2 Planes With the Same Flight Number Create Dangerous Situation Over Phoenix
2 Planes With the Same Flight Number Create Dangerous Situation Over Phoenix
mark / Unsplash
https://www.fodors.com/news/photos/2-planes-with-the-same-flight-number-create-dangerous-situation-over-phoenix
And more of today's top travel news stories.
Today in travel, we have several stories that may have flown under your radar. Among them: a tourist is killed by lightning in Sicily; wildfire evacuations are underway in Belgium; Hawaii deals with the aftermath of Lala; and a close call startles air traffic control in Phoenix.
Dive into these and more as we examine the latest in travel news.
Some or all of this article was crafted with help from AI. An editor reviewed and vetted this article before publishing.
PHOTO: ANTONIO FROM PIXABAY
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Mount Etna Hiking Restrictions Remain After Lightning Kills American Tourist
Some areas of Sicily’s Mount Etna remain closed to hikers following a prolonged period of volcanic activity that caused major flight disruptions at nearby Catania Airport last week.
A 29-year-old man from Kansas died Sunday evening after being struck by lightning while hiking in the Rocca Capra area, at an elevation of about 4,600 feet. Italian firefighters retrieved him by helicopter, but medical personnel later pronounced him dead. Authorities have not released his name. Although access to parts of the volcano has been restricted, officials have not determined whether the man was hiking inside one of the closed areas.
Etna’s recent eruption forced Catania Airport to suspend flights for much of last week, although arrivals and departures resumed Saturday after authorities lowered the volcano’s aviation alert level. Officials also noted that lightning has caused more deaths on Etna in recent decades than volcanic eruptions; the last eruption-related fatalities occurred in 1987.
PHOTO: ALBERT DEHON/UNSPLASH
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Wildfires Force Evacuations in Belgium
Wildfires are continuing to disrupt communities and travel across parts of Europe after weeks of exceptionally hot and dry weather.
In eastern Belgium, a massive fire in the High Fens has burned an estimated 30 square kilometers, or about 12 square miles, of Liège province. The blaze remained uncontrolled Monday in terrain that firefighters could not reach, with one active section extending toward the German border. Hundreds of residents remain under precautionary evacuation orders; authorities had previously told roughly 600 people to leave nearby communities and advised tourists to leave the area as well.
In Greece, investigators are examining the cause of a fast-moving Sunday fire on the island of Salamina, west of Athens, that killed two people, injured nine others, and destroyed several homes. A separate wildfire broke out Monday in Spata, the area that includes Athens International Airport, but firefighters contained it within about 30 minutes.
Conditions have improved in southwestern France, where authorities said a four-day wildfire in the Landes region was under control. More than 600 residents had been evacuated, and by Monday about half had been allowed to begin returning home as temperatures declined.
PHOTO: MNSTUDIO/DREAMSTIME
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Hawaii Airports Reopen After Lala Causes Severe Flooding and Widespread Power Outages
Hawaii is dealing with widespread flooding, power failures, and storm damage after Lala passed the Big Island as a Category 1 hurricane Saturday before weakening to a tropical storm.
More than 183,000 utility customers statewide remained without electricity as of Sunday afternoon, according to figures cited by Reuters. Hawaiian Electric said fallen trees, strong winds, and flooded roads were complicating efforts to restore service. State officials also reported damage to at least 100 homes, while the National Weather Service said two houses had been swept away. At least one person was reported dead following a vehicle-related incident.
The storm also caused significant flight disruptions. Hawaii transportation officials closed Hilo International Airport and Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport on Saturday as Lala approached, but both reopened Sunday following inspections, and all state airports were operating again. Travelers were nevertheless advised to confirm flight status directly with their airlines.
Lala briefly reached hurricane strength Saturday with sustained winds of 75 mph. Forecasters warned that storm-total rainfall could reach 30 to 35 inches in the wettest parts of the windward Big Island, creating a serious risk of flash flooding and landslides.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF AMERICAN AIRLINES
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Two American Airlines Jets Had the Same Flight Number. A Phoenix Controller Spotted the Problem
An unusual scheduling overlap put two American Airlines jets using the same flight number in the Phoenix area at the same time early Friday, creating a potentially dangerous source of confusion for air traffic control.
Both planes were operating as American Flight 2482. Normally the route travels between Chicago and Phoenix using the same aircraft, but weather delayed the Chicago departure. American sent a second aircraft from Phoenix so the return flight could leave on schedule, meaning the delayed inbound jet and the replacement outbound flight were briefly operating simultaneously under the same identifier.
A Phoenix air traffic controller recognized the duplicate call signs and began distinguishing the aircraft according to whether each was arriving or departing. He kept the inbound jet above the outbound aircraft as their flight paths converged and limited the departing aircraft’s climb so that adequate vertical separation remained between them. Both flights continued without incident.
