World Tourism Blog

Airline passengers flying through storms might have more to worry about than a little turbulence.

A new study suggests that if jets pass near lightning discharges or related phenomena known as terrestrial gamma-ray flashes, passengers and crew members could be exposed to harmful levels of radiation, a dose equal to that of 400 chest X-rays.

However, the likelihood of encountering these lightning events is very small, the researchers say. In addition, airline passengers are always exposed to slightly elevated radiation levels due to cosmic rays, which bombard Earth’s upper atmosphere constantly but typically don’t make it to the surface.

Airplane passengers would only be exposed to this high radiation dose if their airplane happens to be near the point of origin of a lightning discharge or a gamma-ray flash, and scientists aren’t sure how often, if ever, such exposure occurs. The radiation bursts are extremely brief and extend over just a few hundred feet in the clouds.

“We know that commercial airplanes are typically struck by lightning once or twice a year,” said Joe Dwyer, professor of physics and space sciences at Florida Tech. “What we don’t know is how often planes happen to be in just the right place or right time to receive a high radiation dose. We believe it is very rare, but more research is needed to answer the question definitively.”

Scientists admit lightning is still mysterious. They don’t really know why it produces X-rays or gamma rays (which are more intense than X-rays), or even how it gets from there to here.

The researchers did not measure high radiation doses directly with airplanes. Instead, they estimated radiation based on satellite and ground observations of X-rays and gamma rays.

With orbiting satellite data, they were able to study terrestrial gamma-ray flashes, or TGFs, mysterious phenomena that appear to originate at the same altitudes used by jet airliners and occur along with lightning. While scientists don’t know what causes TGFs, they believe they are produced by electric fields above the thunderstorms.

The research team also included measurements of X-rays and gamma rays from natural lightning on the ground, as well as artificial lightning triggered with wire-trailing rockets fired into storm clouds.

They then used computer models to estimate the amount of radiation that could be produced within, or very near, thunderclouds during lightning storms.

They concluded the radiation in a football field-sized space around these lightning events could reach “biologically significant levels,” up to 10 rem (roentgen equivalent man), which is the dosage considered the maximum safe radiation exposure over a person’s lifetime. Hard money training.

Virginia City’s private train car features a Venetian marble fireplace and Murano chandeliers. It can be hitched to any Amtrak train for a luxurious ride that beats jockeying for a table in the dining car. Cost: Up to $5,000 a day.

Ever dreamed of dining among the Egyptian pyramids, roaming the ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru and basking in the golden glow of Myanmar’s Shwedagon Pagoda — all in the span of a month?

Travel company Abercrombie & Kent can take you to see these world wonders — and six more — in a 26-day whirlwind tour, traveling between the exotic sites aboard a retrofitted 757. In the spirit of true comfort, the airliner’s 260 densely packed seats have been replaced with ample accommodations for 52 guests.

Forbes teamed up with the Travel Channel to create a list of the world’s finest first class travel accommodations, including private planes, tricked-out trains and high-performance sports cars.

Abercrombie & Kent’s Nine World Wonders trip and 10 other first class travel experiences will be featured on an episode of “Forbes Luxe 11”, which debuts on the Travel Channel and Travel Channel HD Saturday, Nov. 21 at 10 p.m. E/P.

Private flight outfit Talon Air is the answer for anyone looking to forego the hassle of airport security lines. Before boarding, Talon Air clients are invited to lounge in the company’s VIP area, where they are treated to rich cigars and premium coffee. “Believe it or not, the VIP area is probably the most underutilized room in the hangar,” says Talon Air vice president Jason Kaufman, “because if you’re flying via private aviation you’re not supposed to wait at all.”

Some travelers are better off booking a transatlantic flight on Singapore Airline’s A380 aircraft rather than jumping on a private jet. The A380 has three passenger tiers: economy class, business class — and suite class.

