Travelography #118: Travel Woes and the Jamaican Bobsled Returns

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Stories discussed in this podcast are from the Travelography Twitter Blog for the week of 1 July 2008:

1. Car rental companies issue profit warning

   "...As with the entire industry, we are confronting rising fuel costs, weaker-than-expected enplanements, lower commercial travel volumes and lower time and mileage rates per day," said [the Avis Budget Group Inc] Chairman

2. Yellowstone reports record June visitation

   Visitation to Yellowstone National Park hit a new record in June, and is on a near-record pace for the first six months of the year. Park officials say Yellowstone recorded more than 612,000 recreational visits last month.

3. Rental Upgrade to Gas Guzzler? No T'anks

   When I went to the counter, they had upgraded me from a compact to a big SUV at the same price [as my compact reservation]. After arguing with the counter person, the manager came out...He then explained that all they had left were the big SUV.

4. China doubles the price of its tourist visas ahead of Olympics

   Many hotels in Beijing are struggling to find guests, some large travel agencies have temporarily closed branches, and people scheduled to travel here for seminars and conferences are cancelling...

5. Business Travel Coalition warns congress about airline industry failure

   "Unless something is done to move toward some kind of fix, we're going to see every one of our major airlines in bankruptcy....Virtually all airlines will be out of cash by early in 2009 if oil stays in its current range."

6. Canada's tourism industry on verge of crisis

   Many things have been blamed for recent downturn of the Canadian tourism industry including gas prices, the high Canadian dollar, the downturn in the U.S. economy, 9-11 and the SARS crisis.

7. New [US] Airline Passengers Rights Bill A Victory

   ...These plans must detail how the air carrier will provide food, water, restroom facilities, ventilation, and necessary medical treatment for passengers on board an aircraft that is on the ground for an extended time period without terminal access.

8. Bhutan increases tourism tariff for foreign tourists

   The country will increase daily tariff for tourists entering the country by US$50...from $200 to $250 [to offset the deline in the US$ and increase in tour operating costs]. However, the revised tariff will be applicable only during the peak seasons.

9. Australia | Desperately seeking a tourist trap

   Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has pilloried the previous government's "so where the bloody hell are you" tourism campaign, calling it a "rolled-gold disaster". Tourism Australia is expected to announce the name of the advertising agency this week that will...

10. TripAdvisor acquires VirtualTourist and OneTime

    TripAdvisor, the world's largest travel community and an operating company of Expedia, announced it has acquired VirtualTourist.com, Inc., a leader in user-generated travel content since 1999, and OneTime.com, Inc., a leader in travel booking comparison.

11. New Zealand tourism revenue hits record

    International tourism contributed $6.7 billion to total New Zealand exports, and domestic tourism expenditure was $8.6 billion, the agency said. International visitors increased 2.8 percent to 2.5 million in the year to March 2007...

12. Unique bobsled tourist attraction opens in Jamaica

    The expansive multi-million-dollar tourism attraction features an exciting and unique Jamaican Bobsled ride through the lush tropical forest, a chairlift journey over the verdant countryside, a zip-line canopy adventure through the treetops, an island...

Travelography #117: US-UK Border, Quake-Lakes, and Best Travelers

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Stories discussed in this podcast are from the Travelography Twitter Blog for the week of 23 June 2008:

1. US and UK border agencies agree to expedite travel

   the Global Entry pilot program builds upon other trusted traveler programs, such as NEXUS (with Canada) and SENTRI (with Mexico), designed to facilitate and expedite the entry process for pre-registered low-risk international travelers into the US.

2. China to turn dangerous 'quake lakes' into tourist spots

   "The scientific development of the quake lakes will be an important part of the rebuilding plan of new Beichuan," Chen Xingchuan, head of the Communist Party's Beichuan Rebuilding Committee was quoted as saying.

3. Beijing tourists to France drop 70 percent, ambassador says

   According to a recent survey cited by the China Daily, many Chinese have developed negative feelings toward France after the Paris leg of the international Beijing Olympic torch relay was thrown into chaos by pro-Tibet protesters in April.

