Destinations
36 Hours in Pasadena, California
Beyond its well-known cultural institutions, this sunny city offers distinctive architecture, a venerable playhouse and beloved shops…
— New York Times
Discover San Luis Obispo's relaxed, bohemian sensibility on a weekend getaway
On a weekend escape to San Luis Obispo, hitting up Big Sky Cafe, Captain Nemo Games & Comics and Cheap Thrills Records…
— LA Times
48 Hours in Amsterdam: Where to go and what to see
The Dutch capital may be small, with just a tenth of the population of London, but it packs a powerful cultural punch. Amsterdam is emerging from deep midwinter with a fresh, creative boost in the shape of new hotels and attractions and two ambitious new exhibitions at the Rijksmuseum…
— The Independent
Tours and Activities
Japan celebrates spring with the unfurling of blossom
Cherry blossom is as synonymous with Japan as geishas and bullet trains. Sakura is the country's national flower, its arrival greeted each year with Springwatch-style fervour; it's the lavender fields of Provence, the tulips of Amsterdam and the American Fall rolled into one. One of the natural world's prettiest tourist attractions, it might not be in the same league as the Serengeti's wildebeest migration, but people flock from all over the world to see Japan's cherry blossom…
— The Independent
Food tour of Porto: 'There's more to Portugal than Nando's'
In Casa Leandro – a tasca (tavern) tucked away in the cobble-stoned Rua de Tras, in the heart of Porto – a patron about to pay for his bolinhos de bacalhau (codfish pastries) and Super Bock beer mutters that he has left his wallet at home. The owner-matron Fatima frowns and waves him away, her arms jiggling like the jellied custard in a pastel de nata (egg tart)…
— Telegraph (London)
11 Things You Need to Do to Summit Mount Kilimanjaro
All of the stories you’ve heard are true. Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro isn’t technical, but it also isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s a mountain anyone can climb, and it is a mountain anyone can fail to summit. There is no real way to train for climbing Mount Kilimanjaro except to be in pretty good shape. If you’re in pretty good shape, then you have about a 50/50 chance of being OK on the mountain. See, Kilimanjaro rises very, very high, so the altitude can get you. There’s no way to train for that…
— Yahoo! Travel
Cruise
Princess to Welcome Sled Dog Puppies on its Alaska Cruises, Debut New Activities
As part of the line's North to Alaska program, an enrichment program which debuted last year, canine lovers can interact and take pictures with baby sled dogs in the ship's atrium area…
— CruiseCritic.com
Viking makes first cruise to Caribbean
Viking Ocean Cruises will venture into the Caribbean for the first time when Viking Star heads south in October this year on a cruise from New York to San Juan in Puerto Rico. Visits will be made along the American coastline and the Turks and Caicos, Antigua and St Thomas…
— Sydney Morning Herald
Transportation
Norwegian Air to fly to Paris from three U.S. cities
Norwegian Air is again expanding its U.S. presence, announcing three new trans-Atlantic routes to Paris. The routes – from New York JFK, Los Angeles and Fort Lauderdale – will launch July 29 and will be on the airline’s new Boeing 787 “Dreamliners.”…
— USA Today
Southwest to add Sacramento-BWI flights this summer
Southwest Airlines will offer direct flights between Sacramento and Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport beginning this summer, the company announced Thursday…
— Baltimore Sun
Lodging
Revamped: these hotels just received major facelifts in time for spring
Just in time for those craving a spring getaway, these hotels have undergone enormous facelifts to offer a new and improved experience. Whether you want some domestic beach action or you’d rather cross the pond over to the United Kingdom, you’ll find something to love in this diverse mix of properties…
— Road Warrior Voices
Celebrity Designer Jacques Garcia Wows Asia with Singapore's Hotel Vagabond
Jacques Garcia, the interior architect and designer of fabulous five-star hotels like the Hotel Costes in Paris, La Mamounia in Marrakech, and the Hotel Danieli in Venice, recently created his first Asian property, the Hotel Vagabond, in Singapore…
— The Huffington Post
Phuket's Keemala Resort offers more creature than comfort
This is sacred ground, we’re told. Thirty-eight pool villas are cut into a steep hillside in Thailand’s largest island, Phuket. They are designed to celebrate the four clans who once trod this land: the earth clan, the wanderers, the sky peoples and the nest clan. Keemala Resort, which opened in December, has harnessed their histories and traditions and built a hotel to celebrate them…
— Globe and Mail
Other and Odd
Aruba, Bonaire islands added to Zika travel alert
U.S. health officials have added two more Caribbean islands to a Zika travel alert for pregnant women. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put Aruba and Bonaire on the list Thursday. There are about 30 destinations with Zika outbreaks, mostly in the Caribbean and Latin America…
— Fox Travel News
Vanessa Hudgens under investigation for allegedly defacing Sedona Red Rocks
"Grease: Live!" star Vanessa Hudgens and model/actor boyfriend Austin Butler are in a bit of hot water after a romantic Valentine's Day weekend in Sedona, Arizona…
— CNN
Today in History
America Lands on Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima is five miles long and three miles across at its widest point. But in 1945, it housed three Japanese war ships and over 21,000 soldiers. On this date, three battalions of American soldiers took the island in a fierce fight, a decisive battle in World War II. By the 10th day of fighting, the Americans had still only taken half the island…
— Travel Research Online
Agent Perspectives
Toni Lanotte-Day, Toni Tours Inc.
by Susan Schaefer
Friday February 19, 2016
We recently rea ched out to Toni Lanotte-Day, owner of Toni Tours Inc., and spoke with her about her thirty-plus years in the travel industry, from part-time outside agent in the 1980’s to agency owner and active member of the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) and the National Association of Career Travel Agents (NACTA).
Travel Research Online (TRO): How did you first enter the travel industry?
Toni Lanotte-Day (TLD): In 1984 I took a six-week travel course with the Pan American School of Travel in Manhattan, and then became a part-time outside agent for a local family owned brick-and-mortar travel agency. That agency closed after 9/11 and I eventually joined…
— Travel Research Online
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Reading Between the Lines
Selling the Invisible: Fallacy - Strategy is King
 “Tactics drive strategy. Do anything.”
Selling the Invisible - Harry Beckwith, page 61
Personally, I have always found the word “strategically” to be a bit intimidating. The fact alone that it has 13 letters flies in the face of the advice I was given as a kid to “use small words in short sentences."…
— Travel Research Online
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