Brokeback phenomenon

Call it the Brokeback phenomenon. Not only did last year's Oscar nominee for Best Picture catapult Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal to superstardom, it thrust Alberta onto the stage as a scenic must-see for travellers. But not just any wayfarers.

If the characters played by Heath and Jake could find love in the Rocky Mountains, surely gays and lesbians from around the world would have similar luck -- or, at the very least, a fabulous holiday.

Yes, San Francisco, there's a new destination on the gay and lesbian travel radar. Though Cowtown hotels and attractions aren't yet flying rainbow-striped flags, it's fair to say the city is flaunting more colours than just red (necks).

Tourism Calgary and many of its partners are embracing this growing travel niche.

"It's an absolutely massive potential market," says Paul Newmarch, media marketing co-ordinator for Tourism Calgary. "That whole Brokeback Mountain thing, that really opened the door for us."

Gay and lesbian travellers began expressing interest in coming to see where the movie was filmed. They also started asking the question: "Is Calgary gay-friendly?"

The city couldn't afford to say, "No."

According to research by Mintel International Group, the gay holiday market was worth $1.55-billion in 2006, with 1.25 million holidays taken by gay travellers.

Canada is poised to rake in a good chunk of that change -- the country was ranked No. 1 as the world's best travel destination for gays and lesbians (in part because of its stance on gay marriage), according a survey by Community Marketing Inc., a company that tracks the spending habits of American gays and lesbians.

Still, Calgary has a long way to go before its name rolls off gay travellers' tongues as easily as, say, Puerto Vallarta.

In the summer 2007 issue of American magazine The Out Traveler, Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal are named Canada's top five gay-friendly tourist destinations. Calgary isn't mentioned.

Tourism Calgary would like to change that. The organization is working with a number of gay media outlets as well as local gay-friendly restaurants and hotels, to get the word out.

Newmarch says some hotels are engaging in "sensitivity training" so staff won't even blink when a homosexual couple arrives to check in.

"We are definitely promoting Calgary as a gay (friendly) destination ... but the challenge for us is that some of our partners aren't necessarily gay-friendly-ready," he says.

One that is ready is Hotel Arts, a boutique hotel located in Calgary's Beltline, not too far from Twisted Element, the city's largest gay nightclub.

The five Fairmont hotel properties in Alberta are also officially gay-friendly.

Such accommodations are helping boost Calgary's cachet among gay and lesbian travellers, says Steve Polyak, a native Calgarian and co-owner of GayCalgary.com and GayCalgary magazine. But not everyone is welcoming same-sex couples with open arms.

Even though such attitudes persist, Polyak is positive about Calgary and talks excitedly about all it has to offer. Beyond the restaurants, nightclubs and proximity to those Brokeback mountains, the city hosts a 10-day Pride Festival and the Gay Rodeo in June. Travellers who come for the Gay Rodeo often stay in town for the Stampede, he says.

But Polyak says it's not a good idea at the Stampede Grounds to hold hands or smooch your same-sex partner.

"Calgary is still very much a conservative city. We cannot forget that."

Source ref: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/travel/story.html?id=0870a7c0-42ec-4cbd-9cb8-4c1da04d7095&k=63557

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger salutes the wines of California at Vancouver's Largest Liquor Store

BURLINGTON, ON, May 31 /CNW/ - Vancouver's 39th and Cambie liquor store
was abuzz with celebrity today as California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
joined Joseph Rollo, International Director of the Wine Institute of
California, to toast the wines of California being showcased in a special
consumer promotion running May 27th-June 23rd. Wine lovers throughout British
Columbia will have an opportunity to experience California sunshine in the
glass at 50 stores across the province.
Governor Schwarzenegger, in Vancouver on a special trade mission, met
with Rollo and BCLDB officials to raise a glass to the special, in-store
promotion that will heighten the profile of the Golden State and drive
additional interest and growth in the California wine category.
Rollo said, "We are thrilled to have Governor Schwarzenegger support and
celebrate the announcement of June's promotion. He is passionate about all
things California, and in particular our wines. The Governor recognizes the
contributions of California's vintners and winegrape growers as a unique and
special part of California and we are grateful for his presence here in
British Columbia."
The BCLDB is working closely with the Wine Institute of California on
this promotion that will be held in 50 of the BCLDB's biggest stores including
20 of their Signature Stores that will feature a number of new releases
specially selected by the LDB. The "Taste California" promotion highlights
20 popular California wine brands and will bring to life the vitality,
sunshine and lifestyle that has made the Golden State so famous.
Each participating store will display colourful point-of-sale materials
and freestanding displays. In addition to store displays and advertising in
key publications, supplementary activities will be coordinated by
participating agents consisting of in-store tastings and licensee promotions.
To further round out the promotion, the Wine Institute of California is
staging a dynamic California Dreamin' food & wine event at the 39th & Cambie
store on June 2.
California wine sales are on the upswing and the category is enjoying a
tremendous resurgence in the British Columbia market. Wine sales for the
California category for the past fiscal year were up 13.4% in dollars to
$72.5 million with red wine sales up +16.7% and white wine sales up +11%. More
than 1,656 California wines are available in the B.C. market.
"Our marketing activities in the British Columbia market have been key
components in driving interest in the California category and we believe that
our efforts, especially over the past few years, are now paying off," said
Rick Slomka, Canadian Director of the Wine Institute of California. "The
stronger dollar, new, exciting products, and a terrific selection of well
priced premium wines are all contributing factors to the renewed energy in the
California wine industry."
The Wine Institute of California, established in 1934 is a trade
association of 1,000 California wineries and affiliated businesses dedicated
to initiating and advocating public policy to enhance the environment for the
responsible consumption and enjoyment of wine. Based in San Francisco, the
Institute has also established promotional campaigns in 20 countries around
the world to further global recognition of the California wine industry, which
holds the title of world's fourth largest wine producer.
The Canadian office coordinates a number of promotional activities every
year designed to educate and inform media, trade and consumers about the
quality and diversity of products available from the Golden State. For more
information on the Wine Institute of California, visit the Web site at
www.wineinstitute.org or www.calwine.ca


<<
A California Wine Primer

Everything you need to know about liquid sunshine in the glass

- California is America's top wine producer, making 90% of all U.S.
wine

- California is the fourth leading wine producer in the world behind
the countries of France, Italy and Spain

- California's wineries are predominantly family owned and
multi-generational

- Attracts 19.7 million tourists annually to all regions in California

- Generates wine-related tourism expenditures of $2 billion in
California

- Produces $51.8 billion in economic value for California

- Generates $125.3 billion for the U.S. economy

- Creates 309,000 jobs in California and a total 875,000 jobs
nationwide

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
(based on 2005 data)
California Wine Industry Profile MKF Research LLC and Wine Institute
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of Bonded Wineries 2275 Nearly all family owned
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of California Grape Growers 4,600
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
U.S. Wine Exports (95% from $672 million winery revenues
California) up 391% from $137 million in 1990;

43 million (cases to 165 countries)
up 258% from 12 million cases in
1990
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Winegrape Acres 522,000 (Though vineyards cover less
than 1% of the state's terrain)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Average Tons Harvested of
Winegrapes 3.1 million
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Farm Gate Value of Winegrapes $1.78 billion
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>


California Wine Facts & Figures
Wine knowledge to amuse and peruse

Good news for the waistline!

Wine is fat free and contains no cholesterol. A 4-ounce glass of table
wine has about 80-100 calories.

Just how many grapes are in that bottle of wine?

It takes about six to eight clusters, or approximately 600 to 800 wine
grapes (2.4 lbs), to make a bottle of wine.
One barrel of wine contains 740 lbs of grapes, equivalent to 59 gallons
or 24.6 cases of wine.

And how many bubbles in a bottle of bubbly?

It is theorized there are approximately 44 million bubbles in a bottle of
sparkling wine/champagne.

What's on top in 2006?

Chardonnay, with 95,000 acres, is the wine type variety with the most
acreage planted in California.
Cabernet Sauvignon was the second most planted winegrape in California
with 77,000 total acres.
Chardonnay remained the leading varietal wine, followed by Merlot, White
Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon. Together these four varietals made up over
half (53 percent) of the wine sales in retail stores.

