| Ayana becomes 1st hotel in Bali to be Tsunami ready certified Posted: 06 Jun 2011 01:51 AM PDT + Click Image to Enlarge  AYANA Resort and Spa has become the first hotel in Bali to be certified as Tsunami Ready, following a comprehensive audit and training program. Although AYANA's cliff-top location 35 meters above the ocean puts it and its guests at low-risk in case of a tsunami, the hotel wanted to be prepared to take care of guests in case of any emergency. "We may be considered low-risk because of our cliff-top location, but that is no reason to be complacent," said AYANA's General Manager Charles de Foucault. "This certification will enable us to safeguard our guests and also assist with people from outside the hotel who may come to AYANA to seek refuge on higher ground, in case of a tsunami."
AYANA's 78 private villas and 290-room hotel are located on towering cliffs above Jimbaran Bay, on Bali's south-western peninsula. The award-winning resort occupies 77 hectares of cliff-top land along a 1.3 kilometer coastline. Most of its facilities including the Thermes Marins Bali Spa and 10 different dining venues are located on the cliff-top; beach-front facilities comprise the iconic Rock Bar, Spa on the Rocks treatment villas, Ocean Beach Pool, Kisik seafood restaurant, and secluded Kubu Beach.
Alexander Kesper, senior CIM advisor to the Indonesian Ministry of Culture and Tourism, congratulated AYANA on being the first hotel to achieve certification, despite it not being at high-risk.
"AYANA exceeded our standards in terms of safety and evacuation procedures, and as a Tsunami Ready Hotel, AYANA guests can be sure that a well prepared team will take care of them in case of emergency," Alex said. "Significantly, the resort's management showed great initiative as they had already registered for Tsunami Ready certification before the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March. That disaster further drives home the need for other hotels to be prepared, especially those located on beach-front land."
Tsunami Ready is actively supported by Bali Hotels Association and cooperates with the Indonesian Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Association of South East Asian Nations.
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| UNESCO recognises Ba Be Lake as wetland of international note Posted: 06 Jun 2011 12:10 AM PDT + Click Image to Enlarge 
Ba Be Lake is set to receive a UNESCO certificate recognising it as Viet Nam's third Ramsar site on the World Environment Day (June 5). The first and second Ramsar sites include the Xuan Thuy National Park in the northern province of Nam Dinh and the Bau Sau area in the Cat Tien National Park, southern province of Dong Nai. Ba Be Lake, in the northern province of Bac Can, covers an area of 500ha and is situated at 178m above sea level. With an average depth of 17-23m, the lake is the only natural lake to be found in Vietnamese mountains.
The lake, the result of an earthquake, is the only freshwater lake to have formed on limestone terrain in the world, keeping it from drying out.
According to an Institute of Geo-sciences and Mineral Resources survey, an earthquake caused the collapse of the subterranean Nang River, creating a natural dam which led to the formation of Ba Be over 11,000 years ago. The cataclysm was additionally responsible for the area's temperate and tropical biodiversity.
The Ramsar Convention (A Convention on Wetlands of International Importance) is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable development of wetlands.
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| Thailand to lead in Asia-Pacific green tourism destination Posted: 05 Jun 2011 08:15 PM PDT + Click Image to Enlarge  THAILAND - Thailand could be a leading green tourism destination in the Asia-Pacific region if all tourism-related parties seriously promote the country's potential and address the global warming problem, says the Thailand Ecotourism and Adventure Travel Association (TEATA). Global warming affects tourism, yet tourism partly causes the problem as well. Consequently, tourists have become more responsible for the environment, especially those from Europe, America, and Japan, who are a premium market.
This has resulted in the trend toward environmentally friendly tourism in many countries such as Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. However, their green tourism sites remain substandard because it takes times to develop green tourism routes and products, says TEATA. It also takes time to train communities and green hotels and restaurants must be certified by international organisations.
