Mexico City Crime Spurs Airport Tourism Office

The Secretaria de Turismo has opened an office at Mexico City’s Benito Juarez International Airport to help defeat a rising tide of crime against passengers passing through the airport, as well as to assist tourists by answering basic travel questions. The daily Excelsior newspaper has reported that the new office will operate 24 hours a day to deal with complaints of robbery, assault and other crimes, and to offer advice on problems concerning hotel accommodations, car rentals and other travel-related issues. Another newspaper, El Universal, said the Mexico City prosecutor’s office estimates that 20%-30% of passengers suffer some sort of crime in the immediate vicinity of the airport (used by some 55,000 people daily), much of it related to unlicensed taxi drivers, many carrying false credentials, who hound arriving visitors. But Jose Edel Popoca, head of the new airport office, said passengers also sometimes suffer robberies of baggage, tickets and handbags in the often chaotic terminal. The new office is located just to the right as you depart customs and immigration.

Travel Quiz: What is the only major city in the world to span two continents?

Luggage Lost, Apologies Rendered: Air Canada has just introduced DataCare, a new baggage recovery system that advises passengers, while they are still in flight, of mishandled or misplaced luggage. (This will apply to most mishandled bags because approximately 90% are found in the airport shortly after a plane departs, or they fail to make the transfer from a connecting flight, according to an Air Canada spokesman.) When luggage is left, a message is sent directly to the aircraft cockpit. The pilot receives a computer printout containing a note of apology addressed to the passenger’s name and seat number, along with a description of the item and the number of the flight on which the mishandled or misplaced piece of luggage will subsequently arrive. A flight attendant then presents it to the passenger in a special folder. Upon arrival, the traveler can go directly to the airport’s baggage agent for assistance. The luggage won’t be there, of course, but at least unpleasant surprises in the baggage claim area may be a thing of the past.

When Trips Are Taxing: Chicago last week raised its hotel occupancy taxes by 2.5%--from 12.4% to 14.9%--to finance the expansion of McCormick Place, the city’s convention center. For purposes of comparison, Los Angeles’ hotel occupancy tax is 12.5%; Washington, D.C.’s rate is 11% plus $1.50 per night per room; New York City’s is 14.25% plus $2 for rooms under $100 a night, 19.25% plus $2 for rooms $100 or more. Also taking effect this week in the Windy City are state-imposed tax increases on restaurant meals (from 8% to an anticipated 9.75%) and auto rentals (from 12% to 18%).

Clearing the Air: Qantas Airways will join Cathay Pacific, Alaska Air and China Airlines in offering totally nonsmoking transpacific flights when it begins its three new daylight departure, nonstop flights between Los Angeles and Sydney, Australia, Oct. 25. Cathay Pacific’s nonsmoking service is between Los Angeles and Hong Kong, and Vancouver and Hong Kong. Alaska Air flies between Seattle and Khabarovsk in the Russian Far East, and China Airlines has a smoke-free flight between San Francisco and Taipei. But the new Qantas flights are the first to offer nonsmoking travel between the United States and Australia.

Quick Fact: Sign of the times: Both the men’s and women’s restrooms at the new Pittsburgh International Airport, which opened Thursday, are equipped with diaper-changing tables.

Nonstop Over Hawaii: Malaysia Airlines will halt its flights to Honolulu Oct. 24 and instead stop in Mexico City on flights to the U.S. mainland. Thus, the Kuala Lumpur-Taipei-Honolulu-Los Angeles route will become Kuala Lumpur-Taipei-Los Angeles-Mexico City. Malaysia is the second carrier to recently announce that it will begin overflying Hawaii. On July 29, Singapore Air ended its twice-weekly Honolulu stop, part of its Asia-Los Angeles service, and increased the number of its flights from Asia to Los Angeles, citing greater demand for seats in Los Angeles.

Mississippi Show Boats: Tourists think of it as the home of Civil War battlefields and antebellum mansions and as the birthplace of William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Tennessee Williams, Elvis Presley and a whole lot of blues. Now add riverboat gambling, just in time for Mississippi’s 175th birthday in December. The state’s first three casinos--the Isle of Capri, Biloxi Belle and President Casino--all opened recently and are afloat, although attached to the dock, on the Mississippi Sound in Biloxi. Four more are scheduled to open by next spring, following the growing nationwide trend to use gambling as a lure to attract tourists.

Holiday Closures in Britain: Because public transportation is curtailed and many shops and restaurants are closed for the season, visitors planning to celebrate Christmas in Britain may benefit from a brochure published by the British Tourist Authority. The free publication contains information on abbreviated hours for public transportation, tourist information centers, banks and post offices, as well as a list of special holiday events in and around London. For a copy of “Celebrate Christmas and the New Year,” contact the British Tourist Authority, 350 S. Figueroa St., Suite 450, Los Angeles 90071, (213) 628-3525.

Comparatively Speaking: Cruise ship sanitation scores for ships inspected in August (a score of 86 or higher indicates acceptable sanitation): Celebration, 93; CostaClassica, 86; CostaRiviera, 85; Enchanted Isle, 86; Enchanted Seas, 85; Island Princess, 89; Mayan Prince, 85; Nantucket Clipper, 75; Pacific Princess, 81; Sagafjord, 85; Sea Bird, 95; Sea Lion, 93; Southward, 87; Tropic Star II, 71; Viking Princess, 95; Royal Odyssey, 86; Song of Flower, 91; Spirit of Alaska, 86; Spirit of Discovery, 76; Spirit of Glacier Bay, 88; Universe, 91. (Source: Department of Human Services.)

Quiz Answer: Istanbul, Turkey, occupies both sides of the Strait of Bosporus, with its western part in Europe, its eastern section in Asia.