Variety is the spice of life in the Golden State

Wine-type grapes are grown in 46 of California's 58 counties, covering
527,000 acres in 2006.
There are more than 107 American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) in California
(distinct winegrape growing areas recognized by the U.S. government), a
testament to the variety of microclimates in the state.
California wines have benefited from the unique and varied mix of
cultures that found new homes in the Golden State, from Spanish missionaries
who established the state's first vineyards and wineries beginning in 1769, to
the German, Italian and other European immigrants who founded California's
pioneer wineries, and to the farmers, researchers and entrepreneurs who helped
create the modern California wine industry.
The highest vineyard in California is the Shadow Mountain Cabernet
Sauvignon vineyard located at an elevation of 4,400 feet above sea level in
the mountains of San Diego.
California's 2,000 bricks and mortar commercial wineries are
predominantly family-owned and operated.
There are more than 60,000 registered California wine labels.

Sustainable wine practices take root

The trend in sustainable winegrowing and winemaking practices is growing
quickly in California. Vintners and growers who represent 53 percent of the
annual wine case production and one quarter (172,000 acres) of the state's
wine acreage currently participate in the Code of Sustainable Wine Growing
Practices program.

California wine is good for the bottom line

California wines accounted for 63 percent of the total 716 million
gallons - both foreign and domestic - consumed in the U.S. in 2006, or roughly
two out of every three bottles sold in the country.
California winery shipments comprised roughly $17.8 billion of the
$27.8 billion estimated retail value of all wine sold in the U.S. in 2006.
Wine is California's most valuable finished agricultural product. The
overall economic impact of the wine industry on the economy of California
exceeds $51.8 billion.
The expansion of exports of California wine over the last decade has
dramatically increased from $196 million in 1994 to $876 million in 2006.

Second only to Disneyland

Wineries and vineyards are the second most popular tourist destination in
California after Disneyland. A total of 19.6 million tourists visit the
state's wine regions each year.

/NOTE TO PHOTO EDITORS: A photo accompanying this release is available on
the CNW Photo Network and archived at http://photos.newswire.ca.
Additional archived images are also available on the CNW Photo Archive
website at http://photos.newswire.ca. Images are free to accredited
members of the media/



For further information: Paula Oreskovich, Praxis PR, (905) 949-8255 ext
223, paula@praxispr.ca

Source ref: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2007/31/c7643.html

The biggest empty ballroom in town

VANCOUVER/CKNW - More questions about the Vancouver Convention Centre project in the legislature today, after a tourism official predicted it will become the biggest empty ballroom in Vancouver.
NDP leader Carole James seized on comments by Fairmont Hotels Vice-President Phil Barnes that not enough has been done to book future conventions into a centre that will cost taxpayers at least $800 million.

"The biggest empty ballroom in town end quote....to the minister of tourism sports and the arts, just how many millions is he willing to waste on an empty ballroom?"

But Tourism Minister Stan Hagen denies the charge.

"We are on track for bookings on conferences right out to 2016."

But Hagen still can't give a final price tag for the project that was supposed to come in at $495 million.

Source ref: http://www.cknw.com/news/news_local.cfm?cat=7428109912&rem=66692&red=80110923aPBIny&wids=410&gi=1&gm=news_local.cfm

Convention centre faces lacklustre bookings: hotel exec

The $800-million-plus Vancouver convention centre expansion will become "the biggest empty ballroom in town" unless it is able to attract more business opportunities soon, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts regional vice-president Phil Barnes warned on Wednesday.

The amount of business booked for the new centre after the 2010 Olympics simply isn't good enough, he said in an interview after Tourism Vancouver's annual general meeting.

"What we have on the books for conventions is absolutely critical, and nobody seems to be focused on that," Barnes said. "That convention centre will be the biggest empty ballroom in town in the years ahead, unless somebody wakes up and does something about it now."

The convention centre project -- originally priced at $495 million -- will triple the amount of meeting space at the Canada Place facility when it opens in early 2009. It will be used as the international broadcast centre for the 2010 Olympic Games.

Outgoing Tourism Vancouver chairman Jim Storie told the meeting the new convention centre currently has projected occupancy rates of just 38 per cent for 2011, 28 per cent in 2012, and three per cent in 2013.

He said officials need to book 80 to 90 new future conventions by the end of 2009 to ensure respectable occupancy levels for the 2010-to-2015 period.

Barnes, who soon leaves Vancouver to take up a new Fairmont Hotels posting in Dubai, said he's extremely concerned about the situation.

"If I was staying here, I would be scared silly," he said. "I see a huge black cloud on the horizon in terms of future convention bookings, but we have a window now to do something about it."

Barnes said Tourism Vancouver should have the sole responsibility for booking conventions into the centre -- something that's currently shared between Tourism Vancouver and the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre.

"Give them targets and hold them accountable, because I don't know who's accountable for it today," he said.

Tourism Vancouver president Rick Antonson said his organization needs more funding to do a better job of selling Vancouver as a convention destination.

"We need to knock on more doors," he said. "There are hundreds of associations and corporate events that need to know about Vancouver, but we can't deliver bids to them because we don't have the resources."

Antonson said Tourism Vancouver could use another convention salesperson in Chicago, one or two more in Washington, D.C., one in Texas, and another in Europe.

Tourism Vancouver currently operates with a $12-million annual budget, compared with $28 million in Montreal, and $30 million in Toronto.

bconstantineau@png.canwest.com

Source ref: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=ebba8d07-c76c-4204-827a-30b3a5f73482

High gas prices won't necessarily dampen summer leisure travel

WASHINGTON (AP) - Travel industry experts say high gas prices won't necessarily dampen leisure travel this summer.

The latest forecast from the Travel Industry Association predicts leisure travel to increase 1.4 per cent over last summer, with 330 million Americans expected to travel 50 miles or more one-way, away from home, this June, July and August. Business and convention travel will remain strong as well, increasing about 3 per cent this summer, TIA said.

But while Americans will be hitting the road, Suzanne Cook, senior vice president of research for the association, said they may curb their spending in other ways to compensate for the bite that gas takes out of their budgets.

"Some people will shorten the trip in terms of nights they spent away from home or distance travelled," Cook said in a telephone conference call about the TIA study. "They'll do things like find a more modest form of food, cut back on restaurant purchases, downscale on their hotels. We've aready been seeing some trading down in the hotel sector."

AAA reached a similar conclusion in its Memorial Day travel forecast. AAA Travel Vice President Sandra Hughes said in a statement that "families will travel closer to home, they will travel for fewer days and will save money by staying in less expensive hotels and eating in cheaper restaurants, but they will continue to take vacations and plan getaways."

While automobile travel will account for eight in 10 summer leisure trips, TIA predicts that air travel will rise about three per cent this summer.

"Airlines are going to be crowded this summer," said TIA spokeswoman Cathy Keefe. "We have to hope there are going to be no long disturbing weather patterns" of the sort that could cause major delays in air traffic.

The TIA survey of 2,000 people in late April and early May found that 80 per cent of those planning leisure trips will be visiting friends and relatives.

Nearly as many are also looking to engage in sightseeing. Top activities include going to the beach, visiting a national park, visiting a mountain area, visiting a state park, visiting a city, going to all-inclusive resorts, taking a cruise or visiting a theme park.

About 40 per cent of those surveyed expressed interest in historic or heritage-focused activities or in fine dining or culinary or wine-related activities. Nearly as many want to take trips focused on arts or cultural activities, spas or gambling. Fourteen per cent plan to take golf trips.

Source ref: http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/travel/story.html?id=ce795a4b-2709-4825-a4c7-e1369bf507ad&k=81332

TASHI, Taiwan (AP) - Transplanted statues of Chiang Kai-shek have been neatly spread along a verdant hillside in northern Taiwan, some showing him on horseback with his mustachioed face held high, others with him clutching a ceremonial sword or reading a classical text.

Chiang is much out of favour on the island of 23 million people, his 25 years of dictatorial rule regarded by many as justification for the relocation of his once ubiquitous bronze images to an isolated site in Tashi, an hour's drive from the capital Taipei.

But in an ironic twist, they have now become a place of pilgrimage for tourists from mainland China - the country Chiang fled in shame in 1949 after his Nationalist forces were defeated by Mao Zedong's Communist Party in a bloody civil war.

Chiang is a contentious figure on both sides of the Taiwan Strait - though for very different reasons.

In Taiwan he is reviled by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party. Many of the DPP founders suffered imprisonment and worse under 39 years of martial law that began in 1948.

Even many younger members of Chiang's Nationalist Party, eager advocates of the democratic system that Taiwan now embraces, freely acknowledge the excesses of his regime.

