According to figures released by the United Nations, the number of tourists worldwide dropped by four percent and revenue dropped by six percent in 2009 as compared to 2008.

In a press conference during the opening of ITB, Taleb Rifai, secretary-general of the World Tourism Organization of the UN, said that increase in revenue during the latter part of 2009 and the early part of 2010 indicated that the worst is already over.

Rifai futher added that even with a bad economy, people still found cheaper and easier ways to travel last year.

The ITB fair held in Berlin was hailed by Rifai as “the mother of all tourism fairs” where it showcased products and services of 11,127 companies from 187 countries.

The host country, however, thinks that recovery in Germany’s travel industry may start in 2011. Klaus Laepple, head of the tourism board of Germany, said that 2010 may still pose a challenge to them.

The award was based on the survey conducted by independent airport lounge program Priority Pass. It is the biggest membership program in the world which gives travellers the access to lounges in airports regardless of their class of travel.

For the survey, Priority Pass asked 30,000 airline passengers from different parts of the world to choose their favorite lounge from the list of about 600.

The SUMAQ VIP Lounge at Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima, Peru once again grabbed the top spot after also being named the best last year. The travellers were impressed with the relaxation rooms that have pillows, blankets and showers, as well as its business facilities.

In a statement released by Priority Pass, head of brand Jonathan French praised the SUMAQ VIP Lounge saying that it indeed has excellent service standards, along with the other winners by region.

Continental Presidents Club, Terminal E in Houston, Texas was chosen as the best lounge in North America while the Panorama Lounge in Zurich, Switzerland was hailed as the best in Europe.

The KAL Lounge, Concourse of the Incheon Airport in Seoul, South Korea grabbed the first spot in the Asia Pacific region and Dilmun Lounge in Bahrain topped the list in the Middle East and Africa.

About 40 objects from Tubman’s life was donated by historian Charles L. Blockson on Wednesday to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

The museum is scheduled to open near the Washington Monument in 2015.

Included in the items are utensils from Tubman’s kitchen, a shawl which was a gift to her from Queen Victoria her favorite hymnal.

Tubman was responsible for leading hundreds of slaves to freedom through the Underground Railroad.

According to museum director Lonnie Bunch, the donated items are the only known belongings of Tubman to exist outside her home in Auburn, New York.

Tubman was born a slave in the company of slaves on Maryland’s Eastern Shore around 1820 or 1821. In 1849, she managed to escape and led several other slaves to freedom. She died March 10, 1913.

In the donation ceremony held at Capitol Hill, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas called Tubman a hero for her actions in the Underground Railroad and work as a spy for the Union Army.

Bunch considers the hymnal published in 1876 as his favorite in the collection. It even has Tubman’s signature pencilled on the inside of the book’s front cover.

The items were handed down through the surviving family of Tubman to Mariline Wilkins, one of her grand nieces. Blockson, who also has family ties to Tubman, was chosen by Wilkins to safeguard the items.

The 76-year-old Blockson has an Afro-American Collection at Temple University in Philadelphia named after him. The museum started with 20,000 donated items in 1984. It has now grown to have more than 200,000 items in its collection including some rare texts and slave narratives.

The “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” program is rewarding people who do volunteer work certified by volunteers clearinghouse HandsOn Networks one-day ticket to either Disneyland in Anaheim, California or Walt Disney World in Florida.

The program was announced in the fall of last year but the signing up for volunteer work was started in January 1.

According to Tom Staggs, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, the “Give a Day, Get A Disney Day” program exceeded their expectations when the number of volunteers reached its cap at 1 million earlier that they had hoped.

Registration for the free tickets has already been closed, but certified volunteers still have until December 15 of this year to redeem their free tickets. Blackout dates are occasionally applied.

Tasks given to volunteers included cleanup of beaches in San Juan, Puerto Rico and construction of affordable houses in Pittsburgh.

Priscilla Feral, president of Friends of Animals, said that the Alaska Board of Game placed a decision that lacked any kind of decency. The board members were divided on the issue.

Feral said that wolves should not be treated as vermin at all and her group will take necessary actions to reverse the ruling. She is also calling Gov. Sean Parnell’s intervention.

Parnell’s camp did not provide any immediate comment as of yet.

It was in the 1990s when Friends of Animals last used a tourism boycott to protest the wolf program of Alaska.

The number of visitors last year dropped by 4.3 percent to just 9.7 million. The Tourism Board of Singapore is hoping for an increase of up to 12.5 million tourists this year.

The board also said Friday that from SG$12.4 billion worth of revenue from tourism last in 2009, this could climb to as much as SG$18.5 billion in 2010.

Las Vegas Sands and Genting Bhd of Malaysia will have new resorts this year in the city-state and Singapore is counting on them to boost tourism which will lead to economic growth.

Genting opened Resorts World Sentosa last month and announced on Friday that its Universal Studios theme park will open on March 18. The Marina Bay Sands, meanwhile, will open on April 27.

Due to the global crisis, Singapore’s growth domestic product fell by 2 percent in 2009. As a sign of recovery, the government wants to see an increase of up to 6.5 percent this year.

Other new bonuses for tourists include airline landing fee discounts and visa fee waivers.

With the political environment still shady, the number of tourists the Southeast Asian nation has declined recently. The government aims to reclaim the prestige of being a primary tourist destination.

Since the military in 2006 that ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand has been in a political turmoil with demonstrations going on in the capital Bangkok.

The number of tourists dropped by 8 percent in 2009 compared to the previous year. Revenue, on the other hand, dropped by 3 percent from 2008. Tourism is the number one income generator for Thailand.

The new tourism stimulus measures have been first put in place in 2008 when thousands of tourists were stranded in the country after the two airports in Bangkok were seized.

The new free insurance coverage will extend until the end of the year for any foreign tourist who may experience loss, damage, injury, disability or even death from political upheavals. If hospitalized for more than 10 days, the victims will receive free medical treatment and $1,000 as daily compensation.

Foreigners who experience delays in travel caused by riots or demonstrations will be given $100 per day. All of the amount awarded to a victim, however, cannot exceed $10,000.

All travellers to Thailand can have their visa fees waived until March 2011 and authorities hinted that this may become permanent.

Airlines will get 10 percent discount on parking fees and 20 percent on landing fees until the end of this year. Hotels will also be given discounts on their electricity bills.

Flights arriving at the John F. Kennedy International Airport were delayed for an average of almost two hours on the day that renovation of the airport’s main runway started.

With the speed and direction of the wind during Monday morning, the airport was forced to use only one runway. As of early afternoon, three runways were already in operations.

The renovation and wind speed of up to 35 mph caused JFK flights to be delayed for one hour and 42 minutes. Outbound flights only had 15 minutes of delay on average.

According to FlightAware, an air traffic tracking website, flights in nearby LaGuardia Airports experienced no delays.

Newark Liberty International, on the other hand, experienced delays in both outbound in inbound flights due to the wind.

Paul Takemoto, spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said that officials at JFK were anticipating cutting down to just one runway because of wind problems for less than four days within the four-month renovation time frame.

“Figures, it happens the first day,” said Takemoto jokingly.
The main runway will be under construction until June 30. It is one of the longest commercial runways in the world.

Costa Crociera, the owner of the ship, said that the vessel suffered a leak on the right side after it slammed to the port during the afternoon.

The company expressed their deep condolences on a statement to the family of their three crew members who died in the accident.

Passengers were housed in hotels and arrangements were made so that they can return to their respective countries of origin.

According to the Egyptian authorities, they believe that the crash was caused by bad weather that had been disturbing the area even before the collision. The accident created a 2-meter hole in the ship’s body.

The Costa Europa was sailing from Dubai to Savona, Italy on what was supposed to be an 18-day cruise. It was carrying 1,437 passengers.

According to unnamed sources, the three people who were killed were from Brazil, Honduras and India, but the company has not confirmed any of the nationalities yet.

The 55,000-ton ship was built in 1986 and is one of the 16 cruise ships owned by Costa Crociera, a cruise line company based in Genoa, Italy which is a subsidiary of Carnival Corp.

A devastating 8.8-magnitude earthquake has hit Chile very early in the morning. The capital was shaken for over a minute causing collapse in some buildings.

As of 8 a.m. in Santiago (1100 GMT), 47 people have already been confirmed dead. Also, as of this time, more than 25 aftershocks have already been felt with one registering at 6.9 in the Richter scale.

The quake occurred at 3:34 a.m. in Santiago (1834 GMT).

The epicentre of the quake was some 200 miles off the capital Santiago and the closest city was Concepcion which is only 70 miles away from the epicentre. No communication of any kind has been established yet in that city since phone lines and electricity lines are thought to be down.

Tsunami warnings have already been issued in almost all countries surrounding and in the center of the Pacific Ocean. Antarctica, Peru, Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica were the first ones to get tsunami warnings. Before 1100 GMT, the warnings have already stretched to Hawaii, New Zealand, American Samoa, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, and even the eastern coast of Russia.

The earthquake was so strong that it was felt in almost the entire South America. Residents in neighboring Argentina which is separated from Chile by the Andes Mountains felt strong shaking.

According to geologists, the Chilean quake is over 1,000 times stronger than the recent earthquake in Haiti.

It is almost the end of the summer season in the southern hemisphere which makes Chile a good tourist attraction for people who want a warmer weather.

Chile is already used to earthquakes being in the Pacific Ring of Fire so their building codes are a lot stricter than that of Haiti.

The strongest earthquake in history that was ever recorded occurred in the same area in 1960 where it registered a magnitude of 9.5 in the Richter scale. It killed about 6,000 people, relatively small compared to other earthquakes. This is because Chilean structures are stronger with the residents being used to earthquakes.

A tsunami following the 1960 earthquake killed some 61 people in Hawaii attributing to the lack of proper warnings. Casualties of the tsunami were also recorded in as far as Japan.

It has been reported that a week-long international music festival is ongoing in Concepcion. Reports also came in that flights to Santiago were either redirected or were instructed to go back to their point of origin.