Helicopters Matter

Via DNA Info:

City councilmembers are pushing ahead with their fight to end noisy tourist helicopter rides, introducing a bill Thursday that would ban the sightseeing flights in New York City. Several councilmembers including Margaret Chin, who represents Lower Manhattan, as well as the Upper West Side's Helen Rosenthal, and Brooklyn's Carlos Menchacha, proposed the legislation, which would squash the use of tourist helicopters that some call unbearably loud and persistent. "The Council finds that there is significant noise pollution caused by the dozens of sightseeing helicopters operating daily from heliports owned by the city," the bill reads. "The heliports used by sightseeing helicopters are near water which carries the sound of those helicopters and significantly disrupts the daily lives of city residents who live and work near the heliports or across the East River."

They might want to rethink their name.

UPDATE: I should have mentioned that the above was a full-page ad in yesterday's New York Daily News.

Cuba Cruises To Launch In May 2016

Politico reports:

Beginning in May 2016, Carnival plans to run biweekly, seven-night “people-to-people” vacations to Cuba on the company’s 710-passenger Adonia ship that offer “cultural, artistic, faith-based and humanitarian exchanges between American and Cuban citizens,” according to a statement provided to USA Today. The company is still awaiting final approval from the Cuban government. Though pure tourism to Cuba is still banned, despite the Obama administration’s recent decision to restart relations between the United States and Cuba and open an Embassy in Havana, the Treasury and Commerce departments have each approved Carnival’s proposals. U.S. travelers can sign up for a place on one of the trips with a $600 deposit. Ultimately, the trip will cost $2,990 per person with taxes and other fees not included. The price is more than 3 times the typical fare for a similar-length Carnival trip to the Caribbean.

The cruises will operate under a new Carnival flag to be called Fathom.

France Warns Citizens About US Travel

Via Bloomberg:

The French shouldn’t be too French when they visit the U.S. That’s the advice being doled out by the French government to its citizens visiting America. Along with warnings about slower speed limits, higher drinking ages and hurricanes in Texas, the French foreign ministry adds a note of warning against being too “Latin.” “It’s recommended to adopt a reserved attitude toward those of the opposite sex,” it says. “Comments, behavior, and jokes, which might be harmless in Latin countries, can lead to criminal cases,” the ministry’s website says. Reinforcing French views of American prudishness, the website notes that even minors can be accused of sexual harassment, and asks that children use toilets reserved for their sex in the U.S. Among other advice to the French in America: “keep calm in all circumstances” since some states authorize the carrying of weapons. It asks visitors to avoid raising their voice or making sudden or aggressive gestures at the police.

The US State Department offer no specific warnings to Americans visiting France.

IRELAND: Official Tourism Bureau Promotes LGBT Matchmaking Convention

From Discover Ireland: "Did you know that same sex couples can now get married in the Republic of Ireland? It’s true! Yes, it’s all about love in Ireland, from fun-tastic LGBT events like The Outing (the world’s first ever LGBT matchmaking festival) to some of the most romantic wedding locations on the planet." More from the Irish Mirror:

The dust had barely settled on Dublin Castle when tourism chiefs kicked off plans to capitalise on gay marriage. Nine regions are to be targeted in a marketing blitz - Britain, the US, Canada, the Nordic region, Australia, France, Spain, Italy and Germany - as bosses move to promote Ireland for weddings and honeymoons. They are also hoping for an explosion of interest in The Outing - billed as the world's only gay matchmaking festival. An offshoot of the 157-year-old Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival, the organisers will turn the Co Clare spa town gay this October for the third year running. Tourism Ireland launched its "Ireland says I do" marketing plan less than 24 hours after 1.2 million people gave a resounding backing to same-sex marriage. Chief executive Niall Gibbons said: "Ireland is in the international spotlight and trending for all the right reasons across social and international media. "It's not often you get a blast of publicity like that."

Discover Ireland is jumping the gun a wee bit as Ireland's Justice Department confirmed today that it will publish a same-sex marriage bill this week. That formality must be approved by Parliament and marriages are expected to commence by early fall. Learn more about LGBT tourism to Ireland on their official site, where the headline today reads "Yes To Love In Ireland."

