PE.com - Tourism Blog

March 23, 2008

Tourism Blog Travels to the Business Blog! Doesn't Get Jet-Lag

The Press-Enterprise will launch a business blog on Monday after noon.

Lucky for me - I'll be joined by my esteemed colleagues who will be posting about a variety of topics in addition to my regular news and updates about tourism.

I hope you'll keep reading and bookmark our new site: www.pe.com/blogs/business

See you there.

- Kim

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 7:48 PM, March 23
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You Aren't Going to Vegas Often Enough

So apparently we Southern Californians are partly to blame for Las Vegas feeling a little down and out economically.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal recently wrote that the city's convention and visitors authority had greenlighted a $12 million marketing campaign dubbed "Vegas Right Now" to appeal to folks who may otherwise look at their bills and think, "now might not be the best time to go to Vegas." Already, the tourist destination that garnered 39.1 visitors last year is seeing a slowdown. In January, the city saw less of almost everything (see the stats here)

From the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

Research presented during the authority's monthly meeting, however, showed declines in arrivals and departures at McCarran International Airport, decreasing traffic from Southern California and a dip in casino gambling revenue.

Non-stop flight from Ontario to Las Vegas: $98 one way, average.

Cost of the shuttle to and from the airport: $12

What? You want to drive instead? (470 miles roundtrip from Ontario to Las Vegas, average cost of regular gas $3.63 a gallon, I'll be generous and say you get 25 miles to the gallon): $68.24

Gambling money: $100 to more debt than a four-year college education

Hotel room: $100 a night, if you're lucky. (I was indeed lucky recently and traveled to Vegas with my roommate who also is a member of a slew of casino card clubs. Two weekend nights in New York, New York: $80 total)

But when it comes down to it -- what would get you to go to Vegas? And is there really any need to go, what with numerous tribal casinos nearby?

Links:
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Jaunted's take on Vegas' new campaign

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 5:08 AM, March 23
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Tags: las vegas

March 21, 2008

Riverside Hotel on Hold

Construction of the Hyatt Place in downtown Riverside won't start until June according to developer Siavash Barmand with MetroPacific Properties, the same firm revitalizing the downtown Fox Theater.

While the city and the developer expected a groundbreaking this month after the project was delayed since last summer (click on the link below to read more), Siavash said Friday that the project's environmental impact review still needs to be finished.

I had spoken to a few hotel industry experts for this story regarding the state of hospitality in this wild economy of ours.

Most felt the same way -- that if a hotel developer hadn't started contructing a hotel yet, it wouldn't necessarily be hard to finish but it would certainly be unlikely. Part of the challenge is initial construction loan financing. At least one hotel broker noticed that projects trying to pay off their contruction loans with permanent financing are having difficulty getting lenders to loosen enough cash to cover their debt. Others said hotel developers with well-established relationships with lenders who can prove their project is viable shouldn't have too much trouble getting financing.

Siavash said he already has about 95 percent of his funding in place, and rather then get a construction loan first that has to be paid off later, "we're locking in our permanent financing up front."

Continue reading "Riverside Hotel on Hold" »

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 1:43 PM, March 21
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Tags: riverside

March 20, 2008

UPDATE: Parking Gets Pricier at Ontario Airport

LA/Ontario International Airport will hike its parking rates a couple bucks starting April 1 with the hope it will net $2.6 million more in revenues each year for a total of $23 million.

So what price should you expect next time you park at Ontario after April 1?

Lots 2 and 4
Current rate: $15 per day/$2 per hour for first 7 hours/$1 for the eighth hour
New rate: $17 per day/$2 per hour for the first 8 hours/$1 for the ninth hour

Lot 3
Current rate: $11 per day/$2 per hour for the first 5 hours/$1 for the sixth hour
New rate: $12 per day/$2 per hour for the first 6 hours

Lot 5
Current rate:$7 per day/$2 per hour for the first 3 hours/$1 for the fourth hour
New rate: $8 per day/$2 per hour for the first 4 hours

Lot F
Current rate: $6 per day/first 2 hours free/$2 per hour for third, fourth and fifth hours
New rate: $7 per day/first2 hours free/$2 per hour for third, fourth and fifth hours/$1 for the sixth hour

For the full reasoning behind the price increase, check out the staff report here from the March 3 board meeting of the Los Angeles World Airports group (pages 56 to 62).

Park 'N Fly, an off-site lot near the airport, has taken the price hike opportunity to tout their parking rates -- $9.50 per day which includes a shuttle ride to your terminal, a copy of USA Today and a pair of booties to wear through security.

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 5:16 AM, March 20
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Tags: ontario airport

Please Sir, Can I Have a Little Legroom?

More legroom? No problem! That'll be $10 more bucks.

