Destination: Middle East
by
Michael Yessis | 07.10.07 | 11:14 AM ET
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has had a busy few weeks. Not only was it busy issuing a press release claiming no affiliation with the new seven wonders, during meetings in Christchurch, New Zealand, the group added the Galapagos and their surrounding marine reserve; Samarra, Iraq; and Senegal’s Niokolo-Koba National Park to its list of endangered World Heritage sites. Two more sites—the Royal Palaces of Abomey, Benin and Kathmandu Valley, Nepal—were removed from the Danger List.
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Tags:
Global Village,
Australia & Pacific,
Australia,
Asia,
Nepal,
Europe,
Greece,
Netherlands,
Middle East,
Iraq,
Lebanon,
South America,
Colombia,
Ecuador,
News and Briefs
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Michael Yessis | 07.09.07 | 7:51 AM ET
Tags:
Architecture,
Travel 2.0,
Travel Tips,
Asia,
China,
India,
Europe,
Italy,
Middle East,
Jordan,
North America,
Mexico,
South America,
Brazil,
Peru,
News and Briefs
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Jim Benning,
Michael Yessis | 07.06.07 | 12:04 PM ET
Jim Benning and Michael Yessis unveil World Hum's seven wonders: places, things and people that embody ways the planet is shrinking and cultures are colliding
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Tags:
Airworld,
Geography for Fun and Profit,
Global Village,
Music,
Wonders of the World,
Asia,
China,
Beijing,
Middle East,
United Arab Emirates,
Dubai
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Jim Benning | 06.25.07 | 4:42 PM ET
by
Jim Benning | 06.22.07 | 12:01 PM ET
We thought the Maxim photo-shoot controversy we wrote about in April was all over. We figured the whole question of whether Israel should promote tourism by inviting Maxim magazine to photograph babes in bikinis in Tel Aviv—or just stick to a more traditional campaign focusing on Holy Land sites—was finally chalked up to one of those great unanswerable questions, not unlike, say, Jon Stewart’s recent question to “A Mighty Heart” star Angelina Jolie about whether the burka she wore in Pakistan was capable of containing all of her hotness. Some questions are simply too profound for answers. But the Maxim controversy rages on.
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Michael Yessis | 06.18.07 | 4:05 PM ET
Goodbye, high seas. Hello, Palm Jumeirah. One of the world’s grandest cruise ships, Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth 2, has been purchased by a division of a Dubai-owned corporation and by 2009 will become yet another mega spectacle in a land of mega spectacles. According to the AP, Istithmar, a division of government-owned Dubai World, purchased the famed British ship—it has carried royalty, troops to the Falklands War and the Norovirus from Acapulco to San Francisco—for $100 million and plans to turn it into a “floating hotel, retail and entertainment destination” off the coast of the manmade Palm Jumeirah island.
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Frank Bures | 06.18.07 | 1:45 PM ET
The "Lonely Planet 2007 Blue List" and Adam Russ's "101 Places Not to Visit" spur Frank Bures to contemplate why travelers don't always want to be delivered from inconvenience.
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Tags:
Dark Tourism,
Favelas,
Guidebooks,
Lonely Planet,
Travel Books,
Africa,
South Africa,
Asia,
Cambodia,
Middle East,
United Arab Emirates,
Dubai
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Jim Benning | 06.07.07 | 10:43 AM ET
<Photo of Damascus by zmyal via Flickr (Creative Commons).
The World Monument Fund has issued its 2008 list of 100 Most Endangered Sites. Threatened landmarks making the cut this time include Leh Old Town in Ladakh, India (increasing rainfall due to climate change is damaging medieval buildings); Machu Picchu (facing too many visitors and increasing ease of access); Old Damascus, Syria (pictured, where historic buildings are being “abandoned and demolished to make way for modern construction”); and Route 66 (as we recently noted, many sites are deteriorating).
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Tags:
Architecture,
Eco Travel,
Asia,
India,
Middle East,
Syria,
North America,
Canada,
South America,
Peru,
News and Briefs
by
Julia Ross | 06.06.07 | 4:12 PM ET
As a woman, I relish the freedom of traveling alone but admit there are times and places where gender matters. Just last week, on my first trip to Vietnam, I found myself fending off aggressive touts and motorcycle taxis on every street corner in Hanoi while male tourists walked by unnoticed. An annoyance, but nothing on par with Los Angeles Times reporter Megan Stack’s experiences in Saudi Arabia. In a riveting story, Stack recounts, in very personal terms, the rising anger she felt at being treated as a “lesser being” during four years of covering the kingdom as the paper’s Cairo bureau chief.
