We Guest Post for the Scottsdale Convention and Visitors Bureau Website
March 8, 2010 by David Porter
We just completed our very first guest post, and we did it for the Scottsdale Convention and Visitors Bureau Website.
Go check out our video/photographs of our recent hike on the Tom’s Thumb Trail in Scottsdale’s McDowell Sonoran Preserve.
Senate Passes New Bipartisan Travel Promotion Act
February 27, 2010 by David Porter
I read somewhere recently that travel is the largest economic stimulus in the world. Evidently, world-wide dollars spent on travel dwarf any other measurable economic impact.
In an effort to create a national campaign to tap into these massive dollars, our Washington representatives have put forth the Travel Promotion Act for President Obama to sign.
From the US Travel Association:
“The Travel Promotion Act creates the Corporation for Travel Promotion, modeled after successful programs in U.S. states and other developed nations, with the mission of attracting more visitors to the United States. The initiative is funded through a matching program featuring up to $100 million in private sector contributions and a $10 fee on foreign travelers who do not pay $131 for a visa to enter the United States. The fee will be collected once every two years in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security’s Electronic System for Travel Authorization. No money is provided by U.S. taxpayers.”
From Steve Moore, President & CEO, Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Bureau:
“The Travel Promotion Act is a significant step in the right direction for our national and local economies. This new program will bring critical international tourist dollars to our hotels, attractions, restaurants and transportation providers… and all of the 160,000 men and women whose jobs depend on travel in the Phoenix area.”
It will be interesting to see how this pans out. What are your thoughts about this new government agency?
It’s Official: Vacations Change Your Life
February 25, 2010 by David Porter
A British travel report released today states that live-changing decisions often emanate from vacation time away. The report shows “over 50% of all life changing decisions are put into action following a decision made on a holiday, proving that holidays can change a person’s life.”
From the Kuoni report:
“The 24-page report reveals that the hottest topics to talk about while on holiday are work/life balance (41%) and getting fitter/healthier (39%). Interestingly the more one earns the more these percentages rise: 70% and 58% respectively.
36% talk about their love life with 34% actually deciding to take action and spice it up when they get home. It seems the younger generations talk about this subject even more at 57%.
74% of Brits surveyed said a romantic getaway can make or break their relationships. This is especially true when it comes to women with over a quarter believing that a holiday might help them re-ignite the flames of love and over a third said a break helped them get re-acquainted with their partner.
70% of people surveyed said their primary reason for a holiday was to escape from work and again, this figure rises to 80% for higher earners. And 72% of Brits agreed that it was “even more important to have a holiday during a recession”
Bosses should also be prepared in case their employees come back with more than just a tan. The report found that 28% of people returning from a break actually decide to take action on changing their job.”
Are you unhappy with your life? Perhaps you should take a vacation!
British in an Uproar Over TripAdvisors “Dirtiest Hotel” List
February 23, 2010 by David Porter
A recent article in Travel Weekly highlights the British Hotel Association’s brouhaha over whether consumer reviews on websites like TripAdvisors are legitimate.
I happen to know that a lot of my friends rely on review sites like TripAdvisor when they travel. However, I have often heard of disappointments arising because of the potential for abuse as well.
The world of a socially wired travel industry, just like many other industries, it much like the wild, wild west. When you are not certain of the authenticity of a particular review, you bode well to keep that in mind.
Nonetheless, these site are obviously bringing value to people, or they wouldn’t be getting the massive traffic numbers that they are.
On obvious solution to this travel writer is to simply have the world subscribe to our site. But alas, we haven’t been everywhere in the world. Therefore, sites like TripAdvisor bring a valuable experience to the world’s travelers.
It’s a real problem that begs for a solution.
What do you think? Do you use, and/or trust sites like TripAdvisor?
Is Your State Closing Its Rest Areas?
February 22, 2010 by David Porter
As we have been traveling around the State of Arizona, we have noticed that some of the state’s rest areas have been closed. As it turns out, 13 out of 18 of the state’s rest area have been closed.
From the Arizona Department of Transportation:
“The most immediate signs of ADOT’s actions to weather the “perfect storm” will be at highway rest areas. Beginning the week of October 19, operations at 13 rest areas will be suspended leaving five ADOT and more than a dozen non-ADOT operated rest areas along the highway system. Rest areas impacted are: Bouse Wash, Canoa Ranch, Ehrenberg, Hassayampa, Haviland, Mazatzal, McGuireville, Meteor Crater, Mohawk, Parks, Salt River Canyon, San Simon, and Sacaton. Two of these facilities – Mazatzal and Salt River Canyon – are already closed due to water system issues.”
