It seems like just a few days ago we welcomed in the New Year, yet already we’re gearing up for Valentine’s Day hotel deals. 2012 will be over in a blink, so if you want to create fond memories to last the entire year, consider one of these five romantic getaways.

Milliken Creek Inn & Spa

Heart of Napa Authentic Trio at the Milliken Creek Inn & Spa, Napa Valley

Wine, chocolates, spa treatment—the holiday package from this 12-room luxury boutique property in Napa Valley has it all. Even better: it’s good weekends from Feb. 1 through July 31, 2012. The Milliken Creek package starts at $640 per night for two guests and includes a two-night stay, a five-hour luxury vehicle wine tour provided by Peralta Luxury Tours, gourmet boxed lunch and wine tasting at Crocker & Starr winery, cave tour and tasting at Keever Vineyards, barrel tasting at Fontanella Family Winery, 90-minute chocolate decadence couples spa treatment, and romantic turndown including rose petals, chocolate-covered strawberries and Champagne. Visit www.MillikenCreekInn.com or call 800-822-8418.

14 Days of Valentine’s at the Eventi Hotel, New York City

Can’t afford to splash “I love you” to your sweetheart on the monitor during a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden? Then this Valentine’s Day deal from Kimpton’s Eventi Hotel in New York City is just for you. In addition to a welcome bouquet of flowers and Champagne upon arrival, you’ll get a box of chocolate-dipped strawberries, dinner for two at Bar Basque or breakfast in bed, 14 percent off hotel spa treatments (trust me, they’re worth it—I stayed here the night before my wedding and had a fantastic facial and massage) and, here’s what you’ve been waiting for, a special Valentine’s Day message displayed on the HD-format LED screen located in the Big Screen Plaza next to the hotel. The package is available from Feb. 1 to 14, 2012, and rates start at $329 per night, depending on date and room type selected. Send monitor messages, up to 20 words, to info@bigscreenplaza.com by Feb. 1. Book online or call 866-996-8396 and mention the rate code LOVE.

Kimpton Hotels also is offering a Robe-mance special at participating hotels starting at $269 per night and includes two zebra- or leopard-print bathrobes (a $180 value) and a $25 food and beverage credit. Mention or enter ROBES in the rate-code box.

Pink Goes Green at the Shore Hotel, Santa Monica, California

Practical romantics will appreciate this beachside break from the eco-friendly Shore Hotel in Santa Monica, a newly built Silver LEED-registered property that uses local, sustainable, and recycled materials and products as much as possible. The Pink Goes Green package includes overnight accommodations, two bicycle rentals for use during your stay—ideal for morning or sunset rides along the beach, a bottle of organic Champagne or wine, a 60-minute couples massage at Tikkun Spa and a $50 credit to The Lobster Restaurant. Rates start at $469 per night. Call 310-458-1515 or visit www.shorehotel.com.

Hacienda San Angel

Sweetheart Serenade at the Hacienda San Angel, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Add the warmth of Mexico to your relationship with a trip to Puerto Vallarta on the Pacific Coast and a stay at the luxury boutique hotel Hacienda San Angel. Its Sweetheart Serenade Valentine’s Day package includes a three-night stay in a junior suite, private terrace dinner for two, private mariachi serenade on the terrace or from the cobblestone streets below, one in-suite massage per person and daily breakfast. The package is priced at $1,620 and is available for stays throughout the month of February. Call 877-815-6594 or visit www.haciendasanangel.com.

Valentine’s Day Package at the Rome Cavalieri in Rome, Italy

What could be more romantic than spending Valentine’s Day in one of the most romantic cities in the world—Rome? The overnight holiday package at the Rome Cavalieri, a Waldorf Astoria hotel, includes a padlock, and the hotel encourages couples to lock it to the lamppost at the Ponte Milvio bridge and throw the key into the Tiber River as a sign of their love. Even if you don’t go for romantic rituals, the hotel’s Valentine’s Day package also includes a bottle of Champagne and in-room chocolates, breakfast buffet and a three-course dinner for two at L’Uliveto restaurant, one Caribbean Moments spa package which includes use of the hydro-massage, saunas, Turkish bath, two St. Barth Harmony massages, two scrubs, two papaya facial masks and two cocktails at the Grand Spa Café. Rates start at 680 euros. Visit www.romecavalieri.com for more details.