The Federal Aviation Administration and American Airlines are investigating how the overlapping flight numbers were allowed to occur. American said afterward that the pilots and controller maintained the required separation throughout the encounter.
PHOTO: SPENCER DAVIS/UNSPLASH
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Archaeologists Find New Clue to Egypt’s Long-Lost City of Masn
Archaeologists excavating near the Suez Canal have found new evidence that could help settle a century-old debate over the location of the ancient Egyptian city of Masn.
At Tell Abu Seify in Egypt’s Ismailia governorate, an Egyptian archaeological team uncovered part of a large sandstone lintel bearing the royal titles of Ramses II. The inscription also records restoration work on a statue of Horus identified as the deity associated with the city of Masn. The find strengthens the theory that Tell Abu Seify is connected to the city, which is known from Egyptian texts dating back more than 3,000 years.
The identification is not yet settled. Scholars have debated the location of Masn since discoveries at the site in the late 19th century, and earlier research suggested that some artifacts bearing the name could have been brought from nearby Tjaru. If Tell Abu Seify is ultimately confirmed as Masn, the discovery would place the city along the Horus Military Road, the important ancient route linking Egypt with Sinai and Canaan.
Recent excavations have also revealed stone roads, statues, and a large mud-brick enclosure surrounding a temple complex. The site underwent repeated transformations: the temple flourished during the Ptolemaic period, parts were converted into Roman military barracks during the third century C.E., and lime kilns were later constructed over portions of the former sanctuary. Excavations will continue in search of evidence that could conclusively identify the site.
Lisa Vanderpump Spills on Her Vegas Hotel, Giggy, and Her Biggest Hotel Pet Peeves
Denise Truscello / Contributor
https://www.fodors.com/world/north-america/usa/nevada/las-vegas/experiences/news/lisa-vanderpump-spills-on-her-vegas-hotel-giggy-and-her-biggest-hotel-pet-peeves
The rose queen herself expands the House of Vanderpump with her latest hospitality offering: a new Vegas hotel.
Entrepreneur, fashion icon, and reality television star Lisa Vanderpump and Las Vegas are a perfect match. Both are larger than life. Both command attention. Both love bold colors. And both are incredibly entertaining.
It’s fitting, then, that after launching three successful cocktail lounges in Sin City, Vanderpump’s latest endeavor in town is a full-on hotel.
The 188-room boutique property, dubbed The Vanderpump Hotel, opened June 11.
The opening itself was grand and theatrical. When Vanderpump arrived to debut her namesake property, she did so from the back seat of a custom Rolls-Royce, wearing a shimmering silver dress and long sheer gloves while a fleet of 600 drones buzzed in the sky above.
This project represents the first time the television icon and entrepreneur has extended her distinct brand of hospitality into a full-fledged hotel. The endeavor gives new life to a property that previously lived through multiple identities, including stints as the Barbary Coast, Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall, and most recently, The Cromwell.
To pull off the massive transformation, Vanderpump collaborated closely with her long-time design partner, Nick Alain. Together, the duo custom-built the furniture and lighting through their design firm, opting for an “industrial romantic” aesthetic. The rooms rely on a soothing palette of moss greens and dusty lilac, mixing warm gold accents with cool silver detailing. Couches and daybeds are adorned with plush purple pillows with giant Vs on them. Naturally, there is also plenty of pink, a Vanderpump signature.
The bathrooms, which have been completely redone, now feature extra-large sinks and showers with tiny tiles that spell out a poem about the vagaries and sweetness of life.
Even the minibars sport the new vibe—each offers a bottle of Vanderpump Rose.
This aesthetic is a notable departure from the dark (and sometimes ominous) vibes of The Cromwell, which had rooms with a decidedly more masculine feel.
Matt Villano
Because the new hotel is a Vanderpump project, the details are unashamedly personal and packed with nods to her British roots. Guests walking in from the Strip are greeted by a classic English taxicab installation. Inside, a large mural depicts Vanderpump walking down a rainy London street next to a bright red telephone booth.
In the rooms, nightstands use a mirror effect to reflect Vanderpump’s eyes, creating the sensation that she’s always watching. And in the hotel lobby, there’s a wall covered in Vanderpump family photographs, featuring faces both famous and furry.
Speaking of furry, Vanderpump’s famous love of dogs takes center stage on the casino floor at Gigolo. The new, sultry lounge serves as a tribute to her late Pomeranian, Giggy, and a giant black statue of the pup overlooks the action from behind the hostess stand. Fans of Vanderpump’s reality TV shows will undoubtedly want to pose for selfies there.
