This by Elena, YSPerson South Italy
" It’s hard to try and write about the current situation in my country and remain “politically correct”. I suppose that in the rest of the world the media talked about the earthquake in terms of a natural disaster, I suppose you all read the usual kind of articles that you can find in these cases: the rising toll of deaths, the damages caused, the reaction of the government, some interview of a survivor… and so on. But within the country where the event happens, it’s a whole other deal: its not about sadness, its about rage. Against who builds houses poorly, against bureaucrats that authorize builders, against politicians that create the legal and economic circumstances that push and justify this chain. Against journalists that act like vultures searching for every tear-jerking story they can find (pretty soon they’ll start interviewing cats and dogs about their losses…). Against organizations that collect goods and money that don’t deserve our trust (some steal, some disperse, some despotically decide who’s to be helped and who is a sinner…). Against our very own “Marie Antoinette” that replies to the desperate that don’t have bread: “well, eat cake then!”.
Against unclear information about the unattended alarms, that will become more and more mysterious, until, a few weeks from now, everyone will have forgotten about the left over families that are still living in metal containers or tents (see the San Giuliano case, 2002).
Against “selective justice” that protects the puppeteers in black suits, as our prime minister proudly demonstrates.
Please excuse my pessimism, although my area luckily hasn’t suffered damages, the tremors have been continuing day and night since the big earthquake on Monday, and our nerves are a bit… well, shaken. "
Sunday 19 April 2009
Thursday 16 April 2009
Should we still visit Thailand?
Political disruption overseas often leads the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office to advise against travel to that country. Not to the disrupted town, or even that region, but against visiting the whole country. The FCO are in a difficult position of course, accountable for the welfare of British citizens and therefore must be cautious, but we have seen the impact this has on local communities whose income is reliant on tourism.
Recently I was asked by Tom Hall at Lonely Planet to comment on visiting Kenya, which was a destination hounded by bad press during the December 2007 political disruption. During this time I received emails from local contacts who expressed the real and devastating impact of this situation. Families could not put food on the table nor send their children to school. Such is the mismanagement of the tourism industry that local suppliers are forced to live hand to mouth, so when the tourists leave, so does their livelihood.
So what can we do? It's actually quite simple - we keep visiting, while avoiding areas of tension. Advice from Tapanee, our YSPerson in Bangkok, for travellers concerned about the situation in Thailand was this:
" The political situation in BKK is not as bad as it looks on TV. I was quite annoyed because cameras get the worst of the images and keep looping them while they are reporting so it gives Thailand a really bad image in the international eye - it makes it look worse than it actually is.
Right now as you already know, the protests have ended. While the protests were going on they were very much localised, and the streets that were not in the protest area were really normal - you would not know that anything was going on.
Right now there is a state of emergency in BKK, but the situation is really calm - the state of emergency has been declared, but it is mainly to stop the red shirts from re-gathering (that is not allowed under the emergency decree) and there is absolutely no violence on the streets at all despite the emergency state. In fact, everything is quite pleasant and we're enjoying the last few days of the Songkran festival, with mad partying now that the protests are over!'
Tapanee's reports echo those of many others living in Bangkok, but at the end of the day it's your choice. You should never visit a place that you feel is dangerous but be sure you are armed with all the facts before writing off a destination. As many have before, you might find that once you've spent a couple of days there you fall in love with the place.
Always take advice and do contact us for free, impartial information.
Other wonderful destinations we'd highly recommend but get 'bad press':
* Colombia
* Ethiopia
* Rwanda
* Sri Lanka
* Uganda
Recently I was asked by Tom Hall at Lonely Planet to comment on visiting Kenya, which was a destination hounded by bad press during the December 2007 political disruption. During this time I received emails from local contacts who expressed the real and devastating impact of this situation. Families could not put food on the table nor send their children to school. Such is the mismanagement of the tourism industry that local suppliers are forced to live hand to mouth, so when the tourists leave, so does their livelihood.
So what can we do? It's actually quite simple - we keep visiting, while avoiding areas of tension. Advice from Tapanee, our YSPerson in Bangkok, for travellers concerned about the situation in Thailand was this:
" The political situation in BKK is not as bad as it looks on TV. I was quite annoyed because cameras get the worst of the images and keep looping them while they are reporting so it gives Thailand a really bad image in the international eye - it makes it look worse than it actually is.
Right now as you already know, the protests have ended. While the protests were going on they were very much localised, and the streets that were not in the protest area were really normal - you would not know that anything was going on.
