MSNBC, By Pauline Frommer ARTHUR FROMMER'S BUDGET TRAVEL

June 23 — I address this article to my mother-in-law, and to all the buyers out there like her. It’s mid-June, you see, which means that my mother-in-law has just finished her Christmas shopping. If she were the type to travel over the holidays (she isn’t) she’d probably be booking her trip around now. And for once, she’d be in luck. Top travel deals        BECAUSE THIS year, for the first time in recent memory, Christmas and New Years vacations have gone on sale months earlier than usual. There are holly jolly European vacations, Feliz Navidads in the Caribbean, even getaways to popular Hawaii. It seems that the ongoing slowdown in travel is going to mean big savings for vacationers for months to come.        Below are just a few of the options, but if you visit us at BudgetTravel.msnbc.com (or visit our Deals File periodically), you can bet we’ll bring more offers your way as they come down the pike.  Sandy Klim answers your questions on road trips. Read the transcript.  A BRITISH NOEL        Christmas and New Years are a big deal all across Europe, but the holidays are particularly raucous in London. New Year’s Eve for the past few years has been the one time all year that Pubs can stay open legally into the wee hours; things get so rowdy that the fountains are turned off in Leicester Square to prevent drunken drowning deaths. Christmas is of course more sedate, but still quite jolly with pantomimes at the theaters, crushes of shoppers at Harrods (wait until after Xmas for the blowout sales), and the entire city done up like a reenactment of the last scene of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, with festive lights and holly boughs everywhere.        Brit expert Go Today (www.go-today.com) has put London on sale for two weeks, for travel Dec. 15 through Jan. 11. And the price is good enough to wrap up in a red bow and set beneath your tree: from just $499/person for airfare and six nights at the appropriately names Pavilion Holiday Villa (a simple little budget property within walking distance of Portobello Road). An upgrade buys more festive digs: The Thistle Kensington Palace starts at just $529 or you can hole up at the classy Montcalm Nikko Hotel for $699.        Though the holidays are still many months away, this offer is set to disappear on July 1. “This is one of those early bird specials that you need to book soon,” says Tove Pederson of Go-Today,”It’s based on a special fare that we got from the airlines which expires at the end of the month; if you wait, there’s no guarantee that it will still be as low as it is right now.”        Rumor has it that holiday travel to Paris, Rome and Amsterdam may be on sale soon; as we go to press those rates aren’t yet available. Stay tuned. CRUISING UNDER THE MISTLETOE        We haven’t yet been able to beat the price we found last week for Christmas sailings aboard Celebrity’s Galaxy, and it appears that discounter Cruise Club of America (www.cruiseclubofamerica.com or 800/982-2276) has the inside track for these markdowns. It—and no other firm that we could find—is advertising the remarkable price of just $549 for an eight-night cruise on this cushy ship, round-trip out of San Juan on Dec. 18. The boat spends Christmas Day at sea, calling at St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Barbados, Venezuela, Aruba in the preceding days.        The only downside to this offer is on the airfare front. With its many resorts and cruiseship departures, San Juan will be a tough gateway from which to find reasonable airfares at this time of year. Therefor it may behoove travelers to look closer to home. For ships leaving from Stateside ports, turn to Carnival, which has a number of $110/day cruises leaving from Miami, Galveston and New Orleans. Among them, there’s the $429/four night sailing of the Carnival Fascination out of Miami on Dec. 22; the Carnival Holiday which docks in New Orleans and is making four night jaunts to Cozumel for $449; and the Carnival Triumph, with seven nighters out of Miami (the one over Xmas starts at $779) to San Juan, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten. You’re not likely to find these prices from Carnival directly. Instead turn to one of the large discounters such as Cruise Direct (www.cruisedirect.com or 888/407-2784), Cruises Only (www.cruisesonly.com or 800/CRUISES) or Cruise Value Center (www.cruisevalue.com). A LEI UNDER THE TREE        I spent part of my honeymoon in Hawaii, our associate editor Brad got engaged there, and I’ve known countless people who’ve celebrated anniversaries on the islands. It’s simply the classic destination for special occasion travel. So why not New Year’s Eve or Christmas Day?        Thanks to Sun Trips (800/SUN-HELP or www.suntrips.com), Christmas in paradise is going to be particularly affordable this year, whether you decide to plan the whole shebang with their help, or simply use them for the ride over. You see, SunTrips is a charter operator, so year round its flights to the islands can shave hundreds off the regular airfares. For travel during the holiday period, flights from California to either Maui or Oahu will be a low-for-the-peak-season $599 round-trip. Add on a hotel/car package, and the price is even better: just $899 for seven nights in Honolulu at the OHANA Maile Sky Court and roundtrip transfers from the airport or $989 for seven nights at the Aston Maui Lu including rental car. Prices are per person based on double occupancy (you wouldn’t want to be alone at Christmas anyway, would you?)        We expect that these are going to be just the first in a series of articles on holiday vacations, so if you haven’t seen a destination (or price) you like, please visit us again. We’ll do our best to keep you apprised of all the holiday markdowns, as they appear.        Copyright © 2003 Newsweek Budget Travel, Inc.

