With the Space Shuttle program coming to an end and commercial space flight organizations providing service to the International Space Station, one might wonder what the people at NASA are doing these days. While we’re not sure about other NASA facilities, Kennedy Space Center is keeping busy with a variety of activities.
The Kennedy Space Center (KSC) has been the launch site used for every NASA human space travel flight since 1968. KSC is also a major Florida tourist attraction hosting attractions that include the Shuttle Launch Experience, a simulated journey of launching into space and orbiting Earth, as well as the Astronaut Training Experience, Rocket Garden, two IMAX theaters, the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame and more. Now, KSC is adding yet another attraction, Angry Birds.
The new Angry Birds Space Encounter will be the first comprehensive, interactive Angry Birds attraction in the United States. Designed for people of all ages, the new attraction promises to “brings to life the space adventures of the Angry Birds as they follow their kidnapped eggs into an inter-galactic wormhole, come face to face with Space Pigs and gear up with heroic superpowers,” said KSC in a press release.Set to open at the KSC Visitor Complex on March 22, NASA has a serious reason behind the Angry Birds fun. Collaborating with Angry Birds creator Rovio Entertainment, the idea is to teach players about physics and space exploration, energizing young people regarding future careers in science and technology.
Pushed though five new TV commercials, the spots will feature the now famous roaming gnome in a variety of situations, ranging from the running of the bulls to a ski gondola to a sandy beach, all with messages encouraging travelers to get up, go and experience.
We spoke with the company’s Chief Marketing Officer, Brad Wilson, to get the inside scoop on the new campaign and what makes Travelocity different from the other leading OTAs in the marketplace.
Competition from sites like Hotwire, Priceline, Kayak and Orbitz is tough, Wilson admits, but he believes that this new campaign sets Travelocity apart in its multi-platform approach. In addition to multiple ads pushed through partnerships with nearly all major television channels and many online outlets, the campaign is being offered via mobile and social channels as well.Housed on YouTube, the campaign will be seen in its entirety across all of the brand’s social channels, but also on mobile devices – a key differentiator, Wilson said.
The famed Roaming Gnome is still a major part of the campaign as well, serving as both mascot and inspiration for travelers.
But that isn’t all that’s new at Travelocity. The brand is aiming to capture travelers through a number of interactive and engaging methods, including a new video series with Courtney Scott, a “Let’s Roam” app launching in April that will let travelers use social sharing technology to solicit information about upcoming trips, and a billboard-like advertising program in major airports that will direct travelers to special offers through unique mobile codes.
We’ll keep a close eye on how this new campaign develops and what – if any – changes this makes to the OTA landscape.
The next thing flight attendants will be pushing to sell in the skies isn’t a new style of jewelry or brand of alcohol – it’s automobiles.
According to Bloomberg, China’s Spring Airlines Co., the nation’s biggest privately-owned carrier, plans to start selling Chinese-branded automobiles on flights as early as next month. Zhang Wu’An, a spokesman at the Shanghai-based company, said the cars will be priced from about 100,000 yuan ($16,000), but details on makes and models have not yet been publicized.
“We wanted to start in-flight sales a few years ago, and decided cars are suitable for our passengers,” Zhang told the news outlet. “Car sales are very popular in Shanghai and our passengers can have time during their flight to study details of the models available.”
Zhang also noted flight attendants will be trained on car details, while passengers may be eligible for in-air discounts. Initially, car sales will be available on flights from Shanghai, but there’s a possibility the service will be introduced to other flights.
Founded in 2005, Spring Airlines is China’s only no-frills, budget carrier. The airline made headlines a few years ago when they considered standing-only flights. The carrier flies to more than 20 cities throughout China, plus to international destinations in Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Thailand and Cambodia.
British mountaineer Mark Roberts got more than he bargained for when he attempted to climb Snowdon Mountain last month. Roberts was using ice axes to make his way up the 3560-foot peak, which happens to be the tallest in Wales, when he was struck by falling ice. The force of the impact knocked him off the steep face and caused him to tumble more than 100 feet down the side of the mountain, all of which was captured by the helmet cam he was wearing during his ascent.
The video, which you see above, gives us a glimpse into every climber’s nightmare – an uncontrolled fall down the side of a mountain. In order to avoid these types of accidents, mountaineers are taught to self-arrest using an ice axe, but in this case it looks like the incident happens so quickly that Roberts didn’t have time to attempt to stop his fall. Fortunately, he came away from this with just a broken ankle and a few bumps and bruises, as obviously this could have turned out a lot worse for him.
If I ruled the world, I would issue a decree commanding every hotel to install minibars stocked with $2 bottles of beer. But since that’s never going to happen, you might have to go to Nicaragua to experience such an enlightened minibar alcohol policy.
I’m a frugal traveler – a cheapskate, if you will. And so I rarely – almost never, in fact – use the hotel minibar (unlike David Samuels of The Atlantic, who recently wrote a long and bizarre piece about how hotel minibars provide him with companionship). But last week while staying at the Hotel Plaza Colon in Granada, Nicaragua, I made liberal use of a hotel minibar for the first time in my life. The Plaza Colon is probably the most luxurious hotel in Granada and it’s one of the finest places to stay in the country, but I was shocked and delighted to discover that ice-cold bottles of beer cost just $2 in my room’s minibar. Bottled water cost $1, and a small bottle of rum was just $6 (or $8 if you wanted higher quality stuff).
You know you’re in a delightfully cheap country when a luxury hotel prices beer in the minibar at $2 and, sure enough, Nicaragua doesn’t disappoint on the value scale. Tim Leffel, author of “The World’s Cheapest Destinations” considers Nicaragua to be one of the world’s cheapest countries and after a recent visit there, I have to agree.
Two dollars is actually a pretty high price for a beer in Nicaragua, where most places charge $1 for a 12-ounce bottle of local beer. The Hotel Plaza Colon is an outstanding hotel and room rates there hover around $100 a night. Basic hostel beds go for $3-8 and in many parts of the country you can find a decent hotel room with A/C for $30 or less. If you are very, very frugal, you can travel for about $15 a day in Nicaragua.
If you patronize a restaurant that caters mostly to locals, like Asados Juanita in San Juan del Sur, you can eat a big dinner of freshly grilled meats, plantains, rice, beans and salad for about $4 (see video above). At the other end of the spectrum, you can eat at a touristy place like Abuelos, which is right on the gorgeous Laguna de Apoyo, for roughly $8-10 each. At Abuelos, you can gorge yourself on freshly grilled meats and then take a dip in the lake to cool off (see video below).
Car rental isn’t particularly cheap, but even in the most touristy areas of the country you can hire a driver to take you around for $50-60 for a full day, depending on how far away you want to go. A ride on a local chicken bus will cost about 60-80 cents an hour and more comfortable minibuses aren’t much more. A short ride in a taxi in Granada and other cities can cost as little as 50 cents each because the drivers stop to pick up other passengers. The one hour, twenty minute ferry ride to Ometepe island costs less than $2. A good one hour massage will set you back about $15-$25.
Entrance fees to tourist attractions, like the volcano parks and other natural wonders, rarely exceed $5. We paid just $3 to get into the Ojo de Agua, a gorgeous natural spring on Ometepe, and thought we had died and gone to heaven (see video).
After a budget busting week in pricey Costa Rica, we were thrilled to arrive in much more affordable Nicaragua. I don’t think it’s the cheapest country in the world, but it’s definitely the cheapest country that is close to the U.S.
