• A Message From Protravel International
• Keys To Business Growth
  Your Business…And Ours
• Air “Lines” (News of Note):
• Carry Ons, Partnering, Tarmac Regulation
  …And “Facing The Draft”
• Business News of Note
• “App-ier” Times
  For Business Travelers On The Go
• Networking By Business Groups – Disney-Style
• Encore, Encore – Macau’s Win Wynn Business Proposition
• Hotel Spaces (News Of Note):
• Broadcast Studio Comes To Beverly Hills Four Seasons
  While Ritz-Carlton and Marriott Welcome Guests at L.A. Live
• Cruise “Lines” (News Of Note):
• Celebrity Enters Service, Oceania To Head For Alaska In 2011
  For Teens…Sushi To Swedish Offered On Crystal Cruises
• Decidedly Different (Leisure Time News Of Note):
• Fossil Dig, Sports Celebs and Food For Thought (Package)
• Briefly Noted
  Short Takes - To Take You There!

Keys To Business Growth
Your Business…And Ours

Jack Sims, a professional golf teacher and guest speaker who draws upon his new book “How to Win at Business & Golf” is giving audiences around the country sound advice to achieve success in both, and offers six fundamental rules that, he asserts, separate winners from losers in the business world, and that impact on serious longtime growth. Simply stated as he sees it, they are: dreaming big, selling the product your customers want to buy, positioning your product clearly and correctly, taking it to market better than the competition, building a world-class brand (giving those you reach the very best you can), and finally, leading your business, not managing it. (Leadership, Sims observes, is the ability to inspire others to be as good as they can be and getting them to achieve all that you want achieved.) “Like any proud father,” says Sims, “I love all my six Fundamental Rules equally. But if I absolutely had to pick one that I thought was most important, it would be Number 2: ‘Sell The Product Your Customers Want To Buy.’ Take any industry in the world and you'll see this rule in action; it brings firms the best, most profitable, most loyal customers.” Come to think of it. That’s Protravel’s successful formula, too. Every hour of every day. Not only to provide a travel product that you want to buy…but to tailor it for your specific business-related and/or leisure time wants and needs (in terms of budgets, experiences, participants, agendas and so on). If you have not done so yet, Protravel International invites you to see this in action...for YOU

In a story by Mike Haney in the May issue of Condé Nast Traveler, the writer offers a number of smartphone applications that can make work—and life—easier while you’re off on a trip. For finding a taxi, he notes, TaxiMagic ties directly into dispatch systems in 25 U.S. cities, so you can use the app to book a cab, track its progress toward you, and pay. In other cities, it'll bring up numbers of local companies (good for Android, BlackBerry, and iPhone; free). Cab4me lets users rank taxi services (free with Android; $3 with BlackBerry; $1 with iPhone), while Rocket Taxi covers several European countries including Germany, Italy, and Spain (good for iPhone; $2); both provide numbers of local cab companies. To “speak the language” Bieks Talking Phrasebooks, he writes, are indispensable. Words and phrases not only appear on-screen but a human voice pronounces them perfectly (good for Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Mobile; $15). The iPhone has several similar apps, but for short trips, Babelingo is the handiest. It doesn't require a connection and offers quick access to key phrases like "May I see the room first?" in 11 languages, including Hindi. There's no audio, so just flash the on screen phrase at a local ($3). For travel arrangements contact any Protravel International agent.

For a limited time, Walt Disney World in Orlando is giving meeting groups the chance to create the ultimate Disney networking experience. Valid for meetings booked by July 1, 2010, and held on select nights through Dec. 10, 2010 at Disney's Yacht & Beach Club Resorts or Disney's Coronado Springs Resort, the experience includes one after-4 p.m. theme park admission and one $25 Disney Dining Card per attendee. A two-night minimum stay is required, as is a minimum 75 rooms occupied on peak. The offer is not available on 6/13-6/26/2010;7/2-7/4/2010; 9/4-9/5/2010; and 11/24-11/27/2010. For travel arrangements call your Protravel International agent.

