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Story Archives of 'tourism'
Berlin's New ATV Trail Through Town
By Erik Eisele on Thursday, October 29, 2009.Berlin is opening a new ATV trail through the center of the city. It's an attempt to improve the region's tourist industry.
The new route is going to link trail systems to the east and west. But perhaps more importantly, the city hopes this new trail will lead Berlin to a new economy as an outdoor recreation destination.
NHPR correspondent Erik Eisele has the story.
Rebuilding "Happy Town"
By Virginia Prescott on Thursday, October 15, 2009.
We recently discovered a story by James Fallows who is in China as national correspondent for The Atlantic. His story involved an American family and a crumbling compound in the Yunnan village of Xizhou, which roughly translates to "happy town."
Brian and Jeanee Linden have operated a gallery that sells Asian art and antiques in Wisconsin for the past 14 years. Two years ago, they sold their house in Madison and moved with their two children to China, where they’ve finished restoring the derelict compound, and opened it up to the public for lodging and retreats.
Their effort illuminates a much larger debate about China’s paths to development. One model is based on conventional big-bus tourism, with restaurants and gift shops to serve the photo-snapping masses. The other path preserves and venerates traditional Chinese arts, architecture and creative energy.
We talk more about the latter approach with our guest Jeanee Linden, who runs the Linden Center in Xizhou.
The Atlantic: Village Dreamers
(Photo courtesy the Linden family)
Italians Study New Hampshire Food Culture
By Avishay Artsy on Thursday, August 13, 2009.A group of young Italians spent much of the summer here in the Granite State as exchange students with UNH's new eco-gastronomy dual major, the first of its kind in the country. It’s a relatively new field, combining aspects of sustainable agriculture, hospitality, and nutrition.
The fourteen students are in their final year at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, Italy. It's founder, Carlo Petrini, is also the father of the slow food movement. It started twenty years ago to resist McDonald's opening a restaurant near the Spanish steps in Rome. It's since expanded to 800 chapters, or "convivia," in 132 countries.
The school aims to reconnect food consumers with producers. This month the group has toured farms that raise goats, grow blueberries and melons, and produce maple syrup.
The students are aware that slow food has developed a bit of an elitist reputation, especially now as people are looking for ways to spend less money on food, not more. But the students say the slow food movement stems directly from Italy’s agrarian roots.
Our producer Avishay Artsy took on the sacrifice of sampling food and wine with the group at Flag Hill Winery in Lee, NH. He filed this report as part of our "next green thing" series.
(Frank Reinhold, owner of Flag Hill Winery, addresses the students, as Annalisa Sivieri and Paolo Camozzi look on. Photo by Avishay Artsy)
Stem Cell Tourism
By Virginia Prescott on Thursday, August 13, 2009.
Last month, Hungarian police arrested four people in a raid on a suspected guerilla stem cell clinic. Reuters reported that the clinic mined stem cells from embryos and fetuses and charged patients as much as $25,000 for treatments.
Stem cell therapy is promising, but experts are warning of the dangers of seeking illegal, untested, and possibly dangerous treatments in clinics springing up across the globe. The practice is so prevalent that the International Society for Stem Cell Research has issued guidelines to caution desperate patients.
For more, we were joined by Doctor Robin Lovell-Badge, head of the division of stem cell biology at the National Institute for Medical Research in London.
Science-Based Medicine: Quack Clinics
Learn more about the International Society for Stem Cell Research
(Photo by Katjaja via Flickr/Creative Commons)
Inside The Slums
By Will Ross on Monday, August 3, 2009.
On a previous Word of Mouth, we spoke with NPR’s Eric Weiner about the growing trend of slum tourism where Westerners pay to visit the townships of Johannesburg, the settlements along the landfills of Mexico City, and see people living off the garbage piles in the slums of Mumbai.
An Eco-Tour de France
By Virginia Prescott on Tuesday, July 14, 2009.
Today we celebrate Bastille Day with some alternative perspectives on France.
Viewers the world over are following the Tour de France cycling race as riders make their way up the mountain ranges down the winding passes of France. Lance Armstrong's team Astana is showing some competitive cracks after "le weekend," a punishing ride through the Pyrenees. But today, they are near the city of Limoges in the relatively flat Limousin region.
We’re using our imaginations and guide Dorian Yates, to touch down in near Limoges. Dorian is author of The Green Earth Guide to France, and she’s with us for the Bastille Day version of our Next Green Thing series.
(Photo by digitalmama824 via Flickr/Creative Commons)
Taking the Pulse of New Hampshire Tourism
By Laura Knoy on Sunday, July 5, 2009.Tourism is our state’s second largest economic engine; it’s taken hits from the recession and the weather, but the sector has stayed resilient. We’ll look at the state of New Hampshire’s tourism sector and ask how much sunnier skies and a better economy would help it.
Guests
- Dennis Delay, economist and deputy director of the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies
- Alice DeSouza, director of the New Hampshire Office of Travel and Tourism
We'll also hear from
- Jayne O’Connor, president of the White Mountains Attractions Association
- Gregg Pitman, executive director of the New Hampshire Campground Owners Association
- Susan Leidy, Deputy Director of the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester
- TBA
Easter Island Mapping Project
By Virginia Prescott on Tuesday, April 14, 2009.
Easter Island, known locally as Rapa Nui, is one of the most remote inhabited islands on Earth. Overlooking the Pacific Ocean are the famous stone giants, known as Moai. They’ve puzzled scientists for generations, and they draw tens of thousands of visitors every year. But tourism is straining the island’s infrastructure and its local resources. To help them out, the company Autodesk – known for its design software – is working with Rapa Nui officials to help plan their development. Pete Kelsey is a key accounts technical manager at Autodesk, and he joins us to explain the Easter Island Mapping Project.
Watch a video explaining the Easter Island Mapping Project:
(Photo by AndrewGill73 via Flickr / Creative Commons)
How does "community-based tourism" help the environment?
By EarthTalk on Saturday, August 9, 2008.
Zeppelins Take Flight Again
By Virginia Prescott on Monday, August 4, 2008.
On May 6, 1937, a German airship called the Hindenburg was making a scheduled landing at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey, when it exploded into flames. Herbert Morrison's eyewitness radio report from the landing field has since become etched into the public memory.
Thirty-six people were killed in the disaster. Up until then, zeppelins had an impeccable safety record. But the incident shattered public confidence in giant, passenger-carrying rigid airships, and marked the end of an era.
Fast forward 70 years, and zeppelins are taking to the air again. A company in California called Airship Ventures has purchased a Zeppelin NT07 Airship for approximately $12.8 million, and plans to offer aerial sightseeing tours of San Francisco by the end of October. The company's CEO, Alexandra Hall, joins Word of Mouth with more about the company’s plans, and the potential use of zeppelins for tourism and travel, advertising, scientific research, military surveillance, and beyond.
(Photo by Henk van der Eijk)
