Tag: Tourism
Beirut: It’s Hot Again!
by Eva Holland | 08.25.09 | 4:16 PM ET
What do Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton and the members of Keane have in common? According to Global Post, they’re among the celebrities who’ve popped up in Beirut this summer, part of the city’s resurgence as “the party and cultural headquarters of the Middle East” after three years of violence and turmoil. And, happily for the Lebanese economy, the tourists are following in Snoop Dogg’s footsteps—in record numbers.
Email to friend
del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Furl
Ma.gnolia
Mixx
Reddit
StumbleUpon
Yahoo! BuzzThe Plight of the ‘Long-Neck Women,’ Continued
by Michael Yessis | 08.24.09 | 10:21 AM ET
The Washington Post’s Amit R. Paley is the latest to visit the long-neck women of the Padaung tribe in Thialand and ask: “Were tourists really being taken to see virtual prisoners? And if so, would my visit encourage slavery by paying money to human traffickers? Or would I be able to sound the alarm if I saw real human rights violations?”
Last year we blogged about several other stories about the women.
‘Central Perk’ Lands in London
by Eva Holland | 08.21.09 | 9:56 AM ET
OK, let’s see if I’ve got this right: A fake New York City coffee shop—you remember Central Perk, from “Friends,” right?—that never actually existed outside of a Los Angeles soundstage now has its very own functioning replica, in London? I’m guessing this is one tourist attraction they won’t even attempt to bill as “authentic.”
NPR on Cuba’s Tourism ‘Allure’
by Eva Holland | 08.20.09 | 2:14 PM ET
With a possible end to the travel ban in the works, Jason Beaubien takes a look at Cuba from the potential American tourist’s perspective. One tour guide he spoke to acknowledged that, infrastructure-wise, Cuba may not be ready for an American influx. “But,” he added, “if you ask me about the will of the Cuban people, I would say, yes, we are ready. We would like to have more exchange with the American people coming from the U.S. to Cuba.”
20 Reasons for Tourist Gratitude
by Eva Holland | 08.17.09 | 11:14 AM ET
Fed up with flight delays? Hotel wi-fi cutting out? Take a deep breath and check out the Telegraph’s list of 20 reasons why Victorian travelers had it worse. Among the highlights: rickety stagecoaches, damp sheets, and the “Inodorous Standard Pail” offered in lieu of a toilet. There. Feel better now?
Interview with Nick Bonner: Touring North Korea
by Cullen Thomas | 08.13.09 | 10:30 AM ET
Cullen Thomas talks to the founder of Koryo Tours about his fascination with North Korea and providing tours to the land of Kim Jong Il
A Reporter Explores New York’s Crowded Skies
by Eva Holland | 08.12.09 | 4:40 PM ET
In the wake of the weekend collision between a small plane and a helicopter over the Hudson, some tough questions are being asked about the volume of sightseeing flights in New York City’s airspace. The New York Times’ Russ Buettner went for a ride with a veteran pilot to see just how crowded the skies—and how great the views—can be.
‘The Cove’ Takes Aim at Dolphin Encounters
by Eva Holland | 08.10.09 | 2:00 PM ET
A new documentary hopes to dampen the demand for “dolphin encounters,” the ever-popular swim-with-dolphins attractions found worldwide. “The Cove,” which won the Audience Award at Sundance before opening in theaters this past weekend, examines the killing and capture of dolphins in coastal Japan—and its star, Ric O’Barry, says explicitly that one of the filmmakers’ goals is to make tourists “think twice before buying a ticket.”
Picturing a staid moralizing tale? Think again. The movie is being billed as part “Flipper” and part “Bourne Identity”—here’s the surprisingly dramatic trailer:
Adventures in Unfortunate Place Names
by Eva Holland | 08.07.09 | 2:39 PM ET
Fill in the blanks: Residents in F**king, Austria, are sick of tourists flocking for lewd photo-ops with the town’s signage, but across the border the folks in W**k, Germany, think F**king should learn to embrace the crude humor—and cash in. That’s what W**k’s tourism leaders have done: Said one W**k spokesperson, “There are W**k postcards on sale although many people prefer to take their own W**k holiday snaps standing beside Welcome to W**k signs.” And understandably so. I’ll leave the DIY jokes to less refined bloggers.
Hitchens: A Taste of Japan in California
by Eva Holland | 08.05.09 | 5:02 PM ET
In his latest over at Slate, Christopher Hitchens visits a Japanese cultural festival in Palo Alto and makes a nice point about reconciliation in the wake of Pearl Harbor, civilian internment camps and the atomic bomb. What I liked best, though, was his observation about the resilience of cultural events in the face of rising tourist interest. Hitch writes:
There’s a large turnout of non-Japanese for these attractions, getting larger every year it seems to me, but it doesn’t succeed in swamping the main event or in making it into a mere tourist attraction. You come across a group of grave and serious Japanese gardeners, engaged in the judging of a bonsai competition, and you suddenly appreciate that nothing can turn this consideration into a hucksterish sideshow.
(Thanks Frank Bures.)
