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  • September 16, 2020

TravelBits

Touchless Delivery

AtYourGate and Grab’s recently announced a partnership to bring socially-distanced shopping to travelers in North American airports. Grab’s eCommerce platform already enables contactless sales in airports around the world but combined with AtYourGate’s United States-based contactless delivery service, nervous flyers now have one less thing to worry about; getgrab.com.
Source: Springwise Newsletter

Roadside Magic

There’s something magical about setting up camp in a national park, surrounded by impressive mountains, engulfing forests, or rocky desert landscapes. And Grand Canyon National Park is truly one of the most incredible parks in the United States. With stunning vistas, a variety of hiking trails, and unforgettable rock formations, this is a park everyone should visit in their lifetime. Source: recreation.gov

What’s Old Is New Again

JetBlue and American will now sell tickets to each other’s flights in a new partnership similar to those that occurred before deregulation of the airlines in the 1970s. The partnership allows each airline to sell seats on the other’s flights and share frequent-flier benefits. This collaboration will benefit travelers in the Northeast and help both airlines recover from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
Source: cnn.com

Six Feet of Separation

Cities around the world looking to promote social distancing have been giving over road space to cyclists and walkers. And to that end Athens, Greece mayor Kostas Bakoyannis has successfully gained approval to largely pedestrianize key thoroughfares frequented by visitors, including a four-mile long Grand Walk through the city’s treasures. Source: Forbes

Locals for Hire

Looking for an easy way to plan a trip that includes visiting local gems? Look no further than the travel app ViaHero, where travelers pay $30 per day to get matched with a local “hero” who will build a custom itinerary for a getaway to their destination country; viahero.com.
Source: Travel Weekly

Historic Victory for Our National Parks and Forests

The Great American Outdoors Act, an overwhelmingly bipartisan legislation signed into law on August 4th by President Trump, will fully and permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund and restore our national parks. Created by Congress in 1964, the LWCF is a bipartisan commitment to safeguard natural areas, water resources and our cultural heritage, and to provide recreation opportunities to all Americans.
Source. prnewswire.com

Winter Wonderlands

Warm-season sightseers are missing what might be the National Park’s best-kept secret: winter. Visiting during the winter allows tourists to experience the same striking scenery and abundant wildlife they’d see other times of the year with far smaller crowds. Here are the best National Parks to visit in winter:

  • Everglades National Park in Florida
  • Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah
  • Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho
  • Acadia National Park in Maine
  • Saguaro National Park in Arizona
  • Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Colorado
  • Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks in California
    Source: Travel + Leisure

Heading Out to Pasture

British Airways’ double-decker “Queen of the Skies” 747 aircrafts have likely flown their last flights a few years ahead of time due to the financial burden COVID-19 has caused to the aviation industry. British Airways operated its first 747 flight from London to New York in 1971.
Source: The New York Times

Off the Grid

If what you want is utter seclusion and perfect peace, in a location off-limits to everyone but the resort staff and a few other guests, then North Island, a remote eco-resort in the Seychelles off the coast of East Africa, is just the ticket. This private island has just 11 villas, a pristine and perfectly preserved beach, and is a very special sanctuary for endangered species.
Source: cntraveller.com

Power Play Study

If you are a budget-conscious traveler, there is a chance you’ve used a travel site aggregator like Orbitz to book your air transportation. To determine their marketing power, two data scientists conducted a comprehensive study on who has more clout: the airline or the aggregator. They found two key takeaways, namely, that search aggregators may not have the market power many have thought and that travel consumers demonstrate higher loyalties to specific airline brands over specific aggregator brands. The research study, to be published in the September edition of the INFORMS journal Marketing Science, is titled Value of Aggregators. It is authored by Selin Akca of the University of Zurich and Anita Rao of the University of Chicago. Source: informs.org

Let’s Get Hitched​

As traditional large weddings get indefinitely postponed, couples are road tripping to the mountains and eloping. One service, Simply Eloped, provides elopement packages that’ll help couples elope easily and affordably in beautiful locations all around the U.S.; simplyeloped.com.
Source: outtherecolorado.com

Trail of Beauty

Some of the most breathtaking vistas in Lake Tahoe, CA can be found along the southwest shore 13-mile Rubicon Trail hike. Along the journey, hikers can skirt cliffs, dip into coves, cool down at waterfalls, and admire the profusion of wildflowers, all complemented by the scent of Sierra juniper, cedar, ponderosa pine, and fir trees. They can also make a most interesting stop at Vikingsholm, an imposing Scandinavian-style summer home designed by Swedish architect Lennart Palme in the 1920s.
Source: Travel + Leisure

Ideal Post-Lockdown Retreat

Set to open in September, the new private villas at Verdura Resort, a Rocco Forte Hotel in Sicily, offer seclusion, peace and quiet. Built on the estate’s hillside, the new homes will offer privacy and security for those who want their own space, but with the ability to tap into Verdura’s facilities. Ideal for multi-generational stays, the villas have been designed by Olga Polizzi – director of design at Rocco Forte Hotels.
Source: Forbes

Railing to Go

A rail adventure with Amtrak Vacation is one of the best ways to experience more than a dozen of America’s most coveted national parks, including bucket-list locales such as the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone without having to actually drive there yourself. Plus Amtrak’s sleeper cabins and full-service dining make the journey an adventure in itself, one which hearkens back to an old ideal of America; amtrakvacations.com.
Source: oprahmag.com

Best of the Best

Nomad Capitalist has ranked the best passports in the world by scoring 199 different passports in five categories. Each passport was scored on visa-free travel, international taxation laws, global perception, dual citizenship and personal freedom. This year, three countries came out on top with Sweden, Luxembourg and Ireland all scoring 114 points. Source: nomadcapitalist.com

Pedal on

If you’re searching for a fresh cycling adventure in the U.S., look no further than the new “Parks, Peaks and Prairies Bicycle Route” that guides cyclists from Yellowstone National Park to Minneapolis. The 1287-mile route created by the Adventure Cycling Association also brings cyclists through Wyoming’s plains, past South Dakota, on to the continent’s biggest rivers and past some of the 10,000 lakes of Minnesota.
Source: Lonely Planet

Private Eats

Swedish hotel, Stadt, in Lidkoping, has opened up their rooms as private dining spaces, allowing people to go out to eat while still maintaining social distancing from other diners. The idea is that instead of getting a table in a restaurant, diners are given an entire room with a table. Orders can be placed by phone, so diners never have to leave the room. Source: Springwise Newsletter

Alien-like Destination

South Dakota’s Badlands is a surreal and unexpected place, lined with rocky buttes, spires, and pinnacles that look like they belong in a Star Wars sequel. The park is very hands-on and one of the few national parks where visitors are free to go off-trail and hike literally anywhere. Just be careful with your footing, and keep your eyes peeled for bison and bighorn sheep.
Source: Fodor’s

Creepy Grocery Store Heads to Vegas

Meow Wolf, the company behind Santa Fe’s blockbuster art installation, is getting into the grocery business with the opening of the Omega Mart in Las Vegas. Slated to open in early 2021, the 52,000-square-foot space promises “a rich storyline [with] elevated narrative and technical elements” – not to mention an assortment of products with “an uncanny ability to fulfill desires beyond expectation.”; omegamart.com.
Source: Lonely Planet

Just the Answer

Hotels? Too full of other guests. Vacation rentals? Too close to other people. A private island? Just right. When you rent the Private Islands of Old House Cay, you get not just one private island but three. This low country group of islands is just 10 minutes from Hilton Head, but feels like a whole world away.
Source: Budget Travel

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