# Overtourism: Causes, Impacts, and Global Hotspots - Comprehensive Report

## Introduction

Overtourism represents a critical challenge in contemporary tourism management, where excessive visitor numbers overwhelm local infrastructure, degrade natural environments, and disrupt community life.

This phenomenon occurs when tourism growth exceeds the carrying capacity of destinations, leading to negative consequences for residents, ecosystems, and the long-term sustainability of tourist attractions.

Understanding the multifaceted nature of overtourism is essential for developing responsible tourism policies that balance economic benefits with environmental and social preservation.

## What is Overtourism?

Overtourism refers to the situation where the volume of tourists in a destination surpasses the local community's ability to accommodate them sustainably.

This results in overcrowding, strain on infrastructure, environmental degradation, and diminished quality of life for residents.

Unlike sustainable tourism, which aims to minimize negative impacts while maximizing benefits, overtourism creates a scenario where the costs outweigh the advantages, often leading to irreversible damage

# Overtourism: Causes, Impacts, and Global Hotspots - Comprehensive Report

## Introduction

Overtourism represents a critical challenge in contemporary tourism management, where excessive visitor numbers overwhelm local infrastructure, degrade natural environments, and disrupt community life.

Title:

Content: The lower the quality of visitors, the higher the block?
"Over-limit travel" not only disturbs Mt. Fuji, but also has a fence.
International Center Hsu Hsiao-ching / General Report
After the COVID-19 pandemic slowed, Japan opened its doors to foreign tourists, but what followed was the problem of “over-tourism ” that plagued tourists.
In addition to the "black curtain" barrier on Kawaguchiko Lake to shield Mt. Fuji, the Shiranobori Shrine on the banks of Lake Pipa has also installed a fence in front of Otoriya, hoping to stop tourists from taking photos by the road.
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Japanese media reported that Japan's annual Golden Week holiday, but recently many sightseeing spots are suffering from "overtourism" (tourism hazards), which makes many local governments do not want to actively respond.
At Kawaguchiko, which is surrounded by the beautiful scenery of Mt. Fuji, there are too many tourists who have committed illegal acts such as crossing roads and littering in order to photograph the beautiful scenery of “Kawaguchiko Station ”, which is 5 minutes from Kawaguchiko Station on the Fujikyu Kawaguchiko Line. They will sit on the stairs of the clinic and eat, and some people will directly“ stand ” for business.
The above acts are endless, and the arrangement of security guards and security can not be stopped, so the local government decided to set up a "black curtain" to cover Mt. Fuji, hoping to drive away the tourists who came to take photos.
However, Kawaguchiko is not the only scenic spot to sacrifice its beauty for order and safety.
The Otoriya shrine, located on the shores of Lake Pipa in Shiga Prefecture, Japan, faces a similar problem.
Facing Japan ’ s largest lake, Lake Biwa, the shrine is located on the lake, making it known as “Omi Noyama Island ” and one of the most popular spots for tourists.
However, in order to take a photo with the birds, many tourists, regardless of the danger, directly crossed the local national road (similar to the provincial road in Taiwan) from the side of the shrine, and even had a death accident.
Keiichi Takahashi, the head of the shrine, revealed that there were no zebra crossings and no red and green lights in the area, and there was an emergency brake of a car (to avoid pedestrians) and a chase occurred.
In order to avoid the recurrence of similar incidents, in February 2024, the shrine set up a metal fence with a height of 110 cm and a width of about 100 meters on the side of Torii.
Keiichi Takahashi said that although he was troubled about setting up the fence, ensuring safety was the first consideration.
However, after the fence is completed, tourists can still see the situation of crossing the road from time to time, and even some people directly rely on the fence to take photos.
"TBS" reported that the lower the quality of tourists, the higher the obstacles that block the beautiful scenery will have to be set.
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Title:

Content: Under the flag of ecotourism
563
Aset Kalymov
According to the World Tourism Organization UNWTO, Saty village of Kegen district of Almaty region is recognized as one of the best tourist villages of the planet.
photo of the author, photo from open sources
Recently in Samarkand, during the 25th session of the UNWTO General Assembly, the results of the Best Tourism Villages 2023 Awards competition were summed up.
According to its organizers, the competitive selection has been held since 2021.
The jury has received 258 applications from 63 countries.
According to the decision of the international expert commission, 74 settlements became part of the unique network of the best tourist villages of UNWTO.
For the first time such a high title was awarded to Saty village of Kegen district of Almaty region.
Applications for the competition were evaluated on such criteria as the preservation of cultural and natural resources, infrastructure development, development of tourism products, marketing, value chain in tourism.
As Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization Zurab Pololikashvili noted during the award ceremony, this initiative marks the villages that use tourism as a catalyst for their development and well-being.
Tourism can become a powerful driver of the economy, expanding the potential of local communities and regions.
Until recently, Sata, which is home to about 1,500 people, was an inconspicuous small village located in a remote mountainous area.
Most of the villagers were engaged in animal husbandry, many moved to the cities in search of a better life.
Radical changes in the appearance of the village began to occur together with the rapid growth of tourist infrastructure in the territory of the nearby Kolsay lakes.
In the national park there is something to see: a rich flora and fauna, magnificent nature untouched by civilization.
Investments have flowed in Saty river, over a few years more than 80 guest houses have been opened here, as well as 30 state houses (!).
Locals provide tourists with various services, including horseback riding, catamaran riding on Lake Kolsai 1.
There is also a yurt ethnotown, in which visitors are introduced to the preparation of dishes of original cuisine, the secrets of carpet weaving, felting nightmares.
Recently, Kolsay and Kaiyndy have become one of the most popular weekend routes among foreign guests, Almaty residents and residents of the region.
On the way here is the majestic Charyn canyon, you can also stop for a rest at the hot springs of Chundi.
According to local authorities, since the beginning of this year about 250 thousand people have visited here, which is about three times more than it was a few years ago.
As the guides tell, at the peak of the season in the village of Saty it is difficult to find free rooms in hotels, there were cases when it was necessary to settle visitors in the houses of the villagers.
Those, having felt the conjuncture, began to learn how to receive tourists, and now the sphere of tourism for them is quite significant, if not the main source of income in addition to the traditional subsidiary economy.
According to Rashida Shaikenova, the director of the Kazakhstan Tourism Association, ecotourism is becoming the dominant direction of the travel industry.
Today, it accounts for up to 30% of the world ’ s tourist flow.
A similar trend can be traced in our country, where the national natural parks “Kolsai kolderi ”,“ Sharyn ”, “Ile Alatau ” and others are becoming increasingly popular.
By the way, this is not the first award of Kazakhstan in the tourism sector.
In 2021, according to the major international travel guide Lonely Planet, the republic was included in the list of the best destinations as an ecotourism destination.
According to tour operators, the village of Saty serves as an illustrative example of how the local population can be involved in the tourism industry.
It is necessary to extend this experience to all regions of the country, to popularize the environmental and ethnographic segments of the industry.
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Locals in ‘Spanish Mykonos’ popular with Britons call for action on overtourism

Residents of the Menorcan village of Binibeca Vell said they welcomed British tourists, but needed support from the authorities to cope

MADRID – Known as the “Spanish Mykonos” for its beautiful, narrow white-walled lanes that attract thousands of tourists a year, residents of Binibeca Vell are calling for authorities to take action to stop it being overwhelmed by visitors.

The Menorcan village, which has over 200 permanent residents but attracts 800,000 holidaymakers every year, is inundated with visitors who follow noisy tour guides, leave rubbish and take selfies as the sun goes down over the Mediterranean.

Last year, tired of being invaded, residents of the coastal village managed to impose limits on visiting times so tourists are only allowed in between 10am and 10pm and secured a grant of €15,000 from the island’s government to help pay to manage the area.