Photos: Milliken Creek Inn & Spa, Hacienda San Angel

President Obama announced plans to increase travel to the United States from Disney World's Main Street, USA.

Thursday at Disney World in Orlando, President Barack Obama announced an executive order aimed at boosting international tourism visits to the United States. The initiative is getting a positive reception from the travel industry, which has advocated for years for some of the changes the new order includes. David Scowsill, president and CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council, called it “a major step forward for the world’s biggest travel and tourism economy,” according to eTurboNews.

The President’s order includes plans aimed at promoting the United States as a travel destination and several moves that will make it easier for visitors to enter the country. It expands the visa waiver and Global Entry programs and calls for the creation of a task force to improve promotion efforts.

Changes will affect travelers from all over the world, but the administration called out three countries for special treatment—Taiwan, which is being added to the visa waiver program; and China and Brazil, which will see changes to their visa application processes that should lead to better access. Not a bad idea, considering that both are fast-growing and lucrative markets. The U.S. Travel Association estimates that Chinese visitors’ average spend per trip is $6,243, and Brazilians’ is $4,940.

The White House’s outline of the program can be viewed here. Below are the action steps the President called for:

• Create a joint task force between the Secretaries of Commerce and the Interior to promote domestic and inbound travel. A focus will be placed on promoting national parks, wildlife refuges, cultural and historic sites, monuments and other public lands.
• Increase non-immigrant visa processing capacity in China and Brazil by 40 percent in 2012.
• Ensure that 80 percent of non-immigrant visa applicants are interviewed within three weeks of receipt of application.
• Add Taiwan to the visa waiver program, allowing Taiwanese nationals to visit the United States for tourism or business for up to 90 days with no visa. This would be the tenth country added since 2008. The recommendation to add Taiwan is pending Department of Homeland Security approval.
• Create a Department of Commerce website for travelers from key markets that culls visa-process information and statistics from across the federal government.
• Launch pilot program and rule change for visa processing in China and Brazil, with the goal of streamlining the non-immigrant visa process for certain applicants. Changes will include waiving interviews for very low-risk applicants, such as those replying for renewals and younger or older first-time applicants from Brazil.
• Expand the Global Entry Program to four more airports—Charlotte, Denver, Minneapolis and Phoenix. The Global Entry Program, created in 2008, expedites pre-approved, low-risk travelers from abroad. The administration estimates that this expansion will make the program active at airports that service 97 percent of arrivals to the United States.
• Appoint 32 private-sector executives to the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board. The full list can be viewed on the Department of Commerce website. Companies represented include Sabre Holdings, JetBlue Airways, Mall of America and Marriott International.

Photo: Official White House Photo by Sonya N. Hebert; Whitehouse.gov

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Four days after the cruiseliner Costa Concordia ran aground and capsized off the coast of an Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea, authorities are still searching the wreckage and have yet to arrive at a final casualty count. As of Monday night, 29 people were still missing and at least six were dead.

The Costa Concordia, docked during one of its early years at sea.

The details of how the accident occurred and how the evacuation was handled by crew are also still being investigated. And the impact on the cruise industry and on Carnival Corporation, which owns Costa Cruises, is also undetermined. Carnival says that its insurance deductible on damage to the ship will cost $30 million, and its personal injury liability insurance carries a $10 million deductible. The company estimates that the loss of use of the Concordia for at least several months will set Carnival back $85 million to $95 million.

Many early reports in U.S. media painted a picture of an emergency poorly managed by the vessel’s staff. For example, take this line from a CNN story: “Some crew members helped passengers and then jumped overboard, passengers said; remaining crew members seemed helpless to handle the melee.” In public statements, Costa has commended the reaction of its crew, but has harsher criticism for the ship’s captain, Francesco Schettino, who it blames for deviating from the prescribed course and causing the accident.

