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Stories discussed in this podcast are from the Travelography Twitter Blog for the week of 30 March to 6 April 2009. This podcast is also available at Blubrry.com and Travelgeography.info.
Gov. Linda Lingle, 90 business leaders and Hawaii's four mayors wrote Obama last week urging him to oppose any measure restricting companies that receive federal funds from using business meetings "as a legitimate business tool."
The new U.S. proposal contains no specific enforcement mechanism or penalties for limiting tourist operations. But it would require signatories to the pact to ensure that Antarctic tour operators bar ships with more than 500 passengers from landing sites, restrict landings to one vessel at a time per site and limit passengers on shore to 100 at a time. It would mandate a minimum of one guide for every 20 tourists while ashore, according to the documents.
Thai authorities have indefinitely closed tourist spots near the Preah Vihear temple as Thai and Cambodian soldiers clashed twice in the vicinity today (Friday), leaving two Thai and two Cambodian soldiers dead and several injured.
It used to be the signature sound of gambling: the clacking of coins spilling into metal trays on slot machines. But newer electronic machines that spit paper vouchers or credit winnings to cards now emit only canned noise.
The report urges the tourism industry should receive the highest priority in receiving stimulus funding. "Until tourism gets well, the rest of the economy cannot," ... "And the Hawaii tourism industry is in a crisis mode now."
Investors plan to set up a hotel catering exclusively to nudists in the picturesque Black Forest town of Freudenstadt, which incidentally translates as Town of Joys. Guests will be required to remove their clothes at the entrance and must be naked at all times while on the premises
The PATA (Pacific Asia Tourism Assn) Tourism Forecasts 2009-2011, to be published this month, suggest growth in international arrivals for many destinations across the region - despite the global economic downturn. The Forecasts indicate a very mixed bag of results with significant variations across Asia Pacific.
