Have you got the wanderlust?

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A beat-up old car, a few dollars in the pocket and a sense of adventure. That’s all Tony and Maureen Wheeler needed for the trip of a lifetime.

They met on a park bench in Regent’s Park, London and married a year later. For their honeymoon, they decided to attempt what few people thought possible — crossing Europe and Asia overland, all the way to Australia.

It took them several months and all the money they could earn, beg or borrow, but they made it. And at the end of it all, they were flat broke . . . and couldn’t have been happier.

Urged on by their friends, they stayed up nights at their kitchen table writing, typing and stapling together their very first travel guide, Across Asia on the Cheap. Within a week they’d sold 1,500 copies, and Lonely Planet was born.

Fast-forward 30 years later, Lonely Planet has become a globally loved brand. Lonely Planet guides are written by experts who get to the heart of every destination they visit.

Constantly updated, each travel guide is packed with accurate, practical and honest advice, designed to give you the information you need to make the most out of your trip.

According to Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2010, Malaysia was voted as one of the top 10 countries to visit this year apart from Germany, Morocco and New Zealand, to name a few.

A 2010 edition of Malaysia, Singapore & Brunei guidebook was recently released, offering travelers updated travel tips to our country. Do visit your nearest bookstore for the latest Lonely Planet products. Lonely Planet is exclusively distributed by MPH Distribu

Marriott to open first hotels in Algeria, Morocco

To open first hotels in Algeria, Morocco, Ghana by 2012

* Sees strongest growth opportunities in Asia

* Aiming for about 70 hotels in Middle East, Africa by 2015

By Jason Benham

DUBAI, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Marriott International (MAR.N) will open its first hotels in Algeria, Morocco and sub-Saharan Africa by 2012 and sees further opportunities to grow in Asia as the global economic downturn recedes.

"Asia is in the lead and the Middle East and Africa is right up there with it," Ed Fuller, president and managing director of Marriott Lodging International, one of the hotel operator's five business segments, said at a news conference in Dubai on Wednesday.

The U.S-based company, which aims to have more than 70 hotels in the Middle East and Africa by the end of 2015, will open a hotel in Algeria, Morocco and Ghana, and two more in Egypt.

"We've made several forays but have been unable to break into Africa until this point," Fuller said.

"Africa has great potential."

The company, which operates the Marriott, Ritz-Carlton and Renaissance Hotels, will focus its African expansion on Algeria, Angola, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa, its chief development officer for the Middle East and North Africa, Jean-Marc Grosfort, told the conference.

Fuller told Reuters that while he believed the worst of the financial crisis was over, it was "premature" to say that hotel bookings in the Middle East were picking up.

In October, Marriott said its worldwide revenue per available room (revPAR) for the third quarter fell 23.5 percent, and it could be flat to down 5 percent for hotels worldwide in 2010.

RevPAR is a benchmark measure for the hotel industry.

Many hotels have struggled during the global downturn as recession-hit customers reduce spending on travel while businesses also look to cut costs. (Editing by Mike Nesbit)

