US airlines cancel flights, hotels book up before hurricane
Reuters
Hurricane Sandy will likely cause financial headaches for U.S. airlines that cancelled more than 7,000 flights to and from the Northeast corridor on Sunday.
Hotels in the region were busy handling cancellations for guests who could not get to destinations in the Northeast, extending stays for guests who could not leave town, and booking rooms for people who left their homes.
Airlines started cancelling flights in the U.S. Northeast region Sunday evening as cities from Washington D.C. to Boston braced for floods and high winds from the hurricane, which was expected to make landfall in the next few days.
Travel levy urged for Australians
Herald Sun
A report backed by Labor, the Coalition and the Greens said the huge increase in Australians needing help in foreign lands was eating into the cost of running formal diplomatic operations.
It called for a combination of increased passport fees and an indexed travel levy to pay for consular services.
It said there could be a lower levy for people who had travel insurance.
One in five Australians going overseas is not insured and others, such as the elderly or pregnant, may not be fully covered.
Gay tourism matters
Travel Daily News International
A new report shows that gay Europeans spend up to $65 billion (50 billion euros or £41 billion) each year on tourism, roughly the same as the USA although Europe’s population is nearly three times as large. The study comes as the Gay European Tourism Association (GETA) launches Gay Welcome, its new website to help people find gay and gay-friendly hotels, events and destinations throughout Europe.
GETA’s report, Gay Tourism Matters, estimates for the first time the number of people who live open gay lifestyles in western, central and eastern Europe at nearly 26 million, or 2.6% of the total population. This figure ranges from 5% in Western European countries down to just 0.25% in Turkey and the former Soviet states in Eastern Europe.
World’s airlines collecting $36 billion in a la carte fees this year
NBCNews.com
If the sting of paying to board early, check a bag or enjoy a few extra inches of legroom has gotten a bit sharper lately, you’re not alone. According to a new report, the world’s airlines will earn an estimated $36.1 billion in ancillary revenues this year.
Released on Monday, the Amadeus Worldwide Estimate of Ancillary Revenues calculates the total as an 11.3-percent increase from the $32.5 billion the industry collected in 2011. (If it’s any consolation, the rate of increase slowed substantially from the 44-percent jump between 2010 and 2011.)
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