4. Hoteliers vote Japanese world's best tourists

   They rated the travellers on manners, willingness to learn the local language and sample the cuisine, tidiness, generosity and stylishness. The Japanese won top prize for being overall best tourists...American tourists came in at number 11 overall.

5. Lyndhurst [NJ] is suing travel websites for its local hotel tax

   ...the internet travel sites negotiate room prices with hotels at a wholesale rate, then charge travelers who book through their websites a higher retail rate. However, the companies remit taxes only on the lower wholesale rate, the lawsuit charged.

6. State panel kills cruise safety bill that would have put peace officers aboard ships sailing from California ports

   It would have been the most stringent regulation in an industry that victim-rights advocates contend is governed by a vague web of federal and international rules that allows crime and crime reporting to fall through the cracks.

7. Bush-Wacked! President Causes 40K Delays

   Nearly 40,000 travelers will remember U.S. President George W. Bush's stopover in London. Their flights were canceled or delayed at Heathrow Airport to accommodate him, according to British Airways.
   
   

Travelography #116: Carry-On Baggage Police + Other Innovations

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Stories discussed in this podcast are from the Travelography Twitter Blog for the week of 16 June 2008:

1. Olympic Fever in Xinjiang

   With the Beijing Olympic torch expected in Xinjiang on its nationwide tour, authorities have also confiscated the passports of some Muslims, Uighurs told AFP. "They are afraid people might travel abroad and join some sort of plot against the Olympics,"

2. Murders prompt warning to Jamaica tourists

   After three people were murdered in Jamaica last weekend, travellers to the island were warned not to hire self-drive cars but instead to take organised tours and taxis.

3. Orbitz to automatically refund travelers when their airfares drop

   If that happens, Orbitz will issue a refund for the difference, between $5 and $250 per traveler. Orbitz will continue tracking until the day of the customer's flight. Each time the price drops and another customer books, the refund amount will increase.

4. Turkish private airline restarts regular flights to Nothern Iraq

   Although Arbil is a high-risk area in terms of security, charter companies have always been interested in flying to the region because of the high profitability.

5. The carry-on-baggage police will soon be out in force at US airports

   American and United will station airline employees or hired contract workers at entrances to security screening lanes to intercept customers exceeding the carry-on limit of one bag small enough to fit in an overhead bin and one personal item like a purse>

6. 60 percent of couples fight on holiday

   The reasons for holiday tiffs differ enormously throughout Europe. With their latin temperaments, the Spanish are especially prone to react aggressively to their partners’ flirting: 60 percent of them named jealousy as the reason for arguments.

7. Top 10 travel innovations of the past 10 years

   So many ideas came in that they put the 20 finalists to a vote at BudgetTravel.com - results: Online maps, Digital cameras, Online checkin, GPS, Worldwide ATMs, Cell phones, Global Internet access, TripAdvisor, Online booking, and Roller bags

Travelography #114: Families NOT First, $FO & Hello Kitty

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Links to this week's stories

(also available at http://twitter.com/travelography)

American and United airlines takes on family pre-boarding: Families with small children may request.. http://tinyurl.com/6ja7py

Americans take 41 million fewer flights, survey shows: More than half of respondents said either.. http://tinyurl.com/6f7x26

French tour operators say Chinese boycottof France ‘catastrophic’: French authorities are trying to.. http://tinyurl.com/6xvh3b

San Francisco rakes in billions in traveler dollars: retweet @latimestravel - On my last trip there.. http://tinyurl.com/5qnjj8

Hello Kitty to be appointed Japan's tourism ambassador: It will mark the first time a cartoon .. http://tinyurl.com/5jddjv

Eco-communities around the world open up to tourists: Environmentally conscious travelers can find .. http://tinyurl.com/6xz8me

