Nominations are now open for the Responsible Tourism Awards 2008. The award was founded, and is run by, U.K. based Responsible Travel in partnership with The Daily Telegraph, World Travel Market and Geographical Magazine. The sponsors for this year’s awards are Virgin Holidays.

The central tenet of the Awards is that all types of tourism – from niche to mainstream – can and should be operated in a way that respects and benefits destinations and local people. The Awards recognise individuals, companies and organisations in the travel industry that are making a significant commitment to the culture and economies of local communities and are providing a positive contribution to biodiversity conservation. More details regarding nominating procedure, eligibility and judges here. Oh, and they’re holding a contest which offers a free trip to India.

On a related subject, one ‘individual’ who apparently won’t be getting any responsible tourism awards is the much maligned ‘American traveler’. An Expedia survey tried to find out the worlds best tourists and pinpoint the best and worst travel habits and traits. Expedia got feedback from 4000 hoteliers around the globe for this survey. And guess what? American travelers didn’t make it into the Top 10 list of the worlds best travelers. The list was topped by Japanese travelers, German and British tourists tied for second place, followed by the Canadians and Swiss. American tourists came in at number 11. But that’s not all.

In contrast to American generosity and willingness to absorb local culture, they are considered to be noisy tourists, along with the Italians and British. Additionally, Americans are said to complain about accommodations, along with the Germans and French — and are also among the least tidy hotel guests. Lastly, Americans fall to the bottom of the list when it comes to fashion sense, with the ever stylish Italians and French taking top sartorial prize.

This is shameful. No fashion sense? Along with metal detectors, every airport in the nation should from now on be manned by fashion police who should not allow anyone out of the country unless they are dressed fashionably.

Moving on to yet another numskull contest - America’s Best Restroom VII contest sponsored by Cintas Corp., a cleaning, uniforms and services firm based in Cincinnati. Diane Heilenman, writing for the Courier Journal, Louisville, Kentucky, has a sure-fire tip if you want to bet on who’s going to win this one out of the 10 finalists. She says bet on the public restrooms at Louisville’s 21c Museum Hotel. And what’s so special about these restrooms?

Its restrooms have what might be called gender-specific latent exhibitionist fetish features. The men’s restroom has a two-way mirror that allows users of a long urinal to contemplate passers-by outside the restroom. Both the men’s and women’s restrooms have tiny LCD screens displaying a multitude of different, open eyes in the mirror above the sink area that make washing up or primping a communal affair. 

And you thought Hollywood was decadent… But before you start thinking that California and Californians just might be more normal than you think, they come up with one more nutty idea. The National Park Service is proposing to build a hotel on Alcatraz Island, according to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle. One of the Alcatraz proposals would allow visitors to camp out on the island; another would involve rehabilitating a complex of old buildings and possibly turning one of the buildings into a hotel. Building 64, once used to house guards, could become a science and education center, with classrooms, a kitchen and a hostel for students.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but aren’t there enough things to do in San Francisco that they don’t need another entertainment park with a hotel and even more facilities for tourists?

Posted on June 8th, 2008 by PLing
Filed under: Travel News