Airbnb Expands To Cuba

Via Digital Trends:

Airbnb extends its tendrils to just about every country within reach, so it’s no surprise that Cuba finally made the list. Earlier this month, the home-rental liaison took advantage of loosened U.S. trade restrictions to begin offering its services in the Communist island nation. The listings number in the hundreds right now, but Airbnb has been sending representatives to Cuba during the past few months to encourage more real estate owners to lease their properties. Most are concentrated in Havana, Cienfuegos, Santa Clara, and other trendy destinations to cash in on Cuba’s tourism industry, which accounted for 10 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2013. More than 2 million foreign travelers visit Cuba each year, and Airbnb expects that number to grow – the company saw a 70-percent spike in searches from U.S. users for listings in Cuba.

Finding lodging with Airbnb will remain difficult as very few Cubans have home web access and most must use expensive government-run internet cafes.

RELATED: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is in Cuba today for the first-ever trade mission by a sitting governor since the thaw in US-Cuba relations.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, Senate Independent Democratic Conference Leader Jeffrey Klein, and senior executives from New York-based companies including JetBlue, MasterCard, Pfizer and Chobani will accompany the governor. "As the door begins to open between the U.S. and Cuba, we want New York businesses to be first out of the gate when it comes to building trade partnerships and establishing a strong position in this new market," Cuomo said. Cuomo, who has taken some criticism for not speaking out against Cuba's anti-gay and human rights record, touched on the issue in a statement. "New York has proudly long been a leader on issues of equality and human rights and I agree with the President that engagement is the best way to promote democracy and bring about positive change, rather than continuing a failed policy of isolation."

LOUISIANA: New Orleans Tourism Bureau Comes Out Against RFRA Bill

The New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau has issued a statement denouncing the pending RFRA bill in Louisiana. Via the Times-Picayune:

"The adoption of certain types of overreaching, problematic and divisive legislation in Louisiana has the possibility of threatening our state's third largest industry and creating economic losses pushing past a billion dollars a year and costing us tens of thousands of jobs," said Stephen Perry, president of the organization in a written statement. The bill's author, state Rep. Mike Johnson, has already made some adjustments to his legislation, but Perry is asking that Johnson scrap the bill entirely -- or risk doing damage to New Orleans's reputation as a friendly travel destination. "We urge that further debate and new legislation be tabled for now because of the huge and needless damage this could inflict on our brand and to an industry and destination city that each have a world-wide reputation as being welcoming, diverse, inclusive and exceptionally tolerant," wrote Perry in a statement.

Rep. Johnson appeared on the radio show of Tony Perkins earlier this week to promote the bill. (Tipped by JMG reader Michael)

UPDATE: Also "on edge" is the state's film industry.

To the state’s nascent motion picture industry, an enterprise that emerged in the early 2000s and has put Louisiana on the map as one of the country’s premier filming destinations, there’s no silver lining to the bill that could alienate out-of-staters in the same way a controversial religious freedom law recently led to a national boycott against Indiana. “For those of us in the creative industries … this bill creates a significant challenge,” said Lampton Enochs, CEO of Moonbot Studios, a film animation company in the northern city of Shreveport, one of Louisiana’s three main movie industry hubs. “We’re competing with companies in L.A., San Francisco and New York. I think a bill like this would make it difficult to recruit out-of-state talent.”

Dollar Soars Against Foreign Currency

Via the Los Angeles Times:

Americans have long complained that the dollar doesn't buy much anymore. Suddenly, the dollar's problem may be that it buys too much — a change that has huge implications across the global economy for consumers, businesses, investors and governments. The U.S. currency's value has surged over the last nine months, reaching levels against some world currencies last seen more than a decade ago. In Europe, it now costs just $1.09 to buy one euro, down from $1.37 a year ago and almost $1.50 four years ago. To put it another way, an American tourist strolling the streets of Paris this April can buy 25% more croissants, cafe au laits or mini Eiffel towers than a year ago with the same dollars. The greenback's advance has been even more dramatic against some rivals. With its latest rally, one buck buys 30% more Swedish kronor than a year ago, 40% more Brazilian reais and 61% more Russian rubles. Western Europe gets a lot of the publicity because the euro is the weakest it has been since 2003. But the dollar is up 22% from a year ago in Poland, 20% in Morocco, 14% in Mexico and 12% in South Africa.

The downside, of course, is that US exports are more expensive and the cost of visiting the United States is much more than it was just last year.

