Icons on E-Tourism sites

 

 An icon design is one of the designer’s hardest challenges. Since icons help us execute commands, open programs or documents quickly, it should be immediately clear what kind of thing is represented in them. Normally, the best rule would be to keep them as simple as possible. I read a great article lately about mistakes in icon design, not so long after finding two examples of bad icon design on e-tourism sites:

The first is a “map” icon, found on this wonderful Norwegian e-tourism site. It looks like this: . What is it? come on, it’s the shape of Norway… everyone knows that. And if you didn’t, the site’s admin team added the word “map” just next to it – now you can’t go wrong. Well, let’s say that a good icon doesn’t need words to support it.

The next is a “news” icon, found on the Visit Prague website. It looks like this: . Is it a link to an image gallery? or maybe a stamp-like icon, taking us to The Czech Republic postal authority? again, the supporting text only proves how bad this icon is.

Found any interesting examples of icons on e-tourism sites? either good or bad, feel free to share them with us.

2 future man-made islands

I have already shown you ”the world” in Dubaï. Hera are two other strange future man-made islands.

First of all, Zoran Island. Mr Gulu Lalvani, developer of the Royal Phuket Marina in Phuket, Thailand, has his eye set on a new project – Zoran, a man-made island located off the Phuket shoreline. Lalvani told local press that Bill Gates and his 54-meter yacht.provided the inspiration for this island. Phuket lacks a marina that can handle superyachts, a significant failing in light of the increasing number of super-rich tourists such as Bill Gates coming to this area. An Australian consulting firm has been hired to survey the proposed project site, which Lalvani named after his youngest son. Plans are developing for a hotel, luxury villas and berths for superyachts. So, if you have a hankering for such a place, then keep an eye on this future project.

Reef Island. You don’t need to wait until 2010 to invest in Reef Island. This man-made island paradise is gathering momentum as a flux of Bahraini and European investors have rushed to book up to over half the proposed housing units to date. Previously known as Lulu Island, this reclamation project is being built as a joint venture between the Bahrain government and the Bahrain-based Mouawad Group Real Estate Development Company off the coast of Al Manama, in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The development was designed by Australian-based Spowers and Pentago, and it is designed in the shape of the number nine. This freehold development project’s land reclamation is complete, and it covers an area of 6.23 million square feet. Construction has begun on approximately 1,200 condominiums, 65 villas and 49 beach fronted homes. Future plans include a 250-room five-star hotel, marina and yacht club, an aquarium, a well care center, a shopping mall, and a multi-function exhibition center.

thanks to Brian

7th “Marché des gourmets”

Last Saturday, for my internship at Donatello (a very good tour operator), I went to the 7th Marché des Gourmets, in Amay, between Namur and Liege (Belgium). It was a very interesting experiment. Thanks to Christian for his help!

Discover the cities with Google Street View

Google Street View is a feature of Google Maps introduced in 2007 that provides 360° panoramic street-level views and allows users to view parts of selected cities and their surrounding metropolitan areas at ground level. When it was launched on May 25, 2007, only five cities were included. It has since expanded to 23 cities, and includes the suburbs of many, and in some cases, other nearby cities.

Google Street View, when operated, displays photos that were previously taken by a camera mounted on an automobile, and can be navigated using either the arrow keys on the keyboard or by using the mouse to click on arrows displayed on the screen. Using these devices, the photos can be viewed in different sizes, from any direction, and from a variety of angles. Lines that are displayed along the street that is shown indicate the direction followed by that street.

Google has stated that its ultimate goal is to provide street views of the entire world, although the company has not disclosed in advance the exact dates when any particular locations will be added.

 

Top 10 – The Most Visited US Cities in 2007

 

These are the top cities visited by overseas travelers. Excludes visitors from Canada, and Mexico.

 10. Boston, Massachusetts (721,000 Arrivals)
Boston’s appeal on the other side of the Atlantic is timeless. Europeans seem to be fascinated with visiting Boston, & do so in large numbers.

 9. Chicago, Illinois (721,000 Arrivals)
Chicago is  home to the 2nd busiest airport in the world, so it’s no surprise that it makes this list. That & Shy Town has some tourist attractions of its own.

