Mark Pestronk:
Maximizing expenses for tax
reasons won’t reduce the
value of your agency. 29
Safari d’elegance:
South Africa’s Shambala Game
Reserve offers luxury in a
wilderness setting. 42
Michael Fabey:
Appearance, culture and
branding are becoming major
concerns for airlines. 49
www.travelweekly.com
THE NATIONAL N EWSPAPER OF THE TRAV EL INDUSTRY
[ 50,000 TO CONVERGE ON ‘COWTOWN’ ]
T i p p i n g
By Jeri Clausing
DENVER — Many of the homeless people
have disappeared from Civic Center Park and
Denver is basking
in glow of hosting
Dems’ convention
the
downtown’s bustling 16th Street Mall.
Denver Airport has gotten a mini face-lift
inside and out, with signs throughout the
s c a l e s
airport touting Colorado’s history and Den-
ver landmarks. From checked-bag
fees to lighter food
carts and life
vests, airlines are
looking to save
And the Denver Metro Convention and
See DENVER on Page 52 BY MICHAEL FABEY
PAGE 24
on fuel costs
So has downtown, where workers for by trimming
months have been doing everything from
painting lampposts to replacing stone weight wherever
walkways to hanging thousands of welcome they can.
banners.
AUGUST 25, 2008
‘You couldn’t pay for that
marketing opportunity, to
present Denver to such a
worldwide audience.’
[ BUSINESS MODEL IS TARGET ]
2nd class action filed
against YTB as number
of suits keeps growing
By Nadine Godwin
For the second time in a week, YTB International was targeted earlier this month in a
class action brought by disgruntled former investors in its referring travel agent program.
And there will be more such lawsuits, according to Casey Flynn, a St. Louis attorney who is representing the second set of
plaintiffs.
He said his firm, Carey & Danis, would
file “several” YTB actions. Flynn said it was
important to have “a lot of these going on”
to ensure that the matter is carried to its con-
See YTB on Page 51
T W PHO TO ILLUS TRA TION B Y THORALF TOLLEFSEN
[ REGISTERED TRAVELER CHANGING ]
C lear card now
i nching toward
n ational ID role
By Dan Luzadder
Clear, the leading Registered Traveler services provider, will begin
putting digital photos on the identity cards of its 200,000 members
within the next few days under an
agreement with the Department of
Homeland Security.
The move, the latest development in the
shifting playing field that marks the Registered Traveler initiative, will position the
company for security credentialing that goes
far beyond airports. It will include venues,
such as sports stadiums, where security and
rapid access are draws for members of the
identity verification service.
It is also thrusting Clear into a highly controversial area: the concept of a national ID
card for U.S. citizens. Privacy advocates and
civil liberties groups have long opposed the
concept of a national ID, warning that it
could enable the government to snoop on
the private activities of innocent Americans.
Steven Brill, the founder and CEO of
Verified Identity Pass, Clear’s parent company, told Travel Weekly last week that
the new agreement with the DHS, along
with Clear’s stepped-up efforts to move
the identity system beyond airports, fit the
See CLEAR on Page 50
WORLD BEAT
Tia Stephanie Megacruising Overlooked
Mexico tours will return to Augsburg
put emphasis New Orleans in boasts brushes
on immersion. 2009. with history.
P. 30 P. 28 P. 36
