The more I fly, the more I love train trips.

It’s not just the rail world’s lack of airport security, cattle-car ambience and gut-wrenching turbulence, but also its sense of pomp and circumstance, its Old World civility. Stations are often grand old edifices where smartly uniformed porters will lug your overweight luggage and station staff might even lend a hand as you step up into your car. Read the full story

Alberta spent $14 million promoting itself at the Vancouver Olympics, but officials say the money was well spent and predict it will attract enough business to the province to recoup the full amount several times over.

Cindy Ady, minister of tourism, parks and recreation, said Tuesday that the money the province spent on the three-year promotional campaign will be more than recouped through new business and tourism deals for Alberta. Read the full story

Alberta has reserved a luxury train during the Vancouver Olympics as part of a $7- million marketing plan meant to woo tourists and business executives.

The province has exclusively booked the Rocky Mountaineer for runs between Vancouver and Whistler, B.C., between Feb 12 and 28. Read the full story

CALGARY — A perky brunette’s quest to find the sweetheart of her dreams on an American reality television show could translate into a multimillion dollar windfall for Alberta’s struggling tourism industry.

On Monday’s episode of The Bachelorette, Vancouver interior designer Jillian Harris catches the Bachelorette passenger train to Lake Louise and Banff, where iconic scenery will share prime-time exposure with a bevy of hunky contestants.

Fans can expect to see Harris nosh on fondue in Lake Louise before heading to Banff where one of her suitors will be handed a rose and eliminated from the game in the Cascade Ballroom of the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel.

It’s the sort of exposure money can’t buy, say local tourism officials, who hope the show will bring awareness to Alberta at a time when bookings are down during the normally busy peak summer season.

“That kind of endorsement is critical in our economy today,” said Lori Bayne, a spokeswoman for Banff-Lake Louise Tourism.

The slumping economy is starting to take its toll: Banff National Park, for example, saw visitors decline by almost 15 per cent in March compared to the same period in 2008. The situation is even worse in Jasper, where park traffic fell by more than 21 per cent.

Industry officials hope The Bachelorette will do for Alberta what it did for British Columbia, the location of the two previous episodes.

Vancouver’s tourism website saw a 25 per cent bump in traffic after viewers took in shots of Granville Island, Grouse Mountain and the Vancouver harbour. There were nearly a dozen references to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics during the back-to-back shows, with fans clamouring to buy an Olympics-themed hoodie Harris wore at a local curling club.

Five years ago, Calgary and Banff were in the spotlight when the Emmy-award winning reality TV show The Amazing Race shot 30 hours of footage in the area.

The experience also proved a boon for Sunshine Village, which was featured prominently in the episode. The ski hill said web traffic and telephone inquiries spiked by about 25 per cent immediately after the show aired.

“We really enjoyed the impact for the rest of the ski season. People saw the segment and said ‘Sunshine Village is in Banff, I have to go there,” said spokesman Doug Firby.

“You just don’t believe the power a program like that can have until you see the interest that comes right after it is broadcast.”

Harris — Canada’s first Bachelorette and a native of Peace River, Alta, — has already helped promote the province’s single biggest attraction.

Last month, she confessed on the ABC television series that she is a country girl at heart who “does the Calgary Stampede” every year, much to the delight of event organizers who revelled in the unexpected — and free — promotion.

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada – Experiencing a world-class train trip is more attractive now than ever before. With the recent decline of the Canadian dollar, Rocky Mountaineer Vacations’ spectacular rail journeys are even more appealing to U.S. visitors. Guests experience the beauty of the Canadian Rockies while traveling by train between the coastal city of Vancouver, British Columbia and the Rocky Mountain destinations of Jasper, Banff and Calgary, Alberta.

In addition to taking advantage of savings up to 20% in the exchange rate by booking in Canadian currency, U.S. travelers could get even more bang for their buck if they book the Rocky Mountaineer Vacations’ Early Booking Bonus before January 15, 2009. The Early Booking Bonus rewards couples with a Fairmont Hotel & Resorts gift card of up to $600 in value when booking a qualifying vacation package of six nights or more departing during the 2009 season.

Great vacation options for the 2009 season include the new Escorted Rail Tours packages. Onboard the exclusive Escorted Tours Lounge, guests have the opportunity to mingle, browse our library and enjoy onboard entertainment features such as wine tastings, photography, natural history and storytelling. All Escorted Rail Tours packages include delicious hot breakfast and lunch selections, transportation, accommodations and welcome and farewell dinners. For food and wine lovers, the Taste of the West package offers a gastronomic odyssey. This seven-night/eight-day journey features sumptuous Western Canadian cuisine along with wine pairings in world-class destinations such as Victoria, Vancouver and Banff. This exclusive culinary experience continues onboard the Rocky Mountaineer train, where travellers dine on regional dishes that celebrate the distinctive character of Western Canada.

The Rocky Mountaineer operates on three different routes between Vancouver or Whistler, British Columbia and the beautiful destinations of Jasper, Banff and Calgary, Alberta. There are more than 70 different vacation packages built around the Rocky Mountaineer two-day, all daylight train trip such as classic rail vacations, full circle journeys and escorted tours through some of the most spectacular scenery in the world.

For additional information or to book your 2009 Rocky Mountaineer vacation and save, contact your local travel professional or Rocky Mountaineer Vacations directly at (800) 665-7245, or visit www.rockymountaineer.com

Rocky Mountaineer Vacations offers unique Canadian vacation packages and four spectacular rail routes through British Columbia and Alberta. Best known for the world-acclaimed Rocky Mountaineer train, a two-day, all daylight rail journey through Canada’s West and the Canadian Rockies, the company also offers trips onboard the Whistler Mountaineer train, a daily three-hour experience between North Vancouver and Whistler, BC.

Since its inception in 1990, the company has grown to be the largest privately owned passenger rail service in North America and welcomed its one millionth guest in 2008. In 2007, RMV was honoured with the World Travel Award as “World’s Leading Travel Experience by Train” for the third consecutive year and named by National Geographic as one of the World’s Greatest Trips.