Last year I vowed not to stay home for the New Year’s holiday this year, but guess what I did? Stayed home. I did some quick Internet searches, several times, on Orbitz, Travelocity and Kayak, but I found nothing that jumped out at me. I wanted to reach out to some of my client friends in the industry, but I was so bogged down with business and year-end work, I just never got around to reaching out.

So I was here the day after New Year’s, watching the news, when I saw that Hawaii is continuing a two-year downward slide. I happen to be a big fan of Hawaii and think it is a great destination. Many people think it is too sterile and too expensive, but when you go to Hawaii, everything works and the people cannot be more friendly. As far as the expense, I have a friend who refers to it as “Hawaii money,” and when I traveled there with my family, no matter where we ate dinner, it was always the same price. Expensive, but orderly, friendly and tasty; so definitely worth it.

But have you see a lot of promotions for Hawaii? Have you seen any spectacular marketing or advertising about the Islands? I haven’t. Additionally, Hawaii and its hotels cannot get their sights off the West Coast market. This is where they spend nearly all their marketing dollars. In case they haven’t heard, California is in the dumps, so perhaps they should open their minds and reach out to the less-recession-hit East Coast?

Several years ago, Hawaii won Best Domestic Tourism Destination from the readers of Global Traveler. When I reached out to the CVB, I received a less than “aloha” response. I was a little shocked. Not only did they seem not to care, but they were not interested in coming to the awards ceremony or responding to me as if they were honored.

Now they think President Obama’s trip to Hawaii is their best marketing tool. This is the same guy who told travelers not to go to extravagant meetings and not to travel (the AIG effect), which resulted in the loss of 100 meetings in Hawaii. Companies canceled their meetings in fear of what these meetings would look like in the AIG effect-hungry press. In my opinion, Hawaii could not have picked a worse spokesperson.

Hawaii is obviously misguided and has no idea how to get people back to the islands. It was an easy out to blame the economy. Perhaps the CVB needs to talk to some of the people who check guests in at hotels, who serve the meals and who attend to your needs while in Hawaii. They are the people that make Hawaii great. The guys at the Royal Hawaiian’s Tiki Bar have better insight on the true Aloha spirit than anyone at the CVB.

To all our blog readers, subscribers and friends of Global Traveler, a Happy New Year!

– Fran Gallagher, publisher and CEO

Anyone looking to fly to Europe any time between Christmas Day and April 30, 2010? Well, you are incredibly lucky — right now! This morning, Dec. 10, 2009, from 9 a.m. to 10:25 a.m., Lufthansa is auctioning off seats for departures between the applicable dates for just one euro (approximately $1.47). The online bidding will proceed as follows:

9 a.m - From any U.S. destination to Europe in business class

9:05 a.m. - From Charlotte to Munich in economy class

9:16 a.m. - From Chicago to Dusseldorf in business class

9:35 a.m. - From Florida to Frankfurt in business class

9:55 a.m. - From New York to Dusseldorf in business class

And, it doesn’t stop there! Until 10:25 a.m., 72 flights from Germany to Europe, Asia and Africa will also be auctioned off. Customers will bid for their chosen flights, ranging from 10 to 50 euros for economy class or 10 to 100 Euros for business class.

Now, the only question you might have to ask yourself is — why are you still reading this blog and not checking out further details on the Lufthansa website? You may just get all that holiday shopping done before 10:30 a.m.!

– Courtney Centeno, account executive

Tomorrow, Sept. 26, is European Languages Day. The day, celebrated in 45 European countries, was designed with three objectives in mind — alerting the public to the importance of language learning and diversifying the range of languages learned in order to increase plurilingualism and intercultural understanding; promoting the rich linguistic and cultural diversity of Europe, which must be preserved and fostered; and encouraging lifelong language learning in and out of school, whether for study purposes, for professional needs, for purposes of mobility or for pleasure and exchanges.

The day was brought to my attention by a media alert from the Skyscanner website. The website offers instant online comparisons on flight prices for more than 600 airlines. In honor of European Languages Day, and to help Americans lose their bad reputations for not being as multilingual as other countries, Skyscanner is encouraging Americans to learn simple phrases in other languages to use when traveling. Interested travelers can visit the website for some language lessons.

I returned from Germany on Wednesday (more about my trip in upcoming blogs), and I definitely did learn some key phrases and essential words during my trip. I can definitely appreciate the ease of travel to foreign countries for Americans. I was able to get by in Germany without knowing any German. How many Germans could visit the States and get by speaking only German? However, I do think it is important to learn some words in the native tongue of the country you plan to visit, particularly essential words like please, thank you and hello/goodbye.