If you’re heading to Hong Kong for business, here’s a brand new hotel (just opened in late April) that certainly bears consideration in Macau -- a ferry ride away. It’s Steve Wynn’s Encore, an all-suites boutique hotel adjacent to sister resort Wynn Macau, offering 414 suites and villas, two additional restaurants to the Wynn dining family, a lobby bar that’s a work of art, a spa plus three signature stores-Cartier, Chanel and Piaget. For its business guests, the hotel boasts a grand ballroom equipped with a technically supported, theatrical-standard stage (the ballroom can be set up to accommodate 432 persons for banquets while providing three breakout rooms that can handle approximately 22 persons each for meeting purposes); and there are three other meetings rooms (two of them accommodate 30 boardroom style; the third one accommodates 20 in that style). All areas feature advanced technology, including sophisticated audio/visual equipment as well as both broadband and wireless Internet capabilities. The hotel also houses a full-service Business Center. Your Protravel International agent will be happy to arrange your trip and stay.

In airlines news of recent note, five major carriers have agreed not to follow the lead of a small Florida airline (Spirit) that plans to charge for carry-on bags. The promise to NY Sen. Charles Schumer came from American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, US Airways and JetBlue Airways. In August, Spirit will begin charging customers up to $45 to place a bag in an overhead bin. Meanwhile, Ray LaHood, U.S. Secretary of Transportation has announced that the United States and Israel have reached an Open Skies aviation agreement that will liberalize U.S.-Israel air services for the carriers of both countries. Under the new agreement, airlines from both countries will be allowed to select routes and destinations based on consumer demand for both passenger and cargo services, without limitations on the number of U.S. or Israeli carriers that can fly between the two countries or the number of flights they can operate. Also, reports the U.S. Department of Transportation, the requests of five airlines for a temporary exemption from the new rule limiting tarmac delays have been denied. As a result, all U.S. carrier flights covered by the rule will be subject to its terms (effective April 29). “Passengers on flights delayed on the tarmac have a right to know they will not be held aboard a plane indefinitely,” said Secretary LaHood. “This is an important consumer protection, and we believe it should take effect as planned.” Finally, here’s something new for air travelers. Passengers traveling through Lufthansa’s business class lounge at Munich Airport are in for a rare Bavarian-style treat, in the form of a dedicated beer garden. The refurbished lounge, located in the Schengen departure area of Terminal 2, now includes a simulated vista of the Bavarian Alps, under which passengers can sip draft beer (from barrels) and eat Bavarian pretzels. Facilities within the lounge also include 18 workstations. For airline arrangements and other travel needs touch base with any Protravel International agent.

Want to rub shoulders with top celebrities in the entertainment field? Young Hollywood, one of the world's largest producers of original lifestyle and celebrity video content, has announced that they have created their first-ever studio space at the prestigious Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills. The space will provide the leading entertainment site a full functioning studio for their myriad of programs, functions and celebrity interviews. It is the first and only media outlet to be permanently housed on the premises of the hotel seven days a week/24 hours a day, allowing Young Hollywood to have unprecedented access and presence among the elite. Other hotel “spaces” making the West Coast visitors sit up and take notice include the Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles and the JW Marriott Hotel, Los Angeles that have debuted at L.A. LIVE, the $2.5 billion, 4-million-square-foot sports and entertainment complex that aims to revitalize downtown L.A.. The hotels share space in a 54-story tower (the JW Marriott features 878 guest rooms, a rooftop pool, lobby lounge, restaurant, and fitness center while the Ritz-Carlton offers 123 guest rooms, a lobby lounge, restaurant, private dining room and “wine cave,” fitness center, and outdoor pool). Both hotels will share more than 77,000 square feet of meeting space, including a 25,000-square-foot ballroom. For bookings and travel requirements, contact your Protravel International agent.