JetBlue has an ingenious plan to make more money in the coming year as airlines hemorrhage from rising oil costs. Charge folks sitting in the front of the plane or in the exit row a little bit more for the luxury of leg room.

I'm not sure how much they'll eventually charge for the wiggle room but the airline's CEO told folks at a New York investment conference that that's his revenue plan going forward.

It's not entirely new. Other airlines like recently launched Virgin America charge a premium too.

Personally, I like the exit row's roominess, but a little part of me always gets a little on edge thinking "what if I really DO need to assist in case of an emergency this time?" And that is why you deserve the roominess because you MAY be called on to provide a serious service. It's like you're paying your boss for the privilege of working for him/her.

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 2:54 AM, March 20
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Tags: airlines, jetblue

March 19, 2008

Smoky Skies are Going to Clear Up

Having just gotten back from a weekend in Las Vegas and gone through the ritual of throwing nearly everything I brought with me into the washing machine to eradicate the smell of cigars and cigarettes, I thought a press release from the Agua Caliente Casino outside Rancho Mirage off Interstate 10 had oddly good timing.

The casino announced it had installed an air purification system dubbed Bio-Oxygen that doesn't rely on perfumes and chemicals. Casino officials claim its the only casino in California to have such a system. Personally I've never smelled chemicals or perfumes in any of the other Inland casinos, but I have smelled cigarette smoke.

The casino's director of facilities, Jake Britton, said their system that was installed about six months ago makes the casino "virtually smoke free."

“If you walk into a casino and you pass someone who is smoking, within seven to 15 seconds that smoke is absorbed by oxygen clusters," he said.

I'm hoping to check out the casino soon to see if it has made a difference, but in the meantime any Inland casino-goers noticed an air-quality difference yet?

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 12:48 PM, March 19
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Tags: agua caliente

March 18, 2008

FAA Wants to See your Cracked Fuselage

The Federal Aviation Administration appeared a little less regulatory and a lot more humbled recently when it was discovered that Southwest Airlines hadn't had about 50 of its planes undergo required FAA inspections for two years, largely because the FAA inspector assigned to Southwest didn't hold the airline to task.

The FAA fined Southwest $10.2 million, and Southwest looked a little closer at its maintenance records. As a result, last week they grounded about 40 planes and found a few that needed minor repairs near the cabin windows.

Now the FAA has ordered a review into every U.S. airline's maintenance records. Will it affect your favorite airline? Perhaps, if they've been flying older Boeing 737 jets. Also, the order doesn't mean other airlines will need to ground their planes too, potentially cancelling flights.

That will only occur if inspections hadn't been conducted before, as they should have.

More reports:
Forbes: FAA to order spot check of maintenance records at all U.S. carriers

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 11:28 AM, March 18
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March 16, 2008

Coachella's Idea of 'Roughing It'

Last year after the first night of the Coachella Music & Arts Festival was finished, I remember wearily walking back to the parking lot past the onsite campground. Behind a chain link fence was tent city and I thought, for a moment, that if I lived in tent city I'd be home by now. But then home would lack air-conditioning, involve lots of dirt and a less than private shower.

Coachella camping ain't what it used to be. Tent city still exists but festival organizers have added luxury tents to folks wanting a few more creature comforts when they arrive.

For $700 (2 people), $1400 (4 people), $2100 (6 people)
Four nights spent sleeping in a tent already set up for you with air beds inflated, sleeping bags unfurled and pillows fluffed.

For $4,000
You and one other person can rent one of 50 fully-furnished Shikar style tents from Thurs. April 25 through Sunday night which will include:
- a king bed
- table
- carpet
- pillows
- chairs
- air conditioning
Posh amenities for camping, but nothing different from what you'd get by staying at a hotel.
What organizers are likely counting on are folks who want to be close to the venue (literally a short walk across the street), two VIP backstage passes to the festival itself and (something worth its weight in gold) in and out priveleges. The regular campers and festival goers can't leave the show early unless they don't want to get back in.

For more info check out Coachella's official site

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 12:25 AM, March 16
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Tags: coachella music

March 13, 2008

The Price is Not Right for Oil, Says ExpressJet

An addendum to a brief I wrote for today's business section ...

Here's my brief:

ExpressJet Airlines said it will reduce the number of its daily departures across the country from 200 to 172 starting April 1 because of rising fuel prices and a slowing economy, according to a statement. The airline had already cut the number of its daily departures from 220 to 200 in the fourth quarter.

The Houston-based regional airline launched in April and added 15 destinations to LA/Ontario International Airport's schedule.

The airline's parent company, ExpressJet Holdings Inc., reported a net income loss of $31.7 million in the fourth quarter and total net income losses of $70.2 million for the year.

The airline had 392,694 passengers in 2007 out of the 7.2 million that used LA/Ontario International Airport.