Travelography #113: China, Thailand, UK, US, Iraq, and Airlines

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THIS WEEK'S STORIES: China's Premier On-Line Travel Booking Site Launches in the U.S.: China's premier and fastest-growi.. http://tinyurl.com/58sppl about 22 hours ago
Tourism Authority of Thailand launches the amazing Experience Video Contest and the Thailand Portfo.. http://tinyurl.com/6rjn7u about 22 hours ago
Green Hotel Rating System Launched in Great Britain: The Green Start project aims to encourage a â€.. http://tinyurl.com/5wzdft 06:08 PM May 05, 2008
Iraq signs deals for 40 planes from Boeing: "Today, the process of developing economy has started,".. http://tinyurl.com/6kpmjk 06:08 PM May 05, 2008
Global Traffic Continues to Slow: The slowdown in the demand growth continues the sharp downward tr.. http://tinyurl.com/65warx 06:08 AM May 04, 2008 Airline torches woman's baggage: The airline reportedly issued Blewitt a "baggage irregularity rece.. http://tinyurl.com/5ocuds ----- THESE AND OTHER TRAVEL AND TOURISM STORIES CAN ALSO BE FOUND AT HTTP:/TWITTER/TRAVELOGRAPHY LOOK FOR THE NEW TRAVELOGRAPHY PODCAST COMING IN JUNE 2008

Travelography #111: Euros, Spies, Crime and Tourism

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The first story today is about the trend for some large tourist cities on the east coast of the US to accept Euros in addition to dollars because of the many Europeans who are going shopping in the US. Reminds me of my recent trip to Cambodia, where they prefer dollars over the Cambodian Riel.

This is followed by a warning from the US State Dept that Americans (and anyone else) going to China for the Olympics (and in fact any other time) need to be aware that their hotel rooms, movements and conversations may all be bugged/monitored by Chinese authorities. So, when in China, smile -- you are on candid camera!

Also in China is a discussion of an increase in crimes againsts tourists, as Chinese theives seem to becom more emboldened. Still on the crime topic, Thailand's tourist police will be issuing whistles to women in "risky spots" (which seems like just about everywhere, in an effort to reduce crime concers following a year of negative publicity over murders and rapes of tourists (mostly females) in Thailand.

A final tourism and crime story comes from Sicily, Italy where a new tourists guide to the Mafia has been published -- again in an effort to reduce tourists fears of visiting the island, and to help them spot Mafiosi on the streets of the city!

GET MORE TRAVELOGRAPHY TRAVEL AND TOURISM NEWS STORIES ON TWITTER at: http://twitter.com/Travelography

Alan A. Lew

Travelography #106: Hyrdofoils Collide, Tourists Molested & Selling the USA

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Three stories from Singapore's Straits Times newspaper from last week:

Two hydrofoils full of tourists collided in fog between Hong Kong and Macau, sending many to the hospital.

India starts a campaign to protect foreign female tourists from sexual molesters -- mostly groping, which seems to be a major problem in that country.

The US is still trying to gain back the international tourist arrivals that it received prior to 9/11. To do this, an increasing number of states and cities are running advertisements for the first time in Europe.

These stories came from the local newspaper in Singapore. I found the links above by searching online for similar stories.

Travelography #100 - Theme Parks Boom, Gorillas Grow, and Air Hostess Games

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Today's Stories:
- Amusement parks are doing well world wide
- Mountain gorillas bring high end tourist money to Uganda
- Women compete for airline hostess positions on a new game show in China

Links:
Amusement park and attractions business to grow in Asia and Europe but will go steady in US
Rare mountain gorillas prepared for tourists
China's airline clones

Travel Geography Podcast (this website)
Travelography News on Ning
Travelography News on Twitter
Listen to Travelography on you phone +1 (360) 227-5594

Travelography #97 - Great Wall of Sand, 750 mi. Golf Course, and Cold War Tours

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Stories in today's podcast include: (1) Growing sand storms are eroding away the Great Wall of China; (2) Australia building 750 mile / 1200 km long golf course; (3) US National Park Service offering nuclear reactor tours in Washington State; and (4) New tour of life in a Communist town in Poland.