MSNBC, By Pauline Frommer ARTHUR FROMMER'S BUDGET TRAVEL     June 17 —  The cruise discounts are coming in waves nowadays as the sluggish economy and lingering fears over international travel continue to torpedo travel pricing. Thanks to the downturn, all types of vessels are being discounted from the standard, large ships of the major cruise lines; to the river barges and coastal ferries of Europe; to old fashioned sailing ships. We’ve rounded up a few of the best bargains below.   Top travel deals        We like to call Windjammer the “anti-cruise”. Instead of being crowded onto a large and impersonal “city at sea”, passengers get a taste of what sailing was like at the turn of the century (and before). All of Windjammer’s vessels are actual tall ships, of human scale, with billowing rectangular sails. The relatively small size of the ships allow them to “dock” in isolated coves and small fishing villages, far from the bustling and overcrowded ports that blight much of the Caribbean. The ships vary slightly in size, but none carry more than 130 passengers each.        Windjammer has two sail sales going on right now. For fall travel, the SV Legacy is launching six day itineraries for just $999/person—no great shakes for a normal Carib cruise, but an exceptional deal for one that includes airfare (from Miami, Boston, Baltimore, New York and Philadelphia). The cruise-only rate is a still-good $675. This offer runs from Sept. 1 through Nov. 30, the height of the Caribbean’s hurricane season. Not to worry though, as the Legacy sails outside the hurricane belt, plying the waters between the (usually) storm-free ABC islands—Aruba, Curacao, Kline Curacao and Bonaire.        Windjammer has also extended a friendly hand to families, allowing one child to sail free when accompanied by two adults this summer. This works for both the S/V Legacy and the S/V Polynesia, both of which have extensive programs for kids (aged six and up only). What happens to families of four? Each child under twelve pays half price. Single parents, as well, pay half price for their children (up to two).         Eugene Buchanan answered your questions on the rafting, canoeing and kayaking vacations. Read the transcript.        To learn more call 800/327-2601. Windjammer’s website is www.windjammer.com, but it’s almost useless, not having been updated apparently in the last six months or so. You’ll do better to call.         SCANDINAVIA BY SHIP        There are few more dramatic floats in Europe. Just above the Arctic Circle, the ships of Norwegian Coastal Voyage make daily runs up down the coast, through towering fjords and past historic fishing villages, hillsides ablaze with wild flowers and numerous untamed little islands. Though the ships cater mostly to locals, who use them as we use ferries in the US, there are also a few hundred tourists aboard each voyage, drawn by the spectacular scenery, the nice onboard amenities (swimming pools, panoramic lounges, modern private staterooms) and of course, the low, low prices.

	       Those rates are going to dip even lower this year, thanks to a 10 percent off sale currently being offered by NCV, with a corollary 25 percent off sale on certain sailings. Prices normally start at $885/person, per six night cruise, so with the discounts these sailings are rock bottom. (Prices vary by date, ship and cabin class.)

        Seniors have it even better: AARP members will receive an additional $70 to $100 off per cabin in the summer, between $95 and $170 off after Aug. 16. After Sept. 17, the pesky singles supplement is waived as well. To top it all off, senior discounts ARE combinable with the regular 10 and 25 percent off sales. For more information and some very pretty pictures, go to www.coastalvoyage.com. One quick suggestion: don’t buy a shore excursion package in advance. You’ll pay less if you purchase excursions on an ad hoc basis onboard.         ONE MORE CHANCE TO BARGE IN FRANCE

       We told you about two weeks ago about the steep discounting that was going on for French barge cruises this summer. The original marked-down July sailings have sold out, but the folks at Viking Cruises have put their “French Vineyards and Vistas” Aug. 2 itinerary on sale for a piddling $599 (a savings of 65 percent off the brochure rate). That tremendously low price includes a portholed cabin, all meals, folkloric entertainment onboard, even shore excursions (all of them—now, that’s an unusual perk for a cruise). This is quite a cushy ship, by the way, making this sale even more remarkable. Go to www.vikingrivercruises.com to learn more about the itinerary (from Avignon to Chalon); please note that there is no info about this sale on the site. For that you’ll have to call 877/66-VIKING and mention code 006-38.         CARIBBEAN CHRISTMAS CRUISE        It’s not often that we see savings on X-mas sailings, and even rarer to find a discount this far in advance, but that’s what’s happening of the Dec. 18 voyage of Celebrity Cruise’s Galaxy. The price is currently at a low $549 for this eight-night holiday at sea, with a round-trip itinerary (calls in St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Barbados, Venezuela, Aruba) out of San Juan. Christmas Day itself is spent at sea, but onboard this mid-90’s cruiser (she was launched in 1996) the holiday should be a festive one, spent either in one of the ship’s toney martini or cigar bars, or around one of the ship’s three pools. The Galaxy is known for the quality of her cuisine, so we have no doubt that all the stops will be pulled out both for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.        We found this special price at the site of Cruise Club of America (www.cruiseclubofamerica.com or 800/982-2276), but it’s possible that other cruise discounters have it as well. Be sure to shop around.                {Editor’s Note: Cruised recently recently? Do you have an instructive anecdote, tip or horror story to share? We’d love to hear it and possibly reprint it in our letters to the editor column. Simply click here to send a letter to our editors.}

