Pattaya’s Walk and Eat food festival coming up

 Foodies in Pattaya have something to look forward to. The city’s Walk and Eat food festival is coming up, after being cancelled or restricted for years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The long festival will run from December 10 to January 29 at the Naklua fish market in Old Town Naklua. Attendees can sample tasty local dishes, and enjoy concerts and cultural events. But that’s not all, there will be activities for children, The Pattaya News reported. This will be the 14th Walk and Eat festival.

According to a Facebook post by the Direct Line to the Mayor of Pattaya City, the festival’s objective is “promoting and encouraging people and communities to participate in the conservation and development of tourist attractions in the local community area.”

Renowned as a tourism hub, Pattaya is known for hosting numerous festivals. These festivals have come back in full force now that Covid restrictions have been lifted.

From Friday to Saturday, the Pattaya International Fireworks Festival met its goal of drawing over 100,000 spectators. The fireworks illuminated the skyline of Central Pattaya Beach, and could also be seen from other points including Bali Hai Pier, and Phra Tamnak Mountain Viewpoint near Bali Nai Pier.

The festival featured stunning fireworks displays from Canada, the Philippines, Belgium, and Malaysia.

Last month, tourists flocked to two seafood festivals in Pattaya over the three-day weekend. The Central Pattaya shopping mall held the “Sea Bear” food festival, bringing in income for vendors.

There was also a seafood festival at Terminal 21 shopping mall, which saw hundreds of vacationers stopping by, Pattaya Mail reported. The festival had planned to feature street food vendors from across eastern Thailand, under a street market theme. The festival was hoped to bring in revenue to local vendors to revive Pattaya’s tourism. In May, the 20 vendors at Pattaya’s new Squid Fair seafood festival earned almost 30,000-40,000 baht a day. The president of the Pattaya Business and Tourism Association said that 3,000-4,000 visitors went to the festival every day it was held.

The ‘Walk and Eat’ festival is another opportunity for Pattaya dwellers and visitors to savour delicious foods while supporting the local economy.

Source - The Thaiger

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Disneyland raises ticket prices by 3% to $154 a day

Walt Disney Co. raised admission prices by 3.4 percent at its Disneyland resort in California, but the increase was smaller than in years past despite coming after the opening of a costly Star Wars-themed land last year.

A single, peak-day ticket now costs $154, the company’s website showed Tuesday, up from $149. Last year, the single, peak-day price rose 10 percent. Annual passes also increased, with the highest-priced Premier access rising to $2,199, up 5 percent since June and 13 percent from a year ago.

Disney, the world’s largest theme-park operator, has been trying to find ways to manage crowds and keep its resorts more accessible by offering lower prices during off-peak times, such as weekdays in the winter when kids are in school. The company has also expanded its offering of annual passes, as it invests billions of dollars in new attractions.

“A visit to our parks is the best value in entertainment bar none, and we offer flexible ticket choices to enable families to choose what’s best for them,” Disney said in a statement.

Last year, Disney opened Star Wars-themed lands at its Hollywood Studios park in Orlando, Florida, and at the original Disneyland in Anaheim, California, at a cost of $1 billion each.

Attendance at the company’s domestic resorts was flat in the fiscal year that ended in September, and up 2 percent in the most recent quarter.

The company also increased prices for annual passes at its Orlando parks, according to the website WDW News Today.

Disneyland is the second-most-visited theme park in the world, after the company’s Magic Kingdom in Orlando. It attracted 18.7 million guests in 2018, according to the Themed Entertainment Association.

Source - TheJakartaPost

'Red lights' as over-tourism threatens #Corsican nature reserve

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"It's nature's magical design," says a tourist guide, waxing poetic as he comments on the impressive red cliffs plunging into a turquoise sea at the Scandola nature reserve on France's Corsica island.

"Amazing!" exclaims Irena Snydrova, a Czech tourist visiting the UNESCO World Heritage site with her family, along with groups from Italy, Spain and France.

Their boat sidles up to the Steps of Paradise, rocks shaped into a stairway some 15 meters long, then glides on to Bad Luck Pass, a former pirates' redoubt.

The ages have sculpted the volcanic cliffs into myriad shapes that beguile the visitor, who might imagine a kissing couple here, a horse's head there, Napoleon's two-cornered hat further on...

The park, created in 1975, is an ecological dream, being a nature reserve and a protected marine zone that is listed by France's coastal protection agency and Natura 2000, in addition to its recognition by UNESCO.

It is a prime destination for the some three million people who visit Corsica each year, 75 percent of them in the summer.

The paradox is that growing numbers of tourists are drawn to Scandola's pristine waters and stunning geological vistas, endangering its fragile ecosystem.

The park, reached only by boat some 40 minutes from the tiny port of Porto, stretches over 10 square kilometers of sea, and a somewhat smaller area of land.

"The reserve is a jewel for Corsica and the Mediterranean, but several red lights are flashing," says marine biologist Charles-Francois Boudouresque, listing flora and fauna at risk, including ospreys, seagrass and fish species such as the brown meagre.