Celebrity Cruises’ new Eclipse, entered service (in April) and for those who wish to be first to experience the elegant sleek ship, an 11-night “Canary Islands” cruise departs May 21, June 1 and Oct. 20; a 14-night “Spanish Mediterranean” itinerary is scheduled for July 24, Aug. 7, Aug. 21 and Sept. 4; and its 16-night “Western Mediterranean and Adriatic Coast” cruise departs Sept. 18 and Oct. 4. A 14-night “Scandinavia and Russia” trip departs June 12, June 26 and July 10. On Oct. 31, the Eclipse leaves Southampton on a 13-night transatlantic journey to Miami, where it will be based for the winter season and offer seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises. (The Eastern itinerary visits San Juan, St. Maarten and St. Kitts, while the Western route calls at Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Costa Maya and Roatan, Honduras.) In other cruise news, the great land of Alaska will join the list of destinations visited on the award-winning itineraries of Oceania Cruises for summer 2011. Highlights include two full days of glacier cruising and a mix of marquee as well as off-the-beaten-path ports, the latter a hallmark of all Oceania Cruises' voyages. Ten departures are designed to explore Alaska's Inside Passage in depth, including Sitka, Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan, plus less-visited outposts such as Kodiak, Homer and Hoonah. Depending on the itinerary, travelers will also cruise the awe-inspiring Hubbard Glacier, Gulf of Alaska, Tracy Arm and College Fjord. As for Crystal cruising, teens take note. You can learn to make sushi like a professional Nobu-trained chef, take a golf lesson with PGA pro instructors, and language classes with Berlitz educators on Crystal Cruises' ships this summer. Citing a surge in family and multigenerational travel, Crystal reports that, as of March 2010, it has nearly five times more family groups booked through its Crystal Family Memories program for this year versus 2009. To accommodate this growth, Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity have expanded the hours and breadth of supervised activities for junior cruisers of all ages. For booking, costs, availabilities other cruise information contact your Protravel International agent.

Looking for the offbeat but enticing adventure? Here’s three: DINOSAURS ROCK(R), the premiere fossil and mineral education company, is conducting its second 3-day Family Fossil Dig and Gemstone Hunt in Central Utah, Sunday-Tuesday, June 27-29, 2010. This private tour with Neil Brown and Leslie Freund, DINOSAURS ROCK husband and wife co-founders, plus expert local geologists, is a unique opportunity to have participants find and take home real Dinosaur Bone, Trilobites, Topaz and Geodes, while learning about paleontology, mineralogy and geology. Then there’s the opportunity to spend five days with some of America's legendary coaches, players and sports analysts at the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, Maui's first and only AAA Five Diamond and Mobil Five-Star property. The special trip is scheduled from Wednesday, July 28 to Sunday, Aug. 1, 2010, and is hosted by Dick Vitale, ESPN's well-known college basketball analyst and former college and pro-coach. Vitale will be joined by a number of other ESPN celebrated sports personalities including Nick Bollettieri, Lou Holtz, Chris Berman, Doris Burke and Howie Schwab, subject to availability. $500 from each participant's fare will be directed to The V Foundation for Cancer Research. During the stay, guests will join the sports personalities and players for championship golf and tennis. Or, check out the chance to join former White House Chef Walter Sheib on a fascinating adventure in Russian cuisine with privileged access to Russia's intriguing landmarks and historical buildings. Chef Scheib will offer insight into his years in the Clinton and Bush White Houses with behind the scenes stories of his experience as Executive Chef and you’ll be among the few ever invited inside the Grand Kremlin Palace and Terem to view the Faceted Chamber. The 7-day land program, Sept. 1-7, (Moscow and St. Petersburg) is priced at $5,950 per person based on double occupancy, while an 11-day River Cruise and Land Program (Aug. 25 – Sept. 4) St. Petersburg to Moscow is $7,950 per person based on double occupancy. The tours include an unforgettable gala dinner event in Moscow featuring a menu designed and prepared by Chef Scheib. For your travel arrangements concerning any of these trips contact any Protravel International agent.