Jetsettersblog

Excitement is Growing for the 50th Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show

October 29 – November 2, 2009

The world’s largest boat show is turning 50 this year and will celebrate with an extravaganza of more than $3 billion worth of boats, yachts, superyachts, electronics, engines and thousands of accessories from every major marine manufacturer and builder worldwide. The show encompasses more than 3 million square feet of space, both on land and in water, at six sites and are all connected by the official Show Transportation Network.

Six Locations:

Bahia Mar Yachting Center
Greater Fort Lauderdale/ Broward County Convention Center
(Hilton) Fort Lauderdale Grande Hotel & Yacht Club
Hyatt Regency Pier 66 Hotel & Marina
Hall of Fame Marina
Las Olas Marina

Admission is valid for the same-day entrance at all show sites.

E-Ticketing Available for Advance Purchase: Avoid the lines and get your tickets in advance online. Just visit www.showmanagement.com, and then click on the “Buy Tickets ONLINE” link box on the main page.

Box Office Purchase: Purchase tickets on site during the show from the box offices at:

Bahia Mar Yachting Center
Broward County Convention Center
Las Olas Marina
Las Olas Riverfront Docks

Shuttle Buses: Free. Transportation routes between all six show sites, War Memorial Auditorium parking and downtown Riverfront parking.

Water Shuttle: $10 all-day pass, unlimited usage. Waterfront location pick-up points are:

Bahia Mar Yachting Center
Broward County Convention Center
Fort Lauderdale Grande Hotel & Yacht Club
Hyatt Regency Pier 66 Hotel & Marina

Shuttle busses and water shuttles run one hour prior to show opening and one hour after show closing.

Visit: www.showmanagement.com
or Call: 954-764-7642 or 800-940-7642.

General Growth Properties, Inc. (NYSE: GGP) is pleased to present “America’s Premier Shopping Places”, the nation’s most unique collection of tourism-oriented shopping centers located throughout the U.S.A. These renowned centers draw millions of visitors from around the world each year to experience the unique culture, history, flavor and heritage of America’s metropolitan cities and vacation destinations, while enjoying the popular travel activities of shopping and dining.

Whether it’s Faneuil Hall Marketplace (Boston), Harborplace & The Gallery (Baltimore), The Grand Canal Shoppes and Fashion Show (Las Vegas), Ala Moana Center (Honolulu), Water Tower Place (Chicago), Festival Bay Mall (Orlando) or Riverwalk Marketplace (New Orleans), each of America’s Premier Shopping Places offer FIT and group visitors a fun and memorable shopping experience.

“General Growth Properties recognizes the importance of shopping and dining in today’s travel itineraries, both domestic and international,” said Kay Standon, vice president of strategic development for GGP.

“This collection of America’s Premier Shopping Places has been selected from over 200 centers throughout the United States that General Growth Properties owns and manages.” Standon added,

“The primary goal of the America’s Premier Shopping Places program is to provide the travel industry with convenient access to these centers through a single source, as well as to provide group and leisure visitors with a memorable shopping and dining experience during their travels.”

The stores and boutiques within all of America’s Premier Shopping Places represent the nation’s best in quality and variety. Travelers will discover an enticing array of colorful specialty shops, kiosks, and galleries featuring local craftsmen and artisans, gourmet food markets and well-known department and specialty stores.

Domestic travelers enjoy the variety of unique merchandise and crafts indicative of the destination, while international visitors delight in finding their favorite designer brands and popular labels not available at home. Both are certain to discover perfect treasures to take back to friends and loved ones.

The extraordinary experience continues in the vast array of cuisines and dining options available at America’s Premier Shopping Places.

Recent research released by the Travel Industry Association of America and The International Culinary Tourism Association reveals that over 27 million travelers have participated in some type of culinary-related activity during the past 3 years. 85% of travelers stated they like to try different restaurants and experience local cuisines.

