So, I left Las Vegas for San Francisco and the next big travel show: Pow Wow, the annual international marketplace for travel vendors and media organized by the U.S. Travel Association. This entailed a short flight from the desert's neon oasis to the city by the bay.
I got to Vegas's McCarron International Airport (www.mccarron.com) early after a short taxi ride, so I thought I'd just settle in and wait for my flight. This was a mistake. The food was standardized fast-food grub, the lights and noises of the one-armed bandits - there are, of course, slot machines in the airport, this being Vegas - were non-stop and distracting and 'ere long, I was thoroughly tired of the place. To be fair, Las Vegas airport authorities have big plans to upgrade the busy facility. Right now, they are reopening gates in Concourse C that serve Southwest Airlines that were closed for nearly a year while work went on.
Anxious to move on, I wandered over to the Virgin America boarding gate and asked if I could get on an earlier flight. Turns out, I could. Bliss! The flight was fast and pleasant and almost before I knew it, I was deplaning at San Francisco International Airport's (www.flysfo.com) just remodeled and reopened terminal 2.
The only problem was I was so early that I wasn't able to leave the airport right away. I would still have to wait, it would just be at SFO instead of Sin City International. That turned out to be just fine.
I settled in with a back issue of The New Yorker, nestled in a Jetsons-style futuristic chair near long tables where passengers fired-up their laptops and just across the aisle from a charging station for electronic devices. I bought a coffee at Peet's, the first-rate, Bay Area-based coffee and tea chain, and proceeded to pass a pleasant hour and a half. The contrast with Las Vegas was striking. SFO's terminal 2- the former international terminal, closed in December 2000 and finally re-opened after an extensive re-do in April of this year - has an almost feline coolness and repose, whereas McCarron conveys the frenetic energy of its home city. SFO was so relaxing, I was in no hurry to leave. When I finally did head for the exits, I passed a museum-quality exhibition of silver jewelry, eyeballed one-of-a-kind food shops of near-artisan qualaity and pulled my wheelie under the natural light that poured in through the skylight overhead.
Like most people, I wouldn't deliberately choose to spend oodles of time in an airport. But if you're going to do that anywhere, SFO - at least the reborn terminal 2 and the handsome, 11-year-old international terminal - is one place to do it.
Showing posts with label Las Vegas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Las Vegas. Show all posts
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
Quotables
This year's Global Travel & Tourism Summit meeting of international travel-biz executives and government officials, which I recently attended in Las Vegas, was one part bombast and one part high seriousness. When speakers, delegates and media weren't gambling, eating, drinking, sightseeing, chattering or being subjected to high-decible recorded music and throbbing graphics, they wrestled with very important issues: Like how to make travel both convenient and secure and how to fully onleash travel's power to raise revenue and create jobs.
Inevitably, much of what was said was instantly forgotten. But occasionally someone broke through the noise with incisiveness and humor, wrapped in quotable remarks. Here are two quotables I liked, one serious, one funny.
After a speaker noted that international tourism arrivals soared worldwide to 806 million in 2005, up from just 25 million in 1950, Steve Ridgway, the chief executive of Virgin Atlantic Airways, took the stage. Those aren't idle statistics, he noted, and the transformation of travel happened for a reason, with implications that go well beyond travel and tourism.
"We would not have a global economy without the jet engine,'' Ridgway pointed out. "China and India would not be emerging without the jet engine.''
Sounds obvious but it's not something people give full weight to.
On the flip side of serious, there was Las Vegas's peppery, diminutive mayor, Oscar Goodman, who walked up on stage to the sounds of an Elvis Presley song, with a towering, costumed showgirl on each arm and a cocktail glass in his hand.
"I never go anywhere without my showgirls and my martini,'' Goodman wisecracked. "I have the most fun of any mayor in America.''
It's hard to argue with that.
Inevitably, much of what was said was instantly forgotten. But occasionally someone broke through the noise with incisiveness and humor, wrapped in quotable remarks. Here are two quotables I liked, one serious, one funny.
After a speaker noted that international tourism arrivals soared worldwide to 806 million in 2005, up from just 25 million in 1950, Steve Ridgway, the chief executive of Virgin Atlantic Airways, took the stage. Those aren't idle statistics, he noted, and the transformation of travel happened for a reason, with implications that go well beyond travel and tourism.
"We would not have a global economy without the jet engine,'' Ridgway pointed out. "China and India would not be emerging without the jet engine.''
Sounds obvious but it's not something people give full weight to.
On the flip side of serious, there was Las Vegas's peppery, diminutive mayor, Oscar Goodman, who walked up on stage to the sounds of an Elvis Presley song, with a towering, costumed showgirl on each arm and a cocktail glass in his hand.
"I never go anywhere without my showgirls and my martini,'' Goodman wisecracked. "I have the most fun of any mayor in America.''
