A monkey on the back of a Caribbean sun spot.
On July 17, Ps Inform, which provides emailed news to people in the travel industry, circulated an item entitled "Crime alerts for European cities". In June three British tourists and a French couple on their honeymoon are among the people who faced personal trouble including robbery and rape in an incident that took place in a spot near a New York Hotel. One thing these stories have in common is that they have not triggered a spate learned media articles about how paradise has now been lost in New York or London, and how tourists should now be thinking twice about whether to go to those places. Had these events and allegations of risk taken place regarding a Caribbean sun spot, the media reaction would have been entirely different. Click here to go to a discussion on the significance of this difference for the Caribbean.

GeoPassage.com does the research about places and facilities to help you organize your own tour
     If you go on an organized tour you often go to places, at times, and by means set by the organizer. GeoPassage.com of Austin, Texas, promotes the concept that you organize your own tour to suit your tastes but they save you almost all the trouble of doing research about places and facilities, by providing at your finger tips tons of decision-support photos and information. Click here for more information.

AIR JAMAICA's recently announced partnership with Virgin Atlantic Airways
     Air Jamaica's recently announced partnership with Virgin Atlantic Airways can be regarded as a coup for Air Jamaica. Virgin (based in Britain) has won a number of industry awards for the quality of its services. It's parent company seems to be a "good world citizen" too. "Virgin has a long history of philanthropy and has supported a variety of projects from education to child healthcare ". Promotions associated with the partnership seem to offer some good deals to trans-Atlantic travelers. Our detailed story describes the deals and includes an effort to assemble traveler reviews of these airlines. Click here for more information.

Is the Internet Putting Travel Agents out of Business?   
  "25% of all travel agents will eventually be out of their present jobs as the travel industry embraces the Internet", a Bear Stearns analyst is quoted to have said in an April 17th Bridge News story. Some 31% of "online families" already use the Internet to "research and book vacation destinations themselves", according to a recent Switchboard.com survey, a May 2nd story released by PR News reports. However, a few considerations suggest that these figures should be treated with significant caution. Click here for more information.

Carry-on Bags and Cabin Injuries
"Flight Attendants Tell Congress: Stop Cabin Injuries", is the headline of a May 12th news story. Carry-on bags are involved. Would you feel annoyed if your favorite airline announced new restrictions on carry-on-bags? If so, you are not alone. But an analysis of related discussion at nine websites strongly suggests we should all want these restrictions. To go to the detailed story, which points out the most common among the current restrictions, click here.

Airline medical device breathrough -- How often have you been on a plane and wondered what would happen if you, or your travelling companions, had a medical emergency? Does your heart skip a beat whenever you hear the "Is there a doctor on board?" question? Well, there's more hope now. Remote Diagnostic Technologies, of Britain, is installing a promising new on-board medical device in Virgin Atlantic Air's planes. The device seems to offer significant extension of the ability of plane crews to deal with medical emergencies. For more on this story click here.