Travel

Starting today, we’ll being providing our first “live” routes:

• Chariot will launch its first public routes this Wednesday, Dec. 7. The commuter service will operate along two routes to start, the Lamar Bullet and the Riverside Rover, and to celebrate the official launch, Chariot will be providing free rides for the month of December.
• The Lamar Bullet route (named after Chariot's first SF route) will run up South Lamar to Downtown, serving the South Lamar, Bouldin, Barton Hills & Zilker neighborhoods, and the Riverside Rover runs along Lakeshore and Travis Heights to Downtown. 
• These were the two most requested routes based on the initial Chariot user sign-ups, and individual fares will cost around $4-5 with discounted monthly passes also available for January. Chariot will expand our  fleet to add additional routes in January using our crowdsourcing process, where users can easily 'vote' to determine the location of the next live routes.

CARNIVAL CRUISE LINE AND IGT WRAP-UP A YEAR-LONG CELEBRATION OF
20 YEARS OF WHEEL OF FORTUNE^® SLOTS WITH A
$100,000 GRAND PRIZE SLOTS TOURNAMENT WINNER

Since January, More Than 20 Participating Casinos and All Carnival Ships
Have Given Away Hundreds of Free Carnival Cruises in Shipboard Spin N Sail Promotion

MIAMI (Nov. 29, 2016) – The final cruise in the year-long Wheel of Fortune® slot machines 20^th anniversary sponsored by Carnival Cruise Line and IGT ended Nov. 16 and a grand prize winner has been named.

Kenneth Gass of Sturgis, Ky., an avid cruiser with Carnival for more than 18 years, won the $100,000 grand prize from the $200,000 prize pool slots tournament during the Carnival Magic cruise from Port Canaveral, Fla. This jackpot marks the cruise line’s largest prize pool of all time. The promotion commemorated a year-long celebration recognizing two decades of IGT’s Wheel of Fortune slot machines, which are featured in Carnival Cruise Line casinos fleetwide.

As part of the Spin N Sail promotion, more than 20 land-based casinos, DoubleDown Casino online social casino and all Carnival Cruise Line ships, gave away hundreds of cruises on Carnival Magic, with the top 40 winners receiving cash prizes. The 350-plus tournament players came from a mix of Carnival past guests, players from partner casinos and contest winners.

Carnival and IGT also partnered with the most successful syndicated game show in television history for the first-ever Carnival Cruise Line Wheel of Fortune-themed week that featured an exciting viewer sweepstakes.

Carnival Cruise Line and IGT

During 2016, Carnival and IGT’s partner casinos gave away hundreds of free cruises aboard Carnival Magic, with winners participating in the onboard Spin N Sail slot tournament featuring the IGT Wheel of Fortune slot machines during an eight-day Caribbean cruise that departed Nov. 12, 2016. Leading casinos across the U.S. and Canada hosted qualifying events where each winning player was awarded a free cruise for two and an entry into the grand finale $200,000 tournament.

Introduced in 1996, the Wheel of Fortune slot machines have become a player favorite in shipboard casinos, including 25 Carnival Cruise Line vessels, as well as in land-based casinos.  IGT has placed more than 230 versions of Wheel of Fortune slots in casinos around the world, and the game has awarded more than $3 billion in jackpots and minted more than 1,000 millionaires.

Throughout 2016 Carnival hosted Wheel of Fortune–themed events across the fleet that included special branded items and onboard activities and games every sailing, including the popular Wheel of Fortune scratch-off game where guests could win up to $30,000.  Additionally, each sailing featured a Wheel of Fortune prize wheel offering prizes ranging from Carnival logo items and Casino Cash to entry into the $200,000 Spin N Sail slot tournament.

Wheel of Fortune

The 20^th anniversary Wheel of Fortune Slots festivities also included a “Spin & Sail Week” last spring with five Carnival Cruise Line–themed episodes of the iconic game show that inspired the slot machine. “Spin & Sail Week” aired March 21-25, 2016, and featured a custom, tropical-themed set with high-definition Carnival ship images and video. Contestants competed to win Carnival cruises to such destinations as the Caribbean, Mexico, Hawaii and Alaska.

Prior the broadcast, Pat Sajak, Vanna White and the “Wheel of Fortune” crew shot customized segments aboard a Carnival Cruise Line ship.