At America’s Premier Shopping Places, travelers can sample the distinctive flavors of regional cuisines offered by local cafes and restaurants, or delight in finding their favorite national restaurants, many of which are home to some of the nation’s most renowned chefs and culinary artists.

America’s Premier Shopping Places cater to both domestic and international fly, drive and motorcoach travelers. All visitors to America’s Premier Shopping Places are eligible to receive a Premier Passport filled with thousands of dollars in shopping and dining savings, special offers and amenities.

Vouchers are provided in multiple languages by travel agents and tour operators, or may be downloaded and printed from America’s Premier Shopping Places’ website at www.AmericasShoppingPlaces.com. In addition, several centers offer travel trade professionals commissionable shopping packages, and assist group meeting planners with unique private events, pre-paid meal vouchers and group dining programs for food court cafes or full-service restaurants.

For more information on America’s Premier Shopping Places, please visit www.AmericasShoppingPlaces.com

General Growth Properties, Inc. currently has ownership interest in, or management responsibility for, over 200 regional shopping malls in 44 states, as well as ownership in master planned community developments and commercial office buildings. The Company’s portfolio totals approximately 200 million square feet of retail space and includes over 24,000 retail stores nationwide. GGP’s common stock is trading in the pink sheets under the symbol GGWPQ.

For more information, visit www.ggp.com

CompleteSailor.com aims to provide the best content, community, and e-commerce shopping for its growing number of users

Complete Sailor announced the launch of CompleteSailor.com. CompleteSailor.com pledges to become the sailing community’s #1 resource for content and e-commerce shopping. The company was created by a group of passionate sailboat racers and cruisers from New Jersey interested in creating the Internet’s first comprehensive online destination for sailors of all types - from beginners to experienced cruisers and ocean racers.

“We are thrilled about the launch of our website, which will fill a gap in the online market for sailors throughout the United States and the world,” stated Brian Beck, CEO of Complete Sailor.

“Being experienced sailors and Internet professionals ourselves, we saw the need to bring together shopping, education, and community in one web site for sailors of all levels.”

CompleteSailor.com is more than just an online store or a message board about sailing- the site provides visitors with the content, community, and e-commerce shopping unavailable anywhere else on the web. Visitors to the new website will be able to shop for the best brands in sailing gear, electronics, line, and hardware - Harken, Ronstan, Forespar, Tacktick, and many more - learn about the fundamentals of sailing in the Education section, and will soon be able to interact with other sailors through the Community section (forums, blogs, personalized MyCompleteSailor pages, and more).

The site also contains directories of yacht clubs, sailing schools, sailing events, and links to other sailing resources online.

Complete Sailor’s founders have more than 30 years of collective sailing experience and over 20 years in the Internet and eCommerce industry, positioning them perfectly to understand the needs of the sailing community and how to deliver a great online experience for this market.

About Complete Sailor

CompleteSailor.com is the Internet’s only web site dedicated to bringing shopping, community, and education together in one destination for sailors of all levels.

The Company was founded by a group of avid sailors and Internet professionals in 2008, and is rapidly evolving to be the #1 web site for all things sailing. The site features online shopping for sailing’s best brands, community forums and blogs, and sailing education for new sailors.

For more information, please visit http://www.completesailor.com  or call 732-208-2763.

Virgin America has teamed up with Google to take cloud computing to new heights with the Day in the Cloud Challenge — the first-ever online puzzle challenge that can be played in the air and on the ground.

Vrigin filed a release about the event from 35,000 feet from one of Virgin America’s Wi-Fi-enabled planes.

Thousands of people flying and on the ground went online to compete in the unique 24-hour challenge. Virgin America is the first and only airline to offer Gogo In-flight Internet on every flight.

The all-day gamer challenge showcases how people are increasingly using web-based services like Google Apps to connect and work together “in the cloud,” wherever they have access to the Internet — even on a Virgin America flight at 35,000 feet.

Southwest Airlines Vacations is offering a Classic Family Vacation by Hyatt to clients who book a Southwest Airlines Vacations package for two or more nights, including flight and Hyatt hotel stay.

