As if New York did not already have enough amazing attractions, this summer visitors will have yet another great new attraction to visit.

A set of four man-made waterfalls have been created along New York’s East River.

They were created by a Danish artist, Olafur Eliasson.  One is located on Governor’s Island, another beneath Brooklyn Bridge and on two of the river’s piers.

The waterfalls are visible from the Manhattan and Brooklyn sides of the river and will only be there until the 13th October this year.

The waterfalls measure between ten and twenty metres wide and are around thirty metres tall.

The New York city mayor, Michael Bloomberg said they were

“an unbelievable sight and a symbol of the “energy and vitality” of the waterfront”

He added:

“Water has great potential to be both physical and very elusive, it can be many different things for many different people”

New York is one of the top luxury holidays on many people’s wish list, with its famous skyline and attractions such as Broadway, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty and many, many more.

Las Vegas is launching a powerful PR and marketing drive aimed at attracting UK tourists to the city.

Their tourism authority, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, has appointed Hills Balfour Synergy, a UK company, to boost their marketing and PR profile with British holidaymakers.

Managing Director of Balfours, Amanda Hills, said:

“We are currently executing our first Las Vegas sales mission along with the team from Las Vegas and we are conducting meetings with all our trade partners.”

Las Vegas tourism officials have said that there will be 32,000 hotel rooms in the city, in addition to the current capacity by 2011.

In addition, the aim is to increase the volume of international visitors from the 4.7 million visitors in 2007 to 6.2 million visitors by 2010.

Visitors can have luxury holidays or even bargain holidays in Las Vegas, depending on where they stay.  Las Vegas is as glamourous and over-the-top as you would imagine it to be, so according to Lonely Planet’s travel guide, if you are seeking a little razzmatazz, Las Vegas it the place to visit.

To encourage holidaymakers to be more aware of the holiday variety in New York other than for just city breaks, New York State Division of Tourism has teamed up with Virgin Atlantic to offer sixty days New York wine tasting in the airline Virgin Atlantic’s Clubhouse at Heathrow.

When Virgin Atlantic passengers use the clubhouse at Heathrow Airport, they will be able to enjoy the New York wine tasting from today.  The Virgin Atlantic bar team, all trained mixologists, have selected their favourite New York wines after four days of tasting to find the most suitable for passengers.

New York is not normally associated with wine, although it is actually one of America’s largest wine producing states, with more than 240 different wineries, many of which are open for public wine tasting tours and receive over three million tourist visitors each year.

Lyndsey Sugden, the New York State Division of Tourism Marketing & PR Officer, said:

“After California, New York State is the second largest wine producing state in North America and with the popularity of wine tourism growing this is the obvious market to tap into to create much needed awareness in the UK for New York State and encourage visitors to New York City to change a short city break into much more.”

The latest ad campaign for I Love NY will also be featuring on the in-flight entertainment system from Heathrow to New York Virgin Atlantic flights.

For those enthusiasts of superheroes and comic books, a city break to New York may well be in order.  This summer, New York will be hosting an exhibition offering a new perspective on this culture phenomenon that they had not thought of before.

Up until the 1st September 2008, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York will display ther Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy exhivition, marvelling at the range of metaphorical associations and the symbolism between fashion and superheroes.

Visitors will be able to view movie costumes, haute couture and high-performance sportswear.  The exhibition looks at how the superhero is a metaphor for how fashion transforms and empowers the human body.

In addition, New York’s Metropolitan Museum will also be displaying a photography exhibition running until the 19th October, so there is more than one exhibition to keep visitors entertained and interested.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York City, has brought forward the tourist target for New York by three years.

His announcement was in response to the record numbers of tourists visiting the city in the last year.  A new record was set in 2007 as more than 46 million tourists visited the city, generating more than £14.4 billion ($28 billion) in revenue and supporting over 370,000 jobs in the city.

The original target, set in 2006, was 50 million annual visitors by 2015, and the new target is to hit the 50 million visitors mark by 2012, three years earlier.

Bloomberg said

“New York City’s tourism sector is booming, with record numbers of visitors coming each of the last five years, even as the number of international visitors to the rest of the nation has declined.  That’s why we’re confident we can reach our goal of attracting 50m visitors to the city by 2012, three years ahead of schedule.”

So far, they appear to be on track with the first quarter showing good results for 2008 despite the credit crunch affecting many areas across the world.  New York City hotels have sold about 5.4 million room nights in the first quarter, which is approximately 5 percent more than the first quarter of 2007.

A new travel authorisation system has been announced by the US government, to be introduced later this year and fully launched at the start of 2009.

Under the current system, visitors to the US have to complete written forms providing information about themselves before they will be admitted to the country.  The new system, the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA), applies to all countries and their citizens who are currently part of the VWP (Visa waiver Program), which includes the UK.

