As a classic example of a people-oriented industry

These kind of collaborations between neighbors and erstwhile rival states bears a clear message of the benefits of co-operation in the global marketplace and the potential for transforming lives across entire regions through joint tourism initiatives.Today the world in which we live is changing very rapidly as the internet, social media and increased inter-connectivity between peoples at all levels of society is bringing about change at an unprecedented pace and intensity. There is practically no area of human endeavor that has remained untouched in this roller-coaster ride on the back of these ever-burgeoning technologies which create fantastic opportunities, as well as challenges in this brave new world we are entering.china silk road tourAs a classic example of a people-oriented industry, tourism, upon which many of our region's economies depend to a greater or lesser extent, continues to experience profound change, forcing us to re-evaluate our approach to what makes our respective destinations attractive to consumers, and which channels we use to get the message across in the ever-more-crowded, global market place.

Less than two decades ago, Seychelles was very much relying on its sun, sea and sand ticket to attract visitors to our shores, even though it is widely accepted that we have the best in a sun, sea and sand holiday. Today we are all the stronger as a destination, and as the people of the Seychelles, because we our thinking smarter, and working smarter."One nation, one destination, one leader, one perspective.In any destination across the globe, the role of government is vital to the success of tourism sector growth,travel xinjiang development and petiveness. Likewise, the role of tourism is for the unification of the people of the destination through economic, social, environmental and ideological advancement and identity.
A critical stakeholder in the mix: the Minister of Tourism.Vice President Joe Biden will visit Ukraine later this month to meet with government and citizen leaders.The White House says Biden will travel to the capital of Kiev on April 22 for a visit that will focus on the international munity's efforts to help stabilize and strengthen Ukraine's economy.The White House said Saturday that Biden also will assist Ukraine in its efforts aimed at constitutional reform, decentralization, anti-corruption, and free and fair presidential elections set for May 25.

Leaders of Ukraine are worried about further incursions by Russia

As Ukraine deals with possible bankruptcy, uprisings in the east by pro-Russian separatists and Russian troops deployed along the Ukrainian border have unsettled the country.President Barack Obama will be on a trip to Asia at the same time Biden visits Ukraine.Vice President Biden travels to Ukraine later this month to show U.S. support for the government ahead of May elections and amid concern about Russia's next moves.Biden "will underscore the United States' strong support for a united, democratic Ukraine that makes its own choices about its future path," the White House said in a statement.President Obama's vice president travels to Kiev on April 22, and will meet with government leaders and members of civil society.

Leaders of Ukraine are worried about further incursions by Russia, which this year annexed the Crimea region despite international protests.Ukraine is scheduled to hold new elections on May 25.The White House says that Biden "will discuss the latest developments in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists, apparently with the support of Moscow, continue an orchestrated campaign of incitement and sabotage to destabilize the Ukrainian state."Other topics include energy, U.S. assistance, and "the international munity's efforts to help stabilize and strengthen Ukraine's economy and to assist Ukraine in moving forward on constitutional reform, decentralization, anti-corruption efforts," said the White House.Watch out Washington, here I e!

I leave the Oregon coast late this afternoon to spend a few days up in Washington. It seems only fair, since Seaside has been crawling with Washingtonians on spring break this weekend.
I plan to visit the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival at Mount Vernon, which is one of the biggest rural tourism events in the Northwest. It's difficult to count, but attendance has been estimated at 350,000 upward to 500,000 for the month long event all of April.I'll also be posting next weekend Saturday, Sunday maybe into Monday about things to do and places to see this travel year in Washington. Among them will be Mount St. Helens, Olympic Peninsula, Walla Walla wine, Mount Adams and much more. Some of it will be fresh reporting, but other parts will be links to things I've written before.

How to tour Europe by train

 Rail Europe also lists the latest deals and discounts on its website. Other booking panies include Railpass  passes and tickets and Eurail passes only. You can also book point-to-point tickets directly with each national railway; just be sure to do your homework and pare prices. No matter what, you'll generally get the best rates by booking two to three months in advance.Note: Point-to-point tickets e in paper or electronic form and can be printed at home or at the station, depending on purchase. Rail passes e in paper form only and must be shipped to you in advance.

Just like people, tickets need proper validation to gain acceptance. For tickets, it's simple: Just slip your card into the validation machine at your train's platform. Approval granted. Rail passes, however, need an extra dose of attention:xinjiang tour While they get an automatic stamp at booking time to indicate the beginning of the six-month period in which they are useable, a second stamping is required at the train station on the first day of travel; go to the ticket office and have an official not the conductor do this. Urumqi travel You'll also need to offer your passport number and signature. If you have a flexi pass, you'll have to hand-enter the date of travel each day before boarding, but don't write anything on your rail pass before it's been activated. Failure to adequately validate won't result in psychologically damaged train tickets, but it could earn you a steep fine and plenty of personal anguish.