Map of Arizona’s closed rest areas.
Somehow this development had missed my radar.
How about your state? Are they closing Rest Areas in your state?
Leave a comment below.
2010 North America Airport Satisfaction Study by J.D. Power
February 19, 2010 by David Porter
J.D. Power has just released its 2010 North America Satisfaction Study.
“The study measures overall airport satisfaction in three distinct airport segments, based on passenger traffic: large, medium and small. Larger airports have 30 million or more passengers per year, while medium airports typically serve 10 million to 30 million passengers per year. Small airports as outlined in the study are those with traffic of fewer than 10 million passengers per year. Six different factors—assessed through 27 specific attributes—are examined to determine overall customer satisfaction. They are: airport accessibility; baggage claim; check-in/baggage check process; terminal facilities; security check; and food and retail services.”
Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, the Roaming Boomers home airport, snagged the #5 spot with “accessibility” being it only drawback.
How did your airport do in the rankings? Share your comment below.
Airlines Adding More Time to Their Scheduled Flight Times
February 18, 2010 by David Porter
According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, airlines are adding more time to their scheduled flight times:
“Across the airline industry, carriers have been adding minutes to “block times”—the scheduled durations—baking delays into trips so that late flights officially arrive “on-time” and operations run better because flights pull into gates more often on schedule.
For some airlines, longer scheduled times for flights reflects the reality of inefficiency in the nation’s air travel system, which often can’t handle the volume of planes without delay, especially when bad weather hits. For others, lengthening scheduled arrival times boosts on-time rankings charted by the Department of Transportation: Those numbers can have a real effect on public perception. And in some cases, block times have grown simply because airlines have been making so many schedule changes as they have reduced capacity over the past two years. Flights that took off without a wait can now end up stuck waiting behind a line of jets because departure times have been changed.”
With the recent security changes, and now these “padded” block times, it appears as though we are going to take a little longer getting to where we want to go.
Don’t worry, you can always log on to The Roaming Boomers website, and we will do our best to keep you informed and entertained.
Getting Your Private Parts X-Rayed at the Airport
February 11, 2010 by David Porter
There has been a lot of hubbub about the new scanning devices being installed all over the country by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
As it turns out there are two types of scans being used in our airports: the Millimeter Wave, and the Backscatter. According to the TSA Blog, the screeners are not able to see faces, and are locked away in a private rooms so that no one else might see these scans.
The TSA also wants to assure people that these scans are not saved, and do not contain the genital revealing clarity that some websites have been claiming. However, here is a video claiming quite the opposite.
For me, I guess this is the price we pay to have safe travel in the United States. Furthermore, if some man/woman is getting their jollies by viewing my scan, well…what choice do we have? Right?
I suppose the protesting public will tighten the ways these scans are used, but the simple truth of the matter, at least right now, if you want to fly, you must potentially have your goodies checked out.
Here is a CBS “60 Minutes” video that speaks about these scanners. Fast forward to 9 minutes to see the part specifically on the body scans.
The 2010 Conde' Naste Traveler Gold List
January 11, 2010 by David Porter
Conde’ Naste Traveler Magazine just announced its 2010 Gold List.
About 20 years ago, my wife and I hired an unknown travel agent to book us a romantic trip to the Bahamas. The brochures were beautiful, but when we got there we were completely aghast at this so called resort. It more resembled someone’s backyard.
After only 15 minutes, we determined that we were not going to stay in this place, and set about to get our way to a more recognized resort.
From that day forward, we vowed to never again trust an unknown resource for travel, and certainly not trust the claims of a brochure.
The Conde’ Naste Traveler Gold List became a staple for us in choosing our resorts. We have never been let down by this list.
The photograph above is from The Boulders Resort which happened to be one of our first choices from the Gold List many years ago. We had an enchanted visit, and we now actually live right across the street from this Waldorf Astoria owned landmark resort.
Arizona Awarded Best Domestic Travel Destination
January 11, 2010 by David Porter
Global Traveler Magazine just published its sixth annual GT Tested Award Winners.
According to Global Traveler, 25,951 people participated in their annual survey rating their favorites in 60 different categories. The categories ranged from favorite hotels, airlines, destinations, and many more.
This year, the State of Arizona was voted #1 as the best domestic tourist destination.