It's hard to argue with that.
The Global Travel and Tourism Summit
WTTC is one of those abbreviations you wouldn't know unless you are in the travel biz, but it's well-known within the industry and stands for World Travel & Tourism Council. Why is it important? The organization crunches numbers, follows trends in travel, advocates for improvements in the travel experience for consumers and once a year holds a big meeting that it calls the Global Travel & Tourism Summit.
The summit, which brings together CEOs from 100 big travel-business companies with journalists, tour operators, hoteliers, airline executives and members of local, state and national tourism boards, was held recently in Las Vegas. This was the first time it's been in the United States since 2006. Maybe it was the U.S. location, but this year's conference, which I attended, was preoccupied with two things: finding a balance between convenience and security in travel and gaining some respect from politicians for the job-creating prowess and revenue-generating power of travel and tourism.
Many were the complaints about how hard travel visas are to get for would-be travelers to the U.S., especially people from non-visa waiver countries like Brazil and Chile, and countries that Washington thinks may pose a threat to American national security, meaning not only - but especially - Muslim countries.
"If it takes 30 to 100 days to wait for a U.S. visa, maybe you're going elsewhere,'' observed U.S. Travel Assocation head Roger Dow. Dow suggested streamlining the process (which is analyzed online at the Web site www.smartervisapolicy.org).
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano later said that streamlining may well be needed, but striking the right balance is tricky. "We obviously have a challenge, and we want to keep America safe at the same time,'' she told the audience in the convention center at Aria Resort and Casino.
All the more reason to finally implement oft-mooted, long-delayed trusted traveler programs for road warriors willing to submit to advance background checks, industry execs said. We're working on it, Napolitano replied, in so many words.
The WTTC also released a study at the global summit - its 11th annual meeting - that the organization said shows fully 9 percent of global GDP is derived, directly or indirectly, from tourism and travel, especially business travel. The study, conducted by the private firm Oxford Economics, concludes that travel and tourism is a major driver of world trade - hence the industry should get a good deal more respect from governments around the world. The study was commissioned by American Express, the Singapore Tourism Board, the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority and the U.S. Travel Association - organizations committed to the promotion of travel - so this should be taken into account when its conclusions are used to make the industry's case to officialdom.
Indeed, the travel-biz's characterization of itself makes it sound like the Rodney Dangerfield of global businesses. Why, the U.S. doesn't even have a minister of tourism, many attendees complained in apparent wonderment. They found a semi-sympathetic ear in Valerie Jarrett, a close confidant and senior advisor to U.S. President Barack Obama, who promised to carry their message to the White House from the summit, which she addressed. Also on hand was U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who reiterated Obama's commitment to restoring America's roads, bridges and airports and expanding its light-rail and high-speed rail options.
Problems are never solved - and can't be - at big meetings like this; all people can do is air their grievances, float their ideas and try to advance the conversation. This is basically what happened in Las Vegas, where attendees took time out from sightseeing and gaming to air the issues of the day. In short, it was a talkfest, but talk about the security conundrum and other issues may lead over time to progress that travelers, themselves, will notice in the air and on the road.
The summit, which brings together CEOs from 100 big travel-business companies with journalists, tour operators, hoteliers, airline executives and members of local, state and national tourism boards, was held recently in Las Vegas. This was the first time it's been in the United States since 2006. Maybe it was the U.S. location, but this year's conference, which I attended, was preoccupied with two things: finding a balance between convenience and security in travel and gaining some respect from politicians for the job-creating prowess and revenue-generating power of travel and tourism.
Many were the complaints about how hard travel visas are to get for would-be travelers to the U.S., especially people from non-visa waiver countries like Brazil and Chile, and countries that Washington thinks may pose a threat to American national security, meaning not only - but especially - Muslim countries.
"If it takes 30 to 100 days to wait for a U.S. visa, maybe you're going elsewhere,'' observed U.S. Travel Assocation head Roger Dow. Dow suggested streamlining the process (which is analyzed online at the Web site www.smartervisapolicy.org).
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano later said that streamlining may well be needed, but striking the right balance is tricky. "We obviously have a challenge, and we want to keep America safe at the same time,'' she told the audience in the convention center at Aria Resort and Casino.
All the more reason to finally implement oft-mooted, long-delayed trusted traveler programs for road warriors willing to submit to advance background checks, industry execs said. We're working on it, Napolitano replied, in so many words.
The WTTC also released a study at the global summit - its 11th annual meeting - that the organization said shows fully 9 percent of global GDP is derived, directly or indirectly, from tourism and travel, especially business travel. The study, conducted by the private firm Oxford Economics, concludes that travel and tourism is a major driver of world trade - hence the industry should get a good deal more respect from governments around the world. The study was commissioned by American Express, the Singapore Tourism Board, the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority and the U.S. Travel Association - organizations committed to the promotion of travel - so this should be taken into account when its conclusions are used to make the industry's case to officialdom.