However, as Spain braces itself for a record year for tourism, with airlines scheduling extra flights, the Menorcan government withdrew this grant and said residents must pay for cleaning or charge visitors to enter.

The battle playing out in Menorca is being repeated from the Canary Islands to Barcelona as residents hit back at what some claim is uncontrolled tourism that puts pressure on housing and squeezes Spaniards out.

Oscar Monge, president of the Community of Property Owners in Binibeca Vell, said tourists were not the problem.

“I love Britain and I want to make it clear that British tourists are not the problem. It is the lack of action from the Menorcan government,” he told i.

“They want us to pay for the cleaning of the streets because this is a private village or charge tourists for coming to the village, which we do not want to do. Sometimes tourists come in with tour guides and leave rubbish, but why should we have to pay to clear it up? Menorca charges a tourist tax of €2.30 per day, so what is that being used for?”

In a private village, property owners own the streets and land the village was built on, unlike in the typical case where common land is publicly owned.

Begoña Mercadal, director of tourism for the Menorcan government, said the residents’ organisation did not want to renew the €15,000 grant agreement.

“The agreement established that it was automatically renewed if the two parties requested it before 19 December, 2023 and they did not do so, therefore we understood that they were not interested,” she told eldiario.es, an online news site.

Spain received 9.8 million visitors in the first two months of 2024. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday: “Our commitment to a quality, innovative and sustainable model turns Spain into a cutting-edge tourist destination.”

Meanwhile, protests are planned across the Canary Islands against overtourism on Saturday as members of the group Canarias Se Agota carried on with a hunger strike.

One member of the group had to receive hospital attention on Tuesday after starting the strike five days earlier.

Protests will be staged in support of the Canary Islands action in Berlin, Madrid and Malaga by environmental group Greenpeace.

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Title:

Content: Rewrite this title: Link to All Seasons
The following article will help you: Link to all seasons
Everything has a season, a time to be born, a time to die, a time to plant, and a time to build bonds.
I ’ m not 100% sure that the last book is actually from university travel, but it should be found in the SEO book.
Link building is always a quest for websites, but that doesn ’ t mean that conditions are the same every day.
However, there are certain constants even under constant change.
One of these faithfully enduring factors is the inexhaustible progress of the chapters.
Even if the foliage doesn ’ t change and the snow doesn ’ t fall wherever you are, we all share the same four-season cycle.
This consistent seasonal rotation provides some things we can rely on to help us create link building strategies.
A summer.
Most modern civilizations have at least some susceptibility to the academic calendar.
In the first part of our lives, most of us have become accustomed to the concept of summer vacation.
It ’ s a pattern that tends to emerge in business trends long after we leave academia.
It is only natural that even link building is influenced by the mentality of the summer vacation.
The golden criteria for links in SEO are those that come from highly reliable sources.
Many of those high-confidence hotspots tend to slow down a bit during the summer months.
From educational institutions to local government there is a natural slowdown in some activities.
In schools in particular, the availability of teachers and students is much lower.
If you ’ re trying to target these types of links, the challenge increases when the school is out of school.
But that means you need to shift your attention elsewhere.
In warm weather, people are generally more active outdoors and it can be helpful to associate your work with this lifestyle.
with organizations associated with sponsors, of course.
If your industry focuses more on indoor cats, partnering with outdoor travel and entertainment sites is a good way to get some cross-promotion.
Falling.
Some people love autumn and others hate it, and I think this largely depends on how they see it.
Changing foliage is worth a 3-hour drive to nowhere, and the night air has a delightful flavor.
But for species that are half empty, it also means that winter is on its way.
For teachers, parents, and link builders, it ’ s time to go back to school.
When classes start, the game is running for educational content and preparing for the winter.
As children buy new book bags, teachers do the planning.
Lesson plans, teaching aids and curricula are being developed or revised.
Some of your content can get links from electronic versions of this material, if you have the right resources.
Find out what the teachable moment is in your work.
Develop these concepts and shape them into pieces of content that will appeal to teachers at all grade levels.
The first weeks of school can be busy, but if you do the right time, your contribution to educational plans may last for years.
WINTER
Winter is cold in the northern hemisphere, where the vast majority of the land mass is located on Earth.
So, whether you ’ re in San Francisco or San Tropez, it ’ s cold in January.
People spend more time indoors and there is a very good chance of getting rid of some of their cabin fever online.
In winter, both weather and social traditions work in favor of the link builder.
Christmas is coming, as are Hanukkah, Kawanza and a number of celebrations and shopping trips.
As most stores know, this time of year is about special offers, sales and discounts.
Whatever product or service you sell, you can play the recess angle.
Don ’ t sell yourself just because you think your service doesn ’ t fit the typical Christmas theme.
A carpet cleaning service can get by offering a special holiday cleaning offer.
The lighting fixtures website can offer gift certificates and “upgrade ” discounts before the holiday.
Just because you ’ re not a major player in retail doesn ’ t mean you can ’ t have some holiday links.
People are collectively looking for gift ideas and holiday party planning tips.
Blogs, outlets, and websites of all kinds compile lists of these resources along with coupon codes and bountiful deals.
Don ’ t just post your offers on your site, promote them with a comprehensive awareness campaign.
Holiday mania infects everyone, and if you can ’ t beat them, at least get links from it.
Spring.
If you watch Animal Planet, you know that spring plays a major role in expansion and growth.
The world goes through a kind of rebirth during these months.
And while there ’ s a lot going on outside, this can be one of the hardest times of the year to work in marketing corners.
There are a few holidays, but nothing is as important as the other seasons.
This makes this season great for planning, analysis and evaluation.
While nature is taking its course abroad, this is the time to breathe new life into your online marketing strategy.
Discover what worked during the winter and lay the foundation for what lies ahead.
I don ’ t mean that you should stop building your links, but it ’ s always quiet before the storm.
Link builders should be like children; if they are calm, it means they are planning something.
These “quieter ” months can be a good time like any other month to plan your attack for the next year.
The development is that in order to truly stay ahead of the curve, each season must be planned months before it arrives.
The same way supermarkets display February swimwear and early September Christmas trees.
The behind-the-scenes work needs to be done a few months before the calendar year, so you ’ re ready to go when the season comes.
Creating links is difficult enough in the best of circumstances, and any link builder will tell you that there is no one strategy that works all the time for everyone.
Nowhere is it clearer than to examine the nuances of seasonality and its effects on human behavior.
Building connections in many ways requires an understanding of psychology.
This includes not only understanding how and why to get links, but also when.
There are naturally occurring peaks and valleys throughout the year that you can use to your advantage.
Sometimes you can help your site talk to search engine algorithms by simply listening to seasonal vital rhythms.
When you use the collective habits of humanity to meet the right needs, at the right times, you are likely to find that the bonds are always there in season.

