What Obama Needs To Do To Improve The Travel Industry But Won’t (Directly)
This post was originally to be published yesterday (1/20/2009) but I was traveling all day and not able to catch an Internet connection between flights. Here it is, a day late.
Barack Obama is being sworn in as the US president today and hopes are across the country that his administration will be able to fix many of the woes facing the United States. The few of you who responded to my poll last week believe that Obama will improve the travel industry, at least a little. His administration will have the opportunity to remediate a number of problems facing the global travel industry – except that the Obama administration is unlikely to do so directly.
As I predicted earlier in the month, 2009 is not going to be a good year for travelers. A number of ailments in the industry could very well become life-threatening affecting both US and international travelers. Here’s what the Obama administration needs to do, and why it probably won’t.
1. Overhaul the Outdated Air Traffic Control System
Upgrading the 30-40 year old air traffic control infrastructure is both costly and unglamorous. At an estimated $40 billion dollars updating the mostly manual system of guiding, tracking, and organizing landing patterns at airports to a computerized models (like much of Western Europe) is both expensive and time consuming. Currently the federal government is planning a roll out to GPS-based systems over the next two decades.
Yes he can?
Such a change would allow air traffic control systems to keep planes closer together in flight patterns and use gravity and existing wind conditions to land planes with less engine power, potentially saving 40% of the fuel used to land a jetliner. The best reason for upgrading the air traffic control system however, is safety. Numerous close calls are reported every year due to overloaded air traffic control personnel and many more go unreported. It will take a disaster to push the public to call for a change – until then it’s unlikely to happen any time soon.
2. Reviving The US Travel Industry
Despite the international travel boom, the US is in the middle of a bust. Visa restrictions and passport requirements (i.e. from Canada) make it more difficult for foreign nationals to visit the US – so they are choosing to go elsewhere. Recent changes in the visa waiver program don’t help either. Not reciprocating visa waivers of closely allied counties hurts the US economy at a time when Europeans should be flocking to the States taking advantage of the weak dollar.
Axis Of Evil Tour Guide
January 19, 2009 by Anil P.
Filed under Pictures and Video
Tony Wheeler (one of the founders of Lonely Planet Publications) visited some of the most ‘dangerous’ countries in the world and wrote about them in his book Bad Lands.
Three of the places Wheeler visited (Afghanistan, Iran, and North Korea) are on my list of 4 unlikely travel destinations 10 years from now. If you can’t wait that long, book your next flight to these 8 places you should visit but might be scared to.
foXnoMad Features: How To Get In Touch With Me
Every Friday over the next three months I’d like to introduce you to a feature of foXnoMad. Helping you make the most out of every post, connect with your fellow travelers, and travel smarter.
There are several ways you can connect with me through this travel blog, foXnoMad. The easiest way is to send me an email from my contact page. You can email me tips, travel stories, or just a line to say hello. You can also add me on Facebook and join the foXnoMad Blog Network. (None of those guys on the right are me, by the way.)
You can also connect with me about a specific post by leaving a comment. At the bottom of each post is a form for your name (or just something to call you) and an email address to confirm you are human. Let me know what you think about something I’ve written or posted and I’ll be sure to respond, I do to most every comment.
This site thrives on your emails and comments. Check out some of my most lively recent conversations about flying with an infant, where my readers are traveling, and 7 up and coming cheap destinations.
[photo by: Earl - What I Saw 2.0]
6 Ways To Keep Your Personal Travel Blog Interesting
So you’re going on a trip and have decided to create a Blogger account, Myspace blog, or personal web page so that your friends and family can keep up with your travels. You want them to read it don’t you?
Writing about traveling on a blog isn’t like writing an essay, but more of a newspaper article. Instead of making a 1 week trip to Cancun an epic novel, turn it into an eyewitness report so that anyone will want to read it.
1. The Upside Down Pyramid
Write about the most important and most interesting things first. Even your dear mother will stop reading after a few lines (and maybe that’s a good thing) so it’s good to get the highlights across quickly.
2. Get To The Point!
Blog writing doesn’t require a thesis or an introduction paragraph.. Just tell us what you want to say from line one and go with it.
3. Keep It Short
Pretty straightforward. Reread what you wrote before you post it and then chop off 20%. Then post it.
4. Break It Down Into Multiple Posts
You woke up and had mint tea, then talked to the rowdy Swedes rooming next door, before hailing a cab, then negotiating prices at the market…it all sounds very interesting, but it’s hard to digest all at once. Break up each noteworthy sight, event, funny story etc. into multiple posts. That way people can browse through them, focusing on the elements they find most interesting.
