Alan A. Lew

The $35 billion plan would replace the current radar system with the kind of GPS technology that has become commonplace in cars and cell phones. Supporters say it would triple air traffic capacity, reduce delays by at least half, improve safety and curb greenhouse gas emissions. - Alan A. Lew

Stories discussed in this podcast are from the Travelography Twitter Blog for the week of 6 October 2008. - Alan A. Lew

Airlines reported sharp declines in passenger traffic for September. Hotel occupancy rates are down, and corporate travel managers are demanding new concessions on previously negotiated deals. Cancellations are starting to rise even at four- and five-star hotels, which previously seemed immune to the economy's travails. - Alan A. Lew

If a vacation just isn't a vacation without a few minutes of heart-stopping terror, then consider a visit to South Africa. Not for the wildlife: When it comes to inducing fear, no marauding lion can measure up to a bungee jump from the Bloukrans Bridge, - Alan A. Lew

One reason experts doubt travel will rebound quickly has to do with the way many people were financing their travels before the housing market collapsed. ... many people were financing their travels by accessing the equity built up in their homes, which appreciated dramatically in recent years. - Alan A. Lew

Orbitz Worldwide Inc. was downgraded and earnings estimates for online travel competitors Priceline.com Inc. and Expedia Inc. were cut Thursday, as analysts pointed to a weaker travel market and a stronger dollar. - Alan A. Lew

"Consumer behaviour is changing. We're seeing more people taking short breaks close to home and it could be that the recession will be good news for UK tourism. ... Among the new deals being snatched up are city breaks in apartments, couples' breaks in log cabins and holidays with a sporting theme." - Alan A. Lew

The International Air Transport Association, IATA, has estimated that global airline loses will be $5.2 billion this year and $4.9 billion next year due to the economic slowdown and high price of oil. This compares with a combined profit of $5.6 billion last year. - Alan A. Lew

Fewer seats for sale means airlines can charge more. Tickets for Phoenix flights departing in October are up an average 28% from a year ago, ... At risk: A substantial slice of $19 billion in annual visitor spending in Arizona. This comes after months of reduced numbers in hotel occupancy and airport traffic as people struggle with a plunging stock market, the housing meltdown and other economic woes. - Alan A. Lew

Blame it on “comparative pain.” As bad as things seem in the U.S., they’re even worse in other countries with higher inflation, higher unemployment, and a weaker central bank. - Alan A. Lew

First came organic. Then came fair trade. Now makers of everything from milk to jackets to cars are starting to tally up the carbon footprints of their products. That's the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that get coughed into the air when the goods are made, shipped and stored, and then used by consumers. - Alan A. Lew

Pubications related to Tourism and: Climate Change, Sustainable Tourism, Mountain Tourism, Polar Tourism, and more - Alan A. Lew

# Tsunami Media Kit # Tsunami survey results # After the deluge # Rejuvenate Your Soul" - The Other Side of the Tsunami # Caveman Tsunami PowerPoint show - Alan A. Lew

But while bad press has meant few tourist arrivals, it is unclear whether good reviews of Myanmar’s prize destinations will be enough to entice reluctant travellers back. Essential to this is getting travel agents back on board and offering travel packages to the country. UMTA vice chairman and Myanmar Voyages managing director, U Thet Lwin Toh, said bookings for October and November were still slow. - Alan A. Lew

The plane's captain told state police that after the plane landed, Nicolson began throwing the white powder and said, "This is what your airline gets for treating me bad." - Alan A. Lew

Completely naked, a British tourist held local police forces in a stalemate while swimming in the moat of the Imperial Palace, one of Japan's most sacred and revered places. The police managed to stop him after a long distance showdown. The large bald man repeatedly threw stones at police agents before coming out of the water and charging them with a stick. - Alan A. Lew

The development would house the largest sports village, retirement village and Africa's first education and health village and would include a theme park, nature reserves, hotels, resorts and spas. "Amazulu World will have a perfect blend of development zones." - Alan A. Lew

