® JUNE 2008 JAXFAX MAGAZINE The Travel Agents’ Path to Profits 18 ISRAEL Sweet Secrets 24 CYPRUS From Wine to Water 26 SPAIN Zaragoza’s Moment in the Sun 42 TURKS & CAICOS Grand Deals 46 MEXICO Tianguis Report 52 CHINA Streamlining the Odyssey 58 LOS ANGELES Culture with Humor CHINA • JAPAN • AUSTRALIA • NEW ZEALAND • MEXICO • • Providing Professional and C A E I Reliable Services for 24 years... N S T A R Asia . A E L . S A M • OOvveerr 1152 MMiilllliioonn CCoonnssoolliiddaattoorr NNeett FFaarrees s E Hong Kong Discovery Vietnam & Cambodia Treasures A $ R 7 Days / 5 nights 15 days / 13 nights Starting from 2888 C PPlluuss NNoonn--CCaappppeedd CCoommmmiissssiioonnss ffoorr $ I I Starting from 1139 Visiting 3N Saigon, 2N Hoi An, 3N C R Includes round trip airfare and fuel sur - Hanoi, 2N Siem Reap, 3N Bangkok, FF,, CC && YY CCllaassss PPuubblliisshheedd FFaarreess WWoorrllddwwiiddee! ! A F charge from LAX/SFO. sightseeing, transfers, and meals as A • Many hotels and optional tours and specified. Includes international S • transfer options to select from. airfare, fuel surcharge from LAX/SFO reat Fares O and domestic flights. T G U S Beijing Discovery The journey features a cruise along T A 7 days / 5 nights $ the Mekong Delta, a visit to GTT = H E GTT = Tremendous Service & Starting from 999 the Cu Chi Tunnels, a Halong Bay A Includes round trip airfare and fuel sur - cruise and a full day trip to Angkor Wat, a world heritage site. E M L { { charge from LAX/SFO. Terrific Coffee Too! Classic Yangtze River E D Many hotels and optional tours and $ Starting from 2429 R 14 days/12 nights D transfer options to select from. I GTT announces their I Visiting Beijing, Xi’an, Chongqing C M Guangzhou Discovery and Shanghai plus 3 night cruise on "Low Season" Net Airfare Sale! A • 7 days / 5 nights $ the Yangtze River. • Starting from 1009 Includes international airfare N SAMPLE ROUNDTRIP NET FARES STARTING AT: Includes round trip airfare and fuel sur - and fuel surcharge from LAX/SFO. P A Transfers, meals, sightseeing and T Johannesburg $917 Cairo $713 Rome $481 Bombay $839 U charge from LAX/SFO. S cultural events included as specified E Many hotels and optional tours and I Auckland $913 Sydney $1043 Saigon $785 Manila $895 Shanghai $635 in the brochure or on the website. R transfer options to select from. K These are weekday net airfares for travel in September - November, 2008 with a ticketing deadline of July 31, 2008. Asia and So. Pacific fares are T A priced from LAX and all other fares are priced from NYC. The prices do not include any applicable taxes, security fees or fuel surcharges. Net airfares are O P Bangkok Discovery available from other cities but will vary in price depending on the point of origin within the U.S. All fares and commissions are subject to change without notice. Japan World Heritage $ • 7 days / 5 nights R $ Starting from 1239 10 days / 8 nights Starting from 2958 I A C Visiting Tokyo, Nikko, Mt. I Includes round trip airfare and fuel sur - NOW OFFERING NET FARES ON AIR FRANCE O Fuji, Hakone, Takayama, D charge from LAX/SFO. Shirakawago, Kanazawa N • Many hotels and optional tours and I GTT Extends Starbucks Gift Card Promotion Through The End of 2008 and Kyoto. This tour fea - S transfer options to select from. • tures many of Japan’s In addition to our great prices, travel agents will earn a $5 Starbucks Card . UNESCO World Heritage L with each international net fare ticket and/or commissionable First or Business or P Asian Classics A E sights and includes trans - Economy Class published fare ticket for the remainder of 2008. 10 days / 8 nights $ C A Starting from 2458 fers, meals, sightseeing and cultural events as specified in the I R brochure or on the website. Includes international airfare and F Visiting Hong Kong, Bangkok and S Participating GTT offices in the Starbucks ticketing promotion. fuel surcharge from LAX/SFO. I I C Singapore. Includes international airfare DALLAS DETROIT HOUSTON LOS ANGELES SEATTLE • and fuel surcharge from LAX/SFO. I 1-800-485-6828 1-800-868-6337 1-866-686-0066 1-888-856-8834 1-800-827-5882 S This tour includes comprehensive Prices are per person based on double occupancy and subject E or 972-490-3394 or 248-626-9181 or 713-774-4946 or 626-570-9009 or 206-381-9588 L sightseeing in each city, transfers and to availability or change without notice. P A meals as specified in the brochure or on the website O To check our pricing online, go to: N R www.gttglobal.com and "Get A Login" Today! D Call toll free number: 1-888-288-7170 1609 W. Valley Blvd., #288, Alhambra, CA 91803 U S MEMBER [email protected] www.uv-asia.com E ASTA NON-QUALIFYING FARES OR COMMISSIONS Infant net airfares & some commissionable Economy Class published airfares may