Europe Travel Getting Easier?
According to the NYT, air travel to Europe is about to get easier – and hopefully more affordable – as the open skies agreement goes into affect on Sunday. I obviously think this is a great idea…more flights to Europe, more reasonable prices and hopefully we’ll have an easier time heading over there from poor PDX, which only had one non-stop to Europe every day until now. Next month, however, we’re doubling it and can now fly direct to Amsterdam. Woo hoo! This is actually very helpful because flights out of AMS can connect to Africa, making it just a little bit easier for us to get there as well.
Future of Tourism for the Maldives
At TheBigDay, we get a lot of people searching for travel to the Maldives. I’ve never been, but it looks stunning. Apparently lots of other people think so as well – the country is on pace to build 50 new resorts in the next four years and most of the population of 300,000 are employed in some way by the tourism industry.
Currently, Brits, Germans and Italians make up the bulk of the travelers, but due to its proximity to India, there are plenty of travelers from Asia as well.
Read more on the changes the island nation is making to entice visitors in this article.
Unsurprisingly, sun-seeking Europeans account for the majority of visitors to the islands —representing around 80 percent of arrivals. Of this, UK tourists make up the biggest share, followed by Italians and Germans.
Mud Marriage
While some people might think their marriage is mud, a selection of resorts in New England are encouraging couples to make the most of the spring weather and embrace the slimy sauce.
The ‘Dirty Elopment’ Packages are one of the most creative themes I’ve seen, offering everything from mud baths to Trash the Dress sessions in the namesake stuff. There is plenty of the traditional stuff too. For more info, check out the packages on NewEnglandInnsandResorts.com.
Slum Tours
The New York Times is giving the head’s up on the increase in popularity of slum or poverty tours, things that the ‘poorism’ opponents decry as exploitative to the local communities.
I went on one of these tours in South Africa, through the townships of Cape Town with the Direct Action Center for Peace and Memory. The educational tour was conducted by former child soldiers – armed guerrillas that fought against apartheid in their youth. I found this Budget Traveller article online that more or less sums up my experience – eye opening, informative and if exploitative, then exploitative in the least derogatory way. We didn’t peer out the windows like we were on safari, and we infused money into the local economy. While it does leave you with an increased appreciation for what you have, I have a difficult time understanding how that insight could be a bad thing.
Self Select Lines
I so hope that TSA rolls this out in PDX: Expanding self-select lines
It seems like it is working really well and helping cut down on congestion.
