PDF, 35.0 MB - ITB Berlin

Hall 2.1
NEWS
17
Madison
Celebrates
50 Years as
“The Place
to Meet” in
Washington
Blossoms & Presidents
Washington DC has “spring in its step” following the
Presidential inauguration in January
The Nation’s Capital,
Washington DC, is taking
on growing importance as a
tourist destination. ITB Berlin
News spotlights the latest
highlights.
The upcoming National Cherry
Blossom Festival in Washington DC
(April 2013) is the USA’s greatest
springtime celebration. The 2013
Festival, March 20 – April 14,
includes three spectacular weeks
and four weekends of events
featuring diverse and creative
San Francisco
San Francisco has always been a
sweetheart for European visitors,
as they feel the local ties in this
extremely cosmopolitan, vibrant
and colourful city. And San
Francisco International Airport
(SFO) offers non-stop flights to
more than 31 international points
on 30 international carriers. This
year, there are even more reasons
to visit. Here are just a few…
SFJAZZ Center Opened
January 21, 2013
The $60 million, SFJAZZ Center,
at 205 Franklin St, which opened
on January 17, 2013, is the first
center anywhere in the country
for jazz designed and built from
the ground up. The 35,000-squarefoot,
transparent structure designed
by Mark Cavagnero of Mark
Cavagnero Associates, features a
flexible, 700-seat performance hall,
programming. Last year’s festival
won its organisers the prize for
the best event website (www.
nationalcherryblossomfestival.
org) among a swathe of Pinnacle
awards. “Striving for the highest
degree of excellence in festival and
event promotions and operations in
every budget level and every corner
of the globe, this competition has
not only raised the standards and
quality of the festivals and events
industry to new levels, but also
shows how event producers can use
innovation and creativity to achieve
dedicated space for education and
professional development; three
rehearsal spaces; a digital music lab,
and a sidewalk-level restaurant/
café. For information visit www.
sfjazz.org or call 415-398-5655.
The Bay Lights,
World’s Largest LED
Sculpture, Celebrates
75 th Anniversary of Bay
Bridge
Inspired by the 75 th anniversary
of the Bay Bridge in 2011, The
Bay Lights is a fine art piece
designed to be installed on the
western span and viewable from
San Francisco and points north,
but not by drivers crossing the
bridge. Measuring 1.8-miles-long
and 500-feet-high, the high-tech
light sculpture design features
25,000 individually programmable,
energy-efficient LED lights mounted
Whitehouse Spring
a higher level of success,” said IFEA
President & CEO, Steven Wood
Schmader, CFEE.
The US capital is putting its best
foot forward with an impressive
number of hotel rebuilds,
including the Hay Adams, which
has enclosed its rooftop terrace
overlooking the Whitehouse, and
a 22-million dollar rebuild for the
Madison, which looked so good
after the work was done that the
Loews group snapped it up as its
new flagship in the DC area.
As If You Didn’t Already Have Enough Good Reasons to Visit…
on the bridge’s vertical cables. The
Bay Lights will remain on the bridge
for two years.
The New Exploratorium
Opens April 17, 2013
On April 17, 2013, the new
Exploratorium, San Francisco’s
internationally acclaimed museum
of sciences, art and human
perception, will open on Piers 15
and 17, located on San Francisco’s
historic northern waterfront at
Embarcadero and Green streets.
The new museum will feature 150
new exhibits, a Bay observatory,
outdoor gallery and free civic
space. For information visit
www.exploratorium.edu or
www.press.exploratorium.edu.
More info on San Francisco:
www.sanfrancisco.travel
Washington’s Madison Hotel
has been celebrating its 50 th
anniversary over the past
month.
In February 1963, President
John F. Kennedy was on
hand for the opening of
the establishment. Since
then, the hotel has played
pivotal roles in international
politics, acting as a temporary
Kremlin in 1987 while
Soviet leaders met with
the Reagan Administration
as well as a temporary
Oval Office for George W.
Bush, just before he took
office in 2000. Beginning in
2011, a revitalization plan
was inspired by a desire
to modernize and update
the look and feel, without
sacrificing Washington, D.C.
as a “sense of place.”
The adjacent “The Federalist”
restaurant stars executive
chef Tim Recher, who is
putting his own mark on
modern interpretations of
classic American dining. From
humble beginnings, Recher
went on to work with some
of the country’s best chefs
preparing the inaugural
dinner for President Barack
Obama, and was recently
named Chef of the Year by
the Nation’s Capital Chefs
Association, in recognition of
embracing new approaches
to incorporating artisanal
and regional ingredients into
his menus, and is a winner
of the Presidential Medal
from the American Culinary
Federation.
Madison Exterior
ITB BERLIN NEWS • Wednesday 6 th March 2013