Travel Weekly Digital Edition

Arnie Weissmann:
In New Orleans, celebrating the
city in every meal.
P. 12
www.travelweekly.com
MORE NEWS:
Hertz hones in on Enterprise’s
traditional, off-airport territory.
P. 8
Jeri Clausing:
Some hotels have simply gone to
the dogs.
P. 41
THE NATIONAL NEWSPAPER OF THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY
JUNE 2, 2008

HHEAD WIN DS FO R AWA I I

[ 41 MILLION TRIPS NOT TAKEN ]

New research:

The hassle factor

costs $26 billion

By Nadine Godwin

Following a long stretch of solid performance,

the Aloha State is battening down for a contraction

in tourism, prompted by a dramatic decrease in airlift

and competition from Mexico and the Caribbean.

BY LESTER CRAFT PAGE 18

[ ONLY 11 LEED-CERTIFIED PROPERTIES, BUT MORE TO COME ]

Upscale hotels take the LEED in design

NEW YORK — Concerned about what it called a deteriorating air travel system and lack of leadership in Washington, the Travel Industry Association is laying the groundwork, with new research and an industry summit, to push the government harder for corrective action sooner rather than later.

The TIA said that the hassles of air travel have become such an issue that 28% of all air travelers avoided at least one trip in the past year, for a total of 41 million air trips that did not happen.

Roger Dow, the TIA’s president and CEO, said those skipped trips translated into a $26.5 billion hit to the economy in the form of lost spending on various travel components and in the $4.2 billion in taxes that governments at all levels might have collected.

Dow, calling the estimates conservative, said they didn’t even take into consideration the lost business opportunities or other economic activity that might have occurred.

In addition, the TIA cited a recent Congressional report that air traffic delays cost the economy another $41 billion in 2007.

In its research the TIA said that although most of the skipped trips were for leisure, 12 million would have been business trips.

Another 26% avoided at least one air trip by substituting another transport mode.

See AIR TRAVEL on Page 43

By Jeri Clausing

AVON, Colo. — From the street, the Westin Riverfront Resort and Spa being developed near Colorado’s tony Beaver Creek ski area looks like just another of the many new hotels and condominium projects cropping up in the Colorado mountains.

But this is not just another hotel. If the developers get it right, the resort is likely to become the first luxury property in Colorado with LEED certification, meaning it has met the green building standards for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design set by the U.S. Green Building Council.

From roofing tiles made from recycled

tires to nontoxic glues, paints and textiles, every aspect of the building is analyzed for minimal environmental impact and LEED points, the total of which will determine

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whether it will attain certification and at what level.

To date, only 11 hotels in the world have won the council’s LEED certification, and only two have achieved gold status: the Gaia in Napa Valley, Calif., and the Len Foote Hike Inne in Dawsonville, Ga.

At least two new hotels, the Proximity in Greensboro, N.C., and Teton Creek Resort Hotel and Conference Center in Driggs, Idaho, are vying to be the first to achieve platinum certification, the top level.