WAV Travel News - Thursday Editon
Bill Vervaeke, CDME
West Palm Beach, FL 33411
(561) 795-5912 (Office & Facsimile)
(561) 318-9089 (Cellular)
Maryland bill that would tax hotel markups heads to governor's desk
The Maryland House of Delegates on Wednesday passed House Bill 1065, which would apply a 6% sales tax to the service fees or markups that any “accommodations intermediary” in the country charges when booking Maryland hotel rooms.
The Maryland Senate had previously passed its version of the bill, Senate Bill 190.
The bill now goes to Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican who promised to cut state spending and taxes during his campaign last year. This bill is seen as a test of his no-new-taxes pledge, according to Philip Minardi, spokesman for the Travel Technology Association, which partnered with ASTA in opposing the bill. ASTA has urged Gov. Hogan to veto the bill.
The bill has a very broad definition of “accommodations intermediary,” and would apply not just to online travel agencies but to brick-and-mortar agencies, wedding planners, tour operators and others, Minardi said.
The bill says that the tax applies to the “full amount” a buyer pays. It explicitly excludes commissions hotels pay intermediaries.
But commissions are not agencies’ sole source of revenue; many charge service fees. According to ASTA, 45% of travel agents charged a hotel booking fee in 2012.
Hotel companies support the bill. In a March 26 statement, the American Hotel & Lodging Association said that the legislation would "ensure online travel agencies pay taxes on rooms just as brick-and-mortar hotels are expected to pay."
If approved by the governor, the bill is scheduled to go into effect July 1, 2015.
Leonardo DiCaprio developing eco-resort on private island
Actor Leonardo DiCaprio has plans to build out part of Blackadore Caye, his private island in Belize, as an eco-luxury resort.
DiCaprio has formed a development partnership with wellness architecture and design firm Delos. The resort, billed as "the greenest island resort ever built," is slated to open in 2018.
Plans call for 68 vacation villas and 48 estate homes whose prices will range from about $5 million to $15 million. Mangrove trees will be replanted.
In addition to three restaurants and a spa, the resort will include the Deepak Chopra Center for Renewal and Anti-Aging, water-purification systems and rooms with lighting to best complement guests' circadian rhythms.
Half of the island will be maintained as a wildlife preserve, and the reef will be artificially expanded to promote fish breeding.
Much of the resort will be designed to rest on platforms and pylons over the ocean in order to minimize ecological disturbance. The resort will be “triple net zero,” meaning that it will be designed to produce as much energy and water as it uses while eliminating waste.
The developers declined to disclose the estimated cost to build out the project.
Blackadore Cay is a 45-minute boat ride from Belize City International Airport and a 15-minute boat ride from San Pedro.
Delos’ projects include two New York residential buildings as well as MGM Resorts International’s “Stay Well” program. That program, completed early last year, involved updating 171 rooms at the MGM Grand Las Vegas to include special lighting systems, vitamin C-infused shower water, air-purification systems and a photo-catalytic coating on bathroom surfaces that breaks down bacteria.
CroisiEurope targets U.S. customers with price, itineraries
The Loire Princesse has a small paddlewheel on both sides.
Watching U.S. demand for European river cruising explode on its home turf, French river cruise company CroisiEurope decided two years ago that it was going to go after a bigger slice of the American source market.
“We’ve been behind the scenes for years,” said Lucas Schmitter, who heads up e-commerce for CroisiEurope and works as a liaison between the French company and its U.S. business. Schmitter is the third generation of the family that founded CroisiEurope in 1976.
In years past, Schmitter said, CroisiEurope would typically carry about 3,000 U.S. passengers annually, often booked through tour operator partners. But it opened a call center in the U.S. in 2013 and established a stronger sales and marketing presence stateside, including naming Nicola Iannone director of U.S. sales last year.
Those numbers subsequently more than doubled year over year. In 2014, CroisiEurope welcomed between 8,000 and 9,000 U.S. passengers. This year, the company expects that number could reach 15,000.
CroisiEurope started pursuing U.S. customers in 2001, when it built the Seine Princesse as part of an exclusive charter deal with Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection. But after 9/11, U.S. business quickly dried up, and CroisiEurope decided it needed to be more cautious about the U.S. market.