It’s time to stop and smell the manure: Farmstays, agritourism, and volunteer agricultural work opportunities around the globe

MSNBC, By Reid Bramblett ARTHUR FROMMER'S BUDGET TRAVEL     June 11 —  If there’s one thing that connects and binds all human beings, across cultures and languages, races and religions, it’s agriculture. That might sound funny coming from a guy perched in a Manhattan office—who’s being read by folks squinting at glowing computer terminals—but think about it.          CONVENTIONAL WISDOM holds that humanity as a collective culture began when our distant ancestors settled down in the fertile Tigris/Euphrates river valley and began cultivating the land and domesticating the more docile of the meat-on-the-hoof creatures handy. Our very existence as a social species with an advanced culture and ever more inventive tool-making capabilities (behold: the wristwatch PDA) has its roots sunk deep in the rich soil of agricultural pursuits.        There’s a reason that farms in Europe are so heavily subsidized, that the amber waves of grain are immortalized in song. Agriculture is more than just a food source. Somewhere, deep down, we all realize that to lose our farmers would mean to lose something fundamental about our very way of life—even if all we do all day is sit inside the fat trunks of the glass-and-steel trees that forest our postmodern concrete jungles and tap away endlessly at the computer keyboard.        Perhaps it’s that very disconnect from our species’ fundamental mode of survival and community life—sit still, plant food, raise livestock, be friendly to the neighbors—which is driving the development of the agritourism movement.          Eugene Buchanan answered your questions on the rafting, canoeing and kayaking vacations. Read the transcript.         AGRITOURISM        Increasingly, those of us trapped in the cities, suburbias, and endless mallscapes of the so-called “developed” world are seeking out the simple pleasures of the farm life on vacation. (Farmers: we call them “simple pleasures” because we don’t actually have to get up at 4am to do back-breaking work all day only to watch some natural disaster or commodities market crisis wither the annual yield.)        The phenomenon of agritourism has been spreading across the world and growing with each passing year, though it is most popular in Europe. To read about farmstay opportunities and networks in the US, click here. For the rest of the planet, read on.        The concept behind agritourism (or rural tourism, or farm stays, or guest ranches, or farmhouse B&Bs, or whatever you want to call it) is simple: you spend the night as a guest on a working farm. From there, though, the concept flies off in many directions.        Sometimes you just hole up for the night in a B&B converted from a farmhouse. Sometimes you actually stick around to do volunteer work for a few days (a week, two months, a year), as with Israel’s Kibbutzim or the worldwide WWOOF network (see sidebar). Sometimes, just renting a cottage in a rural area where sheep wander past your window is enough to count. WWOOF: Really getting your hands dirty The World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (www.wwoof.org ) is an collection of volunteer organizations in 20 countries around the world, from Australia to Korea, Ghana to the US, Italy to Nepal (plus dozens other "independent" members, countries with only a handful of opportunities). Each is devoted to supporting and helping teach about organic and environmentally sound farming techniques. You join the WOOF chapter in the country where you'd like to work (for roughly $10 to $40), it sends you a list of farms that would appreciate a helping hand in exchange for room and board. You must be willing to put in six hours of work six days a week to see how the farming half lives in a variety of nations.        Ideally, the property’s owners live on-site and are farmers who derive the bulk of their income from agriculture, using this new-fangled form of tourism merely to help make ends meet. In some countries, the practice of agritourism is highly regulated; in others, it’s a wild west of opportunities, and you have to pick carefully to avoid spending the night in a barn atop a pile of hay (unless that’s what you want—I’ve done it, and it’s great; see “Switzerland,” below).        From our neighbors to the north to our friends across the Atlantic, farm stays in Costa Rica to kibbutzim in Israel, agritourism in Australia to...well, you get the idea. And here’s where you can plant those ideas and watch them mature into vacations on farms around the world. The best part is, most charge only around $10 to $40 a night (though in Europe, prices can creep up to $100 or more on occasion for cushy farmhouse digs that put a four-star hotel to shame). AGRITOURISM ALL OVER Agritourism.net (www.agritourism.net)-Reps properties in Italy, United Kingdom, Hawaii, Canada, France, Spain, Israel, Australia. EuroGites, the European Federation for Farm and Village Tourism (www.eurogites.com)-A links page to 20 of the biggest and more shall we say "official" farm stay organizations in 17 European countries (most have Web site links, a few just contact info and email). Ranch Vacation (www.ranchvacation.com)-Ranch vacation opportunities, largely in North America and Europe, but at least one on each continent (including such esoterica as ranches in Sri Lanka and Mongolia) Turismo Rural (www.turismorural.com and www.ecoturismo.com)--Agritourism and ecotourism opportunities in the Hispanic (er, plus Portuguese) world--Spain, Argentina, Portugal, Mexico, Venezuela, and Panama. All in Spanish, sadly. NORTH AND SOUTH: CANADA & SOUTH AMERICA Argentina-Estancias in Patagonia (www.patagonia-travel.com/ingles/_estancias.html)-A passel of possibilities in Patagonia. Canada-Alberta Agri-Tourism-(www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/general/agritour.nsf)--Farm accommodations in Alberta Province Canada-BC Guest Ranch Association (www.bcguestranches.com)--Guest ranches in British Columbia, natch. Canada-Federation des Agricotours du Quebec (www.agricotours.qc.ca)--Nifty site, nicely laid out, about 28 farm stays in Quebec Province. Canada-Bottin de l'agrotourisme québécois (www.agrotourisme.com)--Quebec Province; under the Choix d'une catégorie" dropdown list you can choose "hérbergement a la ferme" (and then even narrow it down by Quebecois region). Very nice, and lots more than the 28 the other one gets you, but pourquois is the whole site only in French? Tres frustrating. Colombia- TurisColombia (www.turiscolombia.andes.com)--Muy bueno, but only en espanol. Costa Rica-National Group of Rural Communitarian Tourism (www.turismoruralcr.com)--A lovely site for a measly nine lodges, and only a couple are really working farms. Still, a good resource. Mexico-Bioplaneta (www.bioplaneta.com)--High tech web site devoted to low tech lifeways; many of the resources are for really more in the "ecotourism" vein, not agritourism, but they're all good.         