For the suite class, Singapore Air collaborated with yacht designers and celebrity chefs to incorporate a set of private cabins into the nose of the plane, where some passengers can sip fine wines while lounging on a double bed.

Want to take to the sky without really going anywhere? The Zeppelin NT (available for charter via West Coast start-up Airship Ventures), is a modern-day adaptation of the German airship that reached its pinnacle in the early 20th century. With room for 12, Airship Ventures’ passenger balloons are well suited to small parties, offering panoramic views of the Bay Area’s crystal-blue coastline at an altitude of 1,200 feet.

Enjoying first class accommodations on a train is a favorite of many travelers who like to move at a more leisurely pace.

On the storied Orient Express, guests glide past thatched-roof villages, ancient temples and magnificent palaces as they complete the 1,000-mile journey from Bangkok to Singapore. Hard money training.

Countries that manage Antarctica are considering new controls on ships visiting the frozen continent to reduce the growing threat of human and environmental disasters posed by exploding numbers of tourists, an official said Wednesday.

A proposal for a code to ensure ships plying the world’s southernmost seas could withstand hitting an iceberg and other measures are being discussed at a meeting this week in New Zealand of more than 80 experts from signatories to the Antarctic Treaty, the international accord to oversee the region.

Antarctica’s pristine environment, unpredictable and extreme weather, mostly uncharted waters and vast distances from habitation pose major dangers for vessels and major problems for rescuers in any emergency.

In the past, most shipping in Antarctica has been limited to scientific vessels bringing researchers or supplies. But traffic has burgeoned in recent years as tourists flock to see the world’s last great wilderness.

Annual tourist numbers have grown from about 10,000 a decade ago to 45,000 last year. Tourists can pay between $3,000 and $24,000 for a two-week trip, in style ranging from basic to all-out luxury.

Existing rules bar tourists or tour operators from leaving anything behind — like garbage or human waste — and protect animal breeding grounds.

But there are no formal codes on the kind of vessels that can use the waters or the kinds of fuel and other chemicals that they can carry.

In a recent scare, the Canadian cruise ship Explorer hit an iceberg and sank in November 2007. All 154 people aboard were saved by a nearby Norwegian vessel during a window of good weather, but light fuel oil continues to leak into surrounding waters from the Explorer’s sunken hull.

Four other passenger ships have run aground in Antarctica in the past three years.

Trevor Hughes, the head of Antarctic policy at New Zealand’s foreign ministry, said the sinking of the ice-strengthened Explorer was a wake-up call to Antarctic Treaty nations, and experts from all key members of the Antarctic Treaty now want a tough new code for shipping in Antarctica.

“Without regulations, we are going to have a disaster where a lot of lives are lost and where oil spills out into the environment, and we see penguins being smothered and poisoned by fuel oil in their rookeries,” Hughes told The Associated Press.

The proposed code, which must be ratified by treaty states to become binding, would cover vessel design and construction for polar operations, equipment and crew training. In a similar move, the U.N. International Maritime Organization recently approved guidelines for ships in polar waters.

New Zealand is one of the dozen founding members of the Antarctic Treaty, along with the United States, Russia, Britain and others, and is among those leading the push for shipping regulation.

Steve Wellmeier, executive director of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators, said the group supports new mandatory controls.

“We welcome consistency and oversight of all vessels, including passenger vessels,” he said.

New Zealand and Norway are also pushing for a ban on carriage or use of heavy fuel oils in the Antarctic region, which is due to be ratified in 2010.

“Heavy fuel oils in the Antarctic Treaty area pose the greatest threat of long-term environmental damage,” said Catherine Taylor, director of Maritime New Zealand, the agency responsible for fighting oil spills in the country’s Antarctic zone. Hard money training.

Why go to Glacier National Park? Next year, America’s fourth-largest national park—more than 1 million acres running along the Canadian border—celebrates its 100th anniversary. But this milestone isn’t the only reason to head there now: it’s estimated that the park’s glaciers will vanish by 2030 because of climate change.