But in mainland China he is seen as an avatar of the unification that has long stood at the forefront of Beijing's Taiwan policy - so much so that his ruthless pursuit of the Communist enemy during 23 years of on-again-off-again civil war has been conveniently shunted aside.

In the quiet hillside park in Tashi, some 120 Chiang statues dumped by schools, public parks and once reverential communities attract a constant stream of mainland tourists, now permitted to visit Taiwan despite lingering hostilities between the sides.

A local official says the park, and the sombre Chiang mausoleum which it abuts, appear to appeal to mainland visitors far more than the island's loudly trumpeted scenic lakes and mountains.

"Whether they respect or dislike Chiang, they see the man as a symbol of Taiwan's ties to the mainland," said Chang Ching-wan, of the Tashi town government. "We were surprised to see some of the mainlanders bowing before Chiang's coffin."

Last year, nearly 40,000 Chinese visited Taiwan, and Taiwanese authorities are hoping for a tenfold increase in the number of tourists from China after a deal is struck with Beijing on travel arrangements - a development that could easily turn the trickle of mainland visitors to Tashi into a flood.

On a recent weekday morning, a group of tourists from northeastern China's Liaoning province carefully inspected an oversized bronze statue showing a smiling Chiang in a traditional Chinese gown seated comfortably on a large chair.

The tourists - men in dark business suits and women with permed hair and bright jackets - appeared subdued as they posed quietly for photos with their digital cameras.

"We came here to get a touch of history," said a mainlander who identified himself only by his surname Zheng.

"Chiang was a man of a bygone age and my impression of him is neither good nor bad," he added.

Those sentiments are a far cry from the widespread Communist condemnations in the days following Chiang's ignominious retreat to Taiwan in 1949. Contemporary writings depicted him as a "bandit" and accompanying Nationalist troops as looters and thieves.

After retreating to Taiwan, Chiang built the island into an anti-communist bastion dedicated to re-conquering the mainland. That goal was pushed aside only in the early 1990s, and over the past seven years - since President Chen Shui-bian's DPP ended 50 years of Nationalist rule - the independence-leaning government has constantly attacked Chiang's legacy.

Recent DPP moves include removing hundreds of Chiang statues from military bases and erasing Chiang's name from Taiwan's main international airport.

Last month party leaders said they wanted to reconsecrate the mammoth Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in downtown Taipei, changing it into a monument to democracy.

The move provoked outrage from many nationalist officials, who revere the white, palace-like structure as one of the few examples of classic Chinese architecture in Taiwan's otherwise gritty capital.

Nationalist legislator Joanna Lei derided it as a cheap political ploy intended to curry favour among the DPP's core supporters ahead of legislative elections later this year and the presidential poll in March 2008.

"The DPP is mounting psychological warfare against a pseudo-target - all those who support the opposition - trying to blame them for past injustices," she said.

Communal politics often come to the fore during major Taiwanese elections.

In the coming presidential race, DPP candidate Frank Hsieh is set to face the Nationalists' Ma Ying-jeou, a Harvard-educated lawyer whose parents were among the two million people who followed Chiang to Taiwan in 1949.

Many of the families of these later immigrants support the Nationalists and their platform of eventual unification with the mainland.

But the majority of Taiwanese are descendants of Chinese immigrants from the 17th and 18th centuries. They form the DPP's core constituents and remain opposed to unification, without necessarily favouring formal independence.

Source ref: http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/travel/story.html?id=bb54231b-77d3-4bfe-bba8-ca179e775236&k=98609&p=2

Vancouver top MICE destination for North America

The International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), has ranked Vancouver as North America's top destination for international meetings ICCA ranks cities based on the number of international meetings hosted in the previous year. Vancouver hosted 50 meetings in 2006, placing it 24th internationally, well ahead of Toronto, San Francisco, New York City and Seattle. The next best ranked North American cities were Boston and Montreal, which tied for an international ranking of 44.
"This is great news for Vancouver," said Richard Yore, director of sales, meetings and conventions for Tourism Vancouver. Tourism Vancouver has been actively soliciting international associations business in recent years through a “Be a Host” program. "This in one of the most important initiatives we invest in each year" said Yore. "We research, identify and support local community members in bringing their association's international conference to Vancouver."
In 2006, the meetings and conventions industry contributed around CAD577 million in spending to the Vancouver economy.

Source ref: http://www.impactpub.com.au/micebtn/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=854&Itemid=49

Convention centre says earnings up 25 per cent for year

Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre on Thursday announced record results with earnings up 25 per cent over the previous year.

High profile international events like the UN World Urban Forum and the World Hemophilia Conference pushed revenues above $19 million and provided an estimated $242 million in overall economic impact for the city and the province.

That impact -- from spending on hotels, restaurants and taxis to local public relations, exhibitor and production services -- is expected to surpass $1 billion when the convention centre expansion triples capacity in 2009.

Non-resident delegate days for the fiscal year ending March 31 were up more than 34,000 to about 174,000. Non-resident delegates contribute a daily average of $553 to the B.C. economy, about four times as much as leisure visitors, Barbara Maple, VCEC president, said in an interview.

That's partly because expense accounts allow for higher end accommodation but also because of the extra costs of staging conferences and the financial contribution of corporate sponsors.

The World Urban Forum last June attracted 10,000 delegates from 150 countries and generated almost $18 million in non-resident delegate spending.

As the current centre, a legacy of Expo 86, approaches its 20th anniversary in July, it has already booked 54 events for 2009 and beyond when it will be Canada's second largest convention centre, behind Toronto but ahead of Montreal.

Maple said 29 of those events couldn't fit in the existing facility. Together, the 54 events will create an economic impact estimated at $1.1 billion.

While conventions are a vital contributor to Vancouver's tourism numbers, they also foster professional development in British Columbia.

"It's a tough one to measure but it really does give Vancouverites and British Columbians the opportunity to attend a global conference when they may not be able to travel afield," Maple said.

Over the last fiscal year, the VCEC hosted 350 events -- 745,000 delegate days -- including the World Down Syndrome Congress, the Canadian Cardiovascular Conference and the 20th consecutive International Wine Festival, which attracted 20,000 visitors.

Over 11 days in February, four consecutive events generated more activity and food and beverage revenue for the local economy than the facility's highest month on record.

Staff served 4,260 breakfasts, 9,115 lunches, 12,790 dinners and 11,300 coffee breaks, along with more than 2,600 bottles of B.C. Vintners Quality Alliance wine and 200 dozen bottles of local micro-brewery beer. The centre sells more B.C. wine than any other establishment in the province.

The business results demonstrate that the province's investment in the convention centre's expansion will pay off, Tourism Minister Stan Hagen said in a release.

"Expansion will enable us to grow the size and quality of B.C.'s convention business and take advantage of the global exposure we will receive from events like the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games.," he said.

The expanded centre will offer a combined total of nearly 500,000 square feet of function space and will serve as the international media centre for the 2010 Olympics.

mkane@png.canwest.com

UNCONVENTIONAL YEAR OF THE CONVENTION CENTRE

Fiscal 2006 was a year of record revenues at the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre.

$19 million

VCEC revenues for 2006 fiscal year.

$15.6 million

VCEC revenues for 2005 fiscal year.

25%

Increase in revenues from 2005.

174,000

Non-resident delegate days, fiscal 2006.

140,000

Non-resident delegate days, fiscal 2005.

34,000

Increase in non-resident delegate days from 2005 to 2006.

348

Number of events in fiscal 2007.

$240 million

Economic impact for province of B.C.

Source ref: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=c5d9b363-8cdd-4c41-a3d1-c2d168828d23&k=34302

Tourism delegates discover the North Island

PORT HARDY – About 100 delegates from all over Vancouver Island converged on the North Island last week for the Tourism Vancouver Island convention.

The annual convention is hosted by different communities each year and has not been held in Port Hardy for more than a decade.

"It went over very well," says Treena Smith, manager of the Port Hardy and District Chamber of Commerce. "The most incredible thing about it is you often go to these events and you don't get to network.

"That wasn't the case here. We created that warm feeling where everyone was talking. Everyone was very relaxed."

Delegates agreed.

"Everyone has been so welcoming," commented one delegate from Tofino.

"We just never knew this was all up here," said another delegate during a tour of community.

The three-day convention included whale watching, golf, an outdoor reception at Carrot Park, and workshops. A gala dinner and awards ceremony was held at the Civic Centre.

Thursday morning the Tourism Vancouver Island annual general meeting was held before delegates headed for home.

