Monday, November 24, 2008

Beyond the Beach in Miami...

... the well known phrase "a picture says more than 1,000 words" is true and we can say that pictures can tell us a story, a problem, a fact... It is possible express feeling and messages using photos to illustrate the ideas. In the photostory "Beyond the Beach in Miami" the narrator and photographer Elizabeth Larsen talks and shows about natural beauties, places to visit, restaurants, culture and traditions in Miami, reinforcing that Miami is more than beach...

Larsen's pictures invite us to "step off the sand path" and discover what this city has to offer...

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

How Can Hotel Rewards Help Fund a Trip?

In a moment of a troubled economy, everyone look for reducing their expenses and because of that many families are not going to travel during this coming holiday season or at least are planning to go somewhere closer. On the oder hand, the tourism company count on the holiday season to warm up their business. However, many hotels are offering rewards programs to help their customers with their trip funds. According to the article "How Can Hotel Rewards Help Fund a Trip?" this market strategy is very efficient and can bring good results for the hotels and for the customers.

So, if you are planning to get way in this holiday season, a good tip to save money during your trip is using rewards programs. It is also helpful when you book your flight tickets....

Monday, November 10, 2008

Does the 'Real' Ireland Still Exist?

Talking about Travel, this week we decided to look for article related to tourism in Ireland... Why Ireland? Well, no special reason... We just picked a place on the world map...
So, for my new mission on Travel Group, I read "Does the 'Real' Irealnd Still Exist?" written by Dan Barry.
In this article, Barry talks about the changes that have been happen in Ireland in the past few years, specially after the European Union; and he asks if it is still possible to find the traditional Irish culture in Ireland... That is a pretty intrigue question that got my attention...
Barry talks about the good things that we can do and see in some towns in the west side of Ireland. How enjoyable is to spend his morning watching the “same white-bearded fisherman(...)park his old blake bicycle by the pier, row a skiff to his rusty-green vessel, and disappear into the bay” ... Or the pleasure of sometimes seeing the “beer truck pull up to Connolly's” in the afternoon.
However, Barry points that many things have been changing in the Irish routine. One of the most important facts that has been modifying the traditional Irish culture is the influence of other cultures on it. As he says “the real change, though, is in Gort’s new and sizable Brazilian community, attracted in part by job opportunities at a local meat-processing plant.” According to Barry, the Brazilian culture has been impacted in the area significantly; in a way that pubs play Brazilian musics and there are grocery stores specialized in Brazilian foods.
Even though, Barry shows some of the negative changes in the Irish tradition, he also talks about how interesting those “external” influences are. How the Irish people has been adjusting and integrating the new, the different in their routine.
I really liked the way he presented this topic because at the same time he critics some of the changes that have been happening in the Ireland, he also talks about its benefits. I believe that we are able to find those kinds of changes and cultural influence in many countries and regions in the world. Like in the U.S., we can find neighborhoods that carry pieces of the globe as China Town, Little Italy and others... or we can have Indian, Mexican, Japanese, Colombian, Vietnamese and many others kinds of food whenever we want... without lose our identity.

Monday, November 3, 2008

What is Eco-tourism?

Well, first of all I would like to explain that Jeongyeon, Han and I have a important mission for Topic in Media Class, we have to write about TRAVEL for our final assignment. As a first step in our research we have to read an article about one of the subjects related to TRAVEL... and we chose to talk about ECO-TOURISM.

So, to introduce this subject there are no better article than the one that explains "What is Eco-tourism?", presented on CNN.com on July 1, 2008... As articles related to TRAVEL are not time dependent, it is not necessery to read some thing new .... or break news!!!

Let's move on to the article...

In this article, Tricia Barnett, chief executive of Tourism Concern, a UK charity that campaigns against exploitation in tourism, says eco-tourism is only a marketing strategy and that there is many evidences to show that eco-tourism, “like all forms of tourism, is not necessarily sustainable.” She also states that eco-tourism can be more abusive because it incentives people to to go to areas where indigenous live.

According to Barnett, it is possible to plan a vacation and be ecologically correct. However, it is very important to search for information about the area, consider and respect the environment and the local eco-system. A new form of eco-tourism has been changing its conception... the Community Tourism as it is known is a sustainable form what involves the considerations about the economy and social structure of the area. This news form of tourism also provides a real contact with the nature and with the people who live in the area.

I really like this article... I agree with the purposes presented by Tricia Barnett and I think that a sustainable eco-tourism should be focus not only on the natural aspects of the area, but also in the people who are part of the system and those ones who use the natural resources to live in equilibrium and harmony.