 8. Washington D.C., District of Columbia (901,000 Arrivals)
The American capital, while having had some bad press in the past, is truly a wonderful place to visit. And it seems that the world is finally realizing it.

 7. Las Vegas, Nevada (1.3 Million Arrivals)
Home to the glitz, the glamour, the cheesy, this is Las Vegas. Enough said.

 6. Honolulu, Hawaii (1.6 Million Arrivals)
Honolulu is in Hawaii, & it’s well Hawaii, beautiful beaches, tropical weather, volcanic activity, what more could you want on an island in the middle of the Pacific?

 5. San Francisco, California (1.6 Million Arrivals)
Truly one of the world’s most beautiful cities, San Francisco has long been popular with the international set, as a simple trip up Nob Hill will reveal, all languages, & all foreign travelers are to be found here.

 4. Orlando, Florida (1.8 Million Arrivals)
Disney World is maybe the largest attraction in the world, receiving visitors from every nation on earth. It’s every kid’s paradise, & every adult’s childhood dream.

 3. Miami, Florida (2.2 Million Arrivals)
Proving that Florida isn’t jus Disney World, Miami is ground zero for Europeans on a package-holiday, it seems as if every European has at one time or another taken a vacation package to Miami.

 2. Los Angeles, California (2.2 Million Arrivals)
Maybe the most dreamt of place in the world, it’s no surprise that Los Angeles ranks as high as it does on the international visitor chart. This is where dreams come from, this is where they’re made, this is whey they’re found. And people come from all around the world looking for theirs.

 1. New York City, New York (4 Million Arrivals)
Ahh New York, the least surprising end to any list ever made. New York City has always been the most visited city in the United States by far. This city has direct flights to Azerbaijan for goodness sake, & you know if they have direct flights to Azerbaijan they have direct flights to pretty much everywhere, & hence visitors from everywhere.

mini-guide: KOSOVO, a brand new country…

 

Kosovo, (Albanian: Kosova) is a partly recognized country in South Eastern Europe. Formerly a Serbian province, after a lengthy and often violent dispute Kosovo declared independence in February 2008 despite vociferous Serbian opposition. Kosovo borders Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the northwest, Macedonia to the south, and Serbia to the east.

to see the travel mini-guide click

Greece still one of Europe’s foremost tourist destinations

Greece enters the new tourism season as one of the most popular destinations in the world’s biggest markets.Greece is the second most popular destination among 80 according to data compiled by the International Federation of Tour Operators. During the ITB, a survey by tour operator TUI shows Greece to be the most attractive country worldwide, while another joint survey by the European Cruise Council, Euroyards and Medcruise & Europe ranked the country third in the list of the most popular cruise destinations in Europe, behind Italy and Spain.

 

see the complete article on grhomeboy.wordpress.com

thanks to HMN EDitor

Planet Venice

Here a photomontage based on a photograph I shot in May 2007 in Venice .

planet venice -nicolas nys (c)

What do you think about it?

posted by nicolas nys for tourismtobe

Indeed, Israel can be a dangerours place

posted by nicolas nys for tourismtobe

Ecotourism in Ireland

 

Looking for eco-friendly activities, transport, accommodation and organic food in Ireland? We discover the Emerald Isle’s many shades of green.

Ecotourism may be a recent travel concept, but it has a long history in Ireland where small-scale, sustainable, culturally sensitive and nature-based eco-escapes have evolved naturally around the country’s wild landscape.

Ireland’s natural beauty has always been its biggest attraction, with misty green mountains, a lush interior and wild craggy coastlines attracting everyone from serious climbers, cyclists and surfers to gentle ramblers, history buffs and wildlife spotters. And even now that tourism is a multi-million Euro industry, locals and tourists alike are fighting to keep Ireland true to its green roots.

For those coming from the UK, the temptation is to hop on one of Ireland’s famous low-cost airlines. But it’s surprisingly easy – and much more fun – to keep your feet on the ground.