INDIANA: Christian Church Threatens To Pull Convention Over Anti-Gay Bill

Via the Indianapolis Star:

The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) has sent a letter to Gov. Mike Pence threatening to cancel its 2017 convention in Indianapolis if he signs controversial legislation that could allow business owners to refuse services to same-sex couples. "Our perspective is that hate and bigotry wrapped in religious freedom is still hate and bigotry," Todd Adams, the associate general minister and vice president of the Indianapolis-based denomination, told The Indianapolis Star. Adams said the Disciples of Christ would instead seek a host city that is "hospitable and welcome to all of our attendees." The letter stated the church is inclusive of different races, ethnicities, ages, genders and sexual orientations. "As a Christian church," it read, "we are particularly sensitive to the values of the One we follow – one who sat at (the) table with people from all walks of life, and loved them all. Our church is diverse in point of view, but we share a value for an open Lord's Table."

The 2017 convention is expected to draw 8000 attendees with an economic impact to the city of about $6M.

INDIANA: Massive Gaming Convention Threatens To Leave The State

Via the Indianapolis Star:

The organizers of Gen Con, the city's largest convention in attendance and economic impact, are threatening to move the event elsewhere if Gov. Mike Pence signs controversial religious freedom legislation that could allow business owners to refuse services to same-sex couples.

"Legislation that could allow for refusal of service or discrimination against our attendees will have a direct negative impact on the state's economy, and will factor into our decision-making on hosting the convention in the state of Indiana in future years," said Adrian Swartout, owner and CEO of Gen Con LLC, in a letter sent to Pence just hours after lawmakers sent the measure to his desk.

Gen Con's website describes the convention as "the original, longest-running, best-attended gaming convention in the world!" The conference attracted 56,000 people last year to the Indiana Convention Center and has an annual economic impact of more than $50 million, Swartout said in the letter.

"Gen Con proudly welcomes a diverse attendee base, made up of different ethnicities, cultures, beliefs, sexual orientations, gender identities, abilities, and socio-economic backgrounds," she wrote. "We are happy to provide an environment that welcomes all, and the wide-ranging diversity of our attendees has become a key element to the success and growth of our convention."

The Indianapolis tourism agency is opposed to the bill.

New Pay-To-Pee App Launches

Via Entrepreneur:

Airpnp is banking on the idea that people are willing to pay to pee and rent their toilet out to desperate strangers. Described as the Airbnb for toilets, the app allows users to search for available toilets at homes and businesses in the area and find out the price to use these establishments. According to the company blog, Airpnp started as a "quasi-joke" in early 2014, built around the concept of how difficult it was to find a place to pee while celebrating Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Within the first three weeks, more 300 bathrooms were added to the map. Airpnp locations range from toilets owned by entrepreneurial masterminds to kindhearted people offering a free place to relieve yourself. Antwerp, Belgium is extremely popular, covered in pins marking what must be the vast majority of places in the city where once can pee for free.

The Village Voice points out that the concept first got attention in a 2009 Curb Your Enthusiasm story arc during which George Costantza made (and lost) millions with his iToilet app. At this writing Airpnp lists only 15 pee-partners in New York City, most of whom are in tourist-heavy midtown Manhattan.

Lonely Planet Names Most Gay-Friendly Destinations For LGBT Travelers

Lonely Planet today issued its annual ranking of the top ten most gay-friendly destinations in the world for LGBT tourism. Here's what they say about this year's list-topper, Copenhagen.

Denmark may be the home of Lego and at the forefront of New Nordic Cuisine, but importantly it made history in 1989 by becoming the first nation in the world to recognise registered same-sex partnerships. And at Denmark’s heart is the relaxed beauty of its compact cobblestoned capital, Copenhagen. Copenhagen is home to Europe’s oldest openly gay bar, Centralhjørnet, whose origins date back to the 1950s; as well as the hip and super-cool district of Vesterbro, which also happens to be the city’s red-light district. One of the most tolerant and open communities in Europe, Copenhagen’s functional yet edgy fashion scene, brilliant array of cocktail bars, excellent range of gay-friendly boutique accommodation and packed calendar of queer events make it the gay-friendliest place on Earth.

You may recall that Lonely Planet earned widespread criticism when Uganda topped their 2012 list.

Delaware Governor: If Brewer Signs The Hate Bill, NFL Should Move Super Bowl

"If they pass this law and if she signs it, it would seem to me that the NFL may be looking, or should be looking, to move the Super Bowl out of that state. Because, you know, there’s so many places around the country that are welcoming to everybody. I’ll put it this way; I want to make it clear that Delaware is a very welcoming place; Four years ago, five years ago, we actually passed a law to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. It’s puzzling to me other states would be looking at it differently." - Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, speaking today on MSNBC.

The NFL has not yet publicly commented on the controversy. Today the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee denounced the bill.

