U.N. says air travel up in 2010 – UPI.com
Published: Jan. 4, 2011 at 7:51 PM
UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 4 (UPI) — Worldwide passenger and cargo air traffic increased significantly in 2010, a United Nations report issued in New York Tuesday showed.
The U.N. International Civil Aviation Organization said passenger travel overall was up 6.3 percent and cargo traffic rose 18.9 percent last year compared with 2009, when the global economy was in recession.
International travel grew 8.8 percent. The largest increase was registered by the airlines of the Middle East with 21 percent, followed by 12.9 percent in the Asia/Pacific region, 11.4 percent in Latin America and 10 percent in Africa. The North American market grew 6.2 percent and there was 6.7 percent growth in Europe.
The lower growth rates in North America and Europe reflect their status as larger and more mature travel economies.
The organization forecasts an increase in passenger air traffic of 4.7 percent in 2011 and 4.9 percent in 2012, based on a projected 4 percent growth rate in the world economy over the next three years.
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Read MoreStudy Suggests We've Hit 'Peak Travel' – Wired News
Commuting sucks, no two ways about it. It’s a slog, and a lot of us are saying to hell with it. A study of eight industrialized countries shows passenger travel appears to have peaked in 2003.
The study suggests demand for travel and automobile ownership has reached a saturation point despite predictions, by the International Energy Agency, of 1.5 percent annual growth through 2030. The researchers concede the findings are not conclusive but say they could mean projections of fuel consumption and CO2 emissions will be lower than previously believed.
“A major factor behind increasing energy use and carbon dioxide emissions since the 1970s has ceased its rise, at least for the time being,” Lee Schipper, one of the study’s two authors, told Miller-McCune. “If it is a truly permanent change, then future projections of carbon dioxide emissions and fuel demand should be scaled back.”
Schipper is a researcher at Global Metro Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and at the Precourt Energy Efficiency Center at Stanford University. He was joined in the research by Adam Millard-Ball, a doctoral candidate at Stanford. They analyzed travel trends between 1970 and 2008 in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Sweden, France, Germany, Japan, and Australia. In each case they plotted the distance traveled per capita per year by car, pickup, bus, airplane, train, light rail, streetcar, and subway. Then they compared the data to the country’s gross domestic product per capita.
They found a correlation between rising prosperity and passenger travel from 1970 to 2003. But passenger travel stopped growing after 2003 even as GDP per capita continued to rise. Motorized travel has plateaued at about 16,155 miles per year per person in the United States, 6,213 miles in Japan and between 8,077 and 10,563 miles in the other countries.
“Since 2003, motorized travel demand has leveled out or even declined in most of the countries studied, and travel in private vehicles has declined,” the authors wrote in their study. “Car ownership has continued to rise, but these cars are being driven less.”
More than rising fuel prices are at work here, as the researchers say. They did not delve too deeply into the reasons why motorized travel has plateaued, but they speculate on several factors:
Saturation in vehicle ownership. There are about 700 cars per 1,000 people in the United States, which is more cars than licensed drivers. The figure is about 500 cars per 1,000 people in most of the other countries. Car ownership in the U.S. has declined since 2007 due to the recession.Rising fuel costs.An aging population that doesn’t commute as often or as far.Traffic congestion. People spend an average of 1.1 hours per day traveling. Schipper told Miller-McCune, “My basic thesis is, ‘There ain’t room on the road.’”The authors note that if passenger travel remains the same even as automobiles become more fuel efficient, reducing transportation emissions may not be as daunting as previously believed. They concede the findings are by no means conclusive and more research is needed but their findings should not be dismissed.
“The assumption of continued, steady growth in travel demand, which is inherent in many transport models and energy use projections, is one that planners and policy makers should treat with extreme caution,” they write.
Photo of Atlanta traffic: jandclindenbaum photos / Flickr
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Read MoreTravel Leaders acquires larger Virginia firm – Minneapolis Star Tribune
Travel Leaders Group of Eden Prairie, the renamed travel business spinoff from Carlson Cos., is buying a larger travel organization, Vacation.com of Virginia, for an undisclosed sum.
The acquisition combines two business and consumer travel firms that act as middlemen between travel agents and tour operators. In addition to its franchised travel agent business, Travel Leaders also runs company-owned travel agencies and corporate travel operations.
Both firms are paid by hotel chains, cruise lines and tour operators to promote their offerings, and Travel Leaders also is paid fees by its franchisees.
By growing larger, they can get better prices from vacation destinations, said Steve Loucks, Travel Leaders vice president of communications.
The combined privately owned companies expect $15 billion in gross sales in 2010, of which Travel Leaders will account for $6 billion, Loucks said.
Travel Leaders, spun off from Carlson in early 2008 with the goal of growing through acquisition, has 1,200 franchised travel agencies in all 50 states, including about 20 in the Twin Cities. Travel Leaders has 1,900 employees, including 120 in Eden Prairie.
