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What’s with these new restaurants and hotels opening up in old airplanes? During a time when customer frustrations with air travel are at an all time high, people still seem willing to put down good money to sleep in a grounded aircraft or eat on a fake plane. Daring “air”trepreneurs are opening up dining and lodging outposts and customers are following.

In Amsterdam, a 5-star hotel opens next week in a 1960s Soviet aircraft parked at Teuge Aiport, complete with whirlpool, infrared sauna and three flat-screen TVs. One night stay at Hotel Honecker can cost $500, but that includes breakfast for two . Check it out at ABC-TV.com.

Around the world in Taipei, restaurant A380 is located in a commercial building but looks like the interior of an Airbus plane.  Some of the waitresses are even former flight attendants. If your table is in the first-class cabin you can push the flight attendant button to summon the waitress. Read about it in this month’s issue of Conde Nast Traveler.

Time to board!

On Obama’s recent outreach to the Muslim world, he and Secretary of State Clinton visited Sultan Hassan Mosque in southern Old Cairo. Their tour of the historic mosque, built between 1356 and 1360, was a clear gesture to learn more about and show respect for the Islam religion.

The visit piqued my interest in how often a religious site or house of worship is part of people’s travel plans. Growing up as a “preacher’s kid,” my family made frequent such stops on our cross-country summer road trips. People visit religious sites for multiple reasons: for inspiration and enlightenment, to learn more about the culture of a specific geographic area, and certainly for the architectural beauty.

No visit to Paris is complete without visiting the unparalleled Notre Dame Cathedral (which had 13.6 million visitors in 2006) and everyone vacationing in Washington, DC, should experience the National Cathedral, a house of prayer for all people. Why an estimated 35,000 people showed up at Stonehenge for Summer Solstice this past weekend, possibly in a quest for understanding the site’s spiritual connection.

The faith-based travel market seems to be growing too, with folks wanting to use vacation time to make deeper connections to their faith. Globus, a leading religious tour operator, issued a 2007 report that one in ten international pleasure travelers have already been abroad on a faith-based vacation – approximately 4.5 million U.S. travelers. No surprise that Israel, Italy and Greece are top destinations among these travelers. Numbers are expected to grow as more tour operators meet the needs of this niche.

Find more here.

As the trend of “cultural tripping” grows in U.S. traveler’s quest for more authentic global travel, it’s a good reminder that highlighting historic places of worship and religious sites is important when marketing any tourist destination. More and more travelers might be showing interest to learn more about their own faith, and others, in our global community.

A recent research report on the state of the online travel industry (US Online Travel Forecast, 2008 to 2013) shares interesting insights into the maturity of the online travel business and where growth, though in small increments, is most likely to occur.   The report calls out clearly that the online travel has reached maturity and the point of saturation. This maturity will limit new investments and startups targeting the mass market;  rather activity will focus on the niches.

“One area of travel eBusiness that Forrester believes warrants consideration is sites or applications that can help travelers get contextual information about what they are planning to buy and make them more confident that they’ll get the expected value,” states the report.  That speaks mountains to those destinations and services seeking their share of this on line travel marketplace. It suggests that travel marketers should:

• Update, refresh or renew their website copy and online presence to provide this relevant information if it is not already there.
• Make sure that presence is authentic.
• Provide clear understanding of what travelers can expect, in all matters of their journey.
• Feed the social media world with positive reviews and customer commentary, allowing recent visitors to share their thoughts and keep fresh consumer-generated content flowing.
• Marketing value, with comparative prices.

“Customer retention is paramount,” shares the study, as many current online bookers can easily choose to book offline, especially if they are seeking context about a destination or experience. It’s times like these that speaking with a representative by phone might provide the reassuring touch, maybe the ability to talk prices and even barter for the best deal possible.