We share the NFL's core values which embrace tolerance, diversity, inclusiveness and prohibit discrimination. In addition, a key part of the mission for the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee is to promote the economic vitality of Arizona. On that matter we have heard loud and clear from our various stakeholders that adoption of this legislation would not only run contrary to that goal but deal a significant blow to the state's economic growth potential. We do not support this legislation. Instead, we look forward to continuing to promote the NFL's values while focusing on the economic momentum apparent in Arizona and capturing the positive worldwide attention associated with hosting Super Bowl XLIX.

Afternoon View - Palm Springs Tram

When Dr. Jeff suggested that we check out the Palm Springs Tramway today, I looked at the little old hill behind our hotel and said, "Sure, we've got time." What he did not tell me is that the tram climbs 8516 feet from the Coachella Valley floor and up "North America's sheerest mountain face." The tram does this WHILE ROTATING. Next to where the tram lets you out is Mount San Jacinto, which is the sixth highest peak in the lower 48. Ow, my balls. Ow.

State Department Issues Global Terrorism Alert For Travelers

Every Country In Four Minutes

A man who visited every country in the world has edited down all of his video into a single four-minute clip. Gawker recaps his story:

In November 2012, Liverpool resident Graham Hughes successfully became the first person to ever visit all United Nations member states without flying. The Atlas-ian task took Hughes nearly four years, during which he traveled to over 201 nations (plus 15 "assorted territories"), filming his adventure as he went. Here, then, is Hughes entire "Odyssey Expedition," boiled down to four minutes, or one second per nation (full list of tour stops can be found in the video's description).

Canada Updates Russia Travel Advice

From Canada's just updated travel advisory for Russia:

Although homosexual activity is not illegal in Russia, a federal law has been passed that prohibits public actions that are described as promoting homosexuality and “non-traditional sexual relations”. This law could render any homosexual and pro-homosexual statements punishable. Public actions (including dissemination of information, statements, displays or conspicuous behaviour) that contravene or appear to contravene this law may lead to arrest, the imposition of a fine and deportation. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender travellers, as well as their friends and families, have been targets of harassment and violence.

RELATED: The US State Department's advisory for Russia contains warnings about "harassment, threats, and acts of violence" against LGBT people, but does not yet note the recent passage of the national ban on "homosexual propaganda." It does note the passage of the earlier regional bans.

Seen In Penn Station

Via the Twitter account of Visit Philly.

Paris Works To Be Nicer

The tourism bureau of Paris has issued a politeness training manual for locals.

Rude guides, miserable waiters, unhelpful shop staff - these are just a few of the complaints visitors to Paris often make about the city. And it seems tourism chiefs have finally got the message. In the future, visitors may find themselves more welcome, more at home, and better understood in the French capital, thanks to a new manual that will be handed out to those who work in the tourism industry or who come into regular contact with visitors. The 'Do you speak touriste?' campaign, run jointly by the Paris chamber of commerce (CCI) and the regional tourism committee (CRT), was launched on Tuesday. It consists of a manual, which is being sent out to 30,000 tourism industry professionals, as well as a website.

A tourism official notes that British tourists typically want friendliness and a fun experience, while Americans expect speed, efficiency, and a "mastery of English."

Stockholm Pride Invites Gay Russians

Last year a Russian court banned pride events in Moscow for the next 100 years. Via email from Visit Sweden:

Stockholm Pride invites all Russians to instead # GOWEST and celebrate Pride in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden.  On the campaign page you can compose your tweet-invite that’s automatically translated into Russian. In addition, your location for this particular tweet will be changed to a location in Russia. To celebrate that love, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity and gender identity is a democratic right, we have taken this opportunity to, with humor and love, direct a special invitation to all of Russia to celebrate Pride with us.

Samoa Airline: Pay What You Weigh

A small regional airline that serves American Samoa has launched a new pricing model that charges passengers by their body weight.

Depending on the flight, each kilogram (2.2 pounds) costs 93 cents to $1.06. That means the average American man weighing 195 pounds with a 35 pound bag would pay $97 to go one-way between Apia, Samoa, and Pago Pago, American Samoa. Competitors typically charge $130 to $140 roundtrip for similar routes. The airline's chief executive, Chris Langton, said Tuesday that "planes are run by weight and not by seat, and travelers should be educated on this important issue. The plane can only carry a certain amount of weight and that weight needs to be paid. There is no other way."

The airline had already been weighing passengers prior to flights due to the small size of their planes.