Travel 2013: Tours.com's Travel-Intel Gives the Scoop on Air Travel, Vacation Creation and Even What Disney Is Doing

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - Jan 16, 2013) - Airlines may be squishing in the passengers these days but some recent reports show fewer and fewer people may be traveling. What does this mean for prices, seat availability and business travel? The latest issue of Tours.com's Travel-Intel examines just what's up with flying for 2013 and beyond.

Travel-Intel also sheds light on Cal Jet, a new low-cost airline that is taking up the challenge -- from California to Texas -- of sending Americans to Mazatlan on the West Coast of Mexico for some needed R&R. The popular tourist town was hit hard by losing cruise ship business in recent years but is making a comeback that just might bring with it some of best vacation deals on the planet.

Disney has been in the limelight lately with a new wristband app that will make park hopping a breeze. Travel-Intel checks out the "MyMagic+" bracelet that will forever change the way visitors, plan, purchase, play and navigate Disney theme parks.

While Travel-Intel looks at reports that show Americans are choosing smaller, more frequent trips over annual travel extravaganzas, Family Travel editor Stacey Zable sheds light on a warm place to head this winter for those quick getaways, where kids -- and puppies -- are welcomed. A review of the Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach shows that families can have it all, and their pets can too.

And for those headed farther afield, a new luxury lodge on the Galapagos Islands may be the perfect getaway from it all. Pikaia Lodge, a member of the exclusive Kurtz-Ahlers collection, opens in October on a remote island in the famous archipelago where there are more seals and penguins than people.

Travel-Intel, a division of Tours.com, monitors the travel industry with weekly newsletters on trends, news and updates about the travel industry sent to a database of more than 100,000 travel agent subscribers in the U.S. and Canada.

Although Travel-Intel is direct-mailed, current features and archives can be viewed at www.travel-intel.com.

"2013 is starting out with a bang," says Lark Ellen Gould, content director for Travel-Intel and Tours.com. "There is, perhaps, an irrational enthusiasm building around travel, possibly from pent up demand that is now seeing action. We can't explain it. We just know that people are putting plans into motion and the industry is responding with all it's got."

Travel-Intel brings in first-hand and well-researched stories from all over the globe, reporting from international conferences and destinations and talking to the brand managers at the helm of the industry.

Gould, a veteran travel journalist who has been covering the travel industry for more than 20 years, puts her incisive perspective into the weekly publication, with features and news updates on the 1st and 15^th of each month. These issues are complemented by the Travel-Intel "packages" publication during the between weeks that detail great deals to be found worldwide at hotels and resort locations, all sent to more than 100,000 travel agent subscribers in the U.S. and Canada, before posting on Tours.com.

About Tours.com: Tours.com since 1995 -- The Official Directory of Tours & Vacations Worldwide. Tours.com has a deep and searchable database of vacation and tour companies searchable by company name, destination and/or activity. A comprehensive one-stop Travel Resource section, plus the Find A Travel Agent Specialist search allows one to search for travel agents with in-depth knowledge in their chosen specialty.