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Travel2020: Struck by the travel curse

Lark Gould Travel, Hospitality & Event Management

Sweaty palms at the airport? Has the light, now heavy, snow shower grounded your flight … again? If so, you may be one of the 1 in 7 Americans that feel they’ve been struck by the "travel curse." A new study looking at the travel experiences of some 2,000 Americans determined that 14 percent seem to experience so much bad luck when they travel that they believe themselves to be truly cursed. And it seems once it strikes, the curse just keeps on cursing, at least according to nearly three-quarters of those who feel they caught the travel hex.

A grand return

Steve and Diane Owens Recreation & Leisure

I can’t remember when the idea of extensive travel flashed through my mind. Perhaps when I was a young man and I took my first great road trip across this magnificent country. Somewhere along the way a seed was planted. Perhaps it was crossing the great American plains, or hiking in the magnificent Rocky Mountains, or just relaxing with a cold beer in the desert with my uncle in Arizona. Whatever the case, that seed took hold and years later germinated, grew and finally blossomed. In retirement, my wife, Diane, and I were not ready to sit on our porch for years.

Hotels that offer the ultimate holiday experience

Bambi Majumdar Travel, Hospitality & Event Management

Luxury hotels around the world are offering some mind-blowing holiday-themed experiences for their guests. Topping the list is the historic Châteaux La Réserve Paris Hotel and Spa in Paris. Its new five-day Christmas package offers guests an over-the-top Parisian experience complete with a classically French suite to a private visit to the Eiffel Tower, a crowd-free exploring of the Louvre, and a cruise down the Seine along with gourmet food and beverage experiences.

Little white lies can add up to destroy your credibility

Anne Rose Business Management, Services & Risk Management

We tell little white lies to make our lives easier, to get ahead in business, to sell a product, to disguise our ignorance, to give ourselves some leverage in a relationship, and to avoid any confrontation. Everyone tells little white lies. They don’t hurt anyone. Don’t they? A customer relayed to me that her previous travel advisor had advised her to take a taxi from the train to the dock to catch her ferry. Many euros and a half-hour later, she discovered the cab driver had simply driven around the block because her destination and arrival point were one and the same — just a different entrance.

8 tips to avoid hotel hygiene horrors

Linchi Kwok Travel, Hospitality & Event Management

In most hotels, a housekeeper only has 30-40 minutes to clean a checkout room, where the linens must be changed and straightened; the bathtub, toilet, and sinks must be cleaned and sanitized; the floor must be mopped, and the carpet must be vacuumed. While every traveler wants to stay in a clean hotel room, the fact is not all hotel rooms are cleaned thoroughly. Last week, a video about some housekeepers’ unsanitary cleaning practices recorded in 14 luxury hotels in China went viral on social media.

Travel2020: Following the money — Simplifying payment systems in travel

Lark Gould Travel, Hospitality & Event Management

As technology and banking become better bedfellows, new methods of thinking about the banking process have allowed such companies as ConnexPay to create newer, simpler and often less expensive ways of processing transactions. This is especially true in the areas of travel and e-commerce. We sat down with Bob Kaufman, founder and CEO of ConnexPay, after the company picked up the top award for Travel Innovation in the Start-up Category at the recent Phocuswright 2018 conference in Los Angeles, to get a sense of how banking and payment reconciliation may be changing in the travel industry — and what this might mean for other industries as well.

9 rules of camping

Cindy Belt Recreation & Leisure

If you are new to camping or only camp a week or two a year, you may not know some of the unwritten rules of camping. Some of these are written rules at many campgrounds or are actual laws. Most of these are common sense or follow the Golden Rule. Remember, there are others camping in the campground at the same time you are camping so we all need to be polite! For example, while you might think your pet is the best pet in the world, others may not feel the same and might even be scared or allergic to dogs or cats.

Amsterdam Schiphol expansion proposed as Lelystad delayed

Matt Falcus Transportation Technology & Automotive

Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands needs to find creative ways to cope with capacity issues and is hoping further expansion could give it breathing space as it awaits the opening of Lelystad as a sister airport. Proposals to develop Lelystad, some 30 miles east of the city, into a commercial airport to handle Schiphol’s low-cost and leisure flights have been delayed to 2020 instead of next year to allow more time to consult with users and local residents. In the short term, this gives Schiphol a headache.

Biophilic hotel design is going mainstream

Michael J. Berens Interior Design, Furnishings & Fixtures

Beachfront properties, mountain lake resorts, luxury forest cabins, jungle hideaways, atrium lobbies — the hospitality industry has long known the value of attracting visitors with views of nature. Recently, though, more hotels and hotel designers have been employing principles of biophilia to enhance guests’ connection to nature within their properties. What once seemed just an extension of eco-design is fast becoming a must-have feature to compete for the custom of discerning travelers.

Travel2020: New app finds the money when air woes arrive

Lark Gould Travel, Hospitality & Event Management

My story is not unusual. I was heading home from the island of Mallorca last October. There was nothing brewing in the weather and, indeed, the waves of tourists that summer brings were long gone. I headed to the low-cost carrier I was taking back to Los Angeles, checked in, snaked through security, made it to the gate in plenty of time … and waited. And waited. Some 10 minutes before the flight was supposed to depart, the crowd stirred. No announcement, just clumps of individuals leaving their seats and heading elsewhere.

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