Travel

Despite bargain air fares, cheaper hotels and theme park discounts, Americans and foreign visitors have cut U.S. travel spending to the lowest level since the terror attacks of 2001, new government and industry statistics show. The U.S. Department of Commerce reported this week that travel and tourism spending dropped in 2008, and plummeted at an annualized rate of 22% in the last three months of the year.

When Americans learned that unemployment had reached its highest level in a quarter of a century last week, President Obama was midway through a star turn in Europe. And next week, with barely time to pack fresh shirts and refuel Air Force One, he's off again -- first to Mexico, then to a summit meeting in the Caribbean. It's the sort of thing that can get a political leader into trouble, jetting out of town while the home front suffers.

The phones have been ringing nonstop at South Florida travel agencies that book flights from Miami to Havana since last month, when Congress eased travel restrictions for those who have relatives in Cuba. Many companies have doubled staff size, added flights and purchased larger planes to keep up with the demand. And that was before President Obama went a step further Monday, lifting all restrictions on travel and remittances, or money transfers, for Cuban Americans.

The best arguments for visiting Hawaii's Big Island have always been elemental -- fiery volcanoes, trade winds raking black-lava badlands, jungle waterfalls draining down to beaches of many colors, rainbows as common as foreclosures in California's high desert. But this year there's also a new chapter in the tale of two remarkable hotels. One, the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, sprawls with 258 rooms on a perfect crescent beach at the northwestern end of the island.

As she approached the immigration counter at Beijing's international airport at 7 a.m. Sunday, bleary-eyed after flying all night from Bali, Lucia Rocio heard the agitated whispering of the Chinese officials. Mexican passport. Mexican passport. Rocio was pulled out of line and taken to a small room where she was given a mask and a thermometer, which she dared not put in her mouth because it appeared to be unsterilized.

"It's just before midnight and we just have been attacked by pirates." So began a not entirely atypical blog post by Kaye Caldwell of Hermosa Beach, who since last summer has been traveling the world with her husband and three children. The April 26 attack on their Italian cruise ship far off the coast of Somalia was but the latest installment in an adventure that has taken the family to the Australian outback, riot-torn Thailand and South African townships.

In the heady days of corporate travel, employees who had to take long flights, particularly overseas, could get their employers to spring for more comfy business-class seats. They're expensive, but companies figured it was better than losing a big contract or hurting a relationship because their employees weren't attentive after a restless flight squished in coach.

Despite signs that the country's economic free fall may be bottoming out, demand for business travel continues to plummet, putting airlines and hotels in financial straits. As businesses continue to tighten spending practices, corporate travel is projected to drop by 15% this year compared with 2008, while overall travel demand could decline by 11%, according to a study by PhoCusWright, a Sherman, Conn., market research firm. Corporate travel -- defined as business travel managed under strict corporate policies -- has historically represented about 40% of the total travel market, but PhoCusWright predicts that share will drop to 35% next year.

Americans are putting the brakes on Labor Day weekend travel plans this year, as economic strains combine with a quirk of the calendar. Capping a rough staycation summer for the tourism business, the American Automobile Assn. estimated that 39.1 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home between the Thursday and Monday of Labor Day weekend -- down 6 million, or 13.3%, from last year's holiday traveler tally. It's also the first decline since 2006. About 4.7 million Californians will travel over the weekend, off 13% from 5.4 million last year, AAA said.