Founded by Gerard Schmitter, Strasbourg, France-based CroisiEurope initially catered predominantly to French passengers on the Rhine and Danube rivers. When the company introduced river cruises in the south of France in 1995, French cruisers were less inclined to sail on one of their own domestic waterways, and the company started filling the Rhone and Saone vessels with German passengers, essentially marking its foray into the international market.
Since then, the company has grown to welcome numerous nationalities, something Schmitter said is a selling point for those U.S. passengers who like the idea of mingling with people from other countries.
“We offer an international atmosphere with a French touch,” Schmitter said.
But where CroisiEurope is really looking to compete in the U.S. by offering different destinations and lower prices than other big players such as Viking River Cruises, Uniworld and AmaWaterways.
First, CroisiEurope is actively looking for ways to introduce river itineraries that nobody else is offering. By designing and building paddlewheel vessels with lower drafts, such as the 96-passenger Loire Princesse, which launched last week, the company is hoping that it will be able to expand into waterways in Europe that have never before been available to river cruisers.
Exclusivity is one competitive advantage; the other is pricing, which the company said it can offer at below the standard U.S. market rates because it doesn’t contract out its operations divisions to third-party companies such as catering and nautical specialists. Everything is done in-house by the 1,350 employees now on the CroisiEurope payroll year-round.
In the meantime, CroisiEurope is also racing to build and renovate ships that are more in line with the higher-quality interiors and amenities that Americans are coming to expect from European river cruises.
And it recognizes it still has some work to do in that regard, including for example, offering a more varied meal service than the one-entrée lunch and dinner the company has traditionally served, with substitutions limited to diners with allergies or food restrictions.
In 2015, CroisiEurope will have 39 company-owned vessels in its fleet following the additions of the Loire Princesse and the 132-passenger Gil Eanes on Portugal’s Douro River and the relaunch of the 104-passenger Camargue on the Rhone, as well as four chartered vessels.
Next year, that number will grow to 43 company-owned vessels with the addition of two new canal barges, the 80-passenger Elbe Princesse (a paddlewheeler similar to the Loire Princesse), and the 60-passenger Princesse Apsara on the Mekong. In 2014, the company carried 200,000 cruise passengers.
Bahamas boutique hotel set for soft opening
The Island House, a boutique property in Nassau, Bahamas, has scheduled a soft opening on April 16. The new hotel on Lyford Cay plans to be fully operational by mid-May.
The hotel has 30 garden and oceanview guestrooms as well as two poolside cottages that partition into suites and junior suites and six two- and three-bedroom apartments.
Island House features the Bamford Spa, a yoga program called Antigravity that combines yoga with Pilates and dance using an aerial hammock, a 75-foot lap pool, squash courts and a 48-seat movie theater.
Dining choices include Shima, an open-air Asian restaurant and bar, a coffee bar and the Mahogany House restaurant.
Island House rates start at $550 per night, double, including taxes and fees.
Pittsburgh's bike sharing system to launch next month
Pittsburgh's bike sharing system to launch next month with 500 bicycles, 50 locations
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Pittsburgh Bike Share officials say the system will launch next month with 500 bicycles at 50 locations.
Bike Share Executive Director David White said Wednesday the Healthy Ride system will help people move within the city while cutting reliance on cars.
Officials say bikes will be available around the clock to riders 18 years old and older at a cost of $2 per half-hour. There will also be options for unlimited 30-minute rides for $12 for per month and unlimited hour-long rides for $20 per month.
Pittsburgh Bike Share is being funded through a $1.9 million Federal Highway Administration grant and sponsorship from local companies and organizations.
Bike-sharing operations have popped up in other cities, including New York City, Washington D.C. and Boston and starting April 23 in Philadelphia.
California woman with cancer asked to leave flight in Hawaii
California cancer patient asked to leave flight; crew says she can't fly without doctor's note
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- A California woman who has cancer and was travelling from Hawaii to San Jose on Monday was asked to depart an Alaska Airlines plane before takeoff.
