Away.com Travel Contributor
Click here for List of Diana Rowe's articles at Away.com
Global Traveler Magazine Contributor
Click here for list of Diana Rowe's articles at Global Traveler
October 2011 - Swing through Spain|
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Diana Rowe, Editor of Motorcycle Rider News
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Tech Tool Revolution
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Event Insurance: Are You Sure? http://anax8a.pressmart.com/eventsolutions/index.aspx Page 8-9
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By Diana Rowe - September 2009 IS THE SOCIAL EVENT MARKET FOR YOU? Could social events be an opportunity when corporate and other business is slow? ES delves into how event pros around the country are making it work - and how you can too
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Photo Credit Motorcycle Rider News Cover September 2009
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Review of the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh By Diana Rowe The clock tower of The Balmoral
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Reviews of the Moon Palace Resort in Cancun, Mexico By Diana Rowe
Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort pool at dusk
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Snowmass Colorado Trip Reviews By Diana Rowe Snowmass, Colorado
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Hotel Reviews for Fiesta Americana Coral Beach in Cancun By Diana Rowe Luxury oceanfront accommodations on a secluded beach
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Barcelo Tucancun Beach All Inclusive Reviews By Diana Rowe The pool with its view of the Caribbean Sea, steps from white sand beaches |
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Pan Pacific Hotel Vancouver Review By Diana Rowe Harbour View suites Pan Pacific Vancouver |
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About Traveling to Puerto Rico By Diana Rowe About Traveling to Puerto Rico |
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The History of the Brown Palace Hotel By Diana Rowe The History of the Brown Palace Hotel
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The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs: "Our Princess Land" By Guest Blogger07/16/2009 “Welcome to my princess land, Gramma” is how my four-year-old granddaughter greeted me at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs on our recent visit there. I could see how the historic towers might resemble a castle to a four-year-old enthralled with the storybook world of princesses and princes. Perhaps the only missing structures were a drawbridge and moat, but Kaydence didn’t seem to notice. |
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The Broadmoor magazine 2009-2010 "Five Star Secrets" behind-the-scenes, "double-secret agent" look at The Broadmoor's amazing hospitality, go to page 80: http://bit.ly/xEhDR Pikes Peak International Raceway (Colorado Springs): From spectator sport to afternoon activity, go to page 85: http://bit.ly/xEhDR
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Exploring the Affordable; U.S. National Parks http://www.travelersanonymous.com article |
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Riviera Maya Makes Entire Families Happy With two dozen travelers between the ages of 2 and 62, finding a destination that offered everything to every age was important, and that’s why, for our family vacation, we looked south of the border to Mexico’s (http://www.visitmexico.com) Riviera Maya. Sure, it’s is a destination of beaches, but the Riviera Maya offers something for everyone from championship golf to culture to the unabashed luxury of lounging in the sun or splashing in the kid’s pool.
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July 2009 Event Solutions Magazine Talent Talk Looking for the right speaker to re-energize your meeting? Find out the latest trends – and the speakers who deliver.
