Legoland hotel planned for Carlsbad

by Tom Johansmeyer on

I haven’t been to southern California in a while, but it looks like I just got a reason to go back. A Legoland hotel is in the works at the theme park of the same name in Carlsbad, California. The city council approved the move this week. When construction is finished, a serpentine-shaped hotel will have 254 rooms, sit right next to the theme park and put Lego-loving nerds like me in the middle of an environment we’ve always fantasized about.

The basic rooms will have Legos printed on wallpaper and the carpets … along with instructions on how to build different Lego creations. The top-end rooms, however, will take the fanaticism to a new level: you’ll be able to live the Pirate Shores attraction in an appropriately themed room.

Unfortunately, an opening date hasn’t been announced yet, so we have to wait. This may be easier for the hotel’s target demographic – kids between two and 12 years old – than it will be for those of us who grew up with Legos and are eager to relive a creative part of our youths. Construction is said to be deferred until the market improves, after which it should take a year and a half to complete.

[Photo by joedecruyenaere via Flickr]

Win up to $10,000 worth of travel from Lonely Planet and STA Travel

by Katie Hammel on

Where would you go with $10,000? Morocco? Bora Bora? Australia? If you win Lonely Planet’s new contest, it’s a question you may have the chance to answer. One lucky winner will receive a $9000 STA Travel voucher, plus $1000 spending money that can be used to take the trip of his or her dreams.

To enter, just go to the contest webpage and send an email, explaining in 20 words or less, what you’d like to see in the next Lonely Planet email. Invite three friends to do the same and you might end up with the grand prize.

The contest ends January 13 and winners will be decided the next day. One judge will narrow down the entries to 20, and another will select the final winner based on creativity of the response. The winner will get a $9000 voucher that can be used on any STA products or services, plus an extra $1000 in spending money if her or she referred three friends at the time of entry. The voucher is valid for one year and can be used to book flights, tours, rail passes and travel insurance.

10 runners-up will receive iPods or a collection of Lonely Planet books.

Photo of the Day (10.31.09)

by Brenda Yun on

Believe it or not, our Photo of the Day was taken in Kentucky — at Mammoth Caves, to be exact. As Gadling photographer Peter Rivera explains, “A blast of arctic air flows up from the blackness. you go down concrete steps, lower and lower until the sunny August trees are left behind…” Peter aptly named this photo “descending into the abyss,” and for those of you intrepid travelers who are venturing into the cool Halloween evening, I hope you come back from the abyss safely!

If you have some great travel shots you’d like to share, be sure to upload them to the Gadling pool on Flickr. We might just pick one as our Photo of the Day!

Two Floridians win Tasmania leg of travel contest

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Two American girls from Florida are about to find themselves pretty far from home. Dara Simkin and Catherine Fleming won the Tasmania leg of the WorldNomads.com Van-Tastic Adventure. This is the first time an American team has won the Australia contest. On December 19, 2009, they’ll fire up the engine and start to drive through Tasmania for six weeks. On January 30, 2010, they’ll arrive in Melbourne, having completed the fourth of seven legs. The seven-part journey begins in Queensland and consists of 10,000 miles of driving in a van named Geoff.

During their journey, Dara and Catherine will report on their experiences kayaking on the Freycinet Peninsula, mountain biking Mt. Wellington and walking through Cradle Moutain. You can keep track of their progress on YouTube or on the Van-Tastic Adventures website.

But, watching might not be enough for some people … there are still three legs open, so you may want to put your application video together.

Online travel agencies still making money in today’s travel market

by Tom Johansmeyer on

There’s still money in the travel business; you just have to look in the right places. In the United States, the online leisure and unmanaged business travel sector is where you’ll find the cash — this sector is outperforming every other travel sales channel, according to a recent study by research firm PhoCusWright. In a report that the company will release soon, U.S. Online Travel Overview Ninth Edition, PhoCusWright will reveal the details behind the online leisure/unmanaged business travel’s 7% decline relative to a nationwide general fall of 16%.

“For the first time since PhoCusWright began tracking the remarkable trajectory of the internet in travel distribution, online travel will decline in 2009,” says Doublas Quinby, senior director, research at PhoCusWright. “But,” he continues, “the 7% drop in online travel vs. far steeper double-digit declines for the total travel market and offline channels indicates that travelers are increasingly turning to the Web to shop and purchase travel amid the recession.”

The contraction of the travel market in 2009 has brought the travel industry back to pre-2005 levels. The effects haven’t been as brutal in the online space, though, which has outperformed all the other channel’s this year. When the year is over, PhoCusWright expects online travel agencies to own 39% of the total travel market in the Untied States, up from 35% last year.

[Photo by borman818 via Flickr]

“By honing in squarely on consumer concerns in 2009, heavily promoting deals and last-minute special offers and eliminating many booking and customer service fees, online travel agencies have deftly outflanked recessionary pressures and are outperforming every other distribution channel,” Quinby reports. He adds, “OTAs are taking back some share from travel supplier Web sites this year.”