C
win
des
12
www.travelweekly.com
Princess debuts new air-sea plan
Post-ash, Europe rethinks policies
Hertz-Dollar deal will alter brands
If the
mu
33
THE NATIONAL NEWSPAPER OF THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY
MAY 3, 2010
AZ immigration law sparks
calls to boycott state’s sites
By Gay Nagle Myers
Teetering on the south rim of the
Grand Canyon was probably less
dangerous last week than being an
Arizona tourism official caught in
the line of fire as public opinion,
pro and con, heated up over the
state’s tough new immigration law.
The threats to the state’s recession-battered
tourism industry, still struggling from recession fallout and the swine flu crisis of 2009,
ranged from calls for a nationwide boycott to
an advisory issued by the Mexican government, which warned its citizens that because
of the “adverse political environment” in
Arizona, Mexican visitors, including migrant
communities, should be cautious when visiting the state or avoid it altogether.
State tourism executives found themselves
in the awkward position of trying to explain
the law’s nuances while at the same time as-
suring visitors that the welcome mat was out.
[ SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CONTINUES TO LOSE CRUISE SHIPS ]
RCI’s pullout of Mariner another blow
to ports along Mexico’s Pacific coast
By Johanna Jainchill
When Royal Caribbean International said
last week that it was pulling the Mariner of
the Seas off its Mexican Riviera itinerary, the
blow was painful but familiar to the ports
along Mexico’s Pacific coast and
in Southern California.
The region will see a major
reduction in cruise traffic over
the next year.
The 3,114-passenger, Los
Angeles-based Mariner, the largest cruise
ship operating Mexican Riviera itineraries,
will move to the Mediterranean beginning in
January. It was the third time a cruise line has
announced the redeployment of a ship from
the region in the last seven months.
Norwegian Cruise Line announced in
March that the 2,240-passenger Norwegian
Star would move to Tampa in October 2011,
and in September, Carnival Cruise Lines said
the 2,052-passenger Carnival Elation would
move to Mobile, Ala., this month.
Those moves came on top
of Princess Cruises eliminating 15 Mexican Riviera cruises
this year and next, including the
weekly itinerary that the line
started out with in the 1960s.
The pullouts represent yet another hit to
Mexico’s tourism industry, already reeling
from last year’s H1N1 swine flu outbreak
and ongoing fear sparked by outbreaks of
drug-trade violence in border cities.
GREEN
PROMISES
KEPT
When the recession hit, it seemed a sure bet hotels
would abandon high-minded environmental plans.
Instead, green development is thriving.
