and that’s a lot of cutting with 4,500 products to peruse!) to come up with the latest in newfangled travel gear for travelers looking to make their trips more comfortable. This is part two of a quick glance at technology that is changing the way we travel.

Airports encouraged to invest in anti-drone measures before the threats…

Matt Falcus Transportation Technology & Automotive

Following the drone attacks at London Gatwick airport in December and the crippling closure of the airport to air traffic at one of the busiest periods of the year for air travel, airports are being encouraged to invest in developing measures to counter the threat before it can develop. The actions taken at Gatwick from Dec. 19-21 (and briefly at Heathrow on Jan. 8) followed the standard response when a drone or unmanned aerial vehicle enters the control zone of an active airport. The potentially catastrophic result of a collision between an aircraft and drone poses an unimaginable threat. In the case of Gatwick, it uncovered just how open airports are to this kind of attack and how ill-equipped they are to countering such an attack.

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