Museums and the Lost Art of ‘Slow Looking’
by Eva Holland | 08.05.09 | 2:41 PM ET
In the New York Times this week, Michael Kimmelman watched tourists power-walking through the Louvre, and lamented the lost days of “slow looking” at museums and galleries. I enjoyed the article, and I can certainly relate—my first visit to Notre Dame, in Paris, was largely spoiled by a businessman who dashed up and down the aisles holding a camcorder over his head while shouting into a cellphone—but at the same time, if the faster-moving visitors aren’t actively disrupting the slowpokes, I don’t have much energy to condemn them.
After all, as Kimmelman himself says, there is “no single, correct way to look at any work of art, save for with an open mind and patience.” I think he had it right without the qualifiers.
Harrods: ‘The Ultimate Bespoke Travel Agency’
by Eva Holland | 08.04.09 | 11:54 AM ET
Forget about those discount holiday packages on sale at the grocery checkout counter: Travel-retail fusion has gone upscale. The personal shoppers at Harrods, the venerable London department store, are now offering customized holiday bookings—with a low, low minimum purchase of £2,500. And the maximum? There isn’t one. Over the course of a few phony phone calls, the Times Online’s Mark Rudd took the new travel service for a test drive.
Has the ‘Obama Effect’ hit Hawaii?
by Eva Holland | 08.03.09 | 3:41 PM ET
Slate’s Moneybox columnist, Daniel Gross, recently headed to Hawaii to see if the islands’ tourism industry was seeing an Obama bump. The verdict: “This unreimbursed, hazard-filled assignment—sunburn, expensive macadamia nuts—yielded some surprising findings. Like the stimulus package, the Obama Effect, while holding the promise of gains down the road, hasn’t been able to overcome a sour economic climate.”
Contiki: ‘Backpacking is so 1997’
by Eva Holland | 08.03.09 | 1:23 PM ET
So said a message that the popular bus tour company posted on Facebook awhile back, with the added boast that Contiki holidays were “hundreds of dollars” cheaper than independent travel in Europe. Nomadic Matt objected—and now he’s crunched the numbers to prove Contiki wrong, on the savings claim at least. As for backpacking being “so 1997”? I guess that’s subjective.
Jackson Mourners Still Heading to Neverland
by Eva Holland | 07.31.09 | 1:26 PM ET
Consider my earlier question answered. USA Today reports that “hundreds of fans” are showing up daily at the gates of the secluded ranch. Unsurprisingly, local opinion is split on whether the pilgrimage spot should become an official Graceland-esque attraction. (Via @amybp)
Esquire Improves Your Tourist Trap Experience
by Eva Holland | 07.30.09 | 4:15 PM ET
The men’s mag has a tersely written guide to some of America’s most popular tourist spots, and how to improve the time that you’ll inevitably spend visiting them—shoulder-to-shoulder with everybody else. Here’s a sample for Manhattan: “Joe’s Pizza on Carmine, not Ben’s on Spring. // House-tun, not Hyoo-stun. // Not SoHo. Period.”
Thanks for the tip, Eli.
Parisians Promise to be Nicer to Tourists ... Again
by Alicia Imbody | 07.14.09 | 10:43 AM ET
As Parisian tourism continues to decline, the city’s tourist board has been addressing its residents’ reputation for being, well, less than welcoming to outsiders—the so-called Paris Syndrome. The plan to encourage travelers to return has nothing to do with the recession, and everything to do with attitude: “There’s nothing as telling as a smile,” Paul Roll, head of the tourist board, told Reuters. Teams of “smile ambassadors” are being strategically positioned at popular destinations to welcome visitors, and locals are implored to be more hospitable, a la Mayor Delenoe’s urgings before the first Paris Tourist Day two years ago.
‘Whatever Happened to the Segway?’
by Eva Holland | 07.08.09 | 3:06 PM ET
As most travelers know, it became the much-mocked vehicle of choice for niche-market guided city tours worldwide. But there’s more to the story: Slate takes a thorough look at the personal-transport revolution that wasn’t.
After Michael Jackson: Will Tourists Flock to Neverland Ranch?
by Eva Holland | 06.30.09 | 2:52 PM ET
Photo by Eva Holland Over at This Just In, the inevitable question has been asked: Where will Michael Jackson’s Graceland be? After all, the King of Pop’s fans will need a pilgrimage spot just as badly as the King’s do. JD Rinne offers a few possibilities: the Jackson family hometown of Gary, Indiana; Detroit’s Motown Museum; the Apollo Theater in Harlem; and, of course, Neverland Ranch.
Which Tourist Sites are Better Than the Big Names?
by Eva Holland | 06.25.09 | 3:16 PM ET
There’s an interesting “Better Than…?” series going on over at This Just In. In each installment, a regional guidebook author picks a busy, major attraction and offers a comparable (or arguably, even better) alternative—and, happily, manages to do so without putting down anyone who might prefer to see the big-ticket sites as tourist sheep. The targets so far: the Duomo in Florence, Buckingham Palace and Stonehenge.
Got any “Better Than…?” suggestions of your own?