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First U.S. high-speed rail approved for construction in California
DestinationsThe California High-Speed Rail Authority won approval Thursday from a federal railroad oversight board to start construction this summer on the first leg of what would be the nation’s first bullet train. In a 67-page decision issued Thursday, the Surface Transportation Board ruled 2-1 that the state could begin work on the first 65 miles [...]
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Cars Land drives 22.6 percent visitor spike at Disney’s Adventure Park
DestinationsCars Land has put the pedal to the metal on attendance numbers at Disney’s California Adventure Park. The once-struggling theme park adjacent to Disneyland in Anaheim drew 7.8 million visitors in 2012, a 22.6% increase over the previous year, according to an attendance estimate released Tuesday by the engineering and consulting firm Aecom and Burbank-based [...]
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California’s Catalina Island learns to balance tourism and sustainability
DestinationsBalancing the environment and the economy is difficult, especially on a sparsely populated island such as Santa Catalina Island. Located approximately 20 miles off the coast of Los Angeles, Catalina’s economy is largely dependent on the tourists that visit the island each year. One of the main draws for tourists is the natural environment, which [...]
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California’s shopping malls fuel Chinese tourism boom
DestinationsMinutes after arriving by bus at an outlet mall in Cabazon, a dozen or so Chinese tourists hustled out to buy luggage that they planned to stuff with high-end clothes, shoes and bags. But not Guoshing Cui, a Samsung supervisor from Guangzhou. He made a beeline for the Coach store, where he picked out three [...]
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Harry Potter to join Universal Hollywood theme park in $1.6 billion expansion
DestinationsNBCUniversal plans to begin construction this summer on a $1.6 billion, 25-year expansion of its Los Angeles-area theme park, offices and production facilities. The company owned by Comcast Corp. announced Tuesday that it would start building The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at its Universal Studios Hollywood theme park, along with upgraded TV production studios [...]
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California governor turns to Chinese to fund his high-speed dreams
TransportGov. Jerry Brown’s trade mission to China this week is intersecting with one of the most controversial issues of his governorship: California’s $68-billion bullet train. The governor has staked part of his legacy on the rail network, a centerpiece of his vision for California. He is hoping that China, which is enjoying an economic boom [...]
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Yosemite’s two-masters challenge: Preservation Vs. recreation
DestinationsThe brilliance of our national park system lies in its dual mission to preserve public lands and allow recreation in ways that leave those lands “unimpaired,” as Congress declared in 1916. Yet that language also raises a dilemma: how to balance two opposing goals. A new proposal to chart Yosemite National Park‘s future is generally [...]
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Burbank worries about lost tourism if Tonight Show moves to East Coast
DestinationsTell us it isn’t true. We cannot believe NBC is on the brink of moving “The Tonight Show” to the East Coast. Where has the love gone? In the late 1960s, the network’s comedy show “Laugh-In” gently ribbed the Media City with the phrase “Beautiful Downtown Burbank,” coined by announcer Gary Owens. It became such [...]
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Golden Gate Bridge goes high-tech with all-electronic tolls
TransportDrivers approaching the majestic Golden Gate Bridge will experience something new for the first time in 76 years: no human toll collectors. The toll takers were removed in favor of cheaper and faster electronic transponders, and a camera system photographs every license plate that comes through, mailing an invoice to each motorist who doesn’t prepay. [...]
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California parks need a new business model says report
DestinationsOver the years, California has added more parks to its state system than it can afford and should consider turning over control of some to local entities, a new report says. The report released Monday by the Little Hoover Commission identified a number of problems with the park system. It even suggested that tourist favorite [...]