The offer includes daily complimentary breakfast for all registered guests; 15 percent discount on Hyatt Pure spa services; 15 percent discount on dining; free half-day kids program at Camp Hyatt; locally inspired in-room kids snack amenity; and exclusive 20 percent discount valid in National Geographic’s online store. The offer applies to bookings  to Sept. 2 by 6 p.m. CST for travel to Sept. 7.

Five-day advance purchase required. Here is how to book the hotel portion of this deal: find a Hyatt hotel; select “Upgrade Room”; select the room type with the red promotional text that reads: “Sale! Breakfast and More!”

At Four Seasons Palm Beach, guests enjoy a resort credit of $50 per day which may be used toward rate or any resort service, including at the newly open spa.

If the credit is applied to the starting rate is of $225, it goes down to $175 per night.

At Four Seasons Miami, guests enjoy a third night complimentary with rates starting at $250 per room per night (average nightly rate of $166).

As an additional value, children under the age of 5 enjoy complimentary meals at the properties’ restaurants.

For reservations or more information, call Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach at 561-582-2800 or Four Seasons Hotel Miami at 305-385-3535, or visit www.fourseasons.com

Insight Vacations unveiled a new Hot Deals savings promotion through which it will release on the first and 15th of every month a list of guaranteed departures that are priced at least 10 percent lower than the brochure rate.

Initially the promotion applied only to select European departures. On Monday, Insight released 10 new discounted Europe departures as well as 10 U.S., Canada and Mexico departures that offer a savings of at least 10 percent.

Here are some example departures: Treasures of Mexico, departing July 11, brochure price, $2,475, discounted price, $2,225, savings per couple, $500;  and Enchanting Canyonlands, departing July 11, brochure price, $1,650, discounted price, $1,485, savings per couple, $330.

The Hot Deals program includes: Book any of the departures listed on the Hot Deals flyer posted on www.insightvacations.com  and clients will save a minimum of 10 percent off the brochure land rate; must be deposited within seven days of booking; bookings that are made 45 days within departure must pay in full at time of booking; offer applies to new bookings only; and every other week beginning June 1 a new list of departures will be posted on www.insightvacations.com

Insight pays a minimum of 10 percent commission on land.

For more information, call 800-582-8380 or visit www.insightvacations.com

The U.S. Treasury Department today issued new rules for companies that have received taxpayer assistance. There will be a 90-day public comment period, but we do not expect these rules to change in any material way. We are pleased that after months of discussion with the Obama Administration and our industry’s full-court press on the value of meetings, events and incentives, these regulations do not do any further harm to the meetings and events marketplace.

The Obama Administration has come to appreciate the value of legitimate business travel, including meetings, events and incentives. Unfortunately, however, significant damage was done by weeks of media and political sensationalism earlier this year.

To get businesses back on the road, our industry must take a more active role in counseling our customers and providing them with the confidence to meet again.

Today’s Treasury Department Announcement

The Treasury Department announced today that the boards of directors of companies receiving taxpayer assistance must develop a company-wide policy for “excessive” expenditures in the areas of meetings, events and incentive travel. This policy must be kept on file with the Treasury Department. A new “pay czar,” Kenneth Feinberg, is tasked with enforcing this and other policies that regulate executive compensation.

What You Can Do

The U.S. Travel Association has developed a suite of materials to help you help your customers. Although the Treasury Department’s rules only apply to companies that have taken taxpayer assistance, these tools can be helpful with all businesses and associations. We encourage your clients to adopt the model meetings and events policy developed by industry experts earlier this year. These materials are designed to help you educate your customers on our model policy and the benefits of meetings, events and incentive travel.

Included in this email are links to the following resources:

1 ) Excerpt of Treasury Department Rule

2 ) Treasury Department Interim Final Rule: TARP Standards for Corporate Compensation and Governance

3 ) Sample letters to your TARP(attached) and non-TARP(attached) customers. We suggest that you distribute these to your corporate customers as soon as possible. Attachments should include a copy of the regulation and related Treasury press releases, as well as the model board policy which TARP companies can adopt to comply with the regulation and non-TARP companies can adopt to insulate themselves from attacks on travel.