Meanwhile, Malaysia, a rival with potential, has not taken up a green tourism drive seriously while Singapore and Hong Kong have few natural attractions.
TEATA has been promoting green tourism for 12 years but international green tourists accounted for fewer than 5% of the total tourist arrivals to Thailand in 2010.
"We believe the proportion of green tourists will exceed 5% this year. Although the number of green tourists is still very small, global warming will spur growth in this segment in the future. Green tourists are very loyal and responsible," said TEATA adviser Duangkamol Chansuriyawong.
Tourism operators agree and many of them want to go green but it is not easy to craft environmentally friendly tourism products.
The government and the private sector must tailor marketing campaigns and promote them seriously. Thailand's green tourism has received good responses from Europe and TEATA is heading for North America, where green tourism is popular as well.
The association will promote green tourism routes in Thailand with Tourism Authority of Thailand offices in the United States. In Asia, Japan is its focus.
TEATA already launched the green routes, which are operated by specialists with eco-tour guides. The programmes offer guests unique opportunities to stay in green hotels, enjoy eco-tourism activities, and experience life, culture and nature with local communities.
The four green routes are The Flavours and Fragrances of Central Thailand (Samut Songkhram and Phetchaburi); The Charm of Isan Life (Nakhon Ratchasima and Khao Yai); The Spirit of Lanna (Lamphun, Lampang and Chiang Mai); and At the Cultural Crossroad (Chiang Rai). Three more routes will be added in the second half of this year. Source: bangkokpost.com
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| Airport Authority Hong Kong announced for HKIA Master Plan 2030 Posted: 05 Jun 2011 07:25 PM PDT + Click Image to Enlarge  Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) has released its 20-year development blueprint for Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) to solicit stakeholder and public feedback on the airport's future development direction. Hong Kong International Airport Master Plan 2030 (Master Plan 2030) outlines two development options for public consultation. The first option is for maintaining the existing two-runway system, which would help meet Hong Kong's aviation demand in the medium term only. The second option is to build a new runway to increase capacity, which would enable HKIA to meet the city's air traffic demand up to and possibly beyond 2030 while further strengthening its position as a leading regional and international aviation hub.
During a three-month public consultation exercise starting from 3 June, stakeholders and the public are invited to submit their views and comments to the Social Sciences Research Centre (SSRC) of the University of Hong Kong. SSRC is appointed by AAHK to collect and compile public views independently. A series of roving exhibitions, public forums and stakeholder briefings will form a key part of the exercise, which will end on 2 September. Speaking at the launching ceremony of the Master Plan 2030 Public Consultation, AAHK Chairman Dr Marvin Cheung Kin-tung said: “HKIA is an important asset of Hong Kong. Its expansion is inextricably connected with Hong Kong’s continued development as a thriving international business and financial centre. “With Asia Pacific, and in particular the Mainland, increasingly driving global and regional economic growth, air traffic demand has been experiencing strong growth in the past decade. This trend is expected to continue, and Hong Kong is well positioned to capture the opportunities it presents.
The question is how much of such opportunities HKIA is able to capture in future. The current two-runway system is forecast to be saturated by around 2020, and beyond that, HKIA will not be able to meet additional demand. This could irrevocably harm Hong Kong's position as a global aviation hub. “The rising demand is the reality that we need to confront. We must plan ahead to ensure that Hong Kong can sustain its competitiveness in the wider business sphere and the more specific aviation sector. Master Plan 2030 details our research and assessment of how we can address HKIA's capacity problem and meet future demand. We are totally committed to working together with our stakeholders to implement the option that will serve Hong Kong best in the coming decades.” The Master Plan 2030 study, which commenced in July 2008, is part of AAHK’s regular five-year review of the airport’s development needs. Nine independent consultants were commissioned to research different strategic aspects of the airport's development. After three years of intensive study and review by the consultants and AAHK management, with inputs from the professionals of the airport community, two different options for HKIA’s future expansion are proposed for public consultation.
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