Other highlights of the resort include Soleia Beach, a 65,000-square-foot rooftop nightclub and pool deck that replaces Drai’s Beachclub & Nightclub, and Giada, the Italian restaurant from celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis that originally opened with The Cromwell in 2014 and now runs the room service program for hotel guests. The beloved Drai’s After Hours nightclub still rages in the resort basement, carrying on a tradition that dates to the Barbary Coast days.
Shortly after the grand opening celebration ended (and after a three-night stay), Fodor’s sat down with Vanderpump to talk about the transition from bars to bedrooms, the realities of building a brand with Alain, and what it takes to stand out in a town that thrives on being over-the-top. Here are some highlights from the conversation.
Lisa Vanderpump arrives at the opening of her new hotel. Getty Images
FODOR’S: Tell us about your relationship with Nick Alain. What is your collective creative process like? How do you navigate disagreements over design?
LISA VANDERPUMP: I normally come up with the concept, the idea, the creative, and the branding, and then we work together to get into the details of unusual design. Nick is a genius and has wonderful ideas. It’s a great partnership because we actually listen to each other! Disagreements very rarely happen, and it’s been a truly creative and productive partnership.
Are there any similarities between your home, Villa Rosa, and The Vanderpump Hotel? If so, what are they?
I would say that the hotel reflects the spirit of Villa Rosa, as it’s a boutique hotel. You can walk from the lobby to your room in 100 steps. However, I don’t have a casino in my home! The Vanderpump Hotel has a lot of things I’d love to have at Villa Rosa: turn-down service, room service, and a complimentary hotel car to drop guests off.
Tell us about the dog features at the new hotel.
Well, dogs are of course welcome. Every furry friend is given the red-carpet treatment here, including doggy bowls and treats to start. We are in the middle of creating a gorgeous dog relief area in the front of the hotel too.
What can we expect from room service at the new hotel? Goat cheese balls?
Our room service is full-service dining, which is quite rare in Las Vegas at this time. It’s fulfilled by Giada [the restaurant from celebrity Chef Giada DeLaurentis], and we are very fortunate that she has an extensive menu. People have access to delicious Italian food for both lunch and dinner.
I know the new Gigolo lounge pays homage to your beloved dog. How would you say the lounge captures his spirit?
Giggy was the sexiest dog alive [when he wore] his little tuxedos, so you’ll definitely see some of that at Gigolo. The entire vibe is mischievous and playful. Cocktails come with a gorgeous garnish and a wink. [It] is decadent and sultry.
What are your favorite Vegas spots (that you don’t own)?
If I’m going to cheat on my own restaurants, I always go to [restaurants from Chef] Gordon [Ramsay]! He’s the best chef, and I love him. I also love Nobu in Paris Las Vegas and Caesars Palace. The quality is always amazing.
What are your hotel room pet peeves?
Terrible lighting, uncomfortable mattresses, and scratchy towels.
What do you need in a hotel bathroom?
Good lighting, fluffy towels, a lot of plugs, a good hairdryer, and good shampoo and conditioner. If the robe is soft and fluffy, that’s a plus.
How do you usually fly: private or first class? What are some must-haves in your cabin?
I most often fly JSX to Las Vegas. I think it’s wonderful; it’s like flying private without the price tag, and they’re so good to both me and my dogs. Give me a good Bloody Mary and no turbulence, and I’m happy.
What do you always have in your carry-on?
My iPad, my phone, lipstick, a compact mirror, Advil, vitamin C, makeup, eye drops, and English tea bags.
Shorter booking windows, experience-driven demand shift hoteliers' leisure revenue strategies
Experts say getting creative with data is key to cracking the code
(Getty Images)
https://www.costar.com/article/1869193417/shorter-booking-windows-experience-driven-demand-shift-hoteliers-leisure-revenue-strategies?
NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Leisure demand behavior is a puzzle to solve, but hoteliers using their toolbox of resources hope to crack the code and help them navigate the uncertainty in the segment.
Some of those challenges include the shrinking booking window and restricted access to future booking data — something that means data experts and hoteliers alike need to get creative with how they are looking at their data, said Brannan Doyle, senior data analyst at STR, during a presentation at the recent Hotel Data Conference.
Doyle said that when he looked at year-over-year weekend — traditionally Friday and Saturday — demand change compared to weekdays, there wasn't a huge difference between the two. However, when he factored Thursdays and Sundays into the weekend column, there was a starker difference in demand growth compared to weekdays. This means those bridge days sitting on either side of the weekend are seeing growth in demand.
"Thursdays and Sundays are growing at about 3% and 3.5%, respectively. While every other day of the week is seeing a demand growth of about 1.5% to 2.5% at the most," he said.