Environmentally sound places to stay are commonplace in Ireland: a fact less surprising when you consider that many areas didn’t even have electricity until the 1970s and a traditional ethos still prevails. To witness people living simple, low-impact existence, take a trip to Tory Island, Clare Island, Rathlin or the Aran Islands. Alternatively, there are plenty of places to sleep that combine modern comforts with a clear conscience. posted by b01m

Launching of the “Green Passport”

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has launched an online ‘Green Passport’ campaign to raise tourists’ awareness of their ability to contribute to sustainable development by making responsible holiday choices.The new campaign, launched at the Berlin Tourism Fair, is aimed at shrinking the environmental footprint of vacation travellers, according to UNEP.

 

Among many tips on the Green Passport website, the campaign encourages tourists to choose responsible service providers, reduce the consumption of energy in transit or in hotels and buy locally made, environmentally-friendly souvenirs.

The website, developed in English, Portuguese and French, together with additional communication tools, is available for dissemination among other partners in the tourism community, UNEP stated.

“Packing a Green Passport along with airline tickets, the swimming costume and the sun lotion means tourists no longer need to leave their green credentials at home but can make them part of the holiday of a lifetime,” UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said.

Stressing that tourism had great potential for development, he noted that by 2020 the number of international arrivals by air and by sea could reach 1.6 billion annually.

He further added that as tourist numbers grow, so will their demands for energy, water and natural resources to support their holidays.

Pointing that the challenge is to manage this growth sustainably, Steiner said that governments have a key role to play, but so too do individuals and families when planning and going on holiday.

The French Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Spatial Planning, and the Brazilian Ministries of Environment and Tourism co-sponsored the campaign launch, UNEP stated.

CouchSurfing, or how to travel differently!

When the dollar decreases, US tourism is happy!

 

The euro breaks a new record and the American professionals of tourism are smiling, hoping that the weakness of the dollar will encourage more visits to the United States.

Four days of unrestrained shopping in New York for less than 800 euros? It is possible!  Flight, overnightsnight stays and excursion in a shopping mall included. It is also possible to find nights in a hotel hotel in Las Vegas starting from 14 euros per anybody and of the circuits in Florida starting from 300 euros.

For this reason United States are for the moment a real success. And the European tourists are all welcome as the economy of the country is far from to be good. Moreover, they supply their strongcurrency and they spend more regardless of costs than the American tourists.

However, in the United States, the profession it is not so optimistic because the number of visitors of the other side of the Atlantic still did not find its level of before the attacks of September 11.

posted by nicolas nys for tourismtobe

UNO helps Kenian tourism

UNO has announced today that it will ask to the world professionals of tourism to help the tourist sector in Kenya, struck hard by three months of politico-ethnic crisis.

They will organize (in Berlin) contacts and actions of communication (…) in order to start again the confidence of the large actors of world tourism.

Berlin welcomes on March 5 one of the most important tourism show in the world, which joins together tourist agencies and tour operators from 180 countries and attracts tens of thousands of visitors.

posted by nicolas nys for tourismtobe

tastlessly tourism

 

The Road of the mimosa, the olive-tree in Provence, the Da Vinci Code circuit in Paris, … all the sets of themes are welcomed to make discover the most remarkable sites of the cities. And this week, a plan of Naples, indexing the murders made by the local Mafia, are distributed in the streets of the Italian city. Are you ready to follow the guide?

The tourist resources are sometimes infinite… Naples, the city which was illustrated with the beginning of the year for its crisis of the refuse, is again pointed out. With a plan indexing the murders made in the city by Camorra, local the Maffia. The gutter is not left. The objective of the students in art who worked out is “to denounce the influence of the Maffia on the city”.

Of course…. They could have imagined a road of the godfather’s houses or a walk on the spot financed by the underworld…, but it will be a circuit of the impacts of balls and other pools of blood. “The goal is to draw the attention of the tourists to the fact that Naples is not only one town of beautiful monuments but also a capital of criminality”. Oh yeah? they didn’t know? From there to follow the guide, there is a true margin. Would you cross it?

