Roundup: Bird flu strikes again; Montana forest development deal; tough times for Greenbrier Resort

Bird flu is back, the fate of certain forest lands may be in question, and 2009 is predicted to be a lonely one for many hotels. Grab your coffee, and get your day started with this dollop of news:

Bird flu | The H5N1 virus — more commonly known as the bird flu — reared its ugly head among poultry in Hong Kong last month, even though the government thought it had rid the Chinese territory of all cases after a 2003 outbreak. Bird flu outbreaks have also occurred elsewhere, including India and Vietnam, and human cases of the virus were reported in Cambodia, Egypt and Indonesia, according to this L.A. Times report.

Montana forests | The route from forest land to housing tract may see greater ease in Montana soon if U.S. Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey, the head of the Forest Service, gets his way before President Bush leaves office. Read “Forest Service paves way for development in Montana woods.”

Hotel news | National historic landmark Greenbrier Resort, a famous five-diamond property in West Virginia open since 1778, isn’t faring so well in these economically turbulent times. The hotel, which posted a $35-million loss in 2008, is owned by transportation company CSX, which has been suffering from severe drops in railroad freight volumes, reported the Wall Street Journal. The Economist’s Gulliver blog has an interesting post on the subject.

A decline in luxury-seeking hotel guests isn’t helping matters any: Industry analysts predict that hotels in the United States will “suffer one of the greatest annual declines in occupancy and revenue in history,” according to the L.A. Times report “Hoteliers see too much room at the inn.”

- Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times

Photo: Children help gather ducks for culling in eastern India last month after hundreds of birds died in an outbreak of bird flu. Credit: Piyal Adhikary / EPA

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This entry was posted on Monday, January 5, 2009 at 8:22 am by Susan Derby and is filed under Business Travel, China, Good Morning, Hotels, India, Luxury Travel, Montana, News, Tips & Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.