Travel Industry

I’m a rail fan. I’ve ridden the Iron Rooster all over China, traveled mostly on rail from Beijing to Wales, and even subjected my family to a few Amtrak trips.

The Acela is the only true high-speed train in the United States

So you can imagine how I drooled when President Obama started to talk about the stimulus package investing in America’s infrastructure. If anything needs funding in this country, I figured, it’s projects like California’s long-dreamed-of bullet train that would race from San Francisco to Los Angeles in less than 3 hours.

I mean, if the Japanese and French get to go 300 miles per hour on magnetic levitating trains, why can’t we? Given the chance to get from A to B in a timely fashion without driving dangerous freeways or suffering through airport security, it seems like most Americans would ride high-speed trains. And providing a practical alternative to driving is the one thing that truly stands in the way of cutting the carbon emmissions that are destroying our planet.

All these years, local governments have lacked the start-up funds to get these high-tech locomotion systems started. Now, I thought, is finally high-speed rail’s big moment.

But when the stimulus bill passed, I heard surprisingly little about high-speed trains. I put my hopes aside until I heard Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal mock a planned Las Vegas to Disneyland train in his rebuttal to President Obama’s speech this week. I thought, “Wow, what a fabulous idea! Think of the tourism dollars that will bring in!”

Then I eagerly looked for more information on what kind of great rail projects the stimulus bill would pay for. And was quickly disappointed: The final package included only $9.3 billion for rail, and some of that will go to much-needed maintenance just to get American train travel back to where it was a few decades ago.

Nine billion dollars may sound like a lot, until you hear that California’s project alone, which would produce a train that could go over 200 miles an hour, would cost $45 billion.

Which leaves me singing the kind of blues inspired by the sounds of lonely train whistles. Instead of propping up the auto industry (and let’s hope we don’t end up doing the same for the airline industry) so they can continue enabling us to foul the planet, I wish we could put every penny of those bailout checks into high-speed rail.

Photo by Gilliamhome, used vie Creative Commons license.

Many travel providers, writers, and journalists are asking themselves “how will social media affect how consumers plan travel?”  And  I thought I’d offer a case study of my own experience with online word-of-mouth through Twitter.

I just returned from my babymoon, a last chance for my wife and me to get away from the (first two) kids and spend time with each other before our third kid comes in May.  It was a great trip–thanks to Twitter!

How did Twitter play a role in Travel Planning?

First, I used Orbitz to research and book flights. Second, to research hotels, I used UpTake and my favorite Hawaii guidebook, Big Island Revealed, including the fabulous companion Website with aerials of all the hotels and resorts.  Finally I booked the hotel/car package on Orbitz.  (Note: I highly recommend this tour book!)

I then turned almost exclusively to Twitter to get travel planning advice.  The results were amazing.  Skeptics might say that I have a much larger, more travel-oriented network on Twitter than most people.  But this case study might provide some insight into how word-of-mouth can spread via Twitter.

@fairmonthotels

Mike Taylor, who manages the @fairmonthotels Twitter account, contacted me after I shared that I had booked at the Fairmont Orchid on the Kohala Coast of the Island of Hawaii.   I asked him some follow up questions, and he connected me to Jaisy Jardine, PR Manager at the Fairmont Orchid who suggested an oceanfront couples massage and a great dive for local:

We have 5 massage cabanas that are right on the water, and if you are lucky, our resident honu (turtles) might stop by to say hello!

[If you are headed over to see Hawaii Volcanoes National Park] be sure to stop by Tex Drive In which makes the most amazing malasadas or Portuguese donuts for you to taste!

The couples massage was a bit more money than we wanted to spend (typical resort prices) but we did stop by Tex Drive In in Honoka’a on our drive to Hilo, and the malasadas were truly a memorable experience we wouldn’t have had otherwise.

Jaisy also recommended some cultural hikes that were available at the hotel.

Twitter enabled individuals at Fairmont Hotels to personally get in front of the brand, and make a connection.  Critics might argue that there is no way a brand can serve customers on such a personal basis at scale.   But in these challenging economic times, brands need to find ways to create those memorable experiences that will create positive word of mouth and recommendations to friends that will convince people to risk their scarce vacation dollars on a meaningful experience.