Main Story Links:

Sandstorms Are Eroding Great Wall, China Says

Australia will fund world's longest golf course

Nuclear reactor a tourist hot spot

Poland's showcase of communism becomes offbeat tourist draw Other Related Links:

Geography for Travelers (this website)

Travelography News on Twitter

NaPodPoMo (National Podcast Post Month)

Travelography 2.0 on Utterz.com

Listen to Travelography on you phone +1 (360) 227-5594

Travelography #93: China's Golden Week and Hong Kong Disneyland Struggles

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Lot of tourism news from China and Asia...
- China, Hong Kong, Macau and Malaysia are leading Asia to a record tourism year in 2007
- Huge numbers of tourists during China's National Day holiday causes some to question the value of Golden Weeks
- Over 1500 foreign tourists get lost in the mob of domestic tourists at China's Tiananmen Square
- Hong Kong Disneyland is under-performing as visitors say it it too small and culturally insensitive

Asia Pac Region sets record for international visitor arrivals

120 million Chinese celebrate Golden Week

Tienanmen Square scare: Tourists lose way

Poor attendance gives Hong Kong Disneyland financial woes

Geography for Travelers - this website

Travelography News on Twitter

Listen to Travelography on you phone +1 (360) 227-5594

Travelography #91: China Web Bookings, Flight Attendants, + Europe's Disabled

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Online bookings in China lag far behind much of the rest of the world due to thin travel agent profit margins. Flight attendants have one of the toughest jobs in travel. The Europe Union passes new laws to protect disabled air travelers.
--
Listen to Travelography on your Phone +1 (360) 227-5594

Links:

China's online travel services ready for take-off (?)

Flight attendants say morale is near rock bottom

Airline victory for disabled travellers in Europe

Geography for Travelers - this blog/website

Travelography News on Ning

G4T #56: A Soundseeing Trip to China's Danxiashan World Geopark

This is a Geography for Travelers Podcast related post (click on the title above to open the .mp3 file)

Danxiashan is a sandstone mountain region adjacent to the city of Shaoguan in northern Guangdong Province in China (north of Hong Kong). The landform is similar to the sandstone regions of northern Arizona (Sedona) and southern Utah, but in a subtropical vegetation zone.

I was at the Danxiashan World Geopark last week and recorded this week's Geography for Travelers Podcast while hiking around on the top of one of the more visited peaks.

My photos of Danxiashan and the surrounding area can be found here:
- http://flickr.com/photos/alew/tags/danxiashan/



Notes:

1. Due to time constraints we did not go to Danxiashan's two most famous rock formations -- the male rock and female rock. A search on those terms will find photos of these two less-than-family-suitable stone formations.
2. This soundseeing tour was recorded on my Zoom H4 stereo recorder. Wear earphones for the best experience.

The Geography for Travelers Podcast is found at http://travelgeography.info

Travelography #80: Africa Tourism Growth; China & Singapore Open Their Doors

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Despite major challenges, Kenya's tourism revenues increase and Mozambique sees a rise in tourism numbers. China will fully open its domestic market to foreign travel agencies for the first time this year. And young tourists from selected developed countries can seek employment in Singapore during their holiday visits.

Kenya records increased earnings in tourism

Hunting tourism revenues in Mozambique rise 27.6 pct in 2006

China opens domestic travel market to foreign travel agencies

Singapore to encourage tourists to look for jobs

Geography for Travelers

Travelography News on Ning

Travelography #76: Airline News: FAA, Virgin USA, Greenland, North Pole, China

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1. The US FAA will give airlines the option to either wait a storm out or fly around it.
   
2. Richard Branson has received approval to start his Virgin America budget airline this summer 2007.
   
3. Air Greenland launches first direct flight between the US and Greenland.
   
4. LTU starts the first scenic flights to the North Pole.
   
5. Direct US-China flights are set to more than double within the next five years.

Links to these five stories can be found at Travelography on PodcasterNews.com on Monday, 4 June 2007.

Travelography #72: Gender-based Travel and Vacations Growing in Popularity

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American Airlines, Iran and Afghanistan have all announced special efforts to market to female travelers. At the same time, "Mancations" (male bonding vacations) may becoming even more popular than female versions of the same.