The “Wheel of Fortune Spin & Sail Sweepstakes” encouraged viewers to watch “Spin & Sail Week” on Wheel of Fortune and enter each night’s bonus puzzle solution at www.wheeloffortune.com. Twenty winning entries were selected, and the grand prize included a cruise on Carnival Magic Nov. 12 and a guaranteed spot in the Spin N Sail $200,000 shipboard slot tournament.

The world's leading hospitality company plans significant strengthening of its presence in Mexico, Marriott's largest market in the region

MEXICO CITY, Nov. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ -- As part of a visit to Mexico, Arne Sorenson, President and CEO of Marriott International, Inc., today, announced the signing of four hotels in the country. Following an aggressive expansion strategy in one of the region's key markets, Marriott expects to add the new properties to its existing portfolio of 70 hotels. The company operates more than 200 hotels in the Caribbean and Latin American region, spanning 20 brands in 33 countries and territories.

"We are very excited to continue growing our reach in Latin America with brands as diverse as Renaissance, AC Hotels by Marriott, Westin and Aloft," said Sorenson. "These new projects are driven by a solid increase in the demand for business and leisure travel to this dynamic part of the world.  They also reaffirm our commitment to delivering high-quality hotel development projects and maintaining investor confidence in our innovative brands."

DEMAND INCREASES FOR FULL-SERVICE BRANDS

Marriott is meeting the growing demand in the full-service segment in Mexico with the signing of The Westin Puebla. Owned by IDEURBAN and managed by Marriott, the hotel is set to open in the second half of 2018 and will bring the Westin brand's innovative wellness initiatives to one of the oldest cities in the region. The property will join Westin's portfolio of hotels throughout the country, including in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Cancun. Two additional Westin hotels are under construction in Cozumel and Monterrey, expected to open in 2017 and 2018, respectively.

Ideally situated in the heart of Angelopolis, one of Puebla's most important business, commercial and residential developments, The Westin Puebla will be part of a multi-purpose complex to include Westin residences, boutiques, restaurants and office space. The hotel will be designed by renowned architectural firm TEN Arquitectos, led by internationally acclaimed architect Enrique Norten. It will feature 142 guestrooms and offer Westin's signature and celebrated amenities, including the iconic Westin Heavenly® Bed. The hotel will also feature a Heavenly Spa by Westin, a state-of-the-art WestinWORKOUT® fitness center, a pool and inspiring dining venues that will provide a variety of healthy culinary option, alongside the brand's signature and delicious SuperFoodsRx™ menus.

Additionally, together with Grupo Diestra, Marriott's largest full-service franchise partner in the Caribbean and Latin America, Marriott prepares to introduce the Renaissance Hotels brand to Mexico with the development of a Renaissance hotel in Cancun, a strategically important market in Mexico. The new-build property will break ground within Puerto Cancun, located between Cancun's Hotel Zone and its downtown area. The 800-acre master-planned development includes 270 acres of ecological reserve, an 18-hole golf course designed by Tom Weiskopf (operating), a 200-slip marina, some 5,000 residential units, 115 retail outlets, restaurants, cinemas and more once completed. The Renaissance Cancun will comprise 180 rooms and approximately 445 square meters of indoor meeting space.

MARRIOTT'S SELECT-SERVICE SEGMENT CONTINUES BUILDING CONSIDERABLE MOMENTUM

The select-service segment continues to drive important projects in different cities in the country, including the opening of Aloft Puebla and AC Monterrey. Aloft Puebla will join the two existing Aloft hotels in Guadalajara and Cancun.

Scheduled to open late in 2018, Aloft Puebla will bring the vibrant style, technology and innovation of this brand to one of Mexico's leading industrial cities. Located in Angelopolis, the complex will include office space, residences, restaurants, shops, as well as other hotels and will be close to major hospitals and universities.

It will feature 100 loft-style rooms, fully equipped with brand amenities such as Bliss® bathroom products, SPG Keyless®, free and fast Wi-Fi connection, and other flagship brand amenities like Re:charge^SM, the renowned brand gym and Re:fuel^SM by Aloft, a café where you can enjoy breakfast and lunch.

From AC Hotels, which was first introduced in Mexico with the opening of the AC Hotel Guadalajara in August, comes the AC Hotel by Marriott Monterrey. The 168-room property will be developed within a mixed-use project called Distrito Armida in a high-end neighborhood of Monterrey known as Valle Oriente.

Seventeen hotels have been signed into the Marriott's Caribbean and Latin America development pipeline so far in 2016, totaling nearly 2,500 hotels rooms. By 2022 the company is planning to open 38 additional properties, reinforcing Mexico's status as Marriott's top market within the region.