Title:

Content: How to be more attractive to tourists
2
Raushan Uteulina, Akmola region
As part of the execution of the instructions of the Head of State, a working group was created in the region to promote the tourism cluster
photo from the archive "KP"
Among the most promising objects that should become the hallmark of tourism in Kazakhstan at the global level, the Shchuchinsk-Borovsk resort zone is also named.
The other day, issues of tourism development were considered at a visiting meeting chaired by the akim of the region Marat Akhmetzhanov in Burabay with the participation of tour operators and businessmen.
“Today, we have created a working group of experts, representatives of the business community and local executive bodies to jointly answer the questions that hinder the development of tourism, what tools and institutions would be most effective in this matter, ” said Marat Akhmetzhanov.
The unique nature of the region creates a potential for the development of the tourist and recreational complex, however, according to statistics, the contribution of the tourism sector to the economy of the region is only 0.4%.
According to the head of the regional department of tourism Andrei Podgursky, the statistics keeps its records only on two types of economic activity - living and eating in places of accommodation.
But the sphere of tourism is closely connected with the services of the spheres: entertainment, passenger transportation, sales and so on.
Other reasons are shadow turnover or registration of entrepreneurs in other regions of the country.
Today, 90% of apartments in resort areas are rented illegally, many owners of accommodation facilities underestimate the cost of their buildings in order not to pay taxes, in the service sector every third employee is employed informally.
For the development of tourism it is important to attract investors, but in many areas of the region there are no current maps of free land plots.
Available are not updated and sometimes unreliable.
Often, many allotments are not included in the master plans of settlements, have neither a target purpose nor PDP.
It should be understood that the “naked ” land plot is not interesting to investors.
In addition, the only legitimate option for the allocation of land is an auction.
However, this imperfect procedure does not guarantee the provision of land for business development.
Due to the lack of land plots, it is difficult to attract potential investors to new development locations on the coast of Katarkol and Zhukey lakes.
By the way, such tourist facilities as Discovery, Star, Forest and Stars, Orbita are already developing here.
Today, the load of Kokshetau airport is only 2%.
You can load the air harbor only by increasing the flow of tourists throughout the year.
According to the speaker, letters about additional subsidized flights were repeatedly sent to the Ministry of Transport.
Now the departmental commission is considering the possibility of launching flights Kokshetau – Kyzylorda, Kokshetau – Aktobe.
As is known, within the framework of the three-stage Plan for the development of the Shchuchinsk-Borovsk resort zone since 2012, more than 30 billion tenge has been allocated from the republican budget for engineering, transport and other infrastructure.
It seems that much has been done, but the resort continues to experience problems, which the Head of State also recalled.
The President noted that according to the plan, 126 billion tenge was supposed to be allocated for these purposes, and in fact 35 billion tenge was allocated.
“That ’ s only 28% of the funding.
For more than ten years, the resort could not install treatment facilities.
Also, the construction of water supply networks and heat sources has not been completed, ” the President said.
The Akim of the region commented on the situation.
According to him, the construction of water disposal facilities, water and electricity supply, which began in 2017 in the resort area, was not completed and due to the “raw ” PSD – they were not designed for such a volume of infrastructure of the tourist business.
After the projects financed from the Republican budget were adjusted, the burden fell on the regional budget.
But since there are no such funds in the budget, it is necessary to conduct an audit of what has been done and on the basis of the received data to develop new projects and implement them under the strictest supervision so that each allocated tiyn is effectively used.
– The lack of proper control has led to such sad results in its time.
All this, of course, can not but affect the attractiveness of the resort area, where today there are interruptions with light, water supply, and experience inconvenience and vacationers, and local residents.
All these and other tasks will be solved in a complex.
We have a vision, mechanisms for improving and implementing infrastructure projects that will favorably affect the tourism and investment climate in the region, ” said Marat Akhmetzhanov.
In the course of the conversation, the businessmen expressed their opinion.
Among the problems they stated are the transfer of land plots, business lending, lack of personnel, interaction of agricultural producers with tourist facilities and others.
In particular, the chairman of the Republican Association of Children and Youth Tourism and Recreation, entrepreneur Kairat Sultanov proposed to give tour operators the opportunity to purchase food from local agricultural producers, bypassing intermediaries.
According to the honorary worker of tourism of the Republic of Kazakhstan, President of the Association of tourism and recreation industry of Akmola region, Professor Shynarbek Batyrkhanov, the problems of the sphere also stem from the lack of a systematic approach to a unified structure of tourism management, training of personnel.
For example, at the faculties of tourism in two Kokshetau universities less than 100 students study.
- I think there was a productive conversation, an open exchange of views on the existing problems in the field of tourism.
The issues lying in the plane of the decision of the regional akimat will be considered immediately.
The expert group that was created today will begin to work further.
Within a month, its members should submit specific conclusions, on the basis of which a package of proposals will be submitted for consideration to the Government, if necessary, to the deputies of the Mazhilis, ” Marat Akhmetzhanov summed up.
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Society

Trampling Tourists Changing Face of Athens’ Tourist Area Plaka

It’s the dilemma of too much tourism that’s making residents of Athens’ iconic Plaka, a tourist trap area filled with trinket shops and cafes and the city’s magnet for visitors that’s making residents there say will destroy the reason they come: the end of charm and tradition.

Under the Acropolis and home to many of the city’s remaining neo-Classical buildings that define architecture, Plaka is now so overrun in the warmer weather peak period months that it looks like Santorini at its busiest.

In a feature, The Daily Beast noted how the people who are being lured by the government which wants tourism, tourism, and tourism – it’s the country’s biggest revenue engine – have made Plaka resemble a faux ancient Greek Disneyland.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/tourists-are-destroying-athens-most-beautiful-neighborhood
Architect Giorgos Zafeiriou has been living there for decades, in a building he bought and renovated in 1988, a three-story structure that’s more than 130 years old, what Athens used to look like.

From the terrace he can see the Parthenon up close, as can many of his neighbors who are lucky enough to share the view that brings people, even if outside their windows and below it’s a cacophony.

The residents say that it’s not tourism that’s ruining the neighborhood – they’ve lived with that – but overtourism and what they characterize as blind government greed that ignores what it will do the neighborhood.

“When somebody tells me ‘What a beautiful neighborhood you live in’, I usually reply by ‘Thank you, but I want to keep living in here and the neighborhood to continue being beautiful,” said Zafeirou.

He is also President of the Plaka residents initiative and they’ve had it with the noise and the hustle and bustle that’s relentless and goes on into early morning hours, making it difficult to sleep.

Much of Athens is a hodge-podge of abandoned buildings, graffiti-covered structures and an endless sea of filthy, grey concrete buildings that’s the antithesis of those in the Plaka, the city having to build structures fast after the 1950s end of the Greek Civil War as people left the countryside for the city.

Athens used to be avoided by tourists because of that ugliness, or used as a jet pit stop on the way to islands and other destinations but in recent years as it’s becoming spruced up and the young have built a buzz with unique coffee shops and restaurants, once funky neighborhoods have become popular.

PUMP DOWN THE VOLUME

And when you’re in the capital, it’s the Acropolis and Parthenon that are the lure, as well as the Plaka, which adjoins Monistiraki that was the hub of activity during the 2004 Olympics.

“It’s a must-see place to visit when you find yourself in Greece’s largest city and, along with popular islands such as Mykonos and Santorini, it’s one of the most Instagrammable areas in the country,” said the piece written by Demetrios Ioannou.

Tell that to the residents. At an event for the protection of Plaka organized by the Society for the Environment and Cultural Heritage (ELLET), Maria Kokkinou, a permanent resident, spoke in front of an audience that included the mayor of Athens, Kostas Bakoyiannis, about what they have been dealing with as the COVID-19 pandemic winds down and tourists have returned.

“We had a very difficult summer, sleeping with earplugs and closed windows because even the double glazing cannot limit the noise. The traffic is unbearable, Plaka is full of black vans with tinted windows blocking the streets, taking up our parking spaces.”

She also issued a warning: “If we all leave and all the houses become tacky souvenir shops, the tourists will stop coming too.” A 1999 Presidential decree that’s supposed to protect the character of Plaka has been ignored, residents say, and restaurants are churning away and loud music is ceaseless.

“In the last two years the situation has become unbearable. There are days when you literally leave your house and can’t take a step,” Lydia Carras, President of ELLET and a local in the area told the news site.

Plaka has been occupied for more than 5,000 years but the modern times in the 21st Century and the hordes of tourists trampling through have made it lose the reason why people came, the resident say.

Said Zafeiriou, as he braces for what could be a record year in 2023: “All historic city centers if they lose their inhabitants after a while they languish,” without residents and turn into an unreasonable facsimile of what was.