The other thing Doyle looked into was booking windows for leisure compared to business demand. For this, Doyle said he tapped into STR's historic occupancy data to paint a clearer picture of booking trends. What he found was surprising to him: Rooms were increasingly getting booked at the last minute.
"To say that two-thirds of rooms are getting booked in the last month and that almost a third of rooms are getting booked in the last week — that was really a big revelation to me," Doyle said.
Leisure bookings, he said, are either happening well in advance or the week of.
"We see two guests and two different clocks and two different plans," said Diane Koczur, senior director of marketing at Evans Hotels. "One guest type is deciding on decisions 72 hours in advance. Others are settling on their trips a couple of weeks in advance. What that means for us is the booking curve is now defined by channel readiness, not just lead time."
This affects her marketing strategy, she said. The early bookers warrant email and loyalty campaigns, but the last-minute bookers can be targeted with mobile, such as social media or artificial intelligence platforms.
Getting creative with the data
Paula Weissend, senior regional director of revenue management at Pivot Hotels & Resorts, said this shift in traveler behavior has forced her team to look at pricing strategy, rather than looking at a calendar and working on a traditional binary approach. She said she has to look at those Thursday and Sunday shoulder days and "price them as their own micro segment."
An added challenge is changes within hotel booking channels, which shouldn't be categorized in the same way as they have been in the past, "when traveler behavior has become a lot more fluid," she said.
"Distribution has become increasingly opaque," she said. "Channel information doesn't necessarily tell us the same as it used to years ago."
Now, traveler intent is more indicative than traveler type, Weissend said.
"If a guest is a business traveler or they identify as leisure, that doesn't necessarily tell me anymore how they'll book, their price sensitivity or what kind of experience they're looking for," she said. "So, understanding why they're coming — whether it's a concert, a conference, a wellness retreat, a family reunion — that can really give us a better insight into pricing and how to market to that."
Looking at the leisure demand drivers, such as sporting events, concerts or amusement parks, hasn't changed too much, but how travelers travel for these events and destinations has, in some instances.
Doyle said he compiled data from properties near leisure demand drivers and bucketed these "leisure-coded properties" to see how they were performing, particularly during the time around spring break and Easter.
"When we look at the difference by that split based on the performance during a high swing in leisure demand, we can see that the leisure-coded properties are doing a little bit better so far this year," Doyle said, also citing the effect of the BTS concert on El Paso, Texas.
Weissend said her takeaway is that the industry is improving its ability to identify these one-off events and cater toward them specifically.
"The lesson here is really adaptability. A mega concert, a Formula One (race), a college football championship — all of those are all unique events, but they all have unique booking curves as well. And so you can't assume that they are all going to behave the same way," she said.
Koczur echoed the thought, adding that marketing for these guests requires agility too.
Navigating these evolving waters means data is more important than ever, and, consequently, having the right technology in place to process and review the data is key, said Victoria Noe, senior territory account executive at IDeaS.
"What we want to do in the technology space is be able to take a lot of that really granular information, and use that data to then understand what the behavior is around those different trends that we're seeing in patterns, and the behavior is what is ultimately going to drive revenue," she said.
With a shorter booking window, hoteliers' annual pricing strategy might evolve too, although Weissend said it wouldn't necessarily be hugely impacted and hoteliers can make decisions along the way.
"I think of long-term pricing as being more directional, so I think of it like a GPS," she said. "The route is going to change based on traffic, but you still need a general direction and the destination to start out with."
Also like GPS, Noe added, the hoteliers with the best technology platforms in place are going to get to their destination faster than hoteliers stuck in the past with their paper maps and compasses.
While using data to make more informed decisions, the panelists cautioned against relying too much on historic data, which, Weissend said, neglects the fact that a market may have changed inherently.
Koczur recommended hoteliers use historic data "as a trend — it doesn't have to be the roadmap that you take going forward."
Finding the future traveler trends
With all this information on current traveler trends, Weissend said thinking of future traveler behavior is going to affect strategy. She said she's seeing more spend from the middle and upper-middle class with "less rate sensitivity, but higher sensitivity to service and experiences."
"I think the traveler who values an experience over a destination is where we're going to see the largest growth," Weissend said. "We've seen a lot of small-tier markets have really outsized demand spikes that are hard to forecast or explain, and it is because people are traveling for specific events, a food festival, a chef tasting, a solar eclipse and ignoring a destination's inherent pull, so being more intentional with figuring out why that customer is traveling and being able to target them accordingly."
Taking note of these trends is increasingly important, Koczur said, especially when it comes to marketing toward these evolving travelers.
"The traveler filling today's demand gap is often not the same traveler as before," she said. "Success requires a different message, different channels, and a different timing, not just a lower rate."
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