Testing Times for Tourism | Travel

Testing Times for Tourism

David Morgan

Friday, 24 July 2009 15:13

According to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer international tourism declined by 8% between January and April compared to the same period last year. Despite an overall decline, unsurprising given present global economic conditions, several destinations still reported encouraging results for the first four months of the year, including many in the Arab world. The Arab countries reporting positive results include Morocco and Tunisia in North Africa, as well as Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. With the exception of Africa, all regions recorded a decrease in arrivals for the first four months of 2009, the June edition of the UNWTO barometer reports. Tourism trends in the Arab world have been mixed, the report shows. Although the decline in the Middle East is significant (-18%), complete data is not available and arrivals are still expected to be well above the 2007 levels. Meanwhile, positive results in Africa (+3%) reflect the strength of North African destinations around the Mediterranean, the UNWTO says. Destinations worldwide recorded a total of 247 million international tourist arrivals in those four months, down from 269 million in 2008. Given the changes in the outlook UNWTO has revised its forecast for the full year 2009. Taking account of the results for the first four months of the year and the current market conditions, international tourism is now forecast to decrease by between -6% and -4% in 2009, as the pace of decline is expected to ease during the remainder of 2009. In Europe (-10%), the impact was high, as the majority of source markets have struggled with recession since the end of 2008. Moreover, outbound tourism of the second largest market (UK) has endured the depreciation of the pound sterling. Overall, the Americas (-5%) have suffered due to the slowdown of the USA both as a source market and a destination. Still, South America was the only sub-region outside of Africa to buck the general downward trend, registering +0.2%. For Asia and the Pacific (-6%) the decline in demand has been faster than expected and is particularly severe when compared to results from recent years. The negative trend in international tourism that emerged during the second half of 2008 intensified in 2009. In view of the rapidly deteriorating global economic situation, economic growth prospects have repeatedly been adjusted downwards over the past six months. While at the time of the previous UNWTO forecast in January, the International Monetary Fund was still counting on positive growth over 2% for the world economy in 2009, a decline of 1.3% is now expected. Tourism is seriously impacted, given the sharp reduction in business activity, decreasing disposable income and associated increased unemployment, particularly in key tourism source markets. Exchange rate fluctuations have added to the general uncertainty and business and consumer confidence have yet to recover. Furthermore, the level of advanced bookings, coupled with the reduction in airline capacity, make recovery before 2010 difficult. There is additional uncertainty regarding the future of the influenza A (H1N1) virus and its effect on demand in the short to medium term. It should be stressed, however, that at the moment no restrictions on international travel are recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Taking account of the results for the first four months of the year and the current conditions, worldwide growth in international tourist arrivals is expected to end up between -6% and -4% for the full year. The pace of decline is expected to soften in the remainder of the year, with the months May-August projected at between -6% and -4%, and September-December between -5% and -3%. International tourism receipts rose by 1.8% in 2008 (in real terms), virtually equalling growth in international tourist arrivals (+1.9% to 922 million). UNWTO estimates that worldwide receipts from international tourism reached US$ 944 billion last year, up from US$ 857 billion in 2007. Last year’s substantial increase in absolute terms is to some degree a reflection of the weakening of the US dollar, which boosted receipts expressed in the currency. In euro terms, receipts increased to 642 billion, from 625 billion in 2007. In 2008, there were only slight changes in the rankings of both international tourist arrivals and receipts. In arrivals, France remains the world’s major tourism destination (79 million tourists) and in receipts third. The USA is first in receipts and now second in arrivals after regaining the position it lost to Spain after the events of 11 September 2001. Spain ranks third in arrivals but has firmly maintained its position as the second worldwide earner and the first in Europe. China, fourth in arrivals, is still fifth in terms of receipts, while the reverse is true for Italy. Travel and tourism can support short-term stimulus actions, namely those aimed at creating and sustaining jobs, as well as the long-term transformation to a green economy, the UNWTO says. Tourism is one of the largest employment sectors in most countries and a fast entry vehicle into the workforce for young people and women in urban and rural communities, directly, or through its strong multiplier effect on related services, manufacturing or agriculture. Action is needed to boost trade promotion, simplify regulation, build infrastructure and rationalise taxes, which in turn encourage companies to invest, innovate and stimulate demand. According to the UNWTO, public-private sector collaboration should be strongly advanced within and between all states as it will help build resilience and recovery across economies.

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A nephew of mine lives and works in Paris. He, his wife and his children... | Travel | Wichita Eagle