Indeed, the travel-biz's characterization of itself makes it sound like the Rodney Dangerfield of global businesses. Why, the U.S. doesn't even have a minister of tourism, many attendees complained in apparent wonderment. They found a semi-sympathetic ear in Valerie Jarrett, a close confidant and senior advisor to U.S. President Barack Obama, who promised to carry their message to the White House from the summit, which she addressed. Also on hand was U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who reiterated Obama's commitment to restoring America's roads, bridges and airports and expanding its light-rail and high-speed rail options.
Problems are never solved - and can't be - at big meetings like this; all people can do is air their grievances, float their ideas and try to advance the conversation. This is basically what happened in Las Vegas, where attendees took time out from sightseeing and gaming to air the issues of the day. In short, it was a talkfest, but talk about the security conundrum and other issues may lead over time to progress that travelers, themselves, will notice in the air and on the road.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Aria Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas
As long as I am on the subject of hotels (see the two previous posts), allow me to add some more thoughts about Aria Hotel and Casino, which opened about a year and a half ago on Las Vegas Boulevard (''The Strip'').
Las Vegas hotels are known for their lavishness and size, and Aria certainly has both. At 4,004 rooms and suites, the place is not small, and the property's look-at-me colors, ornamentation and all-things-happening-at-once quality turns the hotel into a 24-hour sensorium. There is the obligatory casino, with its games of chance, smoke and polyester and desperate-looking patrons trying for the big score, of course. Beyond that, the hotel boasts 16 restaurants and 10 bars. Here, as elsewhere in upscale Vegas hotels, dining is not only about cheap breakfasts and groaning board buffets anymore - though there there is a popular buffet, called The Buffet. I settled-in at Julian Serrano, the tapas place right off the main lobby, with its smart barmen, swift service and toothsome Spanish food and drink.
Speaking of the lobby, it is of course huge, and as it, too, opens off the main lobby, it has that come-hither quality. This is in sharp contrast to the big gaming hotels in Macao, China, where I went just 10 days after leaving Vegas; in Macau, military-style armed guards stand sentry at the entrances of hotel casinos, providing a distinctly intimidating air - though that doesn't stop Asian gamblers, who have long since passed Vegas in generating gaming revenue, from going in.
When you're as big as Aria, any problems can become magnified. When I checked in, the reservations computer system was down; I had to stand in very long lines for 45 minutes before the computer issue was resolved and I was able to check in. Checking out two days later took about 20 minutes - not bad but certainly not fast.
The place has big virtues, too, though. When I joined another stalled queue at the concierge desk, a staffer roaming the lobby came right over and helped me without being asked. It was a welcome personal touch in a massive hotel. The guest rooms are spacious and come equipped with lots of high-tech features, including having window curtains open automatically when you come in and flick on the lights - an energy-saving feature. Incredibly for a huge Vegas hotel, Aria has won LEEDS Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for its attention to environmental concerns.
The hotel is connected indoors and out to the inevitable shopping mall, and to The Strip. On the way out of the building, you pass a massive and nicely done water wall. Like many Vegas hotels, Aria does a lot of discounting and incentivizing. When I checked in, I was given two drink coupons, which I forgot to use. More importantly, I paid just over $100 U.S. per night to access 5-star comforts, due in part to the fact I was attending a meeting at the hotel. I am not a Vegas guy, as over-the-top glitter is not something I value highly. That said, I would stay in Aria again if, heaven forfend, I have occasion to go back to Sin City.
Aria is located at 3730 Las Vegas Blvd., Las Vegas, NV USA, tel. 866.359.7111, www.arislasvegas.com.
Las Vegas hotels are known for their lavishness and size, and Aria certainly has both. At 4,004 rooms and suites, the place is not small, and the property's look-at-me colors, ornamentation and all-things-happening-at-once quality turns the hotel into a 24-hour sensorium. There is the obligatory casino, with its games of chance, smoke and polyester and desperate-looking patrons trying for the big score, of course. Beyond that, the hotel boasts 16 restaurants and 10 bars. Here, as elsewhere in upscale Vegas hotels, dining is not only about cheap breakfasts and groaning board buffets anymore - though there there is a popular buffet, called The Buffet. I settled-in at Julian Serrano, the tapas place right off the main lobby, with its smart barmen, swift service and toothsome Spanish food and drink.
Speaking of the lobby, it is of course huge, and as it, too, opens off the main lobby, it has that come-hither quality. This is in sharp contrast to the big gaming hotels in Macao, China, where I went just 10 days after leaving Vegas; in Macau, military-style armed guards stand sentry at the entrances of hotel casinos, providing a distinctly intimidating air - though that doesn't stop Asian gamblers, who have long since passed Vegas in generating gaming revenue, from going in.
