Posts Tagged ‘tourism’
Is Venice dying?
It certainly seems that way to the Venetians who recently staged a mock funeral for their city. They were protesting the fact that the local population continues to shrink, while the cost of housing and the number of tourists continue to rise. A NY Times article reported on the event: Part photo opportunity, part political theater, [...]
Tourism in Afghanistan?
Yes, it’s true. It’s not an easy sell at the moment, but the Afghanistan government is looking to the future. It is training people to work in the tourism industry and is taking steps to try to lure travelers back to Afghanistan, which at one point was actually a popular stop on a tourist trail [...]
More than one million couchsurfers in the world
It appears that couchsurfing is continuing to grow in popularity. The website that became a trendy mode of travel is now going mainstream. Couchsurfing.com has passed the one million member milestone. Of course, as the Frugal Traveler points out, this growing popularity brings with it the danger that newcomers may not always be in it for [...]
Western tourists in Iraq
I wrote last fall about the Iraq Board of Tourism and its goal of building a tourist infrastructure and attracting foreign visitors to Baghdad and other parts of the country. It seemed like a faraway dream at the time, but in fact Iraq just recently played host to its first Western tourists in six years. According to [...]
Debating culture and tourism in Bali
It’s the eternal paradox of tourism. We travel to see exotic places and cultures, allegedly unspoiled by modern influences, and yet the very act of traveling there contributes to the despoiling of the native culture or the natural landscape. In an effort to investigate tourism’s impact on one of the world’s more unique cultures, John Bowe [...]
“Couchsurfing” differs for Asians
I’ve previously covered couchsurfing on this blog, both the idea behind it and the actual organization that connects people around the world by offering free places to stay. Now comes an interesting story that compares Western and Asian cultures in terms of their levels of comfort with the idea of hosting strangers in one’s home. It’s great for [...]
Tourists in Baghdad?
Well, yes, if Humoud Yakobi has his way. The chairman of the Iraq Board of Tourism, Yakobi has a vision of legions of tourists returning to Iraq. Not decades from now, but in the near future. The NY Times reports on Iraqi dreams of building a tourist infrastructure. Humoud Yakobi gazes at the rubble-strewn parking lot, the [...]
The changing face of travel
There is an interesting and in-depth interview with travel writer Rolf Potts on World Hum. Potts covers a variety of topics and it’s worth checking out the entire piece, especially if you’re interested in travel writing. But here is a small excerpt from the interview about the transformation of travel in recent decades. What major changes have [...]
Pilgrimage travel
A fast-growing travel niche is religion-based tourism, which caters to people who want to have a pilgrimage experience during their journey. This NY Times article has more information. Some 16 feet beneath the present-day street level of Damascus, the Syrian capital, just off the Street Called Straight, is a cramped, artificially lighted chapel with roughly cut [...]
Shopping and bargaining overseas
If you’ve traveled abroad, to someplace other than Europe, than chances are you’ve had an experience or two with haggling over prices in an overseas market. The drill is the same pretty much everywhere and, once you get used to the practice, it can even be a bit of fun. That’s what Yemisrach Kifle discovered, as well, and [...]
Disappearing destinations
The website New West has an interview online with Heather Hansen, co-author of the new book, Disappearing Destinations, which looks at the environmental challenges that are plaguing popular tourist destinations worldwide. An excerpt from the interview: How did you come up with the idea for Disappearing Destinations? Kim and I were at a conference in [...]
Nepal votes and tourists return
Nepal has long been a draw for intrepid travelers, with its Himalayan landscape and religious heritage, but political turmoil put a severe crimp into the country’s tourism industry for much of this decade. The political violence has now largely subsided, though, as evidenced by the democratic election that was held there yesterday. As a result, tourists are [...]
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