Travel News: A Vital New Program at Colonial Williamsburg, Celebrate World Book Day, and Good News About Marriott Rewards
From an innovative new program in Virginia to literary destination all over the world and a big step forward for a major hotel brand's loyalty programs, this week's travel news combines inspiration with know-how.
A VITAL NEW PROGRAM AT COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG
Colonial Williamsburg proves once again that it is home to vital, living history, with its new program, “Resolved: An American Experiment,” in which actor-interpreters and audience members help to re-create important events in Virginia history with an imaginative twist: Historical figures are “cast” non-traditionally. Translation: white male figures may be portrayed by actors, or even audience members, of other ethnicities and genders. An African-American female actor, for instance, portraying a wealthy white male from Virginia’s House of Burgesses, has a transformative effect on visitors, opening up new avenues of understanding, emotion, and education. We congratulate Katrinah Lewis, Colonial Williamsburg’s artistic director of actor-interpreters, who wrote and directed “Resolved,” in which more than two centuries melt away, bringing American history, living and breathing into the 21st century (colonialwilliamsburg.com).
CELEBRATE WORLD BOOK DAY
If you love books and you love UNESCO (we sure do), you’ll be psyched to celebrate UNESCO’s World Book Day, April 23. Travelers often find that preparing for a trip by reading destination-relevant fiction - say, Willa Cather before visiting Virginia, or John Steinbeck before a trip to California - can enrich the travel experience by not only teaching important cultural and historical background about the destination but also creating an emotional attachment through characters you care about. We’ve even rounded up some beautiful U.S. travel destinations devoted to great authors. And we love that Holidu (holidu.com) has even rounded up some vacation rentals around the world where super-devoted literary fans can rest their heads in properties where F. Scott Fitzgerald, Mary and Percy Shelley, Ernest Hemingway, and others once lived or visited.
GOOD NEWS ABOUT MARRIOTT REWARDS
Some of you have been anxious about Marriott’s aquisition of Starwood and how it might affect your loyalty-program points. The long story is: Marriott Rewards, Ritz-Carlton Rewards, and Starwood Preferred Guest have all been, sort of, combined under the Marriott brand. The short story is: If you already belong to any of those three loyalty programs, any points you’ve earned in the past remain intact. In addition, you’ll soon (in August) be able to book rooms and earn and redeem points across more than 6,000 hotels all over the globe. And in 2019, Marriott plans to roll out a brand-new loyalty program that combines all three current programs.