Fairmont kicks off New Year by inviting guests to join in supporting Soles4Souls, with special incentive from adidas
They say all good “soles” go to heaven, and now shoes from the Fairmont Fit program will get a second life with Soles4Souls, a non-profit organization that collects gently used athletic shoes for redistribution to those in need. Starting this fall, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts will donate footwear from Fairmont Fit, a program which offers members of Fairmont President’s Club, the brand’s exclusive guest recognition program, access to adidas athletic apparel for use during their stay. To launch this new partnership, Fairmont is providing a little incentive to begin the New Year on the right foot and stick with those resolutions to get in shape. Guests and community members are invited to drop off gently used athletic shoes at Fairmont locations across North America from Monday, January 19 to Friday, January 23, 2009, and the Fairmont team will do the rest. In recognition of this support, Fairmont Fit partner adidas will offer an exclusive discount card for 15% off adidas merchandise, to be used online at http://www.shopadidas.com or http://www.shopadidas.ca.
Soles4Souls is an international organization that facilitates the donation and redistribution of shoes to people in need in over 50 countries. Donations from individuals, companies and other organizations help Soles4Souls fulfill its mission to impact lives with the gift of shoes. This small act helps provide a basic need; quality shoes help protect feet from cuts, scrapes and contaminants that can lead to potentially serious healthcare issues. Started in 2004 in response to the Tsunami disaster, Soles4Souls has grown rapidly, resulting in over three million pairs of shoes being given away to date.
Fairmont Fit, which has proven extremely popular in its first year of operation in North American hotels, will be expanding to all international locations later this year. Fairmont President’s Club members can order adidas shorts, t-shirts and athletic shoes, all delivered to their room, for use during their stay.* As shoes slowly become worn in, and as seasonal changes of styles are provided by adidas, hotels are left with items that are suitable for donating. Fairmont, long a leader in environmental stewardship and responsible tourism, continually seeks ways to minimize the footprint of its hotels. In support of these efforts, Fairmont will donate footwear to Soles4Souls, and hotels will also donate the gently used apparel to local charities.
“We’re proud to support Soles4Souls’ efforts. The partnership makes sense; with locations around the world, we can provide sizable quantities of a much needed item, but we also mitigate our impact on the planet,” noted Brian Richardson, Fairmont’s Vice President Brand Marketing and Communications.
“We are very pleased that Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and adidas have joined forces with Soles4Souls to make a positive impact on the lives of thousands of people in need,” said Wayne Elsey, Founder and CEO of Soles4Souls, Inc. “This program will not only benefit victims of natural disasters and those living in extreme poverty, but it will help reduce the vast number of shoes that end up in our landfills,” he said.
Fairmont President’s Club is the hotel company’s premier guest recognition program, providing frequent guests with certain benefits and privileges during their stay. Membership is complimentary and guests can enroll online at http://www.fairmont.com, by calling 1-800-663-7575 or at any Fairmont location worldwide.
*The Fairmont Fit program is complimentary for Premier and Platinum level members of Fairmont President’s Club. A $10 fee per stay will apply for Club level members, for unlimited use of apparel during their stay.
About Soles4Souls
Nashville-based Soles4Souls™ facilitates the donations of both new and used shoes, which are used to aid the hurting worldwide. Since its inception, Soles4Souls has distributed more than 3.3 million pairs (or one pair every 23 seconds) to people in more than 60 countries, including Honduras, Romania, Thailand, and the Sudan. The charity has been featured on CNN Headline News, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, ABC News, FOX, CBS, and hundreds of regional outlets around North America. Soles4Souls is a 501(c)(3) recognized by the IRS; donating parties are eligible for tax advantages. Visit www.giveshoes.org for more information.
About adidas
adidas is a global designer, developer and marketer of athletic footwear, apparel and accessories with the mission to be the leading sports brand in the world. Brand adidas is part of the adidas Group, a corporation that also includes Reebok, TaylorMade and Rockport. Some of the players in adidas’ roster of athletes include: Kevin Garnett, Jeremy Wariner, Allyson Felix, Tyson Gay, Haile Gebrselassie, Yelena Isenbeya, Reggie Bush, Tim Duncan, Ryan Howard and David Beckham.
