It seems all of you business travelers are turning into homebodies. Hugo Martin of the Los Angeles Times reports on a new survey conducted by Visa that shows the growth of business travel is slowing. The survey predicts that U.S. businesses will spend about 2.5 percent more on business travel this year compared to last. However, most of that increase is attributable to rising costs, not an increase in the number of trips. In fact, the number of business trips is projected to drop in 2012, compared to 2011. We’re still talking about well over 400 million business trips a year, but the trend is negative.
The opposite seems to be true for sustainable travel, which is continuing to grow as a new socially responsible way to travel. Sustainable travel is tourism that attempts to make as little impact as possible on local environments and culture, while ideally creating better future job prospects for local people. At Gadling, Chris Owens writes about the growth of Sustainable Tourism Observatories, which have been established in 155 countries to recognize sustainable tourism providers. This is valuable information for travelers who want to explore verified sustainable options, and for travel agencies who want to promote sustainable tourism.
Something called the Flaneur Society wants you to get lost. Not in the “hey kid, get off my lawn” way, but in a good way. They offer a guide to exploring a destination in a meandering way that gives you a chance to truly get to know a place. And if you do get lost, maybe you’ll find some of the New York Times’ hidden gems of Europe, or perhaps these off-the-beaten-path restaurants in Madrid
And speaking of getting lost, the Wall Street Journal’s Jack Nicas and Susan Carey report on some airline routes that seem to have been put together by someone with a lousy sense of direction
China is going to spend close to $1 million to open up the site where it tested its first atomic bomb as a tourist attraction http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-19958011.
Last week, we looked at the healthiest things James Bond has done in 50 years of silver screen spying. This week, the Gu.ardian’s Abigail Flanagan takes a look at the best destinations 007 has visited
As you no doubt know, Global Handwashing Day was this past week. Hopefully, the British were paying attention and celebrated accordingly. As Expat Healthy’s Bryony Ashcroft reports, a new study shows thatmore than a quarter of British hands have fecal matter on them. Ick. Bear this in mind when you visit London, and bring the Purell.
