For the first time ever, enjoy 30 percent savings on holiday vacations at the award-winning, Green Globe Caribbean collection of Elite Island Resorts from December 21, 2009 to January 2, 2010, when reservations are booked by October 15, 2009. The Caribbean resorts cater to families and couples with spacious guest accommodations and extensive, dedicated complimentary kids clubs at select properties, plus special Christmas and New Year’s dining menus and activities.

“This holidays season Elite Island Resorts provides vacationers with both memorable Caribbean vacations and significant 30 percent savings,” said Steven E. Heydt, Elite Island Resorts’ president. “We offer affordable, yet luxurious escapes when guests stay and celebrate Christmas and New Year’s with us.”

Known for its casually elegant Caribbean resorts, stunning locations and caring service, Elite Island Resorts’ all inclusive vacations feature food, beverages, room accommodations, activities, non-motorized water sports, taxes and gratuities. Children ages 2-11 may stay for $42 per child per night.

All Inclusive* Nightly Double Occupancy Rates Start At:

$441 (originally $630) at The Verandah Resort & Spa, at an upscale eco-friendly Antigua resort adjacent to a national park; situated on 30 spectacular waterfront acres; features two white sand beaches, kayaking and hiking;

$480 (originally $685) at St. James’s Club & Villas, tucked away on a private 100-acre peninsula on Antigua, exudes a casual, club-like ambience, plus two white sand beaches, and new Royal Suites and scuba center;

$655 (originally $935) at Palm Island, a 135-acre private island in The Grenadines that caters to discerning adults, features 43 rooms and five glorious beaches, offering the ultimate in luxury for those looking to unwind;

$711 (originally $1,015) at Galley Bay Resort & Spa, an intimate, top-rated Antigua retreat for adults with stunning beachfront accommodations, new premium oceanfront suites, spectacular dining options, and the new Indulge Spa. Consistently earns top honors from Conde Nast Traveler and TripAdvisor.com;

$305 (originally $435) – *European Plan only at Long Bay Villa Beach Resort, featuring newly upgraded room accommodations on Tortola, a new spa; the resort is the perfect for those who love to dive and sail and explore neighboring islands.

For reservations, call (800) 345-0356 or visit www.eliteislandresorts.com

Omni Hotels today announced the availability of the Omni Hotels App on the App Store. The Omni Hotels App offers iPhone and iPod touch users features that make staying with Omni easier, including the ability to search for any Omni property, review special offers, book a hotel, check-in, access their Select Guest loyalty program information and more.

“We want to make it as simple as possible for travelers to wirelessly manage their travel using iPhone and iPod touch,” said Kerry Kennedy, vice president of e-commerce for Omni Hotels. “Our new Omni Hotels App is just one more way that Omni enhances the travel experience for our guests.” Using the new Omni Hotels App guests can:

- Search and book real-time reservations at all Omni locations

- Check-in while mobile

- Log-in and maintain their Select Guest loyalty program account

- Contact Omni Hotels customer service

The Omni Hotels App is available for free from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch.

Mexico stepped up efforts to promote its “Welcome Back” tourism recovery campaign in the U.S. with a New York media and trade blitz by Minister of Tourism Rodolfo Elizondo and the CEO of the Mexico Tourism Board, Oscar Fitch.

Looking to boost U.S. arrivals for the coming winter travel season, Elizondo and Fitch met tour operators, services providers and media outlets, including Travel Weekly.

“We lost the summer in terms of U.S. bookings although July has been okay,” Fitch told Travel Weekly. “But our branding is now focused on the fall and winter.”

According to Elizondo, Mexican hotels and resorts were helped during the H1N1 crisis by the fact that up to 20% of Mexicans now vacation domestically, softening the blow from international cancellations. But both international and domestic bookings are now approaching normal levels once again.

“Occupancies in Cancun are now 80%,” he said. “And we’ll recover up to 90% of the [usual] U.S. and Canada markets by the weekend.”

The “Welcome Back” campaign, launched June 13, is a multi-media marketing campaign aimed at travelers from the U.S. and Canada, many of whom might be wary of booking Mexico holidays due to bad press regarding drug violence and H1N1, or the “swine flu,” according to the tourism board.

The effort focuses on 12 major markets in the U.S. and six in Canada, which in total account for 80% of Mexico’s international arrivals. In 2008, the destination welcomed 22.6 million foreign visitors (a 5.9% jump), including 18 million Americans.

