Disney Is Opening a New "Magic Kingdom" in Shanghai, China, And from All Reports it's a Stunning Advance in Theme Park Design
Posted on 06/03/2016, 2:00 PM
Disney Parks China itself is such a fascinating touristic destination that it really doesn't need another attraction. And yet that's exactly what it got this month, in the opening of the Shanghai Disneyland. Larger by far than any previous Disneyland in the U.S., Paris or elsewhere, this one incorporates such new advances in electronic wizardry, spread over awesomely-large grounds, t...
The Galapagos Islands, Which for Years Have Been Stigmatized as an Expensive Cruise Destination, Are Actually Visited Cheaply by Tourists Living in Budget-Priced Hotels and Visiting the Unique Wildlife by Short Ferry Rides
Posted on 06/03/2016, 2:00 PM
Photo credit: C. Dorobek/Flickr Ever since the widespread popularity of cruising, the Galapagos Islands have been regarded as primarily a cruise destination to be visited on small and very expensive ships. The Ecuadorean government has been strongly opposed to the use of large cruise ships to visit these environmentally sensitive islands, where wildlife has remained untouched and undi...
Las Vegas Just Got Pricier. MGM Resorts Eliminates Free Parking At Its Sin City Properties
Posted on 06/02/2016, 1:30 PM
Gamblers know: in Las Vegas, the house always wins. Drivers now need to adopt the same mindset, because on June 1, one of Sin City’s most beloved traditions was trashed. Don’t worry, the dancing fountains are still sloshing away. But on June 1, nearly half of the hotels on the Strip instituted parking fees—a new normal after decades of free parking inside those cavernous resort garages. M...
A Free Trip to Paris? Fantastique! Including a Stay in a Purpose-Built Apartment in the Actual Eiffel Tower? Mind-Blowing
Posted on 05/27/2016, 3:30 PM
They said it wouldn't last. The Eiffel Tower was built for the 1889 World's Fair and was only supposed to stand for 20 years after that event. Truth is, many in Paris wanted it torn down sooner, including a group of famed artists and authors (including Guy du Maupassant and Alexander Dumas fils) who demanded its leveling. Novelist Joris-Karl Huysmans went even further, calling it a "hole-ridd...
The Immense Increase in Chinese Tourism Creates Career Opportunities for Young Americans Willing to Learn Chinese
Posted on 05/26/2016, 7:30 PM
Photo credit: joebrandt/istockphoto.com At a time when tourism is dramatically down to places like Turkey, Egypt, Belgium, Tunisia, and North Carolina, a favorable picture is supplied by the number of Chinese tourists now traveling to all over the world. Recent announcements by national tourist officials confirm that outgoing Chinese tourism is now measured in the tens of million...
The Hardships Encountered by Passengers at the Nation's Overcrowded Airports Are Because of Congress' Refusal to Properly Fund Amtrak
Posted on 05/26/2016, 4:30 PM
Photo credit: Jake McGuire We are now in the full throes of the summer travel season, and the airports are jammed. I use the word "throes" advisedly. The dictionary defines "throes" as "intense or violent pain or struggle," and that's exactly the phrase to describe our current airport conditions. The check-in counters are jammed, the corridors a mass of crowds, the security...
Reports: The TSA Speeds Up Lines By Allowing Shoes, Fully Packed Bags
Posted on 05/25/2016, 6:45 PM
For weeks, the news has been clogged with reports that airports were often seeing lines of as long as two hours for security clearance. According to independent reports on Twitter today, the Transportation Security Administration has resorted to speeding up lines by instructing passengers not to remove their shoes, the way they have been forced to do for 15 years. This comes the day after the...
And Still They Come: Ever-Larger Cruise Ships to Displace the Smaller Vessels, Causing Grave Harm to the Once-Delightful Activity of Cruising
Posted on 05/22/2016, 5:00 PM
Photo Credit: Royal Caribbean Recently, the travel trade press has been filled with headlines about the largest cruise ship ever built. It is the 5,500-passenger Harmony of the Seas that has just been delivered by its shipyard manufacturer to Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. The monster vessel will sail the Mediterranean this summer, and will then move to the Caribbean for the winter. ...
A Decision by the President's Daughteer to Experience a "Gap Year" Before Entering Harvard Has Brought Immense Publicity to this Travel Option
Posted on 05/22/2016, 1:45 PM
When the President's older daughter, Malia, announced that she would experience a "gap year" before entering the freshman class of Harvard University, her decision brought considerable publicity to what, for many American young people, is an increasingly popular travel activity. Though not every "gap year" involves travel, enough of them do to justify this discussion in a blog dev...
The Possibility of Public Disorder is Perhaps Another Problem of the Upcoming Summer Olympics in Rio
Posted on 05/19/2016, 12:45 PM
Zona Sul, Rio de Janeiro. Photo credit: ru_boff/Instagram On my own several trips to Rio de Janeiro (as a one-time tour operator, I offered charter flights there), I confined my visits to the areas around Copacabana Beach and Ipanema Beach. I had been warned by numerous acquaintances not to venture into downtown Rio, the Tijuca Forest, or any other area outside those two famous be...