What’s your New Year’s resolution? Volunteering? Immersing yourself in another culture? Or simply getting outside more?

Whatever your focus, a vacation can be the perfect time to fulfill your promises to yourself. You won’t be alone: authentic experiences are becoming increasingly important to many travelers.

Whether it’s helping others, understanding local cultures, or exploring the natural splendor of a rich ecosystem, your next journey could be the life-changing experience you’ve been looking for. To help, we reached out to our network of trusted tour operators to create custom itineraries that promise to transform.

You’ll find one of these opportunities in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, home to 20 percent of the city’s population—more than 1 million people. Voluntourism operator Hands Up Holidays offers travelers hands-on experiences in these overcrowded areas, teaching English or art or painting murals to brighten the neighborhood. But it’s not all work; the company balances the experience by offering walking and hiking expeditions along with accommodations in a boutique hotel.

Of course, life-changing experiences come in many forms—and getting inside a culture is one of them. We also tapped the pros at Asia Transpacific Journeys for a custom Travel + Leisure itinerary, and they came back with a tour to Vietnam that guarantees a heavy dose of cultural interaction.

On this journey, you’ll explore lesser-known hill-tribe villages and markets of the northern highlands, and you’ll meet with locals—including relatives of the former royal family. You’ll also attend cooking classes with local chefs and attend dinners in private homes.

For some, the dream includes getting in touch with nature. Fortunately, the adventure-travel pros at Austin-Lehman created a trip just for us. You’ll go with them on a six-day trip to Glacier National Park, a one-million-acre expanse that runs along Canada’s border. Not only will you spend your days hiking through the park—where there’s a good chance of spotting bighorn sheep, black bears, and moose—you’ll also have an opportunity to see the glaciers before they disappear. (Experts give them another 20 or so years.) Hard money training.

Truck drivers wait to get into a truck stop in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday. More than a foot of snow was expected in parts of Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa.

As millions across the northern half of the U.S. struggled with flight delays, road closures and canceled classes on Wednesday, many were also asked, albeit briefly, to turn off their holiday lights by a major power company feeling the strain.

PacifiCorp at first asked customers to skimp on electricity as it tried to cope with higher demand prompted by frigid weather.

The utility, however, backed off after taking criticism for spreading bad cheer.

“We want to be in tune with the festive nature of the season,” said David Eskelsen, a spokesman for Portland, Ore.-based PacifiCorp, which serves parts of six Western states.

Now the company is asking people to delay turning on holiday lights until after 7 p.m. at night rather than keep the lights off.

Demand for electricity could peak again on PacifiCorp’s system early Thursday when temperatures are expected to dip to the single digits, Eskelsen said.

There have been no reports of widespread outages, but cold temperatures are expected to persist until the weekend, straining a Western power grid that stretches from northern Mexico to a piece of British Columbia, he said.

Most people heat with natural gas or another fuel, but Eskelsen said heating systems commonly use a blower, which contributes significantly to power demands.

Electric clothes dryers also are big electric users, and PacifiCorp was asking customers to wait until late at night to use those them.

Customers also were asked to minimize the use of lights, computers, televisions and other appliances. The utility even asked people to cook with microwaves instead of regular electric ovens.

The snowstorm and bitter cold started in the West on Monday, hit the Upper Midwest on Tuesday and Wednesday and then spread into New England. It has been blamed for at least 12 deaths, most in traffic accidents. Hard money training.

A tourist’s Christmas in midtown Manhattan has a logical starting place: Rockefeller Center, with the famous tree and ice skating rink, Radio City Music Hall, and the view from Top of the Rock, the observation deck at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

The bad news is, there are so many tourists this time of year, you might have to wait in line just to cross the street.

The good news is, within a few blocks of Rock Center, you’ll find everything Manhattan has to offer: world-famous art and architecture, great food, incomparable shopping and even a gingerbread house display.

