Vacationer confidence creeps back
As the summer tourism season nears its zenith, a new study by PhoCusWright suggested twice as many U.S. residents have planned more trips this year compared to 2010.
Sherman-based PhoCusWright conducts market research on the travel industry, releasing this month its third annual consumer travel report. The company said nearly a third of U.S. residents polled said they will take more leisure trips this year, compared to just 14 percent of those surveyed in 2010.
Travelers are still keeping their expenditures in check, however. Less than a third of those polled said they would increase spending on vacation, with PhoCusWright calculating an average household travel expenditure of nearly $2,900.
Priceline details AA ticket sales
Priceline.com is now booking 1,000 tickets a day through a partnership with American Airlines, which raised the hackles of other online travel vendors after restricting sales to a new AA Direct Connect channel.
While Expedia, Orbitz and other online travel bookers were cut off from American Airlines fare listings late last year, Norwalk-based Priceline.com acquiesced to the company”™s new system. In April, Expedia announced it had reached an agreement with American Airlines to bring back the airline”™s fares on its websites; in June, a judge ordered American Airlines to reinstate Orbitz fares.
Winvian among ”˜quirky hotels”™
Litchfield County”™s Winvian Resort made a list of the top 10 quirky hotels in the world, as ranked by Cheapflights.com.
Winvian”™s guest cottages include a tree house, a “greenhouse” emphasizing energy efficiency and a building built around a vintage Sikorsky helicopter.
Boston”™s Liberty Hotel topped the list, having been built from the hulk of the former Charles Street Jail there. Norwalk-based HEI Hotels & Resorts acquired the hotel in January and brought in Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide to operate it.
