No-go for tourists in Tibet and more

No-go for tourists in Tibet

Tourists are continuing to give Tibet a miss, more than six months after deadly protests in the capital city of Lhasa.

The number of overnight visitors during the recent national-day holiday were off by 41.5 percent from the same period last year, to just 110,900, said China's official Xinhua news agency, with tourist-industry earnings down almost 39 percent to $11.8 million, the report said.

Tourism took a major hit from a March 14 riot in which Tibetans attacked Chinese migrants and torched much of Lhasa's commercial district, leaving 22 people dead, by the official account.

Travel bans and a harsh crackdown on Buddhist monasteries also sent tourism plummeting, with tourist arrivals in the first half of the year down by 69 percent.

American to block porn sites

American Airlines says it will filter an in-flight Internet service to block pornography sites, reversing course after complaints from flight attendants and passengers. The airline launched Internet service in August on some of its Boeing 767 jets that fly between New York and San Francisco, Los Angeles and Miami in a six-month trial. It's working with Aircell to set up filtering.

Promoting "green" tourism

A coalition of 27 travel organizations called the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria Partnership has issued guidelines for "green" tourism.

"Consumers deserve widely accepted standards to distinguish green from greenwashed. These criteria will allow true certification of sustainable practices in hotels and resorts as well as other travel suppliers," said Jeff Glueck, chief marketing officer of Travelocity, a member of the coalition.

Devised at a recent conference in Barcelona, the guidelines focus on four areas: maximizing tourism's social and economic benefits to local communities; reducing impacts on cultural heritage; reducing harm to local environments; and planning for sustainability.

The partnership was started by the United Nations Foundation and includes the American Hotel & Lodging Association, Expedia and the International Ecotourism Society, among others. The guidelines are available at www.SustainableTourismCriteria.org.

Alaska ferries get busier

Alaska transportation officials say the state's ferry system is getting more use, with passenger and vehicle traffic up 7 percent between 2007 and 2008.

The summer 2009 schedule of what's formally called the Alaska Marine Highway System has been released, and reservations can be made for the Bellingham-to-Alaska route and other routes within Alaska.

The ferry system has 11 vessels serving 32 ports. Information: www.dot.state.ak.us/amhs/ or 800-642-0066.

Protect your hotel key card

While most hotels now issue electronic key cards to guests, few remind customers that the cards can become demagnetized easily. How? With the ubiquitous cellphone. Any cellphone, Blackberry or strong magnet can deactivate hotel key cards.

To avoid problems, carry your key card in a different place from your phone, or try keeping it in the paper sleeve the hotel clerk tucked it in originally.

Southwest ranked best

A new study by Forbes.comranks the most reliable U.S. airlines. Ten major airlines were judged based on five years' worth of statistics in such categories as on-time arrival percentages, cancellations, complaints and mishandled baggage.

Forbes also took into account customer satisfaction ratings, as well as data on the various airlines' financial health.

The hands-down winner? Southwest Airlines. The discount carrier ranked highest in on-time arrival (more than 80 percent of the time, compared with the industrywide average of 76.8 percent) and lowest in flight cancellations (.065 percent) and complaints (.18 out of 100,000 customers).

Continental ranked second, while JetBlue, AirTran and Delta rounded out the top five.

Travel ticker

• Colorado's Vail Resorts will offer a $50 credit to some skiers to offset fees that airlines are charging to check baggage. Skiers have to stay at least four nights to qualify.

• JetBlue Airways has added a daily flight from Portland International Airport to Long Beach, Calif. A second flight will be added Nov. 2.

• Disney Cruise Line is offering a number of new destinations in 2010, including St. Petersburg, Russia; and Tunisia.

Seattle Times Travel staff and news services