Here's my addendum:

I spoke with ExpressJet's president and chief executive officer, Jim Ream, and the company's spokeswoman Kristy Nicholas who said that only a handful of flights out of Ontario will be affected. Whereas there are two daily flights between Ontario and Kansas City and Ontario and Omaha, there will only be one starting April 1.

Why less flights? Simple. Oil prices are too high, Ream said.

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 9:53 AM, March 13
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Tags: expressjet

March 9, 2008

Heeeere's the TSA!

So government wit is typically reserved for former presidential candidates (i.e. Bob Dole and Huckabee) not the acronymed bureaucratic agencies.

Not so in the case of the TSA's relatively new Evolution of Security blog.

Anonymous said... Ever since you started x-raying our shoes, I've been forced to carry all my plastic explosives in my pants which I find most inconvenient.

January 31, 2008 4:36 PM

Here's a taste of how some of the TSA's bloggers (largely Chance, Bob and Christopher) have taken to responding to the hundreds of comments they moderate:

From Chance: In response to a commentor who didn't take too kindly to Chance explaining the reason TSA may screen an elderly, wheelchair bound traveler who outwardly appears to be of no threat, to a recent incident in Iraq where a wheelchair bound suicide bomber attacked a base. The commenter mentioned other methods of sucide bombing have included using donkeys too.First point: we don't (to my knowledge) allow donkeys through passenger screening, while we do allow wheelchairs through. If, to use the example you yourself called absurd, we did let donkeys through, then yes it would make perfect sense to take into account a suicide attack that used a donkey, and screen the donkeys accordingly. I'm not going to make the obvious wisecrack here.

From Christopher: In response to a guy by the name of Dave Nelson who claims to be in the Intelligence community and expressed doubt regarding the credentials of TSA's guest blogger, Keith Kauffman, director of TSA's Office of Intelligence in the comments section:
Okay Dave. You're in intel and so is Keith, we get it. That doesn't mean Keith is in intel to your detrement or you're better because you've written a President's Daily Brief (PDB for those not "in the know") I don't personally know if Keith has or not but we are confident enough in his abilities and experience that we've hired him and put him in charge of intel for us. We get it, you're smart too. Welcome to the blog.

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 12:50 AM, March 09
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Tags: tsa

March 5, 2008

Airborne Alternatives to Keeping a Mid-Flight Cold at Bay

So now that Airborne has been proven to be as effective as a glass of orange juice in preventing colds mid-flight or in any other crowded setting, what are some other options for remaining ever vigilant against catching a nasty virus?

- BYOB&P: Bring your own blanket and pillow.

- Remember SARS? Act like you never forgot it and rock the face mask fashion statement.

- That in flight catalog tucked into the seat pocket in front of you that's been manhandled by legions before you? Don't touch it. I know you want to see how much your own personal hot dog stand might cost you but it will never be worth it.

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 11:14 AM, March 05
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March 4, 2008

Be Sure to Hold Your Monkey While its Cage is X-rayed

Traveling by air with a monkey?*

First, be sure to exclaim to TSA agents: "Yes, I'm transporting a monkey!" like a man who was in line for security in Pennsylvania heading to Ft. Lauderdale.

Second, remove your monkey from its cage. Let the cage go through the X-ray machine.

Third, embrace your monkey and walk through the metal detector.

*or any other pet. Also, be sure to talk with your airlines and local agriculture officials to find out if what your transporting can, indeed, be transported on a commercial flight.

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 9:38 AM, March 04
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Tags: tsa

March 3, 2008

Stuffy head, sore throat, coughing, inability to travel

I'm fending off something of the sick variety today -- symptoms: sore throat, clogged nose, addiction to NyQuil -- and it got me thinking about traveling.

I sure wouldn't want to be sitting next to me on a plane today.

If traveling were in my cards today, would I have had any recourse? Doubtful with the symptoms at hand. "Geetings seatmate! Don't mind me if I cough up a lung on the tray-table. I've got antibacterial hand soap. It cures all ills."

But if I were a bit more seriously out-of-it and a doctor said traveling would not be possible it may pay to ask the customer service agent nicely or to travel in my way-back machine to buy a refundable ticket.

That's what happened when a customer of Hotwire tried to cancel his car reservation.

Granted that's not what immediately happened when a customer of United Airlines tried to get a refund for his extensive European vacation for his 50th wedding anniversary when, sadly, his wife died.

JetBlue recently started offering refundable fares for a higher price. For $50, its nonrefundable tickets can be cancelled and the amount booked for the flight is stowed away for the passenger to use within a year.