Alaska Airlines confirmed Wednesday that Elizabeth Sedway was asked to leave the plane after airline employees consulted with a physician about her condition.
Alaska Airlines spokeswoman Bobbie Egan said that while the company regrets the inconvenience to Sedway and her family, airline employees followed company procedures and the advice of trained medical personnel in the case. The airline, like most others around the country, uses a company called MedLink to assess a passenger's health when concerns are raised, Egan said.
"We are doing a thorough investigation ourselves of this situation," Egan said, "and we certainly apologize and regret the inconvenience that Ms. Sedway experienced."
Egan added that the flight from Hawaii to the mainland offers no opportunity to make medical emergency landings for many hours while over the ocean and that the employees involved "acted out of the concern and for the welfare of our customer."
Sedway said in an email to The Associated Press on Wednesday that all she could say is that she and her family "have been humbled by all the attention." Messages from the AP seeking further comment were not answered.
"We are spending the evening together as a family," Sedway wrote in the email. "I'm sorry I can't offer you any more than that tonight."
It was not clear Wednesday if Sedway was back in San Jose or if she remained in Hawaii.
There are precautions that travelers with cancer should take, according to Cancer.net, the American Society of Clinical Oncology's patient information website.
Some patients may not be able to fly because oxygen levels and changes in air pressure at high altitudes can be dangerous. Changes in air pressure during a flight can also trigger swelling in the arms, legs or other parts of the body for people who have had lymph nodes removed. The website also notes that people with cancer are at a higher risk of developing a blood clot after sitting through a long flight.
Saudi Arabia blocks Iranian plane carrying pilgrims
Saudi Arabia blocks plane with Iranian pilgrims from its airspace as tensions rise over Yemen
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Saudi Arabian aviation authorities say they prevented an Iranian plane carrying 260 religious pilgrims from entering the kingdom's airspace because the aircraft lacked appropriate permissions.
The General Authority of Civil Aviation announced the move in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency on Thursday. The pilgrims had hoped to arrive in the kingdom on Wednesday afternoon to perform the minor umrah pilgrimage.
Tensions are high between Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia and its Shiite rival Iran. A Saudi-led coalition is carrying out airstrikes in Yemen against rebels known as Houthis, who come from a Shiite sect.
Critics see the Houthis as tools of Iran, but both the Islamic Republic and the rebels deny any direct military assistance from Tehran.
Uber launches autorickshaw service in Indian capital
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Online cab-hailing company Uber will allow passengers in the Indian capital to book autorickshaws, the cheaper three-wheeled taxis, as part of a drive to boost its presence and compete with a local rival in one of its key markets.
Under the uberAUTO service, the company will not charge a fee for booking autorickshaws, users will be allowed to pay for the journey in cash, and the pricing will follow government fare rules, Uber said in a statement on Thursday.
The launch of the service in New Delhi marks a shift from the company's global business model. So far, Uber's mobile application that connects riders with taxis in cities around the world has charged customers through credit cards or other electronic payment means, but not in cash.
The launch in Uber's largest market outside the United States comes against the backdrop of stiff competition with India's biggest online cab-hailing company Ola, which already lets customers hail autorickshaws.
"There were a lot of people who were not able to use an Uber because cash payment was not allowed," Gagan Bhatia, general manager for Uber in New Delhi, told Reuters. "There is huge potential in this segment."
The launch comes at a time when Uber is battling regulatory uncertainty over how it will continue to operate in New Delhi.
Uber was banned in the city following allegations of rape against one of its drivers in December, but has found support from India's transport ministry.
Pan Am returns to serve you the most expensive airline food money can buy
The scraping of silverware on a china plate. The fizz of champagne in a glass flute. The perfectly cooked Chateaubriand being carved in the aisle, right beside your economy class airplane sea– wait, what? The most glamorous parts of air travel, from days before flimsy plastic tray tables and flimsy plastic entrees, have been lovingly recreated by The Pan Am Experience, a four-hour simulated flight on an exact replica of a Boeing 747.