When you're as big as Aria, any problems can become magnified. When I checked in, the reservations computer system was down; I had to stand in very long lines for 45 minutes before the computer issue was resolved and I was able to check in. Checking out two days later took about 20 minutes - not bad but certainly not fast.
The place has big virtues, too, though. When I joined another stalled queue at the concierge desk, a staffer roaming the lobby came right over and helped me without being asked. It was a welcome personal touch in a massive hotel. The guest rooms are spacious and come equipped with lots of high-tech features, including having window curtains open automatically when you come in and flick on the lights - an energy-saving feature. Incredibly for a huge Vegas hotel, Aria has won LEEDS Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for its attention to environmental concerns.
The hotel is connected indoors and out to the inevitable shopping mall, and to The Strip. On the way out of the building, you pass a massive and nicely done water wall. Like many Vegas hotels, Aria does a lot of discounting and incentivizing. When I checked in, I was given two drink coupons, which I forgot to use. More importantly, I paid just over $100 U.S. per night to access 5-star comforts, due in part to the fact I was attending a meeting at the hotel. I am not a Vegas guy, as over-the-top glitter is not something I value highly. That said, I would stay in Aria again if, heaven forfend, I have occasion to go back to Sin City.
Aria is located at 3730 Las Vegas Blvd., Las Vegas, NV USA, tel. 866.359.7111, www.arislasvegas.com.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Vegas, Baby!
Billboards around my part of the planet in California proclaim in ads for the ARIA Hotel: "The Center of Vegas. Shifted.''
Allowing for the usual advertising and marketing hyperbole, that's not far off. ARIA, a mostly tasty, nifty 4,0004-room highrise (hey, it's Vegas) hotel, sports the obligatory casino, of course, but it has much more on offer for us non-gamblers. I stayed there two nights for the World Travel & Tourism Summit, where Obama administration honchos like U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood met with global travel biz leaders at a newly constructed convention center. People at the convention promoted their ventures, of course (cities, towns, nations, tour companies, hotel chains, airlines and the like) and worried about the uneven world economy and tight U.S. travel visas restrictions. (We're working on it, replied high-profile guests like presidential advisor Valerie Jarrett, a former hotel GM).
When not in meetings in windowless rooms amid tight security, I trolled The Strip and the attendant clustered hotels, restaurants and brand-name shops in City Center, the development that has been opening in stages over the past year or two in Sin City. Vegas and ARIA are about more than buffets now in the Food Department, happily. I settled-in for tapas and cava at ARIA's Julian Serrano, run by and named for the gifted Spanish chef of the same name. While not cheap, the food was sumptuous, the service swift. City Center reminded me a bit of the interconnected highrises of Tokyo, very unlike the sprawl in the desert that Vegas (Vegas, Baby! if you're enamoured of the Rat Pack and 'Mad Men') has long represented.
Of course, some things don't change. On The Strip, a street preacher was calling out: "The Bible isn't just a book, it's God's autobiography.'' Moments later, a cluster of men in cowboy hats walked by, leaflets in hand, wearing T-shirts that gave a phone number and a message that read: "Girls to your room in 20 minutes.''
Allowing for the usual advertising and marketing hyperbole, that's not far off. ARIA, a mostly tasty, nifty 4,0004-room highrise (hey, it's Vegas) hotel, sports the obligatory casino, of course, but it has much more on offer for us non-gamblers. I stayed there two nights for the World Travel & Tourism Summit, where Obama administration honchos like U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood met with global travel biz leaders at a newly constructed convention center. People at the convention promoted their ventures, of course (cities, towns, nations, tour companies, hotel chains, airlines and the like) and worried about the uneven world economy and tight U.S. travel visas restrictions. (We're working on it, replied high-profile guests like presidential advisor Valerie Jarrett, a former hotel GM).
When not in meetings in windowless rooms amid tight security, I trolled The Strip and the attendant clustered hotels, restaurants and brand-name shops in City Center, the development that has been opening in stages over the past year or two in Sin City. Vegas and ARIA are about more than buffets now in the Food Department, happily. I settled-in for tapas and cava at ARIA's Julian Serrano, run by and named for the gifted Spanish chef of the same name. While not cheap, the food was sumptuous, the service swift. City Center reminded me a bit of the interconnected highrises of Tokyo, very unlike the sprawl in the desert that Vegas (Vegas, Baby! if you're enamoured of the Rat Pack and 'Mad Men') has long represented.
Of course, some things don't change. On The Strip, a street preacher was calling out: "The Bible isn't just a book, it's God's autobiography.'' Moments later, a cluster of men in cowboy hats walked by, leaflets in hand, wearing T-shirts that gave a phone number and a message that read: "Girls to your room in 20 minutes.''
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