ROYAL CLIFF BEACH RESORT

Royal Cliff Beach Resort represents Pattaya, Thailand in ’10 Most Beautiful and World Class Beach Resorts”

Trifter.com, a unique website which publishes articles on the biggest travel destinations and the smallest unexplored points of interest where travelogues come from writers around the world has recently featured an article listing the ‘10 Most Beautiful and World-Class Beach Resorts’ which include Cancun Beach in Mexico, Nha Trang in Vietnam and Atlantis Paradise island in Bahamas.

Pattaya and Thailand is also represented with the world famous Royal Cliff Beach Resort being the only Thai based destination on the list. The article presents Thailand as one of the world’s top 10 most popular holiday destinations with many world class tourist attractions on offer, and goes on to highlight the four luxury 5-star hotels within the resort as well as some of the famous events which have taken place at the resort.

It can only provide a fillip to Thailand and the tourism industry that the Royal Cliff Beach Resort continues to be regularly featured in international and online publications.

The article by the respected journalist Mr. Norbert Solaria Bermosa can be found at trifter.com which also includes tourism guides, reports on local cuisine, and helpful tips from experienced travelers.

The Royal Cliff Beach Resort is an internationally acclaimed luxury hotel resort situated between Pattaya and Jomtien in a 64-acre tropical, beachside private estate overlooking the azure waters of the Gulf of Siam

CHINESE NEW YEAR FESTIVAL IN THAILAND

Chinese New Year Festival in Thailand
Date : 5 - 22 February 2010
Venue : Bangkok (Chinatown on Yaowarat Road, CentralWorld Plaza, The National Theatre), Suphan Buri, Ratchaburi, Ayutthaya, Chonburi (Pattaya), Chiang Mai, Nakhon Sawan, Nakhon Ratcha Srima, Songhkla (Hat Yai), and Phuket.

One of the main venues in Bangkok is the city’s Chinatown, a fascinating maze of streets and lanes crammed with shops, restaurants and street-side stalls. But there are celebrations to mark the arrival of the Year of the Tiger in the city’s up-scale shopping district around Central World Plaza and the National Theatre next to Sanam Luang.

Chinese communities abound in various provinces in Thailand, so visitors are never too far from the colourful, robust celebrations that mark the arrival of the New Year. Phuket town on the southern island is an important venue for both religious and social celebrations. Ayutthaya 70 km north of Bangkok is another popular venue, while Pattaya on the eastern seaboard, Chiang Mai in the north and Songkhla on the southern coastline of the Gulf of Thailand are equally impressive places to visit during Chinese New Year celebrations.

MACHU PICCHU MUDSLIDES STRAND 1900 TOURISTS

27 Jan 2010

Flooding and mudslides near Peru's historic ruins of Machu Picchu have stranded 1900 tourists, emergency services said.

An operation to airlift the foreigners out of the southeastern disaster zone hit was suspended because of heavy rain after just 75 were flown out by helicopter.
There are reports five people have died.

Peru's presidential chief of staff Javier Velasquez traveled to Cusco with emergency-level ministers and officials to evaluate the situation and coordinate rescues.

The country's civil defense service said it estimated the homes of 1300 people in poor rural areas - many of them riverside dwellings made of clay and straw - had been destroyed. Another 12,000 people were affected to a lesser degree, losing possessions or suffering property damage.
In Cusco, where a 60-day state of emergency has been declared, two bridges collapsed and 250 houses were destroyed.

Machu Picchu is one of the most popular destinations for tourists in Latin America, attracting more than 400,000 visitors a year.
The 15th-century Inca ruins are located on a high mountain ridge 70 kilometres from Cusco. A railway that transports tourists to the site was covered by a mudslide

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS TO BUILD SOUTH KOREAN PARK

Universal Studios has signed a contract with 14 partners, including the Lotte Group, to build a KRW3 trillion (US$2.7 billion) theme park in South Korea, according to a Korea Herald report.

The resort, to be developed in the northwestern province of Gyeonggi, will create as many as 100,000 jobs, provincial governor Kim Moon Soo was reported saying in Seoul yesterday. The resort, which will also include hotels, a water park, golf course and a shopping mall, is slated to open in early 2014.

Universal Parks and Resorts Chairman and CEO, Thomas Williams, was reported saying that he believed the resort would attract “a substantial segment” of the South Korean population, as well as a growing number of Asian international tourists.

He added that movie director,Steven Spielberg, a creative consultant Universal Parks and Resorts, is expected to take part in the project. “He already has a number of ideas that I think will contribute to making it quite unique and, in the spirit of differentiation, something that caters to an international crowd,” Williams was quoted saying.

CHINA TO RESTORE BUDDHA CLIFF CARVING

China’s oldest cliff-carved Buddha statue is to be saved from collapse, with a US$10.8 million restoration, the BBC reported, citing state media.

The 1,459 year-old statue, carved into the Meng Mountain in Shanxi province, had faced collapse, but the restoration project will now stabilise the statue and surrounding hillside.

TOURISM COMPANIES COME TO AID HAITI

Companies from across the travel and tourism industry have pledged support and aid to the Caribbean nation of Haiti, in the wake of the devastating earthquake that rocked its capital, Port-au-Prince last week.

Royal Caribbean Cruises has announced its plans to provide at least US$1 million in humanitarian relief to Haiti, delivering much needed goods and supplies to Haiti via their cruise ships. Another cruise line, Crystal Cruises, is donating at least US$5 million toward relief efforts.
The funds will be forwarded to several different international organisations coordinating relief efforts within the country.

From the hotel sector, Best Western International has announced that Best Western Rewards members can now contribute rewards points to the massive relief effort. Programme members can visit the company’s website to make a donation to World Vision. InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) is also encouraging members of its Priority Club Rewards member programme to donate their points to the American Red Cross for Haitian Earthquake Relief.

The American Red Cross is also being assisted by Continental Airlines, which is offering a scheme whereby its OnePass FFP members can donate to the charitable organisation. Continental is also waiving change fees and additional fare collections for certain tickets to the Dominican Republic, adjacent to Haiti, in order to help the evacuation effort.
China’s HNA Group, which owns Hainan Airlines, has donated CNY500,000 (US$73,000) each to two humanitarian organisations for relief and reconstruction efforts.

Across the industry, companies are contributing to the huge relief effort in an unprecedented response.

“BIG 5” LUNCHEON GRANDE PROVENCE HERITAGE WINE ESTATE

The annual “Big 5” luncheon held to raise awareness and funds for The Multiple Sclerosis Society of South Africa (MSSA) will take place at the five-star Grande Provence Heritage Wine Estate in Franschhoek on May 2. The “Big 5” 2010 event will feature five top South African chefs led by Executive Chef Jacques De Jager from The Restaurant at Grande Provence, who will present a five-course gourmet meal complemented by Grande Provence wines. Live entertainment will take place throughout the day and five items will be auctioned. Tickets can be purchased from the Estate.

Grande Provence Heritage Wine Estate wears her 300-year history with style. Nestled within the Franschhoek Valley in the Western Cape, surrounded by 47-acres of lush vines, this is heartland South African wine country at its finest.
The Estate is home to Grande Provence’s award-winning wines and its passionate wine making team. Following harvest every year, carefully selected wines leave the Estate to compete in some of the world’s most prestigious competitions – the number and frequency of the awards bears testament to their success.
A sophisticated destination in its own right, Grande Provence proudly presents superb cuisine at The Restaurant, fine wines at The Tasting Room, some of South Africa’s finest art at The Gallery & The Shop, receptions and boutique conferences at The Jonkershuis and 5-star accommodation at The Owner’s Cottage.