Vacation.com, a brick-and-mortar company despite its Internet-sounding name, is a consortium of 5,100 independent travel agencies. It has 70 employees in Alexandria, Va., and will continue to operate separately.
STEVE ALEXANDERView the original article here
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Read MoreTravel to London and New York will be heavy this year – Tbo.com
The Associated Press
Published: January 2, 2011Anniversaries, events, celebrities and the economy will influence travel this year, from the royal wedding in London to the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11th attacks in New York.
London is sure to be crowded for the April 29 wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. “If Charles and Diana got 600,000 people who came into London for that wedding, I could see a million for this one,” said travel expert Pauline Frommer, creator of the Pauline Frommer Guides.
New York has also turned up on hot lists for 2011, including the No. 1 city in Lonely Planet’s “Best in Travel 2011″ guidebook.
“For all of New York, 11 September 2011 will be a defining moment,” wrote the publisher’s U.S. travel editor Robert Reid. A Sept. 11 memorial, with reflecting pools set above the footprints of the World Trade Center, is expected to open in time for the anniversary of the attacks.
The 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War is also being marked this year. One of the largest commemorations takes place July 21 to 24 in Manassas, Va., where the war’s first major land battle took place. A historical re-enactment there is expected to draw as many as 15,000 participants.
Crowds are also expected to turn out for the opening in Washington, D.C. of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial on the National Mall. A 28-foot-tall statue of the slain civil rights leader will be dedicated between the Jefferson and Lincoln memorials on Aug. 28, near the spot where he delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech 48 years earlier.
Several destinations are hoping that attention from celebrities will bring them more visitors. Australia spent $4 million to host Oprah Winfrey and 300 of her fans on a weeklong trip down under, but government officials say they got tourism advertising worth many millions more in return.
Alaska is hoping for a similar benefit from the TLC series “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” and other cable shows showcasing the 49th state. “They have raised the profile, awareness and ultimately the interest in coming to Alaska,” said Ron Peck, president of the Alaska Tourism Industry Association.
Travel in 2010 began to slowly increase from the recessionary downturn of 2009, and many destinations are forecasting continued improvements in visitor numbers and revenues in 2011. Las Vegas was among the hardest hit by the weak economy, but visitation numbers and casino revenues were both up slightly in the last few months.
Vegas was also named the No. 1 domestic destination based on 2011 booking data reported by managers and agents from Travel Leaders, one of the top 10 travel agencies in the United States. And in March, Vegas will get a shot of publicity among younger travelers when the cable channel MTV hosts its annual spring break party there.
Whether college students will lead the way back to beaches in the Florida Panhandle this year remains an open question, but New Orleans is expecting more spring breakers because Mardi Gras falls during the second week of March. At the same time, the city is launching a new tourism campaign to attract more visitors ages 18 to 35, according to Kelly Schulz, spokeswoman for the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau.
In 2010, the biggest theme park news was the Harry Potter attraction at Universal. This year, theme park fans can look forward to the opening of Legoland Florida at the former Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven. At Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., the big news for 2011 will be the debut of a new ride called “The Little Mermaid — Ariel’s Undersea Adventure.”
Other Disney news for 2011 includes the launch of the new Disney Dream cruise ship, which begins sailings Jan. 26. The ship has a water coaster that wraps around the deck, with one loop jutting over the side of the ship above the ocean, and virtual portholes with live video feeds of the sea and sky. CruiseCritic.com editor Carolyn Spencer Brown calls it “the most anticipated new ship” of the year.
The National Park Service is expecting a slight increase in visitors. Although numbers were down slightly in 2010 over 2009, some parks had banner years, including Yellowstone, which recorded more than 3.6 million visitors for the year before December was even over, topping the record 3.3 million who visited in 2009.
One of the biggest questions for 2011 is how consumers will view travel to Europe. Protests over the economic crisis there have made headlines, and air travel has been repeatedly disrupted by everything from strikes to Iceland’s volcano, to ice and snow in the days before Christmas. Air travel by U.S. citizens to Europe was down about 1 percent for the first six months of 2010, according to the most recent statistics from the U.S. Commerce Department.
But Europe’s weak economy could result in travel bargains, especially in countries such as Portugal, Spain and Greece, according to John Clifford of InternationalTravelManagement.com and a San Diego-based travel company called Luxury Travel Consultancy.
Back home, however, the improving economy is likely to mean higher prices in hotels. “We believe rates will go up,” said Scott Berman, hospitality and leisure leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers. He said “corporate America is traveling again,” and the demand for group travel is picking up, too, which means increased demand for hotels and fewer bargains for leisure travelers, especially in cities where tourism has been relatively strong, like New York, Miami and San Francisco. Those vacationing during peak times — like when school is out — will have a harder time finding deals.
“By no means does that mean there isn’t an opportunity for deals, but in order to take advantage of that opportunity, you have to be flexible,” Berman said.
