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MILLIONS LEARN ABOUT NEW ZEALAND THROUGH GIANT RUGBY BALL PROMOTION

 By Saudi Ali, Friday 30.10.2009

The Giant Rugby Ball has opened in Tokyo

 New Zealand is getting huge interest from Japanese people a day after New Zealand’s giant rugby ball was opened in Tokyo. 

The opening of the rugby ball under the high profile Tokyo Tower site was covered by over 100 journalists from Japan’s eleven national television stations, eleven national newspapers and more than forty websites. 

The television coverage has been viewed by an audience estimated to be well over 34 million, while the newspapers have a total readership of 30 million. 

The opening was the lead story on Yahoo’s Japanese site which is the most viewed website in Japan with hundreds of millions of hits every day. 

The coverage caused a spike in Tourism New Zealand’s website for Japan, doubling the number of users from 1500 to 3000 today. Hundreds of locals queued to see the spectacular audio visual display inside the ball to learn more about New Zealand. 

National Television channel, Nippon TV, will broadcast the weather live from the Giant Rugby Ball this evening. 

Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive George Hickton said the interest in the Ball has been phenomenal. 

"The purpose of this seven day project is to promote New Zealand now and for the Rugby World Cup. Within one day that promotion has been more than we could have expected and we still have a week to go." 

The ball was formally opened yesterday by Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism John Key. It will be open until 3 November. 

The opening united Japanese and New Zealand cultures, with a formal Māori mihi whakatau, or welcome, which Shinto Priests responded to with their own formal blessing. 

During the seven days the Ball is open, it will play host to a series of public and private events aimed at promoting New Zealand as a place to visit, work and do business with. It will also host functions which will showcase New Zealand cuisine. 

For further information please contact: 
Cas Carter in Tokyo on +6421915410 or Sue Allen in New Zealand on +64299175466 

> Watch an Interview with Tourism New ZEaland CE George Hickton at the Rugby Ball (YouTube) 
> Dowload images of the Ball in Tokyo 
> To download a free higher quality version of the interview with George Hickton and other photos and moving footage please register on www.image.net 
> Read Giant Rugby Ball Facts

Major Events in the Ball

Wednesday, 28 October 
· 2.30 to 4.00 - Blessing Ceremony/Media 
· 6.00 to 6.30 - Tape Cutting Ceremony - media welcome 
· 6.45 to 21.30 - Opening Function 

Thursday, 29 October 
· Ball opens to the public for the first time during the day. 

Sunday, 1 November 
· 9.00 to 10.00 - Cultural Workshop (inside the Ball)

Results Prior to Tokyo

Paris, France in 2007 
· During the 15 days the Ball was open to the public in Paris next to the Eiffel Tower, the Ball achieved a potential world-wide media reach of over 137 million people. 25,000 went through the Ball and saw the show. 

London, England in 2008 
· During the 8 days the Ball stood in Potters Fields Park next to London Bridge, 7,500 people went inside the Ball and experienced the AV display. Over 200 million people from around the world had the opportunity to see the Ball on screens and in newspapers and magazines.

Japanese Tourism Statistics

· Japan is New Zealand’s fifth largest market for visitor arrivals. 

· In the year to September 2009, New Zealand welcomed 80,000 Japanese visitors. 

· It is also one of the highest spending markets, with total expenditure of over $422 million in the year to June 2009. 

· On a per-person basis, Japanese are our highest spending visitors with average holiday spending at $4,698 per trip, compared with Australia at ($2,372), the USA ($3,552) and the UK ($4,006). 

· Arrivals from Japan have been declining since 2004, as a result of the weaker Japanese economy and exchange rate, because of a change in travel habits (younger Japanese travellers tend to spend money on other things, like clothes and electronic goods) and because of an increase in cheaper short-haul travel within Asia.

Source: Tourism New Zealand Media Release

London Tourism Fashion.......walking tours

 edited by Saudi Ali, 27.10.2009

FASHION FORWARD: Ever wanted a fashion insider to lead you through London's fashion gems? Discover London's best kept fashion secrets on this fashion savvy walking tour.