The Pan Am Experience is as close as you’ll get to experiencing the glamour of circa-1970s air travel, complete with authentic decor, plush Sleeperette seats and flight attendants wearing crisply pressed forty-year old uniforms. The plane is “hangared” at Air Hollywood, an aviation-themed movie studio that has provided airport and airplane sets to films like Flight and Bridesmaids. But every other Saturday night, Air Hollywood breaks out the good china and the personalized passenger greetings and treats its guests to the kind of flight that disappeared well before Pan American World Airways declared bankruptcy in 1991.
WAV - See the video here:
The Experience-with-a-Capital E was designed by Peter Toth, a hardcore collector of airline memorabilia and all-around obsessive when it came to that particular carrier. He told Yahoo:
The Pan Am brand just resonated with me, and I instantly became obsessed with aviation. Younger generations have no recollection of what it was like to fly during the ’70s.
No, those of us born too late can’t believe that flights used to have legroom – so much real-life legroom! – and four course meals. According to the website, Pan Am ticketholders can expect lofty-sounding entrees that were recreated from real Pan Am in-flight menus.
You will be served a delightful, gourmet four-course meal, starting with choices like shrimp cocktail or tomato and mozzarella drizzled with a pesto glaze. For the main course, we offer a choice of Chateaubriand carved from the trolley, or Roasted Chicken with Peppercorn sauce. For vegetarians we offer a pasta entree that is sure to please. Each meal comes with garden fresh vegetables and roasted potatoes.
The flight experience is sold out until July, but Air Hollywood will announce a new set of Saturday dates on Friday, April 17. The tickets aren’t cheap, though; pretending to fly first class will cost you a very real $345. That’s a hell of a price for dinner, even if you’re eating the finest simulated airline food that money can buy (all of the meals are sourced from Flying Food Group, a real airline caterer).
But if you’re less cynical, you can consider it a trip back in time. The only downside is that you can’t light a cigarette while you wait for the dessert trolley. That really would’ve been something.
Passenger Allegedly Smokes on Plane, Bites Police Officer
While smoking is still acceptable in many settings, it hasn't been an approved practice on an airplane in more than a quarter of a century. And biting, well, that's universally frowned upon, making last week's incident in the Alaskan capital of Juneau that much more shocking.
An Alaska Airlines passenger allegedly bit a police officer last Thursday after leading authorities on a foot pursuit across the tarmac at Juneau International Airport, according to KTVA CBS 11 News.
One of the arresting officers suffered an injury to his right hand, while the other was treated for a left wrist injury and bite on her cheek.
The 55-year-old suspect, identified as David Cimino of Idaho, was asked to leave Alaska Airlines Flight 64 bound for Seattle after crew members found him smoking a cigarette in the onboard bathroom.
According to the police report, shortly after, Cimino led a pair of officers from the Juneau Police Department on a chase across the tarmac after refusing to identify himself. The man fought back before ultimately surrendering after the officers threatened to use a Taser.
Afterward, Cimino and the two arresting officers were taken to Bartlett Regional Hospital for treatment.
Cimino was treated for "several minor abrasions to his head" prior to being charged with two counts of assaulting a peace officer, two counts of criminal mischief, and one count of resisting arrest, according to the JPD.
He was later transported to Lemon Creek Correctional Center and held on $2,000 bail.
Fortunately for the rest of the passengers aboard Flight 64, the flight was only delayed by a few minutes.
Southwest Airlines Voted Best Frequent Flier Program in Recent Survey
Frequent flier miles can be a big reason a traveler chooses one airline or credit card over another, but a survey released Tuesday claims that Dallas-based Southwest Airlines had the best frequent flier program in 2014.
Not only did Southwest Airlines finish first, but the company also dominated the competition.
According to a poll from Airfarewatchdog.com (h/t the Chicago Tribune,) Southwest's Rapid Rewards program stood tall over nine other American carriers, earning a whopping 32 percent of the votes as the best frequent flier program by the 1,500 passengers surveyed.
As for the how the remaining airlines finished in the survey, Delta Air Lines finished second with 17 percent, American Airlines finished third with 14 percent and United Airlines and Alaska Airlines finished tied for fourth with 11 percent.