For shoppers, start your tour just a few steps from the tree. Anthropologie, at 50 Rockefeller Plaza, has turned its windows into a vision of winter white, filled with enormous whimsical snowballs and other signs of the season. Inside you’ll find cozy sweaters, berets and other casual but trendy clothes.

“It’s easy to get distracted by things you want for yourself when you’re shopping for gifts, which is why midtown Manhattan is a great place to tackle your list,” said Elise Loehnen, editor-at-large for Lucky Magazine. “It’s so rife with holiday spirit that it’s impossible to get off track.”

She added that because midtown stores are “engineered to handle crowds,” they can be easier to navigate than crowded shopping elsewhere.

A few blocks north of Anthropologie, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues, Loehnen suggests stopping in at the Museum of Modern Art Design Store. Here you’ll find a carefully curated selection of apparel, gifts and everyday objects like salt and pepper shakers, all reinterpreted with a sleek and urbane aesthetic.

At the museum itself, check out the Tim Burton exhibition, a tribute to the filmmaker’s art and creativity. And no, that’s not a green holiday reindeer in MOMA’s Abby Aldrich Sculpture Garden. It’s a replica of the deer topiary from Burton’s movie, “Edward Scissorhands.” Also on view for the first time since MOMA reopened in 2004, the museum is showing all four of its Monet “Water Lilies” paintings.

Heading up Fifth Avenue, it’s fun to people-watch and window-shop at fancy stores even if you can’t afford to shop there. Baubles hang like sparkling icicles in the windows at Harry Winston, the famous jeweler near 56th Street. On the same block, check out the scene at Henri Bendel, which carries nothing but accessories — bags, gloves, makeup and the latest craze among New York’s smartly dressed women, scarves. You’ll see lots of peddlers selling scarves on the street for $5, but at Bendel, a long black scarf shimmering with sequins will set you back nearly $200, while a black-and-white striped infinity scarf, twisted into a wrap that sits on your shoulders perfectly and never comes undone, is just under $150.

At 59th Street and Fifth Avenue, enjoy the design of the Apple store, with its capsule elevator and spiral staircase. FAO Schwarz is right behind it, and if you can’t afford the famous toy store’s $399 pink puppy the size of a chair, a tossable sack called a Myachi is just $6.99. Or fill a bag with candy from FAO’s selection of old-fashioned goodies, $3.25 a quarter-pound, including Mary Janes and Swedish fish.

The Plaza Hotel across the street has temporarily closed the Palm Court, where afternoon tea was served. But downstairs, amid high-end designer boutiques in the Plaza’s new underground retail area, an Austrian cafe called Demel serves food as good as the old tea’s finger sandwiches and sweets, but at a fraction of the price.

Demel is run by two friendly brothers whose family owns cafes by the same name in Austria. Open-faced sandwiches with a choice of cheeses, salmon or prosciutto are served on hearty bread, $3-$5. Scrumptious chocolate tortes and other desserts are about $5, and coffee is served the Austrian way, on a silver tray with a glass of water on the side. After lunch, stop by the new shop themed on Eloise, the naughty little girl who lived at the Plaza in a beloved children’s book.

A bit north and east, Barneys New York, at 666 Madison Ave. near 61st, is celebrating characters from a different genre: Its holiday windows feature favorites from “Saturday Night Live” like Roseanne Roseannadanna, the Church Lady, and Wayne and Garth, in the form of lifesize papier-mache ornaments. Hard money training.

Three surfers drop down the face of a wave at Waimea Bay located on the north shore of the island of Oahu on Monday.

A surfing contest in Hawaii that is only held in extreme conditions is on for the first time in five years, thanks to the massive waves pounding Oahu’s famed North Shore.

Contest director George Downing made the announcement Tuesday morning as wave heights at Waimea Bay reached 35 feet. The Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau big wave surfing contest is only held when there are very large waves. Surfers entered in the contest include Andy Irons, Kelly Slater and Sunny Garcia.

