Colorado’s Arapahoe Basin Offers Two-Season Double Down Ski Pass

by Kraig Becker on

It may be hard to believe but a new ski season is closer than you think. The mountaintops of Colorado have already started to receive light snow and ski resorts across the Western states are already busy preparing for opening day. One of those resorts is the legendary Arapahoe Basin, which is generally amongst the first hills to open each year and the last to close as well. That long season makes A-Basin an extremely popular destination for avid skiers and snowboarders who have become accustomed to getting their moneys worth out of their season pass.

This year, the folks at the resort have actually made it even easier for us to cash in on the savings. Until the end of the year, they’re offering their new Double Down 2-Season Pass for just $499. The pass grants unlimited and unrestricted access to Arapahoe Basin for the entire 2012/2013 season as well as all of the 2013/2014 season. Yep, just as the name implies, the pass will take care of all your skiing needs for the next two years.

But that’s not all. The pass also entitles the holder to 10 percent discounts on food and beverages, with the same discount applying to any retail items bought in the ski shop. It also allows for reduced ticket prices for any friends and family members who happen to tag along, not to mention special pricing on lessons and performance tuning of skis or snowboards too.

Last year wasn’t a particularly good one for snow at most of the Colorado resorts. But A-Basin averages 350 inches of fresh powder each winter, which means even on a down year it’s still a pretty good place to hit the slopes. The mountain features 900 skiable acres with 108 total trails, the longest of which is more than 1.5 miles in length. With that much room to roam, there are enough runs for everyone to explore no matter if they’re a beginner or an expert.

Arapahoe Basin is expected to open in mid-October and typically doesn’t close until May, giving it one of the longest ski seasons of any place in North America.

Africa Set To Be Next International Hot Spot?

by Chris Owen on

Africa seems to be making a comeback, drawing travelers from around the globe to a variety of destinations within the world’s second largest continent. The next international hotspot? Recent travel awards won by Africa’s luxury travel brands indicate that’s possible. A focus by adventure brands adds fuel to the fire; Africa is the place to be.

The World Travel Awards (WTA) highlight and reward travel brands that are the best in quality, innovation and service over the past year. While natural wonders and popular iconic destinations are common bucket list items, visitors have to get there first.

They might fly in, take a cab or rent a car to go someplace. Once there, luxury travelers might want a good hotel room or resort for the base of their operations. Adventure travelers could be looking for guides, tour operators or packages geared to backpacking, hiking, camping or climbing. All those services need to be in place in advance.At the World Travel Awards this month, coming in as highly-rated were tour operators Abercrombie and Kent, South African Airways, luxury experiential travel company &Beyond and a variety of luxury hotels and resorts.

“Our winners are drawn from the breadth of Africa, reflecting how the outstanding natural attractions of the continent are being complimented with a growing portfolio of luxury facilities.” said Graham E. Cooke, President & Founder, WTA in a Travel Daily News article.

Indeed, looking to 2013, service providers have upped their game, offering more packages, tours and accommodations than before.

It’s not just luxury travel either, outdoor expert REI Adventures added six new trips to its collection of African adventures for 2013 with a strong focus on the southern part of the continent. The REI trips are not just backpacking via safari.

REI’s Exploring Africa series includes a focus on Botswana, Namibia or Africa’s highest mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro. In Ultimate Adventures, REI takes travelers across country via small aircraft, assuring they will see all major attractions and highlights on one 11-day adventure.

Tour operators, hotels, airlines and service providers are ready. 2013 looks to be a big year for Africa. Gadling’s Kraig Becker agrees, saying, “Having visited South Africa myself, it is easy to understand why it is such a popular destination. The country truly has something to offer travelers of all types,” in “South Africa Sees Nearly 20 Percent Increase In Tourism In 2012.”



[Photo courtesy REI Adventures]

Social Sites And Travel: Good For Looking, Not Buying

by Chris Owen on

Social sites like Facebook are one of the sources considered when travelers look to find some sort of shopping-related deal. But how many travelers use social sites to actually book a trip?

