That has been the deal with online travel sites and discount tour operators. Now, an increasing number of hotels are slashing room rates if you ante up in full in advance and forego a refund if you don’t show up.

Last year, Fairmont hotels began offering savings up up to 30% to those who book ahead and pay in full.

Now, “I would say the majority of our hotels offer ‘Savers’ rates. It’s one way we can offer a discount” without cheapening the upscale brand, Fairmont spokeswoman Lori Holland says. Prepaying also guarantees revenue ahead of time: “We know people are coming,” she says.

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Source: USA TODAY

After the epic winter experienced in much of the country, many of us are happy to kiss the season goodbye. But there’s still plenty of action on the nation’s ski slopes, where brighter days and warmer temperatures beckon skiers.

In fact, March is often one of the snowier months in some realms, and many resorts remain open into mid-April. Eager to lure customers whose thoughts are beginning to turn from snowy slopes to sandy beaches, resorts ramp up events — and discounts.

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Source: USA TODAY

International travel rebounded in January, boosted by more passengers in premium class cabins, according to the latest data released by the International Air Transport Association.

Total passenger numbers on international travel markets rose 5.7% in January compared to a year ago. In January 2009, international travel showed a 3.7% decline compared to January 2008.

Underscoring the depth to which premium traffic fell last year, first and business class travel rose 9.4% in January from the lowest point in 2009, but would still need to increase by 16% to reach the peak recorded in early 2008, IATA says.

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Source: USA TODAY

Denver is rated No. 5 in travel-website Hotwire’s latest annual “Travel Value Index” of cities where travelers can save money.

“Skiers and outdoor enthusiasts flock to Denver year after year, giving this city a well-deserved spot on this year’s list,” Hotwire says.

The Mile High City “offers great discounts … on accommodations and a wide variety of outdoor and free activities,” it adds.

The website says Denver offers a number of free attractions, including the U.S. Mint, Golden’s Coors brewery tour and more than 450 miles of bike paths, such as the trail along Cherry Creek.

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Source: Denver Business Journal

We hear that Oyster, the high-end travel website that laid off more than a third of its staff in December, has canned its remaining editorial staffers.

A tipster says Oyster’s “remaining three reporters and last remaining editor” were laid off today via e-mail. Oyster’s business model involved spending lots of money on seasoned reporters to do detailed hotel reviews. That didn’t work out so well, and yesterday it announced plans to transform itself into a hotel booking site. Another source familiar with the company says CEO Elie Seidman has been trying to convince staffers to take a 50% paycut (which Seidman denies). Maybe to help pay for the business development people he’s hiring? A call to Seidman was not immediately returned.

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Source: Gawker.com

United Airlines is taking the lug out of luggage, with special Door-to-Door Baggage pricing just in time for spring break. For the low price of $25 per item each way, customers can send their bags, golf clubs and skis ahead to their final destination via FedEx standard overnight delivery.

Customers booked for travel between March 18 and March 29 within the continental United States on at least one United-operated or United-marketed flight are eligible. Sale prices are limited and available until 5 p.m. EDT on March 19 or while supplies last. Travelers may purchase the Door-to-Door Baggage option up to 10 days before departure. Terms and conditions apply and are listed below.

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Source: MarketWatch.com

Thousands of college students, including some from Indiana, are expected in Mexico for spring break despite the growing drug-related violence there. At least 19 people have been killed over the last three days.

Spring break is well underway in Acapulco, and that means more than 10,000 college students from the United States coming to get away from their studies. But they’re entering a rather dicey situation because Mexico is a country at war, not only between drug cartels fighting but also the government here trying to get a handle on the drug trade.

In the first 74 days of this year, 2,409 people have been killed and, along the border, that included three Americans.

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Source: WTHR (Indiana)

Travel agent Eric Ardolino doesn’t usually buy airline tickets for his ski-trip tour customers at the end of summer, but at least one airline’s baggage fee policy changed all that.

Faced with the prospect of 70 customers being charged extra for their bags if tickets weren’t purchased before the middle of last September, Ardolino, president of Wallingford, Conn.-based A&S Travel Center, spent five hours getting payment information from each tour member. The effort highlighted the challenge for both agencies and customers to keep up with myriad “optional” airline fees that have popped up over the last few years.

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Source: Travel Weekly

In a winter when the success of the U.S. Ski Team was astounding, Lindsey Vonn, 25, of Vail, Colo. and Ted Ligety, 25, of Park City, Utah capped it off with some of the most prestigious awards in skiing—Audi FIS World Cup titles.

During last week’s World Cup Finals at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, Vonn captured the overall women’s crown plus three other titles, while Ligety won his second giant slalom title in three years.

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Source: Idaho Mountain Express

Intrawest has begun selling passes for the 2010-2011 ski season that include Copper Mountain, which it sold to Powdr Corp. late last year. Vail Resorts has also started selling passes.

Intrawest and Powdr didn’t say at the time of the sale whether Copper would be marketed with Winter Park Resort, which Intrawest manages, and Steamboat Ski Resort, which it owns. Representatives for the companies did not return calls for comment.

