FareFinder: Tuesday, March 24

VacationMyrtleBeach.com offering Grand Strand resort specials starting at $48 a night.

The four-star Post Hotel Weggis in Switzerland offering a two-night Spring Awakening package that includes accommodations, meals, wellness treatments and mountain bike rentals for $780.

Continental.com last-minute airfare specials this week include Newark Liberty to Bermuda for $149 or Montreal for $128 and Houston to Mexico City for $209. All prices are for roundtrip tickets.

Delta.com partnering with Sandals Resorts to offer a four-night all-inclusive vacation to Beaches Turks & Caicos Resort & Spa for $1,149 per person, including airfare.

The St. Regis Washington, D.C. offering a Weekend Traditions package that includes accommodations, breakfast at the elegant Adour restaurant and complimentary valet parking, starting at $395.

FareFinder: Thursday, February 26

Sandals Resorts offering last-minute getaways, including four nights in the Bahamas for as little as $2,100.

Hurtigruten slashes prices on 17- to 21-day Greenland cruises, including airfare from NYC.

In response to AirTran specials, airlines rush to discount competing fares. Case in point: this Continental flight from Raleigh-Durham to Newark-Liberty.

Five-star Dolder Grand Hotel in Zurich celebrates it re-opening anniversary with buy-one, get-one up to four nights.

Today is Carnival Cruise Line's one-day sale. Specials include a 5-day Caribbean cruise from Galveston for $279.

Sandals Negril Gets Green Recognition

The Sandals Negril Resort recently received Green Globe's Platinum certification for its achievements in sustainable tourism. Platinum is the highest of four certifications, outranking, Gold, Silver and Bronze.

The recognition comes just more than 10 years after the resort received its first Green Globe certification. In the three years following their initial recognition, every Sandals property was revamped and retrofitted to reduce environmental impact, subsequently earning Green Globe certifications.

Green Globe director Claire Hendrie presented the award to Sandals' CEO Adam Stewart on February 5th.

"Looking to the future, we are changing the way we run our hotels to suit Mother Nature," Stewart said. "We created a division called Earthguard, composed of personnel with expertise in operations, design, engineering and the environment."

Any design project at the resorts must first pass muster by Earthguard to ensure that environmental preservation and protection are top of mind, according to Stewart.

"Anything we are designing from the onset has to be designed with environmental standards in mind," Stewart said.

Besides "greening" the resorts themselves, Sandals is trying to incorporate sustainable practices into all aspects of their business. For example, a new biodiesel refinery is being built to support the three Sandals properties on St. Lucia. If the initial efforts are successful, more "green" programs are expected to follow.

Jamaica Tourist Board Reappointed

Just two weeks ago the entire Jamaica Tourist Board quit. All of them (you may recall a post cleverly titled, Entire Jamaica Tourist Board Quits). The group resignation was designed to give Edmund Bartlett, Jamaica's Minister of Tourism, free rein to appoint a new board that could better address the current global financial crisis.

At the time of the resignation, Bartlett told reporters that a new board would be selected and in place by Dec. 15, the beginning of the winter season. According to a recent Travel Weekly article, there's been a change of plans:

Jamaica Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett has reappointed most of the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) members who tendered their resignations en masse last month.

So apparently good tourist board members are hard to find. Or maybe they all promised to take macroeconomics courses if they could have their jobs back. Either way, one important appointment did take place.

John Lynch, who resigned as chairman of the board before being reappointed as chairman of the board, was named Director of Tourism. In his new and additional role, Lynch will handle the day-to-day operations of the JTB and be responsible for the island nation's global marketing efforts.

As a former VP for Unique Vacations (the worldwide representative for Sandals Resorts) Lynch is extremely qualified for the position. Expect to see big things from Jamaica, including gaudy, brightly-colored bungalows, large fruity cocktails, kitschy atmosphere and self-promotional swimming pools nationwide.