Right now there is a state of emergency in BKK, but the situation is really calm - the state of emergency has been declared, but it is mainly to stop the red shirts from re-gathering (that is not allowed under the emergency decree) and there is absolutely no violence on the streets at all despite the emergency state. In fact, everything is quite pleasant and we're enjoying the last few days of the Songkran festival, with mad partying now that the protests are over!'
Tapanee's reports echo those of many others living in Bangkok, but at the end of the day it's your choice. You should never visit a place that you feel is dangerous but be sure you are armed with all the facts before writing off a destination. As many have before, you might find that once you've spent a couple of days there you fall in love with the place.
****
Always take advice and do contact us for free, impartial information.
Other wonderful destinations we'd highly recommend but get 'bad press':
* Colombia
* Ethiopia
* Rwanda
* Sri Lanka
* Uganda
Wednesday 1 April 2009
Interview with UK Minister for Tourism
At the Best of Britain and Ireland Show, last week, Barbara Follett MP UK Minister for Tourism announced the publication of the DCMS Framework on Sustainable Tourism. The Framework aims to lay out the Government’s stance on sustainable tourism with advice for industry on how to embrace changing times. Mrs Follett was then interviewed for VISION on Sustainable Tourism about the Framework’s intentions and potential impacts on the industry.
A key point made by the Minister was that “sustainability is not as cataclysmic as everyone makes out, this is a learning curve. For example, we need to manage the amount we fly sensibly. But, dare I say, it is media hype that makes this difficult. We need careful management”. Mrs Follett went on to argue that in relation to the current economic crisis, sustainability issues are here to stay, saying “sustainability will have a bigger impact than anything else on the shape of the industry. The current economic crisis will be a shorter period of disruption but we have experienced similar things in times gone by and they pass. When it comes to sustainable tourism the change will happen once and remain”.
When asked about accreditation schemes Mrs Follett drew attention to Green Start Scheme which is an ‘opt in’ programme for travel organisations, something that Mrs Follett believes is critical to its success. “We don’t want to force companies to comply, we want to ensure they understand the scheme and then opt in”
Finally The Minister was asked if she has advice to the tourism industry about the future of the sustainable travel, to which Mrs Follett replied “Keep calm, this is not as bad or as difficult as it sounds and we need to keep going and find new ways of doing things. This is a case of business evolution, simply with new parameters.”
Interview by Sally Broom, Founder of YourSafePlanet, on behalf of VISION on Sustainable Tourism
DCMS Framework on Sustainable Tourism in brief:
• Challenge 1 - minimise environmental impact and resource use
• Challenge 2 - address the impact of tourism transport
• Challenge 3 - improve quality and make holidays available to all
• Challenge 4 - improve the quality of tourism jobs
• Challenge 5 - maintain and enhance community prosperity and quality of life
• Challenge 6 - reduce the seasonality of demand
A key point made by the Minister was that “sustainability is not as cataclysmic as everyone makes out, this is a learning curve. For example, we need to manage the amount we fly sensibly. But, dare I say, it is media hype that makes this difficult. We need careful management”. Mrs Follett went on to argue that in relation to the current economic crisis, sustainability issues are here to stay, saying “sustainability will have a bigger impact than anything else on the shape of the industry. The current economic crisis will be a shorter period of disruption but we have experienced similar things in times gone by and they pass. When it comes to sustainable tourism the change will happen once and remain”.
When asked about accreditation schemes Mrs Follett drew attention to Green Start Scheme which is an ‘opt in’ programme for travel organisations, something that Mrs Follett believes is critical to its success. “We don’t want to force companies to comply, we want to ensure they understand the scheme and then opt in”
Finally The Minister was asked if she has advice to the tourism industry about the future of the sustainable travel, to which Mrs Follett replied “Keep calm, this is not as bad or as difficult as it sounds and we need to keep going and find new ways of doing things. This is a case of business evolution, simply with new parameters.”
Interview by Sally Broom, Founder of YourSafePlanet, on behalf of VISION on Sustainable Tourism
DCMS Framework on Sustainable Tourism in brief:
• Challenge 1 - minimise environmental impact and resource use
• Challenge 2 - address the impact of tourism transport
• Challenge 3 - improve quality and make holidays available to all
• Challenge 4 - improve the quality of tourism jobs
• Challenge 5 - maintain and enhance community prosperity and quality of life
• Challenge 6 - reduce the seasonality of demand
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