About Fairmont Hotels & Resorts
A leader in the global hospitality industry, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is an extraordinary collection of luxury hotels, which includes iconic landmarks like the Fairmont Singapore, Fairmont Le Montreux Palace in Switzerland and New York’s The Plaza. Fairmont hotels are one-of-a-kind properties where sophisticated travellers can discover culturally rich experiences that are authentic to the destination. Situated in some of the most exclusive and pristine areas in the world, Fairmont is committed to responsible tourism and is an industry leader in sustainable hotel management with its award-winning Green Partnership program. Fairmont’s portfolio includes 56 distinctive hotels, with plans to develop over 20 new properties in the coming years in destinations as diverse as Shanghai, Abu Dhabi and Anguilla.
Fairmont is owned by Fairmont Raffles Hotels International, a leading global hotel company with 90 hotels worldwide under the Raffles, Fairmont and Swissôtel brands. The company also owns Fairmont and Raffles branded Residences, Estates and luxury private residence club properties. For more information or reservations, please call 1-800-441-1414 or visit http://www.fairmont.com
Source: Fairmont Hotels & Resorts
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
Wondering if you should bow or shake hands with your Chinese colleague? Worried that you might have offended your Moroccan hosts by declining that second cup of tea? Want to know the best time to arrive at a Brazilian party?
Log on to CultureCrossing.net; an evolving database of cross-cultural information about every country in the world. This free, user-built reference guide allows people from around the globe to access and share essential tips about how to navigate the world with savvy and sensitivity. An invaluable resource for travelers, businesses, students and anyone living and working in a multicultural community, CultureCrossing.net offers its users an opportunity to:
* Access information for more than 200 countries (with new information added daily)
* Add knowledge to the country guides
* Ask questions and chat directly with other users and experts from around the world
* Explore global resources to facilitate any cross-cultural experience
According to CultureCrossing.net founder Michael Landers, “There are many sites that tell you how to book a trip and what to pack, but very few sites offer crucial information about the intangibles like appropriate greetings, gestures, and taboo behavior- tips that will help you stay out of trouble when crossing cultures. Ours is the only site providing free access to this kind of knowledge for every country in the world.”
The resources available at CultureCrossing.net are free to use, easy to navigate and simply organized by country and divided into three distinct categories of information: the basics, business essentials, and student life. Topics covered include greetings, gestures, taboos, dress, negotiations, meeting etiquette, school rules, gift giving, communication styles, eye contact, and more. Besides being an indispensable reference guide, the site also offers a variety of additional features such as interviews with culturally conscious celebrities, a humorous blog where you can learn from others’ cross-cultural faux pas, tools to help you explore your own “cultural baggage”, and quizzes so you can test your cultural IQ.
WHY WWW.CULTURECROSSING.NET
Culture influences our behavior in countless ways - subconsciously guiding our actions, reactions and interactions. In order to successfully engage with the global community, it’s crucial to understand how culture affects the way we socialize, communicate, and do business. In our increasingly borderless world, cultural ignorance can lead to misunderstandings with far reaching implications. Whether you’re working with a multicultural team, transitioning to a life overseas, preparing to study abroad, or just planning an international trip, CultureCrossing.net will enhance your personal experiences, deepen your cross-cultural understanding, and cultivate peace in our interconnected world.
ABOUT CULTURECROSSING.NET
Created by cross-cultural trainer Michael Landers and multimedia producer Lisa Grossman, CultureCrossing.net is the result of their passion for exploring the world and commitment to fostering cross-cultural understanding. The founders also rely on the voluntary support of professionals, students, and community members from around the globe to vet and grow their database of cultural information.
Live for just four months, the site already boasts members from over 75 countries and has recorded over 20,000 unique visitors and 1.5 million hits in July alone. CultureCrossing.net is quickly gaining recognition as the perfect primer for all your international experiences.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
Today, a new Microsoft-backed site called PlanetEye launched an innovative online travel planning service that allows users to organize and schedule their travel planning needs under one roof.