Mini-treatments are seeing a huge spike in popularity as more and more people look for ways to stretch their dollar and still enjoy a spa experience. Marriott and JW Marriott spas have worked with some of the top spa industry leaders to create exclusive treatments, including June Jacobs, Kerstin Florian and Zents, and through September 7, 2009, are offering a free gift or product discount with every mini-treatment booked.
The 30-minute treatments start at $50. Prices vary by location and treatment. The treatments include:

A quick pick me up for the skin by June Jacobs Spa Collection includes two mini-treatments. The express facial treatment provides skin with a beautiful, radiant glow while the mini renewal body treatment leaves skin feeling soft and silky smooth. These exclusive 30-minute treatments can be enjoyed alone or added to your favorite treatment for an added value! A complimentary gift which includes deluxe sizes of the June Jacobs Spa Collection’s best selling Papaya Enzyme Masque, Intensive Age Defying Hydrating Serum and Hydrating Complex valued at $40 will be offered with any June Jacobs Spa Collection express treatment.

Kerstin Florian International has created a customized 30-minute treatment menu including an array of both body treatments and facials from lip and eye rescue to foot ritual and neck massage as well as professional exfoliations. Guests can choose from a-la-carte services or choose multiple treatments. A spa gift is provided when booking any express treatment. Each experience includes a thorough home-care consultation to ensure guests can extend and maintain their results.

“30 minutes of Zen”. . . Five mini-treatments, including Zen Massage, Neck & Shoulder, Hand & Foot, Scalp, and Manicure/Pedicure, are available in the guest’s choice of scent, and for a limited time guests will receive a discount on Zents products in the spa’s retail store. Treatments can be booked individually or packaged together for a great value.

The mini-treatments are available at:
Atlanta Marriott Marquis
Camelback Inn – A JW Marriott Resort & Spa
Coronado Island Marriott
JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa
JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa
Harbor Beach Marriott Resort & Spa
JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort & Spa
Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa
Marriott’s Newport Coast Villas
Orlando Marriott World Center Resort & Convention Center
Savannah Marriott Riverfront
JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa
Stamford Marriott Hotel & Spa
Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel & Marina

If ever there was an eco hotel with all the bases covered, this is it. The 118-suite Residence Inn Gainesville I-75, will open in August 7th 2009 and has more environmentally-friendly elements than this EcoFeature has room to list, but we’ll do our absolute best to fit in as many as possible!

Here goes…
• Hotel is located on the site of an EPA ‘brownfield,’ which means the land was once polluted but has been restored to pristine condition with the goal of promoting green development in select communities.

• Property is xeriscaped to save water. It features all native plants, minimal turf areas, perforated pavement to aid irrigation, a water-saving irrigation system, and a nature walk. The developer even bonded a 100+ year old live oak to ensure its survival!

Staff members encircle the magnificent century-old live oak in front of the hotel. Thanks to OTO Development, this grand old dame will live to see another 100 years.

• Demolition and construction wastes were recycled.
• Framing structure was made from 90% post consumer recycled steel.
• Roofing materials certified by Cool Roofing Council.
• Energy efficient windows were installed.
• Used low VOC interior paints, wood finishes, adhesives and sealants; installed Carpet and Rug Institute-certified green carpeting.
• Stormwater treatment systems in use.
• Salinization system for pool.
• Low flow faucets, showerheads and dishwashers, and high efficiency toilets and urinals installed. Automatic faucets and toilets in public restrooms. Wastewater channeled into disposals or food troughs.
• Energy Star appliances, transformers and LED exit signs installed.
• High efficiency CFL and LED lighting throughout the property.
• High efficiency HVAC filters installed.
• Towel and linen reused program implemented.
• Accessible recycling collection.
• Housekeeping uses green cleaning products.

Not only is the Residence Inn Gainesville I-75 environmentally-friendly, it is also pet- and wheelchair-friendly, too. The hotel is also doing its best to be a good neighbor by bringing jobs to the community and supporting charity. Thirty outstanding local folks were chosen from hundreds of applicants to staff the new facility. And during its upcoming Grand Opening ceremony, the property will donate to the Children’s Miracle Network, and the hotel will also be involved in the 2009 Shands for Kids Radiothon.

General Manager Chris Lewis can’t wait for the first guests to arrive. ‘I am proud to be a part of such a great project,’ Lewis said. ‘OTO has always incorporated environmental and sustainable efforts into the design of our hotels but this particular site gave us some unique opportunities. I am looking forward to offering Gainesville’s visitors an opportunity to participate in our green efforts during their stay.’

