For the travel industry, the over-55s represent a goldmine of opportunities, and tour packages that offer therapeutic getaways is one of the ideas that could appeal to the silver generation. Pua Song Kuan, 70, and Tung Kheng Hock, 72, have been to over 20 places between them since they retired nearly a decade ago.

China is a firm favourite for both, but Mr Pua counted Zimbabwe among his more unusual destinations. “I’m travelling while I still can because I’m so old already. If I like the food in a place, then why not go (there)?” said Mr. Pua. Mr Tung agreed. “I’m okay with spending the money. My daughter gives me money to go travelling, she says I’m so old already, (I) should travel more.”

The silver population is making an impact on the travel industry. Bigger players such as Commonwealth Travel (CTC Holidays) and SA Tours reported a marked increase in business. SA Tours said it has seen a 20 per cent growth in the number of elderly customers in the past year, with its China packages seeing a 30 per cent growth.
Some companies said although the numbers are too small to warrant elderly-specific packages, they have slowed the pace of the tours for them. Some travel agencies such as Commonwealth Travel will advise elderly customers of potential health risks, and may even request they go for a medical check-up before signing up.

One industry player said the health concerns of the elderly can also be a business opportunity. “Many of them are beginning to look at alternative (medical), health tourism. I’ve heard of people who must go back to Europe every year, going up to the Alps for some… therapeutic treatment and all that.

If you can cater products to meet this demand, I think there is a very, very good pool of senior travellers in Singapore who can provide three or four times travel a year, so I think that’s a very very important market not to be missed,” said Insight Vacations’ Asia regional director Robin Yap.

Most people recognize that air travel is a relatively safe form of transportation. They also understand that refusing to admit that there are risks involved in traveling by air serves no one.About a year ago, NASA officials concluded a sweeping study of air travel safety. It involved interviews with about 24,000 pilots, many of them working for commercial airlines. But the agency is refusing to make results of its study public.

NASA officials are so concerned with secrecy that they have ordered the contractor responsible for the study to purge its computers of all data related to it, according to The Associated Press.Why? NASA Associate Administrator Thomas S. Luedtke explained in a letter to the AP: “Release of the requested data, which are sensitive and safety-related, could materially affect the public confidence in, and the commercial welfare of, the air carriers and general aviation companies whose pilots participated in the survey.”In other words, information in the study would be bad for business.Most federal agencies involved in safety don’t take into account the effect their actions may have on a private company’s profits.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, for example, is notorious for releasing studies that can have adverse effects on automobile manufacturers. Crash test data can steer buyers away from a company’s vehicles.Assuming that government studies are accurate — and that is not always the case — a profits-be-damned attitude is the correct one. Americans are entitled to know the risks associated with various products and services.Not according to NASA. It has been staunch in its refusal to provide information about its study — again, simply because the data could “materially affect … the commercial welfare” of airline companies.

ASEAN transport officials meeting in Singapore are close to finalising the text of a road map to integrate air travel in the region. The idea of what is known as “open skies” for the region is one that has been bandied around since 2004. The 10-member ASEAN grouping is aiming to have free air access between their capital cities by December next year.
Singapore and Malaysia are also working towards opening up the tightly-controlled air routes between the two countries before the end of 2008.

Speaking at the opening of the 24th Senior Transport Officials meeting on Monday, Singapore Transport Minister Raymond Lim urged officials to finalise the texts so that these can be signed by early next year. This would set ASEAN on the path to full air travel liberalisation and give a strong boost to intra-ASEAN tourist flows. Mr Lim said, “For ASEAN to maintain its standing and credibility as a regional integrated entity, it is important that it consistently delivers on the commitments and pronouncements made. As the first ASEAN-wide milestone of free access to ASEAN capitals is coming in December 2008, it is vital that all remaining obstacles are cleared in order to make it become reality so as not to affect ASEAN’s credibility to deliver on its plans.

We are so close to the finish line.” Traditionally, ASEAN transport officials discuss issues like transport infrastructure development and and enhancing transport links in the region. In conjunction with the meeting, ASEAN member countries will also meet their dialogue partners, China and Japan, on cooperation initiatives.