Source ref: http://www.northislandgazette.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=21&cat=43&id=988587&more=

Travel briefs: Cruise industry crime, blockbuster hotels, discounts on Amtrak and flights

Cruise industry
crime-reporting

The cruise industry has entered into a new formal but voluntary agreement with the FBI and the Coast Guard to report any serious crimes committed on board cruises.

According to the FBI, cruise ships are not required to report violations of U.S. law outside U.S. waters, 12 miles offshore, but under the new agreement they would do so immediately.

A briefing prepared by staff of the House Transportation committee for the hearing described current record-keeping on cruise ship crime as spotty. It noted that the FBI does not keep data on the total number of alleged crimes reported on cruise lines but only on cases for which it opens files — 50 to 60 per year. The FBI said that under its new agreement with cruise lines, it will keep track of all crime reports.



Hotels in movies
If you love movies and travel, here's some trivia from Hotels.com about connections between a few of the season's blockbuster movies and some of the locales and hotels where scenes were filmed.

"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" was filmed partly off the coast of Southern California, with the Black Pearl ship at the Redondo Beach pier in front of the Portofino Hotel and Yacht Club. "They would go out into sea for filming and anchor back in front of the hotel at night," confirmed Kelly Fogarty, Portofino spokeswoman.

Some of the scenes in "Ocean's Thirteen," the next in the series of caper films starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt and others, were filmed at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

The superhero sequel "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" was filmed partly in Vancouver, British Columbia, and the site of a wedding scene from the movie can be seen from some of the rooms at the Marriott Vancouver Pinnacle Downtown. But the man-made movie set for the wedding was added to the rooftop of the Metro Parkade and then dismantled, so all that can be seen there now is a regular parking lot.

Finally, just about a year ago, the makers of "Spider-Man 3" were shooting scenes for the movie around New York, including a view from the Hilton New York on Sixth Avenue between 53rd and 54th streets.



Amtrak discount
Are you the parent of a high school student, planning a trip this summer to look at college campuses?

If you're considering traveling by train, take a look at Amtrak's free companion travel offer for campus visits. The discount allows a parent or guardian to travel free when accompanying a high school junior or senior on a college campus visit.

There are some restrictions. Reservations must be made at least seven days prior to travel. The discount is not available on the Acela Express or Auto Train, and seats are limited and subject to availability. There are also a series of blackout dates, during which the discount is not available. The blackout dates include Aug. 31-Sept. 3. The offer is available for travel through Dec. 14, with several additional blackout periods in the fall.

For details, go to www.campusvisit.com/amtrak/.



NY-London breaks
Is there about to be a price war among airlines flying the intensely competitive New York-London route? Zoom Airlines, which has been operating low-fare flights from Britain to Canada for three years, is starting service between London and New York on June 21. The company will offer daily flights between Gatwick and JFK, with 25 percent of the seats sold for as little as $199 each way, plus taxes.

Zoom is hoping its year-round one-way fares and increased flexibility (travelers do not have to stay over on a Saturday night) will give it an edge over other budget airlines that are expected to join the trans-Atlantic market following the recent "open skies" agreement.

Zoom will also offer a premium economy class for an extra $179, which includes extra leg room, priority check-in, better meal service and free drinks. The London-New York route will use Boeing 767-300s, with 182 economy and 84 premium seats

Tickets for U.S. citizens will be available at the end of this month on www.flyzoom.com.



Story Land reopens
Story Land park opens for its 54th consecutive season this weekend, but under new ownership.

Story Land, located along Route 16 in Glen, N.H., was founded in 1954 by Robert and Ruth Morrell, whose descendants have operated it ever since.

Story Land features rides, shows, play areas and live storybook characters, much like Idlewild Park in Ligonier, Pa., 45 miles east of Pittsburgh, which is also owned by Kennywood Entertainment. Idlewild is famous for its Storybook Forest section, which features live characters from nursery rhymes and other children's stories.

Kennywood Entertainment also owns Sandcastle Waterpark and Riverplex near Pittsburgh and Lake Compounce in Bristol, Conn.

Source ref: http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070527/LIFE/705270312

Granville Island sailings

Lilly pads

Tenthouses take visitors to higher level

Secret Cove, B.C.–Ever wanted to sleep in a treetop tent?

That's the allure of Rockwater Secret Cove, a B.C. resort with a difference. Located on the Sunshine Coast less than two hours north of Vancouver, Rockwater invites you to sleep in "Tenthouse Suites" perched over an ecologically enchanted forest.

They're not rough-it tents for wilderness fanatics. They're for softies. Dedicated softies. The sort of softies who like their tents with heated slate floors, king-size beds, propane fireplaces, Japanese shoji screens and slate showers with rainforest heads.

There is no TV, blessedly. The remote is for the hydrotherapy tub that bathes you and massages you and then dries itself off.

The 15 tenthouses also have sprawling verandas looking into the treetops and the blue Pacific and sunsets worthy of IMAX.

You access your tenthouse via a 450-metre-long boardwalk trailing through arbutus – the West Coast tree whose trunk reveals colours from orange to mauve and whose bark is as smooth as human skin. The fussy arbutus thrives only within five kilometres of the ocean.

After the ancient cedars, it's the glory of B.C. forests.

Surprisingly, this treetop luxe isn't just for the rich. Travel & Leisure magazine recently named it among "25 Affordable Beach Resorts" worldwide.

The tenthouse concept was born when owners Kevin and Deanna Toth and a business partner purchased the old Lord Jim Resort in 2004. Miraculously, the forest had been left alone.

"It was a fragile ecosystem," says resort spokesperson J.M. Boyd, a transplanted Hawaiian who swears B.C. is the real paradise. "Question was, how to incorporate it into the resort without compromising it? Kevin and Deanna followed the gospel of the smallest footprint."

A walk on the boardwalk and you understand the reverence. Perched atop massive granite outcrops rising straight out of the ocean, the forest floor is a mosaic of mosses, lichens and wildflowers. The peculiar chartreuse moss drapes stern rock faces with armloads of mint-green fluff.

With the boardwalk the only intrusion into this environment, the first tenthouses were built last year. They were an instant success. Guests warmed to wilderness luxe and escape-hatch romance. (And did we mention the tenthouses being off-bounds to children and dogs?)

There are also lodge rooms and cozy oceanfront cabins on ground level.

The Toths initially planned to close the tenthouses through the winter, housing guests in the lodge rooms and oceanfront cabins. "But," says Boyd, "the guests implored the resort to keep them open all year long.

"We said okay, but there'll always be a warm room in the lodge. What followed was a brutal winter with plenty of snow and killer windstorms. Guests stayed in the tents anyway and loved it. There was only one night when we had to move a couple."

This season, in addition to swimming, hiking, ocean fishing and an alfresco spa, the resort is offering kayaking excursions. The Gourmet Moonlight Kayak Trip, for instance, sees guests paddle across the Strait to Thormanby Island at sunset for a beachside dinner prepared by the chef, then returning by the light of the moon and a few billion stars.

This is the sort of romantic outing that usually collapses as couples reach the island and discover the "gourmet" dinner is iceberg lettuce salad and ham sandwiches. Not here: If the tenthouses are half the resort's signature, the other half is chef Steven Ewing's cooking.

Ewing, who spent three years as chef at Vancouver's eternally hot Raincity Grill, is out to bring resort cuisine up to free-standing restaurant standards. The dining room suggests faded log-cabin chic, but it doesn't much matter when the aroma of truffles is wafting through the air.

Ewing's menu focuses on B.C. fare with superlative Pacific ingredients including halibut cheeks, albacore tuna, Rockwater bouillabaisse of local fish and shellfish, Dungeness crab cakes and wild boar. For breakfast, he offers "Bennys" of smoked duck and black cod.

Ewing marries his oh-so-sweet Pacific scallops with crisp planks of applewood-smoked bacon, a rush of crisp-soft, salty-sweet contrasts. He wraps smoked black cod around shiitake mushrooms and bok choy in a marriage that qualifies as umami, the sexy fifth taste after sweet, sour, bitter and salty.

Ewing's Salt Spring Island lamb shank seems to account for three out of five orders. It's a weapon of Biblical portions, every bite a succulence.

Nor is dessert an afterthought: a veteran crème brûlée aficionado, guest Carol Lamont of Thunder Bay says: "I've followed the brûlées for 30 years. Best I've ever had was at La Cirque in New York. Until now: This is the perfect balance between egg and cream. It's incredibly silky and soft."

."

