travel

Stories 221 - 240 | << Prev   Next >>

Conflicts of Interest Rampant in Pentagon Travel: Study

Foreign governments, private firms back officials' trips

(Newser) - Pentagon officials have taken some 22,000 trips whose $26 million tab was picked up by non-governmental sources like private firms and foreign governments, a study finds. The travel is “riddled with conflicts of interest,” said the head of a group behind the study. The medical industry was...

America's Top 10 Beaches
 America's Top 10 Beaches 

America's Top 10 Beaches

Hawaii's Hanalei Bay comes out on top in 'Dr. Beach's' annual list

(Newser) - The magnificent setting of Hawaii's Hanalei Bay helps make its beach this year's best in the US, according to Florida-based expert Steven "Dr. Beach" Leatherman. The runners-up, judged on 50 criteria including water quality and facilities:
  • Siesta Beach in Sarasota, Fla.
  • Coopers Beach in Southampton, NY
  • Coronado Beach in
...

World's Most Luxe Pools
 World's Most Luxe Pools 

World's Most Luxe Pools

From ten stories up to inside a crater, these pools are sure to excite

(Newser) - On the lookout for a unique summer vacation experience? Woman’s Day recommends eight stunning pools in some of the world’s most beautiful locations:
  • The hanging pool atop the Joule hotel in Dallas projects 8 feet over the edge of the building.
  • The Homestead Crater at Homestead Resort in
...

Recession Pits Luxe Hotels' Owners Vs. Operators

(Newser) - The recession is igniting new hotel wars: not battles for customers, but between owners of luxury hotels and the properties’ operators, the New York Times reports. The owners are often struggling to keep up with big debt payments, hindered by a more than 16% average drop in hotel bookings across...

Cheap Deals Bring Back the Vacation
 Cheap Deals 
 Bring Back 
 the Vacation 

TRAVEL

Cheap Deals Bring Back the Vacation

Flights, hotels drop prices in economic slump

(Newser) - When it comes to vacationing this summer, “the power is with the consumer,” says a consultant: The troubled economy has airlines, hotels, and cruises dropping prices dramatically. International airfares are down 14%, domestic fares 17%, Travelocity says; and for the first time since 2005, AAA predicts an uptick...

Catch Swine Flu, Stay for Free: Mexican Hotels

Resorts try to lure back vacationers with promotion

(Newser) - Several Mexican resorts are offering free stays to tourists who catch swine flu while vacationing there, the Times of London reports. They hope to restore confidence in the sunny destination, which they say has been completely sanitized of the H1N1 virus. The hotel leading the promotion also slashed rates by...

Sebelius: Never Mind Biden; It's OK to Travel
 Sebelius: Never 
 Mind Biden; 
 It's OK to Travel 
TALK SHOW ROUNDUP

Sebelius: Never Mind Biden; It's OK to Travel

Newest cabinet member seeks to allay swine flu fears

(Newser) - President Obama’s new Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius made the talk show rounds today, insisting that people should continue traveling, despite remarks to the contrary by Joe Biden. “Traveling and being in close places is certainly something we encourage people to continue to do,” she...

US Prisons Leave Driving to Greyhound

Convicts unescorted in transfers; feds say there's little risk

(Newser) - Federal convicts regularly transfer themselves between prisons unescorted, riding public transportation without a guard in sight, WFAA-TV reports. Some 5,300 have switched prisons on their own since April 2006; 54,000 have headed to halfway houses. And in 2003-05, 77 escaped while en route. “It’s an inherent...

Iris Cards Let Travelers Skip Customs

US signs deal with Holland, and more are on the way

(Newser) - A new digital card will allow Americans to skip customs lines at a foreign airport for the first time, reports USA Today. In a deal between Homeland Security officials and the Netherlands, US travelers approved for the ID card will be able to speed through Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, while...

Obama Eases Cuban Travel, Remittances

It bridges the gap between divided families: White House

(Newser) - President Obama officially announced new rules for Cuban remittances and travel today, lifting barriers implemented by his predecessor. The eased restrictions allow Cuban Americans to make limitless money transfers and trips to the island nation, the AP reports. It fulfills Obama’s campaign promise to bridge the gap between divided...