We had a great time at the Fairmont Orchid and would go their again for another romantic getaway.  If you go, be sure to sign up (at no cost) for the Fairmont President’s Club that provides member benefits including free internet, free local phone calls, and discounts on spa services.

@nathankam

I also got some excellent advice from Nathan Kam aka @nathankam, who works for McNeil Wilson Communications, the PR firm serving Hawaii Visitor and Convention Bureau.  As another person who grew up on the Big Island,  Nathan provided an excellent recommendation to go to the upcountry town of Waimea, about 25 minutes northeast of the Kohala Coast resort area where our hotel was.  Waimea is a quiet ranching and farming town that is surrounded by rolling hills, green pastures, and herds of cattle. It also is home to Merriman’s, a pioneer of Hawaii Regional gourmet cuisine.  This was by far one of the most enjoyable meals I’ve had in my life.  I ate sauteed moi, which was traditionally prepared only for the Hawaiian kings, which was served whole over filet mignon fried rice.  My wife ordered sushi-quality farm-raised Kona kampachi, steamed over mashed sweet-potatoes.

Nathan offered other advice, including:

• kayaking in Kealakekua Bay, which we ended up doing (see below)
• Experiencing authentic local food and local ambience at the restaurant in the Manago Hotel.
• Visiting Kona Town along the main Ali’i Drive (which I thought was afflicted by an epidemic of gift and souvenir shops)
• Going to the Hawaiian Vanilla Company for a lunch or afternoon tea, and a tour of the farm.  This sounded very romantic but we ran out of time.
• Stop at Honoka’a and have malasadas at Tex Drive In (which we did).

@govisithawaii

I also connected with Sheila Beal aka @govisithawaii of GoVisitHawaii.com, who is passionate about Hawaii and had incredible and detailed advice about creating a great romantic experience.  In fact she has a great Big Island vacation guide that links to many of her most useful posts on the Big Island.  Here’s what she wrote:

• Brown’s Beach House Restaurant (at the Fairmont)  has one of the most romantic dinner settings on the Big Island. It’s basically just a few steps to the beach and has a great sunset view and tiki torches. Ah, so romantic! To have the best view, book dinner for 5:30 when the restaurant opens and pace your dinner through sunset and the sky colors after sunset.  I just checked their website and it says they have entertainment Tuesday – Saturday.
• Plan a sunset picnic on the beach. You can get picnic supplies at the Foodland located at the Shops at Mauna Lani which is less than a mile from where you’ll be staying at the Fairmont. Spencer and Hapuna State Beach Parks are nearby. Surprisingly, you’ll find the beaches to be rather quiet and almost empty at sunset. There’s a pathway that goes along the shoreline between the Fairmont and Mauna Lani. I love this little stretch and I think you might also scope out a nice sunset picnic spot there, too. (Elliott: the paved path runs out between the hotels, so wear sturdy sandals to walk all the way)
• Take a sunset sail where you’re also very likely to see humpback whales as well. It’s almost like getting two tours for the price of one, plus dinner. Here’s the cruise we took in March on a catamaran run by Ocean Sports company.

Elliott here.  I’m sure I would have missed the sunset night after night without Sheila’s tip.  It takes planning to make a 5:30 dinner reservation and show up on time.  We ended up eating at the Ocean Bar right next to Brown’s Beach House which provides a less formal dining experience than Brown’s, but still has exceptional Hawaiian fusion cuisine at a lower cost.  The service was friendly and gracious, and we watched the sunset across a sandy lagoon.  As a bonus, we even saw whales breaching. Highly recommended as a less costly, reservation free, tablecloth free alternative to Brown’s or CanoeHouse at the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel (see below).  Thank you Sheila!  Here’s what we saw:

The last night on the Island, we also ate at the CanoeHouse at the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel, which also provides outdoor seating where you can watch the sunset.  The food was good but not great.  The sushi looked a bit amateurish, with serrated edges and served on a bread plate instead of a wooden block.  The service was less knowledgeable than Merriman’s and less enthusiastic than the Ocean Bar.  And the location was slightly less amazing than Brown’s and the Ocean Bar.  We should have listened to Sheila and just went back to Brown’s or even ate at the Ocean Bar one more night.

Some Specific Babymoon Tips from @govisithawaii

We got some great advice on what NOT to do on a babymoon from @govisithawaii.  Sheila wrote two great posts about What to Do in One Day on the Kona Side, and What to Do in One Day on the Hilo Side.  The Hilo post outlines a trip to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park but Sheila recommended that we not go.