Another sweet is the tab. A three-course dinner for two with a first-rate bottle of Okanagan wine comes in at less than $150 with tax and tip.

Ewing produces his miracles from a tiny kitchen, but not for long: at the end of this year, the resort will close for three months for a massive renovation.

"There'll be a new lodge, a conference centre and more cottages," says the chef.

"And I'll get to design and install a 2,400-square-foot kitchen. It will be in keeping. By then, we'll be talking about the most ambitious and sophisticated resort on the Sunshine Coast."

Source ref: http://www.thestar.com/Travel/article/217142

New Holt Renfrew store bathed in luxurious light

Gary Balaski steps over some newly-laid tiles, his designer suit out of place amongst the drilling and pounding of the surrounding construction site.

He points to the atrium overhead where triangles of light illuminate the new Holt Renfrew department store - due to open on May 31.

"It's wonderful isn't it?" says Balaski, the store's general manager, just weeks before the unveiling. "It's very open, bright and airy."

And it's big. Very, very big. At more than 137,000 square feet, the store - relocated and completely remade - has doubled in size.

"This store is a beautiful structure," says Balaski, listing off what he describes as haute couture elements like imported tile and custom cabinetry. It will also have a concierge service, valet parking and personal shopping rooms, he says.

On the top level, a rooftop restaurant is set to open in September, while the bottom level will house a fully-equipped, 6,000-square-foot spa and salon.

Holt Renfrew needed to grow, he says, since the old store just wasn't big enough to keep up with the Vancouver shopper's demands for luxury items: "People were leaving here to go somewhere else to buy those things that we couldn't supply."

And while all of this new space will be filled with things to buy, it will also be full of things to look at and explore.

From a design perspective, the space is world class, says New York designer Mark Janson, who spent 22 months working on the project.

"It's the project of a lifetime," says Janson. "It's fantastic."

The exterior, located at the corner of Dunsmuir and Granville Streets, boasts 10,000 square feet of Richmond-created, custom-designed glass by Nathan Allan. This convex glass, described as "pillowed," uses geometric patterns for a three-dimensional look - it's more akin to an art installation than a window treatment.

More than 58,000 square feet of Greek marble coats the floors, interspersed with tumbled stone from Indonesia, Italian tile and wood plank or reclaimed timber. A stone mosaic covers much of the ground floor's cosmetics area.

In creating the look and feel of the new store, the design team drew inspiration from around the world, Janson says.

"When we set out to do this project we were thinking about Vancouver, but we were also thinking about Tokyo, Paris and New York," Janson says. "The store is designed to meet or exceed the work done in any of those places."

The store's most unique feature is something intangible, he says, pointing out the use of light as a key design feature. Overhead, the massive glass atrium - familiar to locals who frequented the mall food court that used to inhabit the space - allows natural light to pour through. The effect is diffused by a white grid of triangles. The centre of the store is open, cut away by three "rotated ellipses," something that will help shoppers to see from floor to floor.

"What's very unique for a store this size is that it utilizes all this daylight. We have daylight from the facade and also from the big skylight in the centre," Janson says. "We wanted that light to travel as deep into the interior of the store and into as many spaces as possible."

The store has eight entry points, he notes, all of which needed to be worked into the design. People had to know where they were and had to get around the store easily, he says. The open plan facilitates this, he says: "All of that openness is about ease and comfort and navigation and all of those good things."

Every little detail, from the fabrics on the furniture to tiles or layout came under the designer's scrutiny, says Janson, adding everything had to be just right. Paintings, sculptures and installations of intricate tile and glass can be found throughout the entire store.

"We wanted an inspiring and dramatic space," says Janson. "It's all about being uplifting and optimistic and inspiring."

At the main entrance, a 20-foot by 30-foot light display by Vancouver-based Bocci illuminates shoppers. Light designer Omer Arbel, who launched Bocci just over a year ago, says it took four people about five weeks to create the 111-piece, cast-glass installation. The effect is powerful, he says, describing the individual lights as resembling small candles, encased in spheres of water.

"It's kind of like a phenomenological little moment," Arbel says, describing the first time you see the lights. "You just kind of understand it emotionally. Do you know what I mean?"

Being part of the new Holt's is a big deal for the little company he launched just over a year ago, he says, since it is an opportunity to display Bocci's work in a public space in his hometown.

"Most of our installations occur in Los Angeles, New York and London or Hong Kong," Arbel says. "We're delighted because this is our home turf."

Brand-focused shoppers will find their way around easily, since labels like Ralph Lauren and Gucci have their own spaces within the shop - little hives of their own that face out to the main space. These are differentiated by completely unique and distinct looks, right down to the flooring or colour schemes.

The top floor will have a walkway connecting the store to the Pacific Centre mall. The space is big enough for parties or displays. The women's clothing area, including an expanded area for new designers, is bright and colourful. A beehive of steel will house designer denims.

Unique design elements were key to the new store's look and feel, says Holt Renfrew's president, Caryn Lerner.

"We wanted to create more of a residential feel and less of a department-store type of environment," says Lerner.

It's a new approach to a retail environment, she says, one that she's confident people will respond to well.

"I'm so jazzed. I can't tell you," says Lerner. "It's a huge jump forward for the entire company."

Source code: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=17bb1b32-b243-4baf-b128-4af761e3d15e&k=15767

Are tourists being left with a bad taste?

When a Boston TV crew had $60,000 worth of camera equipment stolen from a parked van in Kitsilano last week, it became an international story that made even the most optimistic Vancouver boosters cringe.

"Vancouver 'charm' a real steal," screamed one Boston Herald headline this week, as its story declared Vancouver "may not be such a nice place to live after all."

The Wikitravel online travel guide says Vancouver is a "very safe city," but warns visitors to be aware that some areas have high property crime rates.

"Theft from vehicles is especially problematic," the travel guide states.

Vancouver crime issues -- especially theft and panhandling -- are just some of the major challenges facing B.C.'s tourism marketers these days as they strive to double industry revenues over the next decade.

High gasoline prices, a strong Canadian dollar, border lineups, airport and cruise ship terminal congestion, and a shortage of Vancouver taxis have all combined to make international visitors think twice before booking B.C. trips.

Tourism Vancouver president Rick Antonson said Vancouver crime stories are especially disappointing.

"It's becoming a big concern for our reputation because we're seen as a safe and secure city destination, one of just two or three in North America," he said. "People simply expect better of Vancouver."

Vancouver police spokesman Const. Tim Fanning doesn't feel tourists are being victimized by thieves any more so than usual, but agrees the problem is "way higher" than it should be.

"Tourists have to be reminded they're coming to a big city with big-city problems," he said. "Criminals will specifically target high-tourist areas, so you have to be careful, and you shouldn't ever leave things in your car."

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts regional vice-president Phil Barnes has grown increasingly frustrated with panhandlers who accost hotel guests. Provincial legislation forbids "aggressive" panhandling, but Barnes feels authorities have done little to deal with the problem.

"We've heard a lot of words, but we haven't seen much action," he said in an interview. "I am now investigating to see what our legal options are."

He noted previous legal action resulted in prostitutes being forced to move their business away from upscale downtown hotels, and wonders if that's an option with panhandlers.

Barnes understands critics will say he just wants to move the problem somewhere else -- a not-in-my-backyard tactic.

"Yes, there are people out there who are mentally ill and need help," he said. "But there are a lot of other people who have just found a good way to make a living at the expense of everyone else. The challenge is to separate the two."

Fanning said city police have handled 91 panhandling complaints so far this year, issuing charges when aggressive panhandlers threaten and frighten people.

"It's not an easy problem to solve because a lot of these people have issues that are beyond the scope of the police," Fanning said. "We do what we can with what we have."

Success in attracting visitors to B.C. has created congestion problems that can turn many tourists off from the region.

Just ask Seattle resident Gene Uttinger, who had to wait 31/2 hours to board the Golden Princess cruise ship at Canada Place in Vancouver earlier this month. He was lucky. Some people had to wait five or six hours as the terminal handled about 8,000 passengers.

"I have a lot of patience, and I always tell people when they travel to pack their patience," he said. "But my patience was very tried that day. It was just mayhem."

Vancouver Port Authority representative Greg Wirtz said a "perfect storm" of events helped create all the chaos that day, something he doubts will be repeated. Three ships arrived at Canada Place, with the two largest vessels arriving about three hours later than normal at 10 a.m.

