Tourism officials and business owners whose trades are tied to the beaches on Monday were keeping a wary eye on the wind and efforts to contain more than 160,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil that leaked from a damaged barge into Galveston Bay after a vessel collision Saturday near the Texas City Dike.

How successful the containment effort, led by the Texas General Land Office and including several other federal, state and local agencies, had been was unclear Monday. What was evident was the swift, widespread economic effect the spill already was having on local commerce and the power of perception as potential tourists tuned into news reports and reconsidered vacation plans.

 

 

From the roads to the restaurants to the beaches - it's easy to see that it's season in Southwest Florida.

This year numbers show even more people are choosing our home as their getaway - and they're not just here for the sand.

Families were out at Terry Park on Thursday to watch their kids play baseball as part of the Gene Cusic Classic.

Fans say even the bleachers are fuller than last year.

It's just one event boosting our tourism numbers; which means more money for our community.

 

Florida lawmakers are considering a measure to allocate $5 million annually in state funds to add medical tourism to the list of state attractions.

The money would go to promote a combination of hospitality and medical care to people from places both domestic and foreign, including the Middle East, the Caribbean and Europe.

Although U.S. residents have for years sought treatment overseas to save money, this is one of the first times a U.S. state has considered marketing itself as a medical tourism destination, according to a trade association.

 

On Monday, the Disney World theme park in Florida began allowing all visitors to use its new $1 billion system of electronic bracelets, which enable visitors to enter their hotel rooms and ride attractions wirelessly.
NB: This is a viewpoint on seamless travel is an excerpt from the report, Shaping the Future of Travel: Macro trends driving industry growth over the next decade, released today by Oxford Economics, a consultancy, commissioned by Amadeus, the travel IT giant.
Disney's system is an ideal example of "seamless travel". Disney World is "a model village", not just for families wanting an idealized escape but for the entire global travel industry looking for ways to innovate.

   

Family Vacation 2014: Those adults who have children and plan to travel with them report that their children's preferences strongly influence vacation destination decisions. For hotels it means that more properties are targeting families through new kid-friendly programs, initiatives and outreach.

A September 2013 family travel survey by the Holiday Inn Resort brand found a majority of the parents agreeing that pools, kids' suites, kids eat free programs and special on-site children's activities are all important features when considering a hotel for their family vacation.

While most parents expect Wi-Fi, parking and breakfast to be included with their hotel stays, fewer expect fun games for kids or special activity programs for children to be provided free of charge. (It turns out that the Holiday Inn Resort brand offers all of these amenities as standard and often throws in multiple food and restaurant options and nightly entertainment).

Suddenly, everybody loves travel agents.
Over the last month, three major national publications and a network TV show have all published veritable odes to retail travel sellers.
First it was Forbes magazine's three-part, online series, "Why You Need a Travel Agent," which began on Jan. 20.
That was followed by a CNN.com article titled "Travel agents know something you don't."
Last week, the New York Times ran a piece in its Sunday Travel Section headlined "Is the Best Travel Search Engine Around the Corner?"

   

Hot on the heels of Facebook's acquisition of virtual reality handset maker Occulus, a new VR startup has emerged from stealth with a solid positioning in the travel industry.

It's called Jaunt and it promises "completely immersive, 360-degree 3D video and audio experience" thanks to the company's proprietary camera technology.

The most obvious applications are in entertainment, for displaying both traditional media and a new form of interactive, choose-your-own destiny content. Yet the immersive content journey has already begun in travel, with startups like Sphere offering new 360-degree ways to experience travel and destinations.