Consumers will be spending 5.7 percent more than last year on romantic getaways for Valentine’s Day in 2011, significantly improving upon 2009′s flat spending results, according to industry research firm IBISWorld.

Projected Valentine's Day spending

Travel is the third most popular spend category for Valentine’s Day, with $2.16 billion in projected spend for 11.6 percent of the total.

Consumers plan to spend the most on dining out, $8.83 billion, which accounts for nearly half (47.4 percent) of total spend, representing a 3.8 percent rise compared to last year. Candy at $2.59 billion (13.9 percent) comes second on the list. Flowers, jewelry, clothing and lingerie, and greeting cards comprise the remainder of the spending categories.

Total spending for Valentine’s Day this year is expected to reach $18.61 billion, a 5.8 percent increase over 2010.

Valentine's Day spending on spouses

According to another survey by the National Retail Federation, this is the first Valentine’s Day since 2008 where couples plan to spend more on each other than the year before. This year, couples will spend an average of $68.98 on their spouse or significant other, up from $63.34 last year.

It would have been a much bigger day for the travel and hospitality industries if Valentine’s Day hadn’t been on a Monday.

“Working consumers will not have the time to dine out nor find much of a reason to get dolled up on a Monday night,” said IBISWorld retail industry analyst Nikoleta Panteva. “Nevertheless, growth is expected for each of the popular Valentine’s Day categories this year, which is great news for retailers nationwide.”

For more information on Valentine’s Day spending by consumers, visit IBISWorld and NRF.

Disney Dream Magical Porthole

Feature 1: Windowless interior cabins aboard Disney’s new 4,000 passenger cruise ship Disney Dream are commanding rates 60 percent higher than similar cabins on RCI’s Freedom of the Seas and 78 percent more than Carnival Cruise Lines’ Carnival Dream. All three ships are based at Port Canaveral.

The main reason passengers are willing to pay Disney this premium is because of the magical portholes (HD video screens) installed in all the interior cabins that offer guests a real time view of the outside thanks to the live video feed from high-definition cameras placed on the exterior of the ship and sent to each interior porthole.

There are other innovations aboard the ship, including a lounge where the sun sets over the skyline of a different city each night, a floor that transforms into the rooftops of London, atrium paintings that come to life and animated sea turtles that engage children in conversation about life in the ocean.

Disney aims to wring more revenue from new ship - Orlando Sentinel
Why so long between ships? A Disney honcho explains - USA Today

Feature 2: National Geographic has partnered with Mountain Travel Sobek to launch National Geographic Adventures, offering 11 adventure travel itineraries in such remote places as Alaska, Bhutan, Chile, Argentina, England, Italy, Mongolia, Nepal, Peru, Spain, and Tanzania.

Each trip will have at most 16 travelers, accompanied by local guides like sherpas in Nepal and nomads in Mongolia.

“Adventure is an integral part of National Geographic’s heritage. These new trips combine the immersive experiences for which we are so well known with the opportunity for a more physically active adventure,” said Lynn Cutter, National Geographic’s senior vice president, travel and business development, in a statement.

For more information, visit www.nationalgeographicadventures.com/

Here’s the rest of the week’s news headlines:-

American Airlines and Sabre put litigation on hold until June 1, 2011 – AA.com
Virgin America selects Sabre for full content GDS participation – VirginAmerica.com
Virgin America joins ARC to expand its sales reach – VirginAmerica.com
Airlines revamp sites to sell more than seats – WSJ

NileGuide.com acquires 10Best.com – NileGuide.com
ViaVerity contracts to buy TravelMaster – Management.travel

Tech company earns Greenpeace’s highest rating – Technology Review
Keeping the personal touch without getting on a plane – Technology Review
Virtual Meetings: Are we there yet? PhoCusWright

HomeAway partners with social travel site Gogobot.com – HomeAway.com
CityVoter partners with Gilt City for user-generated contests – CityVoter PR

Starwood partners with Broadway’s official loyalty program – StarwoodHotels.com
IHG launches hotel industry’s first online gaming platform – Priorityclub.com
MGM invests in technology to boost loyalty – Forbes
Advaya Hospitality launches lifestyle hotel brand MODO at ALIS – HospitalityWorldNetwork

