Travel less often for longer

STRANGE, but true: a travel organization that is calling on travellers to fly less often. And yet long-distance travel specialist Better Places Travel is doing just that. “Flying is bad for the environment,” acknowledges founder Saskia Griep. “That’s why it’s better to travel less often to faraway destinations.” When people do travel, Better Places Travel advises travellers to leave as much positive impact as possible during their trip. The travel organization provides helpful tips for this and has even designed several trips with maximum positive impact.

With much of the media focusing on the negative consequences of flying, it’s easy to forget that travel also has many positive effects. Sakia Griep: “While we won’t stop flying, we can make sure to become more aware about the way we fly, reduce our negative impact as much as possible, and ensure that everyone involved profits from travel.” That’s why Better Places Travel is introducing positive impact trips. “We want to create travel itineraries that contribute positively to local communities and the natural environment, and at the same time offer the best travel experience for the traveller. By working together with local initiatives like Resirest, Backstreet Academy and I Like Local we are able to increase our impact much more quickly and efficiently.”

The impact trips (www.betterplacestravel.com/positive-impact-travel) created by Better Places Travel are all at least three weeks long and provide many opportunities for contact with locals during the trip. After all, the best memories are often made by meeting and interacting with the local people. Think about using local drivers and guides, choosing special excursions and staying in homestays or small-scale sustainable accommodations. You will not only see the highlights of a country, but also visit the more off-the-beaten-track places.

Better Places Travel shares some of their tips for making travel a positive experience:

· Travel less often, less far and for longer periods at a time.
· Fly directly to the destination (no layover) with a modern airplane to reduce  

  your CO2 emissions up to 50%.
· Interact often with the locals by, for example, taking a cooking course or 

  sleeping in a homestay.
· Stay in small-scale family hotels that operate sustainably.
· Travel by train or bus instead of taking a domestic flight.
· Take a refillable water bottle and/or filter with you to prevent plastic waste.
· Go on animal-friendly excursions and visit national parks.
· Buy sustainable souvenirs and eat vegetarian food.
· Travel in low season and visit the off-the-beaten path destinations.



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Unusual Places to Visit in Japan

#JAPAN is rich in culture, history and technology and is one of the most visited tourist destinations in Asia. There are also a number of strange and little known attractions for adventurous travelers to visit.

Tokyo Parasite Museum - a museum dedicated to parasites! The museum exhibits about 300 parasite specimens, displaying various types of parasitic specimens with accompanying educational movies. Other exhibits are “Human and Zoonotic Parasites” showing parasite lifecycles and the symptoms they cause during human infection. 

Cat island, Tashirojima - this island’s “cat history” started when the local brought one cat to keep mice from his silkworm farms. Ever since then the cat population has been growing, and now there are officially more cats than people living on this island (around 800,000 cats, and 400,000 people).

Okunoshima Island - located in the city of Takehara in Hiroshima prefecture it is also known as the bunny island due to it’s high rabbit population.  Some sources say that the rabbits were brought to this island to test the effects of poison during the World war II. Others says that there was a group of students on a school trip to this island who released eight rabbits back in 1971. now home to more than 300 rabbits living freely its 700,000 square meters.

Yoro Park - this park was a project and design of new york based artist named Shusaku Arakawa and his wife/partner Madeline Gins with a nickname “The Site Of Reversible Destiny” located in Yoro, Gifu Prefecture.

Zeni Arai - also known as Benzaiten Ugafuku shrine. This shrine is visited by those who want to get lucky with money. The place has a water fountain used for washing the money, if you wash your money in that fountain, it is said that it will greatly increase in amount.

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Ski off piste

TAKE the piste less skied, in order to maximise time on the slopes this season, try these recommendations from Ski Solutions for off the beaten track #ski #destinations where great conditions, empty slopes and small lift queues are guaranteed.

Warth, Austria:

There’s something for skiers of all abilities in the little known village of Warth, thought to be the snowiest resort in the Alps with an annual average of 11 metres of snow on its upper slopes; more than double that of Val d’Isère. There are plenty of slopes suitable for beginners and intermediates, whilst advanced skiers and snowboarders will enjoy exploring the off-piste terrain. Over recent years, the village has become linked with the nearby glitzy Lech-Zurs ski area and resorts, opening up a further 180km of pistes to visitors. The quiet, family-friendly village is very small, with a steepled church at its centre. With just 150 permanent residents, many of the local businesses are family run and owned.

