UNWTO

First UNTWO report on LGBT travellers highlights benefits for tolerant destinations

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

A benchmark affiliate report has been published by the United Nations World Tourism Association (UNTWO) in partnership with the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association. The Global Report on LGBT Tourism was released in January 2012 and found that destinations offering a tolerant culture were reaping the benefits of increased travel to ? and spend by ? gay travellers.

The report cautioned against making assumptions about this market, as sexuality is not necessarily an indicator of socio-economic status or leisure choices. Although difficult to accurately measure the impact of gay tourism, sources in the USA attribute 5% of tourism spend to the LGBT market. In Cape Town, this is thought to be 10-15% of all tourists.

Progressive attitudes in countries such as South Africa, Argentina, India, Spain, Mexico and South Korea have attracted the LGBT market in droves. The wedding market for this sector is a big driver and the LGBT sector appears to have bucked the recession trend bringing higher than average spend to their holiday destinations. In addition, the advent of same-sex marriage laws have meant that many gay couples are now travelling with children and spending in the family market.

Generally savvy in digital media, LGBT travel is influenced by social media and digital or actual word of mouth. Cape Town is a favourite with gay travellers for its matchless beauty, diverse lifestyle, colourful people and large local gay population. South African events such as Gay Pride, The Pink Loeries Mardi Gras, the Out in Africa Film Festival, MCQP and Mr Gay South Africa are further reasons for LGBT travellers to choose SA as their destination. The UK?s Guardian recognised Cape Town as ?One of the Ten Most Popular Gay Destinations in the World.?

Destination marketing associations who were successfully attracting the LGBT market were working proactively at gay-targeted expos and fairs but were also aligned with equal rights organisations that promoted tolerance. Says the International LGBT Travel Association, ?reaching out to LGBT travellers in an informed, authentic manner is essential?. In particular, LGBT travellers were sensitive to destinations who were only interested in their money.

In 2011, a total of 76 countries in the world still made homosexuality illegal and of these, five still find it to be punishable by death. The UNTWO points out that the struggle for gay rights is a human rights struggle.

Tatiana Rokou – Wednesday, February 22, 2012

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The sequel to Hollywood blockbuster Ghost Rider, which was co-produced by Abu Dhabi film company Image Nation, has had a disappointing opening at the US box office, earning less than half of the original 2007 movie.

?Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance? opened in the US on Friday and earned $22m at the box office over the President?s Day weekend in the US, less than half the $45.4m earned by the first movie five years ago.

The movie is based on a Marvel Comics? character and stars Nicholas Cage as Johnny Blaze, a vigilante motorcyclist who sold his soul to Devil.

The disappointing haul resulted in the sequel, which was filmed in 3D, coming in at number three in the US box office.

Number one movie Safe House earned $24m from 3121 screenings, while the Abu Dhabi-backed Ghost Rider sequel earned $22m from 3,174 screenings, 2,352 of which showed the movie in 3D and incur more expensive ticket prices.

However, the movie may still see a return as the budget for the sequel was reduced to $57m, compared to the $110m for the original.

?Ghost Rider is an established brand and the movie had a robust marketing effort, so it really should have opened much higher than $22 million,? said Ray Subers of industry website boxofficemojo.com

Subers put the fault for the movie?s underperformance with leading man Nicholas Cage. ?His star has faded in recent years with an abundance of bizarre and disappointing projects,? Subers said in his analysis.

Despite this setback, Abu Dhabi?s Image Nation has had massive success at the box office in recent months with the international movies it has been involved in. Thriller Contagion, which cost $60m to produce, opened in September at number one and has so far reported sales of $135m around the world.

Award-winning US civil right independent film The Help, which was filmed on a relatively modest budget of $25m, opened at the same time and has so far earned a massive $206m.

