I attended the Villa Joseph Marie High School annual charity auction on Saturday night, and it reminded me of the great values on offer in Global Traveler’s online auction to benefit the Mentor Foundation. At the Villa auction, GT donated a trip to China, which was a big hit, as were other travel-related vacations.

Global Traveler’s auction benefits a great cause that helps children around the world avoid getting involved with drugs and alcohol, which is one of the largest issues facing our children. While your bids will help children, you and your company will benefit from great deals and offers. Some of the selected items for bid include:

- Two business-class tickets on American Airlines

- Two business-class tickets on Asiana Airlines

- Two business-class tickets on Singapore Airlines

- Four business-class tickets on British Airways

- Two business-class tickets on  Emirates

So get online and bid, take a fabulous trip and help Mentor!

– Fran Gallagher, publisher and CEO

Over the weekend, I was invited by Tourism Ireland to attend the kick-off dinner and private preview of the Philadelphia Flower Show. The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society heads up the event and festivities, and the show is the largest indoor flower show in the world. It is a wonderful touch of spring, particularly here in the Northeast where we have been pummeled with significant snowfall.

Countries from all over the world show off their best — Brazil, South Africa, Singapore and, of course, Ireland. Tourism Ireland had the area painstakingly planted and decorated with award-winning style. Each year there is a specific theme to the show; this year it was Passport to the World, very fitting for the readers of Global Traveler. In 1997, the theme was Ireland, which was the catalyst for stepping up Tourism Ireland’s involvement.

In attendance was Dara Calleary, minister of labour affairs, who linked the flower show to Ireland’s tourism industry. Tourism represents so much of Ireland’s job market that it is important to focus on anything like the flower show to drive travelers to Ireland. The flower show attracts the right type of individuals, who are interested in history and gardens, which are associated with Ireland, its castles and manor homes.

The Philadelphia Flower Show is deeply rooted in the 183-year history of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS). Over the years, members brought their plants to show other members and, eventually, to share with the public. In the 1960s, PHS took over management of the show, also encouraging participation by amateurs, individuals and garden clubs.

With the help of hundreds of volunteers, the show raises significant funds to support PHS’s community greening programs and other civic initiatives in Philadelphia. Philadelphians have more gardens than other cities because the PHS encourages open spaces to be created and turned into places to plant. Additionally, the city hosts the largest in-city park, Fairmount Park, with 9,200 acres.

– Fran Gallagher, publisher and CEO

I penned my letter from the publisher recently and took a bullish stance on the future of travel based on the return of the Emirates A380 to New York and OpenSkies‘ new service between Washington, D.C., and Paris.

Add to that the recent announcement that American Airlines will be increasing international flights from New York. This spring, AA will add three new destinations from JFK, including San Jose, Costa Rica; Madrid, Spain; and Manchester, England. The new flights to San Jose will begin April 6, while service to Madrid starts May 1, and flights to Manchester will begin May 13.

Jim Carter, American’s vice president in New York City, rightly stated: “New Yorkers are international travelers.” He is absolutely correct. Add the feeder markets around New York, which can stretch as far south as Philadelphia, and there is a huge potential market for AA.

Hopefully, this is another sign that travel will continue to pull the country, and the world, out of the global recession.

– Fran Gallagher, publisher and CEO

We are about to enter another wine survey season. GT is the only magazine that conducts a survey of business- and first-class wine in the United States. It is a major task, and I certainly understand why other financially strapped publications don’t take this on.

We are all looking forward to dealing with the airlines that never seem to be able to get the wines to us without our help. Some airlines finds a reason not to send their submissions because they are understaffed or just don’t care enough to follow through. It is really quite amazing how difficult some people can make this very simple task.

The survey itself is very interesting to watch. Not only is there a panel of about 25-30 professional judges, but every wine is poured in a back room and each glass is labeled at the bottom with an identifying number. It is truly a blind tasting. Read about last year’s survey here.

When we award the winners of the GT Tested awards (this past year we held the function at the Andaz Wall Street), we like to have the winners of the wine survey send samples to be served at the function. This year we had about 350 guests at the Andaz Wall Street. It is a big hit, but some airlines, much like the survey itself, try to have their wines at the event and fall short. This year, we had confirmation after confirmation from winners that the wines would be supplied. We listed them on the event program, never to have the wine show up. Of course, this causes problems.

All this so that you, the business luxury traveler, has the best possible wine while traveling at 35,000 feet!

– Fran Gallagher, publisher and CEO

I feel like I just blogged! Oh, wait, I did. I switched with Kim as I was up to my eyeballs last Monday and she was traveling on Friday. I spent the weekend in the Outer Banks, taking care of a few things and missing the huge snow storm that hit Philadelphia and areas slightly south, including my route home through the Delmarva Peninsula.

I waited an extra day, returning on Sunday morning in the hopes that the snow would be cleared from Route 13, which runs through Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. Even waiting 18-20 hours after the storm, there was significant coverage on at least one of the two lanes as I approached within 30 miles of Dover, Delaware.

Traffic was slow and stop-and-go, so I decided to take the less-traveled route and use the totally snow-packed lane. Like the other lane, it had been plowed, but human nature kept drivers in one lane more than the other, so the traveled lane was clear and dry — but choked with trucks, cars and SUVs.

The right lane was packed with one-inch thick snow, but I had a weapon, an Audi A8. All you have to do is Google “Audi in the snow” and there are several YouTube videos showing the Quattro (all-wheel drive) in action.

Well, traveling 40-45 m.p.h. in the snow and passing others in the clear lane saved my travel time and led the way for others to do the same. Delaware, how about a more serious investment in plowing equipment? I know that there was 25 inches and near-blizzard conditions, but when I hit the area, the snow had stopped for at least 24 hours.

On the other hand, it was fun to test out the winter skills of the Audi and, hey — it was born in a cold snow, so it makes sense . . . .

– Fran Gallagher, publisher and CEO