Planning a trip can be extremely time consuming, involving visits to dozens of sites and sifting through hundreds of search results before you finalize all the pieces together for your trip. PlanetEye’s goal is to put an end to the frustrating and time-consuming process people suffer when planning their trip online.
The site features a powerful and easy-to-use planning tool, rich geotagged photographs and leading edge mapping technology. They also have extensive travel content from a team of in-house writers and external professional sources.
At the core of PlanetEye’s travel planning service is the Travel Pack that lets travelers “clip” the interesting photographs, attractions, hotels and restaurants discovered on PlanetEye when they are planning a trip or simply putting together travel ideas. Users can look at their Travel Packs as a list or on a personalized map.
It’s easy to introduce local flavor into your Travel Pack by adding PlanetEye’s top-rated selections on where to stay, what to do and where to eat. As well, PlanetEye provides valuable editorial content from a list of “Trusted Sources” to enhance your planning process.
After returning from a trip, you can upload photos to your Travel Packs, rate the places where you stayed, dined and toured, and then share your Travel Pack with friends, family and other travelers. (or opt to keep them private)
Once you’ve created your Travel Pack, you can also book your flight and hotel and car rentals, easily make restaurant reservations (OpenTable), buy tickets to events and attractions (StubHub), book a spa appointment (WaySpa) and more.
Click here to give it a test-drive.
Source: Online Communications
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
Are you seeking the camaraderie of a fitness-oriented and pampering of a women-only vacation? Check out this new “girlfriends getaway” Cinque Terre walking tour from The Wayfarers.
An energetic walk that covers mule tracks by road, and hills via stone steps, Cinque Terre offers an immersion into the area called by many the most beautiful part of Italy and one that is best visited by foot. Accommodations are in a former 16th-century Franciscan monastery with a state-of-the-art Wellness Spa and in a hotel with its own sandy beach. Priced at US $3795 per person, based on double occupancy, the seven-day/six-night walk takes place on September 21-27 (women only) and October 5-11 and includes 6-8 miles of walking per day. A single supplement is priced at $470.
A World Heritage site, Cinque Terre or “Five Lands” sits near Genoa in Liguria, in a corner of Northern Italy originally forged by the Romans as trade routes. Linking five enchanting villages set in the cliffs and harbors of the Italian Riviera, the pathways and rocky terraces of the area offer views of pastel houses that reach from hilltop to the blue Ligurian Sea, terraced vineyards, and olive groves. A food mecca, the region is synonymous with olive oil, basil, pesto and the dessert wine Sciacchetra. Of particular interest to women, the Walk features a tour of Rapallo’s lace museum; lunch in elegant Portofino; shopping in Sestri Levante, a town known for its fine linens; a crossing of the Riviera di Levante by boat, rail and cable car; and a visit to a mountaintop monastery. Days are punctuated by meals of local delicacies, wines and limoncello between walks covering three to five miles. Dinner is a lavish affair preceded by a cocktail hour designed to further foster conversation and friendship.
The Wayfarers, named one of the “Best Outfitters on Earth” by National Geographic Adventure, marks its 25th season with 83 diverse Walks through 15 countries. All Wayfarers Walks are US dollar guaranteed, so travelers can book with no worries about fluctuating exchange rates. The Wayfarers 2008 schedule includes Walks in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Austria, France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland and the United States.
About The Wayfarers
Offering an eco-aware “walking” holiday of both culture and fitness, The Wayfarers’ newest Walks/hikes include South Africa, Slovenia, New Zealand and California. A new women’s-focused program with Girlfriend Getaways and Mother/Daughter walks adds shopping, museums, spa treatments, and more. Other popular walks are the Founders’ Walk on the Isle of Wight, Croatia, Austria, Amalfi Coast, and Czech Republic. Now in its 25th season and named one of the “Best Outfitters on Earth” by National Geographic Adventure, The Wayfarers offer exclusive entrées into homes and gardens otherwise closed to the public, graceful accommodations, outstanding cuisine, and meetings with local residents. Walks range from 5-12 days and are rated easy to challenging, with distances of 4-5 miles, 6-10 miles or 12-15 miles per day.