ACROSS THE ATLANTIC Austria-Urlaub am Bauernhof in Österreich (www.farmholidays.com)--Sprechen Sie farmstay? Some 3,400 farms across Austria do, and you can search them out here. Belgium-Gites de Wallonie (www.gitesdewallonie.net)--It ain't pretty, but it works--well, works with Wallonia. Croatia-Istria Country Tourist Association (www.istra.com/agroturizam)--About 30 farmstay joints in the Istrian Peninsula (the northern strip of Croatia's coast, up near Italy) Czech Republic- ECEAT, European Centre for Eco Agro Tourism CZ (www.czechitnow.com)--Czech out these great Czech agritourism resources. Unfortunately, what you get when you click on "Farms" is a cryptic list of ID tags such as "C 71: KREPICE" and "C 114: POTEC" (makes me want to shout out "You sunk my battleship!"); but if you click on "Show more details" button next to any of these properties, you get a plethora of information about it. Finland-Lomarengas, Finnish Country Holidays (www.lomarengas.fi)--130 Finnish Farm Holidays (plus a heap of Holiday Cottages). France-Bienvenue a la ferme (www.bienvenue-a-la-ferme.com)--In French; the "Hébergement" section has clicks for sejours/stays and camping, leading you to where you can rechercher/search) France-Gites de France (www.gites-de-france.fr)--Has English version and farm stays/camping amongst the options. Germany-Urlaub am Bauernhof (www.landtourismus.de)--Official site, in English, but only 53 options spread across Germany Germany-Bauernhof Urlaub (www.bauernhofurlaub.de)--Lots more options, but site only in German. Iceland-Icelandic Farm Holidays (www.farmholidays.is)--120 farms across the country, plus the ability to book whole vacation packages (throw in a rental car with your farm stay, etc.) Ireland-Irish Farm Holidays (www.irishfarmholidays.com)--B&Bs on working farms; for Northern Ireland check out the Northern Ireland Farm and Country Holidays Association (www.nischa.com). Israel-Kibbutz Program Center (www.kibbutzprogramcenter.org)--Everything you always wanted to know about volunteering on one of Israel's communal farming communities--except the bit they don't tell you, which so many volunteers have griped about, which is that, by and large, kibbutzniks look down on or at best ignore the volunteers, so you really don't actually get integrated in the socialist commune; you're just a glorified work horse. Italy-Official sites (www.terranostra.it, www.turismoverde.it, www.agriturist.it)--The three major national agritourism organizations/databases; unfortunately, all three are in Italian. Italy--Unofficial, but darned useful sites, and more likely to be in English (www.agritour.net, www.agriturismo.regione.toscana.it, www.agriturismo.net, www.agriturismo.com) Italy--Italy Farm Holidays (www.italyfarmholidays.com)--U.S. broker for Italian farmstays. Latvia--Latvian Country Tourism Association "Lauku celotajs" (www.traveller.lv)--Lovely little site for the lovely little land of Latvia, but for some reason you have to scroll through each property one-by-one (no list to peruse or clickable map). Luxembourg--Association pour la Promotion du Tourisme Rural au Grand-Duché du Luxembourg (www.gites.lu)--That's the longest association name for the smallest country on this list. Spiffy site, but a bit tricky to find the farms; what you do is click on "Online Catalog," then choosing "Holiday Apartments," then "Farm-style lodgings" The Netherlands--Dutch Farm Holiday Bureau (www.dutch-farmholidays.com) Norway--Visit Norway (www.visitnorway.com/en/functionality/accommodation)--Scroll down, and in addition to "Farm stay" you'll find such enticing options as "Fishermen's shack" and "Mountain huts" Portugal--Solares de Portugal (www.turihab.pt)--Click on Casas Rusticas Romania-ANTREC (www.antrec.ro)--Rural Romanian resources. Spain--ASETUR, Asociación Española de Turismo Rural (www.ecoturismorural.com)--Over 4,000 farmhouses across Espana; actually, they aren't located here. This is mainly a set of links to regional agritoursim Web sites through the country. Spain--A few additional regional sites include Galicia Turismo Rural (www.turismo-rural.com) for Asturias and Galicia regions; and in Catalonia www.turismerural.com and www.agroturismo.com. Sweden--Bo Pa Lantgard (www.bopalantgard.org)--Very well done site for Swedish farmstays, plus it's got a picture or a small child positively surrounded by pigs; you can't beat that. Switzerland-Ferien auf dem Bauernhof (www.bauernhof-ferien.ch)--250 farms across Switzerland, all bookable here. Switzerland-Schlaf im Stroh (www.abenteuer-stroh.ch)--The "Sleep in the Straw" network of 200 barns is a bit different agritourism idea. You're not such much staying on a working farm as you are sleeping in the barn while cows are grazing at higher pastures for the summer. The stalls are clean, as is the hay upon which you sleep (with the aid of some wool blankets). I, for one, love it, and the price (about $15) can't be beat. UK--Visit Britain (www.visitbritain.com)--If you go to the Where to Stay section of Britain's official tourism web site and search for a hotel, one of the criteria you can pick is "farm," and it'll spit back numerous responses (though only a sample of 80 if you don't specify something else besides "farm" on the search page, such as village, town, or city or a price range). UK--Farm Stay UK (www.farmstayuk.co.uk or 212.134.55.132/farmstayuk)--Buggy site, but if you can get it to work it lists 1,100 of the things all across the UK.   ACROSS THE PACIFIC New Zealand-New Zealand Homestays & Farmstays (www.nzfarmstay.co.nz)—Another good site is www.ruraltours.co.nz. Australia—Australia Tourism Commission (www.australia.com)—The official tourism Web site has, if you poke around enough, once you get down to regional sections you can do an accommodations search and specify farmstay/homestay. Australia-Farm and Country Tourism Victoria (www.factv.com)—Good stuff, but just in Victoria.                {Editor’s Note: Have you ever stayed on a farm? Do you know of resources besides the ones we’ve included here (we realize we didn’t hit every country or all the links pages out there, but we were tired and needed to go home)? Do you have an anecdote, tip or story to share that would be of use to your fellow travelers? We’d love to hear it and possibly reprint it in our letters to the editor column. Simply click here to send a letter to our editors.}

