Nov 14th, 2009 at 2:30PM: Venice is dying. At least, according to Newsweek it is. The population has been shrinking so rapidly (it dropped below 60,000 this year) that the mag predicts there won't be a single full-time resident in the city by 2030. A city that sees millions of visitors per year, an average of 55,000 per day, won't be home to a single person. Yeah, I'd call that a dead city.
To draw attention to the ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
tourism posts
Venice hosts its own funeral
Nov 14th, 2009 at 2:30PM: Venice is dying. At least, according to Newsweek it is. The population has been shrinking so rapidly (it dropped below 60,000 this year) that the mag predicts there won't be a single full-time resident in the city by 2030. A city that sees millions of visitors per year, an average of 55,000 per day, won't be home to a single person. Yeah, I'd call that a dead city.
To draw attention to the ...Oprah says good-bye to Chicago
Nov 6th, 2009 at 3:30PM:
tweetmeme_url = 'http://www.gadling.com/2009/11/06/oprah-says-good-bye-to-chicago/'; tweetmeme_source = 'Gadling';
Did you hear the new rumor about Oprah Winfrey? No, not that one! This one says that come 2011, her daytime talk show will leave Chicago and be based out of Los Angeles.
According to Deadline Hollywood, the big O planned on calling it quits way back in 2002, then again in 2006. ...Explore five cities with a "bad rap"
Oct 29th, 2009 at 11:30AM: I grew up in Detroit. I love my city and will be the first tell anyone who thinks it's nothing but a boarded up hellhole just how wrong they are. But I know Detroit's bad rap comes not only from suburb-dwellers and business travelers who just breezed through, but also from the media that portrays it as a city with nothing to offer other than casinos and a punchline. But maybe the tide is changing. ...Outback Australia: Where are the Americans?
Oct 14th, 2009 at 10:30AM:
tweetmeme_url = 'http://www.gadling.com/2009/10/14/outback-australia-where-are-the-americans/'; tweetmeme_source = 'Gadling';
Close to 300,000 people from outside of Australia visit the Northern Territory every year. And if I noticed anything about those tourists while I was there it's that the vast majority do not speak English. That is by no means a judgmental statement. I enjoyed ...Tourism in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Samoa in light of recent disasters
Oct 4th, 2009 at 5:00PM: In light of the recent quakes in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Samoa and the total devastation in the areas surrounding Manila, Padang, and Apia, it's important to understand what tourism will look like as these tourism hot spots recover. Here's a look at the current relief work happening in each locale, and some speculation as to what tourism will look like in the coming year. The Philippines ...Communist China celebrates 60th anniversary
Oct 1st, 2009 at 8:30PM:
Today, October 1st, marks the 60th anniversary of communist rule in China - an era that has been defined with great success and development for the country. Leaders in Beijing and 30,000 specially invited guests observed the day with an epic celebration that was reported to be larger in scale than the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games. Visitors and residents of Beijing had limited access ...Dim Sum Dialogues in Thailand: Ko Samui
Sep 29th, 2009 at 12:00PM:
My ears are still ringing from the stacks of speakers that exhilarated Haad Rin all night. The lack of sleep is making my eyes heavy, but the lurching of the ferry refuses to let my body sleep. I'm departing Ko Pha Ngan and am en route to Ko Samui - the largest island in the Surat Thani province, and the third largest island in Thailand. It's a forty minute ride from the beaches of Haad Rin, and ...Dive the Great Wall of China with Urbane Nomads
Sep 21st, 2009 at 11:30AM: Did you know that parts of the Great Wall of China are underwater? Yeah, me neither. But according to Urban Daddy, one particular section of the wall has been submerged under a lake since the 1980's. And now a luxury tour company called Urbane Nomads is offering the first-ever guided diving trips to the hard-to-reach spot.
Guides will carry your gear to the submerged portion of the Wall and ...Lost in Rome? Look for a "tourist angel"
Sep 19th, 2009 at 12:30PM: Naples may have a team of ex-cons out on the streets helping lost tourists, but Rome will soon have a fleet of angels - "tourist angels". According to the online Italy Magazine, Rome is currently recruiting a fleet of 60 guides who will zoom around the city on "electric chariots" (souped-up Segways, perhaps?) looking for confused visitors to help out with information and directions.
Rome's ...Overcrowded Venice may ban day-trippers
Sep 18th, 2009 at 10:30AM: There's no question that Venice is a city overrun with tourists. 20 million people visit the sinking city each year, yet only 60,000 Italians call Venice home. It's no wonder then that the city starts to feel more like an open-air museum, a well-preserved relic of the past, rather than a living, and lived-in, city.
