Addition & Subtraction in Tourism Promotion

Israel Tourist Authority "claims" extra land that it has; Michigan "forgets" one-third of its state

The back page of New Mexico magazine is called "One of Our 50 is Missing," filled with anecdotes and examples about people (some of them officials of some level of government) who think New Mexico is somehow part of Old Mexico rather than the United Sates. The license plate even includes USA to clarify in which country a vehicle is registered. That makesNew Mexico accurate and proactive in identifying itself.

Not so the state of Michigan and the State of Israel whose mistaken maps promoting tourism to their area had to be pulled or corrected.

The Associated Press reported on a kerfuffel caused after Michigan released a map without the Upper Peninsula, separated by two Great Lakes from the more populous lower section. AP noted that the "U.P., which is about the size of Denmark and bigger than nine U.S. states, only has 3% of the state's population" was missing from a map released by Michigan itself. The correct map is shown to the upper right.

Some "Yoopers," as U.P. residents call themselves, felt slighted last year when a state-sponsored tourism commercial only showed the more populous peninsula to the south. The TV ad was later fixed." U.P. residents, who refer to themselves as Yoopers, have legislaion on their side requiring their forested, rural portion of the state to be included on all oficial maps.

The AP report continued, "Last year, some high school students from Escanaba wrote to a textbook publisher after a map in a history book appeared to exclude the U.P. from the borders of the United States. The map colored the U.P. white — like the void surrounding the country — while the rest of Michigan was shaded light blue. The map identified states by their postal codes; the U.P. was designated "IL," for Illinois — which had no label. Other maps have shown the U.P. as part of Wisconsin or Canada.

Meanwhile, across he Atlantic, a poster promoting visitation to Israel was withdrawn by a UK truth-in-advertising watchdog called the Advertising Standards Authority after 442 people complained that a map on the poster (lower right) shows the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights as part of Israel. According to a report in The Guardian, the Tourism Ministry responded that the map was "a general schematic tourism and travel map, rather than a political map."

Airline Gains and Losses for Denver

Southwest to add more Denver Flights; Lufthansa to cut back

Good news for travelers to, from and through Denver International Airport is that Southwest Airlines is again adding more flights. Southwest Airlines is adding five new nonstop flights to Sacramento, Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood, New Orleans and Phoenix beginning August 4. From just 13 daily flights a bit over two years ago, the low-fare airline currently operates 61 daily flights and will be shortly adding those above.

Elsewhere in the Rockies, Frontier Airlines' new routes connect Denver with Colorado Springs, Aspen, Durango and Grand Junction, CO; and Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Missoula, Montana; Fargo, North Dakota; and Bozeman, Montana. Some routes are already being served; the last will be Bozeman's Gallatin Field on May 22. Republic Air and Lynx Aviation, a Frontier subsidiary, are flying these regional routes.

Meanwhile, Lufthansa has announced what it currently is calling seasonal suspension of its Denver-Munich non-stop late in October. It is planning to resume service in March. I am not sure how many Coloradans or other Westerners would be traveling to Germany in winter 2009-09, but given the strong euro and anemic dollar, I imagine that many European skiers will be traveling to Rocky Mountain powder -- and for them, the loss of this service is unfortunate.

DIA, the State of Colorado and the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation provided a $2 million "incentive package" for Lufthansa to inaugurate Munich-Denver service, which started only last year. I don't know what contractual strings we might have attached to the German airline's presence here, but I guess it wasn't enough. Meanwhile, demand for service between Germany and Asia is accelerating, which trumped our incentive payments.

Fido and Fifi in Flight

Pet Airways transports canine and feline "pawsengers" to five cities


Pet Airways, a startup airline that takes dogs and cats out of the cargo hold and considers them "passengers" has inaugurated service to Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport (formerly Jefferson County Airport) to serve metro Denver pets and the folks who pay their bills. Other airports include Republic Airport on Long Island (Farmingdale, New York); Baltimore/Washington International Airport; Chicago's Midway Airport; and Hawthorne Municipal Airport near Los Angeles.