Under the VWP, citizens are allowed to visit the United States for a maximum of 90 days without having to apply for a visa.

The new ESTA system will allow all the information to be collected electronically and is being seen as a modern method to obtain the necessary information and increase the security of the country whilst preserving the benefits of the VWP program for important ally countries.  Applications on the new ESTA program will be accepted from August this year and will be fully launched in January of 2009.  The applications are then valid for two years or until the person’s passport expires.

US homeland security secretary Michael Chertoff said:

“Getting this information in advance enables our frontline personnel to determine whether a visa-free traveller presents a threat, before boarding an aircraft or arriving on our shores.  It is a relatively simple and effective way to strengthen our security, and that of international travellers, while helping to preserve an important program for key allies.”

Commencing in June this year, British Airways has announced that it will begin an eighteen month project to upgrade the JFK terminal facilities in New York.  The project is estimated to cost $30 million (£15.1 million).

The project will incorporate three main areas, which will include:

• Premium check-in pavilion with dedicated drop-off point for particular customers
• Dedicated check-in areas for BA’s Executive Club Silver and Club World schemes
• Renovation of terraces and executive lounges to ensure facilities are of the same standard as those at Heathrow Terminal 5

British Airways says that the new terminal will have environmentally friendly features incorporated, including maximising the usage of natural daylight.
Robin Hayes, British Airways executive vice-president for America, said:

“In a time of rapidly increasing and robust competition, British Airways will now raise the competitive bar far higher than any of its JFK competitors.  No other airline at JFK will come close to the standard and quality of what we intend to offer our customers. The new enhancements will place British Airways in the most enviable position to provide the best possible premium ground experience at JFK international airport.”

The new Sex and the City film launch has taken the UK by storm and is apparently the inspiration for an increase in all-female city breaks to the US, in particular to New York.

New York, or the Big Apple, is the most popular US destination and the first port of call for many women, according to a recent survey.  Combined with a cheap exchange rate where Brits can currently get around two dollars for every pound, many travel operators have seen an increase in trips to the US.  Indeed, the average holiday length to the USA has increased from ten days to fourteen days since the beginning of 2008.

A weak US dollar means bargain holidays to the US, and people are taking advantage of the cheap flight prices internal to the US to combine multiple city breaks in America.  The most popular combination with New York currently is Las Vegas, although other popular combinations include Las Vegas and Los Angeles or Las Vegas and San Francisco.

Today, the long anticipaed Simpsons Ride has opened at Universal Orlando. This was a great collaboration between Universal Theme Parks and the shows creator Matt Groening.

Groening said: ‘For 20 years I’ve been dreaming about this, and here it is - a wild, thrilling Simpsons Ride put together by a huge number of talented artists and amusement-park maniacs.’

The ride is set in a theme park owned by Krusty the Clown, Krustyland, and features Simpsons animation, including the usual cast members, such as Julie Kavner, Dan Castellaneta and Hank Azaria, plus a guest appearance from Kelsey Grammer.

At the entrance to the ride is the world’s first animated corkscrew and a Krusty figure almost ten metres tall!

Talking of the ride, the chairman of Universal Parks & Resorts, Tom Williams said it was

‘the perfect complement to our brand of entertainment’

Having won twenty three Emmy Awards and in its 19th season, The Simpsons is now the most successful animated program in television history to date.

San Antonio is the only major city in Texas to have been founded before it gained independence from Mexico.  It is on the northern edge of the South Texas region and is also known and the Alamo City or the Fiesta City.  If you visit San Antonio, you are almost certain to be enjoying a fiesta.

Summer is incredibly popular for holidays to this city but be warned, it is hot.  Spring and Autumn are also nicely warm.

The Alamo is the most visited site in Texas and San Antonio’s most famous landmark.  The name is known worldwide, even if not everyone knows its history.  This small church is where 188 Texan volunteers fought the Mexican dictator, Santa Anna’s much larger force for thirteen days straight, back in February to March 1836.  The men included Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett and all died.  Their deaths were the inspiration for Sam Houston’s battle cry ‘Remember the Alamo!’ when he rallied troops to beat the Mexican army just onemonth later at San Jacinto.  When you visit, you can see the Wall of History, which shows a timeline explaining the events.

San Antonio is also known for its fiestas, or festivals, which generally take place in downtown San Antonio.  When you need a more relaxing atmosphere, take a walk down The River Walk (Paseo del Rio).  This area is 2.5 miles (4 km) of riverbank lined with oak and willow trees.  Visit the River Square and South Bank for pavement cafes, lively bars, shopping and modern hotels.  You can take a water taxi, tour boat or picnic barge up the river as you admire the eclectic architecture, yet another feature of this amazing city.  San Antonio makes a great luxury holiday.