7 Days; 7 Travel Stories

1. Online Wonders

Visit the newly redesigned http://www.itinarod.com/ site featuring a collection of the best web addresses to help plan a vacation or business trip. Also, don’t forget to click on the ads above to support the Weekend Reader.

2. Pilgrim’s Pride

Today, religious travel, tourism, and hospitality is a booming $18-billion industry with 300 million travelers. The Travel Industry Association of America reports that one in four travelers are currently interested in “spiritual vacations.” More than 50,000 churches and religious organizations host travel programs, with first-class travel as a focus.

This sector of the industry breaks down in to 12 segments: Pilgrimages, Missionary, Cruises, Leisure/getaways, Conferences/conventions, Destinations/attractions, Retreats/guesthouses, Christian camps, Adventure/active, Volunteer vacations, Student/youth, Family/intergenerational.

The religious conventions and meetings business, acccording to the Religious Conference Management Association, experienced an increase from 4.4 million attendees to 14.7 million attendees at religious meetings between 1994 and 2006. Pilgrimages also witnessed a dramatic increase. For example, the Vatican nearly doubled the number of visitors in the past 10 years to an all-time high in 2006 of 4.2 million.

Other famous shrines and sites have also experienced similar growth including Lourdes, Fatima, San Giovanni Rotondo, Assisi, Canterbury Cathedral, Geneva, Germany Reformation sites, and biblical sites along the route of Apostle Paul in Greece and Turkey. Holy Land destinations such as Jordan and Israel have also enjoyed record numbers in the new millennium. ETN

3. A Shoot For the Stars

The California Space Authority hosted a fashion show at its annual conference a few weeks ago. On the runway: a zero-G-inspired wedding gown adorned with shimmering baubles and wispy flower arrangements, chic flight suits, and outfits showing plenty of skin, aka Barbarella. ETN

4. London Tied and Bound

The World Travel Market was in full swing this week with caring for the planet a dominant theme. The exhibition included the launch of a Responsible Tourism Day by the UN's World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) which also held a summit on climate change. UNWTO’s leadership stressed that a measured response is needed to solve the world’s environmental problems, pointing out that tourism is an economic lifeline for many countries and simplistic moves to curb it could condemn millions to poverty. Euronews

5. Chocolate Delight

New archaeological findings push the date of the first use of cacao back to about 1100 B.C., 500 years earlier than previously known. The researchers suggest that the ancient peoples of Mexico and Central America served cacao beverages akin to beer during ceremonial occasions. The brew consisted of fermented, roasted and ground cacao seeds spiced with chili peppers. It tasted a lot more like mole poblano than today’s sweeter version. NY Times

6. Climb Aboard

Saudi Prince, Walid bin Talal, the world’s 13th richest person, became the first VIP customer for Airbus’ new A380 superjumbo jet. Priced at just over $300 million, Prince Walid signed the contract at a ceremony at the Dubai air show. He declined to discuss his plans for outfitting his new rig, but Lufthansa Technik of Hamburg says that it has already drawn up a sample floor plan. Included is a bedroom, office, bathroom and wellness area in the back of the plane’s upper deck, along with two guest rooms equipped with showers.

A private lounge with numerous divans as well as a modern galley and buffet are laid out in the front section. The main deck is reserved for meeting rooms, a dining room and a spacious royal lounge. The rear section would feature first and business-class style seats for courtiers, advisers and other staff. Analysts estimate that manufacturers produce as many as 1,000 private airliners a year, with sales during the next decade expected to reach $200 billion. NY Times

And now for the most expense single night stays. Let’s start with the $25,000 a nighter in 10-room Bridge Suite at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. The hotel sits on top of a bridge that acts as a connection between the two Royal Towers buildings and overlooks the marina.

The Imperial Suite at President Wilson Hotel in Geneva for $23,000 per night features bulletproof windows and doors, four bedrooms, five bathrooms, and a great view of Lake Geneva. The Presidential Suites at the Martinez Hotel in Cannes will set you back $18,000. The suites are 8,000 square feet and feature two bedrooms, a kitchen, a Turkish bath and a personal sauna. A personal butler at also at your disposal along with Bose plasma screen televisions and telephones, and open bar. Hotel and Resort Insider

7. Here Comes Santa Claus

Hey, it’s Thanksgiving and to quote Arlo Guthrie, “you can get” just about “anything you want” at your favorite hotel. Walk right in and...if your Phoenix Suns’ guard Steve Nash and want a tattoo to memorialize a perfect Tahitian vacation, the hotel concierge will find a reputable tattoo artist.

At Italy’s Palazzo Magnani Feroni, an intimate palace overlooking Florence, bathroom amenities are stocked based on the guest’s preferred scent. At Brazil’s Hilton Sao Paulo Morumbi, helicopters transfer guests between the Sao Paulo Guarulhols International Airport and the hotel. The $5,500 fee also includes the Presidential Suite and daily spa treatments.

Nine Zero, a boutique hotel in Boston, greets each pet with a gourmet treat and stocks the room with a bed and food and water bowls. If you don’t bring a pet, but still want that loving feeling, the Loews Annapolis hotel will bring out Luke, a yellow Labrador, where guests are encouraged to play with him or can reserve time to take him for a stroll.

Guests to any Ritz-Carlton hotel can rest easy knowing a Technology Butler is in-house to handle any mini-crisis from cell phone chargers to laptop crashes. New York’s Fitzpatrick Hotel offers a fairy-tale experience for children where guests bring their American Girl dolls are greeted by name at check-in. In the room there are slippers and a robe for the doll, as well as a special bed and turndown service to mimic every guest’s experience. At breakfast, the doll gets a place setting of her own. At Boston’s XV Beacon frequent guests receive a Tiffany’s gift. The Drake in Toronto offers a discreet “Pleasure Menu” with a la carte items and packages for guests in the mood for an adventurous evening in. Forbes Traveler/MSNBC/ASTA

Rich’s Weekend Reader is published by AndTyler222 Communications. All rights reserved. Information from various sources and mostly rewritten. andtyler222@verizon.net