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More Than A Game: Golf programs combine serious Business & Teambuilding
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Summer in the City |
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June 2009 TravelersAnonymous.com Featured Special Interest Dude Ranch: For The Good Old Fashioned Outdoors A herd of horses neigh at your approach while the sun gently slips behind the surrounding mountains. The distant clanging of a bell announces dinner. Slightly sweaty but exhilarated and astride your own mount, you challenge your teenagers to a race back to the ranch. |
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June 2009 Next-Generation Meetings: HOW WEB 2.0 IS REVOLUTIONIZING MEETINGS The Web 2.0 revolution isn’t just confined to the online space — it’s changing the way we meet. Find out how you should be rethinking your meeting and event strategy OR: http://bit.ly/MaHEA |
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CSR Goes Mainstream |
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Planner Wire * News * Information * Community Big Fish, Little Pond - May 2009 A shrinking budget relocates a meeting faster than a speeding bullet, according to Tom Stiles. "It's a sign of the economy," explains Stiles, vice president of advertising, West Coast, for the Santa Monica, CA-based Nickelodeon Kids & Family Group. With meetings under intense scrutiny and budgets ever tightening, planners are detouring from first- (and even second-) tier cities, making stops in off-the-beaten-path destinations and hotels to stay under budget and under the radar. |
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Girls Just Want To Golf -- In Wales April 2009 These days, it seems more and more girls just want to play golf, so why not play golf where the game started - or at least nearby in Wales, where "golf is as it should be" is the country's slogan? A four-day whirlwind visit allowed me to discover that Wales, the home of the 2010 Ryder Cup, is indeed a golfing gal's new best friend. |
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Photo Credit in Cinco de Mayo Issue (insert) 30 April 2009
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http://www.themeetingmagazines.com/index/Default.aspx?tabid=1136 Attendees at a sales meeting take a much-needed break and play a round of golf. An hour into the game, the players high-five after one of them hits a perfect shot that lands on the green inches from the cup. One hole back, another group can’t help laughing as one sales rep’s drive sails through the air, hits a tree and plunks into the pond. At a scenic 3-par around the bend, another foursome pauses for a moment as a red-tailed fox races across the fairway. Roughly four hours later, they meet in the clubhouse for awards and a casual buffet. The attendees engage in good-natured back-slapping and friendly chatter — a 180-degree turn from the early shotgun start when most of them met for the first time. The dramatic change is the result of a few relaxing hours of camaraderie, teambuilding and new relationships that can only be forged on a golf course. |
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Grow Your Annual Meeting The annual meeting is a given. But unfortunately, the economy isn’t. Some members are struggling with the fiscal fallout and its effects on their own organizations, which may or may not elect to subsidize association membership and travel costs. For their part, meeting planners are challenged with trimmed-down staff and marketing and meeting budgets. Sending The Right Message Two years ago the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) was searching for an alternative to the standard charity golf tournament that traditionally preceded their annual conference. "We wanted ‘something’ that gave back to the community," said Maureen Cameron, marketing director, conventions, seminars and forums for NBAA.
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April 2009 - Florida "The upside of the down economy is that it has forced meeting planners to be more creative and relearn the importance of partnerships between planners and suppliers," said Susan Katz, director of events for the Chicago-based True Value Company.
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Singing for your supper is a good thing. These days, the old adage aptly describes the raison d’etre of our modern-day convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs) — the marketing and promotion of their destination to bolster tourism and attract meetings, events and conventions, albeit in a clever, entertaining way.
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Diana In The News - March/April 2009 Release Date: 01/13/2009 - Article in Denver Travel Examiner Excerpt from Diana Rowe's article on examiner.com The Trail of the Ancients byway includes landscape painted red and orange and the opportunity to see the mind-blowing Ancestral Puebloan sites at the Canyons of the Ancients and Hovenweep National Monuments, Ute Mountain Tribal Park, the Anasazi Heritage Center and Mesa Verde National Park (an UNESCO World Heritage Site). This byway is definite road trip from Denver through southwest Colorado, so allow at least 3 hours for this more than 100 mile jaunt, or make it an overnight stay in Durango. National Parks top travel trend in 2009. Speaking of road trips, national parks, like Mesa Verde, will be a top trend in 2009 for families looking for vacations that will allow them to make some lifetime memories and save a few pennies. In a recent TripAdvisor survey, 73 percent said they plan to visit a national park in 2009, up from 62 percent one year ago. Read complete article here http://www.examiner.com/x-1965-Denver-Travel-Examiner~y2009m1d10-New-Years-travel-resolution-3-Colorado-road-trips
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Dierks Bentley "Sideways" By The Georgia Jukebox * March 7, 2009 - Review by Diana Rowe Phoenix native Dierks Bentley released his second single from his #1 album, Feel that Fire. The title is "Sideways" (Songwriters: Jim Beavers & Dierks Bentley) – and it lives up to its name. |
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February 12, 2009 6:00 pm: Diana Rowe was one of several featured travel experts interviewed on Boulder, Colorado radio station: KGNU’s weekly program,“It’s the Economy." The hour-long program centered around the topic of "travel and tourism in this economic crisis." She was contacted as a result of her weekly columns as Denver Travel Examiner (http://www.examiner.com/x-1965-Denver-Travel-Examiner ) and her blog at http://www.dianarowe.com/blog . She discussed Colorado tourism, staycations, and how to find bargains. More information at: http://www.kgnu.org/cgi-bin/programinfo.py?time=1234486800 or listen to the podcast: http://kgnu.org/audio/ThursdayCallIn_2009-02-12.mp3
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Feb/March 2009 Adventures West - Family Travel http://www.americancowboy.com/fm09/Adventures_West/index.php
All Together Now By Diana Rowe Granddad, Grandma, Aunts, Uncles, Mom, Dad, and the kids: As travelers of all ages are discovering, a family that plays together has more fun “Wish you were here” postcards are so yesterday. Today’s active grandparents aren’t content to just read about a trip—they want in on the action. Grandparents prefer combining their love of traveling and joy of spending time with grandchildren into multigenerational family vacations, one of the most popular trends in travel today.