According to PhoCusWright’s Social Media in Travel 2012: Social Networks and Traveler Reviews, more than three-fourths of travelers turn to social networks to find some type of shopping-related deal, and 30% specifically seek out travel-related deals. But companies that have implemented booking tools within Facebook have so far reported mixed results.

“Everybody and their grandma may be on Facebook, but for many in the travel industry, that has not made social into a reliably actionable and demonstrably profitable marketing medium,” said Douglas Quinby, senior director of research at PhoCusWright in Travel Daily News.

According to the study, travelers do not use social networks to purchase travel, as they would search or travel sites. Sharing travel photos and stories on social sites is popular. Making purchases, not so much.
“The potential of social for travel may lie less in any one platform and more in the ecosystem of social data,” says Quinby, “to socialize a traveler’s experience across a variety of online travel websites and mobile applications.”

Need travel information in person? The up close and personal nature of travel shows like the New York Times Travel Show might be the answer. Travel shows feature exhibitors representing countries from around the world with a focus on travel destinations, packages and special offers, as well as tour operators, cruise lines and live entertainment for the whole family as we see in this video:




[Flickr photo by ideagirlmedia]

EuroCheapo.com Announces Snazzy Relaunch

by Libby Zay on
New York-based EuroCheapo.com, a guide to budget hotels in Europe, has relaunched their website. Revamped features not only include a new look, but also enhanced maps, larger photos, expanded expert reviews, a search upgrade and a new TripAdvisor partnership.

“These new additions enhance EuroCheapo’s position as a leader in budget hotel recommendations and trusted travel advice,” announced the company in a press release. Tom Meyers, the website’s founder and editor in chief, added the new launch “signals a big step forward for our brand.”

From London to Rome, all 33 hotel guides on the website are affected by the changes. There is even a special guide to hotels in New York City, where the company is based. Currently, the company is home to more than 1,200 hotel reviews, plus articles on public transportation, cheap eats, museum passes and more – all of which readers should find more easy to access thanks to the updated website.

[Image courtesy EuroCheapo.com]

How To Find The Best Souvenirs While Traveling On Business

by Alex Robertson Textor on

Souvenirs are tricky for business travelers. It’s all too easy to be overwhelmed by work or a busy itinerary only to find yourself grabbing something in duty free in the airport – or stopping by a gift shop to purchase an anonymous object created 12 time zones away from your destination. A T-shirt of thin cotton made in Bangladesh that says, “I Heart Vienna” may be fun in a kitsch sort of way, but it’s not really a good souvenir.

To find a good souvenir, be guided by this question: What is produced locally? Think about “production” broadly – in addition to crafts and art objects, think of clothes, food, accessories, and housewares. If you’re in a destination where very little is made, move on to this follow up question: What is collected locally?

By frequenting flea markets and local arts and crafts stalls, you can find locale-appropriate souvenirs of great and enduring value. Guidebooks and hotel concierges can direct you to local markets, flea markets, galleries and other shops where items of local value can be found.

Lastly, by paying attention to the beauty of the incidentals of your surroundings, you might very well chance upon the most sentimentally valuable souvenirs of all – commonplace objects designed markedly differently than comparable objects at home.

1. Local products. Pricing, materials and goods vary radically from place to place. An item created by artisan producers local to your destination – assuming high quality, of course – expresses the culture of a place powerfully.

2. Flea markets. The strangest cast-offs can be found in flea markets. Sometimes these objects are prized antiques, and other times they have virtually no value, having just been dragged from a heap at the bottom of a closet. But there’s no better way to get a sense of a location than at a flea market or its local equivalent.

3. The incidentals of your surroundings. What actually triggers memories and nostalgia? The ticket stubs, paper menus and products that you come across on your travels. That glass yogurt container. That tram ticket. That theater program. These objects can be framed, used as scrapbook materials, or simply displayed at home. These objects permit a thoughtful, if passing, consideration of the fact that travel creates opportunities to reconsider the incidental trappings, the very packaging, of our lives.

[Flickr image via laszlo-photo]