Wirtz said the late arrivals meant that thousands of passengers who expected to board the ships at 11 a.m. couldn't do so until 2 p.m. -- creating a mass of unhappy, impatient cruise ship customers anxious to start their journey.

The port authority sent letters of apology to passengers following the incident, and promises to review procedures with cruise lines and customs officials to ensure it doesn't happen again.

Uttinger hopes to sail from Vancouver again in a few years.

"Hopefully things like this can all get straightened out," he said. "I love Vancouver, but it certainly left a bad taste."

Congestion also remains a huge issue at Canada-U.S. border crossings, with two-hour and three-hour waits common during peak periods -- especially holiday weekends.

Antonson expects Vancouver will enjoy a surge in U.S. visitors this weekend as they take advantage of their Memorial Day weekend. But he knows many will be turned off by border lineups.

"Some foreign visitors don't mind so much because it's a one-time experience for them," he said. "But repeat travellers from the U.S. get very frustrated whether they come up for skiing or for a summer weekend. It becomes a factor in whether or not they come up [at all]."

Antonson said infrastructure improvements will help speed border crossings, but he feels greater use of the NEXUS system -- which expedites the border-crossing process for low-risk, pre-approved travelers -- and technological advances like iris-scanning identification will speed things up for everyone.

"That is the future, but it's going to take a number of years," he said.

And Canada doesn't offer quite the same value to U.S. visitors that it did as recently as last summer, with the dollar trading above 92 cents US and gasoline prices more than a third higher than U.S. prices.

Antonson said fuel prices might affect some Americans thinking of long-driving holidays in Canada, but doubts the impact will be significant. The higher dollar, however, has forced Canadian tourism marketers to change their U.S. advertising campaigns.

"We still offer good value, but we can no longer stress the affordability and value proposition to the extent we used to," Antonson said.

Tourists who have waited hours for taxis in Vancouver, sometimes at cruise ship terminals, know all about the city's taxi shortage, and industry officials are anxiously awaiting the Passenger Transportation Board's approval of 111 new Vancouver taxi licences. That would boost the number of city taxis by 23 per cent to 588.

"We're a little frustrated now because we want to get these vehicles out there as fast as we can so we can alleviate a lot of problems," Vancouver Taxi Association executive director Tony Bhullar said in an interview.

Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon has proposed a passenger bill of rights to hold cabbies to account when they refuse fares, provide poor service, or reject credit cards and demand payment in cash.

He said a bill of rights will be posted in every cab with a number that passengers can call to trigger an investigation by the passenger and transportation branch that will result in penalties where warranted.

Antonson, who feels Vancouver will need about 750 taxis by 2010, said the industry has shown a strong resolve to improve its service.

"We've seen more commitment by the taxi companies on training and professionalism in the past six months than in the last six years," he said.

Bhullar said taxi officials are embarrassed by past transgressions and want to restore faith in the industry, especially with the 2010 Olympics on the horizon.

Despite the challenges, Antonson said Tourism Vancouver still expects Greater Vancouver will attract more than 8.8 million visitors this year -- a 1.8-per-cent increase over 2006. Visits by Canadians will increase by about three per cent, but U.S. visitation is expected to fall by one per cent.

"Americans are bombarded with advertising that encourages them to travel within the U.S.," Antonson said. "That will change, but we think it will take another couple of years before the trend reverses itself."

Source ref: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=4277f416-2351-4981-985c-8bdf77d2b6c4

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One of many Vancouver condos in the summer.

An angled visual approach.

A leave dangaling in blue

This shot was taken outside around 3pm late last summer.

Summer vacations: Down(sized) but not out

We're bumping into one another on airplanes, finding fewer airfare sales and getting little bang for our buck in Europe. If we try to cut back by driving this summer, we'll be paying more than $3 per gallon at the pump.

But Americans still aren't giving up their summer vacations.

"When people see higher prices, they simply adjust how they travel," said Cathy Keefe, spokeswoman for the Travel Industry of America, www.tia.org, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit agency conducting marketing and economic research for the domestic travel industry. "We'll see consumers who will continue to travel, but what they'll do is delay major purchases of that new freezer or washing machine until fall."

Even as costs increase, Keefe said 1.4% more Americans will take personal trips this summer than last, and 85% of them will travel by car. To cut costs, some will shorten their trips, and others will stay with friends or relatives.

"Last summer people told us they were going to be affected by gas prices, but that didn't happen," Keefe said. "This year prices started to take off earlier and stay at the $3 mark, but people did not adjust their travel habits at all. Right now, consumers are just taking it on the chin."

Despite increasing costs, seven in 10 U.S. adults plan to take a summer vacation this year, according to a survey released May 16 by Expedia.com. Even though airline ticket prices are increasing, 60% of respondents say they'll fly as much as they did last summer, and 9% plan to fly even more.

"The airfare increases are fairly flat nationally," said Chris McGinnis, editor of Expedia Travel Trendwatch, a quarterly report based in Bellevue, Wash., that details consumer travel trends. "In the last year airlines raised fares 10 times, so they don't want to do that again right now."

If travelers shop for fares, are flexible about departure dates and avoid the summer peak, they still can find deals within the U.S. A recent check on AirfareWatchdog.com found round-trip fares from LAX of $240 to Boston, $158 to Denver and $184 to Dallas. (These fares may no longer be available.)

Expedia, www.expedia.com, found greater capacity on some routes this summer. As a result, summer fares are 4% to 7% lower to destinations including New York City, Hawaii, Washington, D.C., Boston, Orlando, Fla., and Vancouver, Canada.

"I have basically the same feeling as last summer: Be prepared or risk having an unpleasant trip," said John DiScala, founder of JohnnyJet.com, an online travel site and newsletter. "The airports and planes are going to be packed, especially during peak times and days."

To find the best fares, DiScala suggests, consider an alternative airport (vwww.alternateairports.com) near your first choice. While trying to book a flight recently from Los Angeles to Erie, Pa., he found the fare was half as much if he was willing to fly 95 to 130 miles farther into Buffalo, N.Y., Cleveland or Pittsburgh.

Overseas travel is a different story. Airfares have remained high since last year and even increased slightly on some routes. And the dollar continues to sag against foreign currencies. That means that Americans aren't getting as much for their money across the ocean, where a dollar is worth about 75 cents in euros and 50 cents in Britain. Five years ago, the dollar was worth 92 cents in euros and $1.46 in Britain.

"London is astronomically high. I cannot recommend that anyone go there right now," said George Hobica, publisher of Airfarewatchdog.com. Because the dollar is so weak there, he said, he has found a simple hotel breakfast might cost $50; even breakfast at McDonald's could run about $15.

"Europe is remaining stubbornly high," said Hobica.

Airfares to Paris, Amsterdam and Athens have increased by 5% to 10%, but fares to London and Frankfurt, Germany, have dropped about 10% to stimulate travel from the U.S., said Expedia Travel Trendwatch's McGinnis.

"Last summer we saw more routes going on unadvertised sales and Internet sales. But now I think it's because of the weak dollar. A lot of Europeans are coming here, and they have to get back, so the planes are full. If you go into the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York right now, you can walk through the place and hardly hear anyone speaking English. These are not just big tour groups."

One of the keys, Hobica said, is to know where to look. Air India, vwww.airindia.com, for example, doesn't necessarily spring to mind when you think of Frankfurt or Paris and London, but it recently had fares of less than $1,500 to these destinations.

European discount airlines expanding in the U.S. are not necessarily places to look for deals now, McGinnis said. Because Europeans can get more for their money on this side of the pond, those planes are filled in both directions with charter trips from Europe.

Travelers to Europe may find savings by using the flexible date search features on many websites, Hobica said; changing an itinerary by one day sometimes can save as much as $800.

And if the best round-trip fare to an international destination in coach appears to be $1,800 or more, he suggests checking for special deals in business class. If you're considering paying that much, Hobica said, why not look to see what a 60-day advance purchase business-class ticket might be?

"If they are going to have to pay an arm and a leg anyhow, they might as well sit comfortably," he said.

You may find even better deals on airlines designed for business class, such as Silverjet out of Newark, N.J., and MAXjet out of Las Vegas. In the last month, Hobica said he had seen a $400 round trip to London, two-for-one flights and a fly-one-way free.

Savvy American travelers going to Europe this summer will alter their destinations, experts say. More people are choosing Eastern European countries where the economies are not based on the euro, said Mike Pina, spokesman for the American Automobile Assn, www.aaa.com. His figures show U.S. travel tours to Eastern Europe up by 55% and to Europe in general down by 2.4%. Specifically, tours to Germany are down 43%, while bookings to Slovenia are up 100% and Romania, 700%.

More Americans have increased confidence about vacationing off the beaten path, McGinnis said. That comfort level comes from looking to user-generated information on the Internet, such as one traveler's video diary of a trip to colonial Mexican town, instead of having only slick marketing information to trust.

For that European experience without the currency problems or the steep airfares, he suggests travelers try places such as Quebec or the Mexican mountain communities of San Miguel de Allende or Guanajuato.

The best advice: Zig when everyone zags and adjust your expectations. "When you're talking about summer vacation, it's a tradition and a habit that is not easily taken away. Airfare prices are increasing. There's the liquid-and-gels debacle and fear of terrorism, but none of it seems to keep Americans down," McGinnis said.

Americans "won't give up travel," McGinnis said. "It just won't be the five-star version."

Source ref: http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/la-trw-insider27may27,1,6647921.story?coll=chi-homepagetravel-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

Oasis Hong Kong Airlines to begin flights in late June

VANCOUVER (CP) - It's all systems go for Oasis Hong Kong Airlines.

The Canadian Transportation Agency has granted it a licence to begin flying passengers between Hong Kong and Vancouver starting in late June, according to a statement from the company.

The approval process for the airline, launched in October, is now complete, said chief executive officer Stephen Miller.

"Earlier this year an exemption was granted by the Canada Transportation Act to allow us to commence promotion of the route and ticket sales in Canada," Miller said.

"The (Transportation) Agency has now fully completed its review of the application and is fully satisfied that Oasis has complied with all necessary requirements," he said.

"That means we can start with six flights a week from June 28 this year."

Oasis Hong Kong Airlines offers full-service, low-fare, long-haul travel, including two complimentary hot meals on-board with a choice of Asian or Western style food. All seats have personal seat-back TVs.

Tickets can be booked online at www.oasishongkong.com, through Oasis's customer service centre at 1-888-983-0808, and through travel agents.

Source ref: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/travel/story.html?id=0dc151f0-9b12-4d3f-a715-e84d25c27f6e&k=55407

Remote Nimmo Bay tops for heli-travel (4:05 p.m.)

New York-based Forbes Traveler ranks B.C.'s Nimmo Bay Resort as No. 1 in the world for helicopter tours into relatively inaccessible but visually stunning places.

"That's great news for British Columbia and great news for us," said Craig Murray, Nimmo Bay Resort founder and owner, who was unaware of the Forbes Traveler assessment when contacted today.

Forbes listed 10 locations for the road-weary adventurer who wants to visit hard-to-see areas that can best be reached and appreciated from a helicopter.

Nimmo Bay is located on the B.C. mainland at the head of McKenzie Sound about 320 kilometres northwest of Vancouver in a vast area of wilderness. The nearest large community is Port Hardy on the northeast coast of Vancouver Island.

Visitors to Nimmo Bay arrive at Port Hardy and are then helicoptered to Nimmo Bay where for $2,000 a day they stay at a lodge or in private, inter-tidal chalets. Once there, they can fish - it's catch and release - go whale watching, whitewater rafting, kayak, hike, and descend into caves.

"There's a whole range of adventures available to them across 30,000 square miles of pristine wilderness," said Murray who created the resort 27 years ago.

About 600 visitors a year arrive at the resort staying from three to seven days. The resort is only open from the middle of April to the end of October. Most of the visitors are from the U.S. or other parts of the world.

"We do have Canadian visitors but it's minimal. If Canadians want to spend a lot of dollars on vacations they like to do it outside the country, which is a pity because this area is so unique. We'd like more Canadians to come and see what's in their own backyard," he said.

The resort, which prides itself on being environmentally responsible, received the B.C. government's 1999 environmental award for industry, business and labour.

The other places making Forbes' list in descending order were: Rotorua, New Zealand; Iguazu Falls, Brazil; Great Barrier Reef, Australia; Juneau, Alaska; Victoria Falls, Zambia; parts of Hawaii; the Grand Canyon, Arizona; Sabah, Malaysia; and Montserrat, Spain.

Source ref: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/story.html?id=80a27153-e563-40f9-8c6b-88bf5cb12df6&k=23545

CANADIAN RECORDS SMASHED IN VANCOUVER

VANCOUVER -- The record for the largest dollar-valued art auction in Canadian history was mightily smashed Wednesday night in Vancouver by Heffel Fine Art House.

Heffel sold more than 219 lots for a mind-boggling $22.8-million. The total sales figure, which includes a 15-per-cent buyers' premium, easily surpassed the conservative estimate of a $12-million to $16-million sale. It nearly doubled the previous $12.5-million record, also set by Heffel, in Toronto in November, 2005.

The auction, which included four paintings that sold for more than $1-million each, saw at least a dozen Canadian fine-art records broken.

Leading the way was Pine Tree and Red House, Winter, City Painting II, by Group of Seven founder Lawren Harris, which went for $2.875-million, including premium.

"It's a tasty painting and deserved to go for that price," said Anthony Westbridge, publisher of The Art Market Report. He pointed to another great winter composition by Harris, Snow, Algonquin Park (circa 1916-17), which sold for $1.035-million, including premium.

Other big sellers included two small Tom Thomson sketches, Spring Woods (1916) and Summer Clouds (1916), which each sold for $1.035-million, and an oil-on-panel sketch by A.Y. Jackson, Eskimo Houses, Pond Inlet, Baffin Island, which set a record at $184,000. Okanagan Lake, a 1959 oil by E.J. Hughes, sold for $402,500. The seller purchased it six years ago at a yard sale -- for $200.

The spring season continues in Toronto next week, with the Sotheby's sale on Monday and the Joyner sale on Tuesday.

Source ref: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070525.BUZZALONE25/TPStory/Entertainment

Vancouver Art Auction Generates A Record $22.8 Million

Vancouver, BC (AHN) - The Heffel Fine Art Auction held in Vancouver on Wednesday set a record in Canada by selling an astounding $22.8 million in artwork. The previous total sales record for a Canadian art auction, which had also been set by Heffel, was $12.5 million and was set in November, 2005.
Among other works, a painting by Canadian artist Lawren Harris sold at the auction for almost $2.9 million. The Harris painting was initially expected to sell at a price between $800,000 and $1.2 million. Its sale price of nearly $2.9 million was the second highest for a Canadian painting sold at an auction. The record holder in that category, a work by Paul Kane, sold in 2002 for $5.063 million.
Other works that sold for more than $1 million include another Lawren Harris painting, and two small sketches by Tom Thomson.
Anthony Westbridge, who is publisher of the Art Market Report, said that "These prices tell us the market is still very strong and there's an enormous amount of money out there looking to bury itself into some good art."
Other spring art auctions are scheduled next week in Toronto, including Sotheby's in Association with Ritchies, scheduled for next Monday, and Joyner Waddington's, which begins on Tuesday.

Source ref: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7007444607

Vancouver police investigating APC camera crew.

VANCOUVER/CKNW - Vancouver police are investigating to see if two camera crews and a reporter filmed the vandalism by three members of the Anti-Poverty Committee at the cabinet offices yesterday.Constable Howard Chow says police are trying to determine if the camera crews belonged to the APC or if they are legitimate news crews.
"They may be part of the package, they may be part of the protesters. that is something we're looking at so until the investigation has a chance to unfold that's areas we really wouldn't go down until we establish it."
Chow says sometimes media attention can cause negative effects.
"Very often with people like this the mere fact that the camera is there may tend to drive up some of the performances that are going on."
Three people have been charged including a juvenile.