The residents of Venice put up with a lot (though or course, many of them profit ...Dim Sum Dialogues in Thailand: Bangkok
Sep 15th, 2009 at 9:00AM:
The city of Bangkok is a dichotomy between peaceful Buddhist temples & sordid red light districts. Beautiful national monuments & shoddy patches of low-income housing. Large, upscale shopping malls & equally large, rickety floating markets. Bright pink taxis or loud tuk tuks that jam the streets & a convenient but limited elevated metro line. Gleaming skyscrapers & lowly ...United States considering $10 "tourist fee" to pay for promoting tourism
Sep 5th, 2009 at 1:00PM: digg_url = 'http://digg.com/world_news/USA_Considers_10_Tourist_Fee_to_Pay_for_Promoting_Tourism'; A proposal currently under consideration in the U.S. Congress may soon charge visitors to the United States a $10 entry fee.
The fee will go into a fund used to pay for promoting tourism. By now, I can imagine you are laughing about this (unless you don't live in the U.S.). The concept of ...Russians voted worst tourists in the world - French and Germans relieved
Sep 1st, 2009 at 1:30PM: Polls looking for the worst tourists in the world are always a sure way to get yourself in the news - especially if the results pick a country not too popular with the voting public. Back in July, the French won the dubious honor of being the worst in the world. Brit travel web site "Real Holiday Reports" published the results of their survey, and revealed that Russian tourists are currently the ...Paris pins its tourism hopes on Americans. . . and shopaholics
Aug 27th, 2009 at 1:00PM: Poor Paris. The city was recently voted "most overrated in the world" and tourism is down by 11% (or more, according to some reports) compared with the first half of 2008. The number of British and Japanese visitors dropped nearly 25% each, while the number of tourists from China declined by over 17%.
Mon Dieu! What's a city to do? Well, according to the AP, the director of the Paris Tourism ...Nominees for Planeta.com's Ecotourism Spotlight Award announced
Aug 23rd, 2009 at 1:00PM:
Planeta.com, a website dedicated to ecotourism and encouraging environmental conservation through tourism, has announced the nominees for its Ecotourism Spotlight Award. The Award honors the tourism boards that promote ecotourism through their websites, both by highlighting their own efforts and by helping travelers connect to independent tour providers who operate using sustainable practices. ...Travel to Spain suffering
Aug 22nd, 2009 at 4:00PM: It really is a shame: summer travel to Spain is off 6.1 percent this year, as the global economic decline is making the decision to travel tougher for everyone. The country's Tourism Ministry puts the number of July arrivals at just over 6.6 million. For the entire year (through the end of July), arrivals fell 10.3 percent to 30.2 million visitors. This follows a record 33.6 million for the same ...Don't be "that" tourist - things to avoid when you are abroad
Aug 18th, 2009 at 12:00PM:
tweetmeme_url = 'http://www.gadling.com/2009/08/18/dont-be-that-tourist-things-to-avoid-when-you-are-abroad/'; tweetmeme_source = 'Gadling';
We all make mistakes - but when you are heading abroad, little mistakes could mean the difference between being a prepared tourist, or a pompous jackass.
It isn't too hard to look like a well traveled jetsetter, and it only takes a couple of common ...Seven trends that will change business travel
Aug 10th, 2009 at 8:00AM:
tweetmeme_url = 'http://www.gadling.com/2009/08/10/seven-trends-that-will-change-business-travel/'; tweetmeme_source = 'Gadling';
Obviously, the recession is changing the travel business. You've heard it all before – and if you've flow or stayed in a hotel lately, you've undoubtedly seen it. Sometimes, the big issue of the day can mask others that will be important down the road. Travel ...High-tech bridge to connect Singapore's Sentosa Island
Jul 31st, 2009 at 3:00PM: Construction began Tuesday on a 620 meter boardwalk that will connect Sentosa Island with Singapore's mainland. The resort's annual 5 million guests will be able to access the island on foot come November 2010. A series of covered travelators will be capable of transporting an estimated 8,000 guests per hour in each direction. The boardwalk will be lined with retail, food and beverage outlets and ...What's that bad smell? Travel impressions through the nose
Jul 28th, 2009 at 5:00PM: I haven't noticed it, but there's a bad smell at the Greyhound bus station in Columbus. A woman got off the bus and noticed it. As she pointed out in this article, a bad smell the first thing someone gets off a bus is not the best way to make a good first impression. As a matter of fact. it's hell on tourism.
A bad smell might give a person an idea to get back on the bus and head back out as ...