Madonna Di Campiglio, Italy:

Guests to this sophisticated mountain resort will be living la dolce vita with its high altitude snowy conditions, world-class facilities, stylish hotels and chalets, superb dining, chic boutiques and fine Italian service. Whilst the snow-sure uncrowded slopes are best suited to leisurely intermediates, there’s plenty to do for all abilities across 150km of immaculately groomed pistes, which connect to nearby Pinzolo and Folgarida-Marilleva. Advanced skiers will also enjoy the challenging black runs and there are plenty of off-piste areas, which are easily accessible via the award-winning lift system. The traffic free resort centre is situated in a picturesque wooded valley surrounded by the magnificent peaks of the Dolomites.

Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada:

This powder heavy resort is still one of Canada’s best kept secrets, featuring the longest skiable vertical descent in North America of 5,630 ft. over 9.5 miles. The terrain is vast with something to suit all abilities although for more adventurous skiers wanting to go off-piste, the resort offers excellent heli-skiing and cat-skiing. The charming mountain village is made up of traditional buildings with more modern hotels being developed as the resort becomes more popular each year. Just a short transfer away, the lively Kicking Horse resort also offers great off-piste conditions and features the fourth longest vertical in North America.

Telluride, Colorado, USA:

A historical mining town dating back over 100 years, Telluride’s Wild West roots have made it the stuff of legend. Today, the picturesque town, which is located in a glacial canyon at the base of the dramatic San Juan Mountain range, is home to a number of upmarket shops, restaurants and bars with a lively après ski scene. A favourite with celebrities due to its understated profile, the resort offers some of the most diverse terrain of any ski resort in North America. This makes it particularly well-suited for mixed ability groups or families with plenty of gentle green runs for beginners and long, rolling runs for intermediates. For advanced skiers, there are some double blacks, winding chutes and steep glades.


Further information can be found at www.skisolutions.com

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The other side of Tuscany

TRAME DI LUNIGIANA, a non-profit making platform for booking #tours and cultural experiences in Tuscany's north-western Lunigiana region, has launched in the UK, enabling first time visitors to sign up for off-the-beaten track experiences through one central website.

Lunigiana is a less well known region in #Tuscany, stretching from the coastal town of Lerici to the Renaissance village of Fivizzano in the Apennine Mountains. The mountain scenery, more than 100 medieval castles, and the 12-mile coastline can now be explored by visitors with ease.

Central to the platform are experiences that enable guests to take in the highlights of the region on horseback, by foot, cycle, or Vespa tour. These can all be booked directly on the website.

www.tramedilunigiana.it/en

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Ulster in drive for Australian tourists

AUSTRALIA offers significant potential for tourism to Northern Ireland, according to a new Tourism Ireland strategy. 

The three-year strategy for growth sets out ambitious targets which will see the number of Australian visitors grow by +20% by the end of 2017.

#Australia is the third most important market for tourism to Northern Ireland (after mainland Britain and the United States) in terms of visitor numbers and revenue.

The strategy highlights key factors working in Ulster’s favour: 

· Recent strong performance: since 2010, visitors from Australia to the island of #Ireland have grown by more than 40%; in 2014, more than 180,000 Australians visited the #island of Ireland. One-third of all Australian visitors include Northern Ireland in their itinerary.

· Strong cultural affinity: Ireland and Australia have many things in common, including language, heritage, sense of humour, love of sport … and both drive on the left.

· Improved air access: there are twice-daily, one-stop flights now available between Australia and Ireland (via the Middle East). Australians who are visiting Great Britain and mainland Europe can also use excellent connecting flights to Belfast.

· Australians are highly prized visitors; they travel throughout the year, stay longer (on average 12 nights), spend more (approximately £760 – almost double the average visitor spend), and like to get off the beaten track – so are more likely than other nationalities to tour rural areas.

Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: ‘Australia has performed well for #tourism to Northern Ireland and the island of Ireland in recent years and the future is undoubtedly bright. We believe this is a market of considerable potential over the coming years – given that these high-spending visitors travel right throughout the year and enjoy getting off the beaten track.’

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Picture Credit: Shrove Beach Oct 07 by NorthernCounties - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons, Scrabo Tower near Newtownards (3) - geograph.org.uk - 775719 by Albert Bridge. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons