Showing posts with label cruise ships. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cruise ships. Show all posts

Thursday, June 26, 2008

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

Use the players on this page, or click the title above to listen to this podcast.

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.

Saturday, February 09, 2008

Travelography #108: Cruise Trends for 2008

Use the players on this page, or click the title above to listen to this podcast.

I recorded this week's Travelography at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport using a simple microphone on a Macbook Pro It does not have the best sound quality (sorry about that), but at least I got it out.

Only two stories for this week's Travelography, though the first one s quite long.

- Cruise trends for 2008 include grwing popularity for European cruises, while Americans look more to Central America.

- Cruises to Cuba have declined 90% since 2005 - find out why!

Friday, November 09, 2007

NaPodPoMo - Travelography 2.0 - Daily Podcast Challenge - Nov 7 to 9

So I was wondering what NaVloPoMo was that CherlyColan on Twitter was talking about, and I stumbled on the NaPodPoMo website on Ning.com. NaPodPoMo = National Podcast Post Month, and those who sign up in the month of November as supposed to post a podcast every day for 30 days.

Even though I came down with a head cold a couple of days ago, this sounded kind of fun, and I had just signed up for Utterz.com, so I though I would give it a try. I am calling these NaPodPoMo podcast posts "Travelography 2.0" as they will be very short, un-edited versions of my Travelography: World Travel and Tourism News podcast. I will add them to this blog entry as they are recorded.

Here is the first one for 7 November 2007:
For 8 November 2008:
For 9 November 2008

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Travelography #83: Passport Cards + Errors - and - Cruise Deaths + Taxes

This is a PCN Travelography Podcast related post This is a PCN Travelography Podcast related post. Use the players on this page, or click the title above to listen to this podcast.

A passport card will soon to be tested for US citizens traveling in North America. With the flood of new applications, about 1% of new US passports are found to contain errors. Along with a rise in passengers, cruise ship deaths are also increasing. And Alaska struggles to tax gaming revenues on cruise ships.

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Travelography #71: Dangerous Planes, Sleepy Crews, $10 Skybus, Cruise Dumps

This is a PCN Travelography Podcast related post Use the players on this page, or click the title above to listen to this podcast.

The US government warns of the dangers of flying on Indonesia-based airlines. A sleepy British Airlines flight crew delays a flight from India to the UK by 13 hours. Super-budget Skybus Airlines will offer $10 tickets on all flights starting May 22. And Florida tries to limit sewage dumping by cruises to nowhere.



Thursday, April 19, 2007

Travelography #70: Asia Cruises, Mega Cruise Ports, and a Mini Potala Palace

This is a PCN Travelography Podcast related post Use the players on this page, or click the title above to listen to this podcast.

The cruise industry is hoping to expand cruising in Asia. Ports in the Caribbean, including Miami, are needing major upgrades to handle the new crop of mega cruise ships. And China is building a scaled version of the Potala Palace to divert some of the large numbers of visitors traveling to Tibet from the real palace.

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Travelography #53: Cell Phones on Planes & Boats; and Niche Travel Competes

PCN Travelography Podcast related post"> (click on the title above to go to the PCN TRAVELOGRAPHY web page)

Emirates Airlines may become the first to offer inflight cell phones use in January 2007. Cell phones may also be part of your next cruise experience. Niche travel products are gaining market share against the big online travel agencies. And, EMiles.com offer free miles for watching advertisements online.

Saturday, March 18, 2006

Travelography #18: Brits Ban Australia, Choice Seats , and Cruise Victim Rights

This is a PCN Travelography Podcast related post (click on the title above to go to the PCN TRAVELOGRAPHY web page)

Australia's 'Bloody Hell" tourism campaign is banned from UK television; Asian tourism growth is export heaven for Australian beef industry; Northwest Airlines starts charging extra for prime isle and emergency exit row seats; US Airfares went up last week; and the US Congress holds hearings on cruise ship crime and safety issues.

Links to this week's Travelography stories:


Sunday, November 06, 2005

G4T #16: Travel, Tourism and the Environment

This is a Geography for Travelers Podcast related post-- Click on the title above to listen to this podcast --

Today's podcast focuses on the natural environment: how tourists relate to the natural environment, the impacts of tourism on the natural environment, and closing with a few words on ecotourism.

Ecotourism -- Personally, I prefer to pronounce ecotourism as 'ee-co-tourism' - with a long 'e', which I derive from the world "ecology." Some people (maybe the majority?) prefer to say 'e-co-tourism' - with a short 'e', as in 'elephant'. I assume they are basing this on the word 'ecosystem', which is sometimes (often?) pronounced with a short 'e'. Dictionary.com uses the long 'e' pronunciation, so perhaps I am in the majority.

Total Length: 30 minutes, 19 seconds. If you have any thoughts on this feel free to leave a comment, or email me at travelgeographer@msn.com

Here are the links to items mentioned in today's podcast:

* Australia Garners Friendliest Nation in the World Award - Travel News Wire
<http://www.travelwirenews.com/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000063/006311.htm>
* Grand Canyon to Get Glass Bridge - National Geographic News
<http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/08/0826_050826_grandcanyon.html>
* City OKs Subsidies for Downtown Hotel - Los Angeles Times
<http://www.knowledgeplex.org/news/118690.html>
* Cruise Ship Repels Somali Pirates - BBC News (also has a link to a video news clip)
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4409662.stm>
* The Amateur Traveler Podcast
<http://amateurtraveler.com/>