Brazil : A paradise for Lovers of Sports Tourism and Carnival

For sports fans, Brazil is a tourist destination that they should not miss in the coming years.

In 2014 and 2016 respectively, the largest and most populous nation in South America will host the world’s two premier sporting events – the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games – in Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil is the third country, after West Germany in the early 1970s and the US in the mid-1990s, to host both events in a row.

Rio is also the first Latin American city to win the bid to host the Olympics. [ Read more ]

Tourist Areas Not Affected by Floods in Bangkok

“We are counting on our 25 offices abroad to give the right information about the flood situation in Thailand,” said Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Governor Suraphon Svetasreni to a packed gathering at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT) about the impact of Thailand’s worst floods to date on the tourism industry of the country. He was accompanied by Akapol Sorasuchart, President of Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB), who spoke about the effects of the floods on the MICE industry. [ Read more ]

Tourists May Be Banned From Indian Tiger Seserves

India's Supreme Court is to decide, based on a recent petition, whether to accept proposals to shift tourists to "fringe" or "buffer zones" outside of core tiger habitats in order to protect the endangered species.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), which has filed the petition, puts the number of remaining tigers in India at 1,706, spread among 40 wildlife reserves.

However, according to Save The Tiger, a large Indian non-profit organization, there are just 1,411 tigers left in India. That's down from around 40,000 at the turn of the last century. [ Read more ]

Travel and Tourism in India, Key Trends and Opportunities to 2015

Tourist volumes are expected to grow at over 11% annually until 2015, with health and wellness tourism recording particularly strong growth due to the high healthcare costs in Western countries and the high-quality medical facilities offered in India. [ Read more ]

Winter Tibet Welcomes Tourists With Unique Travel Sights

No longer a high-altitude city in forbidding winter, but a fascinating tourist attraction, the wintery charms of Lhasa, capital of China's Tibet autonomous region, are attracting more and more tourists from across the globe.

Winter in Tibet is not just a harsh season that is cold, dry and short of greenery and oxygen, and the region is now promoting its "Winter Tour in Tibet" campaign, which is being held from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31, said Wang Songping, director of the regional tourism bureau.

"The winter scenery in Tibet is of magical splendor compared to summer days. The sunshine is more pure and transparent, and the lakes are more blue and surrounded by primeval forest," he said, adding that wintertime Tibet is waiting to be discovered. [ Read more ]

Sri Lanka’s Tourism Boom

For Sri Lankan tourism, 2011 is already a record year. We’ve had 668,000 guests and are expecting about 780,000 by year’s end. The country has been featured by National Geographic, New York Times (2010) and World Travel Market 2011 as a go-to destination, for good reason. I was recently looking through some photos and I was like, ‘wow, I live here’. Sri Lanka truly is a land like no other.

To anyone who’s been here, the appeal of Sri Lanka is quite self-evident, and needs no particular accreditation. I simply don’t know any other place in the World with such a concentration of awesome. You are never more than four hours from a beach, never more than 12 hours from anywhere, and you can experience everything from ancient ruins to snorkeling to amasing food and people in a day. [ Read more ]

ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) Indonesia 2012 – A Sold-Out Event

Strong Interest From Trade Buyers and International Media Around The World

Come January 2012, the brand new Golden Kawanua Exhibition Hall, venue for ATF 2012 TRAVEX, will welcome close to 1,000 exhibitors who will occupy more than 450 exhibiting booths, representing a diverse range of ASEAN destination, travel products and services suppliers.

Among the participating exhibitors, 30% are new. Remarked Pasinee Lawtrakulngam, Director of Sales and Marketing of Kacha Resort and Spa, Koh Chang in Thailand, “This is our first-time at ATF. We have committed to be at the event to significantly raise the visibility and awareness of Koh Chang, and to drive business to both the destination and our resort.” [ Read more ]