Museums & Attractions
- Kalahari Resorts in Sandusky, Ohio, recently unveiled the African-themed Safari Outdoor Adventure Park, featuring a zip-line tour, ropes course, climbing walls and more. The zip-line tour sails 40 to 60 feet above the resort's 77,000-square-foot outdoor waterpark. The ropes course is themed to resemble an African tree house village with thatched huts and African masks, and the three-story course spans over 750 feet of rope with 48 climbing elements. There are also two 32-foot climbing walls. Kalahari Resorts also offers a 100,000-square-foot convention center. The convention sales and service staff can customize team-building activities in the new adventure park. For more information, call 419.782.2254.
Tech Talk
- Starting in September, New York City's The Plaza hotel will offer iPads in all guest rooms and suites, featuring the first virtual concierge application available on the tablet devices. The hotel is partnering with Orlando-based Intelity to become the first hotel in the world to provide guests services and amenities using iPads and Intelity's ICE (Interactive Customer Solution) software solution. Guests will be able to order room service, make restaurant reservations, communicate with the concierge, explore NYC destination guides and check airline schedules and print boarding passes. In addition, The Plaza will also offer ICE Mobile, allowing guests to download the hotel's Virtual Concierge Application on iTunes or from www.theplaza.com, with versions for iPhone, Blackberry and Android. The application will offer an array of services, such as pre-ordering room service and making a spa appointment. For more information, call 212.759.3000.
- Broadway.com/Groups, a resource for group Broadway theater tickets, recently introduced a free-of-charge interactive application that allows travel buyers to promote and sell the most popular Broadway shows directly on their own website. Tailored for group organizers and meeting planners, among others, the new Group Sales Widget is available in two versions—one for those who want to package shows with other tour components and one for those who prefer to have their clients book directly. Both allow users to view video footage and production photos, and browse show descriptions, age appropriateness and group minimums. The Group Sales Widget currently features 15 Broadway shows, including Billy Elliot, Chicago and Jersey Boys. Users copy and paste the HTML code onto their website. The widget can be downloaded directly at www.broadway.com/groups/widget.
- Marriott International headquarters, in Bethesda, Md., was recently awarded the gold medal for green buildings. After a three-year effort to become more sustainable, the 30-year-old building is celebrating its LEED Existing Building Gold status—an investment that saves the company $700,000 annually and up to $1.3 million in expected tax credits over three years. This achievement moves the company closer to the goal announced last fall to expand its green building portfolio to approximately 300 properties in five years. Much of the company's green hotel expansion will be fueled by a new Courtyard hotel program that has filed for pre-certified LEED.
The new prototype is expected to save owners roughly $100,000, six months in design time and up to 25 percent in energy and water savings. Marriott International headquarters also earned LEED credits in the areas of innovation and protection of open space through its Amazon Rainforest preservation project to protect nearly 1.5 million acres of rainforest in Brazil. For more information, check out MarriottGreen.