Research and Markets Releases New Russia Tourism Report
Research and Markets has announced the addition of a new travel industry product to their range, the Russia Tourism Report Q2 2011. The report analyses the evolution of tourism in the second quarter of the current year in relation to events from early 2011 and the evolution of this Russian industry after the decline registered in 2009.
The forecasts and competitive analysis of the Russian tourism industry targets industry professionals and strategists, corporate analysts, tourism associations, government departments and regulatory bodies that are interested in the country’s travel and economic trends.
After a sharp fall in tourism arrivals of 10% year to year recorded in 2009, Russian tourism started a slowly increasing trend, with a 2% year to year growth in 2010. The trend will continue this year, with an estimated increase of 1% in tourism arrivals. Read more…
Washington State Cuts All Tourism Marketing Spending
Although tourism is one of the largest industries in the state of Washington, local authorities have decided to cut all funding and all support to market it as a travel destination. This week will mark the end of all tourism marketing activities and the shut down of the official tourism agency in charge of promoting state attractions.
While other states are increasing their marketing efforts to keep attractive travel spending to their state, Washington decided to to the exact opposite, after previously cutting down its tourism marketing budget, going from 7 million US dollars spent annually, to a 2 million annual budget. Tourism is the state’s fourth largest industry, with visitors having spent about 15.2 billion US dollars in 2010 alone. Read more…
North Africa Bargains Manage to Attract Wary Tourists
Tunisia is channelling its efforts on boosting tourism, the country’s second biggest employing sector, in an attempt to to restore stability and overcome the effects of recent political turmoil that led to the overthrow of its former ruler. This proves to be a particularly difficult task, as tourist arrivals from Europe have decreased by 50%.
Sidi Bou Said village Tunisia
“Tunisians feel very let down because they were the first ones to start the uprising, to fight for democracy, and now they are forgotten,” said tour group manager Can Deniz, strolling through the winding streets of Sidi Bou Said village.
Sidi Bou Said used to be an extremely popular tourist destination due to its stunning views of The Bay of Tunis, coupled with its lively markets and white and blue houses. Read more…
Florida Tourism Gets 30 Million USD Marketing Funds from BP
After losing most of their tourism business last year, the effort to support tourism in Florida and its Panhandle beaches has just gotten a new boost of 30 million US dollars marketing grant from BP. The announcement was made earlier today by Governor Rick Scott at a press conference, in the company of BP officials and local tourism leaders.
Since the oil spill, the largest in history, affecting the Gulf of Mexico, BP has payed about 82 million US dollars to Florida, money invested in tourism and commercial seafood testing. The company responsible for the disaster causing all this problems in the first place has already makde paments to Mississippi (18 million USD) and to Alabama (22 million). Louisiana also received 5 million, a first of six due BP payments, amounting to 30 million US dollars. Read more…
Hawaii Invests USD 3 Million to Counter Japan Tourism Fall
Hawaii tourism has taken a big fall due to the earthquake and following tsunami in Japan. Not only did the country suffer damages, they also had to deal with a sharp decline in travelers from Japan, one of the top countries sending foreign tourists to Hawaii, and home of the most aggressive spenders on the island.
In order to counter the fall taken by their tourism industry, Hawaii officials have approved an investment of 3 million US dollars from the state’s reserve funds. The Hawaii Tourism Authority announced a vote to use the money from Hawaii’s special reserve to boost tourism and compensate the steep fall caused by the earthquake and its immediate and long term consequences. Read more…
Japan disaster affects Hawaii tourism and economy
Hawaii has not had an easy ride when it comes to tourism industry and its economy. The tourism-dependant state was already struggling with a budget shortfall close to 1 billion US dollars reported for the past two years years when the earthquake and subsequent tsunami happened in Japan. Hawaii has more damages to add to their free-falling economy: the tsunami caused tens of millions of dollars in damage to homes, businesses and boats in Hawaii, and the Japanese tourists cancelled their trips and tours after the earthquake that devastated the country.
Although state officials are quite aware of the fallout tendency of Japanese tourism after calamities, this is a harsh reminder of how much the island paradise actually depends on tourists. Read more…
New sports fishing rules enforced to protect the Alaska halibut
If you were thinking of traveling to Alaska in pursuit of your sports fishing passion and the famous halibut, the new fishing rules might upset you. But it’s all for a good cause! In order to protect the always decreasing stocks of halibut, all sports fishermen on charter boats fishing in southeast Alaska will be limited to one such fish each.
The new rule of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Service is not exactly their idea, they are just adhering to guidelines established by the International Pacific Halibut Commission, the U.S.-Canada group overseeing halibut fishing in the North Pacific Ocean. Read more…