In this recessionary time, it seemed extravagant to fly an animal for $149 to $299 one way, but people seem to be willing to pay it. That seemed like a lot of money to me (having only flown a pet once, in 1988, for $35) until I checked Pet Airways fare comparison chart. It turns out that in addition to charging for checked bags, food, seat choice and anything else they can toss into the revenue stream, other airlines are charging a pretty penny to transport pets. United, of course, is the high-fee champion, charging $175 to transport a small animal under the seat and a whopping $250 as baggage. With today's fare wars, humans might be flying for less than their pets.

Pets are dropped off at the Pet Lounge to await boarding time. I presume they do not have to go through a metal detector, empty their pockets or remove their shoes. In the air, they fly "in safety and comfort" on Beech 1900 aircraft. Normally configured as 19-seaters, they can accommodate 50 pet carriers affixed to an interior wall. A pet attendant monitors the "pawsengers" and passes out inflight snacks, presumably for no additional charge. Like in the old days of aviation, Pet Airways puddle jumps eastbound and westbound, with potty breaks at each stop. And pet owners can check online to find out where their pets are.

Pet Airways hopes to have up to 24 cities in the U.S. and Canada on their route system within two years. Heaven help them if they encounter major weather delays or, worse, an accident. Meanwhile, it's either an idea whose time has come or one whose trajectory will echo the Clear security shortcut that recently tanked spectacularly.

Innovative Service for Internet Addicts Like Me

Service offers combination of connectivity and mobility for travelers

Shortly before I left for Britain, I learned about RoVair, a service that offers wireless mobile broadband (WMB) access. I have no idea just what aircards, datacards and evdo cards are, but as one who now drags her laptop around the globe, I do know what a hassle and/or expense it can be to find WiFi or Ethernet connections while traveling. I have struggled with Internet access at sea, because many cruise ships seem to have Internet centers with painfully slowly service via satellite at dial-up speed. I have paid through the nose in fancy hotels, where you would think that WiFi would be as much an included amenity as it is in many mid-range properties. My laptop and I have camped in hotel lobbies where that was the only place with WiFi service. I have driven for miles and paid usurious per-hour WiFi fees and otherwise sacrificed time and comfort to check E-mails or do some timely blog posting.

Therefore, RoVair's explanation that it is available anywhere there is a cellular signal seemed like a traveler's dream innovation ("hundreds of thousands if not millions of hotspots," the company says). As I understand it, you get a datacard and then use a "day pass" that is activated all the time -- or maybe the datacard and the day pass are the same thing. There are all sorts of other bells and whistles (including a price break for multiple cards and the ability to "light up" other devices elsewhere, which I probably don't need but might be useful for people traveling on company business).

Currently, you order your day pass for a certain number of days with a three-day minimum and return it to the company in provided packaging when the time is up -- sort of like NetFlix. "Soon," RovAir says, "day passes will be available from handy kiosks at airports, hotels, train terminals, shopping malls and other convenient locations."

In any case, card rental starts at $5.95 a day with a multi-day purchase, which made RoVair sound really, really, REALLY good. I was ready to sign up. Unfortunately for me this time, the service is currently available only in the US and perhaps Canada, but not in Europe or Asia.

To read about our trip, see my postings between April 26 and May 7. If RoVair had been in Britain, I could have dealt more easily or inexpensively with these specific situations:

• Lack of Internet access on trains, which was a bit frustrating, because there was an outlet and a table a each seat, which would have made good use of travel time
• The Famous Wild Boar Hotel in the Lake District has no Internet service. We didn't have a car, so took a taxi (£6 each way) to Bowness, where I found a cafe with Internet access at £3 for 30 minutes. We took advantage of being there to wander around Bowness and stay for dinner, but we did have to lug the laptop around.
• In Carlisle, one of the two hotels we stayed at had WiFi only in the lobby at a cost of £5 per hour. The second hotel had no Internet service at all.
• In Edinburgh, we lucked out at a B&B that had free WiFi in the rooms -- the only one of the five places we stayed with such an amenity.
• At the Sheraton Skyline near Heathrow Airport, Internet service was available in the rooms for £5 per hour or £15 for 24 hours. Gulp!