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Jim Benning | 05.25.07 | 6:40 PM ET
The Zeitgeist spans the globe this week, as travelers consider daredevil skiing, the world’s most dangerous city and changes to an old-media island.
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
New York Times (current)
For Daredevil Skiing, the Season Is Now
* It’s slush-time at Tuckerman Ravine in New Hampshire
Best Tourists in the World
Expedia Survey of European Hoteliers (current)
Japanese tourists
* And the worst: French tourists
Most Popular Travel Story
Netscape (this week)
One Day in the World’s Most Dangerous City
* A snapshot of a day in Baghdad from Spiegel Online
Most Viewed Travel Story
Los Angeles Times (current)
Landing of Airbus A380 jet at LAX should be huge
* Seriously? Talk about old news.
Most Read Weblog Post
World Hum (this week)
Disney’s Tom Sawyer Island: Too Old Media for 2007
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
USA Today (current)
Five hidden, affordable beach destinations
* No, Mexico City’s faux playa didn’t make the list
Most Popular Page Tagged Travel
Del.icio.us (recent)
Farecast
* Promising “free and accurate airfare predictions”
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Jim Benning | 05.02.07 | 3:24 PM ET
Here at the Planet Theme Park desk, it’s hard to keep up with all the projects in the works, but we try. In the latest news, a $100 million Bollywood theme park is planned for the Indian city of Mumbai—or Bombay if you’re a certain UK newspaper apparently still in denial about that whole name change thing that was so 1995.
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Michael Yessis | 04.24.07 | 10:57 AM ET
It’s not a new idea, visiting the countries U.S. President George W. Bush dubbed the “Axis of Evil.” Ben Anderson, for instance, did it several years ago, and the BBC broadcast several programs based on his travels. Now Lonely Planet founder Tony Wheeler has written “Bad Lands: A Tourist on the Axis of Evil,” in which he chronicles his travels through Bush’s original three “axis” countries—Iran, Iraq and North Korea—plus Afghanistan, Albania, Burma, Cuba, Libya and Saudi Arabia.
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Tags:
Africa,
Ethiopia,
Libya,
Asia,
North Korea,
Europe,
Albania,
Middle East,
Iran,
Iraq,
News and Briefs
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Michael Yessis | 04.18.07 | 7:25 AM ET
by
Michael Yessis | 04.06.07 | 9:35 AM ET
Lots to see in the Zeitgeist this week. Travelers are taking a long look at racing in Las Vegas, sinking ships in Greece, dancing in China and Lonely Planet’s new video channel.
Most Viewed Travel Story
Los Angeles Times (current)
Bright Lights & Formula One Engines Rule in Las Vegas
* Two reasons for a look: Pulitzer winner Dan Neil wrote it, and there’s video.
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
USA Today (current)
Greek Cruise Ship Sinks After Rescue
* The AP has the video.
Most Watched Video
LonelyPlanet.tv (current)
miniclips
* Lonely Planet debuted its travel video channel this week.
Most Read Weblog Post
World Hum (this week)
India’s ‘Spiritual Backbone’: Two End-to-End Explorations Down the Ganges River
* The last of Morning Edition’s five-part series runs today.
Most Viewed Travel Story
Telegraph (current)
A Little Italy on Board
Top Travel and Adventure Audiobook
iTunes (current)
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
Most Popular Travel Podcast
iTunes (current)
Travel With Rick Steves
* This week Steves covers the pilgrimage on El Camino de Santiago in Spain and tourism in Iran.
Most Popular Travel Story
Netscape (this week)
If Apple Designed A Private Jet
* It would, of course, be called the iJet.
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Tags:
Air Travel,
Audio-Video,
Train Travel,
Asia,
China,
India,
Europe,
Greece,
Italy,
Spain,
Middle East,
Iran,
North America,
United States,
Nevada,
Las Vegas,
Literary Travel
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Jim Benning | 04.03.07 | 8:35 AM ET
That’s the question vexing those debating how to market the nation to tourists. Interestingly, an Israeli consular official recently invited a camera crew from Maxim magazine to photograph a bikini-clad model in Tel Aviv, arguing that the best way to improve the country’s image among young men was with “good-looking women,” the official told Newsweek. Others insist that Biblical sites set Israel apart and should be emphasized. Which raises the question: Can you sell Holy sites to would-be religious tourists and secular good times to Maxim readers at the same time?
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