Celebrations Have Begun At Oaga, Art Resort, Maldives: Report

BY  Abdul Aziz Dec 14, 2023

Also known as the Oscars of the travel industry, the World Travel Awards Ceremony was hosted in Dubai, UAE on December 1st. At the event, the Philippines secured four major global recognitions. It also managed to retain its 2022 titles as the World's Leading Dive Destination and Beach Destination. For the first time, Manila has won the Leading City Destination and also received the Global Tourism Resilience Award. They aim to recognize Manila's “global leadership, pioneering vision and innovation to overcome critical challenges and adversity,” reported The Manila Times. The Philippines is reportedly one of only five countries and destinations in the world suggested for the inaugural award. According to World Travel Awards, the winners will be serving as benchmarks for implementing the best practices in tourism resilience. The additional global winners from the Phillipines for this year include Amanpulo, which has been honored as the World's Leading Dive Resort, and City of Dreams Manila which has been recognized as the Worlds Leading Fully Integrated Resort. In September the Philippines along with various resorts and hotels received top honors in the Asia Category of the 2023 World Travel Awards. The achievements were celebrated by the Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco who has highlighted the contributions of tourism to the country's economy. She said, “These accolades are as much a source of Filipino pride as they are a testament to the enormous contribution of tourism to the Philippine economy and global standing." Learn More About: Record-Breaking Holiday Travel Anticipated As TSA Prepares For Busy Season! The Italian Train Group FS Will Launch A New “Night Train Like Hotel”: Rome To Dolomites Chinese And US Presidents Have Come To A Common Ground Regarding Tourism Facilitation!

BY  Abdul Aziz Nov 24, 2023

Are you planning to visit Venice? Have you been looking for things to do in Rome or best hotels in Rome? Before you do that here is some news to stay updated on. Venice has unveiled the 29 dates in 2024 when the new €5 entry fee will become active for day-trippers starting on 25 April, which is a public holiday in Italy. The fee is said to be applicable only for day trips and not those who are staying overnight. On Thursday Mayor Luigi Brugnaro confirmed on Thursday further adding that the multi-lingual booking system will be operating from January 16. The dates when the entry fee will be in place are 25 April to 5 May and every other weekend in May (11,12, 18, 19, 25, 26 May), It will last four weekends in June (8, 9, 15, 16, 22, 23, 29, 30 June) and the first two weekends in July (6, 7, 13, 14 July). On the days mentioned the entry fee system will be effective from 08:30 to 16:00 along with penalties of up to €300 if the rules are violated. ANSA news agency has reported Brugnaro of saying that once the day trippers pay the fee they will receive a QR code "which will be checked randomly" at eight access gates to the historic center. "It is an experiment that has never been done anywhere in the world" - Brugnaro told reporters - "The city is complex and fragile, but it is alive, and we have the obligation to take measures because in the historic center, at certain times of the year, there is crowding that we must reduce." Brugnaro underlined that the trial measure "will cost us more than we will earn" and is "to evaluate the bookability of the city, which will never be closed". This move which kept getting postponed due to the covid pandemic and other logistic obstacles is designed to ease the added pressure hordes of tourists pose to the fragile lagoon city. Read Also: Chinese And US Presidents Have Come To A Common Ground Regarding Tourism Facilitation! The Italian Train Group FS Will Launch A New “Night Train Like Hotel”: Rome To Dolomites Traveling Christmas Tree For The Western Lawn Of U.S. Capitol

BY  Abdul Aziz Dec 27, 2023

The holidays of Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Year's are all about happiness, family, and celebration. This entails engaging in festive customs and spending time with loved ones for the majority of people. However, these holidays have a whole new significance for cosmonauts and astronauts in space. Vacations in space were uncommon in the early years of space exploration. The first Christmas spent in space by astronauts was during the Apollo 8 mission in December 1968. Frank Borman, James A. Lovell, and William A. Anders read passages from the Bible's Book of Genesis while in orbit around the moon, broadcasting the scenes to an estimated billion viewers worldwide. Vacations in space increased in frequency and length as missions went on. Astronauts Gerald P. Carr, Edward G. Gibson, and William R. Pogue observed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's in space during the 1973–1974 Skylab 4 mission. They watched a comet pass by, made a homemade Christmas tree out of food containers, and had a festive dinner that included fruitcake. For cosmonauts, the New Year's holiday was particularly important. Yuri V. Romanenko and Georgi M. Grechko were the first people to celebrate the new year while in orbit on the Salyut-6 space station in 1977 and 1978. In a broadcast on television, they raised a glass to the occasion. Astronaut Jeffrey A. Hoffman observed Hanukkah in 1993 while on the STS-61 mission aboard the space shuttle Endeavour. To celebrate the Festival of Lights, he spun a dreidel and carried a traveling menorah. Holidays were not only observed in space, but astronauts went above and beyond to make the occasion joyful. The 1999 STS-103 crew, who were entrusted with fixing the Hubble Space Telescope, celebrated Christmas with a special meal that included French specialties. Twelve Mir expedition crews, including NASA astronauts, spent their vacations on board the Russian space station between 1987 and 1998. Messages were exchanged and customs, like lighting Hanukkah candles and sending Christmas greetings, were demonstrated during these festivities. On board the International Space Station, holiday celebrations are still customarily observed. Whether it's through live broadcasts, symbolic decorations, or special food items, astronauts and cosmonauts find inventive ways to bring the joy of these festivities to the cosmic realm. Though they may be different, people who celebrate the holidays far above Earth still find great meaning and significance in them. Read Also: 6 Things Locals Wish Tourists Wouldn’t Do When In Iceland Juneau’s Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area Is Expecting Big Changes Bora Bora Is Shifting Its Tourism Policy, Aims To Double Tourists By 2033