Courtesy Google

Source: http://www.exoticabudhabi.com/united-arab-emirates/5640_abu-dhabi-backed-blockbuster-disappoints-at-box-office.html

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Source: http://travelandtourismtoday.blogspot.com/

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If you are going on a short holiday on Amsterdam, or you just do not have the patience to deal with the long queues to enter the Van Gogh Museum there are smaller museums which are worth visiting to give you another perspective on Amsterdam:

Tanssenmuseum

Holland has a good chunk of great local talents that produce great works from fashion, photography and architecture. The name of the museum literally translates to Handbag Museum. The pieces here all started as ideas and were carefully crafted that anyone will think that these bags are pieces of art themselves. The Tannsenmuseum is actually a reflection of the city and how it pays attention to details keeping life beautiful for everyone enjoying its comforts.

Houseboat Museum

The people of Amsterdam traces their roots around the water near which the city has sprung to life. You can see this colorful history at the Houseboat Museum. It is a floating houseboat similar to what the city dwellers live in. It looks very authentic that it is like going inside a home with the owners just gone to get something from the store. You will not be able to see famous works of arts here but it gives you a glimpse of how a lot of locals live their lives on the waters around Amsterdam.

Ons? Lieve Heer op Solder Museum

During the period of Reformation in Holland, Catholics were not allowed to practice their faith openly and were discriminated in society. So secret churches were established, people went underground to practice their beliefs. One of the secret churches was preserved and turned into this museum. The name literally translates to Our Lord in the Attic. The structure is a typical home in the area with the the top floor converted to a church, so practically you will be able to appreciate the architecture and the contents of the home.

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Gonzalo is the Managing Director of Kenes Latin America, Chile

New President for IAPCO

Monday, February 20, 2012

Gonzalo Perez Constanzo was unanimously elected to be the new President of IAPCO, from immediate affect following the end of term of Philippe Fournier, the previous President.

Gonzalo is the Managing Director of Kenes Latin America, Chile. He started his career in Buenos Aires, where he worked for Congresos Internacionales S.A. for over ten years. He joined the company as a project assistant and retired as a director. He joined the IMF/World Bank Group in 1997 as the Conferences Officer in their Joint Secretariat; as such he was actively involved with the Annual Meetings of the Institutions which are attended by over 10,000 participants. Having been responsible for the organisation of World Bank meetings in Europe and Asia, Gonzalo left the World Bank in June 2008 to move to Europe to Spanish PCO company Tilesa. As of April 2011 he became Managing Director of Kenes Latin America in Santiago de Chile.

Gonzalo has been on the IAPCO Council since February 2009 and is a member of the IAPCO Training Academy, being a frequent speaker at the Annual Seminar on his speciality of governmental meetings.

At the General Assembly in Paris, Gonzalo committed himself to furthering the quality standards and educational programme for IAPCO. “It is not by chance that IAPCO has been in existence for 44 years: there is a message to spread and a mission to accomplish. Today the need for education is still a priority. Services that were essential in 1968 have been replaced with new items eg new technologies, implementation and best use of social media, accessible events; these were just to name a few that were analised at our recent Assembly in Paris. Education, training, these are words that will remain at the core of IAPCO, they are part of what we do, who we are, and what we believe should be carried out by us all”.

Nicky McGrane, Managing Director of Conference Partners, Dublin, was co-opted to the IAPCO Council to represent the three Irish IAPCO members, Conference Partners, Keynote PCO and MCI-Dublin, in the organisation of the next Annual Meeting which will take place in Dublin in February 2013.

All other Council Members remain on the board, as elected by the General Assembly in Paris.

Vicky Karantzavelou – Monday, February 20, 2012

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The Sin City has been seeing the rise of mixology making sophisticated cocktails an important part of the nightlife in Vegas. During the past months, new night clubs and lounges brought the cocktail trend to a new level. Here is a round up of the best Vegas destinations where you can enjoy some of the best drinks in town:

Lady Sylvia

Enjoy the happy hour here between 11pm and 1am on weknights at Lady Sylvia in Soho Lofts at downtown Las Vegas. It has the hip and brainy atmosphere for a hang out place.. These standby destination has bookshelves extending from floor to its ceiling similar to Prague?s Strahov Monastery. The lounge also plays host to exhibits from time to time. Enjoy the ambiance and try their classic cocktails.