For information and booking visit www.thewayfarers.com or call 800- 249-4620.
Source: The Wayfarers
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
Whether you’re trading a villa in Tuscany for a beach house on Cape Cod, or an African safari for the wilds of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, one fact still holds true: “Travel insurance is the best way to protect all of your travels and trip investments during this challenging time,” says Jim Grace, President and CEO of InsureMyTrip.com, a leading online travel insurance comparison site. “While travel insurance can’t prevent things from going wrong, it can help ease your travel woes and get your journey back on track.”
The key is to plan ahead. Travel insurance, like all insurance, is predicated on the occurrence of unforeseen events. You need to purchase travel insurance before your trip for maximum coverage and peace of mind protection against the unexpected. “It only takes one bad travel experience for a person to understand that trip insurance is not a luxury, it’s a necessity,” explains Grace. “Travel insurance is your best defense against many of the most common risks affecting travel today.”
Trip Cost Protection: It happens all the time. Just before your family vacation, one of the kids gets sick, forcing you to cancel the fun-filled get-away. Travel insurance protects your financial investment so you don’t pay for a trip you cannot take.
Travel Delays/Missed Connections: A delayed flight can strand a person for hours or even cause them to miss a connecting flight to a vacation cruise. These events occur often and can wreak havoc on your itinerary not to mention your wallet for hotel accommodations, meals, and transportation caused by weather-related delays and cancellations.
Pre-existing Medical Conditions: If you, a traveling companion, family member, or business partner have a pre-existing medical condition (injury, disease or illness), trip insurance is a must. But plan ahead as the majority of travel insurance policies require that you purchase your policy within 7 to 21 days of your initial trip deposit to be eligible for pre-existing medical conditions coverage.
Hurricanes & Severe Weather: Mother Nature can be a powerful force to reckon with especially if you are traveling to earthquake, hurricane, or flood prone areas. Travel insurance provides coverage for weather-related trip cancellations, delays and interruptions as well as vacation rentals, resorts, and hotels made uninhabitable by weather.
Supplier Default: Most of the major U.S. travel insurers provide financial default/bankruptcy protection if you purchase your travel insurance plan within 7 to 21 days (varies by company and plan) of your initial trip deposit. Although some travel insurers will provide coverage for suppliers that have declared bankruptcy but continue to operate, once a company ceases operations it becomes a foreseen event and insurance can no longer be purchased.
Tour Operator Cancels: Travel insurance does not provide coverage if a tour operator cancels due to a lack of participants. However, some insurance companies do offer a Cancel For Any Reason policy that allows you to cancel your trip for any reason you choose, up to two days prior to your departure.
Unemployment: Most travel insurance policies will cover an unexpected loss of employment. Plans vary by company but all specify coverage for lay-off of a full-time employee.
InsureMyTrip.com allows consumers to review, rate, compare, analyze and purchase travel insurance from all the leading U.S. travel insurance companies in a completely secure environment. To learn more about the protection plans that best suit your vacation travel needs, visit http://www.insuremytrip.com/ on-line or call (800) 487-4722 to speak with a licensed travel insurance professional.
About InsureMyTrip.com
Established in 1995, InsureMyTrip.com is the leading, consumer-oriented online travel insurance aggregator worldwide. Featuring insurance comparisons from the top industry providers, InsureMyTrip.com is a unique, one-stop resource designed to meet consumers’ comprehensive travel insurance needs all in a secure environment. InsureMyTrip.com also specializes in providing integrated technology solutions for the travel insurance industry, with over 2,000 private-labeled and co-branded travel-related websites around the globe. InsureMyTrip.com is headquartered in Warwick, RI withadditional offices and data centers in Connecticut and Oregon.
Source: InsureMyTrip.Com
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
Check out Outside magazine’s picks for the best new trips, gear you’ll need in your carry-on, and essential tips, Web sites, gadgets, and more and navigate ‘08 in style.
Click here to read the full article
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".