Business Journal, Vol. 15, No. 10, June 2, 2003

Meridium’s Bonz Hart: ’We are having to be careful; we are a heavy-traveling company’

Meridium’s Bonz Hart: ’We are having to be careful; we are a heavy-traveling company’

Hard times call for drastic measures as Blue Ridge region businesses adjust to the new reality of business travel

By Ben Calloway

Business owners in the Blue Ridge Region are learning to adapt to what may be new trends affecting how their employees travel. Hit by the multi-pronged effects of a grim economy, war, terrorism threats, disease and exorbitant rates for airline travel, some of the region's businesses have cut back their travel budgets and learned that they can get a lot done without leaving town. Others have found that their time on the road can be used more efficiently than in the past.

Travel industry veterans say there is little improvement expected in the near future for most who use domestic and international transportation. The Travel Industry Association of America in Washington, D.C. says 26 percent of business travelers traveled less or not at all this year compared to 2002. Travel budgets have been reduced by 39 percent of businesses and 29 percent have reduced travel because of its high cost.

The risks in international travel are especially real, says Bonz Hart, president and founder of Meridium Inc., a Roanoke firm which sells process management software to petroleum and chemical businesses. "We are having to be careful; we are a heavy-traveling company. We have people in Saudi Arabia and we have worked all the way through the Iraqi war and in Venezuela."

Hart says that his firm is taking extra precautions like having security personnel move employee groups from terminal to terminal. It also has accepted the help of knowledgeable Meridium clients in foreign countries. The outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in Asia forced the company's Korean clients to ask Meridium to postpone its annual April software conference in Houston, but the commitments already had been made.

Looking for bargains

"There is a lot of uncertainty out there. Our clients know that and they appreciate that we still come to their countries to work, in Qatar for instance. The distances and the dangers make it an additional concern on the part of employees' families," Hart says. "Venezuela also has caused some challenges because of the volatile relationship between the government and the nation's oil business."

Hart says that he has no clients in the region and that "most new refineries and chemical plants are being built overseas because of stiff environmental compliance costs in the U.S. They are still good plants but they just are not built to U.S. standards."

International travel to service his customers is costing a lot more for business class, "seven or eight times the price of a regular ticket," Hart says. "The airlines are being very aggressive on fares so, if we have the time, there is a difference of hundreds of dollars that can be saved by driving to Greensboro, Lynchburg or Raleigh. If we are flying six to 10 people to a conference, it is simpler and cheaper to rent a van and drive to Greensboro. Air travel pricing policies simply are counter-intuitive. It's like saying 'The more you travel, the more we are going to charge you.'

"Traveling coach meant saving thousands per person on our trips to Australia. We find a big difference in fares out of Lynchburg and we get some flights in Charlotte, going to Houston that are $300 or $400 cheaper," Hart says.

Viewing the condition of air travel in the U.S. today, Hart says he is hearing business people praise low-cost upstart airlines like JetBlue because it is in the forefront of a change in the air travel industry. "Two things could happen in the airline industry: the conventional airlines will get their costs under control, or Jet- Blues will take their market share. That's one reason we support the effort to get a low-cost carrier into Roanoke.

