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Tagged With "Skift"

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Re: Half of Americans: What I DIDN'T do last summer...

Travel Rob ·
I think the important numbers would be how this compares to last year or the last five years. And while I agree most Americans don't take enough or long vacations ,I do think the travel industry in the US is doing better. The airlines have record profits and I know some states like Florida are showing record visitors the last few years including domestic travelers. I haven't seen the summer numbers yet, but as of June Florida's on pace for another record year. ...
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Re: U.S. on track to record for overseas visitors

Travel Rob ·
It's really amazing because the US dollar has done so well in 2014 compared to most currencies . I'm not surprised at all that Japanese tourists to the US decreased after the hit the Yen been taking, but i guess thats been more than made up in increased travel from travelers from Brazil,Mexico and China
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Re: U.S. on track to record for overseas visitors

Paul Heymont ·
Actually, what surprises me is that overseas tourists keep coming, despite the terrible attitude so many of them encounter from airport Customs and Immigration people, and the whole visa issue.
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Re: U.S. on track to record for overseas visitors

DrFumblefinger ·
The post indicates the biggest growth comes from China and Brazil. Folks in those countries are used to their governments treating them poorly. The TSA/Immigration probably seems like business as usual to them. Just my humble opinion.
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Re: When there are no more beaches, will we all head for the hills?

PortMoresby ·
Won't the beaches just move inland too?
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Re: When there are no more beaches, will we all head for the hills?

Paul Heymont ·
What! and spoil my headline? Seriously, though, not necessarily. The deposit of sand and similar materials is a longer process than is being discussed here, and the new shorelines would be quite different, at least for a long time.
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Re: When there are no more beaches, will we all head for the hills?

DrFumblefinger ·
I am not smart enough to know what the correct temperature or ocean level of the earth should be.
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Re: When there are no more beaches, will we all head for the hills?

PortMoresby ·
So many resorts truck in their "beaches", it may turn out to be more an excuse to build new fancier versions of themselves than the prospect of their disappearance. Where there's a will...and you know there is!
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Re: When there are no more beaches, will we all head for the hills?

GarryRF ·
When the Vikings first discovered Greenland a thousand years ago they wrote of a "Green and pleasant land with pastures, cows and animals". Now its a frozen wasteland ! In 1817 the wine producers of North Yorkshire (England) abolished their trade association as summers were becoming too cold to grow grapes. They've never grown grapes since ! This time last year we were digging the snow out. Today is 68f and sunny. Climate change doesn't go away. Ever.
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Re: When there are no more beaches, will we all head for the hills?

Paul Heymont ·
No, climate change doesn't go away...but until the last century, we lacked the ability to really push it in one direction or another. The issue these years is not the natural progression but the degree to which our emissions and more have upset the balance. On the one hand, I won't be around to see how it all comes out...but I'm concerned because my grandchildren will be!
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Re: When there are no more beaches, will we all head for the hills?

GarryRF ·
I do not believe that the burning of fossils fuels has any effect on the direction of the Jet Stream. Which in turn controls the weather around the world. I do believe that the Petro-Chemical Refineries from the New Jersey coast and further south releasing tons of nasty unwanted chemicals into the atmosphere does have a big effect on the de-forestation of Europe with acid rain. They release this gas when the wind is blowing east across the Atlantic. And when the wind suddenly changes the...
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Re: When there are no more beaches, will we all head for the hills?

Paul Heymont ·
While I certainly agree with you about the refineries (remember how close to some of them I live) the jetstream is hardly the only factor involved in weather and climate. I'm not best equipped to explain more...that's the domain of my wife the science teacher...but it's clear there's a scary future ahead...
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Re: When there are no more beaches, will we all head for the hills?

GarryRF ·
The Jet Stream is responsible for the California drought. The Polar Vortex you've been suffering from - and for the UK not having frosty weather since last November. English strawberries in Winter and de-icing salt being 15cents for a 10 kilo sack ! Its not yet April and I've cut the grass twice ! Blame it all on the Jet Stream.
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U.S. on track to record for overseas visitors

Paul Heymont ·
With 50.3 million visitors in the first 2/3 of the year, and more to come, the U.S. is on track for a record tourism year. The numbers through August show an 8% increase over 2013. Travel industry site Skift analyzed figures from the Federal...
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SQUEEEZE, Please! United pushes in more seats

Paul Heymont ·
United Airlines has almost completed its installation of new seats throughout its fleet; the new slimline seats are also set closer together (as close as 30" pitch in some planes) and give United the equivalent of 14 more planes worth of space,...
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MyMagic+ is magic moneymaker for Disney

Paul Heymont ·
MyMagic+, an electronic wristband that works as admission ticket, head-of-the-line ticket, charge card and hotel key, is making Walt Disney Co. enough money to offset the costs of its delayed Disney World Shanghai opening, according to Disney...
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The Way to a Man's Heart

PortMoresby ·
Travel news website, Skift, has revealed the fact that many of us already knew, in travel as in life, decisions made by men are more likely to be determined by what's to eat.  I was a first-hand observer of this phenomenon when a group of Gumbo...
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"Sky-Fi" cost keeps shifting...up and down

Paul Heymont ·
The more it becomes clear that inflight Wi-Fi is what passengers want, the less clear it is just how much will be available and how much it will cost. Airlines are switching—with costs involved—to satellite based services from vendors such...
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British Air looks to unusual seating plans

Paul Heymont ·
If British Airways' recent design patents are any indication, there's a lot of change ahead for travelers. Skift, the travel industry news site, reports that BA has submitted a number of patents recently.   Among them, pairs of seats (one facing...
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HomeAway: Who Do They Think They're Kidding?