Here’s what she said:

Since your wife is expecting, there are some things you should avoid:

• To be on the safe side, you may want to avoid Volcanoes National Park and the lava flow viewing point because of the volcanic fumes. See the photo of this sign.
• Avoid going to Mauna Kea for sightseeing and stargazing. The oxygen levels are lower there and dangerous for those who are pregnant.

Elliott here.  Great tips @govisithawaii!

@nerdseyeview

I also spoke to Pam Mandel aka @nerdseyeview at Nerd’s Eye View.  She made a number of suggestions, but her best advice was where NOT to go:  the Volcanoes.

According to Pam, if we go to see the Volcanoes “Leave early, it will take you all damn day. Also, the weather can be a good 20 degrees colder on the mountain and it might rain. It does NOT wreck the experience, but you want to be prepared.”

Elliott here.  Its clear that one of the biggest mistakes a first-time visitor can make is underestimating the size of the Big Island, especially if they have visited one of the smaller islands before.  Not only is the island the size of the State of Connecticut, but the roads are often just two-lane highways with limited passing opportunities because of the constant traffic flow.  Don’t overestimate how fast you can go.  Slow traffic, large distances, and poor time planning (on my part, of course) resulted in some…er…marital discord on this otherwise harmonious babymoon.

Pam made some other suggestions:

• Go to the North Kohala coast town of Hawi.  Pam: “Half an hour north (give or take) from where you’re staying. Cute cafes, shopping, galleries”
• Go Outrigger Canoe Paddling.
• See a Petroglyph Reserve
• Snorkel cruise – Pam: “You want Kealakekua Bay. Terrific service, even for non-swimmers. And a must do on my list of Hawaii activities.”  Pam recommended the Fair Wind II:  which also has a smaller, more expensive boat called Hula Kai which we ended up going on.
• Pu’uhonua a Honaunau Park aka Place of Refuge Park-http://www.nps.gov/puho
  Pam: “Another do not miss. Bring a lunch and some drinks. There’s a soda machine at the park, but not much else. Go early in the day if you can.”  We didn’t have time to walk through the City of Refuge, but our snorkel cruise passed by it and we snorkeled a spot just south of the Place of Refuge.
• Holualoa, above Kona.  Pam: “also, cute galleries, food, cafes, and Sam Rosen’s Ukulele Gallery”

We ended up going on the Hula Kai:

It was well worth the extra money.  We paid $155/adult vs. $119/adult.  The Fair Wind departed with a full complement of 80+ people.  The Hula Kai set off with only 18+ people on a boat with 40-50 capacity.  It felt like a private charter!  And we took advantage of a Web booking special that gave us 50% off on an additional Whale watching cruise (which I would only recommend if you love whales and/or nature photography and am adequately geared up with a 100-400mm telephoto lens like many of our fellow passengers).

@MudslideMama

Our blogging partner, @MudslideMama of the Traveling Mamas, has a number of relevant posts relating to both family and romantic travels:

• Review of the Fairmont Orchid (Suite101)
• Best Free things to do on Big Island (Suite101)
• Review of the Gathering of the Kings
• Review of Dolphin Quest dolphin experience at Hilton Waikoloa
• Review of the Fair Winds II Snorkel Cruise
• Waikoloa Petroglyph Field

All in all, it was an exceptional experience.

As I said, I have a large number of people that I follow and that follow me in return on Twitter.  And a significant group of these people are in the travel industry in one way, shape or form.  But I hope it provides some example of how powerful word of mouth can be when passionate people use social media to make their voice heard.  And when this happens, more people will attain the memorable experiences they are seeking when going on leisure travel, which can only be a great thing for the travel industry!

All photos by elliottng, Creative Commons by-nc-sa 3.0

Renminbi Banknotes

A co-worker was on a last minute trip to China recently, a destination he visits infrequently.  He discussed an experience with me about exchanging money at Travelex and their “guarantee.”

While at the airport, he converted $1000 into Renminbi. He was offered a terrible exchange rate of 5.9 but was then encouraged to exchange more money (over $1000) to qualify for a guaranteed buy back from company when he returned. The guarantee was presented as if any unspent cash  could be exchanged back at the current rate. To quote the person behind the desk “any money you don’t spend we will buy back at this rate.” It seemed like a good deal at the time.