be ® American Society excluded from this ticketing promotion. GTT retains the right to determine which tickets qualify for the $5 Starbucks Card. of Travel Agents Integrity in Travel VOLUME 36, NO.6 JUNE 2008 ® 800-952-9329 www.jaxfax.com Consolifare Password: kenya JAXFAX MAGAZINE DESTINATION FEATURES AND ARTICLES 12 COVE R FEATURE KENYA Tracking Down the Big Five in Style As I scanned the vastness of the East African horizon, memories of summer camp flooded into my mind. “Going on a squeegee hunt!” I could hear my counselor chant - ing, her hands beating a slow marching cadence on her thighs. “Gonna catch a big one. I’m not afraid.” The children’s song, complete with hand gestures and sound effects, no doubt was inspired right where I stood – on a safari in Kenya. If we’d… PUBLISHER’S CORNER 6 JAX FAX Magazine’s Dynamic Evolution: 37th Anniversary EDITOR’S DESK 8 Enlightening Our Leaders SNAPSHOTS 11 The Month in Review EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW 17 Titus Naikuni, Chief Executive, Kenya Airways 60 Fred Miller, VP Travel Industry Relations, Marriott International DESTINATION ARTICLES 40 THE BAHAMAS Year of the Travel Agent 18 ISRAEL Sweet Secrets 42 TURKS & CAICOS Grand Openings and Deals The recent Oscar-nominated movie, “In the 46 MEXICO Tianguis Report Valley of Elah,” starring Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron, may have done more 52 CHINA Streamlining Odyssey for its name recognition than David’s... China is forever linked to its ancient civiliza - 24 CYPRUS From Wine to Water tion and many of the world’s most revered treasures, such as The Great Wall, Terra- For centuries, the island of Cyprus has had a turbulent history Cotta Warriors and Horses and the Yangtze that shaped its character. Its location on the sea route to the River. Today, travelers can also find... Aegean made it vital to traders as… 54 SPECIAL INTERESTS 26 SPAIN Zaragoza’s Moment in the Sun Spas: The Ultimate Reward 30 ITALY Under $500 a day 57 CRUISES Luxury on the High Silversea 36 BRITAIN Top Hotels for A “Brit” Easier to Sell 58 LOS ANGELES Culture with a Sense of Humor 2 JUNE 2008 WWW. JAXFAX .COM ® CONTENT • JUNE 2008 TRAVEL MARKETING MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY: Jet Airtransport Exchange, Inc. (JAX) 52 West Main Street, Milford, CT 06460 DEPARTMENTS 203-301-0255 • Fax: 203-301-0250 Audited Circulation AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST 18 ROUND-UP: Pan African Safaris 20 Douglas Cooke, CTC Publisher & Editorial Director, [email protected] NEWS • BEST BUYS 19-23 Randi White Vice Pres./Associate Publisher, [email protected] EUROPE 24 Maria Lisella ROUND-UP: Wisdom of Rail Travel 28 Editor, [email protected] Chantal Guillou-Brennan NEWS • BEST BUYS 33-39 Art & Production Director, [email protected] Marjorie Vincent CARIBBEAN & BERMUDA 40 Business Manager, [email protected] ROUND-UP: Dominican Republic Faces Five Stars 43 Katie Hultgren NEWS • BEST BUYS 44, 45 Editorial Assistant, Listings and Circulation Manager [email protected] Clifton N. Cooke, CTC. CENTRAL & SOUTH AMERICA 46 Founding Publisher & Editor-at-Large, [email protected] BEST BUYS • NEWS 50, 51 Worldwide Correspondents ASIA & SOUTH PACIFIC 52 Tom Bross: Austria & Germany NEWS • BEST BUYS 53 Katharine Dyson: Special Interests Patricia Earnest: North America Danielle Hayes: Africa, South America SPECIAL INTERESTS 54 Kathy Feeney: Southeast Correspondent ROUND-UP: Spas - The Ultimate Reward for the Hard at Work Denise Mattia: Caribbean/Mexico BEST BUYS • NEWS 56 Merrie Murray: Mediterannean J. Herbert Silverman: Britain Jonathan Siskin: Cruise Editor CRUISE NEWS 57 Contributing Editors Steve Brown, Jeff Burdick, Ron Butler, Jad Davenport, Ben Frank, NORTH AMERICA & HAWAII 58 Chantal Guillou-Brennan, Patricia Harris, Ted Heck, Jehda Honculada, BEST BUYS • NEWS 59 Joan Jenkins, Mark Laiosa, Bob Levine, David Lyon, Barbara Rogers, Betty Rolston, Phyllis Cocroft Meras, Maggie Zellers INDUSTRY NEWS 61-62 Advertising in publication and on www.jaxfax.com [email protected] MESSAGE BOARD 63 Circulation & Subscriptions FAM TRIPS & STUDY PROGRAMS 64 [email protected]; 800-952-9329 Member of: ASTA–American Society of Travel Agents; ATA–Africa Travel Assoc.; CALENDAR TRADE SHOW EVENTS 64 NTA–National Tour Association; ATME–Association of Travel Marketing Execu - tives.; CHA–Caribbean Hotel Assoc.; CTO–Caribbean Tourism Organization; LISTINGS AND DIRECTORIES 65- 102 PATA–Pacific Asia Travel Assoc.; USTOA–United States Tour Operators Assoc. “JAX FAX Travel Marketing Magazine” (ISSN 0279-7984) is published month - LISTINGS BY DESTINATION 65 ly by Jet Airtransport Exchange Inc., 52 West Main Street, Milford, CT 06460. 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