Tourism | Digital Crosstalk

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Brian and team, who work for a digital marketing agency run this Digital Crosstalk blog.
Occasionally we might blog about companies and people we work with but for the most part we'll simply be blogging about stories and events which we find interesting.

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18th
FEB

Machu Picchu to reopen to tourists from April

Posted by Brian | Filed under tourism

: Image by teague03 via Flickr

The ancient Incan ruins of Machu Piccu are set to reopen to tourists on 1st April. The site has been closed to visitors since heavy rain stranded hundreds of tourists in January, creating mud slides that cut off roads and blocked a railway line between the site and the nearby city of Cusco.

Tourist officials in Peru have said that the waterline of the Vilcanota River has dropped enough to allow for repairs to be carried out to the railway line after which the historic site can be reopened.

In January, tourists had to be airlifted from the site after becoming stranded while more than 10,000 people were affected in the region surrounding Machu Piccchu.

Tags: Cusco, Machu Picchu, Peru, Rail transport, South America, tourism, travel, Urubamba River

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20th
JAN

Nepal to promote gay tourism

Posted by Brian | Filed under tourism

: Image via Wikipedia

Nepal will celebrate its legalisation of gay marriage by promoting the country as being the gay tourism capital of Asia says Pink News.

Gay marriages were legalised in the land-locked country in 2009 by the country’s Supreme Court and the government is to begin drafting a law in the upcoming months. A conference in February will be held to discuss how the country can attract more gay couples.

Meanwhile, Sunil Babu Pant, the country’s only out gay MP has created and launched a travel company called ‘Pink Mountain’ which will offer wedding ceremonies at the base of Mount Everest and processions on horseback. The MP believes Nepal’s economy could benefit from a substantial boost if the country can attract one-tenth of the world’s gay population to the country.

Until 2007, homosexuality was illegal in the country but the past few years have seen profound changes for gay rights and Pant – a gay activist hero around the world told the Daily Telegraph the government had a target to increase tourist numbers from 400,000 to one-million in the coming year and that by looking to attract gay visitors the country could reap the benefit of additional tourist revenue.

In the past, Nepal was once a strongly conservative country and gays suffered persistent persecution from security forces during the absolutist rule of King Gyanendra, while harassment of lesbian, gay and trans-genders continued at the hands of Maoist rebels.

Tags: mount everest, sunil babu pant, tourism

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7th
JAN

Turkey expect 2010 tourism boom

Posted by Brian | Filed under tourism

: Image via Wikipedia

As a regular visitor to the tourist resorts of Turkey, especially those on the Aegean Sea, I already know why the country has become a popular tourist location. Yet the Turkish tourism minister has suggested that tourism for the country is only going to get better in 2010.

Ertu?rul Günay, the country’s Culture and Tourism Minister stated that as many as 30 MILLION tourists could visit Turkey in 2010, despite ongoing economic pressures around the globe. The minister stated that the tourism industry in Turkey was attempting to improve the quality of the all-inclusive system in order to attract more tourists to Turkish resorts.

Also, as a country steeped in archaeological heritage, it was important to mix Turkish heritage and culture into the country’s tourism experience.

Turkey attracted almost 26 million tourists in the first 11 months of 2009. Between the January and November period, mostly German, Russian and British tourists chose Turkey as a holiday destination and tourists mainly visited the Mediterranean region.

Turkey has already made giant strides in attracting new tourism, especially with the introduction of winter sports tourism and also the golf complex found at Belek.

Tags: tourism, travel, turkey

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4th
DEC

Peanut-sized Jellyfish puts tourist in hospital

Posted by Brian | Filed under tourism

: Image by orangejack via Flickr

There is an age-old adage which states: ‘Look before you leap’ and perhaps it is a lesson which an un-named tourist in Australia should have adhered to.

The tourist, who had been sailing off the north-eastern coast of the country dived face first into a small, but potentially deadly Irukandji jellyfish with a potent sting said to rival the pain of childbirth.

Despite being kitted out in a full-length protective stinger suit, the jellyfish – which is the size of a peanut – managed to find and sting his uncovered face as he jumped from his yacht into the water.

The incident happened near South Molle Island, in Queensland’s popular Whitsunday Islands on Thursday.

The jellyfish is extremely difficult to see in the ocean, but is common enough throughout the waters around the coast and tourism officials advise people not to swim in the water, or wear stinger suits for protection. In this case, however, the latter advice wasn’t enough.

The man was pulled back on to the tour boat suffering excruciating pain and was transported to the island where, shivering and in shock, he was given first aid by medics. However, he then had to endure a 40 minute wait before a rescue helicopter could transfer him to a hospital at Mackay on the mainland, where he remained in intensive care.