“The state and the municipality must really look after Plaka at all costs. Plaka has something unique and must be protected. And this must be done now before all the residents leave again,” Carras warned about it.

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This phenomenon occurs when tourism growth exceeds the carrying capacity of destinations, leading to negative consequences for residents, ecosystems, and the long-term sustainability of tourist attractions.

Title:

Content: “Our tourists tend to tolerate inconveniences on the way to the long-awaited rest ”
Representatives of the tourism industry about why Russians are insensitive to difficulties on vacation
Ilya Umansky, President of the Russian Union of Travel Industry:
Russian tourists are no different from any other tourists.
They are also careful about their travel safety.
Safety in tourism is of fundamental importance.
All accidents affect demand.
At the same time, Russia is a huge tourist market.
More than 70 million people travel around the country annually, and by the end of this year, according to our forecasts, about 9 million Russian tourists will go abroad.
With such a large volume of the travel services market, sometimes a false sense is formed that our tourists behave imprudently, but this is far from the case.
Just against the background of volume, there is always a certain tourist flow in those directions that may seem risky.
While the regulatory authorities do not make decisions on the closure of a particular destination, the right of choice remains with tourists.
Pavel Shershnev, Chief Operating Officer of the travel company RussiaDiscovery:
— Rather, our tourists are more inclined to endure some inconvenience on the way to the long-awaited rest.
Given the frequency of crises and general instability, rest becomes especially important - the opportunity to switch, gain strength, spend time in beautiful places, at sea and in the sun.
For this, people are willing to tolerate inconvenience.
Often, the costs of rest can occupy a decent share in the budget, so in order to save tourists consciously go to some hardships and doom themselves to additional difficulties and risks in the organization of recreation.
Natalia Osipova, Executive Director of the Alliance of Travel Agencies:
People use their vacation to work full time for another year.
Everyone selects a place of rest by price and transport accessibility.
Possible difficulties are always warned in the travel agency.
Therefore, tourists, as a rule, going on vacation, clearly understand what they can face, except for unpredictable cases, for example, related to weather conditions.
Dmitry Malyutin, CEO of online booking service Level.Travel:
Over the past ten years, people in our country have developed immunity in connection with various events.
At the same time, it is important for a person in a saturated information world to change the picture and reboot.
Russians need it to be in the resource, so the difficulties on the way to rest for many are no longer frightening.
Maxim Pristavko, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of Jet Travel Holding:
“We have been living in a state of turbulence for more than a hundred years, in conditions when nothing is frightening anymore.
And not only in terms of tourism and recreation, but in everything else.
We have a revolution, a civil war, a world war, stagnation, the dashing 1990s, and people are used to adapting.
And most importantly, most people do not have a very high standard of living, they are used to living not very well.
Those who fly to the Maldives do not go to the Crimea.
And if something happened in the Maldives, those who can relax there would not fly there - for them, the loss of this amount would not become critical.
And for people with not very great wealth and with a rare opportunity to relax at the sea, no matter what happens there.
In the early 2000s, there was a terrible tsunami in Thailand, and in many regions, especially in the Trans-Urals and Siberia, calls immediately went to the agencies with questions about how much prices have fallen there and whether there are “burning ” vouchers.
Ekaterina Zapolskaya, general director of the travel company "VIP-Company":
A significant part of Russians was born and grew up in a closed country, when it was impossible to go anywhere.
And then they opened it.
Everyone wanted these trips.
People then competed in this: go to Europe or Asia for a weekend, brag about who had what visa and how much they gave.
Trying to eat that opportunity.
Inside of us is that it can all end, and therefore we must still go where we can.
A friend of mine recently told me that every year he tells his wife to go to Turkey or somewhere else, like the last time.
I bought a trip and went.
The money was paid, not to be lost to them.
Anna Lukashevskaya, head of the tourist network "Bank of burning tours":
— For most, most likely, the increase in the cost of tours and visa restrictions are more problematic.
The share of tourists who bought tours on credit in our company reaches 15%.
They are ready to travel in debt, and then pay for it from a year to three years.
But in general, we see a decrease in the number of tourists sent both domestically and abroad.
However, nothing has changed for the category of tourists who belong to the richer, upper middle class.
When choosing a holiday, for sure, there are no obstacles in front of them, except for sanctions.
But most Russian citizens as before could not afford to travel, and now.
Ivan Samoshin, CEO of Travelmart:
They are not, they are very sensitive!
But we are used to it, as well as to all the complexities of life!
On the one hand, they are ready to endure to get to the desired rest and take the children to the sea.
And, calculating the possible risks, they developed fearlessness compared to the Europeans.
On the other hand, they don ’ t know where else to go.
The choice, for example, between a crowded Krasnodar Territory and a heavily expensive Turkey.
And most importantly, we are still unstoppable in the search for and discovery of new directions and impressions.
Timur Yusupov, owner of the Telegram-channel "World, Gamarjoba":
- A very limited choice of budget areas - Turkey, Egypt, Crimea, Krasnodar Territory.
We have three warm seas, which can be reached by car: Azov, which is considered by many to be a children ’ s sea, the Caspian Sea, which for some reason, including due to poor infrastructure, is considered with less desire to relax, and, of course, Black is the most popular.
And affordable.
A large percentage of Russians do not have passports or visas.
And, of course, the great Russian “maybe ” is actively working.
Many believe that it will not affect them, will carry.
In order for the Russian to say that he will not go there to rest, economic reasons should work – a significant increase in prices for travel, accommodation or food.
Group "Direct speech"
Why are Russian tourists insensitive to difficulties on the way to rest?
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Title:

Content: Saturday, 13 January 2024 02: 43 GMT
150 billion euros in global facilitated tourism per year
(MENAFN- Al-Bayan)
Participants at the Accessible Tourism Conference held on 11 and 12 January in Dubai under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA), President of Dubai Airports Corporation (DAC) and Chief Executive Officer of Emirates Airline and Group, stressed that opportunities in the global economy are being lost due to the lack of mobility for these important people. Cross-border travel reached 142 billion euros last year, calling for the need to provide smooth mobility rights for people with special needs, stressing the importance of cities and tourist destinations developing strategies that take into account the needs and requirements of this group.
The participants praised the UAE ’ s drive to be the best disability-friendly tourist destination in the next few years, as part of its plan to be the best tourist destination in the world.
They praised the role of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in providing sustainable solutions for passengers with disabilities and organizing a workshop to improve air transport services for passengers with disabilities.
The number of people with special needs in the Middle East who are eager to visit friendly tourist destinations reached about 50 million people, according to statistics from 2023.
Experts estimated the number of people with disabilities around the world at 1.3 billion, predicting that the value of global accessible tourism will exceed 150 billion euros annually.
They stressed the importance of the participation of persons with disabilities in the planning and construction process of tourism facilities, to ensure that their needs are effectively met.
The conference called for promoting sustainable development plans at airports, carriers, hotels, museums, shopping malls and beaches to make them more disability-friendly.
The conference highlighted the need to apply the concept of a comprehensive journey to achieve smooth tourism for people with disabilities, from the moment they think about traveling to return home.
It was stressed that information should be readily available in key locations such as airports and hotels, to facilitate the travel experience for people with disabilities, while continuously improving these services.
Recommendations of the International Air Transport Association (IATA)
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) called for the establishment of advisory councils and the development of practical steps, joint action among stakeholders, including airlines, airports and service providers, leveraging technology to improve services, and creating synergies through stakeholder collaboration and the use of effective tools.
During the fourth edition of the International Conference on Facilitated Tourism, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) made recommendations on improving mobility assistance services, emphasizing the importance of effective communication, co-ordination and accurate use of codes.
The workshop discussed how to overcome challenges such as lack of prior notification of services and the use of wheelchair assistance as a holistic solution, while offering suggestions for better service to customers, including non-disabled passengers who need assistance.
The workshop featured prominent speakers such as Mozah Saeed Al Rumaihi from dnata, Mark de Laurentis from the Italian Civil Aviation Authority, Hilal Kahraman from IGA Airport in Istanbul, Xavier Mascarel from British Airways and Conor Halpin from PRMASSIST in Ireland.
Linda Ristaño of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) led the workshop.
The recommendations included several axes, the most important of which were: understanding the needs of individual customers, such as blind people who may not need a wheelchair, or elderly people who need mobility support, analyzing current boards and using the wheelchair as a comprehensive solution, and offering diverse solutions rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all solution.
Fruitful efforts
Ghassan Sulaiman, Secretary General of the Conference, thanked His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman of Dubai Airports Corporation, Supreme President and CEO of Emirates and Group, for his generous sponsorship of the Conference.
He thanked all the partners, participants and speakers for their constructive interaction and keenness to collaborate to come up with innovative ideas and proposals that will pave the way towards a more vibrant and innovative future for the accessible tourism sector in the region and the world.
“More than ever, the tourism sector needs concerted efforts among various stakeholders to adopt the concept of comprehensive tourism that meets the aspirations of millions of people with special needs, from the moment they think about embarking on a tourist trip to the moment of their arrival at home, ” said Ghassan Suleiman.
Dubai Land of Wonders
Jeff Stragan, Director of Business Development at Dubai College of Tourism, said Dubai is a unique destination and is on its way to becoming a land of wonder for tourists with disabilities, spending huge amounts of money to make the city the most accessible place in the world by making all its facilities and attractions accessible to all. To make it the best city for tourism and work.
He said that recent opinion polls have chosen it as the best tourist destination in 2024 thanks to safety and infrastructure, receiving 15.7 million tourists in 2023, the highest number since 2019, and that it has been able to become friendly in large proportion thanks to the directives of the wise leadership. Regionally, the best in providing standards for affordable tourism and related services.
Strengthening strategic policies
Igor Stefanovic, Technical Coordinator, UNWTO Ethics, Culture and Social Responsibility, who specializes in disability tourism, Spain, noted that national tourism administrations and DMOs can strengthen their tourism policies and strategies in terms of accessibility, not only by completing legislative obligations, but by using international standards and guidelines and fostering the work of the tourism industry, so that accessibility is seen as a competitive advantage and a public good.
He highlighted UNWTO ’ s recent efforts to address cultural and nature-based tourism experiences, targeting a wider population of end-users.
Stefanovich said that Dubai has been able to integrate affordable tourism into its strategy. We find that shopping malls are keen to apply all the standards for people with special needs, explaining that this requires focusing on the specificity of each case and providing appropriate solutions in all known cities in accordance with international tourism standards, such as ISO 21902 for accessible tourism, which must be applied to all infrastructure and services provided by tourism facilities. Portugal and Argentina, for example, do not give subsidies to tourist facilities without applying this standard.
UNESCO and Sustainable Tourism
Salah Zaki Khalid, Director of UNESCO ’ s Doha Office for the Gulf States and Yemen, UNESCO Representative in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Yemen, explained that natural and cultural heritage sites are now key components of the world ’ s tourism assets.
Natural and cultural heritage sites, including scenic landscapes and revitalized historic cities, are precious tourist assets that characterize the destination.
There is a growing demand for nature-based tourism, along with visits to heritage sites or cultural and historical monuments.
Since 1972, UNESCO has designated 1,199 sites as World Heritage sites in 195 countries, while UNESCO has designated 56 archaeological sites as at risk around the world, but much can be done to preserve our UNESCO World Heritage List, which includes cultural, natural and mixed sites.
The UNESCO World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Programme represents a new approach based on dialogue and cooperation among stakeholders, where tourism planning and heritage management are integrated at the destination level, natural and cultural assets are assessed and protected, and appropriate tourism is developed.
Cultural tourism is one of the world ’ s largest and fastest growing tourism markets.
Culture and creative industries are increasingly being used to promote destinations and enhance their competitiveness and attractiveness.
UNESCO seeks to establish networks of key stakeholders to coordinate destination management and marketing related to different heritage methods to promote and coordinate unique, high-quality experiences based on the heritage recognized by UNESCO, with the aim of promoting sustainable development based on heritage values and creating tourism value added to the sites.
Tourism is more accessible
Evan Hall, CEO, Western Australia Tourism Board, said: “Travel can be a challenging experience for guests with disabilities, as they need to ensure that their accommodations, activities and experiences meet the unique requirements related to their disability. This barrier encourages tourism companies to develop an online guide that provides visitors with specific and detailed information on business accessibility, given the importance of providing detailed information to guests with disability-related needs, the role of tourism companies in meeting accessibility and accreditation criteria, and how to promote.
High global growth potential
Trinidad Domínguez Vial, a professor at Spain ’ s Vigo University, confirmed that the disability travel market has not been adequately invested despite adults with disabilities alone spending US $58.7 billion on their travel.
Europe alone could have a potential revenue of €88.6 billion by 2025, with more than $17 billion a year coming from their travel to the United States.
Access to all tourism facilities, products and services needs to be overhauled, with new data showing that the market for special needs travel is having a greater economic impact on the travel industry than ever before.
Missed opportunities for the global economy and tourism markets amount to €142 billion annually.
She pointed to the reluctance of persons with disabilities to travel due to the lack of appropriate services and facilities for them in several cities around the world.
Enhancing access will help expand the tourism market and improve market share, enhance competitiveness, increase tourist numbers and improve overall quality of life.
Free movement is a right for everyone
Luis Felipe de Oliveira, director general of Airports Council International, said: “There is no discussion.
Access to transportation is a right for all people. ”
“As the voice of the world ’ s airports, ACI World is committed to developing a comprehensive and accessible air transport system.
We work closely with our member airports, international partners and mobility groups to harness resources and best practices to help airports reduce barriers to accessibility.
Airports around the world have recognized and demonstrated their commitment, not least through the Airports Council International ’ s (ACI) Accessibility Improvement Accreditation Program, the only international assessment / accreditation program dedicated to airport accessibility for passengers with disabilities. ”
Sustainable and Affordable Tourism
Daniela Bass, President and Founder, DP Sustainability Advocacy Boutique International, and former Director of the United Nations Division for Inclusive Social Development, reviewed the role of accessible and inclusive cities and tourism in improving living standards, including for persons with disabilities.
She pointed out the importance of statistics and providing advice on policies and proposals that the Middle East region should take into account.
Turning to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Bass highlighted Goal 1 to eradicate poverty, in particular Goal 11 on accessible and inclusive cities and human settlements, Goal 10 on closing the inequality gap, and Goal 17 on achieving the Goals through partnerships.
Tour Operators
Francesco Tabenasi, Director General of the Tourism Promotion Authority of Tuscany, Italy, explained the role of tour operators as ambassadors for their cities and countries.
This approach is an ideal opportunity for tour operators from different cities and countries to learn about offers, services and products related to disability tour packages, to communicate and promote tours in each operator ’ s home cities, and to build partnerships with other tour operators.
Tabenasi addressed the challenges facing the tourism sector with disabilities and strategies to overcome them, presenting practical examples taken by the province of Tuscany in this regard.
Technology and Tourism Facilitation
Experts discussed the vital role played by technological development in enhancing the growth opportunities of the tourism sector for people of determination globally, through the development of integrated and smart platforms and applications capable of providing an easy and seamless experience to an estimated 15% of the global population.
Hilal Kahraman, Head of Passenger Experience Design at Istanbul Airport, Turkey, said: “The airport has developed applications for people with disabilities from the moment they arrive at the airport to ensure that all deaf, dumb, blind and disabled people complete their procedures smoothly and quickly based on the highest technological solutions. Istanbul International Airport conducts all assessments and reviews on a regular basis. ” Make it easy for this important segment of communities to enjoy the freedom of travel and mobility.
Hans Bose, CEO and founder of Travel Genius BTE, noted that the company has launched an app for the UAE that encourages affordable tourism, providing all the information about all the attractions in Dubai, including shopping malls, parks and beaches, and that it enables tourists to plan their next trip and make sure that all of them are safe. The selected sites are disability-friendly before booking and payment.
Abin Roy Chowdhury, Sales & Operations, Deco Systems, India, said that the company has introduced applications and solutions that take into account the diverse requirements of customers, starting from the website and other open source applications that help develop software to help developers design applications and solutions that contribute to making the lives of people with disabilities easier.
The session was moderated by Igor Stefanovic, Technical Coordinator, Ethics, Culture and Social Responsibility Department, UNWTO, who specializes in disability tourism, Spain.
Accessible Cities
In a productive panel discussion titled ‘ Creating an Accessible City ’, key stakeholders in the tourism industry came together to discuss integrating accessibility into tourism and urban planning.
Participants, including Ramin Gilani, Denin Cooper, Stefano Coletta, Mahmoud and Jeff Strachan, moderated by Patrick Antaki, shared successful ideas and strategies for creating inclusive accessible tourism environments.
The session highlighted the critical role of innovative technology and engineering and the importance of understanding diverse needs in making cities and tourist destinations accessible to all.
The main discussions focused on the challenges faced by different regions of the world and the solutions being implemented, such as specialized tools and techniques, and the need for cultural transformation towards inclusiveness.
Ramin Gilani stressed the need to find practical solutions in the construction and healthcare sectors, while Denin Cooper discussed the need to provide customized travel services for people with disabilities.
Stefano Coletta highlighted Italy ’ s success in affordable tourism, while Mahmoud Mahmood focused on early intervention programs.
Jeff Strachan shared the progress that Dubai has made to become the most visited and accessible city.
Participants agreed on the importance of information dissemination and a collaborative approach involving different stakeholders, and called for a unified platform to share resources and best practices, ensuring that accessible tourism becomes mainstream.
This committee represents an important step towards global inclusiveness in tourism, showcasing the commitment and progress of industry leaders.
Shared ideas and strategies are expected to spur further developments in making cities around the world more accessible and more welcoming for all.
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Title:

Content: Yes it’s hot, but experience nature if you want to save it

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Yes it’s hot, but experience nature if you want to save it

To submit a letter to The Age, email letters@theage.com.au. Please include your home address and telephone number below your letter. No attachments. See here for our rules and tips on getting your letter published.

GLOBAL WARMING

I encourage Wendy Syfret, (“Turning up the heat on summer feelings”, 5/12) and other parents of young children, to spend as much time as possible outdoors, in nature, with them. And go to climate rallies, including the ones Tim Winton might have meant with his exhortation to start “breaking some shit” (“Author Tim Winton lashes oil and gas industry’s ‘crime against humanity’,” 22/11).
It is important that our children know the feel of grass, a running creek, cool and warm breezes, and birdsong, and that their family loved them enough to show up and demand their protection.
Lesley Walker, Northcote

Immediate steps
Climate impacts are here now. Communities need to be made aware of the risks through hazard risks mapping of areas exposed to climate disasters as suggested by Natural Hazards Research Australia and Suncorp (“Calls intensify to move people living in flood, fire-prone areas”, 2/12).
Every step we take to help communities prepare for now unavoidable climate impacts secures a safer future and builds resilience, protecting people and country.
Vicky Ellmore, Hurstbridge

First priorities
According to the most recent Resolve poll, some voters have swung to the Liberal Party purportedly in response to a perceived sense of threat to their security both physical and economic (“Voters backing Dutton on security”, 5/12). They have been misled.
In its report, Climate Security Upfront, the Australian Security Leaders Climate Group led by retired Admiral Chris Barrie stated, “Climate risk must be the first priority for the government, whether from security, emissions-reduction policy, budget priority or international relationship perspectives.” At present Labor’s policies and initiatives to reduce domestic CO2 emissions, while still not in keeping with the science, are measurably better than the Coalition’s who distract with the nuclear option.
The government, in alliance with the progressives on the crossbench, needs to set the political agenda and not be caught responding to the populist “otherings” of the Coalition.
Jennifer Smithers, Ashburton

Nuclear ambitions
Those who trumpet French President Emmanuel Macron’s call to nuclearise the world often fail to mention the fact that the French government through its 100 per cent owned EDF Energy company is the largest builder of nuclear power plants in the world. They are currently building the Hinkley Point C power plant in England (with cost overruns of $5 billion plus at this stage). They have also built identical plants in Finland and China (the latter had troubles that stalled the building for 12 months) that had huge overruns in costs too.
Bear in mind the comments that Naoto Kan, the prime minister of Japan made at the time of the Fukushima disaster that nuclear power will never be an entirely safe option. EDF Energy has been a huge drag on French taxpayers, something with which Australians have some experience of with the cancelled French submarine contract.
Rob Park, Surrey Hills

Compulsory viewing
My wife and I have been watching the latest of David Attenborough’s truly amazing nature programs Planet Earth III. This should be compulsory viewing to all those climate sceptics around the world, to show them what could be lost in the natural world to future generations if continuing climate changes keep happening. Also the powers that be in all heavy industrialised nations and governments worldwide should see this program and rather than say they will do something in the future, actually start doing something in the present because the future might be too late.
Alan Leitch, Austins Ferry, Tas

THE FORUM

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Dealing with hostility
It’s unfortunate that Jacinta Nampijinpa Price did not have the courage of her convictions on the matter of the referendum, as she refused many interviews (“Price rejected 52 requests to speak on ABC about Voice”, 5/12). Nor apparently did others from the No campaign. She says she was afraid of a hostile interviewer.
First Nations people could give some tips on dealing with hostility, which they have experienced since settlement. To a much lesser extent, supporters of the Yes campaign experienced high levels of hostility too.
Jan Marshall, Brighton

Rightly rejected
One can only commend Senator Jacinta Price for her many rejections for interviews with journalists from the ABC. Even though our national carrier is supposed to be apolitical, Price has learnt the organisation is “anything but”.
Barrie Dempster, Balwyn

Favoured networks
Jacinta Price rejected 52 interview requests with the ABC leading up to the Voice to Parliament referendum, saying interviewers on ABC programs were “hostile” towards her. Another view is that the ABC interviewers wouldn’t give her a soft interview when compared to how she was questioned by interviewers on her favoured networks.
Garry Meller, Bentleigh

Relative threat
About 40 per cent of prisoners return to prison within two years, Australian Productivity Commission figures show. In its approach to laws for immigration detainees (“Freed violent sex offender gets indecent assault charge”, 5/12) the opposition is depicting non-citizens as being more likely to be dangerous reoffenders because three of the 148 recently released detainees were again arrested (one for cannabis possession).
Is Opposition Leader Peter Dutton seriously suggesting ministers should resign because offenders who have served their time are being freed to continue their lives? Or are we to believe that non-citizens are somehow more of a threat to Australians and should be permanently detained? Dutton, a former copper, should try to see this matter more humanely and rationally.
Ray Brindle, Burwood

Courage of convictions
In 2018 Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert was convicted of spying in Iran and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment. In November 2020 she was released and returned to Australia after serving 804 days of her sentence.
The federal government is currently introducing legislation that allows judges to detain someone on the basis of a foreign conviction so that they can re-imprison asylum seekers who were in indefinite detention. If the government is going to jail asylum seekers on the basis of sometimes dubious foreign convictions why wouldn’t this principle also apply to all Australians convicted overseas? If foreign convictions are used to put someone behind bars, should Moore-Gilbert’s Iranian conviction stand and she be re-imprisoned and serve out what’s left of her sentence?
Peter Martina, Warrnambool