Rounding out the top 10 (in order) is JetBlue with eight percent, Hawaiian Airlines with four percent and a three-way tie for eighth between Allegiant, Frontier and Spirit with one percent.
One of the recent trends Airfarewatchdog.com found was the transition by most airlines to frequent-flier programs based on money spent and not miles actually flown. One of the exceptions to this rule is American Airlines, but that is a short-term concern as the company is currently merging frequent flier programs with US Airways.
As noted by Airfarewatchdog.com, though, changes to Southwest Airlines frequent flier policies could create a shakeup in the 2015 survey.
FAA Issues Single Operating Certificate to American
Well, it’s real now.
Some 16 months after the merger first became official in December of 2013, American Airlines today received a single operating certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for American and US Airways to conduct business as one airline.
Beginning today, most flight operations, maintenance and dispatch procedures will be identical for all flights. Air traffic control communications will refer to all American and US Airways flights with the call sign "American."
"Achieving a single operating certificate is an important step toward becoming a fully integrated airline and the effort to reach today's milestone touched nearly every area of our company," Robert Isom, American's Chief Operating Officer, said in a statement.
To get that single piece of paper and official FAA recognition, a team of more than 700 employees reviewed 465 manuals along with policies, procedures and programs from both carriers and selected best practices to implement for the merged airline. More than 110,000 employees completed hundreds of thousands of hours of training in multiple phases and more than 115,000 pages on policies and procedures were published.
“As a global airline, this work spanned many regions,” Isom said. “We thank the Department of Transportation and regulatory authorities in more than 50 countries who worked alongside us to ensure this critical project remained on track."
The FAA's recognition of American as a single operator has virtually no effect on its customers, who will continue to check in for their flights on aa.com, usairways.com, or at American or US Airways ticket counters until later this year when American tackles perhaps the biggest challenge of the merger – moving to a single reservations system.
"While today marks a significant milestone for our integration, there is still much that remains ahead and we will intensify our focus on moving to a single reservations system and website and combining our frontline employee workgroups," Isom added.
Oyster Now Features Reviews for More Than 10,000 Hotels
Oyster.com, which is built around independent and honest expert hotel reviews, announced on Tuesday that it now features content for more than 10,000 hotels across 76 countries and six continents.
The site, which launched in June 2009 with 250 hotels, has added more than 7,000 properties since it was acquired by TripAdvisor less than a year and a half ago, and it’s appeared in numerous major TV programs and publications.
Oyster’s appeal lies in its honesty. Many hotels will doctor photos or use different camera angles to make the property look picture-perfect (labeled “photo fakeouts” by Oyster), while there has been an increasing number of reviewers who post inaccurate negative or positive reviews based on personal and professional agendas (like, say, a hotelier blasting a competitor).
But Oyster employs a global network of investigators who visit, photograph, review and rate each hotel.
That includes photographing hotels as they see them. You aren’t getting an angled shot that makes a hotel pool look larger. Instead of a photo of a couple enjoying peace and serenity on a secluded beach, you may get a photo of a bunch of people lying on beach chairs on the same beach. Oyster sends at least 50 of its trained experts to hotels on any given day.
“A core principle since our founding has been to show and tell people what their hotel is going to be like before they get there,” said Oyster co-founder and general manager Eytan Seidman, via a release. “Our goal is to find them just the right property for their needs. With more than 10,000 hotels, 3.6 million unique photos and our expert reviews, travelers have the information they need at their fingertips.”
Oyster photos can also be found under “Expert Photos” on TripAdvisor.com.
"The rapid growth Oyster has had since it joined the TripAdvisor family is exciting," said Adam Medros, senior vice president of global product for TripAdvisor. "With the integration of Oyster photos on TripAdvisor under 'Expert Photos,' our millions of monthly travelers have access to the insights they need when planning and booking their trips."
Oyster has also introduced panoramic HDR photos recently. These panoramas allow travelers to get a complete view of a space, from the guestrooms to the lobby to the pools to an entire stretch of beach.
The panoramic shots are currently available for 2,800 properties. Combined with standard still shots, Oyster aims to give a clearer picture of hotels to guests.