Do you remember taking standardized tests and agonizing over shading in each bubble, being sure not to stray outside the lines? Filling in your flexi pass properly dating it for each travel day is kind of like that, but more plicated. First of all, rail-pass dates are presented Euro-style: day first, then month, then year. Second, the boxes you need to fill in line up differently than other dates printed on your pass vertically instead of horizontally, so it's easy to get confused. While a single mistake on your SAT is unlikely to ruin your chances of a good education, a mistake on your rail pass can certainly plicate your trip: Inking incorrectly can result in lost travel days, a fine, or the need to buy a new ticket. So take a deep breath, read any rules or instructions, and write in the information very carefully.

Reserve your seat ... maybe

You scurried through the station and made it onto the packed train just before the doors closed. Overheated and frazzled, you just want to collapse by the window and enjoy the passing scenery—except you can't, because you didn't reserve a seat. Don't let this happen to you. Train tickets and seat reservations are two different things. A ticket allows you to board a train, and a reservation guarantees you a seat on a specific train. Sometimes both will be bined into one document, and other times they will be separate. And, as if that weren't hard enough to follow, you may or may not need a seat reservation, depending on which train you booked and which type of ticket or rail pass you have. Before you depart, make sure you understand whether your train requires, r mends, or doesn't accept seat reservations.

There might be a certain romance to a nighttime train ride, but the love affair quickly fades if you have to crunch yourself up into a ball and use your handbag as a pillow. As with seats, overnight a modations must be reserved in advance. And, as always with booking trains, there are multiple options: In this case, sleepers private cabins, couchettes shared cabins with up to six beds, and reclining seats, all in various fort classes. Taking the overnight train can save you the expense of a hotel night and buy you extra sightseeing time at your destination, but to ensure that you sleep safe and sound, consider these bits of advice: Beware of the 7 p.m. rule, which states that direct trains departing after 7 p.m. only count for one travel day on a flexi pass, while trains leaving beforehand take up two days. Avoid booking a connection in the middle of the night; not only will it disturb your sleep, it might also cost you an extra travel day. And, above all, keep your valuables close, especially if you are in seat or a cabin without locked doors.

Your train journey could be the best of times or the worst of times. Years ago, while traveling from Switzerland to Italy, I became a tragic character in a tale of two stations. Although I disembarked after hearing the conductor announce what I thought was, "Next stop, Basel!" in German and French, I likely missed a word or two and didn't realize it was the wrong Basel.

Cruises are a different matter.

I've stayed at that hotel, which is nicer than it sounds, and was about a 10-minute walk from the station and, thus, the Heathrow Express. The best nonstop fare I found using Kayak  10 days in advance was $1,259. The hotel was $1,713 that's for two people, which is a savings of more than $900 off the total package. Again, this deal may already be gone, but others will have taken its place.Look too at such sites as LivingSocial and even AmazonLocal. AmazonLocal offered a $5 coupon for up to 25% off a Virgin America flight. What made that especially sweet was that I had failed to book a ticket about eight weeks before the trip when Virgin had offered a fare sale. Booking three weeks out,Uyghur culture I saved one-quarter on the fare and felt less like a dolt for failing to follow the first rule of airfare booking: If you see a great fare, grab it.

For trips closer to home, check out Travelzoo . "We cater … to the user based on the geography," said Andrew Young, editorial director for the deal site. "If you're in L.A., you're more likely to see Palm Springs or San Diego than you are New Hampshire or Montreal or Bermuda."On Monday, Newport Beach's Balboa Bay Resort was offered for $199 a night usually $367, and the Las Vegas Palms Casino Resort was as little as $49 a night midweek stay and $59 weekend. The New York Hilton Midtown was offered for $179 a night with continental breakfast. If you can get a New York hotel for less than $200 a night, you're doing well.

We think of last minute that involves airfare as being very close to departure; that's not so with cruises, where last-minute rates might be as much as 90 days out. Travel agents often have news of great cruise bargains, china tour operators and you can also find them online in various places, which directed me to a Travelocity bargain for a seven-night Alaska cruise for a June 1-8 trip starting at $539 on Holland America's Oosterdam.The keys to last-minute travel remain the same no matter the mode: Be flexible on dates. Let price dictate the destination. And, perhaps most important, know a bargain when you see one by doing the math. See what a package would cost you if booked separately. Check out that hotel to see what it would charge you on any given night. Check a cruise fare by calling the cruise line.

This could put Google in a better position to offer on-the-go bookings

Most don't know or take advantage, but you can find a hotel room and/or flight via Google. The problem is that both offer a terrible UI and limited functionality. It seems Google is ready to change all that, as they've agreed to license Room 77 software, which should help with results on both fronts.Room 77 is a startup backed by Expedia, and is located in Mountain View very close to Google. Bloomberg reports that several of Room 77's staff, including co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Calvin Yang, are "joining Google". The pany will retain their "brand, websites, mobile applications, patents" as well as other technology. We assume this is what makes it a licensing deal rather than an acquisition, because staff from Room 77 heading to Google definitely sounds more acquisition than licensing.

This could put Google in a better position to offer on-the-go bookings, and situate them better to offer ads for online bookings. Priceline offers a much more lucrative angle for ads when it es to travel, and Google is likely keen to keep their mantle as a top search and ad service.Google's current flight search results e courtesy of a $700 million investment in ITA back in 2011. Their hotel search results e courtesy of scraping, with both services being limited and sparsely used. It's not yet known if Google will parlay this into a standalone travel app, but that seems likely at some point down the line.It's more than a convention. Experts say a travel show taking place in Chicago right now could translate into a billion-dollar boon for Chicago.

CBS 2's Dana Kozlov reports.The goal of hosting the show here is to showcase the best of this city to 6,000 travel professionals from 70 different countries.The payoff? Tourists and their money.They may gather under one giant roof. But McCormick Place is only a gateway to the rest of Chicago for these international travel professionals.From sky to ground, travel professionals are getting a true taste of Chicago outside convention walls — with hopes it will impress them enough to talk it up to folks back home and boost tourism here.That influx of cash is only the beginning. The potential revenue can't be ignored, especially when city and state leaders continue to grapple with massive budget deficits.

Can young children benefit from travel?

The child was screaming and out of control as he and his mother boarded the aircraft.That much psychologist and parenting expert Kevin Leman remembers well.It could have been another tantrum-filled flight from hell. But Leman says a quick thinking flight attendant could see what was about to unfold. She got the captain's attention and he ordered the family off the aircraft before they could get to their seats."The parent was incapable of controlling the kid, and nothing was going to help in that kind of situation," says Leman,Cheap china tour package the author of several parenting books, including "Parenting Your Powerful Child," and father of five grown children.

Leman, who lives in Tucson, Arizona, and travels constantly for speaking engagements, says he sees a child acting out on his flight at least once a week. If you don't set limits on the ground, he says, you won't be able to set them inside a narrow metal tube at 35,000 feet."The parent you are in the ground is the parent you're going to be on the airplane," says Leman. "Do you have a game plan? If you do, you're going to have a kid who will sit in an airplane, entertain himself and not be a pain to other customers on the plane.silk road travel"Haunted by experiences and tales of children behaving badly in flight, many travelers have pretty strong and sometimes visceral feelings about sharing space with young globetrotters. Aren't their parents going to suffer for bringing them long after the earsplitting cries leave the confines of the airplane?

Can young children benefit from travel?Traveling parents tell CNN those meltdown moments do not represent the entirety of their experiences. Navigating airport security and learning about different cultures practically since birth, many well-traveled children have better airplane manners and more frequent flier miles than some adults."I think my daughter benefits from seeing there's a world beyond Baltimore and that there are all different types of people," says aviation blogger Benet Wilson, who's taken her 8-year-old daughter on airplanes since she was 10 days old.Almira Coronado of Daly City, California, agrees. "Traveling enables people to be more open-minded, you get out of your fort zone, experience unique things, meet different people, hear/speak a different language," writes Coronado, owner of a travel agency.

A guerrilla approach to flying with kids

"It broadens the mind."By taking their daughter to foreign countries since she was just a few months old, Coronado and her husband see Michelle, now age 7, developing a more global point of view. "She'll have a better appreciation of what makes each place and each people unique."When can a child fly?We know some of you will not bend on wanting child-free flights, resorts and lives. You remain convinced that kids will never be bearable as fellow travelers. That's OK.But you should know that there's just no blanket rule for when a child is old enough to be on the move. Sorry, baby haters. Some children are easygoing and can travel well at any age, and others are more temperamental and cannot.The temperament of the child and the parent are key in deciding if a child is ready to travel or not, says Yale Parenting Center director Alan Kazdin, a Yale University psychology professor and author of "The Everyday Parenting Toolkit."A mellow, organized parent can handle changes in flight plans and food and can teach those strategies to his or her child. The parent who gets frantic easily may not go with the flow when faced with travel delays, jet lag or even the "wrong" kind of chicken nuggets.

 "And that predisposition will be passed on to your child," says Kazdin.Do young children benefit from travel?There are those parents who've taught their children to behave in changing situations and who can adapt when weather, flights and different languages affect their plans. And they tell stories of trips abroad that benefited both parents and children.
Coronado thinks her daughter benefits from learning about new places and cultures before they travel, then seeing the reality. Before a 2012 trip to see family in Italy, Coronado borrowed books from the library to teach her daughter about the places they planned to see. Before a 2010 trip to the Philippines, Coronado told her daughter that she could ask her parents about anything she saw that she didn't understand."She can whisper her question to us and we'll try our best to answer her question," writes Coronado. When Michelle saw a homeless girl begging on the street, it turned into a quiet conversation about poverty, hunger and having a safe place to call home.That got Michelle, then age 5, excited about the trip.It can be hard for adults to behave as well.

It's greenlit for six one-hour episodes produced by Crazy Legs Productions

 It's greenlit for eight one-hour episodes produced by dick clark productions and WD Entertainment.Big Time RV gives viewers an all-access pass to America's largest, and most prestigious, RV dealership in Florida. It's greenlit for six half-hour episodes produced by Half Yard Productions.Booze Traveler follows Maxwell as he travels around the world, one drink at a time. It's greenlit for eight one-hour episodes produced by Karga Seven Pictures in association with White Reindeer Productions.Expedition Unknown chronicles the adventures of Gates as he investigates iconic mysteries across the globe,Xinjiang travel agency such as the disappearance of Amelia Earhart's plane. It's greenlit for six one-hour episodes produced by Ping Pong Productions.Hotel Amazon chronicles the story of longtime friends Johnson and Jablonski as they build a luxury resort on top of the Peruvian Amazon. It's greenlit for six one-hour episodes produced by Crazy Legs Productions.

Resort Rescue follows world-famous hospitality consultant Green as he helps hotel and resort owners figure out what's going wrong inside their establishments. It's greenlit for 13 one-hour episodes produced by Relativity TV.Tours by Unger goes where ordinary travelers can't courtesy of irreverently funny host Unger. It's greenlit for six half-hour episodes produced by Half Yard Productions.Underground BBQ Challenge, hosted by chef G. Garvin, pits neighbors against neighbors across the country in an epic BBQ cooking contest. It's greenlit for eight one-hour episodes produced by The Michael Group.

World Access takes viewers through off-limit areas, captured through innovative methods such as drones, time lapse and robotic cameras.  It's greenlit for seven one-hour episodes produced by Indigo Films.One Day on Earth shows sights and sounds in countries from all over the globe from bustling cities to exotic jungles to the rolling countryside captured all on the same day. It's greenlit for a one-hour special produced by Electus.1 Way Ticket surprises couples with a free trip to an exotic location after friends secretly nominate them. It's greenlit for two half-hour episodes produced by JOHLT Productions.Travel Channel president Shannon O'Neill today unveiled ten new series, one new special and a series in development.

Here is a description of the greenlit productions

 New series Big Crazy Family Adventure wt, Hotel Amazon , World Access and the special, One Day On Earth , highlight the cultures, landscapes and people that make travel so transformative. Other series, including Big Time RV, Booze Traveler, Expedition Unknown, Resort Rescue and Tours By Unger, will introduce new talent who share their knowledge on specific topics and places. And for traveling foodies, Travel Channel crisscrosses the country to discover America's best grillers and BBQ'ers in American Grilled and Underground BBQ Challenge. In addition, the network has greenlit two half-hour episodes for a new series in development called 1 Way Ticket. Here is a description of the greenlit productions:American Grilled pits grill masters from various backgrounds against one another in the ultimate outdoor cooking challenge.

 Host and renowned chef David Guas is turning up the heat on grillers across America as they pete for a $10,000 cash prize and bragging rights. Four contestants test their epic backyard skills by serving up delicious and original plates that skillfully showcase the grill and embrace the amazing local flavors. "American Grilled"is greenlit for 13 one-hour episodes produced by Original Media.Big Crazy Family Adventure follows adventurer, writer and photographer Bruce Kirkby as he treks from Vancouver to the Himalayas with his wife and two children. Kirkby, an experienced world traveler, takes his family across undiscovered landscapes, through challenging climates and inside unique munities in an effort to escape the everyday modern world and expose his children to some of life's simple wonders. "Big Crazy Family Adventure" is greenlit for eight one-hour episodes produced by dick clark productions and WD Entertainment.

Big Time RV gives viewers an all-access pass to America's largest, and most prestigious, RV dealership located in sunny Florida. The larger-than-life sales force and over-the-top service center work together to satisfy the demands of RV lovers, looking to buy or rent the biggest, most customized RV's in the business. "Big Time RV" is greenlit for six half-hour episodes produced by Half Yard Productions.Booze Traveler features cocktail connoisseur Jack Maxwell as he travels around the world, one drink at a time.

The network also is adding shows that feature new expert faces

In its bid to grab new viewers, the cable network is expanding into more food and adventure fare with 10 new originals, one new special and a series in development. Included in the slate is a mix of shows focused on hospitality consultants, a Peruvian resort and a sizable RV dealership."We believe in travel's inherent ability to connect us with people from different places and cultures," said Travel Channel president Shannon O'Neill in the announcement Wednesday. "Our mission is to provide our viewers with transformative programming that provides a gateway and personal portal to experience the world."
The new offerings include Big Crazy Family Adventure, which follows adventurer Bruce Kirkby and his family as they trek from Vancouver to the Himalayas; Hotel Amazon, which chronicles Rusty Johnson and Stephan Jablonski as they leave New York to pursue their dream of building a world-class resort in the middle of the Peruvian Amazon;xinjiang tour World Access, which explores fascinating sites and hidden locations via highly trained experts and journalist; and Big Time RV, which centers on America's largest RV dealership.

The network also is adding shows that feature new expert faces, including Booze Traveler, which follows cocktail connoisseur Jack Maxwell as he travels across the globe; Expedition Unknown, which chronicles the adventures of Josh Gates as he investigates iconic mysteries around the world; Resort Rescue, which follows hospitality consultant Shane Green as he helps hotel and resort owners fix their establishments;xinjiang travel and Tours by Unger, in which Brian Unger takes viewers to fascinating places most Americans don't know about.The special One Day on Earth will focus broadly on the transformative nature of traveling, series in development 1 Way Ticket will center on traveling with a unique last minute twist, and other new series American Grilled and Underground BBQ Challenge will be geared toward foodies who love traveling.Here's a look at the full slate:
American Grilled, hosted by chef David Guas, pits four grill masters against one another in the ultimate outdoor cooking challenge. It's greenlit for 13 one-hour episodes produced by Original Media.Big Crazy Family Adventure follows adventurer Kirkby across undiscovered landscapes in an effort to escape the everyday modern world.

That much psychologist and parenting expert Kevin Leman remembers well

That much psychologist and parenting expert Kevin Leman remembers well.It could have been another tantrum-filled flight from hell. But Leman says a quick-thinking flight attendant could see what was about to unfold. She got the captain's attention and he ordered the family off the aircraft before they could get to their seats.
"The parent was incapable of controlling the kid, and nothing was going to help in that kind of situation," says Leman, the author of several parenting books, including "Parenting Your Powerful Child," and father of five grown children.Leman, who lives in Tucson, Arizona, and travels constantly for speaking engagements, says he sees a child acting out on his flight at least once a week. If you don't set limits on the ground, he says, you won't be able to set them inside a narrow metal tube at 35,000 feet."The parent you are in the ground is the parent you're going to be on the airplane," says Leman.

"Do you have a game plan? If you do, you're going to have a kid who will sit in an airplane, entertain himself and not be a pain to other customers on the plane."Haunted by experiences and tales of children behaving badly in flight, many travelers have pretty strong and sometimes visceral feelings about sharing space with young globetrotters. And what are the wee ones really getting out of such travel? Aren't their parents going to suffer for bringing them long after the earsplitting cries leave the confines of the airplane?Can young children benefit from travel?Traveling parents tell CNN those meltdown moments do not represent the entirety of their experiences.

Navigating airport security and learning about different cultures practically since birth, many well-traveled children have better airplane manners and more frequent flier miles than some adults."I think my daughter benefits from seeing there's a world beyond Baltimore and that there are all different types of people," says aviation blogger Benet Wilson, who's taken her 8-year-old daughter on airplanes since she was 10 days old.
Almira Coronado of Daly City, California, agrees. "Traveling enables people to be more open-minded, you get out of your fort zone, experience unique things, meet different people, hear/speak a different language," writes Coronado, owner of a travel agency. "It broadens the mind."