OK. Fodors has spoken. Now, will all of your travel agent bashers and registration proponents give it a rest? When Fodors wants to change this site, it will.

Back to the original question-No, there is not an administrator. Fodors is letting this site go downhill because they are too busy/cheap/don't care-pick one to monitor it. This used to be a nice site, now it is open season for every travel agent, nutcase, troll in the world. Fodors please get off your butt and do something!!!

Have any of you considered this: the amount of money any site, like Fodor's, can charge for advertising space is based on how many "hits" -- i.e., people stopping at the site -- they can get. So if there's a lively discussion something -- no matter how DUMB -- there are a lot of hits and Fodor's can charge more for advertising.

If profit was truly the goal on this site, then Fodor's could be making all those freeloaders who promote whatever it is they're trying to sell PAY to advertise, and really be making some money. AND WHO KNOWS? Perhaps they ARE!! <BR> <BR>Assuring travelers that this place is free of promotion and then allowing unmonitored, unlimited promotion is a good way to reel in a bunch of unsuspecting "customers" for all those promoters isn't it? <BR> <BR>When you go to the FAQ section you read a pious statement about the purity of the Fodor's site and how it's a place for travelers to talk to other travelers. Then when you visit the travel lounge itself, you see promoter after promoter advertising their businesses outright, or multiple posts about the same thing over and over (like Hawaii hotels) so the business will stay front and center on the board for all to see. <BR> <BR>Now just why is that? Perhaps this board is operating just the way Fodor's intended, and that's the reason they ignore all the pleas to enforce their own promotion policies or to separate heavily touristed areas in the U.S. <BR> <BR>Think about it.

Well, we can trade paranoias, but I'm trying to figure out "Playing Innocent's" logic. What would be the point of Fodor drawing in customers for the promoters? <BR> <BR>The implication is that the promoters are somehow paying Fodors for the opportunity to place "blind" promotional posts, and that that is somehow more lucrative than selling advertising space based on number of hits. That just doesn't compute, given just how expensive it is to advertise on any website, because if it cost more to gain that kind of indirect access than it does to advertise, those promoters would have advertised.

Why don't you people go travel or something instead of spending everyday monitoring this forum and then whining and crying about every little thing you see that isn't quite the way you would like it. Why do you want to be policed and regulated so badly? Geeeeez... Ignore the posts you can tell won't be to your liking and enjoy the ones that are. Is that so hard??? <BR>

TJB-The ones doing the whining around here are posting from their 2x4 cubicles at work. The only travel they do is to the water cooler and the restroom.

How about this.... <BR> <BR>1. Anyone can post a question. <BR> <BR>2. Only people that actually travel( not travel agents or people that just watch the travel channel or read about destinations...just those that really have been to the places they are commenting on) are allowed to post answers.