The tourist season coincides with the ospreys' mating season, notes Boudouresque, an emeritus professor at the Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography.

Because of over-tourism, ospreys' "reproductive success is zero or near zero, with either no chicks or just one chick" per year, he says.

 Boudouresque, who also heads Scandola's scientific advisory council, says the osprey could become extinct in 50 years.

 Golden egg'

 

Since last month, at the urging of the scientific council, boats must keep a distance of at least 250 meters from ospreys' nests during the breeding season. 

"It's a good start," Boudouresque says.

As for the marine park's fish species, Boudouresque says he thinks the thrumming of the tourist boats is scaring them away.

But a crew member, who gave his name only as Diego, blamed groupers for the declining population of corb. "They eat everything," he told AFP.

Tensions have arisen pitting tour boat operators and fishermen against the reserve's conservationist Jean-Marie Dominici.

Boudouresque says the seagrass "is not in the best shape," blaming the anchors dropped by the many boats -- some of them private vessels without authorized guides.

 "It's bizarre for a nature reserve to see all these boats," said Pierre Gilibert, a 65-year-old doctor, who is a regular visitor. "It might be wise to allow access only to professional boats."

 Many share the opinion that private boats are not sufficiently monitored or informed of ecological concerns. 

 

"This morning we saw people climbing on the rocks and berthing their boats in narrow passageways, which is not allowed," said Gabriel Pelcot, chief mechanic on a cruise ship of the Corsican company Nave Va.

Nave Va, as well as rival Via Mare, uses hybrid vessels: they are powered by diesel up to the edge of the marine park, then switch to electric for a quieter and less polluting presence.

Pelcot notes that this green option is 30 percent more expensive, but he expects it to catch on.

"We must find a compromise between the need for tourists to enjoy this natural treasure and that of not killing the goose that laid the golden egg," Boudouresque says.

The marine biologist is optimistic that general awareness of the problems is growing.

He envisions ways to marry tourism with preservation. One example, he says, would be to focus cameras on ospreys' nests so that they can be observed without being disturbed.

Source - TheJakartaPost 

Now you can ‘Grab’ a hotel as well

If you’ve used Grab you’ll realise what a big announcement this is. It immerses yet another service within their intuitive App. Grab, already a leading App in Southeast Asia, has announced the launch of its ‘Hotels’ booking service.

The company says customers will now be able to book hotels and other accommodation from Agoda and soon, Booking.com directly from their Grab app, and additionally enjoy special hotel offers when they book through Grab.

The company said its customers can access and easily compare prices across millions of places to stay, ranging from a wide choice of luxury and budget hotels to apartments, vacation homes, and family-run B&Bs.

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Booking your Flight, Hotel or Resort now

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“Travellers are an increasingly important audience for Grab. With more Southeast Asians travelling than ever before, the launch of ‘ Grab Hotels’ highlights our commitment to provide the most relevant services to our customers as Southeast Asia’s leading everyday super app.

“Our ‘Hotels’ service adds to the multiple benefits we already offer travellers, including the most comprehensive miles and travel loyalty program for any O2O platform, discounts at lounges and F&B outlets at major airports in Southeast Asia, and exclusive Grab transport pick-up points at airports in Indonesia and the Philippines,” said Jerald Singh, Group Head of Product and Design, Grab.

More features and benefits will be added to the ‘Hotels’ service throughout the year. Grab customers will get free travel personal accident and flight delay insurance with each hotel booking, as well as special ride offers. In addition, customers will be able to pay with GrabPay, Grab’s cashless payment mode, and earn GrabReward points with each booking, which can be redeemed for more deals and discounts around other travel services, F&B, retail, entertainment and more.

“Grab’s ‘Hotels’ service is ideal for young professionals who travel frequently for holidays, or families looking for the best deals.

“Our partnerships with Agoda and Booking.com allow our customers to easily find the right accommodation – anywhere in the world – for their holiday, and within their preferred budget too! With the special Grab discounts and free insurance, we’re confident travellers can find the most value-for-money deals when booking hotels with Grab.”

Source - TheThaiger

Chimelong to open panda-themed hotel

Chimelong Group, a conglomerate that owns and operates theme parks, luxury hotels and leisure entertainment businesses, will soon open a panda-themed hotel in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, to meet growing domestic demand for leisure hospitality from families.

Sources with the Guangzhou-based company said that the Chimelong Panda Hotel, located in the Chimelong Tourist Resort, will open on the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year.

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The hotel was designed in accordance with the giant panda triplets, which were born in July of 2014 at the Chimelong Safari Park, providing 1,500 guest rooms and other business and entertainment facilities and services.

The giant panda triplets - Meng Meng, Shuai Shuai and Ku Ku, will be featured in the hotel rooms, according to the company.

As part of Chimelong Tourist Resort's future upgrade program, the Chimelong Panda Hotel, along with Chimelong Hotel and Chimelong Xiangjiang Hotel, constitutes the resort's hotel cluster which offers guests a diversity of choices.

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Source - TheJakartaPost