1. Leading Corporate Travel Executives Identify Top Ten Challenges to Greening
    Corporate Travel
2. Topaz International – Press Release – Booking Business Travel via the Internet
3. A Prediction: Airfare by the Pound
4. General Tips for Women Travelers
5. How to Keep Your E-Mail Safe While Traveling
6. Mobile Gadgets Threaten In-Flight Entertainment

1. Leading Corporate Travel Executives Identify Top Ten Challenges to Greening Corporate Travel 

Unicomm, LLC announced the results of a collaborative effort undertaken by leading corporate travel executives attending the first ever Green Travel Summit.  The report identifies the top ten challenges facing organizations in greening corporate travel.  Over 160 corporate travel executives and industry suppliers attended the Green Travel Summit, the first fully dedicated forum focused on exploring green travel strategies and their impact on business travel and corporate meetings.  Following were the top issues attendees identified in implementing carbon reducing programs:

1. Where to begin – The single greatest challenge for many executives is defining a road map of the process to BEGIN greening business travel meetings.
2. Perception vs. reality regarding costs – Understanding the costs associated with “greening” is often at odds with the internal perception of the process.
3. Overcoming resistance to change – In many organizations corporate travel expectations are at odds with the change required to reduce the associated carbon footprint.
4. Buy in from senior management – The need to have top management support of related green initiatives.
5. ROI – A better understanding of the actual ROI of greening initiates and tracking tools to report ROI.
6. Securing budget – In a difficult economy identifying and allocating funding for green initiatives is increasingly difficult.
7. Reporting standards and metrics – As green travel programs are instituted, procedures, technologies and standards to report progress are not clearly defined.
8. Green washing: Truth vs. fiction – Cutting through the hype to achieve environmentally sustainable practices is increasingly more critical.
9. Buy in from both the planner and the supplier – Establishing acceptable standards and implementing across the corporate travel industry supply chain is needed.
10. Communicating and educating all relative stakeholders – Once green corporate travel policies begin to be implemented, communicating the program and the desired results to relative stakeholders is critical to success. 

3. A Prediction: Airfare by the Pound

Some airline-industry analysts predict that the cost of flying eventually could depend on your weight.  It’s likely, they say, because of simple physics: the more weight you bring on the plane, the more fuel that is needed to get you to your destination.  Robert Mann, an industry analyst and consultant in Port Washington, NY, envisions passengers being charged based on body and baggage weight, rather than simply by the seat.  “It’s the way cargo flies; if something is twice the weight, you pay twice as much,” Mann said.  “It may be widely pooh-poohed, but if fuel goes back to being as expensive as it was, there will be some more of these public articulations.” 

How exactly such a plan would be implemented is unclear.  One scenario would have people estimating their weight when buying a ticket on the Internet, then weighing in with their bags at the airport, presumably with a degree of privacy.  Or airlines simply could go with the estimate.  Rebecca Puhl, director of research at Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, warned that such a pricing model could stigmatize heavy passengers.  “If some kind of increased fee is going to be inevitable, they need to find ways to charge those fees without humiliating people,” she said.  “I just don’t see how all this can be implemented in a way that is effective and fair.”

4. General Tips for Women Travelers

Most tips for women travelers, and indeed all travelers, come down to one thing: common sense.  It’s the kind of stuff your parents told you growing up, don’t walk in strange neighborhoods after dark, lock you doors, don’t leave your valuables lying around, be alert. 

An intrinsic part of traveling is paying attention and adapting to the cultural milieu in which you travel, which means an awareness of gender roles and expectations.  Learn everything you can about the values and customs of a country, and be aware of how you should tailor your behavior to fit into that culture. 

• Be aware of local attitudes toward women in the country in which you are traveling. 
• It’s also not a good idea to wear flashy jewelry or show a lot of money in public places. 
• Many women travel experts recommend wearing long, loose-fitting clothes when traveling internationally. 
• Know the equivalent of “911” in whatever country you’re visiting, and make sure you have a functioning cell phone with you at all times. 
• Leave a copy of your itinerary with a friend or family member back home and be sure to check in regularly by phone or e-mail.  It’s also a good idea to register your presence with your home country’s embassy when you’re traveling internationally. 
• Walk confidently, as though you know exactly where you’re going (even if you don’t).  Don’t stop in the middle of the sidewalk to look at a map or rifle through your purse; distracted travelers are easy prey for thieves. 

When looking for a hotel, choose the right accommodations and look for the following:

• Hotels that require room access through a lobby area are infinitely more secure than motels with access from the outside. 
• Research the neighborhood, how safe is it?  Are there nearby businesses that will be open and busy after dark?  It’s worth paying a little extra for a hotel in a more secure neighborhood. 
• Avoid first-floor rooms.  Break-ins are less likely on the upper levels.  Ask for a room near the elevators. 
• When checking in, ask the desk clerk to write your room number on a piece of paper rather than announce it in a crowded lobby.
• When you enter an elevator, position yourself next to the button panel and make a mental note of where the “alarm” or “bell” button is so that you can push it if needed.  
• If your room comes with a sliding glass door and balcony, always check to be sure the door is locked.  Your balcony may be connected to the one next door, granting easy access to your room.  You’ll want to make sure your windows are locked as well. Check each time you re-enter the room, housekeeping may have unlocked them for one reason or another.  If any of your locks don’t work, ask for a new room.
• Don’t open your door for anyone, including “housekeeping” or “room service,” without verifying the identity of the person at your door. 
• Unattended hotel fitness centers or pools are best avoided, especially if there aren’t many other guests there. 
• If you are trying to park in the hotel lot late at night and someone is lurking around the lot, park in front of the door in the check-in area and go to the front desk.  Ask the clerk to have someone from hotel security meet you in the lot and escort you into the hotel. 