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Read MoreOnline travel site Expedia removes American Airlines flights – CNN
American said it did not expect significant impact from the Expedia action.American removed its fares from Orbitz.com last monthReport: Expedia says American’s new pricing model is “anti-choice”The airline says travelers can use other websites or the American site
(CNN) — The online travel site Expedia has removed American Airlines fares and schedules, the latest move in an ongoing legal squabble between travel websites and airlines.
“Expedia, after more than a week of discriminating against American’s fares and schedules by omitting them from its top search displays … has removed American’s fares and schedules from Expedia.com, effective January 1, 2011,” the airline said in a statement Saturday.
American’s fares and schedules remain on Egencia, Expedia’s corporate travel site, the statement said. Customers looking to compare flights online can visit other travel sites such as kayak.com, priceline.com or travel agencies, it said, as well as American’s own website, aa.com.
The airline has seen a year-over-year increase in ticket sales since removing its schedules and airfares from the travel site Orbitz.com on December 21, and since Expedia “began discriminating against American’s flights and schedules” two days later, a practice the airline said was “deceptive to consumers looking for competitive choices for travel.” The ticket sales have shifted to other channels, the airline said.
Expedia has not responded to repeated requests for comment from CNN. In a statement to Bloomberg News, Expedia said that American Airlines’ new pricing model — a system called Direct Connect that provides fair and pricing options directly to larger online travel agencies — is “anti-consumer and anti-choice” and makes it harder to compare ticket prices and options between American and other airlines, Bloomberg reported.
American said it did not expect significant impact from the Expedia action. Tickets for air travel on American purchased on Expedia remain valid, the airline said.
“Our direct connections offers a path to a new era of buying and selling travel services,” Derek DeCross, American’s vice president and general sales manager, said in a December 29 statement. Previously, airlines have offered “different flavors” of airfares, he said. “… Our direct connection will help travel agencies help their own customers by giving them access to customized choices and delivering the best value to travelers.
“We do not envision a future in which we only sell to our customers through our own branded website,” DeCross said. “Our goal is to have broad distribution channels and choices for our customers, with our products and services delivered efficiently and without unnecessary costs flowing through the process.”
Last month, Delta Air Lines also notified three online travel sites — cheapoair.com, onetravel.com and bookit.com — that it had terminated them as authorized travel agents, according to Bloomberg.View the original article here
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Read MoreFamily travel five: Set a course for adventure in 2011 – Kansas City Star
As you look to the new year, consider how travel will mix into your family’s plans and priorities. Ponder these ideas.
1. Embrace the arts.
Consider giving art, music and theater a front seat in your travel planning. Introduce your children to the tunes from your youth or that of your parents. Choose an art gallery or festival in a neighboring city or state and make it the cornerstone of a long weekend. Plan a trip to see a great play or performance in another region. Organize a visit with friends or family and ask them to recommend art events in their community. Then attend together. Including art in your travels will enrich the memories for all.
Contact: www.nea.gov/resources/disciplines/index.html; www.discoveramerica.com/ca/activities.html.
2. Seek adventure.
Talk with your family about what adventure means to them. For some, pitching a tent in a nearby campground will be pushing the envelope. Others will want to explore Alaska’s backcountry. Have a look at the Traveler’s Century Club list of countries and set a goal for visiting a faraway place. Do something different. Change your routine.
Whichever adventure style suits your crew, explore your country and beyond.
Contact: www.travelalaska.com; adventure.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/; www.travelerscenturyclub.org.
3. Find the deals.
Don’t let prices keep you at home. Plenty of deal websites list two-for-one offers or percentage discounts. Check last-minute travel sites. Don’t be shy about asking hotels and resorts for their best rate. Use AAA, AARP and other memberships for additional discounts. Cruises continue to offer value at reasonable prices for families of varying interests and ages.
Contact: www.travelzoo.com; www.lastminutetravel.com; www.cruisesonly.com.
4. Take a bite of the Big Apple.
This will be a special year to visit New York City. As always, there are scores of ways for a family to plan a visit to the city. Focus on art, music, historic sites, theater, shopping, dining or nature. This year, the Statue of Liberty marks its 125th birthday. And the nation and world will share in recognizing the 10th anniversary of one life- altering event: the National September 11 Memorial at Ground Zero will open on that day.
Contact: www.national911memorial.org; www.nycgo.com.
5. Share.
Consider a volunteer vacation or add a giving component to any itinerary. Share your experience online through a blog or photo-sharing site. Include a friend, your child’s schoolmate or a family member in your travels. Choose someone who might not otherwise have the money, the planning skills or the gumption to go. You just might change a life.
Contact: www.globalvolunteers.org; http://charityguide.org/volunteer/vacations.htm; www.thevolunteerfamily.org/volunteers/how/vacations.aspx.
Lynn O’Rourke Hayes is editor of FamilyTravel.com: lohayes@familytravel.com
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