Laurie Baratti travel tips

Global hospitality giant Marriott International just announced that it has selected EV Connect as the preferred electric vehicle-charging solutions provider for its extensive portfolio of properties in North America.

Last week, Morocco suffered its deadliest earthquake in over 60 years, and the strongest to hit the nation’s center in more than a century. More than 2,600 people are known to have been killed and 2,500 more were injured by the unforeseen natural disaster, according to CNN. The death toll is expected to rise as rescuers continue searching through the rubble for survivors and trying to reach remote communities.

Italy’s celebrated Floating City has hit an unwelcome watershed in its long-standing struggle with overtourism.

With the Labor Day holiday now behind us, the year’s peak period for warm-weather travel has passed. Summer is winding down and, although the autumnal equinox doesn’t actually arrive until September 23, many fall fanatics cannot wait for crisper weather to roll in and the harvest season festivities to start. Some autumn enthusiasts will start amassing all things pumpkin spice, putting together the perfect Halloween costume or crafting Thanksgiving-themed decorations.

Without question, corporate travel took a major hit due to the pandemic, but a new travel phenomenon arose from the ashes of the global COVID outbreak, which rather suddenly rendered remote working the de facto model for many office employees.

Labor Day weekend traditionally marks the close of the busy summer travel season, but, with consumers’ travel intent continuing to run remarkably high this year, who’s to say that this approaching autumn won’t be just as epic?

Parrotheads—and just anyone who’s generally enamored with the Margaritaville brand’s iconic island vibe and laid-back lifestyle proposition—will be delighted to learn that Margaritaville at Sea has launched a flash sale to coincide with the Labor Day holiday. 

People who have plans to visit New York City will likely soon find it significantly harder to book a private-home vacation rental. That’s because, on September 5, the Big Apple’s new Local Law 18, also known as the Short-Term Rental Registration Law, will come into effect.

Given the relentless heat waves that have affected much of the U.S. this summer, it’s pretty reasonable to expect that a so-called Indian summer will follow in temperate regions like the southwest. Which is why autumn just might be the perfect time to enjoy the last of the year’s idyllic days spent at the swimming pool in places like Las Vegas.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) just revealed that it has levied a $4.1-million fine against American Airlines (AA) for keeping thousands of passengers onboard planes that sat on airport tarmacs for several hours without the option to deplane.

WHY IT RATES: Pleasant Holidays and its luxury brand, Journese, has added new Egypt, Jordan and Nile river cruise itineraries that can be customized to include such iconic destinations as Cairo, Luxor, Amman, Petra and the Dead Sea. — Laurie Baratti, TravelPulse Associate Writer

The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is set to reduce its $200 daily tourist fee by half, Reuters reported. The reason? The famously isolationist country, a mountainous sanctuary landlocked between behemoths China and India, is struggling to revitalize its tourism sector a year after dropping its pandemic-related restrictions.

This week, Austria’s climate minister, Leonore Gewessler, concocted a highly controversial campaign that involved turning people’s skin into a living advertisement for the country’s Klimaticket ("Climate Ticket").

It’s been a boom year for travel thus far (to put it mildly) and the upcoming Labor Day weekend period will prove no exception. If heading out of town to celebrate this September holiday, which traditionally marks the unofficial end of summer, prepare yourself for more intense crowding and congestion than last year.