• What's elliott?
• About elliott
• Contact us

t o p i c s

• Business
• Commentary
• Destinations
• Help
• Leisure
• Technology
• Vault

Copyright Elliott Publishing. All rights reserved. For more information, call (305) 453-4781 or send e-mail to us.

E L L I O T T ' S TRAVEL NOTES
Travel news, opinion and analysis

July 14, 2004

Hotels Are Hot — Wanna Buy One?
With business travelers taking to the road again, the hotel industry is emerging from a slump that began a year before the terrorist attacks of September 2001. Fewer rooms are going begging, room rates are rising and revenues are growing. For many owners of sizable hotels that means just one thing: it's a good time to sell. So the Crescent Real Estate Equities Company of Fort Worth has put the 613-room Denver Marriott City Center and the 395-room Hyatt Albuquerque on the market. The New York Times | Posted 6:30 a.m.
• Good Times Starting To Roll in Mass. (Boston Herald)
• Best May Ever For Las Vegas Hotels (KVBC)

So what does all of this mean? Higher prices. Much higher prices. Especially if you travel on business, expect to pay top dollar for your room. And expect a "take-it-or-leave-it" attitude from the hotel, which probably thinks it doesn't need your business.

Hell is a Resort Full of Britons
Hell for Britons on holiday can be other Britons, according to a survey today. As many as 32% of Britons are put off a resort if it is taken over by their fellow countrymen while only 13% are perturbed if a destination is swamped by holidaymakers from another country, the survey found. The survey showed that crowded or noisy resorts are the top factors blamed for blighting family holidays. Findings also revealed that British families will spend around £15 billion on holidays this year, with the average family forking out £1,830 on trips, but around 10% of families never take a holiday. Manchester Online | Posted 6:45 a.m.

CAPPS II Delayed By Privacy Issues
The government is revising a plan to check all airline passengers' backgrounds before they board a plane, further delaying a program once described by the Bush administration as urgent. Acting Transportation Security Administration chief David Stone said the agency is "reshaping and repackaging" the project. He did not say what prompted the changes but indicated privacy concerns were involved. "The Department of Homeland Security and TSA feel very strongly that we should not move forward on any program that doesn't preserve our freedoms," Stone said Tuesday during a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on his nomination to become TSA administrator. AP | Posted 7 a.m.

Man Bares All at Security Checkpoint - Travelers are used to removing their shoes at security checkpoints at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, but one passenger took it a step further and dropped his shorts, airport police said. Police said a security screener was waving a metal-detecting wand over Daryl Miller's pants area Friday when Miller pulled his shorts down to his ankles. He wasn't wearing any underwear. AP | Posted 7 a.m.

No Bears In Travelzoo? - In my experience, when a company has no answers for the "Why has your stock gone up so much?" question, the overinflated balloon is destined to pop. While Travelzoo has lured more than 7 million subscribers to its online travel service, its concept is nothing new. Motley Fool | Posted 7:05 a.m.

Qantas Hijacker Found Not Guilty - A passenger who tried to hijack and crash a Qantas jet with 50 people aboard will be detained in a psychiatric hospital after being found not guilty on the grounds of insanity. David Mark Robinson, 41, believed he was on a mission from God to kill the devil when he tried to take over the aircraft between Melbourne and Launceston on May 29 last year. SMH | Posted 7 a.m.

-----------------------------------

• Off the Record... How's this for a "man-bites-dog" story? Nineteen Alaskan air carriers have filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Transportation contending that the U.S. Postal Service has been shortchanging them as they deliver mail to rural Alaskan communities. We're so used to seeing it the other way around, it's almost odd to have any airline claim it was taken advantage of. Posted 7:10 a.m. | Send us your comments.

>> Yesterday's Notes | Tomorrow's Notes <<

E-mail Elliott | Other bloggers | About this blog

Latest Travel Notes | Complete Archives