27 Jan, 2012
Financial Short-Termism Obstructs Sustainable Change in Business: Experts
Nairobi/ Paris, 26 January 2012 – Financial short-termism represents a critical barrier to businesses’ transition to sustainability, according to a new poll. The latest wave of The Sustainability Survey – GlobeScan and SustainAbility’s regular survey of attitudes across businesses, NGOs, academia and government – reveals that a very large majority (88%) of the 642 experts [...]
more…25 Jan, 2012
Labour Leaders Demand Jobs, Growth And Equity In Davos
25 January 2012 (ITUC, WEF media releases): The international union movement has put its case for the reform of capitalism at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week with five principles for dealing with current economic challenges. Addressing political and business chiefs, trade union leaders from Indonesia, USA and more…24 Jan, 2012
Western Economic Crisis Has Cost 27 Million Jobs, And It’s Not Over Yet
The global economic crisis increased the number of total unemployed by 27 million, raising to 1.1 billion people the number of people out of work, most of them young people, women and those already poor, according to a blistering report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), a United Nations agency. more…23 Jan, 2012
World Economic Forum: Most Global Experts Fear Looming Geopolitical Disruption
Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, 23 January 2012 (World Economic Forum media release) – Fear among international experts of a major geopolitical disruption over the next 12 months has risen significantly to 54%, just as confidence in the state of global cooperation has dropped, according to the World Economic Forum’s third Global Confidence more…20 Jan, 2012
Post-floods Thai Tourism Surged 46% in Dec 2011, Arrivals Hit Record 19 mln
BANGKOK: After slumping in October and November 2011 due to the flooding crisis, visitor arrivals to Thailand rebounded by 46.2% in December 2011. The odds-defying surge allowed Thailand to end the year with a record 19.09 million arrivals, up 19.8% over 2010. more…19 Jan, 2012
India’s “People Power” Diaspora Now A Major Agent Of Change
JAIPUR, Rajasthan: When the Q&A began after one of the plenary sessions at the overseas Indian diaspora caucus on January 9, the first person to raise her voice was Dr Rashmi Dickinson, a former Hampstead, UK-based cardiologist. After narrating a brief story about her career in the UK, she said more…16 Jan, 2012
World Economic Forum Lists 50 Biggest Global Risks, Cites “Seeds of Dystopia”
The 7th Global Risks report issued by the World Economic Forum last week could be a watershed in the history of such reports. Alongside a listing of 50 of the most pressing risks facing the world, the report for the first time mentions the word “dystopia”, defined by the Oxford more…15 Jan, 2012
Professor Lists 10 Reasons Why The U.S. Is No Longer The Land Of The Free
In the decade since Sept. 11, 2001, the United States has comprehensively reduced civil liberties in the name of an expanded security state, and is now in the same "troubling company" as Russia, China, Cuba, Iran and other countries it criticises, according to Jonathan Turley, the Shapiro Professor of Public more…10 Jan, 2012
India Again Presses The Point, Cites High Economic Cost of Gulf Conflict
Jaipur, January 9 - For the second day running, India reiterated its concern for the safety and welfare of its six million strong diaspora in the Gulf, this time couching it in terms of their importance to the national economy. Addressing representatives of the Indian diaspora in the Gulf attending more…8 Jan, 2012
India Warns Against Gulf Conflict, But Prepares for Another Evacuation Operation
JAIPUR, Jan 8, 2012: Voicing concerns about the safety of millions of Indian migrant workers and citizens in the Gulf, Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh today sent a strong warning signal to the various countries against triggering yet another conflict there, but said that an evacuation plan has been more…5 Jan, 2012
25 Years After “1987 Visit Thailand Year”, New Tourism Era Set to Dawn?
BANGKOK - Recent announcements by the Thai travel & tourism industry indicate that a long-overdue mindset-change is under way in the future approach to development and sustainability. After spending 25 years since 1987 Visit Thailand Year (VTY) doing heavy-duty marketing, the Thai tourism industry is poised to enter a new more…5 Jan, 2012
The Only English-language Books Ever Written About Historic 1987 Visit Thailand Year
Way back in 1987, Travel Impact Newswire Executive Editor Imtiaz Muqbil was the only industry journalist to realise the long-term significance of Visit Thailand Year, and how the momentous event would forever change both the country and the industry. To help this foresight benefit future generations, he chronicled the historic tourism more…21 Dec, 2011
A Must-Read Book For The Travel & Tourism Industry in 2012, U.S. Election Year
Editor’s Note: 2012 will be an election year in the United States and a critical year for the world at large. The travel & tourism industry will be significantly affected by the many geopolitical and economic events and developments sure to unfold next year. In an era of shifting global balance more…21 Dec, 2011
Muslim Religious Leaders Sue U.S. Airline Over Removal from Flight
Attorneys from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and United Firm of Carolina Law (UFC Law) have filed a lawsuit against Delta Air Lines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines for removing two Islamic religious leaders, or imams, from a flight from Memphis, Tennessee, to Charlotte, N.C., in May 2011 after the more…17 Dec, 2011
Standing Ovation For Palestinian Leader As Flag Is Raised At UNESCO