ED NOTE: I've been intuned to this life style of travel for my family, friends, partner since I was 25. Now 64, I can truly say "You only live once" I've adopted this life style and plan to explore the World, until my legs no longer carry me. Join me???
nephew of mine lives and works in Paris. He, his wife and his children take frequent vacations each year of a duration that would be regarded as scandalous in the United States. They sign up for cheap charter flights to islands in the Mediterranean, check in to modest, all-inclusive, beachside hotels lacking TVs and telephones, and spend several weeks together as a family. They do this not only in the summer (the entire month of August), but often during school vacation periods in the winter, jetting to such places as Luxor in upper Egypt, or Morocco, or Bulgaria. The children, who attend public schools, are frequently taken by their public schools on free-of-charge, overnight excursions to Switzerland or the French Alps.
Despite all this leisure, my nephew and his wife are regarded as highly productive employees of the firms for which they work, and their children excel in school. At the ages of 10 and 14, they study the kind of texts that U.S. college students encounter in their junior and senior years. The children have had exposure to more foreign countries and cultures than most Americans enjoy in their entire lives. They are multilingual. The 14-year-old is presently reading Rousseau's essay "On the Origins of Inequality."
According to a study published in Gadling.com (yes, I occasionally --though rarely -- sneak a look), the French enjoy an average of 35 days a year of paid vacation. They sleep an average of nine hours a night, an hour longer than us, and also spend two hours a day on eating -- twice the time Americans spend eating.
In our public policies toward travel and vacations, we really need to heed the lesson that these highly sophisticated people are demonstrating for us. Rather than averting our eyes, we need to think hard about the lifestyles that other people have adopted. And the first practical step we need to take is agitation in Congress for a federal law mandating a minimum of three weeks of yearly paid vacation for every American worker.

A nephew of mine lives and works in Paris. He, his wife and his children... Travel Wichita Eagle

Uncompetitive Moroccan Travel Industry

For millions of people, the months of April through June are travel planning period. In particular for the diasporas that is looking to go back home to North Africa during the summer season, but also for foreign tourists as well. This latter category is a critical target for the Moroccan tourism industry, which is apparently finding difficulties offering competitive prices in a highly budget-sensitive period.
Every indicators that I saw, from all-inclusive packages, to basic airfares, indicate that Morocco tends to price much higher than its competitors. At the very basic level, a flight from New York to Casablanca August 1 to August 8 fetches lower prices with Delta Airlines ($1,263 nonstop, $1,200 one stop), Northwest Airlines at $1,226 with one stop, and then Royal Air Maroc starting $1,271. It is clear that the Delta’s direct nonstop uses code share with RAM, so it comes to me as a surprise that RAM’s has higher than everyone else.

As we are looking to bring a reporter from Algiers to New York for the month of May, the prices we found ranged from the low of $950 with Lufthansa via Frankfurt and a massive $2,000 with Royal Air Maroc via Casablanca, the most expansive option. In tight money periods, you can conclude who won the business!

One would argue that the US destination should come at premium for the Moroccan carrier, and may be forgiven for having slightly higher prices. But Royal Air Maroc pricing discrepancy is valid across all its destinations and not just North America. August 1 to 10 round-trip from Paris to Casablanca is priced today by Royal Air Maroc at $698. Air France charges $437, a $261 difference, which is very substantial for millions of immigrants. This could be opportunities potentially lost for the Moroccan carrier at a time when the country needs every dollar it can generate.

Airfares are not the only data points that make me think Morocco remains a highly expensive destination as a whole. An October 2008 issue of Budget Travel magazine featured a “40 Best Deals” article, which listed some of the best priced vacation packages. In glancing through the list of destinations, I was excited to see that Morocco was prominently displayed. But my excitement faded away very quickly when looking the details. Deals ranged from a low Cancun, Mexico 3-nights, all-inclusive at $388, to an average priced six-night in Rio de Janeiro at $1,299, to the most expansive 15-night India tour, with flight, lodging and meals at $4,095. The stunning feature on Morocco is that the destination competed with the highest cost India, with Morocco’s 13 day tour costing $4,070, but excludes “fuel surcharge” estimated at $285. So in essence, of the 40 deals picked by Budget Travel magazine, Morocco was the most expansive at $4,355.
Morocco is not on the other side of the world and with its infrastructure, it is astonishing that it still cannot find the right price points to stimulate its tourism industry, at a time when travelers globally are looking for best deals. I expect when Marrakesh, Fes and other key Moroccan destinations release their tourism data, they will realize that Tunisia, Greece, Egypt and other destinations have won the price war.