Top Aussie specialist works in Attleboro

Thinking of Australia? You might want to get in touch with Michelle R. Mangio, travel consultant and owner of Magical Escapes Vacations in Attleboro. She was named one of North America’s top five “Aussie specialists” by Tourism Australia, that country’s national tourism organization, which handed out its Opal Awards at a banquet in Hunter Valley, Australia, in September. More than 6,000 agents were qualified to compete, according to a Tourism Australia press release.

Visitors to U.S. should spend more in 2008

As with Christmas shopping and the unveiling of next year’s cars, the unofficial season for making year-end predictions seems to inch forward a bit more every year. It was not yet Halloween when the Travel Industry Association weighed in with this year’s forecast, to wit: the U.S. travel industry will post moderate gains in nearly all sectors again in 2008.

Travel spending by domestic and international visitors in 2008 is expected to increase 5.2 percent, to $778.2 billion, up from a projected full-year 2007 travel spending of $740 billion, which would be a 5.7 percent increase over 2006.

However, TIA notes, the year-over-year data mask an 11 percent decline in overseas visitors to the U.S. from 2000 to 2007. 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.

To no one’s surprise, Ireland is friendliest

To the surprise of no one familiar with Irish pubs, Ireland has topped the list of the World’s Friendliest Vacation destinations in the new edition of Lonely Planet Bluelist 2008.

According to Lonely Planet, the Emerald Isle tops the list of Friendliest Places because of its “deliciously dark sense of humor” and “welcoming attitude toward strangers.” There is also praise for “that famous ability of the Irish to find craic in boom or bust times.”

(If you need to look up “craic,” which is pronounced “crack,” you’ll find it defined as a mischievous sort of happiness or good fellowship, often accompanied by song, dancing, and strong spirits. In short, an Irish pub.)

Vermont resorts pour millions into upgrades

They’re coming off two lackluster seasons in a row, but Vermont’s winter resorts continue to pour millions of dollars into new lifts, trails, base lodges and luxury housing.

At Mount Snow in Wilmington, $3.5 million out of $5.5 million in improvements will be focused on snowmaking, with the purchase of 100 new energy efficient snowmaking guns, said Chris Lenois, spokesman for Mount Snow owner Peak Resorts.

Farther north, Mad River Glen, a small, nonprofit ski area, has raised more than $1.2 million in charitable contributions, in partnership with the Preservation Trust of Vermont and the Stark Mountain Foundation, toward the $1.54 million cost of rehabilitating a single-chair lift in operation since 1948.

Magic Mountain, Sugarbush and Okemo are among other resorts making improvements to snowmaking, while several are expanding their offerings designed to attract visitors during the warmer months. Stowe Mountain Resort, for example, is including an 18-hole golf course and 21,000-square-foot spa — along with a 139-room luxury hotel — in an ongoing series of upgrades.

Plane travel cheaper in second quarter

The average price of a plane ticket on U.S. airlines fell 4.5 percent in the second quarter from year-ago levels, the government said recently.