Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.travel From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: travel Thu, Mar 12 1992 Date: Thu, 12 Mar 92 05:46:03 EST Message-ID: 03-12 0000 DECISIONLINE: Travel USA TODAY Update March 12, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network SHERATON CHANGING ITS IMAGE: The Adolphus has everything travelers expect in a great luxury hotel. And something they might not. The lobby is filled with antiques and the 435 guest rooms are plush. The French Room is one of just two AAA Five Diamond restaurants in Dallas. Then there's the plaque behind the front desk that links the 80-year-old hotel to its new patron - ITT Sheraton. (For more, see special Sheraton package below.) LORENZO SUED FOR $250 MILLION: Continental Airlines creditors are suing former Chairman Frank Lorenzo for selling shares in the airline. Creditors want $160 million in compensation and $90 million in damages from Lorenzo, former Continental executive Robert Snedeker and jointly owned holding company Jet Capital. They say the two men sold shares to Scandinavian Airline Systems knowing Continental was insolvent. SURCHARGE CAN BE AVOIDED: New Yorkers with jobs and good driving records will be able to avoid Hertz rent-a-car surcharges of up to $56 a day. City residents can avoid the surcharge beginning in June after they pay a one-time $25 fee so Hertz can verify their employment and driving records. The decision came as the City Council prepared to vote Thursday on a law prohibiting such surcharges for residents. NYC BLAMED FOR LIABILITY LOSSES: In January, Hertz had announced surcharges for New York City residents renting a car for use in their hometown because, Hertz says, they were costing too much. Residents of the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens account for only 9% of its revenue from the city but represent more than 40% of liability losses, spokesman Joe Russo says. Out-of-towners don't have to pay the surcharge. VIVE LE DISNEY: EuroDisney, the fourth in the Disney amusement park franchise, opens its gates just east of Paris April 12. Much of the scenery will be the same as in Anaheim, Orlando and Tokyo, such as the familiar Main Street, Frontierland, Adventureland and Fantasyland. Space Mountain, Splash Mountain and other attractions won't be set opening day. They're scheduled for staggered openings later. DETROIT HILTONS HAVE PROMO: Travelers to Detroit-area Hiltons can earn double points from Hilton's HHonors frequent-guest program and double hotel-stay AAdvantage miles from American Airlines. Also, each time HHonors and AAdvantage members stay at a Detroit-area Hilton they will be mailed a Fridays are Free certificate for one Friday stay with a corporate-rate or higher Saturday stay. Offer good until April 30. SKI SYMPOSIUM HELD: The 17th annual Ski & Travel Symposium Week will be held April 1 to 5 at the Embassy Suites Resort in South Lake Tahoe. Symposium producer Ralf Garrison says the agenda includes tourism industry seminars, a trade show and workshops. The symposium is the only annual meeting place of destination mountain resort businesses, their public-sector representatives and other constituents. TOURISM IS TOP INDUSTRY: Tourism has become the world's leading industry, according to Phil Burgess of Denver-based think tank Center for the New West. "Tourism (measured by employment) became the No. 1 industry in 1988 with more than 100 million employed worldwide," he says. Tourism spending worldwide reached $2.7 trillion in 1990, according to data from the U.S. Travel & Tourism Administration. TICKET TAX GOES UNNOTICED: Most travelers don't know where their tax dollars go or that travel taxes have increased, according to a survey by the American Society of Travel Agents. The survey showed that 83% don't know how the tax money is spent and 84% said they didn't know the domestic airline ticket tax went up by 25%. The government collects $4.4 billion per year in taxes and fees from international travelers. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON SHERATON: SHERATON CHANGES IMAGE: Sheraton isn't a name one often associates with luxury hotels in the USA. But its recent affiliation with Dallas' Adolphus shows the remaking of a chain known for fine hotels abroad and mediocre ones here. Since 1989, Sheraton has spent $1 billion renovating grand hotels. A $160 million deal to buy six Marriott hotels and lease two puts Sheraton on the all-suite map. CHAIN MAY EXPAND IN EUROPE: All this activity comes amid talk of restructuring at ITT, Sheraton's parent. ITT Chairman Rand Araskog is considering spinning off subsidiaries to boost the stock price. He plans to expand Sheraton, especially in Europe. That's good news for Chairman John Kapioltas. It means he can concentrate on sharpening Sheraton's fuzzy image. HOTELS ARE `SECOND RATE': A typical traveler response about Sheraton: "I don't know why I say this, but second rate," says one traveler. Kapioltas knew that had to change. Sheraton has 70% of its 423 hotels in North America, but its overseas hotels produce more than half its earnings. Poor domestic hotels hurt Sheraton. Some travelers avoided Sheratons overseas and foreign travelers wouldn't consider Sheratons here. SHERATON DROPS FRANCHISEES: To turn Sheraton around, Kapioltas invigorated top management with new people, courageously shrunk the chain by booting almost half Sheraton's franchisees and recruited new ones. Though Sheraton still has 65 fewer properties today than it had in 1985, Kapioltas is concentrating on quality. A $300 million investment in Sheraton's three New York hotels already is paying dividends. (End of package.) 24-HOUR TELEPHONE INFORMATION: USA TODAY Weather Hot Line. 95 cents a minute. 1-900-555-5555. Travel Editor: Beth Mann. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM