Asia Pacific internet users are still placing travel-related services as their number one online spend category, and in the first quarter of this year was spending more than ever, says Visa.
With an average spend of US$3,743 per person over 12 months ending March 2009, internet consumers appeared to be buying up on the net more than ever, an increase of 20% when compared to the 12 months ending December 2008.
"Travel-related services remained the biggest online spend category," says Visa in its report.
"Respondents spent US$3,085 in the past 12 months on travel-related services, and the top three travel categories for e-commerce are airline/airline tickets (US$1,019), travel accommodation (US$841) and online travel agents (US$602)."
When comparing the 12 months ending March figures with the quarter prior to it, interestingly airline ticket and accommodation spend had grow, but the amount spent with online travel agents had actually dipped.
These figures appear to show a propensity for online shoppers to book directly with suppliers, and become more selective in terms of booking with online middle-men.
Source: http://www.etravelblackboardasia.com/
Sunday, November 1, 2009
US issues fresh alert on travel to India
New Delhi: With United States and Israeli intelligence warning of fresh terror strikes in India, the American government has warned its citizens travelling to the country to take safety precautions.
A travel advisory was initially issued ahead of the festive season in October, as intelligence reports came in about terror groups out to get maximum mileage from another Mumbai-like strike in major Indian cities.
The fresh travel alert was posted on the state department website on Friday, after the Federal Bureau of Investigation busted a plot involving American David Coleman Headley, and a Canadian national of Pakistan origin, Tahawar Hussain Rana, with links to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which has been blamed for several terror strikes.
"Terrorists and their sympathisers have demonstrated their willingness and capability to attack targets that Americans or westerners are known to congregate or visit," the state department alert said.
Many foreigners, including American citizens, were killed in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
"US citizens are urged always to practice good security, maintain a heightened situational awareness and a low profile. Americans are advised to monitor local news reports and consider the level of security present when visiting public places, including religious sites, or choosing hotels, restaurants, entertainment and recreation venues," the alert said.
The state department said it continued to receive information that terror groups are planning fresh strikes in India.
Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/india/
A travel advisory was initially issued ahead of the festive season in October, as intelligence reports came in about terror groups out to get maximum mileage from another Mumbai-like strike in major Indian cities.
The fresh travel alert was posted on the state department website on Friday, after the Federal Bureau of Investigation busted a plot involving American David Coleman Headley, and a Canadian national of Pakistan origin, Tahawar Hussain Rana, with links to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which has been blamed for several terror strikes.
"Terrorists and their sympathisers have demonstrated their willingness and capability to attack targets that Americans or westerners are known to congregate or visit," the state department alert said.
Many foreigners, including American citizens, were killed in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
"US citizens are urged always to practice good security, maintain a heightened situational awareness and a low profile. Americans are advised to monitor local news reports and consider the level of security present when visiting public places, including religious sites, or choosing hotels, restaurants, entertainment and recreation venues," the alert said.
The state department said it continued to receive information that terror groups are planning fresh strikes in India.
Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/india/
Day 3: Olympic torch to travel by logging truck and surfboard on relay
TOFINO — Hang 2010, dude.
The Olympic flame caught a wave late Sunday afternoon, just as the sun dipped into the Pacific Ocean at Pacific Rim National Park.
As a crowd of more than 200 people gathered on the sand at Long Beach, 72-year-old surfer Ruth Sadler waded into the waves with an Olympic torch and passed the flame to 34-year-old Raphael Bruhwiler as he glided by on a surfboard.
Bruhwiler, who grew up surfing with his two brothers and a sister on nearby Chesterman Beach, then paddled out and caught one more wave before gliding in to the beach, the torch held high above his head.
He was met there by his three-year-old daughter, Aqua, who tagged along beside him as he walked toward shore, torch in one hand, surfboard in the other.
“It was easy,” he said, grinning.
The event came toward the end of day three in the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay, a mammoth undertaking that is expected to cross the country twice, cover 45,000 kilometres and include 12,000 torchbearers.
Besides Pacific Rim, the flame will visit a total of 34 national historic sites and parks — including stops Saturday at Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse in Colwood, near Victoria.
Sadler moved to Tofino in 1967 with her husband, one of the region’s surfing pioneers and an avid athlete.
“I’m remembering him because it’s three years this month since he passed away,” she said. “It’s just a great honour to be part of this whole celebration.”
The Olympic flame started off the day in Nanaimo, where Scott Thomas, principal of Esquimalt’s Macaulay elementary school, was one of the proud torchbearers.
Thomas, 34, said in an interview prior to the relay that he still remembers touching the Olympic torch at age 14 when it passed through Langford in 1988 before the Calgary Games. He hopes that bringing the torch back to his inner-city school will inspire the children to pursue their goals.
“If you have something, never give up on it,” he said.
