In praise of sustainable tourism
The Pacific Asia Travel Association (Pata) will host the three-day Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) in Bangkok.
In praise of sustainable tourism
The Pacific Asia Travel Association (Pata) will host the three-day Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) at the PATA Engagement Hub in Siam Tower, Bangkok from September 15 to 17. The three-day intensive tourism-training course, which is priced at US$850 per person, targets tourism professionals, hotel managers and engineers, entrepreneurs, destination planners and managers, protected area managers, architects, travel agents, academic and educators, developers, policy makers and regulators, tour operators and tourism certification bodies.
On the right track
A new attraction for model railway fans, the Hans-Peter Porsche Traumwerk, has just opened in southern Germany. The models have nearly 3 kilometres of track to run on, and 40 out of the total of 180 trains can operate on the system at any one time. The model railway at Anger, in the Alps on the Austrian border, is one of the largest of its kind in Europe. It is the fruit of the lifelong hobby of Hans-Peter Porsche, 74, a multi-millionaire member of the car-manufacturing family. – DPA
China on the march
The number of Chinese travelling overseas each year is predicted to reach 174 million within the next four years, and they will be spending US$264 billion while doing it, or roughly the gross domestic product of Singapore, according to a new industry survey. The Chinese outbound tourism market has been boosted by rising numbers of young people travelling, high disposable incomes, ongoing urbanisation and easier visa arrangements to many countries including the United States, Canada, South Korea and Japan. More than 107 million Chinese travelled on outbound trips in last year – of which 501,000 (0.4 per cent) made it to Thailand. – China Daily/ANN.
A trip across the border
Myeik in Myanmar’s South has gained more visitors after undergoing a border checkpoint upgrade. Many Thais are reportedly visiting the Singkhon-Mudong permanent checkpoint (between Thailand’s Prachuab Khiri Khan and Myanmar’s Myeik) since the upgrading was completed early in May. Than Win Zaw, head of the Mawtaung border region immigration department
says the region has enjoyed an increasing number of visitors since the opening of the checkpoint. From June 1 to 14, a total of 614 Thai citizens – 55 with border passes and 559 with temporary border passes – visited Myanmar. In May, the number reached 1,243. Thailand allows a two-day one-night stay for Myanmar citizens while Thai citizens are allowed to stay in Myeik for 14 days. – Eleven Myanmar/ANN
Sense of the Douro
Six Senses has opened its first resort in Europe. Located in the beautiful Portuguese Unesco World Heritage area of the Douro Valley, Six Senses Douro Valley presents a superbly renovated 19th-century manor house set high on a hill overlooking the vine covered rolling hills and the river below. A spa, a selection of rooms, suites and villas, restaurants, wine library, swimming pools and organic garden are but a few of the many features offered. The resort covers 8 hectares and comprises 57 rooms ranging from Superior, Deluxe, River rooms to spacious suites and villas with one, two and three bedrooms.