UPDATE: Female versions of Mancations are called "Girlfriend Getaways" -- and there is even a new magazine with that title.

Here are links to today's stories:

Airline is first to tap women's travel market

Race on for first women’s only destination

Great getaways for guys - Active Travel Girlfriend Getaways

Geography for Travelers

Travelography on Ning

Travelography #69: Europe's Fast Trains and Cars, and Long Tunnels

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Four travel news stories today: France unveils the world's fastest train. Germany debates putting speed limits on its autobahns to protect the environment. The Swiss are building the worlds longest tunnel under the Alps. And China shows off the world's longest bus.

Train à Grande Vitesse: France Christens High-Speed Rail Link

Talk of speed limits on autobahn revs up Germans

Swiss dig world's longest tunnel

'World's largest' bus debuts in Shanghai

Blubrry.com

Travelography #66: Toxic Tours, Transplant Tours, and Web 2.0 Video Travel

(click on the title above to go to the PCN TRAVELOGRAPHY web page)

A couple of Dark Tourism stories today: the "Toxic Tour" in Los Angeles is free and growing in popularity; and China works to end organ transplant tourism. Then I discuss a couple of Web 2.0 Travel Sites from Emily Chang's eHub site: DigiLondon.com and GeoBeats.com. And related to this, the giant travel review site, TripAdvisor.com is starting to experiment with user videos.

L.A.'s 'Toxic Tour' takes passengers to sites of pollution nightmares

Call for marking an end to brutal practice of organ tourism in China

DigiLondon - The London visitor resource

Geobeats travel videos

Travolution Blog: TripAdvisor quietly unveils video tools

TripAdvisor Video

PCNTravel on Delicious

Geography for Travelers

Web 2.0 Travel Tools

Travelography #61: A Record 842 Million International Trips Taken Last Year

(click on the title above to go to the PCN TRAVELOGRAPHY web page)

The World Tourism Organization's 2006 preliminary numbers show a record 842 million international trips were taken in 2006, up 4.5% from 2005. Africa saw the highest percent growth, while North America grew the least. Tourism in any Asian countries is growing fast, which China being pegged to surpass Spain by 2010 to be the second most visited country in the world, after France. And ASEAN countries hope to promote more intra-regional travel.

Another Record Year for World Tourism

Asia’s Travel Industry Charges into 2007

Record Year for Singapore as Tourism Exceeds 2006 Targets

Asean Tourism Forum Opens

Open Skies, Single-Visa Regime Key To ASEAN

World tourism sets record in 2006, U.N. agency says

UNWTO: China set to surpass Spain by 2010

Vietnam tourism industry keen on achieving a new record in 2007

Korea targets 10 million inbound visitors by 2010

Travelography #52: Austria, Iraq, Fiji, Europe, iPods & China Love Cruise

(click on the title above to go to the PCN TRAVELOGRAPHY web page)

Austrian Airlines is first European to return to Iraq. Fiji's political problems are impacting tourism. First class and business passengers to get iPod video support. The US is losing out to Europe in attracting Asian business and leisure travelers. And a cruise from Shanghai for millionaires and attractive single women only. (I guess I wouldn't qualify!)

Austrian Airlines First European Carrier to Fly to Iraq

Tension grips tourism industry in Fiji

Fiji military to tourists: There will be no coup

Fliers with iPods may soon be able to plug in

U.S. business tourism suffers on travel restrictions

China love boat for millionaires

Travelography #44: Thai Coup Impacts, China - US Travel, & Travel with Skype

(click on the title above to go to the PCN TRAVELOGRAPHY web page)

The coup in Thailand is impacting tourist arrivals, but hopes are high that a new government will have more success in dealing with Muslim rebel attacks in southern Thailand that killed a Canadian tourist last week. More Chinese want to come to the US and four US airlines vie for a coveted new route between the US and China. And Skype goes shopping for a travel industry partner.

Click on the title above to go to the PCN website for links to these stories.

Click Here for the .MP3 File