The World Travel Awards are perhaps the most respected set of awards in the travel industry, and this year marks the 15 year in a row the awards will be held. The awards are handed out regionally, and to commemorate the ceremony’s 15th anniversary a new regional branch will be created, and the awards will  Continue Reading »

For many of us, we live in neighbourhoods surrounded by people who are long-term residents, solidifying a sense of community, but for residents of Hawaii, they see a very high turnover of occupancy due to many residential homes being rented out for short-term periods for tourists. Whether its Oahu, Kauai or Maui, some Hawaiians are  Continue Reading »

Look out lonely Planet, there’s a new travel series coming to TV, ‘Bruce McGoose-Intrepid Traveler’. The series has a fairly simple concept. The lovable but slightly clueless host travels around the world, exploring some of the most popular tourist spots on the planet in order to entertain and educate as well. The series, which will  Continue Reading »

New research into the world’s great coral reef systems like the Great Barrier Reef in Australia has revealed that an unlikely culprit may be responsible for the reef’s steady degradation; sunscreen. Italian scientists have released new findings that reveal up to 10 percent of coral reefs are being damaged by chemicals found in UV-protective sunscreen  Continue Reading »

There was much ado about the 2007 ASEAN Tourism Forum that took place in Bangkok, Thailand recently, not least among the big announcements was Singapore’s tally sheet that showed the city-state set record for visitor arrivals and surpassed its own growth projections in the tourism sector. Over 10.3 million people visited Singapore last year, a  Continue Reading »

If you’re just now thinking of making a trip to the Chinese capital of Beijing to catch some of the Olympic Games, chances are you weren’t very serious about it in the first place. More than a million people are expected to swoop into the city for the 2008 Summer Olympics, and despite a hotel  Continue Reading »

Arthur Frommer was famous for his guidebooks that made it feasible to travel on a shoestring. His death last year meant the end of an era in many ways, but now his daughter, Pauline has stepped up to take over where her globetrotting father left off, guiding parsimonious travellers through some of the world’s most  Continue Reading »

The embargo on Cuba initiated by the United States in the 1960s is still in place, and American citizens are still technically not allowed to travel to the communist island nation just south of the Floridian tip. There has been much talk over the past couple of years of what despotic leader Fidel Castro’s death  Continue Reading »

Despite the current financial hard times for many industries around the world, the World Travel & Tourism Council reported recently that while other industries buckle down for a crunch, the travel industry is experiencing a higher growth rate than expected. Recent studies by the WTTC and Oxford Economics have shown that after a strong 2007,  Continue Reading »

Tourists that wish to combine volunteer work with their holidays are growing in numbers, and a recent survey undertaken by Condé Nast traveller and msnbc.com shows that over half of those surveyed had thought about making their next trip abroad a voluntourism journey. Over 1,600 people were surveyed, and with 20% saying they had already  Continue Reading »

Japan has always held much fascination in the Western heart. Images of shuffling geisha, burly sumo wrestlers, conical Mount Fuji and wooden plates of sushi figure prominently in our imaginations. One other oft-associated image with ancient Japan is the Ninja. Now tourists can take ninja classes and other particular courses during their visits in the  Continue Reading »

When European travellers go abroad, each country is known for its own foibles and idiosyncrasies. The parsimonious Dutch, the fickle Brits and the boozy Irish are all stereotypes that have preceded the countries’ ambassadors abroad. But these days, it seems that the demands and habits of European travellers are becoming more and more similar. And  Continue Reading »