"Royal Caribbean (RCL) has nothing new or revolutionary going for it, but it's one of the strongest stocks in the market," says Mike Cintolo.

The editor of Cabot Top Ten Weekly explains, "With its nearly 40 cruise ships, the stock is a a pure-play on discretionary leisure spending, and its earnings can rise rapidly during improving times.

"And that's what investors are discounting now -- earnings fell from $2.82 per share in 2007 to 75 cents last year, but look set to get back to $2 per share this year and challenge new-high ground in 2011!

"Is SkyWest (SKYW) undervalued? Indeed, we believe the shares are undervalued at only 0.55 times current book value," says J. Royden Ward.

The editor of Cabot Benjamin Graham Value Letter explains, "The company's P/E of 8.4 and dividend yield of 1.1% is attractive. SkyWest alo has over $13 per share in cash ready to expand its operations. In our view, SkyWest is a classic Benjamin Graham stock.

"Priceline (PCLN), the global online travel service company; has seen its stock drive higher to clear a technical six-week flat base," observes Leo Fasciocco, who specializes in finding "breakout" stocks.

The editor of The Ticker Tape Digest explains, "The stock is a market leader. The tape action based on block trades indicates good and steady institutional buying interest. Technically, the stock continued higher clearing the breakpoint line at 240 with room to spare."

"Vacationers and professionals finally appear to be hitting the road, and many are relying on Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE) to handle the details," says Nathan Slaughter in Half-Priced Stocks.

The value investor explains, "Expedia's travel sites processed 15.3 million transactions during the second quarter, 18% above the same period last year. Howevver, the gross dollar amount of those bookings dipped slightly to $5.6 billion/

"Whenever you have more trips bringing in less money, it's a pretty good indication that prices are way down.

Leading online travel site Priceline.com (NASDAQ: PCLN) is perhaps best known for its pitchman, pop culture icon William Shatner. But to in-the-know investors, this stock is more known for booking big profits.

Now you might think that with the country in a recession, online travel stocks wouldn't be doing very well. But actually, the opposite is true.

According to a recent article in Investor's Business Daily, many corporate travel managers have been forced to cut the cost of basic travel expenses due to the recession. "Firms are telling execs to move their seats from the front to the back of the plane -- and to find budget-class hotel rooms." Bingo!

"Like a sailboat waiting for a gust of wind, Carnival (NYSE: CCL) hasn't had any means of propulsion lately; in fact, they've been anchored by swine flu and sluggish travel demand," notes value investor Nathan Slaughter.

Nevertheless, in his Half-Priced Stocks, he remains optimisticbullish, noting "Eventually these storm clouds will clear." Here's his bullish long-term outlook for the cruise ship opertor.

"Fortunately, these negatives are macro-level factors, not company-specific issues. All things considered, the world's largest cruise operator is performing admirably in this tepid environment.

"Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE) has taken flight over the past two months, soaring more than 165% off their early-March low," says Paul Tracy.

The editor of Street Authority Market Advisor explains, "Despite a sharp slowdown in leisure and business travel, overall travel volume booked through Expedia's sites (which include Hotels.com and Hotwire.com) remains impressive.

"Over the past three months, Expedia's travel sites have booked $5.2 billion (retail value) worth of travel expenditures. That gross booking figure is down about 11% over last year, but represents a considerable 30% improvement over the prior quarter.

How can exports not rebound? Last year ended on a sour note after posting record results, and 2009 is by all accounts likely to be ugly. The tourism and travel industry is expected to shed more than 200,000 jobs this year. Fortunately, there's a light at the end of the tunnel. The U.S. Department of Commerce expects international visits to the United States to come back in 2010 – after its first forecasted year of decline (i.e., 2009) since 2003.

This year, international travel to the United States is expected to fall 8%. The following year, however, U.S. travel exports are expected to gain 5%, with 5% annual increases through the end of 2013. We'll come out ahead in all this, but it's going to take some time.

Will the influx of foreign visitors over the next four years be enough to turn the travel industry in the United States around? It's too soon to tell right now, and much will depend on the contributions made by domestic routes. Needless to say, even this glimmer of hope must be welcome to investors committed to the airline and hotel sectors.

This post is part of a special annual report -- Top Stock Picks '09 -- in which TheStockAdvisors.com asked 75 leading newsletter advisors to select their favorite investment for the new year.

"My top pick for 2009, Hertz Global Holdings (NYSE: HTZ) is a very contrarian idea in one of the most beaten down sectors," states Glenn Cutler.

In his Stock Market Blog and Special Situations Report, the advisor says, "Hertz Global -- the world's largest car rental brand -- has over 8,000 locations in 144 countries.

"They are #1 at airports with corporate and licensee locations in North America, Europe, Latin America, Australia, and New Zealand and additional licensee operations in cities and airports in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

"Through Hertz Equipment Rental Corporation unit, the company operates one of the largest equipment rental businesses for a diverse line of customers ranging from major industrial companies to local contractors to consumers with over 350 branch locations in the U.S., Canada, China, France, and Spain.

This post is part of a special annual report -- Top Stock Picks '09 -- in which TheStockAdvisors.com asked 75 leading newsletter advisors to select their favorite investment for the new year.

"Airline stocks are looking good now; the airlines should benefit greatly from the big drop in crude oil, as lower crude means lower fuel costs for their operations," notes breakout specialist Leo Fasciocco.

In his Ticker Tape Digest, he looks at Allegiant Travel Co. (NASDAQ: ALGT), a "niche travel airline providing nonstop flights from 53 small cities to large vacation destinations such as Las Vegas and Orlando."