Therefore, I cheer: Go RoVair! I look forward to trying it in the US next time I am on the road, but more significantly, I hope the service is available in Europe next time I go overseas -- which, come to think of it, might be a long time coming given the state of the dollar.

And for anyone who has not yet navigated the rocky shoals of traveling with a laptop but wants to, the Independent Traveler website recently published a primer of what's out there, what you can expect and what you should take with you.

QE2 Bound for South African Port?

Dubai's economic downtown causes the legendary ship to seek another permanent harbor

In "The Flying Dutchman," a ghost ship drops anchor in a port somewhere in Norway. It is revealed that the captain, the namesake "Flying Dutchman," once swore to the devil that he would sail around the Cape of Good Hope if it took him forever. Once every seven years, he was permitted to leave his ship in search of a woman to redeem him from his deathless wandering. If he failed, he would sail the oceans, when the fantasy opera was set, until Judgment Day.

I thought about "The Flying Dutchman" when I read "QE2 Might Sail Again Before Becoming a Hotel" in USA Today. Just last October, when it became known that the former flagship of the Cunard fleet was sold to a Dubai developer, the All About Cunard blog explained, "Cunard admits the QE2 could have carried on for several more years, but Cunard president Carol Marlow argues the offer from Dubai of £50 million was simply too good to turn down and in pure economic terms it was probably the right thing to do. It seems that prudence over passion has prevailed. Dubai has promised to look after the liner, the fastest in the world, and moor her on [artificial islands called] The Palm."

In November, the ship reached what was to be her "final home" in Dubai (above right), where she was to be converted into a luxury hotel. As recently as March, the owner, a Dubai developer, reaffirmed its "commitment" to turning the QE2 into a luxury hotel in the face of rumors that that she might be sold.

Now, USA Today reports, "The cash-strapped owner of QE2 ocean liner - thought to be permanently resting in Dubai - is considering moving the ship to South Africa or elsewhere...Owner Nakheel, a subsidiary of Dubai World, applied for permission to anchor the QE2 in Cape Town, South Africa, a Daily Mail story says. The company's also believed to be in talks with a local hotel management firm, Johannesburg's Business Day says."

Is the QE2 fated to be shuttled from port to port with the promise of a new life as a luxury hotel, or will it finally happen? I just hope the grande dame of the oceans will not end up dismantled for scrap.

A Taste of Eastern Europe in Denver

Upcoming food and cultural festival in Globeville spotlights 120 years of history

While researching the Orthodox Food Festival & Old Globeville Days for Mile High on the Cheap, I found out that the Globeville section of Denver is a 120-year-old community with deep roots in Eastern Europe. Located in the shadow of the elevated sections of Interstate 70, it is mainly known as the site of of the National Western Stock Show complex.

Globeville might not have gotten much respect in recent times, but its history is long by Western standards and represents a tapestry of the American experience. Immigrants from Russia, Poland, Romania, Serbia Ukraine and Greece settled there and found community through the shared Eastern Rite religion. Later, they were joined and often replaced by people from such different places Mexico and Eritrea, and African-Americans too. Workers lived in the neighborhood was an important part of Denver's industrial landscape, and when industry and commerce changed and when Interstates 70 and 25 were routed by it, Globeville suffered. But as happens so often, houses of worship that cannot easily be moved provided a bit of a counterweight through good times and bad times.

According to Father Joseph Hirsch of the Holy Transfiguration of Christ Orthodox Cathedral, "since Globeville's incorporation as a town and subsequent annexation into the City and County of Denver, there has been a Summer celebration of some kind or another. For most of that time, the main Homecoming event has been the annual Picnic held by the 109-year-old [now 110] Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Cathedral. In recent years, the District Attorney of Denver, Bill Ritter, now Governor of Colorado, promoted a Globeville Community Day which positively impacted the neighborhood but did not involve much participation from those outside of the neighborhood. In 2004, the Orthodox Community agreed to combine the Annual Orthodox Picnic with the Community Days celebration and to provide a free public celebration both for the residents and friends of Globeville as well as an opportunity to reach out to and inform the entire Front Range."