Your journey will take you to hidden boutiques and independent stores ranging from up-and-coming designers to internationally renowned names. The perfect way to stay one step ahead of the style pack.

In this unique walking tour we introduce you to London's unique (and much envied) range of womenswear stores. A carefully edited tour with the stylish visitor in mind, we combine an opportunity to discover and buy luxury fashion, learn about trends and discover emerging creative talent.

On the tour there is plenty of time to browse, buy and marvel at the vast mix of scenes that make up London fashion.

As one of the world's most fashion forward cities, London's street style, wealth, and laid back attitude make it a city rich with fashion finds. Many of the fashion stores visited by London's fashion pack are closely guarded secrets and virtually impossible to find. Located off the beaten track we give you the inside knowledge normally reserved for insiders.

We fast-track you to stores, boutiques and designers across the city: from legendary Bond Street in central London, to directional designers across London's West End. Along the way you'll also take in the luxury brands dotted across central London, such as Marc Jacobs and Stella McCartney.

Being a Chief is inside everyone's mind......

Tourism chief frightfully busy — and loving it
edited By Saudi Ali 22.10.2009

SALEM — Whether she's scouting locations for television producers or meeting with the MBTA to review the schedule for extra Halloween trains, Kate Fox is always working behind the scenes.

As director of Destination Salem, Fox deals with everyone — from international tour operators to local psychics and restaurateurs — to ensure the city's tourist offerings are well-marketed to the 800,000 annual visitors to Salem, 25 percent of whom descend on the "Witch City" in October.

"The job is all about producing information and helping people get here and understand what's here," said Fox.

October's hectic pace was illustrated by her weekend of activities, including an interview and a live podcast with radio stations in Connecticut and New York. On Saturday, she spent the day assisting TV crews from the "Today" show who were filming footage around Salem for a segment set air the day before Halloween.

"No two days are the same," said Fox, "and I like that."

Each year, Fox's office is charged with producing and distributing nearly 300,000 copies of the Salem Visitor and Travel Guide, as well as the Haunted Happenings guide. Destination Salem also operates the city's popular tourism Web sites: Salem.org and HauntedHappenings.org, which together drew over a half-million unique hits in the past year.

Fox, 39, started at Destination Salem in 1998 and later left for five years before returning in 2007. Destination Salem's annual budget is less than $300,000, funded through ad revenue from the tourism guides and a portion of the local option hotel/motel tax. Fox and project assistant Stacia Cooper run Destination Salem from City Hall.

Fox lives in Beverly with her husband, Matt, a local school principal, and their two sons, George, 8, and Nick, 5.

The Salem News caught up with Fox amid the swirl of October activity:

What do tourists expect of Salem?

I've had people call and they think Salem is like Sturbridge Village or Williamsburg — that you go through a gate and everyone is in costume and everything is right there. We try to show people that it's a city so they come here with that expectation.

Who else contacts you?

People from all over the world, for all different reasons. ... We get a lot of calls from brides and brides' moms. It runs the gamut.

Strangest question you've fielded?

My favorite question, in a twisted way, was a call I got in my first month (on the job) in 1998: "What time do they feed the witches?" Isn't that awful? It tells you how much information we need to share with people.

What are some of your duties?

A lot of distributing photos to media outlets. I just sent pictures to Australia and Argentina... I had a woman from Campeche, Mexico, here last week. She's the new director of tourism there. She's been on the job for three weeks and they sent her to Salem to see how we do it.

Is it all about Halloween?

There is always something going on, so we try to market year-round activities. We call it the Five Seasons of Salem: winter, spring, summer, fall and Haunted Happenings.

Challenges of your job?

It has its share of politics, and balancing the needs of different businesses and being objective and fair, especially when it's about travel writers. Everyone wants editorial exposure.

How many businesses does Destination Salem work with?