Policy on the run
The Mornington Peninsula Shire Council’s failure to inform residents and ratepayers about the introduction of paid parking at Flinders Pier (“Pay to play on peninsula as beach parking fees tested”, 5/12) is a serious oversight.
Furthermore, council’s pricing regime based on city beaches in highly populated areas, suggests that policy is being made on the run. While accepting that council needs extra revenue, little or no thought has been given to older beachgoers who may not use phone apps that are now required to park at the Flinders Pier; the cost of beach parking for low-income families enjoying a day out; and the economic impact on small businesses in Flinders as visitors pivot to those beaches on the peninsula that offer free parking.
And while passive users of the foreshore now need to pay, owners of boats and jet skis are still entitled to park for free on the Flinders foreshore under Victoria’s Better Boating policy that exempts vehicles with trailers at all public boat ramps across the state. Mornington Peninsula Shire Council does many things well but the idea of paid parking at Flinders Pier is not one of them.
Charles Reis, chairperson, Save Flinders Pier Campaign

Royalty payments
As subjects of King Charles III we now need to pay to visit Mornington Peninsula beaches, so we should apply the same “user pays” principle to fund the royal visit ... say $35 for a glimpse of the King, $15 for a glimpse of the Queen? Consultants can (for a large fee) advise the market rate for a handshake, a chat or an arvo cuppa and cakes.
The visit also provides the opportunity to market test the King’s personal loyalty to his subjects, so he should be given the opportunity to publicly bid sponsorship for the King Charles III Melbourne Cup or King Charles III AFL grand final.
Ian Gould, Muckleford

Market dominance
The upcoming parliamentary inquiry into price gouging by the major supermarkets (“Minister has a bone to pick with supermarkets”, 5/12), would do well to look at the whole chain of production of farm goods. A prime example of unfair pricing has been the recent price of lamb which has “gone through the floor”, the farmers are struggling to make a living, yet we have seen relatively minor savings of this product in the supermarket.
There are many different methods of price gouging and the dominance of supermarkets over primary producers is one of them.
Phil Mackenzie, Eaglemont

City’s lungs
Golf courses, both public and private, provide green spaces/parklands throughout cities – they provide “breathing spaces” for citizens, and refuges for birdlife in particular. As Melbourne grows, the demand for recreational parkland will intensify. The loss of open green space to new housing and development should be seen as a calamity – the process is irreversible and a demerit to Melbourne’s claim as a highly liveable city.
The previous golf course, Eastern, in Doncaster has gone; the old Kingswood golf course in Dingley Village is under threat of housing development, and now the former Yarra Valley Country Club is in the firing line (“Pleas for a ruling on ex-golf club project”, 5/12). If the solution to a lack of housing is to infill parklands with new houses then we have seriously got it wrong.
James Reiss, Abbotsford

Intelligent design
If planning regulations (or lack thereof) are to ride roughshod over local councils and residents to squeeze in thousands of people into existing suburbs, we are going to lose most of our gardens and trees. This is the last thing we need if we are to become resilient in the face of climate change. We need intelligent designs to ensure that our cities do not become unliveable, and developers, as a rule, do not look at the bigger picture when profits are at risk. Unsustainable population growth is destroying the environment we need to enhance and sustain our wellbeing, as well as dismantling our democratic processes.
Jennie Epstein, Little River

Too many males
While it’s always interesting to hear of books that might be good reading, Jason Steger’s list of recommended books (“Read your way through Christmas”, Age, 5/12) is unbalanced. Of his 13 titles, twice as many are by male authors as by females, despite the fact that more books published are written by women, and women outnumber men as both readers and buyers of books.
Freya Headlam, Glen Waverley

Defence let down
Re: Peter Hartcher’s column (“Chinese subplot spells danger”, 5/12), there is clear evidence that China is a threat to world peace and that Australian governments aren’t prepared to invest in the security of our country. The current government has underspent on defence in the last 12 months by nearly $1 billion, cancelled significant defence projects from satellite systems to armoured personnel carriers, regurgitated the previous government’s announcements as if they were its own, etc. In the government’s own words this is “Australia’s most challenging strategic environment since World War II”. But the reality is the government is doing nothing about it but making motherhood statements.
Shawn French, Greensborough

In the pink
Looking up at the pink star festive decorations in the city yesterday, I wondered if I was in Barbie land. Christmas green and red out, happy holidays in a Pinkdom in?
Glenda Johnston, Queenscliff

Sensible switch
For me, the list of associations with the colour bright red includes: China, Republicans, MAGA, war, warning, prohibition, danger, anger, violence, blood, Coca-Cola, Christmas ... The CBD decorators did well to remove Christmas from that list and on to a list including softer concepts such as romance, childhood nostalgia, femininity, health awareness, art deco and flowers. If we must keep Christmas at all, let’s keep it pink.
Ralph Böhmer, St Kilda West

Just call it a day
Test Cricket is as Australian as cold beer and corned beef sandwiches. Both are delights that make summer days watching the cricket memorable and beautiful. Thankfully, these days of Test cricket will be enhanced by the imminent retirement of a cricketer who was the architect of Sandpaper Gate. With him gone, the game will again be wholesome, exciting, and played by people who will rely on guile and skill to win.
Andrew Dowling, Torquay

AND ANOTHER THING

Politics
The Coalition wants released detainees to do the time before they do the crime.
Bryan Fraser, St Kilda West

So a Senate report wants to teach students how to behave? Here’s an idea! How about setting an example in parliament.
Helen Cole, Glen Waverley

Royal visit
How bizarre that it is headline news that our head of state is going to visit Australia.
Gretel Lamont, Aireys Inlet

King Charles is coming, everyone look busy.
Paul Custance, Highett

The report on the royal visit started “Charles to pay ...” I bet he doesn’t.
Adrian Tabor, Point Lonsdale

If we can cancel the Commonwealth Games for financial reasons, then surely we will be able to cancel Charles and Camilla’s visit for the same reason.
Mary Fenelon, Doncaster East

Charles and Camilla’s visit will test the pull of a monarchy without “riz!”
Joan Segrave, Healesville

Furthermore
The parliamentary inquiry into pig welfare reminded me of the old saying regarding bacon and eggs: All in a day’s work for the chook; a lifetime commitment for the pig.
Bruce Crowe, Sunbury

Yes, the big supermarkets should freeze the price of ham, great idea from Senator Murray Watt. Sure to be a big help with Christmas costs. And maybe mince pies too. And bread, and milk, and dishwashing liquid, and cat food, and a few other things?
Tim Durbridge, Brunswick

On the front page of The Age, a great news story (“Message of love as long-lost baby photos find a way home”, 5/12) of baby photos being given to their rightful owners.
Mary Cole, Richmond

Finally
Ham will return to your correspondent’s Christmas table when “more humane stunning methods are employed” (Letters, 5/12). How’s this for a suggestion? Go vegetarian.
Linda Fisher, Malvern East

Patrick Elligett sends an exclusive newsletter to subscribers each week. Sign up to receive his Note from the Editor.

To submit a letter to The Age, email letters@theage.com.au. Please include your home address and telephone number below your letter. No attachments. See here for our rules and tips on getting your letter published.