"I've been to meetings in Texas with other software companies who say their cost of doing business is less because Southwest, a low-cost airline, was there," Hart says. "Typical trips on other airlines cost two to three times more. Southwest is smart and effective and there is no 'mystery' to selecting a fare. You look at two or three choices and you decide."

Nearing the bottom

Airlines in the U.S. are suffering from multiple problems but may be nearing a bottom on the fall in seat bookings, according to Mark Courtney, airport manager at Lynchburg Regional Airport.

"Airlines are going through all sorts of ways to adjust by reducing capacity, parking some planes and negotiating new contracts. But they have the twin problems of declining revenues and high labor costs," Courtney says. "Bookings are weak, with double-digit falls in April compared to a year ago. "The slowing means smaller communities are disproportionately impacted by the decrease in service occurring in most states, causing some of our customers to fly out of Roanoke or Raleigh, N.C. Still, the upgrade to jet service on Delta was successful due to revenue guarantees from the U.S. Department of Transportation." Seating capacity was down 35 percent in Lynchburg in April, Courtney says, but improved to 28 percent after the new jet service arrived.

The Iraqi war caused business travelers to defer trips but things are starting to look better and Lynchburg Regional is working to maintain fare parity, especially with Roanoke, Courtney says. He expects more "fare sales" will help stimulate travel demand. "To get the industry humming again, we need to see improved consumer expectations for the economy and we need to see the business traveler returning to the skies."

The cost of flying has some surprising numbers, despite the attempts to go elsewhere for better fares. Courtney says that in 1982 it cost about 15 cents a revenue mile to fly, while in 2002 it cost less than 10 cents, a 45 percent decrease in inflation-adjusted terms. To bring the market back into equilibrium, revenues need to increase. Losing a major airline to bankruptcy might free a 20 percent share of the market and provide some breathing room for survivors, Courtney says, but it would lead to higher prices and leave service gaps in smaller cities.

"Losses in the industry are unprecedented, like AMR, the parent of American Airlines, which lost $1 billion last quarter. It is painful to reduce over capacity and it already was bad before 9/11," Courtney says. "The major airlines need high revenues to support their high costs. Their pricing and distribution systems need revamping to even them out and make them less complex. Nowadays it may cost more to fly from here to Atlanta than to fly to Los Angeles."

Reduced fares

Airports in North Carolina are more than willing to compete for the passenger's business with reduced fares but it has an impact beyond their own state, Courtney says. "It is really frustrating for us when our passengers drive to Raleigh to get a fare that the airline there is losing money on.

"But if low-cost carriers become the predominant mode of travel in this country the smaller areas will suffer or even lose service. We need a route system that can profitably serve small cities. Regional jets help but they are much more expensive on a per-seat basis and fly shorter legs. When you add distance, you reduce operating costs."

Business is feeling the restrictions at a painful level but those in the business of travel have a broader view of the situation. Mel Ludovici, president of Martin Travel in Roanoke, says business is down 15 percent from last year, which was no great shakes itself.

"All these things have certainly had a negative impact, to say the least. But the underlying issues are the economy and the difficulty in flying," Ludovici says. "A lot of our short haul business has been cut out because people would rather drive than be strip-searched at an airport."

Ludovici says the end of the war in Iraq has had a modest positive effect on overall travel but there remains a problem of public confidence in air travel. "There are not too many airlines for this country when the economy is strong, even though you see some of them flirting with or in bankruptcy. There are too many seats for right now, but if we get people making more money and improve the economy those seats can be used."

Poor management

Despite their problems, the airlines are not totally victims of outside influences and Ludovici says he worries about the federal government subsidizing poor management with tax dollars. "If there is good money out there to be made in air transportation there will be investment in airlines, much as JetBlue and Primaris are doing.

"On the horizon we see air travel as the backbone of American commerce and an integral part of daily life. It won't fail. We just need to loosen up some dollars. Regardless of how you purchase it, there has not been a better time to buy travel because it is truly a buyer's market. The supply far exceeds the demand," Ludovici says.

Joyce Bradford, retail district manager at AAA Travel in Lynchburg, says that while many different factors have affected travel, a core problem is that the industry still has not rebounded from the effects of 9/11.

"Travel trends since then have undergone tremendous change to embrace more domestic travel. Our clients generally do not travel to Asia so SARS is not a big issue with them. But some still are apprehensive about getting on a plane," Bradford says. "People still are going on cruises and we are seeing some pickup in business as a seasonal effect. But more people are driving on their vacations and more are driving to Florida and getting on a cruise ship, rather than flying. There are big discounts being offered on all-inclusive, seven-day cruises and the cruise portion costs less than the flight to Florida."

Bradford says that she can't help but think that if the airlines cut fares in half "you'd see a lot of that fear go away. International rates to Europe and elsewhere already have been cut unbelievably and this is the high season for travel there. In some cases it is cheaper than flying to the West Coast of the U.S."

'Closer to home'

Discretionary income lost to three years of a tough economy and a losing stock market is another reason for the decline in travel, Bradford says, and travel businesses are feeling the pinch.