posted by nicolas nys for tourismtobe

Croatia wins 2 World Travel Awards

Croatia is distinguished more and more as a destination. Its cultural heritage and history and the authorized investments these last years make of Croatia a true four star destination. The islands of Hvar, Braè and Makarska Rivièra deserve more than all this distinction.
During the annual World Travels Awards, also called the Oscars of tourism, Croatian cities like Opatija and Skradinski Buk had already got an award last year. This year, these prices returned to Primosten and Biograd. World Travel Awards are very prised because the jury selects each year two cities among 26.000 entering in consideration for the final victory. The cities are judged according to aesthetic criteria, their environment, their traditions and their infrastructures.

posted by nicolas nys for tourismtobe

India invests for its tourism

India is one of the tourist destinations knowing one of the fastest growths in the world. Moreover, its average growth, for the ten next years, is estimated on a worldwide scale to 9 percent. India aspires to accomodate in 2010 10 million visitors per year. This is why it invests fully in tourism. The airports of Delhi and Mumbai will be renovated and will experience an important development, accommodating new terminals (inauguration envisaged in 2009). Yet in 2008, the new airports of Bangalore and Hyderabad will open their doors. In all, a variable sum between 15 and 17 billion dollars will be invested in the air transport between 2005 and 2010. In the same way, the hotel capacity will increase considerably. Thus, the number of hotel rooms in Delhi will increase by 300 percent during the next 5 years. By the year 2011, India will count in all 30.000 new beds.

posted by nicolas nys for tourismtobe

the AGV, next high speed train

The AGV (Automotrice à Grande Vitesse) was presented in France as the successor of the TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse = High Speed Train). The AGV can reach 360 km/h is 40 km/h more quickly than a TGV but it consumes 15% of energy less thanks to the improvement of its aerodynamism and the change of propulsion.

posted by nicolas nys for tourismtobe

4 years for 0,003 gram

An English, father of three young children, was arrested in the airport of Dubai because the customs found a small piece of marijuana (0,003 gram) under one of its tread. The man was condemned to four years of prison in Dubai.

posted by nicolas nys for tourismtobe

Dubai World Islands

what’s your opinion?

posted by nicolas nys for tourismtobe

Where and when to go?

You want to go somewhere but you do not know if you will have good weather. You want to travel to a sunny destination but you do not know where. Here is a sympathetic site [fr] , for our French-speaking friends…

posted by nicolas nys for tourismtobe

space tourism… coming soon!

Virgin Galactic will be the first private space tourism company to regularly send civilians into space, by training them for 3 days before their launch.
Virgin Galactic is planning to have passenger service on its first spaceship with the inaugural launch in 2008 and main flights beginning in 2009.The price is initially set at $200,000. Headed by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, Launches will first occur at the Mojave Spaceport in California, and will then be moved to the permanent spaceport in Upham, New Mexico. The spaceships used will go110km (or 68.18 miles) high and space flights will last 2.5 hours, carry 6 passengers, and reach a speed of Mach 3.

                                                                 posted by nicolas nys for tourismtobe

The industry of tourism called to fight against climate warming

Joined together at the time of the World Travel Market in London, a hundred ministers and representatives of the countries of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) approved a declaration recognizing the role of tourism industry in the phenomenon of the planet warming and proposed some tracks to cure it.

Among the tracks proposed, the members of the WTO evoked the increased use of renewable energies, and the introduction of mechanisms allowing the travellers to compensate for their greenhouse gases emission. The replacement of the old fleets of the airline companies by models which consume less fuel could also help to limit the gas emissions to greenhouse effect.

All the ministers are in accord… it is time to act and the earlier we will act, the less it will cost us.

posted by nicolas nys for tourismtobe

Top 10 of visited countries in 2006 [en]

Tourism remains among the first world activities. According to the WTO (World Tourism Organization), international tourism reached 842 million arrivals in 2006 and the travellers spent abroad nearly 700 billion dollars.
The annual increase of this sector is now approximately 4% / year (a rate that should continue at this rhythm until 2020)

                                              
1. France 79.1 / 2. Spain 55.9 / 3. United States 51.1 / 4. China 49.6 / 5. Italy 41.1 / 6. United Kingdom 30.7 / 7. Germany 23.6 / 8. Mexico 21.4 / 9. Austria 20.3 / 10. Russian Federation 20.2

posted by nicolas nys for tourismtobe