Using rice husks to generate heat and electricity in Thailand, turning human sewage in Manila into clean electricity and creating power from pig waste are among the ways the UK will offset its carbon dioxide emissions from air travelEnvironment Minister Phil Woolas said that paying towards the projects – in the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, India, China and Brazil – would make sure that the carbon footprint of Government air travel was neutralised by ensuring that emissions were avoided elsewhere.

This will help to cut emissions and ensure developing countries are not impoverished by carbon-cutting measures.The Government Carbon Offsetting Fund is the first of its kind in the world, with governments including Norway and Finland following the UK’s lead. The Fund involves 40 participants across central Government and the wider public sector and associated bodies, including the Royal Household and Transport for London.Only necessary air travel is undertaken by Ministers and officials and is offset through projects approved under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism.

Mr Woolas said: “Offsetting emissions from transport isn’t the answer to climate change – and that’s as true for the Government as it is for everyone else. However, it’s right that we are leading by example and offsetting every tonne of CO2 emitted through projects that avoid emissions in developing countries, create jobs and improve the local standard of living.

Travel spending by domestic and international visitors in 2008 is forecast to increase 5.2 percent, to $778.2 billion, up from projected full-year 2007 travel spending of $740 billion, which would be a 5.7 percent increase over 2006.Domestic leisure trips are expected to continue an upward trend of modest growth in 2008, climbing 2 percent to 1.6 billion trips.

Domestic leisure trips are expected to finish 2007 up 2.5 percent over last year.Travel for business in 2008 is expected to remain stable, increasing by 0.4 percent, registering nearly 502 million trips. This slight increase will offset a projected decline of 1.7 percent in business travel for 2007, compared with a year ago.International travel (including visitors from Canada and Mexico) to the United States is expected to rise 3.7 percent in 2008 to 55.6 million visitors, following a projected 5.1 percent increase for 2007.

However, the year-over-year data mask an 11 percent decline in overseas visitors to the U.S. from 2000 – 2007. Overseas travelers, primarily from Western Europe and Japan, represent the United States’ top inbound visitors and spend the most money. Although overseas travel is expected to increase slightly in 2007, it has yet to surpass the 2000 level, despite the weak dollar making the U.S. a travel bargain.

Today announced that its MOSAIC fractional laser system has received US FDA 510(k) clearance for dermatological procedures requiring the coagulation of soft tissue. MOSAIC is an advanced aesthetic solution based on the latest in micro fractional technology that offers physicians an unprecedented combination of flexibility, precision and control for indications including scarring, sun-damaged skin and melasma. “MOSAIC has proven to be an invaluable solution to physicians in markets throughout the world, and we are extremely pleased to have received clearance to market this breakthrough system in the United States,” said Shaun Cave, President of Lutronic, USA, LLC. “This represents an important milestone in the continued growth and evolution of Lutronic USA, LLC and we look forward to continued growth in this market as we strive to deliver a full range of premier quality technologies and solutions to the clinical community.” MOSAIC employs Lutronic’s patented Controlled Chaos Technology (CCT), which delivers multiple arrays of randomized microscopic laser beams to the skin. MOSAIC’s unique “spray paint” approach eliminates the need for multiple linear passes and the clinical disadvantages of unavoidable overlap.

MOSAIC’s patented CCT ensures that micro necrotic columns (MNCs) are sequentially delivered and sufficiently spaced apart to achieve a more natural, uniform treatment and prevent unnecessary bulk thermal damages often caused by conventional linear delivery methods. Affecting only a small portion of the total skin surface at each session, the MNCs stimulate a natural healing process to initiate long-term collagen remodeling and elastin regeneration. Excess necrotic pigment and coagulated cellular debris are then rapidly re-epithelialized as the skin heals.

Outagamie County Regional Airport, Green Bay’s Austin Straubel International Airport and Gen. Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee were running on time as of 7 a.m. General flight delays are less than 15 minutes at most major airports across the country, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Philadelphia and Atlanta are experiencing greater delays due to weather conditions.