PARIS, December 13 (UNESCO Media release) - The Palestinian flag was raised at UNESCO’s Headquarters on December 13 to mark the admission of Palestine to the Organization. The President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, UNESCO’s Director-General Irina Bokova, the President of the General Conference Katalin Bogyay, the Chairperson of more…16 Dec, 2011
World Economic Forum Report Cites Danger of “Widespread Public Mistrust”
The rich man’s club known as the World Economic Forum has finally awoken to the unpredictable, unstable and insecure world its own elitist members have helped create. A report entitled "Outlook on the Global Agenda 2012" released on 12 December 2011 talks about the "rollback of globalisation," the possibility of more…12 Dec, 2011
Lessons in Leadership from the World’s Last Great Head of State
Everything, they say in Thailand, amounts to destiny. It was perhaps destiny that Thailand marked two events on Dec 5 – the start of clean-up campaigns after one of the worst natural disasters in Thai history and the auspicious 84th birthday of King Bhumibhol Adulyadej, the world’s longest reigning monarch, more…8 Dec, 2011
Another Gulf Conflict “Just a Matter of Time” – Chinese Media Comment
When chief executives of international travel organisations and the airline industry decide to stop fretting and fuming over the UK Air Passenger Duty, they may wish to heed a warning from an official Chinese newspaper that an Israel-US-European attack on Iran is "just a matter of time." A commentary published in more…6 Dec, 2011
How to Prevent Travel & Tourism From Falling Victim to Global Crises
BANGKOK - An exclusive report produced by Travel Impact Newswire has identified a significant disconnect between the development agendas being pursued by global leaders and the travel/tourism industry. Unless and until this disconnect is narrowed, or plugged entirely, travel & tourism will continue falling victim to the repeated global crises, more…28 Nov, 2011
Indian Travel Agents Plan Life After IATA Accreditation Status
MACAU -- The Indian head of an aviation consultancy has called on Indian travel agents to move beyond talking about change and focus instead on the challenge of change. That comment set the scene for a boisterous discussion amongst members of the Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) about preparing more…22 Nov, 2011
Media Coverage of the Thai Floods: Here We Go Again
It did not take long for the floods in Thailand to reignite the déjà vu debate over media reporting of the crisis. While the raging waters have washed out a huge swathe of territory across Bangkok and a number of Thailand's economically vital central provinces, the rest of the country, more…22 Nov, 2011
Trades Union Decry “Inhuman Working Conditions” Behind Gulf Miracle
The awarding of the 2022 World Cup football extravaganza to Qatar has allowed the global trades union movement to jack up pressure on the Gulf states to safeguard the rights of the hundreds of thousands of migrant labourers who endure “inhuman working conditions” in building the gleaming new hotels, convention more…20 Nov, 2011
Aviation, Eco-taxes Needed To Force Shift to A Green Economy, UNEP report
At the Nov 7-10 World Travel Market in London, travel industry leaders took a strong stand against a carbon emissions tax facing the aviation industry. Although their argument focussed on the impact this would have on air-fares and the aviation sector, a flagship UN report on the state of the more…16 Nov, 2011
Global Experts Poll: Crisis of Confidence in Global Economy Continues
Geneva, Switzerland, 16 November 2011 – The confidence deficit continues worldwide with international experts remaining pessimistic about the state of the global economy and global governance over the next year, according to the results of the World Economic Forum’s second quarterly Global Confidence Index. However, the Index shows that there more…16 Nov, 2011
Verbatim: The Best Press Release Ever Written
The most creative Press release I've ever read in my 31 years of covering travel & tourism. more…16 Nov, 2011
Palestinian Freedom Riders Forced Off Bus that Serves Jewish-only Settlements
I'm writing to you right now from a press room in Ramallah in the West Bank. And I can't help but feel I've just witnessed something truly historic. Six breathtakingly courageous Palestinian human rights activists just tried to take the bus from Ramallah to East Jerusalem. It's a trip I've made more…15 Nov, 2011
“Innovation No Longer Prerogative Of High-Income Countries” – WIPO Report
Geneva, November 14, 2011 - The World Intellectual Property Report 2011- The Changing Face of Innovation – a new WIPO publication – describes how ownership of intellectual property (IP) rights has become central to the strategies of innovating firms worldwide. With global demand for patents rising from 800,000 applications in more…14 Nov, 2011
Three Travel Editors Unite In Opposing Attack On Iran
Imtiaz Muqbil is Executive Editor of Travel Impact Newswire, John Bell is a London-based travel editor/broadcaster/director and former chairman of the British Guild of Travel Writers, Don Ross is the Bangkok-based Editor of Travel Trade Report. LONDON/BANGKOK - ‘The whole world in one room’ comments an interviewee in the closing video more…13 Nov, 2011
Spirituality To Be Asia’s Best Wellness Tourism Asset – Research Report
LONDON: Spiritual & Holistic products and services are set to be the most important assets and demand components of the health and wellness sector in the Far East and South East Asia by 2020, according to a research report distributed at the World Travel Market 2011 here last week. more…10 Nov, 2011
Japanese Outbound Up 9%, Inbound Still In Slump – JNTO
Japanese outbound travel is growing again with total departures of 1,792,000, in August 2011, up 9.1% over August 2010, and 1,645,000 in September 2011, up 6.7% over September 2010. However, inbound arrivals still remain in a slump, due to continuing fears over the radiation fallout from the 11 March 2011 more…10 Nov, 2011