Once in China, given the bad rate (6.7 would have been a better rate) he decided to save all the money so he could exchange it when he returned to the U.S. Upon his return they only offered him $850. It turns out the company only guarantees to buy it back at today’s buy rate. Not much of a guarantee really, is it? They even suggested that he check with the banks as he may get a better rate with them.

He tried calling another office to speak to a manager but they just laughed and said, “How do you think we make money?”

Naivete’ on his part perhaps but their advertising was less than clear about what was really being guaranteed. The company was Travelex and its product the “Currency Return Guarantee (CRG)”

If you are going to China, he recommends you skip Travelex and work with a bank or a respected hotel at your destination.  He guarantees a better customer experience and probably a better rate.

There is a world of travel reviews

What if you could read every travel review, from every travel web site on the internet? What would they say?

At UpTake, we all are avid travelers and we love reading travel magazines, reviews, journals, blogs. So much so that we’ve aggregated millions of reviews and descriptions of travel products from over 5,000 different travel web sites. But trying to read this great outpouring of opinions is like taking a drink from a fire hose. As we built our travel review meta-search engine, we realized we had to train our computers to read the reviews for us and pull out the insights of what people are saying. As we find positive and negative opinions about products and their applicability to certain types of vacations, we also gain many insights into the people who write reviews.

Here are some things we’ve learned

The average travel review author is a 30-something woman with a moderate budget seeking to get away from it all. A travel reviewer is least likely to be a man, schlepping around living out of his backpack while seeking cosmetic improvements. But averages don’t tell the whole story. From teens to centenarians, from thrill seekers to beach bums, people from all walks of life are out there traveling and sharing.

On the whole, travel reviewers are a bright and creative bunch. They write on average 120 words per review. The collective vocabulary of travel reviewers is an astonishing 60,000 words. By comparison, the vocabulary of professionally written reviews and descriptions is only 44,000 words.

The motivation to write stems from a good experience they feel compelled to share. Sixty-five percent of hotels are given a rating of 4, 4.5 or 5 stars. The most common rating is 5 stars. Is this similar to grade inflation in school? The most common phrases in over a billion bytes of data are “I am very likely to return” and “I would recommend this hotel.”

Children are the stars in most reviews

Who are the stars of the reviews? Children, sons and daughters appear most frequently in the reviews, 33% more often than husbands who are the second most mentioned family members. But why are there are 50% more references to husbands than wives? Is it that more wives writes reviews? Gender analysis of review authors says yes, but not by such a wide margin. Perhaps it is when guys write a review they’re more interested in talking about location, price and “drinks served pool-side.”

Faring the worst, of course, are mother-in-laws. Granted, most trips probably don’t involve a mother-in-law, and most mentions of mothers-in-law are positive. But there are some classic gems like this: “the suites are great, complete with a side room to hideaway your mother-in-law.”

Pets get frequent mentions

Beyond family, many travelers love to take their pets. Pets get a lot of mentions and most of the discussion is around whether or not pets were welcome. On the other hand, it seems that one of the best ways to dis’ a place is to make an animal reference. We also learn that travelers are very skilled at discerning various animal smells. Examples:

• “it smelled like a dead and rotting animal”
• “that the first room they put us in had a bad stench of dog urine”
• “literally would not and did not let my dog stay in this unsanitary place!”

Favorite themes to write about are not a surprise: cleanliness, comfort and location lead the list by a wide margin. Again, it’s the positives that outweigh the negatives. References to terms that mean “clean” outnumber words that mean “dirty” by 4 to 1. Location on the other hand is a challenge to understand. Many praise their hotel’s location for being so close to the airport. Many curse it for the same reason.

What may be more surprising is that old fashioned amenities like television inspire way more words (also 4:1) than newer amenities like the internet. Vacations are still about relaxing after all.

Related Posts:

• Travel Metasearch is done
  
• Review of hotel review metasearch sites
• Evolution of Travel Metasearch
• What 20,000,000 Travel Opinions Tell Us
• How Kayak can beat Tripadvisor in the Hotel Review Market
• Travel Metasearch is done! Long Live TravelMetasearch!

Photo Credits

Earth photo courtesy of woodleywonderworks.

