Continental Airlines
launched helicopter shuttle service between downtown Manhattan and
its hub at Newark (N.J.) Liberty International Airport in December
2006. A seat on one of the four eight-seat helicopters costs $159
plus a security fee. Bus service from the helipad at Newark to the
terminal is included.
Online Travel Booking
will surpass offline bookings in 2007, jumping to 54 percent,
predicts the recently released U.S. Online Travel Overview study by
independent research firm PhoCusWright Inc.
The Ritz-Carlton New
Orleans, devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, reopened
this past December following a 15-month, $100 million renovation.
The 452-room property features approximately 35,000 square feet of
meeting space and a new club level.
The tab on the new
500,000-square-foot Raleigh Convention Center keeps going up.
Originally estimated at $180 million, costs for the new facility,
which is slated to open in 2008, have jumped 23 percent to a new
total of $221 million.