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 3:05 AM, March 03
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February 29, 2008

Desert Convention and Visitors Authority Awards Its Own

The Palm Springs Desert Resorts Convention and Visitors Authority awarded local tourim leaders Friday afternoon:

Restauranteur of the Year
Andres Delgado, Las Casuelas Nuevas

Business Attraction Person of the Year
Mary Dungans, Desert Adventures Jeep Tours

Outstanding General Manager for Hotels 200 Rooms and Less
Bruce Abney, El Morocco Inn and Spa

Outstanding General Manager for Properties 201 Rooms and More
Victor Woo, Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa

Salesperson of the Year
Rick Leson, Palm Springs Convention Center

Front Line Employee of the Year
Cornelia Balmer, Hampton Inn & Suites

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 2:01 PM, February 29
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Moody Blues Get a Trippy Theme Park Ride in Florida

I don't usually write about theme parks but when one involves the Moody Blues (classic trippy British rock band from the 1960s still touring today that I've probably seen in concert about 10 times in my lifetime thanks to my parents) it warrants noting.

The Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beach, SC is opening this summer and who has a ride based on their iconic single from baby boomer heyday? That's right, the theme park includes a "Night In White Satin - The Trip" ride. Click here for a recreation of what they think the ride will likely resemble. You have to click on the interactive park map and find the "British Invasion" area. Essentially the ride looks very trippy, very psychadelic. Very Moody Blues.

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 10:37 AM, February 29
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February 28, 2008

No Hostility at this Big Bear Hostel

Snowboarders and skiiers feeling more European than Californian can now opt to mingle with strangers at the Big Bear Lake Hostel.

Issues with privacy? Need a 500-count duvet at all times? A hostel might not be your thing.

But the prices are encouraging.

A night in a dorm style room might set you back $22 to $29 per person, per night.

A private room ranges from $33 to $49 a night and doubles cost $25 to $39.

Total the hostel has 13 rooms, 6 shared bathrooms and 2 kitchens.

If you do take the hostel route, bring your own towel, make your own bed and don't bring a sleeping bag.

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 9:37 AM, February 28
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Tags: big bear

February 27, 2008

TSA Security Lines, More Fun Than a Ski Lift? You Betcha

I still can't get used to the Transportation Security Administration being downright amusing on their blog, Evolution of Security ("think plagues of locust off topic" ... haha, I'm a sucker for plague references).

But I am intrigued to see more posts about initiatives the agency is trying out at various airports around the country, rather than simply defending themeselves every time a commenter lets them have it for their screening process, like this one at Salt Lake City's airport.

Much like symbols used on the slopes to weed out the Olympians from the bunnies, the TSA there has set up seperate screening lines for families or those needing special assistance, the casual traveler and the expert traveler who can whip their laptop out and into a plastic tray in less time than you can say "boarding pass?"

So far the TSA plans to test it in Denver International Airport but no word on other airports yet.

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 11:25 AM, February 27
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Tags: TSA

February 26, 2008

When All Other Costs Rise, Food Prices at Spa Casino Fall

Rising gas prices be damned. The cost of corn, now a potential fuel, has made everything else cost more.

But that's not preventing the Spa Casino in Palm Springs from discounting meal prices in their restaurant. In addition to 99 cent margaritas, the casino is taking a move out of the Vegas playbook and cutting prices. Alas, no $1.99 steak and eggs buffet.

Breakfast:
Old price ($7.99)
New price ($5.99)

Lunch:
Old price ($11.99)
New price ($9.99)

Sunday brunch:
Old price ($23.99)
New price ($17.99)

Dinner:
Old price ($17.99)
New price ($12.99)

Seafood Friday
Old price ($23.99)
New price ($18.99)

Steak & Crab Saturday
Old price ($23.99)
New price ($18.99)

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 9:43 AM, February 26
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February 25, 2008

Former Palm Springs Brothel Gets NYT Review

The Colony Palms Hotel in Palm Springs has certainly been getting the word out to media that it's open.

First a less than glowing review from the LA Times, now another less critical NY Times review here. The reviewer makes mention of the "Mars-like San Jacinto Mountains" (really? They look pretty typically mountainy to me) and the photographs of scantily-clad women in each room ("Rather than sexy, they look awkward.")

Ultimately, the reviewer seems to be impressed with the rates ($209 in high season, $359 for casitas) for the degree of style recieved.

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 1:48 PM, February 25
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Paper -- airlines can't afford it but we can! That and ink.

On June 1 all major U.S. airline carriers will phase out printing paper tickets and only issue e-tickets sent to you by e-mail.

Granted, I've personally become a fan of e-tickets. It's one less piece of paper I may lose if it must be stored in the black hole that is my desk.

And if you don't have a ready supply of paper and ink to print out your tickets, most carriers have kiosks set up in front of their front desks where a swipe of your credit card or driver's license gets you your boarding pass.

Posted by Kimberly Pierceall at 9:42 AM, February 25
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Tags: airlines