States Get More Time to Comply with Real ID
from The Washington Post
 The Obama administration will abandon a Dec. 31 deadline for states to tighten security requirements for driver's licenses, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced Friday. Delaying the requirement, which faces opposition from governors and Senate Republicans over how it should be implemented, jeopardizes an immigration and security measure adopted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. But it also removes concerns that tens of thousands of holiday travelers could have been subjected to heightened airport security checks if they lacked the new licenses.
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Cultural and Heritage Tourism Report Now Available for Purchase
The industry's first segmentation study of the cultural and heritage traveler is available in PDF and hard copy. Commissioned by the US Cultural and Heritage
Tourism Marketing Council, in partnership with the Department of Commerce, and supported by sponsors such as Heritage Travel Inc, California, Florida, Virginia, Chicago, Cleveland, Sarasota, and others
the study demonstrates that cultural and heritage travelers contribute $192 billion to the U.S. economy. Click here to order or contact Laura@MandalaResearch.com for more information.
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U.S. Travel Association Lobbies to Delay REAL ID Deadline
from Travel Pulse
To avert unnecessary hassles for air travelers beginning Jan. 1, 2010, the U.S. Travel Association is urging Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to grant extensions to states who have not complied with a year-end deadline mandating compliance with federal requirements for issuing uniform personal identification materials. U.S. Travel also endorsed the PASS ID legislation authored by Sens. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), which would help to find alternative common ground with states on document standards and largely address the current problem.
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U.S. Travel Offers New Web Site, Recaps Legislative Goals
from Travel Agent Central
U.S. Travel’s new website provides an improved platform to better communicate with members, industry watchers and other users of USTravel.org. Its presence rounds out the U.S. Travel brand created when Travel Industry Association and the Travel Business Roundtable joined forces at the start of 2009, the association said.
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Study: Business Travel More than Pays for Itself
from Travel Mole
A new study says it establishes “for the first time” a clear link between business travel and corporate performance and growth. The study conducted by global research firm Oxford Economics: “The Return on Investment of U.S. Business Travel," has several key findings.
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Fueling a Recovery? American Motorists More Willing
to Travel for Holidays
from The Kansas City Star
In this holiday season, motorists are willing to travel and buy more gasoline. That’s another hopeful sign for the recovery, though it was tempered by a drop in diesel use, reflecting the still soft economy. A batch of energy figures released last week by the Energy Information Administration and the American Petroleum Institute show gasoline demand up by 1 to 1.5 percent overall as gasoline consumption has strengthened in recent months, reversing declines in 2008 and earlier this year. More
House OKs 'Pure Michigan' Funding
from the Traverse City Record-Eagle
Michigan's award-winning "Pure Michigan" tourism campaign could get a boost if the state Senate agrees to divert some taxes and fees to a new Michigan Promotion Fund. The Democratic-controlled House passed three bills Thursday that would set aside money for the fund from a portion of Michigan's sales and use tax collections on certain tourism-related businesses. More
Airlines Slash Holiday Fares At Last Minute
from The Wall Street Journal
Nearly all of the nation's largest air carriers are pulling advance-purchase rules for holiday travel, dropping some ticket prices by as much as 79 percent, Bestfares.com reported last week. In an unexpected move that underscores how much trouble airlines are having attracting cash-starved business and leisure consumers, American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Airlines, Northwest Airlines, US Airways, Frontier Airlines, AirTran Airways and Midwest Airlines are waiving their holiday advance-purchase requirements.
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