Swimming kids courtesy of whiskymac.

Slobbering dog courtesy of foxypar.

TravelCom ‘09, the US Travel Association’s annual travel industry conference, will be held March 31-April 2 in Atlanta, GA. This year’s theme is Transform Your Business: How to Adapt and Prosper in the Travel Ecosystem.

Travelcom Atlanta 2009

The list of speakers is a star-studded who’s who list of CEOs and senior executives of the biggest brand names in the travel industry. Senior Executives speaking at Travelcom’09 include:

• Steve Hafner, CEO and Co-Founder, Kayak.com
• Christine Petersen, Chief Marketing Officer, TripAdvisor
• Hugh Crean, General Manager, Live Search Farecast, A Microsoft Company
• Rob Torres, Managing Director, Travel, Google, Inc
• Gregg Brockway, Chief Executive Officer, TripIt
• Kevin Krone, VP, Marketing, Sales and Distribution, Southwest Airlines
• Krista Pappas, Head of Business Development, Live Search Farecast, A Microsoft Company, and TravelCom’09 Co-Chair
• Angela Brav, Senior VP, Franchise Services and Operations Support, InterContinental Hotels Group
• Henry Harteveldt, Vice President and Principal Analyst-Airline/Travel Industry Research, Forrester Research, and TravelCom’09 Co-Chair
• Patrick Lafferty, Chief Marketing Officer, Travel Channel Media
• Michael Thomas, Chairman, Travel Ad Network, BookingWiz.com and Sprice
• Robert Sahadevan, Vice President–Mileage Plus, United Airlines

You can see the full list of speakers, panels and scheduled events at Travelcom’09 here.

Travelcom takes on an added significance this year, in view of the economic meltdown. Companies are heading down to Atlanta not just for the linkups, but also because expert speakers at Travelcom ‘09 are actually expected to outline realistic solutions to the problems and pressures faced by almost every travel company.

It’s a tall order, but that’s why they have people like Google’s Rob Torres explaining how to keep the ball rolling short-term, while not losing sight of the big picture. Freeborders Inc. will share its expertise and experience on how to move beyond cost control and create business value with the use of IT outsourcing.

Other speakers like TripAdvisor’s Christine Peterson and TripIt’s Gregg Brockway will explain how to make best use of the enormous potential of new media and the latest innovations in online travel.

Other topics covered include the latest practices of loyalty programs, metasearch, ancillary revenue opportunities, mobile marketing and reaching travelers through new technologies.

The US Travel Association is probably one of the few organizations who can actually pull off such an all-encompassing travel industry conference. You won’t likely be seeing all these topics being discussed concurrently in the same place at the same again in 2009.

Not to mention the fact that it’ll be virtually impossible to corral all these industry heavyweights again for another conference. The fact that they’re all coming underlines the critical importance of Travelcom’09. So I think it’s safe to say that if you’re a part of the travel industry, then you want to be at the Omni Hotel at CNN Center in Atlanta, GA on March 31 2009.

Travelcom’09 – Atlanta, GA (March 31 to April 2, 2009)

The lease rights to the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA were auctioned off in New York City late last month for $25,000 to Garrison Investment Group, along with development rights for 45 acres of waterfront land in Long Beach and 11 acres of water rights for a marina.

Queen Mary, Long Beach

Actually, calling it an auction is a bit of a sham, because apparently nobody else was willing to Save the Queen  – that’s Save the Queen LLC (www.savethequeen.com/), a corporation cobbled together in November, 2007 by Newport Beach developer Jeff Klein, which purchased the lease and development rights from the City of Long Beach for $43 million.

Save the Queen tried to stop the auction by filing a lawsuit in New York asking for a stay of the auction while the lease and development rights were properly valued, but the court ruled to allow the auction.

In addition to the 307 hotel rooms, 3 restaurants, wedding and ballroom facilities and spa inside the ship, and the adjacent land and water rights, the lease also includes a Carnival Cruise line pier and the Catalina ferry, along with plans and space for new hotels.

Save the Queen LLC raised a total of $70 million in 2007, out of which $33 million was a financial loan made by the Garrison Investment Group. Save the Queen defaulted on payments for this loan, and now, after over a year and $6 million already spent on renovations of the historic hotel ship and it’s facilities, nobody else was even willing to bid for the rights of the Queen Mary lease, so Garrison Investment Group’s $25k bid won by default.

