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Travel Industry Joins Haiti Relief Efforts
January 18, 2010

Royal Caribbean International -- one of the largest foreign investors in Haiti -- says it thought long and hard about continuing those cruises in the wake of the catastrophe, but decided it will and that Haiti will benefit more than ever from the revenues that are generated. To date, the cruise port has brought in more than 10 million tourists spending $100 million.

Royal Caribbean says for now it will also donate all the revenue from its Labadee stop, and an additional million dollars to the relief effort. Besides carrying paying passengers -- who can make donations through their onboard accounts -- the ships are also transporting relief supplies in tandem with the U.S. based charity Food For The Poor. A number of airlines are also pitching in through their mileage programs. American Airlines is offering bonus miles to customers who make donations through its website to selected charities.

United Airlines is allowing frequent fliers to donate their miles directly to charities to help transport their relief workers to Haiti. Additionally, some hotel chains, such as Choice and Starwood are letting customers use their loyalty points to make donations. Travel Guard insurance is also providing free emergency travel and medical assistance services to people affected by the earthquake.

They will coordinate but not pay for services such as evacuations, temporary lodging, and cash wire transfers. The Caribbean Tourism Organization is soliciting donations through its Disaster Relief Fund at www.onecaribbean.org. Haiti shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic to its east, a destination with a very well developed tourism infrastructure.

The Dominican Republic Ministry of Tourism reports the DR experienced no damage from the earthquake and that all hotels, resorts and beaches are open and no flights or tours have been canceled. In fact, many emergency workers are looking to reach Haiti by first flying commercial airlines into the DR.

To accommodate relief supplies, American Airlines is imposing an embargo through mid-February on all excess, oversize and overweight baggage on most of its regularly scheduled flights to the DR.

Source :- http://www.ny1.com/