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Convention Centers Officials from the American Water Works Association (AWWA), the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau (PCVB), Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority today announced that AWWA has selected Philadelphia as the host city for its 2017 convention in the expanded Pennsylvania Convention Center.
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Sixth Homeland Defense and Security Symposium's Career Summit Welcomes Hurt Soldiers to Broadmoor |
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Caribbean Islands Meetings On The Fly |
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Working With DMCs
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The Art Of Matching Speakers With Your Audience
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Choosing Speakers Imagine the ultimate Baja Mexico experience, racing through changing terrain on segments of the famous Baja 1000 racecourse. Turn the adventure into a meeting. Add a full day of brainstorming and networking, mix in a celebrity VIP as guest speaker, and you’ve just presented your attendees with a unique, once-in-a-lifetime experience. The challenge is choosing an exceptional, once-in-a-lifetime speaker to put an exclamation point on this memorable event.
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Independent Planners In today’s hectic world of tight corporate budgets and increased workload, one person is often required to wear several hats. So many hats, in fact, that Paul Valenta, sales manager for Calmac Manufacturing Corporation, recently lamented, “There just isn’t another hook to hang a meeting planner’s hat, too. We plan meetings infrequently enough that we knew it was a good business decision to hire a third-party planning company.”
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Girls Just Want To Golf - In Wales
http://www.tatianastravelcorner.com article Girls just want to play golf, so why not play golf where the game began – or at least close by in Wales, where “golf as it should be” is the country’s slogan? A four-day whirlwind visit allowed me to discover that Wales, the home of the 2010 Ryder Cup, is indeed a golfing gal’s new best friend. Scotland might be considered the birthplace of golf, but the high price of a round can bring a girl’s swing down. Wales boasts a stunning backdrop of sea and mountain, hill and vale, welcoming people and a natural setting for some of the best golf in the world – and is much less expensive and less crowded than their neighbor. That’s quite enough to put this small, often-missed gem of a country back on the map. |
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Princess Pampering At Ireland's Ashford Castle Diana Rowe
Whether it was blind luck or traveling insight, I had chosen the incredible Ashford Castle by simply putting the magical words “castle” and “princess” out into the universe. On a recent trip with my friend Gaylene, I discovered that staying here is not simply a hotel experience – it’s an out-of-this-world encounter.
