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PROJECT GREEN
The End of Green Travel
1/8/2009 12:00:00 AM
I arrived at this unlikely conclusion while talking with Mike Ragsdale, the "town evangelist" for a seaside community in Northwest Florida called Alys Beach. "People think being green means making sacrifices or paying more," he told me. "That's not necessarily true."
RETAIL
Heading for a Wipeout
Caitlin McDevitt 11/21/2008 12:00:00 AM
Eddy Korbel has spent 14 years in what might seem an especially challenging profession: selling ski equipment to the perpetually tanned customers at Peter Glenn Ski & Sports in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Since there's nowhere to ski near his shop, the majority of Korbel's customers are "destination skiers" flying from the Sunshine State to resorts up North or out West. As this year's ski season approaches, Korbel is a little worried—and not just because of the weakening economy. Like most ski retailers, he's facing a different challenge: the onerous new fees that airlines are instituting for people who want to check bags on flights. "This year is definitely going to be different, no doubt about it," says Korbel.
GOOD LIFE
Travel: A Massage Before Landing
Paige Hansen 9/13/2008 12:00:00 AM
While air travel grows steadily less tolerable for economy-class passengers, the perks are only getting better for those flying first class. Increasingly, the luxuries involve big-name designers; British Airways recently chose Anya Hindmarch, the enormously popular English accessories designer, to create the bag for its coveted amenity kits, which include Kiehl's products. Singapore Airlines is now offering Givenchy pajamas and bed linens, as well as a personal set of Salvatore Ferragamo toiletries in its first-class cabin. But nothing beats the pampering available on Emirates Airlines' new Airbus A380. For an £8,356 first-class ticket, passengers can schedule an appointment in the onboard spa, with a choice of a "Revive" or "Relax" amenity kit, which includes custom-designed toiletries from Bulgari. Booked in advance, the room will be specially prepared by the air spa staff. Then passengers can hop in the shower, arriving at their destinations reinvigorated.
BUSINESS
Who’s Got The Jumper Cable?
George Wehrfritz 9/13/2008 12:00:00 AM
Asia's budget-airline king, Tony Fernandes, is vowing to expand even as rivals founder under high fuel prices. He says his six-year-old start-up, AirAsia, has grown through "SARS, bird flu, tsunamis, earthquakes, terrorists, you name it," and he sees hard times as the right moment to add routes at home and abroad, buy new jets and grab market share from higher-priced competitors. But this is no ordinary downturn. With Asian airlines already suffering from severe overcapacity (by the equivalent of 240 Boeing 747s), jet-fuel prices up 100 percent from last year and passenger travel dropping sharply in key markets like China and India, budget carriers "are not a good proposition," says HSBC transport analyst Mark Webb in Hong Kong.
BY THE NUMBERS
Five Financial Costs of American Obesity
Tina Peng 8/15/2008 12:00:00 AM
Last month, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health came out with another report, in what has been a parade of dire warnings about obesity in the United States. In a study published in the July issue of Obesity, they concluded that unless our eating habits or exercise habits change, 86 percent of the American population will be overweight or obese by 2030. More than a third of American adults—over 72 million people—were obese in 2005 and 2006, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The obese are more susceptible to an array of health problems, such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Widespread obesity also means that today's children may even have a shorter life expectancy than their parents.
BUSINESS
All Tickets, Please
William Underhill 7/19/2008 12:00:00 AM
If the cargo aboard a freight train that rolled into Hamburg, Germany, earlier this year—a mixed load of clothes, ceramics and electrical goods—looked unremarkable, its arrival heralded the start of a new era. The train, an experimental service run by an international alliance of railway operators, including Germany's Deutsche Bahn and the Russian and Chinese State railway companies, had traveled 10,000 kilometers direct from Beijing, taking half the time needed to reach Germany by sea. The alliance's aim by next year: a regular freight shuttle service that will undercut airline shipping on price.