All Things Travel: Top 10 Tourism And Transportation Stories
BOSTON (CBS) – This week is National Transportation Week. Last week was National Tourism Week. Putting them together, they are probably the second largest industry in the private sector behind the medical segment in Massachusetts.
You wouldn't know it the way the industry promotes itself.
Think about it.
Companies like Cape Air, Lafrance Hospitality Company, Peter Pan Buses, Saunders and Sonesta Hotels have their headquarters here.
Never heard of Lafrance Hospitality in Westport?
They own six hotel properties in New England and four restaurants.
Don't forget the taxi, limo, van services and the private bus companies.
I once tried to get an estimate from the state as to how many people got tourism and hospitality jobs in the summer season.
No one could tell me.
However the back-to-back tourism and transportation weeks got me thinking about the ten top T & T stories of the last 12 months.
Here's my list is no particular order:
1. Record passenger traffic of 29 million-plus at Logan Airport.
2. Extension of the Downeaster train from Boston to Brunswick, Maine with their numbers up five percent again this year.
3. Plans for all-electronic toll collections, faster and less expensive to operate.
4. Success of the first Boeing Dreamline flights from Boston to Tokyo.
5. Carnival Cruise Line coming to CruisePort Boston.
6. Renewed weekend summer rail service from South Station to Hyannis for the first time in 25 years.
7. Announcement of Central and South America airline flights from Boston.
8. Start-up of Yo Bus Line by Greyhound and Peter Pan with more bus service to New York for under $20 a trip.
9. Year-long free Silver Line bus service from Logan downtown.
10. The Boston Marathon bombing which involves more than 60 percent of runners arriving by air.
My top travel and transportation story of the next 12 months?
The award of the three Massachusetts resort and casino licenses.
I was thinking about all these subjects in an hour-and-a-half car trip from downtown Boston to Hingham last week in the evening rush hour.
Bob Weiss reports on business travel on Mondays at 5:55 a.m. on WBZ NewsRadio 1030.
