IAN STALKER
(Photo above: A pool deck is among the features on Desire cruises.)
Mexico’s Original Group is inviting uninhibited sorts to doff some or all of their duds at sea.
The Cancun-based company – best known for its properties on Mexico’s Caribbean coast, some of them clothing-optional, while others allow women to go topless if they choose – now has annual cruises that enable...
IAN STALKER
(Photo above: Cuba is proud of the long shores it has and the water sports they offer.)
Cuban tourism authorities have just held the country’s annual tourism show in a venue that’s a showcase for the very type of vacation experience that’s at the cornerstone of the country’s tourist trade.
FITCuba was this year held in Cayo Santa Maria, found off Cuba’s northern...
ASHLEY ROCHEFORT
Don’t call it a lobby, it’s a living room
As with all Kimpton properties, the staff and management work hard to make guests feel at home. And the Saint George in Toronto, Kimpton’s first property in Canada and third outside the US, is no exception.
From the eclectic, locally-sourced furniture collection to the arched hallways to the living room-styled lobby, every...
IAN STALKER
(Photo above: Surfers are certain to feel at home in Puerto Viejo.)
The Costa Rican community of Puerto Viejo is building a tourist following, many of them young surfing dudes and dudettes drawn by the waves off its Caribbean Sea-fronting shores.
Puerto Viejo was populated in part by people whose forefathers were from Caribbean islands, with English last names common in the...
IAN STALKER
(Photo above: Adalberto Rodriguez of the Costa Rica Tourism Board (l) was on hand to greet Patricia Perez and Camilo Aguilar of Canandes International during Costa Rican tourism show Expotur.)
Costa Rica’s tourism minister says a country that has become synonymous with ecotourism will be careful not to kill the goose that laid the golden egg, as it further develops its...
ANN RUPPENSTEIN
The recent decision to halt tourism for six months on the island of Boracay, which the Head of State
of the Philippines dubbed a “cesspool,” has reignited warning bells about the potential pitfalls of over tourism.
With tourism being the livelihood for many people and economies around the globe, for Trafalgar’s Global CEO, Gavin Tollman, the situation is not only a...
IAN STALKER
One tour operator that sends people to Asia says the apparently imminent closing of India Tourism’s long-running Canadian office will be a significant setback, while another doubts that it will have much impact on Canadian
visitations to the Asian nation.
Indian tourism authorities announced recently they plan to close several tourist offices, including the Toronto office,...
IAN STALKER
(Photo above: Thailand is hugely proud of its many beaches.)
The party-hearty crowd put the Thai island of Koh Phangan on the international tourism map, but those involved in the island’s tourist trade say there are weeks of blissful peace between each raucous gathering of thousands of young people.
Koh Phangan is best known for its monthly, long-running Full Moon Parties,...
IAN STALKER
(Photo above: A tourist (l) jokingly gives thanks to the gods for chocolate while holding cacao fruit, while guide Carolina Lizana looks on.)
Would Carolina Lizana snicker at the thought of a Snickers bar being called a chocolate bar?
Quite possibly, given that the Costa Rican chocolate enthusiast is quite particular when it comes to using that description.
Lizana, with...
IAN STALKER
(Photo above: Standing before wood that sees a steady stream of leafcutter ants work their way back and forth are Sergio Marin of Aguas Bravas, tour guide Greivon Cubero Ramirez and Leo Herra, who’s long been fascinated by ants.)
Sergio Marin is hoping that those who visit one of the attractions at interior Costa Rica’s Aguas Bravas will be a little more careful about where...
