Farewell to our friend and member Kostas Papastathopoulos who suddenly passed away. The happiest and most positive person who had achieved many professional goals but also found time for his beloved wife, two young children, his ancestral village and vineyard, always with a smile. Why do good people have to die young? Why are billions wasted on means of destruction and not spent on much needed cures?
I had the opportunity to interview Lotay Rinchen, Senior Travel Manager of Bhutan Expeditions, recently. He shared some very interesting insights on tourism in Bhutan and the changes that may occur as the country moves towards its first demogratically elected government. To see the interview, please check out my newsletter at http://www.kalahari-online.com/win08.pdfCarol
Greetings,Our CCS Winter Newsletter is up! It includes news from our fields, upcoming seminars and seasonal recipes.The link: http://www.cookingincrete.com/CCS-Newslett...inter-2008.htmlBest regards,Nikki
Greetings,CCS has posted photos from Crete on flickr. The link is here and also on Planeta's Rural Tourism page.http://www.flickr.com/groups/cretesustainabletravel/Best regards,Nikki
a thought: animals spend most of their time foraging, while humans spend most of their time working, allegedly so that they can indirectly forage (buying food with money), but also so that they can be seen from their peers that they forage, as idleness is taboo. An evolution leftover? How about leisure & free time management in primates? Precious little can be found online on this.Somewhat related research:http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalog...isbn=0521858372http://www.unisci.com/stories/20021/0218021.htm
Travelodge is taking hotel recycling to a new level. They are building a pop-up hotel in West London using the large metal shipping crates that are ubiquitous at every shipping port. Many crates sit idle and can be a waste disposal problem so finding a new use for them is a win-win situation.In China the crates have been modified to include bathrooms and windows and furnishings will be added in England once the hotel is assembled. The hotel chain feels this construction method and the flexibility to dismantle the hotel will allow them to meet the fluctuating demand levels that accompany major sporting events like the Olympics.The 120 room hotel will be 10% cheaper to build than comparable hotels and cost only 19 pounds a night - a deal in London. I think reusing shipping containers is a great idea and may provide some positive spin-offs if the technology can also create affordable housing in urban centres. It remains to be seen how people like living in shipping crates, but I've stayed in hotels where a clean crate would have been a step up so lets give it a try!
A consultant friend sent this as a holiday greeting SEASONAL GREETING MEMORANDUMFrom us ("the wishor") to you ("hereinafter referred to as the “wishee”), please accept without obligation, implied or implicit, our best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, politically correct, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all...and a financially successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but with due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures or sects, and having regard to the race, creed, colour, age, physical ability, religious faith, choice of computer platform or dietary preference of the wishee.By accepting this greeting you are bound by these terms that:1This greeting is subject to further clarification or withdrawal2This greeting is freely transferable provided that no alteration shall be made to the original greeting and that the proprietary rights of the wishor are acknowledged.3 This greeting implies no promise by the wishor to...
I got the chance to tag along with Santa today when he delivered his presents to the elephant, red panda and tiger born this year at the Calgary Zoo. My first introduction to ecotourism was at the Calgary Zoo and I was on the board for a number of years so I’m always thrilled when I get the chance to visit. This was the first time I’ve seen the baby elephant and she is adorable. She was particularly fascinated with Mrs. Claus (perhaps she knows where the real gift giving decisions are made….)If you like animals at all you’ll enjoy this video clip http://www.14dd5266c70789bdc806364df4586335-gdprlock/watch?v=crKHWiNXQYUHappy Holidays!Carol
Shame to the Austin-Texas disco that decided to install a concrete shark tank in the middle of a dancehall lounge, for the 'pleasure' of its patrons, supposedly to 'raise environmental awareness'... Sea Shepherd is rightly protesting about it.The video struck me as something right out of the decadent stages of the Roman Empire. Sharks dancing with sharks.
I was pleased to hear recently Ecotourism Australia has taken drastic steps to preserve its ecotourism brand. They took Trek North Safaris to court for protect Eco Australia’s intellectual property and to protect the public from potentially misleading environmental marketing. Trek North Safaris was using the Ecotourism Australia ECO Certification logo without permission and was not a member of Ecotourism Australia nor certified by Ecotourism Australia. The Queensland Supreme Court ruled that the company was to cease use of the logo, destroy all items that contained the logo and pay Ecotourism Australia’s legal costs. This is the first case I’ve seen where legal action protect an ecotourism certification program and it marks an important point in the evolution of ecotourism. Ecotourism Australia has one of the world’s most recognizable ecotourism certification programs and stopping such fraudulent use ensures their brand retains its credibility. If certification programs are to succeed we need to aggressively weed out operators taking advantage of certification programs to simply ‘greenwash’ their marketing efforts. Bravo to Ecotourism Australia!Carol