"Our volume is not bad and people are still going to take vacations. What we are finding is that they are going closer to home and taking shorter and less expensive trips. However there still are those people who sign up for trips to Russia and the Far East," Bradford says. "Sales are down but they are not down further because we had a long-term strategy and we saw the trend before 9/11. It has not hurt us as bad as it has others."

The people whose job it is to sell the Roanoke Valley as a business location say they are forced to do their job smarter but the work is getting done, despite the problems of travel. Philip Sparks, executive director of the Roanoke Valley Economic Development Partnership, says he travels 60,000 miles a year and has seen some organizations lose as much as 90 percent of travel budgets.

"We have been very fortunate that our travel budget has increased but we are combining trips and making our travel arrangements well ahead of time in most cases. Going out of Roanoke we have flown to Toronto, Canada for $229 and even on short notice we got to New York for $789, which was better than Greensboro and Charlotte prices. At those rates we were pleased. Rates are good if reservations are made 14 or more days out, but really go up if you don't."

A hotel room in New York City that normally costs $400 now goes for $189 a night, Sparks says, "and only about a third of our floor was filled. Travel into Roanoke does not seem to have been affected because we have had our second best January for incoming prospects since 1994. In the last 12 months we have announced 950 new jobs and $71 million in investment as a result of development efforts."

Times Online June 01, 2003

I admit I was sceptical. Sitting in a Venezuelan tour agency in the town of Merida, I was being offered a trip to visit a lost city. In 2003, I told myself, nothing is lost any more. Type “lost” into an internet search engine and it brings up 56,520,849 results — “lost” found almost 57 million times.

Yet here I was being promised the ruins of El Porvenir via an adventure worthy of Indiana Jones. Hesitant about signing up there and then, I went to an internet cafe to look the place up. “‘El Porvenir ruins’ did not match any documents,” came the reply. Scepticism turned to incredulity: if Google couldn’t find it, how the hell would I? Deep in the Venezuelan Andes, Merida is to South America what Queenstown is to Australasia — the adventure-sports capital of a continent. And, as with its Antipodean counterpart, it’s the town’s topography that makes Merida so suited to the adrenaline boom. Stretched along the Chama Valley, it is hemmed in by mountains of patchwork greens and gushing streams. In this environment, if a sport can be conceived, it can be achieved.

For weather, though, Merida beats Queenstown hands down. Year-round sun, 70F temperatures and light April showers in any month you choose mean that, in Merida, it is always spring, and the surroundings leave little excuse to get weather- bored: half an hour up the valley, it is deepest midwinter; half an hour down, the height of summer. From a paraglider high above town, I could see all three.

As I swooped and soared — a cruising eagle to the left, a pair of black vultures below — I contemplated. I’d come to Venezuela to play at adventure sports; what I’d been offered was a sniff of real-life adventure — a chance, perhaps, to help unearth the next Machu Picchu or Tikal. It seemed too good to be true, and as my feet touched down, I knew I had to investigate further.

By the time I returned to the agency, the promise of such a trip had stirred the curiosity of others far more expert than I. As well as a small knot of tourists, a Spanish naturalist and anthropologist, a British geologist and the author of a guidebook on Venezuela would be joining our expedition.

In a beaten-up 4WD with mountain bikes on the roof, we set off south. Within 35 minutes we’d hit summer, and an arid landscape of cactuses and lizards far removed from the greenery of Merida. Then on and up again, along impossible roads lined with mini chapels to indicate where others had taken corners faster than we did. Near Tovar, our vehicle hit a bright-green parrot snake. “Semi- poisonous!” exclaimed the naturalist with glee — Richter 6 on the snake scale.

On and up, summer back into spring. The mountains of this most westerly part of Venezuela are tiered with coffee — the best in the world, if our guide was to be believed. International commodity markets don’t agree, however. Colombian coffee fetches far more than Venezuelan, and much of what I was seeing would be sneaked across the border and sold as Colombian.

At Guaraque, a small town 3,000 metres above sea level, the cycles came down and the adrenaline shot up. Mountain bikes weren’t meant for the cycle paths of Bristol or Bath; here in the Andes, they could ride free.

Down the sides of the stunning Rio Negro Valley, we covered 19km in two hours. In an environment like this — above the tree line and through verdant forest, past cascading waterfalls and brake-inducing views — biking is comparable only with skiing. The track we were following would have been graded red, with occasional hands-free blue and trickier sections of black. Best of all, though, were the opportunities to go off-piste, on steep tracks barely wider than the bikes, with precarious drops on one side.

Dusty and sweaty, but as elated as it’s possible to be without snow, we emerged beside an innocuous-looking cave. Venturing in, it became clear that this was the sort of cave that made cavernous an adjective. Deeper and deeper we stumbled, often on hands and knees, through tunnels and over piles of clay rocks, penetrating chamber upon chamber. We heard them before we saw them. Bats.

It was a little pile of thickened, puréed blood that got our naturalist excited, and gave them away. Only one animal eats and excretes blood, he exclaimed: the vampire bat. They didn’t take long to make their presence felt, and within minutes, it was as if the walls themselves were squeaking. Once our eyes became adjusted to the dark, we could see them: small bats clinging to giant rocks; big bats hanging upside down from low ceilings. As they sensed us drawing closer, they swooped down around us.

