Top Stories
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Historic preservation vs. tourism development on Mackinac Island
DestinationsThe future of the past is in dispute at one of Michigan’s most famous tourist destinations. Two developers who just opened the Bicycle Street Inn & Suites on Main Street have plans to erect two more hotels downtown on two waterfront sites — and historic preservationists are fuming. One structure in the way? A former [...]
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Do Hailo and Uber taxi e-hail apps defy a NYC judge’s orders? Nobody knows
TransportNew York City’s much-anticipated e-hail app program was cut short by a temporary restraining order (TRO) just days after launch, but that hasn’t halted the operations of the two startups that were already approved for participation. Hailo and Uber‘s cab drivers continue to pick up passengers via the companies’ mobile e-hail apps every day. Why do they [...]
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Richard Branson leading initiative to protect Caribbean marine environment
DestinationsIn a bid to safeguard biodiversity and the Caribbean’s tourism-based economy, regional political leaders and corporate executives will gather Friday on billionaire Richard Branson’s private island with the aim of protecting 20 percent of the region’s coastal resources by 2020. Participants are expected to announce various commitments to advance the “Caribbean Challenge,” an initiative that [...]
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Memphis barbecue will keep its global renown despite death of restaurant chain’s founder
DestinationsDon Pelts, who founded the Memphis-based barbecue restaurant Corky’s Ribs and Bar-B-Q and helped increase the popularity of the savory food style with a shipping and supermarket sales business, has died, a relative said Thursday. Pelts’ son, Barry Pelts, said his father died Wednesday night of a heart attack at age 72. Pelts opened the [...]
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Baby boomers drive family travel trend by investing in once-in-a-lifetime trips
DestinationsWhen Barbara Grover and her husband received an inheritance they were not expecting five years ago, they planned a luxurious family trip. Rather than plowing the money back into retirement savings, the Grovers took their two daughters as well as their spouses and children along on an eight-day safari in Tanzania. Total cost for 11 [...]
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New York State makes “unprecedented” $60 million investment in tourism
DestinationsGov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced the launch of New York’s largest tourism campaign in decades, committing nearly $60 million last week to grow the industry, create jobs and attract even more visitors to the Empire State. The governor’s announcement came at the conclusion of the New York State Tourism Summit, where hundreds of tourism experts [...]
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Florida’s raking it in, record first quarter in visitor numbers
DestinationsState tourism officials say that more people visited Florida in the first three months of 2013 than any other quarter in the state’s history. Visit Florida announced Wednesday that preliminary numbers show that 26 million visitors came to Florida in January, February and March. It’s an increase of 4.7 percent over the same period in [...]
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Hand-drawn maps bring Manhattan to life with old-school charm
Destinations“Maps and memories are bound together; a little as songs and love affairs are,” writes Adam Gopnik in the preface to newly-released picture book Mapping Manhattan. “The map is a stronger version of the trip than a video might be; it is almost a stronger version of the trip than the trip is. I look [...]
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U.S. airlines’ on-time rate dropped below 80 percent this March
TransportThe government says that fewer flights arrived on time and more were canceled in March than a year ago, but fewer passengers lodged formal complaints against the airlines. The Transportation Department said Wednesday that 79.8 percent of flights arrived within 14 minutes of schedule in March. That’s down from 82.2 percent in March 2012. Hawaiian [...]
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New York to boost tourism to Gatsby’s Long Island stomping grounds
DestinationsEfforts to boost the number of tourists visiting Gold Coast mansions, lighthouses and other local historic sites are being backed by $100,000 from New York State. The money will be used to develop brochures, a website and a Facebook page, both with video clips. The five-year plan targets New York City residents, school groups, families [...]