Man stowed away in jet landing gear 'couldn't afford ticket'
A 21-year-old man has survived a flight hidden in the wheel cavity of the jet travelling to Jakarta.
The stowaway, named locally as Mario Ambarita, was discovered staggering around the tarmac at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport and taken to a clinic for treatment, according to news reports.
He had allegedly got through a fence at an airport on the island of Sumatra and climbed into the gap between the aircraft and the wheel. During the flight, he endured freezing temperatures.
"He looked lacking of oxygen. His fingers turned blue, his left ear was bleeding" said a spokesman for the airline, Garuda Indonesia.
Ambarita's mother said it had been her son's dream to visit Jakarta but he couldn't afford a plane ticket.
Virgin Atlantic campaign aims to make business travel 'epic'
Virgin Atlantic has rolled out a new advertising campaign, aimed at luring more US business travelers.
Created by US agency Figliulo & Partners of New York, the campaign aims to make business travel a more 'epic' experience.
Dubbed 'Business Is an Adventure,' the campaign is accompanied by the slogans 'Business Is an Adventure. Make it Epic,' and 'Business Is an Adventure. Pack for Glory.'
Online ads are displayed on business-focused websites such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Guardian.
The campaign includes a 'takeover' the Fulton Street subway station in New York and targeted ads in Los Angeles.
Business travelers are a critical audience, and the US is a key market for us," said Simon Bradley, VP of marketing for Virgin Atlantic North America.
"This campaign is a bit of a departure, it is still targeted at business travelers, but we're trying to communicate a much bigger thought -- the idea of business being an adventure. We attract experience-hungry business travelers, who have a mindset that they want more from their business trip than just a plane ride," Bradley added.
Bradley said Virgin Atlantic, which is a separate entity from Virgin America, expects to spend about $450 million in customer experience enhancements over the next four years.
Big Easy tourism chief calls for scrapping of Religious Freedom Bill
Just days after Louisiana announced a record breaking year for tourism, the president of the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau fears there could be a rocky road ahead if the state passes the religious freedom bill.
Similar religious freedom laws have divided the states of Indiana and Arkansas in the last week and begun to impact tourism there.
In Indiana, several large scale conventions have been cancelled or move out of state, potentially costing tourism stakeholders millions in lost revenue.
"The adoption of certain types of overreaching, problematic and divisive legislation in Louisiana has the possibility of threatening our state's third largest industry and creating economic losses pushing past a billion dollars a year and costing us tens of thousands of jobs," said Stephen Perry, president of NOCVB.
The bill's author, state Rep. Mike Johnson has amended parts of the legislation to head off criticism, but Perry wants it completely scrapped.
"Our hospitality industry, like those in all other destinations, is extremely sensitive to perception and proper imagery and presentation as to not only our cultural product and attractions, but our attitudes and hospitality beliefs and welcoming standards."
"Discrimination is the antithesis of hospitality. Hospitality invites. It does not divide. Our huge industry and our economy depend on it.," Perry added
Opponents have called the various state bills a 'license to discriminate.'
LA Tourism appoints new marketing chief for China
The Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board has appointed Alexandra Liu as deputy director of marketing in China.
Reporting to Kate Chang, Regional Director, China, Lui's role will be to boost awareness and brand recognition among travelers and travel trade partners in China.
The city welcomed 680,000 Chinese visitors in 2014, consolidating its status as the largest overseas market.
"Alexandra brings to the team a rich experience in consumer marketing, a deep understanding of consumer insight and a results-oriented approach," said LA Tourism's regional director- China, Kate Chang.
Liu most recently served as brand communication manager for Adidas Greater China, based in Shanghai.
Los Angeles had record tourism visitor numbers for the fourth year in a row in 2014, increasing by 1.3 million to 43.4 million visitors in 2014.
2 New Ebola Vaccines Pass Important Early Test, Researchers Say
Two new Ebola vaccines have passed an important test, protecting monkeys against the strain of the virus responsible for the current deadly outbreak, researchers reported on Wednesday. Only one dose was needed, and there were no apparent side effects.
The vaccines have not yet been tested in people, but safety trials in healthy volunteers will probably begin early this summer, said Thomas W. Geisbert, an Ebola expert at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, and the senior author of a report published on Wednesday in the journal Nature.