We spent the night in a camp once used by Italian managers on a dam-building scheme. The “ruins” of El Porvenir, along with an axe and clay pots, were originally unearthed in the late 1970s by workers preparing to build a hydroelectricity plant. They were suspected to be the remnants of a 16th-century Chibcha settlement, but locals claim the discovery was hushed up for fear of derailing the engineering project.

Then, in the mid-1980s, with the dam no closer to sign-off, a Venezuelan archeologist was brought in to compile a report — the yellowing pages of which we pored over as the eve of discovery wore on. Nothing happened for another 15 years, but now, with the dam project all but dead, visitors are being invited in, which it’s hoped may kick-start an archeological dig. One group had visited a month or so earlier. Otherwise, we were pioneers.

THERE IS something about exploration that demands the ultimate find be made without motorised transport. So it was that we found ourselves rafting down the Rio Doradas, dark skies and growls of angry thunder accompanying our passage through the jungle.

“Right back, right back,” shouted our guide, as white- water rapids buffeted the boat from rock to hard place and threatened to tip one of us overboard. We clung on, and two hours in, turned and paddled up a narrow creek until only our feet could take us further.

For a further hour we trekked, and it struck me that we came much less well equipped than the giant ants that marched in columns at our feet. There they were — ordered, efficient and totally at home in the jungle. Our exploratory party was less organised, far from home, dwarfed by fallen leaves. And, far from marching, I was all but skipping, such was my excitement at what lay ahead.

I’ll be honest: I wouldn’t know an important ancient ruin if it had a flashing neon sign and a queuing system. So when we came across The Find, it was to the experts I turned. In front of us, washed by the clear water of the creek of El Porvenir, was something very unusual.

“It’s certainly something very unusual,” said the geologist.

At a 45-degree angle, and perhaps 15 metres square, a collection of what looked like neatly arranged stone slabs stretched up and into the undergrowth.

“They look like slabs,” said the anthropologist, “stretching into the undergrowth.”

Unusual? Slabs? It sounded promising, yet disappointment was etched onto every face. Even the guidebook-writer — who stood to sell a lot more copies if Venezuela could be shown to have serious history — looked downbeat.

“The thing is,” said the geo-logist, “I’m not at all sure this isn’t natural. It’s unusual, but over millions of years, unusual things happen in nature.”

Natural! Having been sceptical two days earlier, I was now desperate to be persuaded that this was a big find. And while we’d certainly found something, its being natural was not part of my plan.

Here I was, in the middle of the Venezuelan jungle, either standing in the heart of an important lost city or knee-deep in water next to an unusual rock. As we scratched around further, the evidence tended to the latter.

Only time — and more experts — will tell whether “El Porvenir” and “ruins” are words that will ever sit together on Google. But lost city or no lost city, I’d found something much bigger and better. This whole western part of Venezuela is a lost land — at least in the sense that it hasn’t been found by any tourists.

In our three-day trip out of Merida, our group hadn’t encountered any other. We’d biked down Andean paths, rafted a virgin river and explored Batman’s cave without meeting any other jokers. And when you’ve discovered a whole new country, a lost city is mere detail.

Andrew Thomas travelled as a guest of British Airways and Arassari Trek

TRAVEL BRIEF

Getting there: the only direct flights from the UK or Ireland to Caracas are with British Airways (0845 773 3377, www.ba.com) from Heathrow; from £479. Travelselect (0871 222 3213, www.travelselect.co.uk) has flights from Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester and other regional airports with Lufthansa via Frankfurt; from £408. Or try Virgin Travelstore (0870 066 4477, www.virgintravelstore.com) or Ebookers (0870 010 7000, www.ebookers.com). In Ireland, Gohop.com (01 241 2389, www.gohop.com) has flights from Dublin to Caracas with KLM via Amsterdam; from ?771. Avior Airlines (00 58-212 202 5811, www.avior.com.ve) flies from Caracas to Merida; about £60 return.

Where to stay: Merida’s Hotel Prado Rio (Avenida Universidad, 274 252 0633; doubles £25) has a pool. Or try the attractive Posada La Montaña (Calle 24 6-47, 274 252 5977; £15).

Tour operators: Last Fron-tiers (01296 653000, www.lastfrontiers.com) can tailor-make itineraries in Venezuela. A 15-day trip, with one night in Caracas, three in Merida, two in Los Frailes, three in Los Llanos and four at the beach in the Mochima National Park, starts at £1,935pp, including flights from Heathrow, most meals, all transfers and some car hire; UK regional add-on flights start at £100pp. Or try Exodus (020 8675 5550, www.exodus.co.uk), Geodyssey (020 7281 7788, www.geodyssey.co.uk) or Journey Latin America (020 8747 8315, www.journeylatinamerica.co.uk).

“Lost city” adventure: Arassari Trek (00 58 274 252 5879, www.arassari.com) is the only agency in Merida offering the three-day trip to the “lost city”. It costs £80pp, including activities, food and simple accommodation.

Other activities: in Merida, you can go paragliding (£30; www.andesflycenter.com), canyoning (£20), white-water rafting (£60 for two days) and horse-riding (£15).

Further information: call the Venezuelan embassy (020 7584 4206; 9am-1pm).