Here are some of the key phrases from Skyscanner:

IN NORWEGIAN:

Hello/Goodbye: Hallo/Ha det

Please/Thank You: Vaer sa snill/Takk

Cheers! (when toasting): Skal!

IN GERMAN:

Hello/Goodbye: Hallo/Auf Wiedersehen

Please/Thank You: Bitte/Danke

Cheers!: Prost!

IN SPANISH:

Hello/Goodbye: Hola/Adios

Please/Thank You: Por Favor/Gracias

Cheers!: Salud

IN POLISH:

Hello/Goodbye: Dzien dobry/Do widzenia

Please/Thank You: Prosze/Dziekuje

Cheers!: Na zdrowie!

IN FRENCH:

Hello/Goodbye: Bonjour/Au Revoir

Please/Thank You: S’il vous plait/merci

Cheers!: Salut!

For more, visit the Skyscanner website. And, in celebration of European Languages Day, take a few moments to learn a few key phrases before your next trip!

–Kim Krol, eFlyer editor, circulation and public relations executive

I’m waiting for a decent summer flick.   After all this hype over The Hangover , I must admit I was quite disappointed.  I am an avid Terminator fan, but the bad reviews keep me shying away from the movie theater.  And while I love special effects, the numbers that Transformers 2  are drawing in at the box office just aren’t enough to get me to pay $18 for a movie ticket.

I hope that saving my pennies for Public Enemies or Bruno will be worth it.   Perhaps I should stop reading reviews and asking opinions and just buy a ticket and formulate my own opinion.

Until then, my neighborhood has started one of my favorite summertime events, free Summer Screenings in the park!

Perhaps some of you global travelers have some suggestions for classics I can add to my Netflix queue ?

–Courtney Centeno, account executive

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Recently someone asked me what my dream job would be. After just a few moments of thought, I replied, “A restaurant critic!” How great to be able to try all kinds of cuisine and not have to pay for it! Almost as soon as the words were out of my mouth, though, I thought of another potential ideal job: travel writer. What could be better than wandering the world and sharing your discoveries with others — and getting paid for it? Well, how about combining both of those occupations for the ultimate in dream jobs? Perusing the offerings on at least two cable networks, it seems that there are a lucky few out there who are doing just that.

Most travelers would probably agree that one of the aspects of their journeys they most enjoy is the exposure to new foods and libations of the regions they visit. For those who can’t frequently explore new places and foods, however, they must be satisfied with whatever local ethnic restaurants can provide in the way of variety. Certainly in our largest cities, those options can be quite extensive, and as the globe effectually shrinks, even small towns often boast an assortment of “foreign” cuisines. That may not really suffice for those who long to enjoy a truly authentic experience served up in culture-rich surroundings or who are tired of the same old offerings at home.

Perhaps the next best thing to hopping a plane for parts yet unexplored is spending some time with the well-traveled hosts of some of cable TV’s food-focused shows. Two that my husband and I watch on a fairly regular basis are Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives with Guy Fieri and the Travel Channel’s Man vs. Food with Adam Richman. Both shows focus primarily on offerings on American soil, but often they present the quirky, the unusual and truly fantastic that a visitor to a city or region might easily miss. A visit to either show’s website provides one with recipes and addresses and links to the websites of restaurants previously visited. For travelers who are looking for a unique and perhaps regionally authentic dining experience in a strange city, these are sources which reach beyond the typical concierge’s list or tourist guidebook. Giada DeLaurentiis’ Weekend Getaways and Alton Brown’s Feasting on Asphalt (and this season’s Feasting on Waves) on the Food Network also allow one to take part in vicarious road trips with food as the focus. 

The Travel Channel also produces several shows in which foods and recipes are prominently featured in their country or city of origin. A number of these (such as Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations and Andrew Zimmern’s Bizarre Foods) tend to have a more international bent than those mentioned above. Websites for these programs include a “Travel Guides” component which provides lists of the cities, restaurants, hotels and other sites visited in each. These make it especially easy to quickly review whether a spot on your next itinerary has appeared on one of the shows and have all the contact information at your fingertips. 

For those who enjoy seeing new places and indulging in good food, these programs and others like them provide a chance to learn a little more about both without ever leaving home . . . and wonderful incentives to hit the road again!

Patty Vanikiotis, proofreader