Hyde Lounge

If you want an open air ambiance and enjoy some drinks from a patio overlooking the wonderful Fountains of the Bellagio, visit this uber trendy lounge. There is a Bellini cart going around from which you can get your dose of old school wash downs. There are also on-site bars which serve the new cocktails that you might want to try.

Try the Love Unit which is a mix of vanilla vodka, Thai basil, lime, juice from bell pepper, and grapefruit which is among the top picks from this place.

1 OAK

The name actually stands for One of A Kind is the animal themed club with a hip vibe of the Mirage. This joint just opened in January where they served Sultry Red a mix of vodka infused with raspberry and cocoa, apple cider, maple syrup blackberries, and raspberries.

Aside from the Sultry Red, there is a good list of low calorie drinks to choose from. If you are not a fan of raspberries, you will not run out of choices to keep you company for the rest of the night while enjoying your Las Vegas holiday with your friends.

Talon Club

This high end gambling place located at The Cosmopolitan has a small bar which offers drinks to patrons regardless of the size of their bankrolls. You cannot browse thru a menu of drinks here but the mixologist can make a unique drink for you pulling bottles from their liquor shelf or using them to add some flavor to some of the favorite cocktails that you know of. Ask for a tequila and go for Casa Dragones with some ice.

Central

This restaurant by Michel Richard is located at the lobby of the Caesars Palace. Aside from the great food, the bar experience will make you come back every time you are in Las Vegas. The drinks is a good mix of fun and creativity. Enjoy a serving of Halcyon Cosmo while people watching. This drink is a mix of lime juice, Cointreau, drunken craberries and juice of white cranberry.

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Cruise passengers are now required to participate on a safety drill prior to departure after the international associations of cruise lines and passengers announced a new set of safety guidelines following the recent Costa Concorida disaster.

The Passenger Shipping Association , European Cruise Council, and the Cruise Lines International Association will implement the new safety guidelines prior to any departure of their ships.

Costa Concordia sank along the coast of Italy last 13 January claimed 17 lives.

The different associations formalized the new policy which requires all ships to conduct briefings and safety demos for the passengers during the earliest possible opportunity. The initiative is also beyond the requirements of current laws.

The current international laws which ensures travel safety on waters only require that a safety drill must be conducted within twenty four hours upon embarkation of the passengers. In case the passengers arrive after the safety demo, they are required to attend a group or individual safety briefing.

The new polices are immediately effective.

You can view the full guidelines of the cruise industries here.

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Crazy, doomed, hopeless, wonderful – my first thoughts when I read about the very first Tour d’Afrique – 12,000km, four months, all the way from Cairo in Egypt to Cape Town in South Africa. It really is the Mt Everest of cycling. I didn’t realise that a few years later I’d join in the crazy caper.

? The Tour d’Afrique celebrates its 10th birthday with a coffee table book on the great ride.

In 2009 I entered not one, but two Lonely Planet teams to ride the TdA relay style.

We entered 16 riders from the LP offices, from our authors and from our foreign language partners. Including me, I rode the Iringa. Tanzania to Lilongwe, Malawi stage – click here for my blog on the first half of my ride and here for the second half. Or try the report from Mara Vorhees, one of our author-riders My only regret from my ride? That I couldn’t just keep going.

 
? And my favourite souvenir of the ride, this picture the Lonely Planet riders gave me.

Source: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/tonywheeler/books_articles/10_years_of_the_tour_dafrique/

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• 14 February 2012
• 10:58am
• Filed under
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adminLonely Planet author

Lonely Planet acknowledges it has made an error in The Travel Book 2nd Edition and The Not For Parents Travel Book by including the word ?official? against the languages spoken in countries listed.

