The main story on September 11 and 12, 2011 will be the dedication and opening of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. But a side-story that’s likely to be just as big is how Lower Manhattan is finally back in business after the lost decade, with millions of visitors and tourists making their way towards Ground Zero.

9/11 Memorial Preview Site

When the 9/11 Memorial’s online system for making free reservations went live on July 11, it got swamped with 10,000 people reserving passes in the first three hours.

Joe Daniels, 9/11 Memorial CEO and president, said that they’re expecting around one million people to visit from September through the end of this year, and around 5 million on an annual basis after that.

Lower Manhattan, which welcomed 9 million visitors last year, is already seeing an uptick this year, according to the Downtown Alliance which reported a 45 percent increase in the number of tourists during the first three months of 2011.

But a boost in the number of visitors doesn’t necessarily mean more spending. New York‘s tourism organizations and officials are working to make sure visitors don’t simply come for the 45 minute 9/11 Memorial tour and then head back out of Lower Manhattan.

For starters, restroom facilities aren’t being provided onsite, and visitors will be encouraged to visit the commercial establishments around the memorial.

Also, visitors will be coming to the WTC site via hop-on, hop-off buses, ferry rides or on tour buses. Around 6 to 8 tour buses are expected per hour, accounting for 15 to 20 percent of the expected 5 million annual visitors. Officials at City Hall are mulling over keeping these tour buses out of Lower Manhattan, so that visitors won’t be in a hurry to get back on their bus.

NYC & Company, the city’s official tourism marketing organization, launched the “Get More NYC: Lower Manhattan” campaign in June to encourage visitors to stay and spend in Lower Manhattan.

The campaign includes hotel offers with weekend stays and a complimentary Downtown Culture Pass; 20 percent off offers at Lower Manhattan shops, restaurants, attractions and cultural institutions; and outdoor media ads promoting Lower Manhattan throughout the City’s five boroughs.  There’s also a new welcome program at JFK Airport’s Terminal 4.

Based on the preliminary hype and media coverage of Lower Manhattan’s “revitalization,” it does seem like the Get More NYC campaign and other methods to get 9/11 Memorial visitors to stay and spend are going to work as planned.

But while NYC is getting a new world-class attraction in the 9/11 Memorial, it is also losing the Statue of Liberty for a year, once it closes in October for renovations.  The Statue gets around 3.5 million visitors per year, who will still be able to take the ferry to Liberty Island and take pictures from the outside.

Photo – kjarrett

Related posts:
New York City Breaks Tourism Record With 48.7 Million Visitors
Orlando Top U.S. Travel Destination
Global Travel Alert for U.S. Citizens After Bin Laden Death
USTA Shocker – America’s $509b Tab for Lost Decade

At 7:45 Pacific Time on Thursday, August 11, 2011, DARPA’s Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2) began its quixotic test flight at 13,000 mph – an attempt to fly the fastest aircraft ever built, which would be able to get to any place on earth within 60 minutes.

DARPA Falcon HTV-2

For this test, the plane piggybacked a ride into space on a ballistic missile, and was then supposed to come back down on its own. It was supposed to launch on Wednesday, but was delayed to an early Thursday launch due to bad weather.

The first half of the way up went fine. But after the aircraft transitioned to a Mach 20 aerodynamic flight, DARPA lost contact with the unmanned aircraft nine minutes into the flight, which is now assumed to have impacted somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.

“Here’s what we know,” said Air Force major Chris Schulz, DARPA HTV-2 program manager and PhD in aerospace engineering. “We know how to boost the aircraft to near space. We know how to insert the aircraft into atmospheric hypersonic flight. We do not yet know how to achieve the desired control during the aerodynamic phase of flight. It’s vexing; I’m confident there is a solution. We have to find it.”

DARPA hypersonic vehicle advances technical knowledge – DARPA.mil
At Mach 20, no one can hear you scream – Herald Sun

Here’s the rest of the week’s interesting news:

VisitBritain pulls ‘You’re Invited’ marketing video – The Guardian
Pranksters make faux British tourism ad – AOL

AA and Hogg Robinson to explore direct connection – Travel Weekly
American to seek injunction against Sabre – Travelweekly UK

Emirates eyes EU carbon tax of $1 billion over 10 years – Reuters
TravelSheikh.com launches first Middle East-based travel booking engine – AMEinfo.com

One billion shakes later, Urbanspoon goes after OpenTable – TechCrunch
Foodspotting hits a million downloads, celebrates by upping gluttony – TechCrunch
Restaurant websites: Why are they so awful? – Slate

Travelzoo sells one millionth local deal - Travelzoo.com
Gilt City sells 3,300 Virgin America flight packages in 24 hours – AllThingsD

Wall Street plunge could cut consumer spending by $140 billion – USATODAY
Faulty scales can mean higher luggage costs at airports – ABC News
TSA chief sketches out the future of airline passenger screening – GovExec.com

Orbitz and StarCite Launch Orbitz for Business Meetings - Orbitz
TripAdvisor unveils resource platform for businesses – TripAdvisor.com

Kickstarter project wants to create tourism website for Washington State – Gadling
Washington State’s new approach to tourism – News Tribune

Study: Who is today’s premium air traveler? - GBTA.org
Study: 2011 cruise market profile reports positive outlook for cruise vacations - CLIA

Photo – public domain (source)

Related posts:
Traveltechnology Weekly – NASA’s 2025 Vision, OTA Solidarity…
Pentagon, BA Searching for Fuel’s Gold in Garbage & Algae

The Federal Workforce Reduction and Reform Act of 2011 (S.1476), introduced in the United States Senate on August 2, 2011, aims to reduce the federal government’s annual travel budget by 75 percent.