A new type of family-friendly, ecologically-aware hotel holiday has been developed in Austria.

Kinderhotels aim to use over 50 per cent of their energy through renewable sources – and to recycle over 60 per cent of waste.

The rural hotels also offer education programmes for child guests – teaching them about nature and animals during their stay.

This is done through a network of working farms, where guests look after cows, sheep and chickens.

A range of other “green extras” and outdoor activities are included in the asking price of all Kinderhotel stays, the operators have said.

What’s more, concerns over the carbon emitted by travelling to the hotels by air are also easily alleviated.

“A rail journey can be an exciting experience for the whole family,” Kinderhotels said in a statement.

“For example, you can leave London in the early evening and arrive at your Kinderhotel by mid-morning the next day, with most of the journey time spent sleeping in a comfortable overnight cabin, playing, enjoying the on-board service and watching the landscape glide by.”

A new luxury hotel is set to open in the Peak District, following a £4 million upgrade of a former manor house.

The grand, 16th century Mosborough Hall has been thoroughly renovated by Best Western into an “outstanding deluxe hotel”, the developer has said.

At a special ceremony this week, the new 42-bedroom luxury hotel was opened by former BBC director general Greg Dyke.

General manager at Best Western Mosborough Hall, Ian Torpey, commented: “The team and I are all very excited about opening this fantastic, luxurious hotel.

“We are also very privileged to be joined by one of the most influential British journalists, Greg Dyke.”

As well as its stunning setting, the new luxury hotel offers a Brasserie restaurant led by award-winning head chef Marcus Hall – who previously won the coveted 2 Rosette award for his work at the Drunken Duck in the Lake District.

Good news for single travellers to hotels overseas – Britons are increasingly leaving the taboo of a long-distance love match behind.

Research from matchmaking service PARSHIIP shows that there has been a threefold rise in the number of unattached holidaymakers willing to embark on a relationship with someone who lives in another country.

This means that there are now three million singletons considering such a match – an impressive proportion of the 15 million total.

Dr Victoria Lukats, psychiatrist and PARSHIIP’s dating expert, commented: “In the past this would have been unheard of, except for only a few jet-setting elite.

“However, initiating and maintaining an international long distance relationship has now become easier with the use of Internet dating, email, cheaper international phone calls, and low cost air fares.”

The PARSHIIP research also provided a clue to the summer travel plans of lovelorn Britons – with Irish, French and Italian men found to be the preferred nationalities for the potential overseas partner of UK women.

The winners of this year’s Tourism for Tomorrow awards have been named, the Daily6 Telegraph reports.

Aimed at highlighting some of the best global examples of sustainable travelling – as well as giving holidaymakers clues for some of the best locations for luxury travel – the awards were announced in Dubai last week.

Four gongs were given out, with the Blackstone River Valley in Rhode Island, USA, winning the flagship Destination prize.

The valley has recently undergone a remarkable renovation, with its polluted rivers cleaned up and previously “disconnected” local communities working together to encourage vacations in the area.

Conservationists Ecotourism Australia picked up an award, as did international travel firm Six Senses Resorts and Spas.

The Investor in People gong was won by La Ruta Moskitia in Honduras, an alliance of five destinations in the rainforest which has provided 150 locals with jobs.

Chair of the Tourism for Tomorrow judging panel Costas Christ commented: “20 years ago sustainable tourism was just an idea.

“Now it is entering the travel and tourism mainstream. The winners of the Tourism for Tomorrow Awards are helping to lead the way forward at a transformative moment in the history of modern travel.”

The continuing strength of the Euro is causing cost-conscious Britons to seek vacations elsewhere, the Times reports.

Traditional member-state destinations in France and Spain are being passed up for luxury hotels in nations such as Bulgaria, Turkey and Morocco.

This is because the weakening pound is holding up much better against local currencies – allowing more people to book a room in a luxury hotel for less than in the Euro-zone.

Commenting on the situation, a spokesman for long-haul specialists Trailfinders told the newspaper that there was also a “strong interest” in trips to the US – whose currency has been performing even worse than the pound recently.

“We are expecting a massive uptake this year because of the exchange rate,” he added.

Sean Tipton at the Association of British Travel Agents also said that people who had already booked in the Euro-zone might need to take more spending money on their holidays than originally planned for.

The pound has recently dropped to 78p against the euro.