Tests in nonhuman primates are an important step, because those animals are far more closely related to humans than are other lab animals.
The study of the new vaccines involved 10 macaques. Eight were vaccinated, and two, as controls, were not. The vaccinated animals showed no signs of side effects from the vaccine, Dr. Geisbert said. On the 28th day after the vaccines were given, all the monkeys were injected with Ebola virus from the current outbreak. No vaccinated monkeys became ill, but the unvaccinated ones both died within a week.
The two new vaccines are improved versions of an older one that was licensed to Merck and is now being tested for efficacy in people in Liberia. The older vaccine can cause unpleasant side effects like fever and pain in joints and muscles. (Another vaccine, licensed to GlaxoSmithKline, is also being tested in West Africa, and has not had serious side effects.)
The side effects of the vaccine licensed to Merck were not considered serious enough to block its use. But they could pose problems during an outbreak because they resemble early symptoms of Ebola, so patients with a fever soon after vaccination might have to be tested or even quarantined until it was determined whether they were infected or just having a reaction to the shot.
“I think these improved vaccines should fix that,” Dr. Geisbert said in an email.
The two newer vaccines are being made by Profectus BioSciences. The company’s chief scientific officer, John Eldridge, said the company had received $55 million in recent months to work on Ebola vaccines from a consortium of government agencies that includes the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense. He said that Profectus was also working on another vaccine that would protect people against several strains of Ebola as well as Marburg, a related virus. None of the vaccines is likely to be approved much before 2017, he said.
Several authors of the Nature report are scientists employed by Profectus. The study described in the report was paid for by the National Institutes of Health and the University of Texas Medical Branch.
The Merck and Profectus Ebola vaccines are made from vesicular stomatitis virus, or V.S.V., which causes a mouth disease in cattle but rarely infects people. Profectus specializes in vaccines based on V.S.V.
In the Ebola vaccines, the stomatitis virus is genetically engineered to make a protein from the surface of the Ebola virus, which stimulates the immune system to recognize Ebola, fight if off and prevent infection.
The side effects are caused by the stomatitis virus, which replicates in the bloodstream. In the newer vaccines the V.S.V. has been genetically altered further to attenuate it, meaning that it will not replicate as much or reach such high blood levels as the original. The lower levels reduce side effects but do not reduce the vaccine’s ability to create immunity, Dr. Eldridge said.
Half the monkeys in the study received a highly attenuated version, and the other half a less attenuated form. The two vaccines worked equally well, so Profectus plans to develop the more attenuated one, because it should be safer, Dr. Eldridge said.
The 28-day period between vaccination and exposure to the virus was picked to match up with previous studies, so that results could be compared, but the vaccine probably starts working much sooner than that, Dr. Geisbert said. Future studies will try to find out just how quickly the vaccine works.
Orlando breaks visitation record in 2014
Chalk up other year for Orlando's record books.
Orlando welcomed 62 million visitors in 2014, surpassing the previous of 59 million visitors set in 2013, according to Visit Orlando, the region's tourism association.
"This historic milestone is the latest testament to Orlando's leadership in tourism," said George Aguel, Visit Orlando's president and chief executive officer.
In another record set during 2014, bed-tax collections hit more than $200 million for the first time in Orange County, Visit Orlando officials said -- with 32 million room nights sold.
Visit Orlando officials, who will formally announce the year's tourism figures during a press conference in New York today, said the region is the first in the U.S. to surpass 60 million visitors.
"Passing the 60 million annual visitors mark is a significant achievement for Orlando and the U.S. travel industry that generates $2.1 trillion for the U.S. economy each year," U.S. Travel Association President and Chief Executive Officer Roger Dow said in a news release.
Dow said Orlando and Central Florida are positioned for another record year in 2015.
Two key openings took place during 2014: the Wizarding World of Harry Potter Diagon Alley at Universal Orlando and the new FantasyLand at Walt Disney World.
Visit Orlando expects more growth this year, citing several new attractions that include the opening of I-Drive 360, an entertainment complex on International Drive.