Travelography #36: PCN News: African Windows, Aussie Airfare Scam, + Tibet's Railroad

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

Bill Gates and Microsoft are working with the World Tourism Organization to put Africa's tourist destinations online though the "Windows on Africa" portal. Australians fall for an airline ticket phishing scam. China and India open a third border crossing on the Sikkim-Tibet border. And the new Qinghai-Tibet Railroad (highest in the world) may change Tibet forever.

UNWTO and Microsoft to Boost e-Tourism for Development: Africa to be Primary Target

Tanzania seeks Bill Gates support in tourism publicity

Australian travelers duped by Internet fraud

India and China re-open Himalayan pass of Nathu La after 44 years

Qinghai-Tibet railway brings identity crisis for Tibet?

Tags: Microsoft,travel,tourism,Africa,Windows on Africa,portal,Australia,airfare scam,phishing,Sikkim,India,China,Tibet,border crossing,railroad,culture change,tourism impact

G4T #37.5: Tourism Tech Talk: Teaching Tourism

(click on the title above to download the .mp3 file)

Something really different this week. Like last week, this one comes from my recent trip to Australia and the conference I attended in Brisbane. David Timothy Duval (University of Otago, New Zealand) and I skipped out of a session of papers to sit down and talk about how we use technology in our tourism classes, and in everyday life. I cut a few things out of our over and hour discussion, but I also inserted a few clarifications. We cover a lot of territory, from podcasting to blogging to wikis to RSS aggregators to social bookmarking, and more. The result is my longest podcast yet, at 1 hr, 5 min, 44 sec.

I recorded this using my binaural microphones, with one mic set on one side of the coffee table and the other on the other side. The result is mildly stereophonic, though the telephone ringing at the end is very directional -- it sounds like it is on the table across my office everytime I hear it!

Hopefully you will find it of interest, as David and I are planning to do this again, via Skype, and probably with a more narrowly defined focus.

Relief Riders International - Life Changing Travel on Horseback

(this is a blog, not a podcast)

Welcome to Relief Riders International

This is life a changing trip on horseback - changing the lives of both the travelers and the people in the destination. Relief Riders International take small groups of travelers (about 15) on a truly unique experience. They ride horses to remote villages in India to distribute Red Cross medical and educational supplies, while staying in a wide variey accommodation, including old military forts and tents. The 15 day trip costs $4800.

Visit RRI's website (above) to see its stunning audio-visual presentation, which is powered by Dragonfly.com's multimedia web application.

See also: Experiential Travel Meets Experiential Technology: Relief Rides Come Alive

Tags: travel,tourism,India,development,Red Cross,horse,horseback

G4T #37: Travel 2.0: The Web 2.0 Travelscape

(click on the title above to download the .mp3 file)

Something new! I recorded the paper I presented at the conference I just got back from in Brisbane, Australia. This was at a meeting sponsored by the Tourism Commission of the International Geographical Union. The title of my paper was: "Travel 2.0: The Emerging Virtual Travelscape."

Interestingly, when I asked how many people had heard of the concept of "Web 2.0," only two people in the 30 or so who were in attendance raised their hands. As a regularly listeners of ITConversations.com, this was a shock to me. This major (in my opinion) social trend is apparently not getting much play beyond the blog/podosphere!

Here are a couple of links related to my talk:

- Web 2.0 Travel Tools (this is one my blogs)
- IGU Tourism Commission Website (I am the webmaster for this group)
- My Australia Trip travel blog (at MyLifeofTravel.com)

NEW: Next wave of travel websites feels like MySpace (Christian Science Monitor article)