Source ref: http://www.cknw.com/news/news_local.cfm?cat=7428327912&rem=66015&red=80132723aPBIny&wids=410&gi=1&gm=news_local.cfm

Vancouver group aims to revive fireworks tradition

A new group is bringing back Canada Day fireworks to Vancouver -- with or without funding from the city.
The Burrard Inlet Fireworks Society has organized a 25-minute fireworks show to be set off simultaneously at Canada Place and Ambleside Beach in West Vancouver on July 1.
This will be the first time fireworks will be set off in Vancouver on Canada Day since 2003.
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The new group, spearheaded by West Vancouver Coun. John Clark, consists of North Vancouver, West Vancouver and Canada Place, which have joined forces to fund and organize the fireworks show.
According to an engineering department report going to city council Tuesday, the group is asking the city for a $10,000 grant to fund the show and $55,000 for police and cleanup costs.
But Vancouver Coun. Peter Ladner is wary about where the money will come from.
"There's a lot of spending sensitivity in council right now. We're spending a comparable amount of money on the Celebration of Light and we can't afford two [shows] like that," he said.
Canada Day fireworks in Vancouver were cancelled four years ago due to crowding and financial issues.
The council report recommends approval of the request, and suggests the funding come from this year's "contingency reserve or existing departmental budgets."
Ladner said that's not feasible.
"Although I would love this to be successful, I'm going to be asking some tough questions because I don't want this to be carried on the backs of the taxpayers," he said.
In the past, fireworks celebrations on the nation's birthday were funded federally, Ladner added.
According to its website, the group is expecting as many as 500,000 people to watch the fireworks, but doesn't expect crowding to be a problem.
The fireworks will go off higher in the sky than normal, meaning they will be visible from various locations across Greater Vancouver.
"We are excited to renew this celebratory component of our nation's birthday," the group said in a written release.
It does not give the total cost of the fireworks display.

Vancouver auction expected to set record for highest-grossing sale of Canadian art

VANCOUVER (CP) - A painting by Lawren Harris has posted a record selling price for the Group of Seven artist at an auction in Vancouver.
"Pine Tree and Red House, Winter, City Painting II," sold for $2.875 million, including the 15 per cent buyer's premium.
The previous record for a Harris work was $2.2 million.
The 1924 painting, which depicts a red-brick house with green, shuttered windows that are partially obscured by a large, snow-covered pine tree in the foreground, blew past pre-sale estimates of $800,000-$1.2 million.
The Heffel Fine Art Auction House's spring auction on Wednesday night featured seven rare paintings that could fetch more than $1 million each, including Pine Tree and Red House.
Ten other paintings by Harris were also on the auction block.
David Heffel, who co-owns the art auction house with his brother Robert Heffel, said a record number of people had seen the paintings during 13 days of previews.
A total of 222 paintings were part of the biannual auction that premiered in 1995 with $1 million in gross sales, with each work worth about $30,000.
As the auction neared its conclusion late Wednesday, a spokewoman for Heffel said total sales were on track to exceed $21 million, well past the pre-sale estimate of $16 million.
"There's a lot of thirsty collectors out there hunting for these works - new collectors as well as people who have been collecting for many years, which is adding to the overall strong strength of the market," Heffel said.
"We're seeing that not only in Canada but worldwide. In addition to that, auctions have really become retail venues for collectors to add to their collections. So there's a much broader base of collectors than what we've seen historically."
Heffel said the quality of the paintings, along with the unprecedented buzz about Canadian art, would make the sale a watershed event for the Canadian market.
"It is our best sale and perhaps we won't be able to come up with this calibre of paintings in the future."
Many of the paintings in the sale were bought by collectors in the 1930s, '40s and '50s, during the golden era of Canadian art collecting.
"It was a time when you could acquire paintings directly from Emily Carr or Lawren Harris or A.Y. Jackson and those days are gone. Now those collectors are also moving on and as the paintings change generations a pocket of them have hit the market all at once."
"Pine Tree and Red House" has only been sold once, he said, going from Harris to its present owner in 1944.
"So that painting is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Whoever is successful tonight will really win the prize in this evening's sale. That painting probably won't hit the market again until my grandchildren start collecting paintings," said Heffel, whose two kids are in elementary school.
Ian Thom, senior curator of historical art at the Vancouver Art Gallery, says a hot economy is driving the sale of high-priced art that people are buying as an investment.
"Unfortunately for public institutions it makes it a little difficult because the extremely robust state of the art auction market means that institutions simply can't compete," he says.
"We hope that the people who buy art (pieces) will decide one day to give them to us."
Among the paintings sold at the auction is one titled Okanagan Lake, by British Columbia artist E.J. Hughes.
The painting of the striking, panoramic view from the east side of the lake, done in vivid blue jewel tones, is dated 1959.
It was bought by a collector at an Ontario estate sale for $200 six years ago and has since attracted widespread attention across the country.
The painting was expected to fetch about $100,000 but sold for $402,500, including the buyer's premium.
Six other works by Hughes were also up for auction, including one sketch.
Two paintings by Alexander Colville - a contemporary of Hughes - who at 87 is still toiling with the brushes, were also featured in the auction and Heffel anticipated the hammer would go down on a record-setting price for one of the works.

Source ref: http://www.570news.com/news/entertainment/article.jsp?content=e052408A

Chinese man caught posing as tourist to Taiwan, the smuggles to Vancouver

In the first-ever discovered case of an illegal alien from China using the "small three links" to enter Taiwan posing as a tourist, immigration authorities yesterday detained the suspect and five members of a Taiwan-based human smuggling ring that helped him.Wei Zirui (魏子銳), 19, from China's Fujian Province, was traveling with a tour group last week before he deserted it just one day after arriving in Kinmen on May 14.Accompanied by Taiwanese "snakeheads," or human smugglers and holding a doctored passport, Wei boarded a plane from Kinmen to Taichung while his group reported him missing, prompting Kinmen police and the agency to investigate his whereabouts, the National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday. The snakeheads took Wei from Taichung to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Sunday, where he planned to board a plane bound for his final destination -- Canada.Wei probably thought he was in the clear after landing in Vancouver, immigration officials said. What he didn't know, however, was that Canadian police were waiting for him at the arrival gate.NIA Deputy Director Steve Wu (吳學燕) said yesterday his agency ascertained Wei's whereabouts after poring over security camera footage in Kinmen and contacting authorities there and in Taichung.By the time the agency had figured out Wei was Canada-bound, he was already in the air and the agency scrambled to notify its counterpart in Canada, Wu said."Thanks to sound international cooperation and coordination at home, we were able to crack the first human smuggling case involving the `small three links,'" he said.Wei was put on a plane back to Taipei and taken into custody by Taoyuan County police yesterday.The NIA said Wei had paid the ring US$65,000 to smuggle him to Canada via Taiwan.Asked why his agency failed to apprehend Wei before he boarded the plane for Canada, Wu said Wei's documents seemed valid, making it difficult to track him.Taoyuan District Prosecutor Chang Chun-hui (張春暉) said a Taiwanese named Lin Yi-hung (林怡賜), who bears a slight resemblance to Wei, provided Wei with his passport and other documents.Before handing his passport to Wei, Lin, 19, reported his original passport missing and then provided the authorities with a doctored photograph that combined the facial features of Lin and Wei for the new passport, Chang said.The composite photo obfuscated any dissimilarities between their faces, allowing Wei to use the new passport without raising suspicion, he said, adding that Wei used the fraudulent passport and other documents to secure a Canadian visa.Lin was one of the five arrested.

Great news for people trying to get a Passport

GREATER VANCOUVER/CKNW(AM980) - The Federal Government has announced it will start processing applications at offices in Burnaby, Coquitlam, and on the North Shore, starting today.The Service Canada Centres will review the accuracy and completeness of applications, collect the fees along with original identification such as birth certificates, and forward them to Passport Canada for review and processing.Passport Canada will then courier the passport directly to the applicant, along with original identification documents.Since the Americans began demanding passports for any Canadians flying into that country, there have been long lineups at Passport Canada offices in the Sinclair Centre in downtown Vancouver and in Surrey.
Take your applications to:
Burnaby Service Canada Centre at 4279 Canada Way,Coquitlam Service Canada Centre at 100 - 2963 Glen Drive orNorth Shore Service Canada Centre at 100-221 West EsplanadeAll three offices are open Monday to Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Source ref: http://www.cknw.com/news/news_xml.cfm?cat=1&rss=1&rem=65951&red=80110923aPBIny&gi=1&gm=news_local.cfm

Chinese Actor Chow Yun Fat in Vancouver Chinatown for new movie

AP - Hong Kong actor Chow Yun-fat says he is interested in making a movie inspired by a book about a concubine who lived in Vancouver's Chinatown.The film's director, Ann Hui, says the Chinese-funded movie is based on Denise Chong's book "The Concubine's Children."It's set in the 1920s and is about a Vancouver Chinese man's concubine.Hui says she gave Chow the book and he's now waiting to read the script, which still needs to be written.If Chow signs on for the role of the Chinese man, it would be his second recent collaboration with Hui.He played a suspected con-man in Hui's comedy "Postmodern Life of My Aunt."

Source ref: http://chineseinvancouver.blogspot.com/2007/05/actor-chow-yun-fat-interested-in-movie_23.html