PortMoresby ·
Online vacation rental agency HomeAway is shelling out millions in advertising to get us to believe they're different than Airbnb.  CEO Brian Sharples states, "... it’s more profitable for us to target being a better us than being a worse...
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Half of Americans: What I DIDN'T do last summer...

Paul Heymont ·
According to a survey, almost half of all Americans didn't take off a single summer day! Travel industry news site Skift reports these and other results from surveys of traveling habits. 
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When there are no more beaches, will we all head for the hills?

Paul Heymont ·
Global climate change is on the front pages again, with the release of a new annual report by the U.N.-based International Panel on Climate Change, which reports on the accelerating changes that threaten many aspects of the way we live. A full report...
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Non-U.S. tourists see big change in Cuba already

Paul Heymont ·
For tourists from Europe, England and Canada, who have been traveling to Cuba for years, the big change anticipated when Americans start to arrive has already started to happen. A report by Claire Boobbyer of Skift, the travel industry news and analysis site, says that visitors are already seeing price rises, shortages of rooms and crowding at popular spots, even before the expected changes in the U.S. ban on "normal" tourism ends. During the first 11 months of 2015, Cuba played host to over...
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Re: Non-U.S. tourists see big change in Cuba already

GarryRF ·
One reason for the surge in European visitors is they believe that Cuba will not be the same after the US visitors arrive in numbers. Cuba is the most religious country I've ever been to. Just the sight of the Pope on TV brings the Cubans to a standstill. And the use of over-tipping by Americans will create a division like it has in the Dominican Republic. Where only the high tippers get a service at peak times. Remember - one US Dollar is equal to a days pay in Cuba - 24 Cuban Peso. Nice photo!
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Re: Non-U.S. tourists see big change in Cuba already

Paul Heymont ·
The whole question of "not the same" is an interesting one. That's certainly the impression of friends of mine who broke the travel ban in the 1960s and saw a vision of what Cuba might have hoped for, had it not become a pawn between the Cold War interests of the U.S. and Soviet Union. I'm sure the transition ahead is as worrying to many Cubans who believe they have built something unique that is threatened with change, as it is to the tourism industry. I'll certainly have my eyes wide open...
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Re: Non-U.S. tourists see big change in Cuba already

GarryRF ·
One thing that unites the Cuban people is that they are mostly poor. The past few years have seen an elitist group of affluent hotel workers becoming very rich - by local standards. Their income far exceeds the Doctors and University Graduates of Cuba. I've seen the Maids who clean the room getting $1 Dollar from each room they clean. Since then I've also seen the Maids Supervisor come into my room and take the tip off the bed before the maid gets there. I've seen the stores where the Hotel...
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Re: Non-U.S. tourists see big change in Cuba already

Paul Heymont ·
Incidentally, Claire Boobbyer, the author of the Skift report, is also the author of the just-published and quite excellent Frommer's EasyGuide to Cuba. I'm reading it, and I'm impressed...
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Re: Non-U.S. tourists see big change in Cuba already

Mac ·
We're off to Cuba in 3 weeks "to see it before it changes"... Please Gurus - what is the best currency to take, especially for tips? Any advice is welcome.
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Re: Non-U.S. tourists see big change in Cuba already

GarryRF ·
Hi Mac. You need to take clean, unmarked £20 notes. You will exchange them within your Hotel where the currency is at a fixed rate. You will receive Tourist Pesos in return. You wont use the local currency. The Peso you will use is a CUC. Cuban Convertible Peso. Its equal to $1 US. Ask for small denominations'. No one has change of a 20 CUC note. Ask for 20 CUC in 1 CUC coins. For tips. She'll understand why. Tourists call the currency C - U - Cs or KUKS. A tip of 1CUC is about 60p UK or a...
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Re: Non-U.S. tourists see big change in Cuba already

Paul Heymont ·
Just to add to GarryRF's note on currency: U.S. dollars are subject to a 10% surcharge in the exchange, so Euros or pounds is definitely the choice for Americans traveling.
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Re: Non-U.S. tourists see big change in Cuba already

GarryRF ·
Canadian Dollars are welcome too. There was a ban on using US Bank Cards when I was there in June. Maybe someone has the latest on the situation. It was still illegal for Cubans to have US$ currency. They will take US$ as a tip - but they risk jail - a day per dollar !
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Re: Non-U.S. tourists see big change in Cuba already

Paul Heymont ·
U.S. government restrictions on U.S. credit and debit cards have been removed, and the MasterCard and Visa people have set up arrangements, but as of 12 Dec. 2015, the U.S. Embassy in Havana is noting that ATM and credit cards do not work yet. One Florida bank has just announced agreement on a MasterCard branded debit card that will work when issued.
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Re: Non-U.S. tourists see big change in Cuba already

Mac ·
Thanks Gurus!! Good useful info for our trip :-)
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