WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — Sheraton Hotels & Resorts and Four Points by Sheraton Hotel brands will ban smoking at more than 300 hotels and resorts throughout the U.S., Caribbean and Canada.

The new policy follows one implemented at Westin Hotels & Resorts, which became smoke-free in 2006. Westin and Sheraton are both owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts.

Some 8,000 rooms at the hotels will be cleaned, including treatments for air conditioning, walls, rugs, upholstery and hard surfaces.

Smoking will also be banned in public areas in the hotels but there will be a designated outdoor area at each property for guests who smoke.

Both hotel brands expect to be completely smoke-free in the U.S. and Canada by Dec. 31.

Schwarzenegger stars in new tourism ads

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is heading a cast of California food and wine celebrities in a new tourism ad campaign.

The campaign focuses on a new Web site, http://www.landofwineandfood.com, and stems from a partnership between the California Wine Institute and the California Travel and Tourism Commission.

The TV ad features a number of food and wine stars, including top chef Thomas Keller of The French Laundry restaurant in the Napa Valley and vintner Andrew Firestone, who also appeared on ABC’s “The Bachelor.”

The spot ends with a shot of Schwarzenegger and his wife Maria Shriver sitting at a restaurant overlooking the coast.

Jamaica to tap market for religious tourism

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Jamaica plans to tap into the thriving market for religious-oriented tourism to invigorate the island’s sagging economy, government officials and business leaders said.

A new convention center, to be built by 2009, will attract some of the millions of travelers who attend religious conferences outside of their home countries, said Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett. The global religious tourism market is an $18 billion-a-year industry with some 300 million travelers, according to the Colorado-based World Religious Travel Association.

Smithsonian delays reopening until fall

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History is delaying its reopening from this summer to the fall.

Museum Director Brent Glass said the museum has received inquiries from visitors making travel plans, and wanted to provide them with a more realistic time frame for the reopening. An exact date has not been set.

The museum closed in the fall of 2006 for an $85 million renovation. Some of its most popular artifacts, such as Dorothy’s ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz,” are on display at the nearby National Air and Space Museum during construction.

The renovation follows a 2002 commission report that sharply criticized the museum for its confusing layout and its less-than-inclusive presentation of history.

Law bars replacement of Tomb of Unknowns

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress has blocked the possible replacement of the cracked Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery, deciding instead to study repairs to the existing marble monument.

A defense bill President Bush signed into law Jan. 28 included an amendment to prevent replacement of the tomb, pending a report to Congress. The cemetery had been leaning toward replacing the monument, which was installed in 1931, to maintain its dignity.

But now that replacement of the stone has been stalled, the cemetery plans to make repairs to the monument later this year, said John Metzler, the cemetery’s superintendent. The last repairs were made in 1989.

The work — with guidance from National Park Service stone conservators — involves replacing the existing grouting on the monument and cleaning the stone with water and a soft brush.