Source: The Denver Post

In real estate, it’s all about the location. In books, it’s all about the idea. In ski resorts, when it comes to skier days, it’s all about the snow.

Despite a down economy, some of the best snow in the state apparently helped the Telluride ski area attract more visitors than it did last year, bucking a statewide slide in skier days.

Skier days in Colorado during January and February saw a “small dip” of 4 percent, reported Colorado Ski Country USA, an industry trade group, when compared to numbers from the previous year. Over the whole season, skier days statewide are down 2 percent, the group said.

In Telluride, in contrast, things are looking up.

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Source: Telluride Daily Planet

The Airlines Reporting Corporation’s (ARC) processing data for February 2010 is up by nearly 20 percent in some categories compared to the same month in 2009, with international fares up by 19.47 percent and total sales up by 16.78 percent.

ARC reports that February 2010 also showed significant gains over January 2010, accelerating seasonal expectations and giving both sales and transactions a much needed boost for the first quarter. ARC said this builds on the positive conclusion of the fourth quarter of last year.

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Source: Travel Agent Central

Luxury hotels are showing some signs of life, but they’re coming at a hefty price.

As of early March, the battered sector is reporting 7.2% more bookings for the upcoming second quarter in the top 25 markets vs. the April-June period in 2008, according to travel market research firm Rubicon. But rooms at Ritz-Carlton, Fairmont and Four Seasons are also dramatically cheaper. The luxury average daily rate is down 22% to $312 from $399 two years ago, Rubicon says.

“Demand (for luxury hotels) is coming in stronger than the overall demand, but at a far greater discount,” says Tim Hart, president of Rubicon.

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Source: USA TODAY

Somehow, despite nervous CFOs and minimal investment, brave marketing and distribution professionals have continued to innovate in the online and mobile channels with phenomenal success.

In November 2009 we reported how Hilton, one of the world’s biggest travel companies, reported a ROI of 44 to 1 from its mobile web investments. This is in the face of the global travel industry shrinking by over 2%. This struck me as being incredibly important. It demonstrated that while our industry may not have grown over the last 2 years, it has evolved enormously.

You are probably aware of some of these changes and are already exploiting them. However, if you (like most companies) have had to cut back on research, let’s face it you are working blind.

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Source: 4Hoteliers.com

Blizzards on the East Coast and harsh weather in other parts of the U.S. probably impeded manufacturing and construction in February, representing a temporary setback to the recovery, economists said before reports this week.

Manufacturers may make up for the disruptions this month as companies strive to stabilize inventories and exports climb, while the outlook for housing is less bright as foreclosures mount. Analysts anticipate Federal Reserve policy makers meeting this week will reiterate a pledge to keep interest rates low as other reports show inflation cooled last month.

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Source: BusinessWeek

On a ridge near the 8,600-foot summit of Alpine Meadows ski resort, 17-year-old snowboarder Lucas Fuller scopes out the many chutes and bowls that radiate out from Ward Peak.

It’s a perfect powder day, with clear skies and fresh snow delivered to the Lake Tahoe area the day before. The teenager from Reno, Nev., likes the resort because it has numerous ungroomed, expert-level slopes that approximate the back-country.

For this run, the teenager from Reno, Nev., is looking for a route that will provide cliffs and bumps so he can catch some air. Despite warning signs at the base of the lift, Fuller is not wearing a helmet.

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Source: The Associated Press

If you were glued to the TV for the Winter Olympics and wishing you were part of the Olympic party, there’s no need to feel like you missed out. Long after the flame’s been extinguished and the athletes have returned to their home countries, the Olympic spirit is burning bright in Whistler – especially at the village’s only Five-Diamond Resort. From now until the end of the ski season, Four Seasons Resort Whistler is offering its “Ski with an Olympian” package, which combines luxury accommodations with exclusive access to world-class skiers.

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Source: A Luxury Travel Blog

If you’re a skier or snowboarder, check out the new free snow report iPhone app from the Ski Club of Great Britain in association with Land Rover.

This new, paperless snowsports travel guide features live snow report data from 250 resorts including snow depths, on and off piste conditions, webcams and ski and snowboarding news.

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Source: Traveling Greener.com

Breckenridge Ski Resort is making plans for a 2,500- foot-long alpine coaster to be used summer and winter.

The resort’s owner, Vail Resorts, will present its proposal to the Breckenridge Planning Commission on Tuesday night, the Aspen Times reported Sunday.

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Source: The Denver Post

The U.S. and the U.K. have moved “substantially” closer to losing their AAA credit ratings as the cost of servicing their debt rose, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

The governments of the two economies must balance bringing down their debt burdens without damaging growth by removing fiscal stimulus too quickly, Pierre Cailleteau, managing director of sovereign risk at Moody’s in London, said in a telephone interview.

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Source: BusinessWeek

RCMP say they have looked for abandoned vehicles and canvassed area hotels and there is no one that they know of left unaccounted for following a deadly B.C. avalanche.

