Hotels’ new come-on for kids: A teen concierge‎
Tucson Citizen

Hotels are trying to do something parents often can’t: keep their teen-age children interested.

Several hotels have introduced new activities, programs and menus to appeal to teen-age and pre-teen guests — and their paying parents.

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Hotels ‘Hiking Up Rates’ During The Olympics‎
Yahoo! News UK

Hotels are charging premiums of up to 300% to families staying in London during the Olympics, according to research.

Those in the centre of the capital were £2,891 a week or 139% more expensive on average over the period when the sporting event is taking place than after the Games, according to a study for Santander (Madrid: SAN.MC – news) .

Researchers also looked at prices near the Olympic Park in east London, which is hosting up to 180,000 spectators a day, and found that while most hotels were booked up, one of the few with vacancies was charging an extra £5,054.

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American Airlines lauds NY worker’s 70-year career
‎Wall Street Journal

American Airlines is celebrating the 70-year service of a New York City mechanic who says he has no plans to retire.

Azriel (AY’-zree-uhl) “Al” Blackman was 16 years old when he started as an apprentice mechanic in July of 1942.

He still reports to work every day at American’s aircraft maintenance hangar at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

He turns 87 in August.

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Kennedy Space Center launch pad opens for tours
USA Today

For the first time in the 50-year history of Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, the general public will be allowed an up-close look at one of the pads from which the space shuttles were launched.

Today marks the start of the “KSC Up-Close: Launch Pad Tour,” one of three behind-the-scenes offerings during this anniversary year.

The new tour, which will run through the end of 2012, takes visitors from Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex inside Launch Complex 39.

They’ll view Launch Pad 39-A, from which most space shuttles and all six Apollo missions that landed on the moon blasted off.

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