Travel professionals to give back on 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance

With the tenth anniversary of 9/11 approaching, President Obama has declared a National Day of Service and Remembrance to honor the men and women who lost their lives on that horrible day. As a result of this declaration, thousands of Americans are expected to take part in numerous service projects throughout the 50 States. One of those projects will be spearheaded by a group called Tourism Cares, who will be gathering volunteers for a revitalization effort in Valley Forge National Park.

Tourism Cares is a non-profit organization made up of members from the travel, tourism, and hospitality industry who are dedicated to preserving the travel experience for future generations. On Friday, September 9th, the group will host more than 200 volunteers who will be working throughout the 3600-acre Valley Forge to paint, clean, weed, and clear out a variety of spaces in the park. Their efforts will not only serve as a great opportunity to observe the National Day of Service and Remembrance a few days early, but also help preserve this important historical site for future visitors as well.

For more information on this Tourism Cares Volunteer Day, and to find out how you can get involved, click here. If you’re interested in discovering a service opportunity near you, you’ll find a list by clicking here.

Hawaii tour company offers “find President Obama’s birth certificate” experience

Playing with the notion that President Obama’s long-form birth records may be missing, Hawaii Tours is offering a dubiously-titled “Find President Obama’s Birth Certificate” tour package that includes sightseeing and “a little bit of detective work” for visitors to the Hawaiian Islands.

“‘Find the President’s Birth Certificate’ tour package was conceived to bring a lighthearted, adventurous aspect to touring the Hawaiian Islands,” said George Kaka of Hawaii Tours. “We believe in weaving relevant and recent history into our tours, when possible.”

According to the tour description “guests become part of a search and rescue team for the President’s birth records while island hopping, exploring active volcanoes, visiting the Pearl Harbor Memorial, journeying 120-miles around the Island of Oahu and enjoying a traditional luau at Paradise Cove.”

It depends on your political views, but this publicity stunt sounds moderately disrespectful to us. But, if you’re interested ….

This Hawaii tour begins with a flight from Honolulu to Hilo on the Big Island and includes trip to Volcano National Park, home to the Kilauea Volcano. There, “guests may seek the knowledge of Pele, the Hawaiian Fire Goddess, for news relating to President Obama’s birth certificate.” Visitors are taken to the Jagger Museum, Thurston Lava Tube and the Volcano House before flying back to Oahu.

The Big Island Volcano Tour is followed by the Pearl Harbor & Circle Island Tours. At Pearl Harbor, guests have the opportunity to board an authentic Navy launch and cross the crystal blue harbor to the USS Arizona Memorial. The Circle Island Tour is a 120-mile tour around the Island of Oahu visiting the Dole Plantation, the Nu’uanu Pali Lookout, Makapu’u and upscale Kahala, sometimes referred to as the “Beverly Hills of Hawaii.” The tour concludes with views of a tropical rain forest and the famous North Shore beaches. The trip ends with a Paradise Cove Luau and imu ceremony, where the roasted kalua pig is unearthed and Hula dancers perform to Hawaiian music as the sun sets.

At $399 per person, this tour certainly sounds as if it includes a number of famous sites. We’re just not sure about the presidential tie-in.

Five business travel factors for Obama and the midterm elections

Leisure travel is irrelevant during the election season, but the woes of business travelers seem to resonate. With the midterm contests two months away, all eyes are on the White House … and President Obama‘s success rate with road, rail and runway repair.

This is the one time business travelers make the presidential agenda, according to Portfolio.com: “Presidents (or people campaigning for any office) only talk about business-travel infrastructure during election season. Our issues almost never seem to rate presidential attention at any other time in the cycle.”

Well, let’s take a look at what Obama’s done for the white collar travel crowd. Here are five business traveler issues that could attract some attention in November:1. Secretary of Transportation appointed: With passengers’ rights considered and a solution implemented (and one that seems to be working), Ray LaHood seems to have been a savvy secretary. And, airlines have been slapped with some hefty fines, proving that they need to take responsibility for their actions.

2. Not so much at the TSA, though:
While Portfolio.com gives Obama high marks on behalf of business travelers for LaHood, it’s a little tougher on his choice for top dog of the TSA. The president waited a year to tap someone for the job, suffered through Senate procedural tricks and eventually had to go with his third nominee.

3. Security is solid:
The system is relatively safe, Portfolio.com opines, but expect some rancor over the body scans that are set to be implemented, as “the TSA is about to ratchet up the security kabuki at airport checkpoints.”

4. Travel consumer rights on the rise: It took 47 passengers getting stuck overnight on a Minnesota runway, but passengers finally got some rights. The airline industry warned of (self-servingly) of unintended consequences … which have yet to materialize. The Obama administration has airline fee structures on the agenda now.

5. Merger-mania managed: Despite the fact that the “balancing act is tricky,” the administration has done a decent job of facilitating healthy competition without impeding too much of the urge to merge.

[photo by jurvetson via Flickr]

Freedom to relax: A luxury not afforded Obama

Nothing a president does goes unnoticed. Even the slightest decisions are parsed carefully in the hopes of gaining some insight into to the man, the office or the policy that comes from both. His recent trip to Panama City, Florida, 27 hours to show that you can chill in the Gulf Coast area following the oil spill, may have been a decent move, but Obama‘s other trips, not to mention those taken by his family, have caused him some agita.

Michelle Obama‘s vacation in Marbella, Spain brought some heat, as did the family’s vacations in Maine’s Acadia National Park and Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. There are always people to laud and criticize, regardless of which party is in power. There’s always on group that seems to come out on top, however: the locals.

The Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce said visits to it website surged 50 percent following Obama’s trip to Maine, though other factors may have contributed. Of course, the opportunity comes with a few risks. According to USA Today:

As for Panama City Beach, the Bay Point Marriott (where the First Family ate lunch and spent Saturday night) doesn’t highlight this weekend’s getaway on its website, and the convention and visitors bureau took down its Facebook post about Michelle Obama’s visit last month after a series of “personal attacks,” says CEO Dan Rowe.

[photo by transplanted mountaineer via Flickr]

Obama to ease Cuba travel for education

You can only go to Cuba if President Obama takes the fun out of it. He’s looking for ways to ease travel restrictions, particularly for educational and cultural trips. This follows last year’s liberalization of travel to Cuba for Americans with family on the island.

Currently, Americans can only travel to Cuba on educational or cultural trips under certain conditions – e.g., if they are students or employees at qualifying universities and stack up against an additional set of requirements, such as conducting research toward a graduate degree.

According to a spokesman for the White House National Security Council: “We will continue to pursue policies that advance the U.S. national interest and support the Cuban people’s desire to freely determine their country’s future.”

Obama’s activity isn’t new, according to Bloomberg News:

Travel and trade restrictions on Cuba have been adjusted by nearly every U.S. administration since then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower established trade limits in 1960, following Fidel Castro’s revolution against the U.S.-backed Batista regime. Former President George W. Bush banned some educational exchanges not directly related to academic coursework in 2003, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service.

[photo by hoyasmeg via Flickr]