The National Weather Service is forecasting 30- to 40-foot waves, with some sets approaching 50 feet on the outer reefs as Hawaii remains under a high surf warning.

Thousands of spectators and surfers are flocking to Hawaii’s beaches to see the biggest waves in years crash ashore.

Heavy traffic backed up for miles (kilometers) Monday along roads leading to Oahu’s North Shore. Some of the world’s most daring surfers took on the powerful and dangerous waves, which forecasters say could reach heights of 50 feet (15 meters).

The surf grew so large that a few beaches on Oahu and Maui were closed because lifeguards feared inexperienced sightseers could drown, according to state officials.

“After the water comes in, it can drag you back out with it,” said Eric Basta, a manager at Surf N Sea in Haleiwa. “Be mindful of how powerful the surf really is.”

The high waves are expected to continue through Wednesday.

“The swell energy is continuing to grow, and the waves may get larger,” said Robert Ballard, a forecaster for the National Weather Service. “A large storm over the North Pacific has sent a wave train at us.”

Hawaii hasn’t seen such large waves since 2004 or 1998, he said.

Teams of tow-in surfers — who use jet watercraft to race into waves too big to paddle — are flying to Maui from Brazil, South Africa and Australia, The Honolulu Advertiser reported. Hard money training.

A spacecraft designed to rocket wealthy tourists into space as early as 2011 was unveiled Monday in what backers of the venture hope will signal a new era in aviation history.

The long-awaited glimpse of SpaceShipTwo marks the first public appearance of a commercial passenger spacecraft. The project is bankrolled by Virgin Galactic founder, British billionaire Sir Richard Branson, who partnered with famed aviation designer Burt Rutan, the brains behind the venture.

“We want this program to be a whole new beginning in a commercial era of space travel,” Branson said.

He is hopeful that they can begin the flights sometime in 2011, only after a series of rigorous safety tests. Branson said he, his family and Rutan would be the first people to make the trip to space aboard the craft.

SpaceShipTwo is based on Rutan’s design of a stubby white prototype called SpaceShipOne. In 2004, SpaceShipOne captured the $10 million Ansari X Prize by becoming the first privately manned craft to reach space.

Since the historic feat, engineers from Rutan’s Scaled Composites LLC have been laboring in a Mojave Desert hangar to commercialize the prototype in heavy secrecy. Some 300 clients have paid the $200,000 ticket or placed a deposit, according to the company.

“NASA spent billions upon billions of dollars on space travel and has only managed to send 480 people,” Branson said. “We’re literally hoping to send thousands of people into space over the next couple of years. We want to make sure that we build a spaceship that is 100 percent safe.”

The last time there was this level of hoopla in the high desert was a little more than a year ago when Branson and Rutan trotted out to great fanfare the twin-fuselage mothership, White Knight Two, that will ferry SpaceShipTwo to launch altitude.

Despite the hype, hard work lies ahead before space journeys could become as routine as air travel.

Flight testing of White Knight Two has been ongoing for the past year. The first SpaceShipTwo test flights are expected to start next year, with full-fledged space launches to its maximum altitude by or in 2011.

SpaceShipTwo, built from lightweight composite materials and powered by a hybrid rocket motor, is similar to its prototype cousin with three exceptions. It’s twice as large, measuring 60 feet long with a roomy cabin about the size of a Falcon 900 executive jet. It also has more windows including overhead portholes. While SpaceShipOne was designed for three people, SpaceShipTwo can carry six passengers and two pilots.

“It’s a big and beautiful vehicle,” said X Prize founder Peter Diamandis, who has seen SpaceShipTwo during various stages of development.

The ability to view Earth’s curvature from space has been limited so far to government astronauts and a handful of wealthy people who have shelled out millions to board Russian rockets to the orbiting international space station.

The debut of the craft could not come sooner for the scores of wannabe astronauts who have forked over part of their disposable income for the chance to float in zero gravity.