Schaumburg, IL based Hostmark Hospitality Group (which was hired to oversee the day-to-day management of the ship’s hospitality services and facilities) and Jeff Klein’s Save the Queen LLC have managed to turn this historic Art Deco attraction into something which nobody wanted to get their hands on for even $25,000. And let’s not even talk about the futures of the 550 employees the Queen Mary had when Save the Queen got control.

Maybe Klein should learn the ropes by running some low-budget Los Angeles motels first, and if he doesn’t screw that up, he could take another shot at Saving the Queen. She’s not going anywhere, and has no other knights in rusty armor rushing in to rescue her from being mothballed.

Photo by colros via flickr (creative commons).

Some companies are saving money by sending employees to the virtual version of the trade show.

Feeling bad for financial execs whose latest conference got “downgraded” from Las Vegas to San Francisco? Better save some sympathy for yourself, because your next conference trip could begin and end within the three walls of your cubicle.

Virtual trade shows are on a tear as corporate travel budgets wither, according to the Chicago Tribune. Trade show providers are making up for some of their losses in the traditional realm by increasing their virtual business. If only the airlines, hotels and caterers that typically also profit from trade shows had some virtual alternative as well.

Softwaremakers tout the advantages of replacing at least small or mid-sized real life shows with online gatherings — beyond saving money, virtual trade shows allow the organizers to know more about what users get out of trade shows by showing how long they spent in various activities, and exactly what materials they read.

Another advantage I see is that employees who might not have gotten the chance to attend a real-life show will now be able to reap some of the benefits, since many of the virtual trade shows are free to log onto. A company that would have only sent three key employees to a trade show across the country might be happy to let hundreds take two hours of work time to log onto a virtual show.

And yet. I’ve been to a lot of trade shows at San Francisco’s Moscone Center. I’ve seen the gleam in the eyes of employees freed from their cubicles like cattle turned out to fresh pasture. Getting away to an industry event can be a real burn-out cure, can grow all kinds of unexpected connections. Some employees return with ideas for new projects and even new career paths, while others return with at least a suspicious-looking suntan.

One advantage to employers: Employees are a lot less likely to use a digital trade show as an opportunity to  hunt for or interview for a new job, since they’ll be on their company computer, under watchful eyes.

Photo by Jonny Hunter, used via Creative Commons license.

The Great Barrier Reef represents the great beauty endangered by climate change.

It was with a muddy mixture of sadness, selfishness and guilt that I read CNN.com’s piece this weekabout the top five places on earth to see before “global warming messes them up.”

The targeted locations — Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, New Orleans, Rocky Mountain National Park, Switzerland’s Alpine Glaciers and the Amazon rain forest — all face degradation in the near term and destruction in the long term due to rising global temperatures.

We are often warned about the impending effects of climate change in terms of very practical disaster — lost homes, lost crops, lost lives. But I appreciated taking a moment to ponder the beauty that will be lost too. My children may not get the chance to take in the breathtaking variety of a coral reef as I have. I know they will not experience the same New Orleans I visited; the Ninth Ward tavern where we ate crawfish has likely been torn down or gutted.

That’s the sadness. My selfish reaction is the one that drives me to get on the stick and see all these sights before I can’t.

The article acknowledges this irony — if you hop on a plane to tour one or more of these endangered natural wonders, you’re just contributing to the problem by burning jet fuel. And that reminds me of another sad possibility in our lifetimes: That the relatively free range of travel we’ve enjoyed will be unavailable due to fuel shortages or restrictions necessary to stem global warming. Even if we manage to save the rainforest, those of us in the Northern Hemisphere may never have the freedom to go see it that we have now.

To say such changes would affect the travel industry is the understatement of the year. Will there even be a travel industry in 2050?

The guilt in my reaction is to be contemplating my future vacation opportunities when I am part of the privileged world that is creating global warming. The most immediate and extreme suffering will hit those who did the least to contribute to the problem — the poor, unindustrialized inhabitants of tropical islands and coastal fishing communities. But I think this article is a reminder that sooner or later, if its causes are not stemmed, global warming will hit us all — even those of us who are privileged enough to look at a rain forest or a beautiful stretch of coastline as a source of pleasure and not sustenance.

Photo by Leonard Low, used via Creative Commons license.