We were mistaken in saying that Kurdish is an official language of Turkey. Turkish is the only official language.

Lonely Planet normally lists all the main languages travellers may encounter when they visit a country.

We apologise for any offence caused, particularly in Turkey, by the incorrect reference to Kurdish as an official language.

We will correct this at reprint.

Source: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/blog/2012/02/14/we-made-an-error-sorry-2/

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DUBAI// Dubai and Abu Dhabi have dropped down a list of 130 cities for cost of living.

The World Cost of Living Survey 2012 places Dubai at 94th ? a drop of 16 places from last year ? with Abu Dhabi in 91st, down five places.

Published by the The Economist Intelligence Unit, the survey looks at the price of more than 400 commodities and goods, city by city.

Jon Copestake, the survey?s author, said the key elements making the UAE?s biggest cities relatively cheaper to live in are the dirham?s peg to the US dollar and strict price controls introduced for staples.

?These items in other places have been subject to inflation, which has made them relatively more expensive compared to the UAE,? Mr Copestake said.

?The US dollar has been weak in recent years and the appreciation of other currencies in cities close to the UAE has pushed the relative cost of living down in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.?

The survey says the cost of 1kg of bread in Dubai and Abu Dhabi is Dh9, among the cheapest on the list. This price is the same as last year, whereas almost every other city experienced an increase.

But 1kg of white rice is much cheaper in Abu Dhabi than Dubai ? Dh8.90 against Dh16.

These compare with Dh28.50 in Tokyo and Dh8 in New Delhi.

Renting a one-bedroom furnished flat for a month will cost you Dh6,655 in Dubai and Dh6,000 in Abu Dhabi, the survey shows.

The Dubai price fell from Dh9,000 last year, but rent increased from Dh5,500 in Abu Dhabi.

Rents in London are Dh11,700, and in New York Dh11,000 for a similar property.

A litre of unleaded petrol in the UAE is among the cheapest in the world at Dh1.70, although the price increased by 3 fils in Abu Dhabi from last year.

The same amount of costs Dh8.30 in Zurich and Dh4.80 in Beijing.

?Dubai has seen a few economic problems that have certainly helped weaken consumer sentiment and demand,? said Mr Copestake.

?There is a lag factor that means cheapening real-estate prices have driven other prices down.?

He warned that an appreciation of the US dollar and the euro-zone crisis could affect other currencies and lead to a rise in the UAE cost of living.

?A lower cost of living makes a city more competitive and can attract investment, as well as boost export demand,? Mr Copestake said.

?Equally, it can depress the buying power of a city and make imports very expensive.

?Expensive cities are that way because they are successful. They attract a lot of visitors and residents who drive up demand. So cities that are cheaper tend to be less attractive places to live.?

Experts in the UAE attributed the country?s change of rank in the survey to a more competitive property market.

?It seems to me the biggest impact is because of the lower property prices due to oversupply,? said Professor David Graf, the dean of the business and economics faculty at UAE University.

?A family might disagree with me because they will be looking at the overall cost of everything, but food is relatively cheap here.?

Last month, the Government announced it would end export monopolies on 12 commodities including honey, eggs, fruit, detergents and salt.

The Ministry of Economy hopes the move will lead to cheaper prices for consumers.

An electronic price-monitoring system that checks the cost of about 650 food items such as meat, milk and wheat at 45 retailers went live at the beginning of December.

Fahmi Al Shawa, the managing director of Convenience Arabia, agreed that lower property prices were the key factor.

?For the most part commodities have been pretty stable over the last 12 months,? Mr Al Shawa said.

The survey lists Zurich as the most expensive place to live and Karachi as the cheapest.

nhanif@thenational.ae

Courtesy Google

Source: http://www.exoticabudhabi.com/united-arab-emirates/5581_abu-dhabi-and-dubai-drop-on-cost-of-living-league-table.html

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