Tag: tourism

Sri Lanka opens doors to luxury tourism a decade after Civil War

Loknath Das

In 2004 businessman Malik Fernando bought Castlereagh, a decrepit bungalow in the terraced, emerald hills of Sri Lanka’s sprawling tea country. The structure had no roof. “It was in absolute shambles,” he recalls. “There were cattle roaming through the whole house.” But it had one irresistible asset: “It was what was available,” he says, shrugging and welcoming me to the neat, gingerbread-style mansion on a clear, 80F winter day. That was enough to make it the perfect place for the area’s first luxury hotel. When Fernando closed 13 years ago…

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There is trouble in paradise. Unchecked tourism has damaged Southeast Asia’s pristine beaches

Loknath Das

Hordes of tourists clamber across the white sand with selfie sticks as Thai park rangers wade into turquoise waters to direct boats charging into the cliff-ringed cove. Made famous by the 2000 movie, The Beach, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Maya Bay on the western Thai island of Koh Phi Phi Ley is now a case study in the ruinous costs of runaway tourism, swamped by up to 4,000 daily visitors. “There is too many people here, it’s bad,” lamented Saad Lazrak, a 61-year-old from Morocco, as crowds around him swallowed the…

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Saint Helena, one of the most inaccessible islands where Napoleon was exiled, opens to tourism

Loknath Das

Made famous by French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, who was exiled there from 1815 until his death in 1821, the island of Saint Helena has long been too remote to be affected by tourism. But this may be about to change. From October 14, the South African company Airlink will begin weekly flights from Cape Town and Johannesburg. Flight time will be about six hours with a stopover in Namibia. Until now, the tiny British territory was only accessible by boat. Located in the South Atlantic to the West of the…

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CVB celebrates People of Cabarrus for travel, tourism week

Loknath Das

he Cabarrus County Convention and Visitors Bureau is participating in America’s week-long celebration of travel by highlighting the backbone of the area’s tourism industry—the People of Cabarrus. On Tuesday, May 9, the nation’s official Travel Rally Day, the Cabarrus County CVB hosted a special event at the Visitor Center to thank the community’s hospitality and tourism professionals and also began sharing a People of Cabarrus video series featuring personalities who represent an entire industry of ambassadors. “We’re fortunate to have a community full of talented, friendly people who create an…

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Asian growth pushes global tourism beyond 1.2bn arrivals

subhadip

The world’s destinations welcomed a combined total of 1.235 billion international overnight visitors in 2016, driven by the strength of the Asian market. According to the full-year data released this week by the UNWTO, global tourist arrivals increased by 3.9% in 2016, as an additional 46 million travelled overseas compared to 2015. And this growth was led by destinations in the Asia Pacific region, which increased 8% year-on-year, with an additional 24m arrivals taking the region’s total to 303m. This means that Asian destinations now handle approximately a quarter of…

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Spain to trap Indians thru movie tourism

subhadip

Spain is encouraging Indian movie-makers to apply its fiestas, cities and historic monuments as settings for his or her movies, which will increase percentage of India’s outbound tourism market. The parent reviews that Madrid will host the once a year worldwide Indian film Academy awards, known as the “Bollywood Oscars”, this 12 months. a few of the stars who will attend the awards ceremony might be Hrithik Roshan, superstar of the 2011 film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, which became produced in collaboration with the Spanish tourism promotion enterprise, Turespana. Indian…

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UNWTO: Bright future for Greek tourism

subhadip

United Nations World Tourism Organisation secretary general Taleb Rifai has expressed the confidence of the organisation in the continued growth of the tourism sector in Greece. In 2015, international tourist arrivals to Greece grew by seven per cent to reach 23.6 million, while exports generated by the sector increased by six per cent to €14.2 billion. Meeting Greek minister of tourism Elena Kountoura to discuss the situation and prospects of tourism in Europe and Greece Rifai said: “We have no doubt that Greece will maintain a powerful image worldwide as…

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Phuket’s Gentle Giant A homage to Buddha and cultural tourism

subhadip

Perched atop a 380 metre hilltop in Nakkerd Hills between Chalong and Kata is Phuket’s newest man-made attraction, Big Buddha or Ming Mongkol Buddha. This structure is dedicated to His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej in honour of his 80th birthday. There is also a smaller Brass Buddha that is 12 metres high and is constructed of 22 tons of brass, which is dedicated to HM Queen Sirikit.     [Source:- Mydestination]

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