Matt Gross is going to have a lot more company (and readers) soon, because recession chic is in and it is now fashionable to be a frugal traveler. Sure, companies are getting tight-fisted about travel expenses, but the key driver for the explosive growth of budget travel is the McCarthyist public condemnation of those flaunting corporate largesse.

Budget Terminal

Mary Ann Akers, Sleuth for the Washington Post, reports that Obama administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice are flying coach instead of first class.

And the ripple effect of the AIG and Wells Fargo junkets has spread as far as the Retirement Fund Board in Contra Costa, CA. The Contra Costa Times reports that even as the fund lost an estimated $1.3 billion in the first 10 months of 2008, the board was busy jetting around the state and country for a total of 90 trips at locations ranging from Lake Tahoe to New Orleans, often at swank hotels with golfing excursions and other activities. Even worse, the article ends by listing all the junkets planned by the board in the near future.

Luxury retreats on public or corporate funded junkets are so unfashionable that even the travel expenditure of a small retirement board in a corner in California has become a major national story. If these conference attendees had been staying at some small motels in Palm Springs instead of a luxury resort in Lake Tahoe, they wouldn’t be in so much hot water now.

My point here is that even if you have the money to spend on traveling in style, you can’t do it nowadays. Which is why luxury hotels are in panic mode while budget hotels and motel chains are gearing up for an expanded presence.

Late last month, there was a Best Western Business Travel Summit in Toronto, and participants high-lighted how their respective companies are adjusting to the changed scenario. Dorothy Dowling, senior vice president of marketing and sales for Best Western International, said that “Best Western requires its hoteliers to provide complimentary Internet and local phone calls, and many are choosing to offer free breakfast and parking, too. This positions us very favorably with travel managers who are cutting costs in an aggressive way.”

And always first on the draw, the New York Times turns necessity into trendy fashion, with an article about recessionistas – a word which, according to the NYT’s Natasha Singer “reflects the efforts of fashion and beauty publicists to spin the economic downturn as an attractive retail trend.”

Daniel Levine, who analyzes social trends at the Avant-Guide Institute, told Reuters at the recently concluded New York Times Travel Show that “It’s not about hedonism any more.” And he added that destinations which offer “experiences that speak to ‘recession chic’ values are going to do well.”

The recession chic trend, for better or for worse, has now been ’spun’ out from New York’s fashion world to the entire travel industry.

Photo by StarvingFox via flickr (creative commons).

The Pirate Bay Bus S23K arrived in Sweden on Friday, in time for the Pirate Bay trial, which begins in Stockholm on Monday Feb 16 2009. This bus is part of the media circus surrounding the Swedish trial of Pirate Bay, a bittorrent tracker, for copyright infringements.

S23K Pirate Bay Bus

The Pirate Bay Bus, which started off in Beograd (Belgrade), Serbia on Feb 9 2009, has rolled thousands of miles through Eastern Europe, with stops at Subotica, Budapest, Bratislava, Ostrava, Katowice, Lodz, Warszawa (Warshaw), and Gdansk.

From Gdasnk, the bus and it’s passengers were transported by ferry to Nynäshamn, Sweden. They arrived back in Sweden on Friday the 13th of February. Bad luck? Remains to be seen.

Along this epic journey, the bus and it’s five pirateers have faced some harrowing moments, including a guard on the Serbian border who threatened to impound their bus for two weeks for laughing behind his back, and then told them to “go back to sweden and smoke all your ciggarettes and marujana [sic].”

In an effort to sway public opinion and make their case in the news, the defendants have set up a media center inside the bus, which is now parked outside the courtroom, and organized a huge party for Feb 20 in the middle of the trial. They’re even calling the trial a spectrial – Spectacle and trial.

And spectrial it is. Not only have they arranged for live video streaming of the entire proceedings, they also managed to broadcast their press conference live on Sunday Feb 15 at 12.00 pm at the Museum of Technology (Tekniska museet) in Stockholm. You can see the live feed and videos of the press conference and trial here, and get updates on twitter (@spectrial).

The Pirate Bay trial started at the Kungsholmen courthouse in Stockholm, Sweden on Monday, Feb 16 2009 and runs through March 4 2009. I’ll try to keep this post updated as and when any new developments occur. That includes the Feb 20 party, and of course, the verdict.