Federal travel

The legislation, introduced by Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma), would limit travel and subsistence expenses and mileage allowances for official travel by federal employees, as described below:

(A) For each of fiscal years 2012 and 2013, it may not exceed 50 percent of the total amount so paid or reimbursed by such agency for fiscal year 2011; and

(B) For fiscal year 2014, may not exceed 25 percent of the total amount so paid or reimbursed by such agency for fiscal year 2011.

By doing this, they hope to reduce the annual federal travel budget, which is now at more than $15 billion, by 75 percent.

Along with an extension of the pay freeze on federal civilian employees’ salaries and bonuses for an additional three years, the bill aims to save the federal government more than $600 billion over ten years.

“If the recent debate over the debt ceiling has shown anything, it’s that we need to make sure the federal government is forced to live within its means, just as small businesses and working families across the country are,” said Senator Hatch. “Our bill will generate significant savings – more than $600 billion – by implementing just a small handful of relatively simple reforms.”

The U.S. Travel Association’s Geoff Freeman told Travel Weekly that an arbitrary cut like this would be harmful to the government agencies whose travel budgets will be cut, and it won’t be good for the millions of travel industry employees who depend on this spending for their income.

S.1476 has been referred to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Under normal circumstances, a drastic proposal like this would have trouble passing through the committee and no chance whatsoever of being approved by the full Senate.

But a few things make this a special case. For starters, the bill is being co-sponsored by Senator Tom Coburn, who is part of the ‘Gang of Six’ who were so influential in the recently concluded debt ceiling negotiations. One of the components of the debt deal is that Congress has to constitute a ‘Debt Committee’ to recommend $1.2 trillion in federal spending cuts by November.

Senator Coburn is a strong contender for this committee, comprised of six Republicans and six Democrats. So even if this bill to cut federal travel spending doesn’t go anywhere right now on its own, it’s virtually guaranteed to be listed as one of the recommendations of the debt committee, in which case it has a much better chance of passing both the Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives.

Photo – public domain (source)

Related posts:
Fiscal Commission Calls For Massive Cuts in Federal Travel
Federal Agencies Using GSA Software to Reduce Business Travel

We vacation to unwind, but travel can be stressful, too. Whether you’re dealing with takeoff delays or lost luggage, flat tires or sold-out hotels, illness, theft or getting lost, there are myriad potential pitfalls that can disappoint or ruin even the best-laid vacation plans.

And then there are our travel guardian angels. People we encounter when in a difficult spot who offer assistance and save the day.

Do you have a story of how someone saved your vacation? If so, Travel Guard North America, a top travel insurance and assistance company, wants to hear about those random acts of kindness in its “World’s Unluckiest Traveler 2: The Rescue” contest.

There are just four more weeks to share your tale—entries will be accepted on www.worldsunluckiesttraveler.com through Labor Day, Sept. 5, 2011. During the month, a panel of eight travel experts, including Spud Hilton, travel editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, Eileen Ogintz, a syndicated family-travel columnist, and Kim Orlando, founder of TravelingMom.com, will review the entries and select the 10 best stories, to be announced on Sept. 27, 2011, World Tourism Day.

Throughout the month of October, the public will vote for the ultimate act of kindness from these 10 finalists. The winning hero, announced after voting closes on October 31, will be awarded a $10,000 Hero’s Vacation, and the person who nominates the winning story will win airfare for two to anywhere in the United States. Examples of already-submitted entries include “Baboon Rescue in Kenya” and “Attack of the Gallbladder.”

“From unlikely rescues to medical emergencies, I am encouraged by the random acts of kindness that shine through the hectic nature of travel,” said Carol Mueller, vice president, Travel Guard North America. “Whether it’s one traveler helping another or a travel industry employee who saved the day, we believe the travel tales of kindness we continue to receive will inspire individuals to take a minute and help someone in need.”

Travel Guard’s “World’s Unluckiest Traveler” app, available for Android and iPhone, makes it easy to stay up-to-date with the contest while on the run. The public is also encouraged to spread the love by sharing their favorite stories of travel good deeds via Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. For more information on the contest and a full set of rules and regulations, visit www.travelguard.com.

Photo: Travel Guard

Related posts:
Travel Insurance and Assistance Products on the Rise
Kipling Giveaway