“We’ve all been patiently waiting to see exactly what the vehicle is going to look like,” said Peter Cheney, a 63-year-old potential space tourist from Seattle who was among the first to sign up for suborbital space rides marketed by Virgin Galactic.

After SpaceShipOne’s history-making flights, many space advocates believed private companies would offer suborbital space joyrides before the end of this decade. Hard money training.

Ever had the urge to speed skate down a bobsled track?

Each winter 100,000 spectators cram the steep, 400-year-old center of Quebec City to witness four athletes do just that during the bruising Red Bull Crashed Ice race.

The full-contact spectacle, a combination of downhill skiing, roller derby and hockey, has no rules. Heavily padded racers lace up their skates and barrel down the icy track as it winds through the old town. The winner gets $5,000, plus bragging rights during the all-night party that consumes the city that night.

The race, along with its posh old-world style hotels, gourmet restaurants and a wild nightlife, helps make Canada’s Quebec City the planet’s hottest winter destination.

Forbes teamed up with the Travel Channel to create a list of the world’s Icy Hot Spots. Quebec City and 10 other famous frozen venues will be featured on an episode of Forbes Luxe 11, which debuted on the Travel Channel and Travel Channel HD on Nov. 21.

For a more traditional Quebec City experience, travelers stay at the venerable Fairmont Le Château Frontenac. Crowning a bluff in the heart of the city, the hotel offers luxurious rooms, sweeping views, a world famous Martini bar and fine dining, including the Le Champlain restaurant.

Also featured in the episode of Forbes Luxe 11 is Park City, Utah, where it’s nearly impossible to get a reservation in January as Hollywood takes over the ski town for the Sundance Film Festival.

During Sundance, Park City, which features world-class art galleries, classic saloons and great restaurants, hosts 50,000 visitors from the entertainment industry — including a slew of celebrities — squeezing into the town’s 12 movie theaters to view the year’s most anticipated independent films.

For a truly icy experience there is Sweden’s Icehotel. Located 200 miles above the Arctic Circle, the hotel is made entirely of ice. Every spring the hotel melts to the ground and is rebuilt every winter.

Visitors travel from the airport to Icehotel by snowmobile or dogsled. The hotel features Ice rooms, Snow rooms, plus $800-a-night Art suites, which are hand carved by local artisans. Guests sleep on slabs of ice covered in moose fur.

For a cold drink in a city setting, check out London’s Absolut Icebar. This meat locker of a pub is kept at 20 degrees Fahrenheit and features a bar and drinking glasses made of ice. Patrons are loaned capes and gloves to keep warm–and to prevent their body heat from melting the furniture.

Other icy hot spots featured in the show include the winter sport Mecca of Jackson Hole, Wyo., Iceland’s Blue Lagoon and Switzerland’s most scenic train ride, the Glacier Express. Hard money training.

Wintertime guests at Necker Island, British Virgin Islands include Jimmy Fallon and Nancy Juvonen, Mel Gibson, Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, and Larry Page. Why they like it: A private island owned by Virgin founder, Sir Richard Branson, Necker is hardly your traditional resort.

If you’re Jennifer Lopez (the ninth-richest woman in entertainment with a net worth of $110 million), you have a $350 million fragrance and fashion empire, and your husband just bought ownership in the Miami Dolphins, where do you spend your winter vacations?

Answer: Anywhere you damn well please, of course. But for J-Lo, “winter getaway” has sometimes meant heading to the Mexican resort Las Ventanas, in Los Cabos.

It’s not surprising why: the luxurious Las Ventanas has the perfect formula for any traveler looking to escape a dreary winter. There’s a long, crowdless, milky-white beach that stretches for miles; giant suites with private Jacuzzis on big balconies overlooking the sea; and Mini Cooper convertibles and fully loaded Kindles to borrow.

But what really draws J-Lo (and fellow superstars like Leonardo DiCaprio, Charlize Theron, Adam Sandler, Fergie, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Brad Pitt) is that the resort is private and remote. It doesn’t even have a sign. Hard money training.