Travel Roundup: Tropicana's Las Vegas Spin-off, Heathrow Protests, Bombardier's Las Vegas Contract and More

Tropicana plans Las Vegas separation in bankruptcy reorganization -- Tropicana Entertainment LLC gave its reorganization plans to a federal bankruptcy court in Delaware which call for converting $2.74 billion of debt to stock and splitting the company into two separate entities -- Tropicana Las Vegas and the company's 10 other properties. In May 2008, Tropicana Entertainment filed for Chapter 11 after it couldn't pay $2.7 billion in debt. The default occurred after the New Jersey Casino Control Commission voted in late 2007 not to renew the license for the company's Atlantic City property. Last September, the company were in talks to sell the casino for $700 million. It still remains on the block. [Source: GlobeSt]

Hundreds protest Heathrow expansion -- Around 300 protestors, both environmentalists and locals, demonstrated against Heathrow Airport's proposed third runway expansion which was approved last week. Around 700 homes will be demolished in nearby Sipson to make way for the new runway which will raise flight capacity from 480,000 to 702,000 a year. Environmentalists say the new runway will only increase carbon emissions. [Source: BBC]

Bombardier will continue to operate Las Vegas monorail -- Montreal-headquartered Bombardier Inc. announced Monday it received a $58 million, five-year option from the Las Vegas Monorail Company to continue operations. The Las Vegas monorail shuttles passengers along a 6.4-kilometer stretch on the east side of the Las Vegas strip. Bombardier, based in Berlin, has maintained and operated the monorail system since 2004 and which has carried approximately 33 million passengers. [Source: Globe and Mail (Toronto)]

Bathtubs disappearing in new hotels -- NYLO Hotels, a chain of hotels that caters to business travelers decided to forgo bathtubs in its contemporary, lofty rooms. Market research and focus groups told the company that most of their aged 22 to 55 clientele weren't into tubs. Aloft Dulles North also went with shower-only bathrooms and more Aloft brand hotels are heading in that direction, opting to give customers roomy showers and curtailing the use of hard-to-clean bathtubs. The trend is expected to continue for new hotels. [Source: BuyerInteractive]