BEIRUT: Lebanon is a place where diverse religious communities mingle in harmony, enjoying long, leisurely summer evenings at open-air restaurants along charming cobbled boulevards.
That, at least, is the Tourism Ministry’s message to the Gulf, to be aired in 30-second television advertisements in a new promotional campaign beginning next week.
Long focused on luring Europeans to Lebanon’s beaches and mountains, the Tourism Ministry is now looking eastward, worried that news of bombings and civil strife might deter deep-pocketed Gulf Arabs from visiting Lebanon this summer.
“Sure we’re worried,” said Pierre Achkar, the president of the Lebanese Hotel Association and an adviser to the Tourism Ministry. “Arab tourism is not only about tourism. They are buying land and apartments. They are buying cars, and shopping. They are investing in multiple projects, such as Solidere.”
Related Travel Information
With the level of Palestinian violence in major Israeli cities significantly down, the Ministry of Tourism launched its annual Jerusalem summer tourism campaign on Monday, with an array of cultural events planned in the capital in the coming months for Israelis and foreign visitors alike.
"After nearly five years in which Jerusalem suffered more than any other city in Israel because of the intifada, [we hope] we are at the start of a new period of tourism and not terror, of prosperity and well-being," Tourism Minister Avraham Herschson said at a Jerusalem press conference during a day-long tour of the
The Indiana polis 500 isn't until Sunday. But Memorial Day weekend travelers are already off and racing. Steve Borncamp, headed back to San Diego after a week of business on the East Coast, got an early start in New York. He took the subway to a commuter train to a monorail to the airport gate.He said he's using all of his traveling skills.Jack Mason, on his way from New York to a college reunion in Rhode Island, got an early start, though not by choice.
More: wstm.com
Who doesn’t like to brag about their vacations, their travels, their journeys near and far? Well, the York Daily Record/Sunday News would like to take a peek inside your photo albums and scrapbooks. Send us your best recent travel photo and write a paragraph sharing your experiences at that location with other would-be travelers.
Each week, the features staff will publish a submission on the Sunday travel page.
Along with the photo, please include your name, address and daytime telephone number, as well as names of any people in the photograph (from left to right), when and where the picture was taken,
Travelers may want to avoid central London in the wake of Thursday's transit system bombings there, but they shouldn't automatically decide to stay home, local travel agents said.
Potential travelers should consider how soon the transit system will go back into service and whether London is the main focus of a trip, said Tim Davis, president of Suzi Davis Travel.
"A lot will be decided when we get through the next 24 and 48 hours," he added.
He and Dixie Donohue, owner of Travel, Travel in Normal, said they haven't received any cancellations for overseas trips.
"Some folks are still up in the air,"
DES MOINES, Iowa Iowans appear unfazed by high gas cost. Experts say traffic volume for the first half of 2005 is up. If travelers keep up the pace, it could top the record 32 billion miles of travel in 2004.
Experts say most people seem to be making adjustments in their household budgets to adjust for higher prices. One reason people are making that choice is because Americans simply love their automobiles.
Source: kwqc.com
