7 Days; 7 Travel Stories

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1. When Staying at A Green Hotel or Making A Carbon-Offset Donation Is Not Enough

As concerns over global warming grow, the most eco-conscious vacationers are forgoing long-distance trips and trading treks to Europe for walks around the neighborhood. Spurring the movement are environmentalists who are imploring the public to stop burning unnecessary fuel and stay closer to home. It's the next step for commuters who have already swapped cars for bikes and attend out-of-town meetings by videoconferencing, says one advocate.

The Web site for Global Cool, a campaign to fight global warming, offers advice on how to "be cool," including, "Hey hotshot, do you really need to holiday abroad?" However, the daily commute for most Americans makes a bigger carbon impact than their vacation air travel. Driving in a car contributes about 13,800 pounds of personal carbon emissions, or 27% of the average Americans' annual 26 tons, according to the Nature Conservancy; flying contributes about 2,300 pounds, or 4%. WSJ

2. Watch Out For Those Elephants

For the last two decades, elephants have plodded through the streets of Bangkok, stopping off at red-light districts and tourist areas where their handlers peddle sacks of sugar cane and bananas to passers-by. Occasionally, they knock off the wide-view mirrors from cars or stumble into gutters and cut themselves on sharp objects. The police shrug. The politicians periodically order crackdowns and animal lovers despair. The government says there are 3,837 domesticated elephants in Thailand today. Only a tiny faction come into Bangkok, usually no more than half a dozen each evening. Many Thais say they serve as a daily reminder of the inequalities in Thailand, the gap between provincial poverty and urban wealth.

“The elephant was a symbol of honor, of dignity and leadership,” says a former prime minister, “but today it has become the symbol of the failures and injustices of Thailand’s development.” Greater Bangkok, with more than 10 million residents sprawled across an area nearly three times the size of Rhode Island, has many animal problems, among them snakes and stray dogs. But elephants stand apart because for centuries they have been considered noble beasts collected by kings. NY Times

3. On The Water

CLIA, the Cruise International Association, says 12.8 million people will take a cruise this year, a 2.4% increase over 2007, compared with a 4.6% increase in passengers in 06. CLIA said the slower growth was a result of less capacity coming onto the market than in years past. Eight new ships are expected to enter service this year and six ships are scheduled to move out. In 2008, 10.5 million passengers will originate from North America. TW

4. Excess Baggage

What would you do if United, Delta and Northwest merged and each one of the airlines wanted to keep its name?

A Swedish university received $590,000 in research funds to measure the greenhouse gases released when cows belch. About 20 cows will participate in the study. AP

Top10 cities where Americans were arrested: Tijuana (520), Guadalajara, Nuevo Laredo, London, Mexico City, Toronto, Nassau, Merida (Mexico), Nogales (Mexico) and Hong Kong (50)

Facing sagging sales, Starbucks is experimenting with a smaller, "short" $1 cup as well as free refills for brewed coffee in its Seattle outlets. Starbucks charges around $1.50 to $4.00 for a coffee, depending on size and flavor.

A just-for-women bus began operating this week in Mexico City as part of an experimental program aimed at protecting female passengers who are frequently exposed to sexual harassment on public transportation. Officials say 14 percent of rapes, sexual harassment and abuse took place on public transportation in 2007. Also in play--The first three cars of each train in Mexico City’s metro system are reserved for women only, but only during rush hour. The only exceptions to the women-only rule apply to women with young male children or elderly male companions, or people who are handicapped. AFP

In a London promotional campaign for an online gambling business, 375 taxis have been decked out with advertisements for the company’s Web site. However, in 10 cabs, the marketing goes further. The drivers may seek to engage passengers in conversation about poker. If customers take the bait, the drivers try to steer the conversation to the online site. Those who show particular interest may be given coupons and more. The average London cab ride lasts 16 minutes. NY Times

A survey of 98 travel managers and other big purchasers of airline tickets revealed that three-quarters of respondents expect airline mergers to result in higher fares and more than half expect the quality of service to suffer.

The top online travel review sites according to some of the experts: Expedia-owned http://www.tripadvisor.com/ and Sabre-owned http://www.igougo.com/. One of the big differences...you have to signup to enter igougo.

Venice opened a new water-bus line that tourists aren’t allowed to use. The Venice region’s tourist trade generates about $17.3 billion a year.

