Travelography #158: Global Economy Hurting Tourism, Helping Sharks

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Summary of the some of the more interesting tourism news stories from this past week, most of which are related to the continuing global economic crisis in the tourism industry. There are, though, a few brights spots -- Natonal Parks, Cuba, Haiti, and Paulau's sharks. This podcast is available at PodcasterNews.com, Blubrry.com, TravelCastNetwork.com, and Travelgeography.info. And also check out Twitter.com/Travelography. Click Here for ALL of the News Stories discussed in this podcast. A couple of the top stories are: International Visitor Spending in the United States Down Sharply in July - July 2009 marks the ninth straight month in which U.S. travel and tourism-related exports were lower when compared to the same period of the previous year, having declined in November 2008 (-4%), December 2008 (-2%), January 2009 (-6%), February 2009 (-10%), March 2009 (-18%), April 2009 (-14%), May 2009 (-23%), June 2009 (-22%), and July (-24%). To protect tourism Palau creates shark sanctuary - In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Johnson Toribiong declared his country’s entire Exclusive Economic Zone, an area of 629 thousand square kilometers, or roughly the size of France as a "shark sanctuary," which will ban all commercial shark fishing. [I hope they can enforce it! - Alan]

Travelography #157: Fighting the Image War for Tourism

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This podcast is available at PodcasterNews.com, Blubrry.com and Travelgeography.info. And also check out Travelography on Twitter.com. Click Here for ALL of the News Stories discussed in this podcast. The Two Highlighted Stories for today are: Political Instability, Violence Threat to Asia's Tourism Industry   Political violence has done considerable damage to tourism in Asia and the Pacific over the past few years. But industry experts say the damage is not necessarily permanent. Governments and industry leaders say much can be done to rebuild tattered tourism reputations. Wish you were here? Asian war zones battle for tourists   Across a swath of south and south-east Asia previously wracked by war or strife, officials are carrying out a rebranding exercise to lure back tourists who have long been scared of visiting. In places such as Nepal, it is more like fine-tuning. In others, such as Kashmir, it means a complete overhaul.

Travelography #156: What do Brazil, Russia, Argentina have in Common?

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This podcast is available at PodcasterNews.com, Blubrry.com and Travelgeography.info. And also check out my Travelography on Twitter.com.

International Visitation To US Down 11% In June 2009

 

June 2009 marks the eighth consecutive month of decreases in international visitors spending. In the first six months 2009, visitors spent $60 billion, down 15 percent from the same period in 2008.

 

Travelography 155: Our Changing World: Geishas and Satellites

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This podcast is available at PodcasterNews.com, Blubrry.com and Travelgeography.info. And also check out my Travelography Twitter Blog.

Geisha turn barmaids to keep Japan’s ‘Floating World’ afloat

A traditional two-hour dinner with a geisha, who will entertain with music, dance performances and conversation, can cost as much as 67,000 yen ($715), more than half of which goes to the teahouse and an arranger, ... "It's a luxury industry, and like the high-end hotels, it has dropped," ... [However,] bookings have declined 50 percent since last October, the month after the collapse of [financial services firm] Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, ...

Economists Measure GDP Growth From Outer Space

 

Using U.S. Air Force weather satellite picture composites, they look at changes in a region’s light density over a 10-year period. “Consumption of nearly all goods in the evening requires lights,” ... “As income rises, so does light usage per person, in both consumption activities and many investment activities.” ... For example, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, lights suggest a 2.4-percent annual growth rate in GDP, while official estimates suggest a negative 2.6-percent growth over the same time period. The Congo appears to be growing faster than official estimates suggest. At the other end, Myanmar has an official growth rate of 8.6 percent a year, but the lights data imply only a 3.4-percent annual growth rate.

Travelography #154: Tourism is the New Flat

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Stories discussed in this podcast are from the Travelography Twitter Blog for the week of 26 August to 3 September 2009. This podcast is available at PodcasterNews.com, Blubrry.com and Travelgeography.info.

Travel is Growing Again!

“flat is the new up.” By that definition, and taking into consideration the trends and data discussed below, the good news is that U.S. Travel is growing again! Yes, this is a bullish view on our sector, but even if it’s premature, who couldn’t use good news?

Southwest Airlines adds charge to board sooner

... for an extra $10 each way Southwest passengers can automatically reserve a boarding position prior to general check-in. That would allow those customers to begin boarding the plane after certain elite fliers, who don't have to pay add-on fees for early boarding privileges. Unlike other carriers, Southwest does not offer assigned seating.