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Meetings at Sea Imagine the hit your incentive program would be if you could offer a buffet of cultural feasts filled with landscapes that have inspired travelers for centuries — and your attendees only have to unpack their bags once. For planners who are looking for one simple solution with multiple destinations that excite and motivate, cruises are fast becoming the all-inclusive floating hotel of choice. Whether you want to explore the great rivers and waterways of Europe, Russia, China and Egypt on a Costa Cruise or Viking River Cruise, or have some fun in the Caribbean sun and do business while traveling with your family on a Disney Cruise Line, cruises offer planners a unique, efficient and cost-effective venue for their meetings, accommodating groups up to 3,800. |
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Meet Chicago “Meeting planners should take note,” said Mary Jo Valentine Blythe, CMP, “because Chicago is going through a major transformation. From massive restorations returning historic hotels like the Palmer House Hilton to their original grandeur, to increasing meeting space at The Fairmont Chicago and Swissôtel Chicago continues to secure its top ranking as a U.S. destination for meetings.” |
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Meet You at the Junction Maybe it's symbolic that the Colorado and Gunnison Rivers so naturally convene in Grand Junction. There's certainly a majestic allure to this place that falls in the shadow of the red-rock walled Colorado National Monument: the activity afforded by natural wonders, the generous space (outdoors and in), the accessibility of acclaimed cuisine and entertainment. For meeting and event planners, every one of Grand Junction's varied elements blends to create a natural choice for gatherings |
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Mexico's Silver Fair http://www.avilasterling.com/index.php?main_page=news Located 185 km southwest of Mexico City, in the northern Guerrero State, the streets of Taxco (Tahs-co) are lined with silver--silver jewelry, that is. In 1953 to honor the silver artisans, Mexico's President declared the last Saturday in November through the first Sunday in December National Silver Day. The 2001 fair dates are November 24 through December 1. As early as 1937, an American born, Taxco inhabitant, silver designer William Spratling began the fair's celebration as an appreciation party to honor the artisans that produced his designs. Since then the fair has escalated to the national level, hosting a competition of Mexico's best silversmiths and some of the world's finest artisans.
As early as 1937, an American born, Taxco inhabitant, silver designer William Spratling began the fair's celebration as an appreciation party to honor the artisans that produced his designs. Since then the fair has escalated to the national level, hosting a competition of Mexico's best silversmiths and some of the world's finest artisans.
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On The Cover |
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Clicking With Attendees In today’s corporate world, a meeting planner’s to-do list often reads more like an impossible to-do list: selecting sites, negotiating rates and space, analyzing contracts, sending out requests for proposals, planning programs, and making food and beverage decisions. Then, the planner has to hunker down, offer an intriguing educational, training or incentive program and then promote the meeting to every potential attendee possible. Las Vegas When it’s time to crunch numbers, W. Douglas Hitt, CMP, president of local, full-service planning company Event Management Solutions said, “It’s a great time to make a deal in Las Vegas.” A 30-year resident with a career including stints at area resorts, Hitt was the first Las Vegas independent CMP. “Planners not looking at Las Vegas are missing the best value-oriented convention destination in the world,” Hitt continued. Planning Golf Programs *** Simply put, when your meeting objective is to develop and strengthen business relationships among your clients, sales teams and executives, golf is the answer — especially in the insurance and financial sectors of corporate America. A well-organized and well-executed golf program can produce long-lasting relationships and seal a deal more effectively than days in the boardroom. |
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Gaming Resorts There’s at least one certainty in this iffy economy — the corporate mandate to get “more bang for the buck.” However, this mandate sounds more and more like a mantra chanted by meeting planners who are increasingly challenged to trim costs without shortchanging the corporate objective or attendee experience. Paradoxically, when planners don’t want to gamble on whether a destination will meet the mandate, they turn to gaming resorts.
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Mile High Meetings Send A Green Message Diana Rowe (www.dianarowe.com) is a Denver-based freelance writer and a contributing editor to several meetings trade publications.Culinary delights, high thread counts, turndown service, and spa services are great, but what planners really want today are organic food, biodegradable soap, high-impact fluorescent light bulbs, and recycle bins. All across the globe, corporations are making their mark through investments aimed at improving the planet’s social and environmental problems. That’s why planners are making conscious decisions to select cities and venues that are environmentally-conscious, and Denver (www.denver.org), the Mile-High city, is up for the green challenge. |
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Transformational Teambuilding How many times have meeting planners had to endure groans and eye-rolling when attendees learn that teambuilding is on the agenda? That’s because tried-and-true approaches are beginning to lose their luster with overworked attendees who would rather be checking their BlackBerrys than “playing games” to satisfy the corporate mandate of developing motivated, productive employees. To compete for attendees’ attention, planners are charged with finding innovative activities that put the BlackBerry on the back burner. |