The advisor explains, "The Las Vegas-based company has annual revenues of $483 million. The company also has fixed-fee deals with Harrah's Entertainment to fly certain prespecified routes. The firm's fleet is composed solely of McDonnell Douglas MD-80 aircraft.

"ALGT recently broke clear of a seven-week flat base. Its price pattern of the past few weeks has been a zig-zag with a bias to the upside. The current base is a bit choppy. However, the technicals are extremely bullish. ALGT's push to a new high is very bullish and could bring in more buying.

"If there's one sector that stands to benefit handsomely from a further slide in oil or, at least, a moderation in crude's rally: the airlines," explains energy sector expert Elliott Gue.

In The Energy Strategist, he says, "Airlines may make a terrible long-term investment but can be an outstanding short-term trade." Here he looks at Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) and, for the even more speculatively-inclined, US Airways (NYSE: LCC).

"Some investors will rightfully cringe from any mention of this sector; after all, the airlines have consistently lost money throughout their post-deregulation history.

"Most of the majors have declared bankruptcy on multiple occasions since that time. However, we've traded the airlines on a few occasions; we took some triple-digit percentage gains in the airlines back in 2005.

"The airlines' leverage to oil prices is well known. Expectations are so low, in fact, that several major air carriers actually managed to beat consensus expectations in the second quarter.

"And although sentiment is already at rock-bottom, there's a real basis for cautious optimism. First, if I'm right about oil, fuel costs won't rise appreciably in the third quarter. This huge headwind is dissipating.

"The Grand Old Opry's owner is sparkling after a billionaire buys a big stake," says Bill Martin in his top-notch advisory service, BullMarket.com.

He notes, "TRT Holdings, an investment vehicle for Robert Rowling. has quietly taken a 10%+ stake in Gaylord Entertainment (NYSE: GET), becoming its largest shareholder.

"The latest buys came as shares of the $1 billion market cap company hit a multi-year low. Rowling's firm bought more than 608,000 shares of Gaylord at $20.44, increasing its holdings to 4.693 million shares, or an 11.49% stake.

"Nashville-based Gaylord owns and operates hotel properties, including the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee and the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center in Kissimmee, Florida.

"The company also owns and operates the Radisson Hotel at Opryland and the famous Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. Other business include a Nashville radio station, a paddle wheel showboat, performance venues, a golf course located near the Opryland complex, and a corporate events production company.

"With a projected net worth of $6.2 billion, Rowling was #158 on the latest Forbes list of the World's Billionaires. The press-shy Rowling rarely pops up as a major shareholder in a public company, and has only done so three times in recent years, including Gaylord.

"If you think filling up an SUV is painful, try footing the bill for a massive 1,000-foot ocean liner -- or in the case of Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL), an entire fleet of 84 floating cities," notes value investor Nathan Slaughter.

In his Half-Priced Stocks he explains, "Despite unprecedented fuel costs, the company continues to power forward." Here's his bullish review.

"Last quarter, Carnival shelled out $530 per metric ton for fuel, up sharply from $330 per ton a year ago. And after pumping about 800,000 metric tons, the company rang up a total fuel bill of $425 million.

"For the year, management is expecting fuel costs to come in about $750 million higher than in 2007, which will trim earnings by about $0.92 per share. Fortunately, the company is in a position to absorb those higher costs.

"Over the past three months, two million passengers have boarded a Carnival ship, for an occupancy rate of 104.8% (indicating some berths held more than two guests). And those visitors paid $2.6 billion for their tickets and plunked down another $743 million in the lounges, casinos and gift shops after they arrived on board.

For 25 years, Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, has surveyed the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is one of 100+ ideas in the Best Stocks for 2008 report.

"Although high oil prices and a weak US dollar are hurting some vacation areas, these trends are also creating enormous opportunities; indeed, Mexico is a country where the dollar still gets you a fistful of pesos and a plane ticket doesn't cost as much as an oil well," says Frida Ghitis, contributing editor for Global Investing.

"Aeropuertos del Sureste (NYSE: ASR), known as ASUR, operates nine airports," explains Ghitis. "Want to visit Mexico's Caribbean coast, luxury resorts, and nearby Mayan ruins? Unless you go by sea, chances are that you'll have to stop by one of ASUR's airports.

"One of its airports is the newly expanded Cancun facility, which saw almost ten million passengers last year. Every passenger pays airport fees, and every dollar spent on food, drinks, or gifts at the airport adds to the bottom line.

"Most of the airports are in the Southeast of the country, but the company also runs the facilities in the key tourist destinations of Oaxaca and Huatulco on the Pacific. Altogether, some 13 million passengers traveled through the company's airports last year.

In his Forbes/Slatin Real Estate Report, editor Peter Slatin recently interviewed Amit Kapoor of Gabelli Asset Management, whose specialty is the hotel/hospitality segment of the broader real estate sector. Here are highlights from the interview, in which Kapoor looks at Orient-Express (NYSE: OEH), a premium property operator.

Forbes/Slatin: "As several recent reports have indicated, hotel stocks are continuing their strong performance while the current wave of privatization and consolidation also shows no sign of abating. What are the basic reasons behind your bullishness on the sector?

Amit Kapoor: Overall, momentum and fundamentals in the hotel market are very strong. The supply is limited and it will be at least two years before significant supply comes on line and starts affecting revPAR growth.

Forbes/Slatin: You've just released a very positive report on Orient-Express. What do you like in particular?