LaHood: airlines should use tax savings to invest in NextGen equipment – Dallas News
Industry Official: TSA wants countries to cooperate on air cargo screening – GlobalSecurityNewswire

Spotted by Locals offers 33 offline iPhone cityguide apps – SpottedbyLocals
JetBlue Airways introduces Go Places Facebook app – Facebook

Photo courtesy Disney Cruise Line

Last year, American Express coined the term “engagementcations” to describe trips planned specifically to get engaged. According to the credit card company’s travel experts, location recommendations for marriage proposals was the most sought after advice for people booking romantic vacations.

This year, many hotels are hoping to capitalize on the travel trend by offering special engagementcation packages.  Naturally, Valentine’s Day is the perfect opportunity for travel companies to establish themselves in the proposal business.

The Woodlands Inn, a Salamander Hospitality property in South Carolina, will launch its “Betrothal Butler” service on Valentine’s weekend. This service, which is free to guests of the hotel or restaurant, includes proposal planning advice, special delivery of the ring and a photo taken of the big moment. If this sounds like what most restaurants would provide a guest upon request, it’s because it is, but the clever marketing may help establish Woodlands Inn as an engagementcation destination.

The Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles takes things up a notch with their “Get CARRIE-D Away” Proposal Package. For $5,000 eager suitors can recreate the proposal scene from Sex and the City, complete with a walk-in closet and a pair of designer heels. The closet is available only with an overnight stay in the Presidential Suite, but the shoes are hers to keep.

I’m normally leery of corporate attempts to monetize what should be heartfelt, personal moments. I hate the idea of couples feeling pressured to spend thousands of dollars (after the ring is bought) just to propose marriage. And “engagementcations” is uncomfortable to say and spell.

But I have to admit, it’d be hard to say no to getting “CARRIE-D Away.”

Photo Credit

Travelers who have food allergies or adhere to a specific diet know how difficult it can be to find restaurants while on the road that not only accommodate them but also offer a variety of flavorful dishes. As for hotel brands that do so? Even fewer.

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is changing that, however, with its new Lifestyle Cuisine Plus program that the global luxury hotelier rolled out to all 64 of its properties around the world earlier this month. The program’s new menus cater to guests with specific diet-dependent conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease and gluten free, as well as dietary choices including macrobiotic, raw and vegan diets.

Fairmont chefs have been trained to prepare a vast array of special dietary and allergy-specific meals and are equipped with Nutritionist Pro by Axxya Systems (www.axxya.com), recipe-analysis software that helps customize entrees and menus to fit with guests’ requests for caloric and nutritional requirements.

Each hotel will offer a distinct menu—typically with three item choices each for starters, entrees and desserts, with notations indicating for which type of diet or health condition the dish is safe—based on its location and availability of fresh and sustainable ingredients. Menus will change seasonally.

Yesterday I had the chance to sample a few of the dishes being offered at the Fairmont’s Plaza Hotel in New York. The tasty treats featured Grilled Watermelon and Watercress Salad with Peekytoe Crab and Jicama, Pistachio Vinaigrette; Tunisian Lamb Meatballs with Shirred Egg, Spiced Tomato and Bean Salsa, Parsley Salad; and my favorite, Grilled Vegetable Roulade with Fregola Sarda, Olive Oil Poached Fennel and Roasted Tomato Broth (pictured).

Other dishes from properties around the world include Baked Tofu with Bean Noodles (gluten free—Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa); Arame with Sunflower Seeds, Chives and Mustard (macrobiotic—Fairmont Beijing); Zucchini, Carrot, Portobello and Cashew Butter Pave (raw—Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club).

Interested in trying one of these concoctions at home? You can, as Fairmont is making available online select recipes from the new menus under the Culinary Arts tab at www.everyonesanoriginal.com.

The one downside to the new program is that Fairmont currently doesn’t plan to include the special dietary items as part of its regular restaurant menu and will make the special menu it available only on request. But if enough guests show interest, that could change.