Every few months another one of these "vacation deprivation" studies comes out and promptly gets picked up as Science! by the same tourism boards that commissioned it. The term seems to go back to a contest for free hotel rooms that Hyatt ran in the mid-1990s, and it's been circulating as this kind of pseudo-scientific fake medical term ever since.

The latest version puts everything in terms of economic productivity, because that's what people care about right now. If people cared about something else, that's what vacations would be good for. And so, we are stuck with this drivel: ]]> Omri 2009-10-14T15:48:40-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/9/24/10034/9683

Before "The Wire," Edgar Allan Poe held a monopoly on mapping the scary streets of Baltimore. Now Charm City is repaying the favor by holding a morbid bicentennial only a true Poe fan could love.

The writer will be lying in state at the Poe House and Museum (203 Amity St.) on October 7 from noon to 11PM for admirers to come pay their last respects. Show off your recitatory chops at a candlelit vigil on October 8 at midnight at the Westminster Graveyard (519 West Fayette St.), then don your dress blacks for the October 11 funeral procession from Amity House to Westminster. Creepy! ]]> egw 2009-09-24T15:53:48-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/9/1/8634/69271

Although we’ve never understood what was so lovable about the state, apparently Virginia's motto is something to swoon over. The slogan Virginia is for Lovers is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, which easily makes it the country’s longest running state tourism tagline. It’s so successful that it has the chance to gain a spot on the Madison Avenue Advertising Walk of Fame.

Besides critical acclaim, the slogan also helps attract a lot of cash into the state. Somehow they can quantify the lovers line, as they report that tourism brings in $19 billion per year. It also supports over 200,000 jobs and gets state and local communities some nice stuff with over a billion dollars in tax revenue. We need to figure out how to get a slice of all this tourism cash action; how does "Jaunted is For Lovers" grab you? ]]> kjb 2009-09-01T10:24:44-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/6/20/16148/0495

Fresh from the inbox, the United States Virgin Islands Department of Tourism is launching a new advertising blitz aimed at luring potential visitors from the U.S. with a message of freedom and reinvention. The idea of the "You, Unscripted" campaign - which includes TV, magazine, and Web spots - is that visitors to the USVI can have unique experiences that help them establish a new identity while on vacation, casting off old demons and rising like a phoenix from the ashes of the quotidian, or something. It's an updated version of a familiar message, but it could be especially resonant these days now that most Americans are stressed out and on the brink of unemployment. And as for the "unscripted" part, that might be a subtle way of saying that there's more to do in St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix than drink yourself into a stupor in some all-inclusive resort. Not that there's anything wrong with that. ]]> Victor Ozols 2009-06-20T16:01:48-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/5/18/71455/8457

Sick and tired of Americans traveling abroad for culture, food and activity when the good old homeland has it too, the United States has they launched a new website in hopes of keeping all those summer vacation dollars in the nifty fifty: DiscoverAmerica.com. Previously, they’ve used the “discover” theme to attract visitors from overseas, but this new site is focused on those keeping it local this year, for better or for worse.

All the juicy details of America’s finest offerings can be found through integration with the National Park Service, and Google Maps will help you plan a city-to-city road trip. Once you’ve found your dream vacation or experience here at home, the site will be happy to help you spend your hard earned cash through links to all the usual travel booking sites. ]]> kjb 2009-05-18T09:10:10-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/2/1/122159/2041

Because of their overwhelming dependence on tourism, the islands of the Caribbean have been hit especially hard by the latest global economic bummer. I read in the Economist this morning that the number of visitors is likely to fall by up to a third, a forecast that has prompted the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island to lay off 800 workers and caused investors to pull out of several planned multi-billion-dollar resort complexes. Usually in a business downturn, companies cut their marketing budgets, but there are always a few radicals that double down instead, gunning for visibility in a diminished field. Aruba is doubling down in this recession with a big advertising push that features the grouchy comedian and satirist Lewis Black, and it just might work. ]]> Victor Ozols 2009-02-01T12:21:59-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/12/16/01120/795

The tourism board down in New Zealand is determined to be modern and they've done a pretty good job with their newest idea. The Have Your Say campaign has a mobile recording studio traveling around the whole country recording YouTube videos so tourists can tell their friends and family how amazing New Zealand is.

The Kiwis are hoping this combination of social media and word of mouth marketing gets a whole bunch of positive messages out to the world about why everybody should visit the country. What you can actually see so far is a bunch of camera-shy travelers not really knowing what to say, but it is entertaining in a weird kind of way.

The mobile studio is in Auckland now and after Christmas will spend four months stopping in 40 different locations around New Zealand. Keep an eye out for it if you're traveling in Kiwi land in early 2009, because we're dying to see how embarrassing your message home can be.

Related Stories:
· Pure NZ Have Your Say [Official Site]
· Tourism Radio is Watching Your Every Move in New Zealand [Jaunted]
· New Zealand Travel coverage [Jaunted]]]> amandak 2008-12-16T09:35:32-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/