ItaliaOutdoors introduces ski adventures for wine and food enthusiasts

by Jessica Festa on

Beginning in December, 2011, ItaliaOutdoors will host snow and ski tours that also include activities for food and wine enthusiasts. These small group excursions will give participants insight into the culinary culture of the Trentino Alto-Adige region of Northeastern Italy.

Each tour can be customized to fit any fitness level and budget, from shorter trails to advanced mountain climbs. Groups will be limited to twelve participants and trips are all-inclusive (aside for airfare). And the best part is, no matter which package you choose, daily wine tastings are included.

The guides for these tours are Vernon McClure and Kathy Bechtel, two extremely qualified individuals to give participants a top-notch trip. McClure has more than fifteen years of experience designing, leading, and teaching ski excursions in Italy and throughout Europe, while Bechtel is a trained ski instructor as well as a chef with formal wine training. In fact, she hosts her own food and wine television show in Sugarloaf, Maine, where she shares travel-inspired tips and recipes.

For more information or to sign up for a tour, click here.

Emirates Airlines to build cable car across London’s Thames River

by Ori Epstein on

The skyline of London is already studded with iconic landmarks – the London Eye, the (leaning tower of) Big Ben, St. Paul’s Cathedral. But now, Dubai’s Emirates Airlines wants to contribute to this vista by paying for the installation of the UK’s first urban cable car.

The £60 million ($93 million) project, of which Emirates will pay £36 million in a 10-year sponsorship deal, will be completed and open to the public in the summer of 2012, in time for the London Olympics. The Air Line, as the cable car is appropriately named, will span the Thames River in south London, connecting the ExCel London convention center and the O2 Arena, two future Olympics venues. At capacity, the cable car will be able to transport 2,500 riders via 34 gondolas along the one kilometer route.

So, in less than one year’s time, if you don’t mind participating in an enormously expensive advertising campaign, you will have one more option to experience spectacular views of London.

Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, announced new smartphone app

by Jessica Festa on

The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, announced a new smartphone application on Monday that will be available on Android, iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. Now, those interested in Warhol’s pieces and collections can get an in-depth look at the art in the museum by also examining archival materials, film, source images, video clips, letters, and audio.

The Warhol App will cost $2.99 for smartphones and $3.99 for tablet-style devices. To get a better idea exactly what the app looks like, check out this video:


How smartphones are changing air travel

by Jessica Festa on

According to SITA/Air Transport World’s 2011 Passenger Self-Service Survey, airline passenger use of smartphones has doubled in the past year, making it now 54%. Not only that, but 74% of business and first class passengers had a smartphone on them at the time of data collection. The survey questioned 2,457 air passengers from 70 countries and 73 airlines.

In an article from The Press, they state that the CEO of SITA, Francesco Violante, is calling this type of smartphone enthusiastic traveler the “mobile-centric passenger”. These fliers expect “personal and timely communication from airlines, airports and other providers of travel-related services.”

The data collected by the survey shows that passengers aren’t just using their smartphone for work and personal reasons, but also for travel. For example, 31% of passengers have used a smartphone to check-in for their flight and 17% had used mobile boarding passes. While this percentage may not seem huge, it is most likely because not all airports and airlines are using technology to its fullest capability yet. In fact, 73% of survey respondents said they would like to use mobile boarding passes.

Airports aren’t ignoring this data, as plans for 2014 show, including 97% of airlines planning to offer web check-in, 89% planning to offer mobile check-in, 87% planning to offer bar-coded boarding passes for mobiles, and 63% planning to allow fliers to print luggage tags at kiosks.

While technology isn’t going to change air travel overnight, it is certainly on its way to altering the way people travel and fly. Only time will tell what else technology has in store for the future of travel.

TripAdvisor launches free Mobile City Guide apps for Android users

by Jessica Festa on

On Tuesday, October 11, 2011, TripAdvisor launched their free Mobile City Guide apps for Android users. The apps cover twenty popular destinations, some of which include Paris, New York, Tokyo, Los Angeles, and London.

Benefits of using the app include:

  • Reviews of restaurants, hotels, and attractions
  • Suggested city itineraries
  • Interactive walking tours
  • Historical and cultural information on a destination
  • Weather reports
  • Transportation options

One great thing about this app is that the information is given to you in real-time, so everything you read is current and up-to-date. Also, information from the app can be accessed whether the user has a data connection or is offline.

Says Adam Medros, vice president of global product at TripAdvisor, “We think travelers are going to love the comprehensive information our free Mobile City Guides provide in popular world cities. A tremendous complement to our popular TripAdvisor site app, these guides offer even more city detail, including itineraries and interactive walking tours.”