Delta's middle management
Delta Air Lines is extending its middle seat blocking policy for another month, through April 30, amid continued travel concerns during the pandemic. Delta is now the only U.S. airline with such a seat-blocking policy to limit capacity on all flights. Customers feel the extra space "provides more peace of mind," according to chief customer experience officer Bill Lentsch. The company hopes the strategy will help it gain customers, particularly for spring travel. Delta also announced it will resume routes between Minneapolis-St. Paul and Myrtle Beach, S.C., Savannah/Hilton Head, Ga., Providence, R.I., Traverse City, Mich., and Portland, Maine.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution & Star Tribune
Canada ices Alaska cruises
Canada has extended a ban on cruise ships through February 2022 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The ban is expected to block many ships from visiting Alaska this year, because large cruise ships bound for Alaska either begin voyages in Canada or stop there on the way. Most of Alaska's 1.3 million visitors two years ago were cruise ship passengers, many of whom disembarked for excursions in Anchorage, Denali National Park and Fairbanks. The cruise order could be rescinded if pandemic conditions improve.
Associated Press
Queen's Gambit, the tour
The hit Netflix series "The Queen's Gambit" is set mainly in Lexington, Ky., a fact that the city's tourism arm was quick to pounce on. VisitLEX has developed a Queen's Gambit Driving Tour, designed "to roll out the red carpet for visitors smitten by the show." The tour is a mix of places that currently exist and those that no longer do. Even chess queen Beth Harmon would be impressed with the Harmon Room at 21c Museum Hotel, a pop-up suite that is a collaborative effort of the hotel and VisitLEX. The room is a time capsule of midcentury modern design. Its most dramatic feature is a larger-than-life upside-down chessboard suspended from the ceiling over the bed as an homage to Beth's drug-induced hallucinations. Rates begin at $234 (21cmuseumhotels.com).
Tribune News Service
Black music museum
A new Nashville museum is telling the often overlooked story of Black musical genres, including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B and hip-hop. The National Museum of African American Music, which opened on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, is in the heart of Nashville's musical tourism district, alongside honky-tonks and the famed Ryman Auditorium and blocks from the Country Music Hall of Fame. "When we think of the history of African American music and the important part it has played in our country, it was long overdue to honor it in this type of way," said gospel great CeCe Winans, a national chair for the museum.
Associated Press
