FROM THE EDITOR
Bob Rouse
Editor
101 Prosperous Place, Suite 350
Lexington, KY 40509 USA
+1.859.264.6548
[email protected]
HAPPY BERTH DAY!
That line was under serious consideration for the main
blurb on the cover, along with “Let’s give ’em something to
talk a boat,” “All hull breaks loose,” “A boatload of tour options”
and my favorite, “Increase your sails!”
OK, so maybe they weren’t all under serious consideration,
but I want you to know what we put ourselves through here
in the Courier office in order to assemble a magazine that
engages and enlightens you. We toss in a few groaners every
issue at no extra charge.
I take full responsibility for creating the nautical nightmare
of puns and wordplay associated with this issue’s feature on
museums, “That ship has sailed,” starting on page 23. And I
applaud all 15 members who got on board with the theme
when I reached out for information.
One thing I’ve learned about writing is that nearly every
project involves parallel parking your thoughts into a space
with defined lines: purpose, word count and a cast of char-
acters. If you throw in a theme—sensible or whimsical—the
parking space gets a little tighter … but you feel better about
the task when you step out and take a look.
NTA gives us Courier writers a fantastic cast of characters to
engage. Gabe Webb did just that with an insightful piece about
unconventional destination marketing. See what members
told him, starting on page 18.
For this month’s City Spotlight, pages 31–34, Pat Henderson
took his impressions from a recent trip to Colorado, added in
some info from our friends at VISIT DENVER and cooked up a
compelling case to do just that: visit Denver.
Kendall Fletcher is part of our destination-coverage crew,
and her look at the U.S. Southwest, starting on page 46, makes
me want to go to El Paso for a margarita—like, now. We also
explore the Great Lakes states, Coastal California and Eastern
Europe in this issue.
Tour operators who package parks should turn to page 14,
where you can learn about the U.S. National Park Service’s
plans to standardize fees and requirements for its commercial
use authorization program. Details weren’t available at press
time, but you can get them—and make comments on the pro-
posals—through the links we provide.
And last (literally, on page 64), but not close to least, is a
piece by the Newseum’s Barbara McCormack, detailing her
organization’s determined efforts to help people recognize and
reject fake news.
For me, fake news is not the problem. Tortured, walk-the-plank
themes … maybe, yeah.
Read on,
August/September Courier Destination Index
Alabama 26 New York 24–30
Arizona 48 Ohio 42, 60
California 23–26, 36–39 Oklahoma 46
Connecticut 21 Québec 27
Croatia 51 Scotland 27
Denver 31–34 Slovakia 22, 50
Illinois 40 Slovenia 51
Indiana 42 South Carolina 26
Louisiana 27–28 Texas 48
Manitoba 60 Utah 20
Massachusetts 28–30 Washington 30
Michigan 40 Washington, D.C. 28
Minnesota 40 Wisconsin 44
New Mexico 46
4
August/September 2017
On the cover:
Cruises on the San Salvador,
departing from the Maritime
Museum of San Diego,
include Saturday sails and
overnight voyages that are
part of the Pacific Heritage
Tour series.
Photo: Maritime Museum of
San Diego