And that's what's coming up on Saturday, July 18, 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and Sunday, July 19, 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. when the the sixth annual Orthodox Food Festival & Old Globeville. Admission is free to this event that will feature ethnic foods, music, folk dancing international crafts and for the first time, an art show. There will also be inside tours of the historic and elaborate cathedral, which from the outside looks like a modest church. "Boogie Under the Stars" takes place Saturday evening from 7:30 to 9:30.

9News' Susie Wargin, whose own Denver pioneer heritage is anchored in old Globeville, wrote, "Inside St. Joe's, beautiful stained glass windows align the east and west walls. However there is one window on the west side, featuring the mother Mary with her mother, that shows exactly where I came from. My great, great grandfather Jan Wargin's name adorns the bottom of the stained glass. The word in my family is Jan was a founding member of St. Joseph's and helped fund construction while working at the Globe Smelting and Refining Company. It's a church that has always been very special to our family even though we are all in different locations now."

In the classic American tradition, some stalwarts like Father Hirsch, members of the Globeville Civic Association and Margaret and Robert Escamilla, the successful plaintiffs in Escamilla vs. ASARCO that has been called a landmark victory for environmental justice never give up on their community and just when a neighborhood is thought to be down and out, it is "discovered" by artists and urban pioneers who appreciate history, diversity and low prices, and the process of renewal begins. Globeville is on the rise. New sidewalks, undergrounded utility lines, zoning changes that favor local businesses and other quality-of-life enhancements are in place. The first major sign of gentrification is the multi-use TAXI development, an ambitious project whose first phase includes 43 residential lofts with 130,000 square feet of commercial and office space on an 18-acre site. Globeville's new second identity is RiNo (RIver NOrth), and the incipient arts district.

The festival is in large part a tribute to those who held on and made a historic community better, and all are invited to help celebrate. The event appropriately will take place at the Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Cathedral and Globeville-Argo Park at 47th and North Logan, Denver. For more information, call 303-294-0938.

2008 is the Year of the Volcano in Chile

Two major volcanoes eruptions since January impact national parks and resort towns

In January, the central Chilean volcano called Llaima began breathing fire, sporadically emitting lava flows that turned the snow that covered upper slopes into steam and sending an ash column more than 10,000 feet into the sky, as was dramatically captured in filmed reports from National Geographic and CNN. The 10,252-foot volcano is reportedly one of the country's most active, having erupted as recently as 1994. It is some 422 miles south of the capital of Santiago. The nearest town, Melipueco, was evacuated, as were visitors and rangers in Conguillio National Park.

Chaiten, some 400 miles farther south near the Chile-Argentina border has been erupting since May 2, forcing evacuations first from the nearby eponymous town of Chaiten, then the larger and then more distant community of Futaleufo and even moving out military personnel. This was far more surprising. "The long dormant 3,280-foot (1,000-meter) Chaiten volcano began erupting on Friday for the first time in thousands of years, and the huge plume of volcanic ash is clearly visible on satellite images cutting a swathe across South America's southern tip," according to a Reuters report. Airlines have canceled flights to southern Patagonia, because of the potential danger of volcanic ash being sucked into jet engines.

Chaiten's eruption is still going strong (NASA satellite, photo right). It is located in what vulcanologists refer to as the Andean Arc that stretches from Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. "It is home to 2,000 volcanoes, 500 of which experts say are potentially active. Around 60 have erupted over the past 450 years," Reuters noted. While Argentina is not usually listed as part of the arc, ash has been reported in the Argentine resort of Bariloche in Nahuel Huapi National Park and even as far away as the capital of Buenos Aires. The region is famous not only for skiing at Bariloche but also for Tahoe-blue mountain lakes. As ash, which soared into the stratosphere, continues to fall over a wide region, it could impact the ski season that begins in June, and the lakes might no longer be so pristine.