Faced with rising financial loses and a warming Alps, the snow-deprived Swiss ski resort of Ernen was sold for $1. Examples of Swiss ski resorts facing economic hardship abound. This year three mountain villages in the southern canton of Ticino warded off bankruptcy proceedings after the canton offered interim financing. A last-minute financing deal helped the Madrisa cable company in Klosters, a popular resorts for the rich and famous, to open for the winter.

5. Inside Saudi Arabia

Women in Saudi Arabia can now stay in a hotel or a furnished apartment without a male guardian. The decision was adopted after a study conducted by the Saudi Ministry of Interior, the Supreme Commission of Tourism and the religious police authority known as the Commission for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. Guest workers of the Kingdom have to conform to stringent laws under the Islamic code, otherwise run the risk of arrest or deportation.

Among the rules: All women are not allowed to drive in Saudi, not even bicycles. Airlines warn women not to stare at men, and vice versa. Men must not express admiration for a woman unless she is a fiancée. Women are advised to avoid going out alone for their own safety and security; not talk intimately with their husbands or go out with male friends, provided they maintain a distance from each other. ETN

6. Interest In Medical Tourism Continues To Rise

Some of the preferred destinations.

Cuba, which has partnered with Choice Medical Services in Canada to attract more medical tourists. Government officials have negotiated similar deals with firms in Germany and Spain. Choice Medical Services charges $10,000 for a hip replacement compared with $39,000 in the U.S. Last year, the Caribbean nation hosted nearly 20,000 medical tourists.

Costa Rica has been a popular destination for dental and cosmetic surgery since the early 1980s. Two hospitals in particular, Clinica Biblica and CIMA Hospital, are leading the charge. Clinica Biblica is working on a plan to dedicate an entire wing for international patients. The price of medical procedures tends to be 40 to 70 per cent less than what you would pay in North America. According to Costa Rica's Tourism Bureau, the number of visitors coming for medical treatment has doubled since 2003. The government runs 30 hospitals and 250 clinics, and the country is now becoming known for procedures such as back or spinal surgeries and knee and hip replacements.

Portugal and Spain...Until the beginning of this year, medical tourism on the Iberian Peninsula mainly consisted of people going to Barcelona for cosmetic and dental surgery and Mallorca. Last year, 137,000 people went to Iberia for medical treatment - a large number but still a small fraction of the 63 million holidaymakers who flock to the area each year. A new company, Fly2Doc, is one of many tourism operators planning to bring in hordes of patients. The health-tourism industries in Portugal and Spain are also likely to benefit from a proposed piece of legislation that would allow anyone in the European Union who is on a waiting list for treatment in their own country to be treated in any other EU country, with their home government picking up the bill. The longest lists are in the UK and Ireland.

South Korea's medical-tourism industry is still in its infancy, but the country has been aggressively promoting its hospitals through the Council for Korea Medicine Overseas Promotion, an organization launched in March, 2007. Funded by the government and 28 private hospitals, the organization is targeting the approximately 440,000 uninsured Korean Americans, Japanese patients seeking alternative medicine and cosmetic surgery, and Chinese patients seeking cosmetic surgery.

Taiwan...Since the country initiated a Health Tourism Guidance Task Force in 2004, medical tourism has been booming. The medical tourism industry is expected to generate more than $93-million this year and almost $9.4-billion by 2015. For the most part, Taiwan seeks European patients and Chinese patients, first and foremost because of proximity but also because there's not as much as a cultural barrier.

Websites of note: http://www.medicaltravel.com/ and http://www.medicaltourismguide.org/. Toronto Globe and Mail

7. Online

This week the Professional Golf Association added a travel component to their main web site, www.PGA.com/travel. The site features new and exclusive travel content: from PGA Professionals and from PGA Magazine, as well as the latest in golf-related travel news from the world's top resorts and golf destinations. Other sections of the site include travel itineraries recommended by PGA Professionals, Resort Profiles, Destination Features, Women and Golf, Hidden Gems and much more. Studies show that the golf travel industry generates over $12 billion in revenue each year, and PGA Professionals are intimately involved.

Rich’s Weekend Reader is published by AndTyler222 Communications. All rights reserved. Information from various sources and mostly rewritten. andtyler222@verizon.net http://www.itinarod.com/