More than 150 ... and tourism spending in Salem last year was an estimated $54.6 million. October alone was $8.4 million.

Has Salem changed since you came aboard?

A lot. There are so many restaurants and so many more walking tours. There are two trolleys now instead of one, and the Salem Ferry. There more's shopping. It's a much deeper product now. There's a lot more to do.

Your favorite thing about Salem?

It's the city and all the characters and the people that make up the destination. It's just a great place to promote and to work.

Given your job, do you like to dress in costume?

It sort of doesn't feel appropriate to the job. I wear Halloween socks. That's the extent of my fashion enthusiasm.
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Memoirs Of a Veteran Tourism guides in Ho Chin Min City.....

Memoirs of a tour guide
edited and updated by: Saudi 20/10/2009 (GMT+7)

A veteran tour guide in HCM City takes a glance at his 21 years in the profession.

Seven years after graduating from the HCM City University of Pedagogy in 1981, when I was teaching English at Phu Nhuan senior high school, I then decided to apply for a tour guide position at Saigontourist.

Tri Dung (L) and one of this VIP tourists.
During the first two months of my new job, I acquainted myself with everything in the new environment. At that time, there were no schools designed for the tourism industry. Tour guides, therefore, had to adopt on-the-job training. We relied mostly on Vietnamese language books to accumulate professional knowledge.

I made my first outbound trip in April 1989. In those years, tourists desiring to visit Cambodia needed to fly from Vietnam. This situation found me and many of my colleagues shuttling between Saigon and Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, bringing big groups of foreigners to the land of pagodas. Such a route lasted till 1991 when Cambodian visas could be granted normally.

It was also the time in Vietnam that the living standards improved remarkably enough to afford Vietnamese’s outbound trips. Beginning in 1993, thousands of Vietnamese groups started to flock to Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hongkong and China. My memory is still fresh with memories of shopping plazas in Singapore and the Great Wall in China.

In 1998, I began to shift entirely to serving inbound clients. One Sunday in November 2000, I was called for a special duty. I still consider it the most stressful tour: Guiding Chelsea, U.S. President Clinton’s daughter, on a city tour.

I showed up at the back door of New World Hotel and was instructed to go to the front door. I then found myself at a weapon detector. The president’s family was already on the morning cruise. I learnt I was assigned for a duty in the afternoon but did not know what. I had to wait there for two and a half hours until 1:30 p.m. to see Clinton’s family and the entourage back from a morning working tour. Half an hour later, people rushed around again and an American lady officer came toward me showing me to a smiling girl standing in a round of black suited men. The girl was Chelsea.

The itineraries consisted of visits to the History Museum and Vinh Nghiem Pagoda, driving past the Reunification Conference Hall and Ben Thanh Market with a photo stop at the Opera House plus shopping on Dong Khoi Street. Chelsea, her friend and a black lady photographer sat in the two back rows whilst a secret service agent sat in front with the driver. They all gave me a pride in their way of learning more about my country’s history and people and in thankful smiles, handshakes at the end of the four-hour tour.

Looking back to the past 21 years as a tour guide, I still keep my interest in studying and reproducing reports on and insights into lifestyles, social events, war stories as well as economic reconstruction.

However, what really drives me on (and many other tour guides as well) is a different thing—far from glory and social recognition.

After tours in two decades, I have experienced possibilities and seen some not only sustain but also succeed in featuring Vietnam’s unique key points. That is the long coastline bringing tourists to a vast variety of enjoyment. That is the historic heritage linking Vietnamese and their family to their country. That is the value in supplying “hardship for survival” tours founding solid inner significance in the youth from industrialized societies. Every guide at work should find out what type of clients best suits him or her; and after some years of serving general clients, a senior guide should follow his own path.

On that itinerary, the guide’s efficiency will improve much along with higher clientele’s satisfaction. Vietnam’s tourism industry is now in need of such highly skilled tour guides.

Local Tourism Department Will Soon Be Set Up In Replace Of Tourism Council..