From Nanaimo, the torch passed through Lantzville, Nanoose Bay and Parksville, where a crowd of about 1,000 gathered for a pancake breakfast outside the local curling club. Long after the flame had come and gone, they stayed for kids’ races on the grass and more pancakes and coffee.
Parksville’s Doug Hodges held his granddaughter in his arms and said he dislikes the amount of money spent on the Olympics, but he wanted his grandchildren to see the torch.
“I still want them to respect the Olympics — the ideals and all the countries coming together to compete,” he said, but added the Games have been “ruined” by excess. “Have the Olympics by all means. But they’ve got totally out of hand.”
Later, the torch moved to Port Alberni, the little city with a big cheering section. Last year, it sent 64 people — the largest community contingent at the Beijing Games — to cheer on local wrestler Travis Cross.
And Sunday, several thousand Port Alberni residents packed Bob Dailey Stadium to watch Cross, 28, run past cheering school children to light a cauldron on the stage.
“I’m just so proud of this community,” said Cross, a local firefighter and father of two young boys. “Friends, family and other people in the community came to Beijing to cheer me on, and now the rest of the community that was cheering me on from home — they get to feel a piece of the Olympics.
“They should be proud of themselves today. They did a great job.”
The flame then travelled by logging truck and canoe on its way to the ocean and Bruhwiler’s surfboard.
Moving from one board to the next, the flame was also scheduled to take a brief spin through a Tofino skate park in the hands of skateboarder Scott Rae-Arthur, great-grandson of Ada Annie Rae-Arthur — better known as Cougar Annie.
Source: http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/
The Olympic flame caught a wave late Sunday afternoon, just as the sun dipped into the Pacific Ocean at Pacific Rim National Park.
As a crowd of more than 200 people gathered on the sand at Long Beach, 72-year-old surfer Ruth Sadler waded into the waves with an Olympic torch and passed the flame to 34-year-old Raphael Bruhwiler as he glided by on a surfboard.
Bruhwiler, who grew up surfing with his two brothers and a sister on nearby Chesterman Beach, then paddled out and caught one more wave before gliding in to the beach, the torch held high above his head.
He was met there by his three-year-old daughter, Aqua, who tagged along beside him as he walked toward shore, torch in one hand, surfboard in the other.
“It was easy,” he said, grinning.
The event came toward the end of day three in the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay, a mammoth undertaking that is expected to cross the country twice, cover 45,000 kilometres and include 12,000 torchbearers.
Besides Pacific Rim, the flame will visit a total of 34 national historic sites and parks — including stops Saturday at Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse in Colwood, near Victoria.
Sadler moved to Tofino in 1967 with her husband, one of the region’s surfing pioneers and an avid athlete.
“I’m remembering him because it’s three years this month since he passed away,” she said. “It’s just a great honour to be part of this whole celebration.”
The Olympic flame started off the day in Nanaimo, where Scott Thomas, principal of Esquimalt’s Macaulay elementary school, was one of the proud torchbearers.
Thomas, 34, said in an interview prior to the relay that he still remembers touching the Olympic torch at age 14 when it passed through Langford in 1988 before the Calgary Games. He hopes that bringing the torch back to his inner-city school will inspire the children to pursue their goals.
“If you have something, never give up on it,” he said.
From Nanaimo, the torch passed through Lantzville, Nanoose Bay and Parksville, where a crowd of about 1,000 gathered for a pancake breakfast outside the local curling club. Long after the flame had come and gone, they stayed for kids’ races on the grass and more pancakes and coffee.
Parksville’s Doug Hodges held his granddaughter in his arms and said he dislikes the amount of money spent on the Olympics, but he wanted his grandchildren to see the torch.
“I still want them to respect the Olympics — the ideals and all the countries coming together to compete,” he said, but added the Games have been “ruined” by excess. “Have the Olympics by all means. But they’ve got totally out of hand.”
Later, the torch moved to Port Alberni, the little city with a big cheering section. Last year, it sent 64 people — the largest community contingent at the Beijing Games — to cheer on local wrestler Travis Cross.
And Sunday, several thousand Port Alberni residents packed Bob Dailey Stadium to watch Cross, 28, run past cheering school children to light a cauldron on the stage.
“I’m just so proud of this community,” said Cross, a local firefighter and father of two young boys. “Friends, family and other people in the community came to Beijing to cheer me on, and now the rest of the community that was cheering me on from home — they get to feel a piece of the Olympics.
“They should be proud of themselves today. They did a great job.”
The flame then travelled by logging truck and canoe on its way to the ocean and Bruhwiler’s surfboard.
Moving from one board to the next, the flame was also scheduled to take a brief spin through a Tofino skate park in the hands of skateboarder Scott Rae-Arthur, great-grandson of Ada Annie Rae-Arthur — better known as Cougar Annie.
Source: http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/
US extends India travel alert
WASHINGTON: The US state department has issued yet another travel advisory on India, alerting its citizens to “continuing security concern’’ in the country and warning them that the US government “continues to receive information that terrorist groups may be planning attacks in India.’’
The alert, which echoes Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s own caution about the imminence of a terrorist attack, came even as former President Bush arrived in New Delhi to take part in a leadership summit, highlighting both the danger and normalcy which seem to run concurrently in India.
The travel alert also came days after US authorities arrested a Pakistani-American and Pakistani-Canadian for plotting terror attacks in Denmark and India. The plot has triggered alarm bells in the security establishment because of the military pedigree and diplomatic connections the two men, both in their late 40s had.
In a revised affidavit filed before a Chicago court, the FBI said Pakistan’s consul-general in Chicago personally knew both the accused David Headley alias Daood Gilani and Tawassur Rana, wire services reported.
‘’On or about September 25, 2009, Rana spoke by telephone with the consul general at the Pakistani consulate in Chicago in an effort to obtain a five-year visa for Headley to travel to Pakistan. It is clear from the email traffic unrelated to terrorist plotting that the consul general knows Rana and Headley personally as all three attended the same high school,’’ the FBI said.
However, the affidavit does not say if the consul general was aware of the alleged terror plans of Rana and Headley. In the earlier affidavit, the FBI described Headleys plans for a recce to India, at the prompting of a Pakistani handler who preferred targeting India rather than Denmark, to survey sites for a terrorist strike.
“Terrorists and their sympathizers have demonstrated their willingness and capability to attack targets where Americans or Westerners are known to congregate or visit the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai provided a vivid reminder that hotels and other public places are especially attractive targets for terrorist groups. US citizens are urged always to practice good security, maintain a heightened situational awareness and a low profile,’’ the advisory issued by the state department’s bureau of consular affairs said.
It advised Americans “to monitor local news reports and consider the level of security present when visiting public places, including religious sites, or choosing hotels, restaurants, entertainment and recreation venues.’’ The October 29 advisory replaced the travel alert dated September 12, 2009, and expires on January 28, 2010.
The “travel alert’’ is different from the “travel warning,’’ in that it describes short-term conditions. Travel warnings are issued to describe long-term, protracted conditions that make a country dangerous or unstable. A travel warning is also issued when the US government’s ability to assist American citizens is constrained due to the closure of an embassy or consulate or because of a drawdown of its staff.
India does not figure in the list of nearly 30 countries for which the state department has issued “travel warnings,’’ among them Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal in the neighborhood, and Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Somalia and Philippines beyond.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/
The alert, which echoes Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s own caution about the imminence of a terrorist attack, came even as former President Bush arrived in New Delhi to take part in a leadership summit, highlighting both the danger and normalcy which seem to run concurrently in India.
The travel alert also came days after US authorities arrested a Pakistani-American and Pakistani-Canadian for plotting terror attacks in Denmark and India. The plot has triggered alarm bells in the security establishment because of the military pedigree and diplomatic connections the two men, both in their late 40s had.
In a revised affidavit filed before a Chicago court, the FBI said Pakistan’s consul-general in Chicago personally knew both the accused David Headley alias Daood Gilani and Tawassur Rana, wire services reported.
‘’On or about September 25, 2009, Rana spoke by telephone with the consul general at the Pakistani consulate in Chicago in an effort to obtain a five-year visa for Headley to travel to Pakistan. It is clear from the email traffic unrelated to terrorist plotting that the consul general knows Rana and Headley personally as all three attended the same high school,’’ the FBI said.
However, the affidavit does not say if the consul general was aware of the alleged terror plans of Rana and Headley. In the earlier affidavit, the FBI described Headleys plans for a recce to India, at the prompting of a Pakistani handler who preferred targeting India rather than Denmark, to survey sites for a terrorist strike.
“Terrorists and their sympathizers have demonstrated their willingness and capability to attack targets where Americans or Westerners are known to congregate or visit the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai provided a vivid reminder that hotels and other public places are especially attractive targets for terrorist groups. US citizens are urged always to practice good security, maintain a heightened situational awareness and a low profile,’’ the advisory issued by the state department’s bureau of consular affairs said.
It advised Americans “to monitor local news reports and consider the level of security present when visiting public places, including religious sites, or choosing hotels, restaurants, entertainment and recreation venues.’’ The October 29 advisory replaced the travel alert dated September 12, 2009, and expires on January 28, 2010.
The “travel alert’’ is different from the “travel warning,’’ in that it describes short-term conditions. Travel warnings are issued to describe long-term, protracted conditions that make a country dangerous or unstable. A travel warning is also issued when the US government’s ability to assist American citizens is constrained due to the closure of an embassy or consulate or because of a drawdown of its staff.
India does not figure in the list of nearly 30 countries for which the state department has issued “travel warnings,’’ among them Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal in the neighborhood, and Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Somalia and Philippines beyond.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/
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