Hurting Hawaii Appeals to Obama for Help

Tourism tanking, state leaders urge prez not to block biz travel

(Newser) - Hawaii is asking its most famous son to stop bad-mouthing business travel, the Los Angeles Times reports. The state's tourism industry has seen its worst winter in years. State leaders, believing at least some of the decline comes from hardening attitudes toward business travel after corporate bailouts, are urging President...

German Hotel Is a Strip Joint

Naturists want it to be family-friendly lodging

(Newser) - Germany's first mandatory-nudity hotel hasn't even opened yet, but management is laying down the law: Towels must be placed wherever guests sit. The Black Forest resort's clothing ban is an oddity even in Germany, a hotbed of naturism for over a century, reports the Times of London. In fact, clothing...

Tourists Return to Iraq
 Tourists Return to Iraq 

Tourists Return to Iraq

First group of Western tourists since invasion arrive in Baghdad

(Newser) - The first package tourists since the days of Saddam Hussein have arrived in Baghdad, the Guardian reports. The group—four Brits, two Americans, a Russian, and a Canadian—are on a 17-day tour of the country, taking in the sights of ancient Mesopotamia in a journey that would have been...

TomKat to Camp Like 'Normal Family'

Except with Scientology escort, security

(Newser) - Who needs five-star hotels and gourmet restaurants? All the Cruise clan needs to have a grand vacation is a tent—and some security and a Scientologist friend, the Mirror reports. In a bid to “do things as a normal family,” Tom Cruise is planning a camping trip across...

Single? Where Not to Go Today
 Single? Where 
 Not to Go Today 
TRAVEL

Single? Where Not to Go Today

Singles can salvage the day, if they know where (not) to go

(Newser) - Valentine’s Day can be exhausting—for singles looking to avoid nauseating sightings of canoodling lovers. Travel and Leisure magazine offers tips on how to sidestep Cupid:
  • Ditch New England B&Bs for “groovy southwestern spas known for their (cough, cough) group activities.”
  • Candlelit restaurants are “a
...

The World's Worst Vacation: Zimbabwe
The World's Worst Vacation: Zimbabwe
travel

The World's Worst Vacation: Zimbabwe

Amid disease and starvation, a tourism industry clings on

(Newser) - Zimbabwe's currency is worthless, its population is almost entirely unemployed, and a thuggish government uses intimidation, censorship, and torture to maintain an iron grip on power. Why would any tourist want to go there? For Jocelyn C. Zuckerman, writing in Gourmet, a trip to Robert Mugabe's ruined nation is eye-opening—...

Strapped for Cash? Try 2-Day Safari

Travel industry shrinks itineraries for customers seeking quick getaway

(Newser) - Strapped travelers unwilling to spend the time or bucks on a “staycation” now have a new option: a "daycation." With hotel occupancy at a 20-year low and bookings down at least 20%, many vacation companies are shrinking travel itineraries to one or two days, and hotels and...

Obama's Crew Abounds With Expats

Experiences abroad make for good policies at home, advisers say

(Newser) - If you’re seeking a job in the Obama administration, you may want to get out more—way out, Newsweek reports. Like the president-elect, many of his advisers have lived in other countries. Top aide Valerie Jarrett was born in Iran and has traveled widely, mixing with Europeans, Arabs, and...

Super Spas (for the Still-Rich)
 Super Spas (for the Still-Rich) 
TRAVEL

Super Spas (for the Still-Rich)

Less waiting perhaps, too, at these top-flight pushers of relaxation

(Newser) - From ancient minerals and monasteries to herb-infused wraps and waterfalls, sit back, relax, and enjoy Vanity Fair’s list of the world’s poshest spas:
  • Amangani, Jackson Hole, Wyoming: Jet-setters can get a taste of the Old American West, where “wildlife runs wild.”
  • The Spa at Gleneagles, Scotland:
...

Cranky Travelers Diss 'Overrated' Hot Spots

Paris smelly? Athenians surly?

(Newser) - Italy? Ugly. Grand Canyon? A pain. No travel hot spot is safe after cranky readers filled Los Angeles Times inboxes with their picks for "overrated travel destinations."
  • Bali: "Mosquitoes ate us up," wrote two travelers, and "there was poverty everywhere."
  • Austin: "About the
...

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