Unfortunately for cruise operators and travel agents, the accident occurred early during “wave season,” the peak cruise-booking period, which runs from January through March. This has ratcheted up speculation that the tragedy could cause a softening in the cruise market this year. And TravelAgentCentral.com points out that April will mark the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, which will also put cruising in the news for negative reasons.

As for the possible effect on the industry, here are some thoughts from experts:

“It’s hard to see the industry not experiencing at least a small short-term slowdown from this,” Florida-based Simon Duvall of SimonCruises.com tells USA Today. “The images and stories coming out of Italy are shocking even to those of us who love cruising and consider it safe, so to a first-timer or someone who is nervous about it, [this] very well might be a deal breaker.” — USA Today

Some investors may switch holdings into Royal Caribbean after the Concordia incident, according to Tim Ramskill, an analyst at Credit Suisse in London. “If the industry already didn’t face enough challenges—fuel price volatility, capacity absorption and weakness in the European economy—this unfortunate event will reverberate on the group,” he said. — Bloomberg BusinessWeek

[Brian] Robertson, [certified travel consultant and owner, Robertson International Travel Consultants], said the accident will not negatively impact his ability to sell cruises either short-term or long-term, or to change the way his agency sells: “People have a very short memory when it comes to this type of accident,” he believes. — TravelAgentCentral.com

As the story of the tragedy of the Costa Concordia continues to unravel, one good source of information is Cruise News Daily’s Cruiseblogger, which is adding updates to one continuously updated post, Costa Concordia Evacuated.

Photo: Aah-Yeah (flickr, CC2.0)

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According to the latest American Express Spending & Saving Tracker, 61 percent of respondents say they plan to spend more on travel and vacations this year than in 2011.

The online survey was conducted by Echo Research from Dec. 27 to 30, 2011, with results culled from a random sample of 2,000 U.S. adults. In addition to overall results, responses were divided into two sub-groups: Affluent—defined as having a minimum annual household income of $100,000 (562 respondents), and Young Professionals—defined as being younger than 30 year of age, with a college degree and a minimum household income of $50,000 (532 respondents).

Overall respondents deemed travel and vacations their No. 2 category (22 percent) for desired spending in 2012, behind home improvements (23 percent). Just 16 percent chose travel in 2011. Travel was No. 1 within the affluent and young professionals sub-groups, however, up 11 points to 32 percent and eight points to 46 percent, respectively.

Where are people getting the money for their increased travel? While the economic outlook remains uncertain, 35 percent of Americans say they are optimistic about their finances in the year ahead, with savings projected to be nearly three times what they were in 2011—$7,633 vs. $2,632.

Reward points are an important source of travel funds too—54 percent of consumers with leisure travel plans say they will redeem credit card reward points to help pay for travel, with 33 percent doing so for hotels and 31 percent for flights. Between genders, 59 percent of men say they will use points compared to 50 percent of women.

Forty percent of all travelers already have planned their first trip of 2012, with 17 percent having booked. For affluents, 22 percent have booked while 36 percent have completed planning. For young professionals, 17 percent have booked, 53 percent have planned.

Additional leisure-travel findings:

• 50 percent of all Americans plan to travel within the 50 states,
• 22 percent will venture abroad,
• 26 percent of men plan to travel overseas compared to 18 percent of women,
• 41 percent will choose a beach vacation,
• 20 percent will take a cruise, and
• 77 percent will fly to their destination, with 48 percent saying they’ll fly more in 2012 than they did in 2011.

If budget were no issue, 34 percent of overall Americans would choose North America as their destination, while just 26 percent of affluents and young professionals would. One in four overall prefer Europe (25 percent), while 37 percent and 38 percent of affluents and young professionals, respectively, do. Third most popular choice for both overall respondents and the affluent sub-group is Australia (12 percent), while 16 percent of young professionals would take off for Asia and the Pacific.

“The survey suggests good news for the travel industry,” says Claire Bennett, senior vice president and general manager of American Express Travel. “Consumers are planning to invest more in travel and nearly a quarter are setting aside a separate travel budget to help them meet their 2012 travel goals.”

Photo: American Express

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