Cpl. Dan Moskaluk said late Sunday afternoon that police were far more optimistic than they had been that Saturday’s avalanche on Boulder Mountain did not result in the mass fatalities feared in the first hours after the tragedy.

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Source: CBC

John Penna, 35, has been desperately searching for work since he lost his manufacturing production job about a year ago.

He’s not focusing just on a manufacturing job. Right now, he’s working handyman jobs on the side, and “I’m looking for anything,” he said. “But there’s nothing out there.”

South Carolina employers have some jobs – but the competition for those openings can be brutal.

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Source: GreenvilleOnline.com (South Carolina)

Despite El Nino cutting into Washington’s snowfall this year, it’s been a good season for the state’s ski areas.

Starting at around 3,000 feet, winter hasn’t been generous for Snoqualmie Pass because of warmer-than-normal temperatures. Along the side of Interstate 90, which is normally piled high by this time of year, there’s no problem seeing over it while driving in your car.

With snow pack standing around 50 percent in the Central Cascades, elevation is everything. For Stevens Pass, where the base area sits more than 1,000 feet higher, snow has been less of a challenge.

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Source: King5.com (Seattle)

A tough economy and below-average snowfall has resulted in a challenging year for ski resorts in Colorado.

Colorado Ski Country USA (CSCUSA) announced Thursday that its 22 member ski areas saw a dip in skier visitation for the second period of the 2009-10 ski and snowboard season — from January 1 through February 28, 2010 — as compared to the same period of the year prior. Skier visits at CSCUSA resorts were down 4% during the second period, and off by 2% percent season-to-date compared to the same time last season.

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Source: First Tracks!! Online

Walt Disney Co., the world’s biggest theme-park operator, will begin selling tickets that will be valid at all of its U.S. parks.

The “premiere passport” will go on sale tomorrow and have no blackout dates, Chief Executive Officer Robert Iger said today at Disney’s annual shareholder meeting in San Antonio, Texas. He didn’t announce a price for the pass.

Shareholders asked the company to create the all-parks pass at last year’s meeting in Oakland, California. Disney is reducing discounts that reached as high as 45 percent at its theme parks, which last year posted their steepest decline in operating income since the 2001 terrorist attacks in the U.S.

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Source: Bloomberg News

HVS has released a survey documenting U.S. hotel transactions in calendar year 2009. The HVS Survey of Major and Mid-Market U.S. Hotel Transactions in 2009 details hotel sales of $10 million and above (major) and hotel sales between $3.0 and $9.99 million (mid-market).

“Of the major hotel sales in 2009, the vast majority of assets sold for between $10 and 50 million, a picture similar to that of 2007 and 2008,” said Amy Beam, HVS Director of Hotel Transactions. “What differentiates 2009 from those latter years is the diminished scale: the number of major transactions in 2009 fell 83% from where it stood in 2007, a decline unprecedented in the past two decades.”

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Source: HotelNewsNow.com

Hawaii’s unemployment rate inched upward in January, led by large job losses in the tourism sector of the state’s economy, the state reported Wednesday.

According to figures compiled by the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, the seasonally adjusted jobless rate for January was 6.9 percent, an increase of 0.1 percentage points over December’s revised rate of 6.8 percent.

In January 2009, Hawaii’s jobless rate was 6 percent. At the time, the number of unemployed Hawaii residents was 38,400. Two months ago, it was 43,450, according to the state figures.

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Source: The Associated Press

Las Vegas tourism continues to show signs for optimism. According to the Convention and Visitors Authority, nearly 2.9 million people came to town in January, a 4% increase from the same month a year ago, and the fifth consecutive month of annual increases following a long downturn. The city’s room occupancy rate dropped slightly from a year ago, to just over 71%. But that number was likely skewed by the fact that there are 8,100 more hotel rooms in Las Vegas this year, most of them at the new CityCenter.

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Source: KXNT.com (Nevada)

Gov. Bob McDonnell signed into law pieces of legislation that he says will allow Virginia to become the ‘energy capital of the east coast.’

The legislation sets aside 80 percent of royalties for future offshore drilling for transportation in the state.

Currently, the Virginia Department of Transportation is facing a $4.6 million budget shortfall which has a trickle down affect to many other industries, including tourism. Part of successful tourism is making a good impression, but for many visitor’s the first impression they get of the state is often of Virginia’s roads.

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Source: WHSV (Virginia)

The saddest thing to consider about the ongoing Prescott tourism saga, is the time being lost with this debate, and the many relationships on all sides of the fence being strained by a matter that is not that difficult to resolve. Unfortunately, the issue as framed by the March 2010 Chamber of Commerce newsletter, is not conducive to the resolution of this tragic paradigm.

It should be noted that Chamber President David Maurer is Chairman of PACT. It should be noted that the Chairman of the Chamber’s Executive Committee is Mya Beckley who also chairs the Prescott Area Lodging Association. This is stated because the Chamber newsletter omits mention of either person’s dual roles. Also omitted is clarification of the statement headlining the Chamber Newsletter’s text, “Chamber Favors Private Sector approach to tourism.”

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Source: Prescott eNews