2013 › April

The high taxes and cost of living that drive locals away, also make a destination unappealing to budget-minded travelers. Those that do it make it to New York; however, are more willing to spend when they arrive.

The restructuring will transform Morgan from owner/operator of hotels into a brand and management company, something a lot of upscale brands are increasingly looking to do.

There's nothing more touchy in travel agent land than cruise lines bypassing them and selling directly to consumers, which many cruise lines are increasingly doing. Cruise lines still rely heavily on travel agents, and pity the poor cruise line employee who candidly confides to the customer that booking through the cruise line directly will save some hassle and money.

Hertz believes the company has assembled all the big pieces it needs. That includes buying Dollar Thrifty to attack the mid-tier market, and a slew of car-sharing technology acquisitions. Now the company can focus on lubricating the customer experience to make it more fluid.

Losing the contract in a convoluted assessment process was a major loss for the UK operator, but a thriving bus division and multiple rail franchises have kept the company’s engine running.

This being India, the network will likely be overwhelmed by usage, primarily mobile device usage. But then, how different would that crawl be from Amtrak or Bolt Bus wi-fi here?

Big market if it is done right, though problem would be fulfilling this cost-effectively at scale, in a standardized manner.

The timing is certainly interesting on this one, so listen to the interview yourself and decide whether this is groundbreaking or part of an annual prank.

No easy and quick fix solutions to this, so the tourism economy will definitely be affected in the short term, unfortunately.

Business travelers who have no patience for young travelers should use a little less starch in their shirts. Why can't we just all get along:)