These burgers are specially designed for China Airlines to move in line with global efforts on reducing carbon emissions. In the near future, MOS Burger will develop more in-flight dishes designed exclusively for China Airlines. - Alan A. Lew

...the Japan Tourism Agency (JTA) will be in charge of achieving Japan’s target of 20 million travelers by 2020... Japan’s Yokoso campaign launched in 2003 is one of Japan’s biggest success stories of the decade. From 1990 to 2000, foreign tourist arrivals grew by 47 percent; however, from 2000 to 2007, the total number of foreign travelers jumped from 4.76 to 8.35 million, a stunning 75.4 percent growth. - Alan A. Lew

A Brit shamelessly dances shirtless and barefoot in a crowded bar with a strip of cloth tied around his head. The good-time scene he has created is one he's doubtful to remember in the morning. Scantily clad foreigners dash in and out of crowded streets like a game of frogger -- barely missing the taxis, carriages and motorbikes that drive by. - Alan A. Lew

Over the past week, the [Australian] dollar has plunged dramatically, closing last night at US72.72c, after almost reaching parity earlier in the year, an exchange rate that was blamed for causing the number of foreign holidaymakers to drop by almost 4.5 per cent. Tourism Australia's .. in March ... noted that the then surging Australian dollar was a significant burden to tourism operators. - Alan A. Lew

Cruise lines ... can tweak a ship's arrivals and departures from port by a barely noticeable chunk of time (a half hour or hour) to allow for slower travel and better fuel economy. - Alan A. Lew

Ecosystems are composed of organisms interacting with each other and with their environment such that energy is exchanged and system-level processes, such as the cycling of elements, emerge. The ecosystem is a core concept in Biology and Ecology, serving as the level of biological organization in which organisms interact simultaneously with each other and with their environment - Alan A. Lew

[I flew on this plane last January - Alan] ... the visibility at the airport was zero due to foggy weather. ... Lukla's runway is just 20m wide and is set on a slope, with a steep 700m drop at one end. Lukla's Tenzing-Hillary airport in the eastern Nepal is the gateway to Nepal's Everest region. - Alan A. Lew

In mid-August, Irish carrier Ryanair kick-started the trend when it promised free plane tickets to the first 100 English high-school students who showed up at a bar in Liverpool. The only catch: to get the freebies, the students had to show proof that they'd failed their A-level exams (passing A-levels is mandatory for entrance to many top U.K. universities). - Alan A. Lew

The scene looks like something out of a comedy movie. Some of the men are bald, others have Donald Trump haircuts, dancing like grandfathers struggling to find the beat. ... And the girls? Tall, slender, dark with skimpy clothing and come-hither smiles. - Alan A. Lew

In one famous case of expat debauchery this summer, Britons Vince Acors, a tourist, and Michelle Palmer, a resident, were arrested for having sex on a Dubai beach. Also accused of hurling racial slurs and a shoe at the approaching police officer, the couple now faces up to six years in prison. - Alan A. Lew

The islands are actually tipped on their sides," says the University of Houston's Shuhab Khan, .... "So you can walk — it's incredible — from the bedrock to the seafloor sediment of these islands." - Alan A. Lew

British Home Office figures show 3,525 unaccompanied children under 18 applied for asylum in 2007, a 2 percent increase on the previous year. Many of these youngsters were from war-torn countries or those afflicted by desperate poverty. - Alan A. Lew

Available at www.SustainableTourismCriteria.org, the criteria focus on four areas experts recommend as the most critical aspects of sustainable tourism: maximizing tourism's social and economic benefits to local communities; reducing negative impacts on cultural heritage; reducing harm to local environments; and planning for sustainability. The GSTC Partnership is developing educational materials and technical tools to guide hotels and tour operators in implementing the criteria. - Alan A. Lew