By Lark Ellen Gould The long-haul flight may be on a trajectory toward extinction. Recent shake-ups in long-haul airline routes may be proving that, in the end, high airline fuel prices, clunky avionics, and 18-hour non-stops may not make good business buddies. The long-haul market was given a jolt last week when Singapore Airlines (SIA) […]

Interview with Richard Fain, Chairman and CEO, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. By Bill Becken Coming down from a very tough 2012, Richard Fain, Chairman and CEO, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., still envisions a golden future for cruising. RCCL’s brands together field about 40 ships. Its only larger rival and competitor is Carnival Corp, which fields […]

By Lark Ellen Gould If you haven’t been to South Australia lately, better bring a pair of comfortable shoes and an appetite. The state that is the fourth largest on the continent is also full of amazing arid land formations, precipitous ocean cliffs, wonderful walkable cities and villages, and some of the best wine and […]

  “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” opens wide on December 14. It’s the next in a series of New Line Cinema’s Tolkien-related productions that have come out since 2001 and the first of the Hobbit-specific genre. And it all happens in New Zealand. Peter Jackson’s 70 or so chosen locations for this film spread for […]

By Lark Ellen Gould When it comes to planning a vacation what wields more weight in determining whether customers get what they want: Price or Advice? If you ask travel agents at the Ensemble Travel Group, they will tell you – you guessed it – price may be queen but product and destination knowledge is […]