This is the latest Malaysia Tourism news as all tourism council will no longer be in the government sector and in replace a tourism department will soon be set up.

edited and updated by: Saudi 2009-10-20 15:20

RAUB, Oct 19 (Bernama) -- All State Tourism Action Council staff nationwide will be absorbed into state tourism departments upon the abolishment of the councils at the end of this year.

Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen, however, said the staff involved would have to meet qualification and other requirements before they were absorbed.

"At year's end, all state tourism councils will be abolished and tourism department will be set up instead.

"The staff who are eligible will be absorbed into the departments," she told reporters after attending a Deepavali and Aidilfitri celebration here today.

Dr Ng said the abolishment of the councils, which should have taken place in June this year, was postponed to enable several issues concerning staff, numdering about 200, to be resolved.

In other developments, Dr Ng said the ministry would revoke the licences issued to over 100 non-active tourist guides nationwide early next year.

"We do not revoke their licences easily, but there are some of them who are no longer active in the service and some did not submit their accounts to the ministry," she said, adding that there were currently over 5,000 tourist guides nationwide.

In LANGKAWI, Malaysia's ambassador to Uzbekistan Abdul Aziz Harun said Malaysia would be among 40 countries which would be participating in Uzbekistan's Tourism Promotion week scheduled to be held in its capital city Tashkent at the end of this month.

"I hope it will help increase tourist arrivals from Uzbekistan which last year stood at 4,900 people," he told reporters after accompanying a delegation of foreign envoys based in Tashkent and their families on a visit to this resort island today.

The Langkawi visit programme, which began on Oct 13 and ends tomorrow, was an initiative by the the Malaysian Embassy in Tashkent to promote Malaysian tourism.

Among the envoys were Azerbaijan's ambassador Abbasor Namik Rashid Oglu; Kyrgyz ambassador, Azizbek M. Madmarov and Czech Republic ambassador, Robert Kopecky.

The Historical City of Melaka, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Langkawi were the places on the itinerary of the delegation, said Abdul Aziz, adding that all expenses incurred were borne by the respective parties themselves.

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Tourism Guides From The Encyclopedia View.....

First of all let me introduce to you the true meaning of tourism guides from the encyclopedia view which means an individual or group or company which provides assistance, information and cultural, historical sites and contemporary heritage and at venues of other significant interest.This people were equiped with full knowledge and qualification from the appropriate authority. They guides visitor of their choice languages and interprets of the cultural and natural heritage of an area. Below is the detail and brief explaination from the Wikipedia encyclopedia aspects. Edited and updated by:Saudi Ali -20.10.2009 Tour guide

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A tour guide (or tourist guide) provides assistance, information and cultural, historical and contemporary heritage interpretation to people on organized tours, individual clients, educational establishments, at religious and historial sites and at venues of other significant interest. They [normally] have a recognized national or regional tourist guide qualification.
The CEN (European Committee for Standardization) definition for "tourist guide" (part of the work by CEN on definitions for terminology within the tourism industry) is:
Tourist guide = person who guides visitors in the language of their choice and interprets the cultural and natural heritage of an area, which person normally possesses an area — specific qualification usually issued and/or recognized by the appropriate authority
CEN also produced a definition for "tour manager":
Tour manager = person who manages and supervises the itinerary on behalf of the tour operator, ensuring the programme is carried out as described in the tour operator's literature and sold to the traveller/consumer and who gives local practical information
In Europe, tourist guides (tour guide being initially a term primarily used in the US market) are represented by FEG, the European Federation of Tourist Guide Associations and outside Europe by WFTGA.
The tourist guiding qualification is specific to each and every country; in some cases the qualification is national, in some cases it is broken up into regions. In all cases it is embedded in the educational and training ethic of that country. The Art of Guiding is a skill; it is the skill of selecting information and varying it for different audiences; it is the skill of presenting it in a simple and precise way; it is the skill of allowing the visitor to see and to understand; it is a skill which, if well performed, is invisible.