4 ) Letter from members of Congress to Treasury Secretary Geithner endorsing the model policy. This letter encouraged the Treasury Department to move quickly and give companies clarity with respect to meetings and business travel so that companies can feel comfortable about returning to meetings and events.

5 ) Travel community’s model board policy guidelines. This document should be enclosed with the letters to your TARP and non-TARP customers.

6 ) Business value of ME&I one-pager. The facts and talking points in this document can be used when discussing these issues with customers.

7 ) Meetings Mean Business campaign video. A compelling, 4-minute video that tells the story of the Meetings Mean Business campaign can be downloaded from www.meetingsmeanbusiness.com  for use with your customers.

8 ) Directions on how to embed a video in a PowerPoint presentation. Use these if you would like to embed the Meetings Mean Business campaign video in a customer-focused PowerPoint presentation.

I hope you find these materials useful in helping to convince your corporate customers to abide by the new Treasury regulations and to “get back into the water.” Working together, we can ensure the travel community’s future prosperity and save jobs for the millions of men and women who depend on business travel for their livelihood.

The Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards program is holding “Partnerpalooza,”  through Sept. 15, 2009. Rapid Rewards Members who make a purchase with any Rapid Rewards Preferred Partners will have the chance to win prizes including free travel and Companion Pass for one year as well as A-List status for one year.

Rapid Rewards members will also have the chance to play an Instant Win game daily to win prizes from some Rapid Rewards Preferred Partners.

For a complete list of special Partnerpalooza offers, visit www.southwest.com/partnerpalooza

To view a blog post on Partnerpalooza, visit www.blogsouthwest.com/blog/southwest-airlines-partnerpalooza

To enter, current Rapid Rewards Members who register for the promotion, then make a purchase with any Rapid Rewards Preferred Partner using their Rapid Rewards Credit Card from Chase during the promotional period will earn two entries into the sweepstakes.

If you don’t have a Rapid Rewards Credit Card, register for the promotion, then apply and get approved for the Rapid Rewards Credit Card from Chase during the promotional period and receive four sweepstakes entries.

Rapid Rewards Members who make a purchase from any of Southwest’s Rapid Rewards Preferred Partners using any other form of payment other than the Rapid Rewards card by Chase earn one sweepstakes entry.

Rapid Rewards Dining Program Members also earn one entry into the sweepstakes.

By signing up for the Rapid Rewards Dining Program during the promotional period, Members also can earn one entry into the sweepstakes.

Rapid Rewards Members earn prizes during Partnerpalooza, they also can get great deals with many of Southwest’s Preferred Partners. For example, Rapid Rewards Members receive six times the Rapid Rewards credits at six Hyatt brands worldwide with a minimum two-night stay (offer expires Aug. 31, 2009).

Members can also save up to 40 percent, plus earn Double Rapid Rewards credit, on rentals of three or more days at Avis Rent A Car.

In addition to the 42 instant win prizes and the sweepstakes grand prize of 12 Rapid Rewards Award Tickets and a Rapid Rewards Companion Pass for one year, sweepstakes entrants are also eligible to win the first prize of six Rapid Rewards Award Tickets and a Rapid Rewards Companion Pass for one year, or the second prize of two Rapid Rewards Award Tickets and Rapid Rewards-List status for one year.

Insight Vacations launched a new savings promotion through which it will release a list of guaranteed departures on first and 15th of every month that are priced at least 10 percent lower than the brochure rate.

By booking any of the departures listed on the Hot Deals flyer posted on www.insightvacations.com, clients will save a minimum of 10 percent off the brochure land rate.

Bookings must be deposited within seven days of booking. Bookings that are made 45 days within departure must pay in full at time of booking. Offer applies to new bookings only.

Every other week , a new list of departures will be posted.

For more information, call 800-582-8380 or visit www.insightvacations.com