|
Editor’s Note — TRO wants to remind its Travelgram readers the articles presented here are meant to assist you in remaining informed and prepared to discuss travel news of the day with clients.
Destinations
When everything falls away
“I’m sorry.” Hiroko’s voice, made for singing, sounds flat, provisional. “What is it?” Struggling with the phone, I catch sight of the red digits on the hotel bedside table: 1:23. “My father now hospital,” says my wife, a dozen or more time zones away in Japan. “I’m sorry.” I try to clear my head. Drunks are reeling through the warm Florida night around…
— BBC
Art and Design Fans Will Travel to These 5 Destinations in May
With spring in full bloom and a calendar full of events, May is set to be one of the year’s best months to travel. The art and design worlds will, of course, flock to the Venice Biennale, which celebrates its 58th edition this year. Bucharest and the Austrian city of Graz will each host a design festival, and in Japan, the Setouchi Triennale will draw a bevy of art…
— Architectural Digest
Angkor Wat Is Great and All, But It’s Time to Give Siem Reap Its Due
Angkor Wat rightly claims a spot near the top of many travelers’ bucket lists, but for most of the area’s 2.5 million annual visitors, the standard visit is about three days—just enough time to wander through the archaeological park’s central ruins and get sufficient selfies. That strategy is a mistake. The city of Siem Reap, a genuine beauty, is home to…
— Bloomberg
Tours and Activities
A Massive Wildflower Bloom Is About to Arrive in California's Mountains
If you waited too long to head out to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park or Walker Canyon for California’s headline-making super bloom this year before the area shut down to visitors, don’t worry: an imminent wildflower bloom in the California mountains is nature’s antidote to super bloom FOMO. This summer, when the super bloom blossoms have withered…
— Travel+Leisure
Curious about those group travel tours? Here's where to start
When it comes to traveling, some people are more into going solo — doing what they want, when they want — while others prefer going with a group travel company. With the latter, not only is the planning is done for you, but you also have automatic travel buddies. Plus, you can find a trip that’s catered toward your specific interests, such as…
— Mic
Cruise
MSC Cruises to Add Butcher's Cut Speciality Restaurant to UK Based Ship
MSC Cruises has revealed that Butcher's Cut speciality restaurant will debut on three ships from May 2019, including the line's MSC Preziosa, which spends a short season sailing out of Southampton from later this month. MSC Divina and MSC Fantasia will also get the popular restaurant fitted in May -- replacing Eataly onboard Preziosa and Divina, and Tex…
— CruiseCritic.com
Cruise ship tour: Holland America Line's Volendam
At 61,214 gross tons and with a capacity of 1,432 guests, the Volendam is half the size of some of its fellow Holland America Line fleetmates. Built in 1999 as the third of four Rotterdam-class vessels, the Volendam may lack some of the bells and whistles of the line’s newer ships but that’s quite OK with its loyal passengers who prefer an intimate,…
— USA Today
Transportation
Alaska Airlines Increases Economy Award Prices For Travel On Icelandair
If you’ve been using your Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles to redeem flights with Icelandair, you might want to pay attention. Alaska is about to raise the redemption price for routes booked with Icelandair. Starting April 15th of this year, you’ll need 30,000 Alaska Mileage Plan miles in order to fly from the contiguous U.S. or Alaska to Iceland. To get to Europe, you’ll need at least 35,000 Alaska Mileage Plan miles in economy. Until April 15th, you’ve only needed 22,500 miles one way to travel to Iceland and 27,500 miles to get to Europe with…
— Forbes
Inside Changi Airport Singapore's new 'Jewel'
Following four years of construction and nonstop media coverage, Singapore's long-awaited Jewel Changi Airport is officially open. Featuring a dramatic, doughnut-shaped exterior framed in steel and glass, the 135,700-square-meter space (around 1.46 million square feet) is a multi-use complex designed to connect three of Changi Airport's…
— CNN
Lodging
How Tiny Homes Are Helping to Broaden High-End Travel
Over the last couple of weeks we’ve featured destinations that, while not truly luxurious, are in keeping with how we define high-end travel in 2019. Today we’ve got another atypical example for you. Tiny homes, shipping containers, and RVs are a long way from the grand palatial properties that for many are still synonymous with luxury travel. But they…
— Skift
Hotels and Resorts Ramp Up Sustainability Efforts
With rising sea levels, higher carbon dioxide levels and plastic bottles glutting landfills and oceans, the issue of sustainability has become a hot topic. Hotels and resorts have started to act by ramping up efforts to reduce or eliminate completely their resource and energy consumption. “If big hotels can make small changes, the ripple can be huge,”…
— New York Times
Other and Odd
The Future of Travel, Tourism & Hospitality Increasingly Is Likely To Be Chinese
If you buy into the politically, culturally and commercially popular “Demographics are Destiny” theory – and not everyone does - you probably should begin learning Chinese. Korean would be good to learn, too, especially if you now work or expect to work in the future in the travel or hospitality industries. That’s because Chinese consumers collectively spent nearly $258 billion on international travel last year. That’s more than twice the combined amount spent on…
— Forbes
Technology trends that will define the way we travel
Technology has transformed travel over the last 20 years. According to a recent study, 74% of us now plan our trips online, whether it’s booking flights and accommodation, using a mobile boarding pass, arranging visits to museums, or making use of the myriad travel apps now available. Apps are offering great new innovations such as showing…
— Yahoo
Today in History
The Bay of Pigs Invasion
On April 17, 1961, US backed Cuban exiles landed on Cuban shores in an ill-fated plan to over-throw Fidel Castro. Although financed and planned by the United States, the Kennedy administration withdrew its planned air support for the invasion out of fear of…
— Travel Research Online
Press Releases of Interest
Spring has officially arrived, and with that in mind CroisiEurope is announcing their 2020 cruise departures
From the canals of France, to the rivers of Central Europe, Asia or the shores of Southern Africa’s Lake Kariba, CroisiEurope is ready to take you to there in 2020. Guests who book a new 2020 European cruise departure by August 31, 2019 will receive 15% off per…
— Travel Research Online
Mike's Morning Missives
The 2019 Masters Golf Tournament
 I will try not to bore you with yet another lesson from this year’s Master’s Golf Tournament, but I just can’t help myself.
Yes, we witnessed one of the sports most impressive comebacks from a man who has just gone through a less-than-attractive chunk of life. Like him or not for your own reasoning what Tiger Woods recently accomplished qualifies him as a poster-child for resilience, commitment, hard work and belief in one’s self. I suppose it also serves as an affidavit not to play to the wrong audience. Many, if most, golfing aficionados had crossed him off as “yesterday’s news.”
But today’s lesson has more to do with the three men who missed wearing the prestigious Green Jacket by a single wave of the arms. Three…
— Travel Research Online
Read the rest of this article »
|
Upcoming Training Opportunities
If Only I’d Known – Why you should explore the Central North Island, New Zealand
Tuesday, April 23, 2019 at 1 pm EDT/10 am PDT
Come and explore New Zealand’s Central North Island and discover the enticing combination of unusual and captivating landscapes and experiences on an amazing road trip.
Register Now ➠
Learn about Portugal and TAP Air Portugal
Thursday, April 18, 2019 at 3 pm EDT/12 pm PDT
TAP is Portugal's leading airline and has been a member of the global airline Star Alliance since 2005. Flying since 1945, the 74-year old TAP today finds itself in the top 10 global airlines in terms of growth.
Register Now ➠
|
|
|
Use TRO every day to find travel guides, e-postcards, and other resources you can personalize and send to your clients.
|
TRO Travel Specials
|
|
