What's happening in Asian tourism?

Tour operators, hotels and airlines are bracing for a rocky 2009 as the global financial crisis hits long haul travel. Asia has been experiencing a travel boom with a massive range of geography from the snow-capped Himalayas to some of the best beaches in the world. But last year saw a drop in numbers. This year, negative growth is expected all round. Let's put this in context. The United Nation's World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) showed the loss of tourism business most strongly in the Asia-Pacific region as compared to the Americas, the Middle East, Europe and Africa. This is echoed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) which is warning that global airlines are facing possible collapse as revenues fall. The consequence is that between 300,000-400,000 jobs are at risk in air transport, travel and tourism sectors. Why is the fall so bad in Asia? The answer is this is not simply an economic problem. Tourism was doing well in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Macao until the news media began carrying stories of political and other problems. There was a major protest in Thailand that shut down Bangkok's airport for a week. As a result, more than a million tourists cancelled their bookings. In India, the terrorist attack in Mumbai was directed at the top hotels and the tourists, and the result has been a general drop in travel to all Indian destinations, even those pure tourism areas like Goa - bookings down 25%. Sri Lanka has become a war zone in the public's imagination and Macao's visitor numbers have been affected by a cutback in the number of visas issued by China. These destinations are now anxiously courting business through promotional prices. Even the best hotels in the most favored destinations are discounting. In places like Singapore and Hong Kong, room occupancy is down to around two-thirds and, to maintain their competitiveness, there are a whole range of incentives for those prepared to make longer journeys. In short, there has never been a better time to think of planning a holiday in Asia. Although there will be some security concerns - everyone wants to relax when they are on holiday - the region is once again calm and anxious to rebuild its tourist business. With support from their governments, all the airlines carrying tourists to Asia are offering cheap air tickets. Because room occupancy rates across the region are way down, there are genuine bargains to be had for both short and long-stay holidays. If you are prepared to invest a little time in researching the market, you will be able to find amazing value. How do we know? Because the regional tourist boards are forecasting 3% growth in numbers over the next three years. The hotel and restaurant trade and the airlines are integral parts of the regional economy. Governments are dipping into their reserves to encourage more tourism. In real terms, there has never been a better chance of finding cheap air tickets than over the next six to eight months.

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Poor That Are Richer Than The Rich

In modern world depression is something as common as having a headache or a hangover after a rough night out, but only few people realize how serious this problem really is. Try to find a person who has never shown signs of depression and you will realize that it's almost impossible. Almost, but not definitely. Recent studies have shown that there is a group of people in the modern world who don't even know what depression is all about. And surprisingly, these people are generally very poor and far from what most people would consider as good wellbeing.

While this statement will seem ridiculous to most of us, this is true and can be proven even using simple logics. You won't see a poor man or woman worrying about their lost success, or craving for a new car they want to get so bad. The only thing they worry about is getting food and having a place to spend a cold night. These people are free from aspirations and stresses most middle and upper class individuals have to deal with. If put simple, poor people are in a dream-like state of full mental harmony with their physiological needs. They aren't troubled by their spiritual or emotional desires, they aren't troubled by things others might think or say about them. Of course, living below the line of poverty has its stresses and burdens but they are always stripped down to simple bodily needs. No psychological worries, no stress, no depression.

In contrast, you will find the majority of extremely rich and upper class individual taking Xanax, Prozac or Valium to calm down and get them through. Having much money or being in the spotlight has its price tag, which usually comes in the form of certain limits, responsibilities and things to worry about. People from middle and upper classes pay too much attention to they way others see them and this alone is a rich source of mental stress. And what happens when something goes slightly wrong? A homeless individual won't bother if his or her new Bentley gets stolen, because they don't have it. A rich mogul will hire dozens of professionals to protect his private house and spend hours (and tons of valium)on worrying about the latest news from stock exchange. And isn't it ironic that in such a situation the poor are actually richer than the rich, if you know from what point of view to look?

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Pehian atawa Purian (Artocarpus rigidus)

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Heliocopris dominus a.k.a Kumbang Kotoran

This beetle belongs to the genus of Heliocopris, which are very powerful dung beetles. The head is perfectly designed for digging. It's found in West Java, Indonesia.



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Consumer Consequences: Edu-vironment Games

The environment awareness could be learned from many kinds of medias. And some kinds of them were the interactive games.

One of the interactive games we could find was “Consumer Consequences" Game produced by The American Public Media.

This game would show us how could be our consuming life style influences the other people’s life.

We would play this consumer game as same as what we were doing on our real life. And we could observe from that, how the earth could take it and kept all 6,6 billion of human being stayed alive by our consumer life style.

Let's learn from this constructive environmental game.

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EarthRights International: Stop Violence in Burma

Photo copyright REUTERS


EarthRights International have created a petition to urge Chevron Corporation to use its influence to help stop the violence in Burma.

Learn more about EarthRights International's views

A group of Burmese Activist Stage A Protest Demonstration Against India Government's Ignorance over Current Development in Burma Democracy Movement.

It is time to support Burma Democracy Movement. No more chance for Barbaric Military Regime.

Tell Chevron To Use Its Influence To Stop the Violence in Burma. SIGN EARTHRIGHT INTERNATIONAL's PETITION

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Angka Merah Raport Industri Indonesia

Kantor berita Antara, baru saja merilis sebuah laporan tentang hasil survey Asian Corporate Governance Association (Asosiasi Pengelola Perusahaan Asia), sebuah asosiasi yang berpusat di Singapura.

Hasil survey asosiasi yang beranggota 582 perusahaan di Asia ini menyebutkan bahwa secara keseluruhan, perusahaan-perusahaan di Asia mendapatkan nilai buruk untuk survey kesadaran mengenai "lingkungan yang bersih dan hijau".

Bagaimana perusahaan atau industri di Indonesia?

"Perusahaan Indonesia mendapatkan nilai rendah dalam hal kesadaran lingkungan dibandingkan dengan beberapa perusahaan yang ada di Asia." [Sumber]

Mmm... Laporan ini tentu tidak mengejutkan bukan?

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