5. How to Keep Your E-Mail Safe While Traveling

When Daniel Carter logged on to a shared computer at a hostel in Rome to check e-mail, he had no idea he was in a hacker’s sights.  After his trip was over, he discovered someone had hijacked his e-mail account and sent a message to hundreds of his contacts asking for money.  Most of Carter’s contacts recognized the scam from the poor grammar and lack of upper-case letters.  Unfortunately, one older friend fell for it, sending $2,000 to the scammers.  Carter eventually regained control of his e-mail account and cleaned up the mess.  But the money his friend sent was lost.

What happened to Carter is a relatively rare phenomenon, but travelers are especially vulnerable to hackers because they often use computers and Wi-Fi networks in hotel lobbies, cafes and airports.  “If you are using an open Wi-Fi network, you are extremely vulnerable,” says computer security consultant Kevin Mitnick.  He should know: Mitnick served five years in prison for computer capers that gained him notoriety and prompted an FBI manhunt.  Here are some steps you can take to protect yourself.

·         Create a strong password.  Carter says his e-mail was easier to hack because he had a weak password.  Password advice can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/protect/yourself/password/checker.mspx

·         Create a dedicated e-mail account for use o the road, with a password that is different from passwords you use for bank and credit card information.  Let your contacts know you’ll be using that account while on vacation.  You can stay in touch, but if someone does hack into your account, they only get your vacation pictures. 

·         If using a shared computer, try to cover your tracks.  On Apple’s Safari browser, under the Safari menu, toggle “Private Browsing.”  On Microsoft’s Explorer, when you log off, go to “Tools” and “Delete Browsing History” to remove traces of your passwords and the Web sites you’ve visited. 

But experts say clearing the history offers weak protection at best.  A shared computer, even one that’s hard-wired as opposed to one with a wireless network, can harbor keyloggers or other malware that grab passwords and other information. 

Wireless hotspots can also be dangerous, with the hackers monitoring communication from your laptop or other electronic device.  And a wired hotel network can also be dangerous, since a hacker could be in the room next door and access your computer through the network.  That’s not to say every hotspot is dangerous.  But when using your laptop in a public place, you obviously want up-to-date security programs, says Dave Marcus, McAfee’s Director of Security Research and Communication.

You should also disable file-sharing on your laptop, Marcus says.  It’s also a good idea to turn off Bluetooth, printer-sharing and disable ad hoc network connections.  Each Windows and Mac operating system has a slightly different procedure to do this.  Information for your computer can be found at: http://support.microsoft.com or http://apple.com/support

Many experts say you should not send any sensitive data while in a hotspot.  That’s because many e-mail services and browser connections essentially broadcast in the clear, meaning someone can eavesdrop on information sent to and from your computer.  If you want to be careful, that means avoiding banking, shopping and checking credit card accounts.  Even though these sites usually encrypt your data, there are some workarounds a determined hacker could use.  Even passwords for seemingly innocuous services could potentially lead to more sensitive personal data. 

If you want to take your computer security a step up, consider a VPN, or Virtual Private Network.  “The best way to protect yourself is a VPN”, says Mitnick.  “It’s a tunnel, where all your communication is encrypted.  A passive attacker can’t intercept.”  Bill Bullock, co-founder of the VPN service WiTopia, calls such networks “the next weapon in the arsenal” after firewalls and antivirus software.  His company offers plans starting at $39.99 a year, but there are plenty of competitors.  And, if you are computer-savvy, you can even create your own VPN, connecting from the road to your secure computer at home and accessing the Internet through it. 

But Kelly Davis-Felner of the Wi-Fi Alliance, a group that promotes growth of Wi-Fi networks, says a VPN is probably overkill for travelers who are just checking the latest sports scores or e-mailing Mom from a café on the Champs-Elysees.  “It’s a statistical possibility that you’ll get hacked in a hotspot” she acknowledged, advising against banking, trading stocks or doing business-related work at an open network without VPN.  But she added: “You are taking a much greater risk handing your credit card to a waiter than sitting in an airport sending e-mail.”

6. Mobile Gadgets Threaten In-Flight Entertainment

Airlines around the world now spend millions of dollars annually upgrading their in-flight entertainment systems, but iPods and other mobile entertainment gadgets could render all that useless. 

Besides bland airline food, one other certainty for most long-haul travelers flying in economy class has always been time passed with movies and games on a tiny 5-inch screen provided by the airline. 

However, with USB ports and a power socket increasingly common even for economy class passengers on carriers such as Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways, the concept of in-flight entertainment could change. 

Adding to the mix are plans by carriers such as Delta Air Lines, which has begun offering an Internet connection on board, allowing passengers to continue tweeting and updating their Facebook status instead of flipping channels on the in-flight entertainment (IFE) system. 

Analysts call this content customization, where passengers are no longer limited to an airline’s offerings in their in-flight entertainment systems and are able to pick and choose what they want to watch or do on board a flight.

Airlines, badly hit by weak demand for air travel and volatile jet fuel prices, are likely to welcome the move, as it would allow them to save on costs such as licensing fees to production studios and maintenance fees.

“There’re so many reasons for airlines to change the way it works right now,” said Peter Harbinson, an analyst at the Centre of Asia-Pacific Aviation in Sydney.  “The biggest advantage for airlines is the weight of the IFE equipment  Fuel burnt, regular engineering checks, and licensing fees to movie studios all add up to a considerable amount of money for airlines.”

The growing popularity of low-cost netbook PCs and other mobile entertainment devices such as Apple’s iPod and other MP3 players could further hasten IFE’s demise, as more and more airline passengers carry these gadgets with them when they travel.

The biggest draw for airlines, industry watchers say, is that they could save money in tough economic times, while simultaneously disguising the change as a product enhancement.