National News

Hotels respond to new regulations

With the new rules on air travel changed – temporarily or maybe permanently – airlines and hotels need to step up quickly to take some of the hassle out of business travel. Those that do it well could see customers shift their way. The need to check baggage, even for one-night business trips, and the time and uncertainty involved, will likely discourage some business travelers who can drive or ride trains to destinations, or get by with conference calls or e-mail.
Source: Travel Advance

Expedia.com announces travel protection plan

Expedia.com, a leading online travel service, has launched a new travel protection plan. Expedia Package Protection includes coverage for airline, hotel, car and activities service fees in the event the traveler changes or cancels a trip for any reason prior to the start of the trip or interrupts a trip for a covered reason. In addition, the plan provides reimbursement for expenses incurred if travel is delayed due to bad weather, strike or mechanical failure. In the event of a medical emergency while traveling, the plan provides reimbursement for medical expenses and coverage for emergency medical transportation.
Source: Travel Advance

Online travel spending to reach $122 billion

The U.S. is the global leader in online travel expenditures, according to a new survey. U.S. leisure and non-corporate travel consumers will spend $122.4 billion by 2009, up from $64.9 billion last year, eMarketer projects in a new report, Online Travel Worldwide: A Mosaic of Separate Markets. European travelers spent $35.5 billion online in 2005. The Asia-Pacific region, now one-quarter the size of the U.S. market, spent $15.9 billion in 2005, and is poised for quick growth in coming years.
Source: Travel Advance

For many Americans, life is still a beach

Americans who travel to the beach take longer vacations, spend more money on their trips, and are more likely to stay in a timeshare than the average traveler, according to new data from the Travel Industry Association and D.K. Shifflet & Associates Ltd. More than 54 million trips to the beach were made by U.S. households last year. These households spent an average of $737 per trip, excluding transportation to their destination, compared with just $339 for traveling households overall. In addition, more than 15 percent of beach trips last a week or longer.
Source: Travel Advance