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Special edge of the power: Putin raised the main problems of the Far Eastern Federal District
The outflow of the population from the Far East indicates that so far measures to support this territory are not enough.
Vladimir Putin said this at a meeting on the socio-economic development of the Far Eastern Federal District, which he held on September 2 in Vladivostok on the sidelines of the WEF.
At the same time, the President called the historical task of increasing the population in the region.
The head of state drew attention to the shortage of doctors in the Far East, and also demanded not to overestimate the prices for air tickets and to ensure the mobility of citizens throughout the country.
According to First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov, the authorities will expand the program of subsidizing air tickets for all categories of residents of the Far East from 11 routes to the 21st.
Stitching the country
Despite the fact that Russia launched a national program for the development of the Far East until 2035, many issues still require special attention from the authorities.
This applies in particular to air travel.
Now there is a program of subsidizing tickets for flights from the Far East to the European part of the country.
It covers not only privileged categories of the population, but all residents of the DFO.
However, in some regions, citizens this year could not buy preferential air tickets: either the limit of tickets has been exhausted, although there is still a lot of time until the end of the year, or the region has not received subsidies at all, "Putin said.
Vladimir Putin holds a meeting on the socio-economic development of the Far Eastern Federal District via video conference
Photo: Press Service of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation / kremlin.ru
This situation is unacceptable, since it is important to ensure the free movement of citizens throughout the country, he said.
In this regard, the President called for the creation of a system that will automatically allocate subsidies for transportation from the Far East every year.
In addition, he stated the need to increase transport connectivity between the subjects of the federal district.
According to the President, it is necessary to expand the network of intraregional routes and update the fleet on these flights.
Now on the basis of the carrier "Aurora" has already created a single Far Eastern airline, which in July transported the first passengers.
- I pay attention to the fact that the aircraft should fly in those directions that are needed by citizens.
At the same time, it is important that the price of air tickets is, as they say, "lifting" for people, only in this case the passenger flow of the airline will grow.
The purchasing power of those who receive this service should correspond to the cost of the ticket, — said the head of the Russian Federation.
The President also proposed to save small airports from excessive requirements for their work.
According to him, many settlements in the Far Eastern Federal District are in remote places, as a result of which air travel is the only way to communicate with other cities.
At the same time, small airports, even if only a few flights arrive here a week, are obliged to fulfill almost the same requirements as large hubs.
This concerns, for example, the security of infrastructure, the availability of special rapid response teams, the President explained.
In general, the transport situation in the Far East becomes a limiting factor for the socio-economic development of this territory, and if we take into account its potential, then the whole country, said Stanislav Kudzh, Rector of RTU MIREA.
Aurora Airlines Pavilion at the Far East Street exhibition as part of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok.
Photo: Press Service of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation / kremlin.ru
— This issue needs an accelerated solution, first of all from the point of view of passenger transportation.
The issue of mobility of students and students remains important: they should be able to come to study in other regions.
And in addition to studying, the issues of student ecological tourism and volunteer projects are also significant - and this also largely depends on the transport infrastructure, "the expert told Izvestia.
First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov said during the meeting that the authorities plan to expand the program of subsidizing air tickets for all categories of residents of the Far East from 11 routes to the 21st in 2022.
In addition, he proposed to limit the number of preferential flights per person, since tickets are often purchased for business trips.
In Search of Doctors
Medical issues were also discussed at the meeting.
Vladimir Putin drew attention to the shortage of doctors and the need to update the primary health care.
In addition, in the subjects of the Far Eastern Federal District, there is often no infrastructure for the rehabilitation of citizens, including those who have contracted the coronavirus, he added.
— In the Far East, there are many small settlements, the distance between which can reach hundreds of kilometers, and the current model of financing health care here is often “limp ”.
People do not always have access to quality medical care, equipment clinics, FAPs sometimes leave much to be desired, ” said Vladimir Putin.
Photo: Izvestia / Alexander Polegenko
According to the Governor of the Magadan region Sergey Nosov, funding under the compulsory medical insurance system for the performed volumes of medical care does not work in settlements with a population of less than 10 thousand people.
Such in the Far East — 94%, they live 20% of the total population, — he said.
In this regard, the leaders of the Far Eastern subjects propose to change the system of financing health care.
Vladimir Putin instructed to separately deal with this issue through the State Council.
Stop the outflow
Regions of the district also face the problem of outflow of local population.
Against this background, Deputy Prime Minister, Plenipotentiary of the President in the Far Eastern Federal District Yuri Trutnev proposed to extend payments to the third child in the amount of 1 million rubles to all subjects of the Far East.
Now such a program operates in the Sakhalin region.
In addition, he considers it necessary to start a large-scale renovation of Far Eastern cities.
Even before the meeting began (during an interactive presentation of the results of the development of the Far East), Yuri Trutnev also suggested that the president extend the “Far Eastern mortgage ” to doctors and teachers, regardless of their age.
The head of state noted that in the country as a whole, there are still insufficient support measures for families with children.
In the Far East, according to him, additional steps are needed at all to “make it attractive to have children here. ”
Much is being done, I fully agree, but it is still not enough if we observe an outflow, "Putin said, calling it a historic task to increase the population in the Far East.
Photo: Press Service of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation / kremlin.ru
The outflow is primarily due to the lack of modern housing and the lack of well-paid jobs, said Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on economic policy Konstantin Dolgov.
The young people are leaving, because there is no certainty that after receiving a diploma at a local university they will be able to find a good job in their specialty, he told Izvestia. — We need that the residents of the Far East do not feel detached.
We need to move away from a situation where the dominant part of the country ’ s economic potential is concentrated in the capital.
In addition, it is necessary to provide special preferences for business, since increasing business activity will make the Far Eastern Federal District more attractive.
At the same time, Konstantin Dolgov reminded that the free port of Vladivostok (a free customs zone in the key port territories of the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk) is already operating.
In addition, 22 territories of advanced development were created in the Far East.
Residents of the TOP during the first five years do not pay taxes on profits, property and land, as well as enjoy other preferences.
However, the Ministry of Finance believes that the Far East needs, first of all, conditions for development, and not subsidies.
When we say that let ’ s give more money to support the regions, it seems to me that here we still need to talk about the fishing rod, give money to the investment plan, develop the economy, ” said the head of the department Anton Siluanov.
Photo: Izvestia / Konstantin Kokoshkin
According to him, the budget provision of most regions of the Far East exceeds the average indicators.
Vladimir Putin at the meeting also supported the idea of   modernizing the Korsakov port on Sakhalin.
In addition, the issue of building a bridge from the mainland to Sakhalin was discussed.
According to the Minister of Transport Vitaly Saveliev, this is a “capital-intensive ” project that needs to be carefully calculated.
It will take a lot of money to get to the bridge, he said.
— There are not even approaches to the bridge, there, in fact, it is necessary to develop the entire adjacent territory.
It is necessary to build roads there properly, the president reacted.
Center of Attraction
On the same day, Vladimir Putin visited the Far Eastern Maritime Training Center of the Admiral Nevelskoy Maritime State University, which was commissioned in 2021.
We are talking about a unique complex for the training of crew members of multifunctional vessels and advanced training of marine specialists not only from Russia, but also from other countries.
Already, there is interest in educational programs in the field of polar navigation and operation of ice-class vessels, for example, from the Philippines, Vietnam, India, South Africa and Nigeria.
By the way, during the conversation with cadets, the President stressed that in 2024 it is planned to transport 80 million tons of cargo along the Northern Sea Route.
Last year, the volume of traffic on the NSR amounted to 33 million tons, he said.
According to him, the use of this route is very promising from an economic point of view, since the movement of goods along it significantly reduces the price of goods for the end user.
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10 Best Bucket List Trips For Your Post-Pandemic Travels

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We all know that leisure travel is coming back in a huge way, with jammed airports, limited availability in hot destinations, and record bookings for many travel companies.

But there’s more to the life-after-COVID travel phenomena than just pent-up demand. The nature of the way people will vacation has changed. The shutdown caused by the global pandemic was unprecedented and like nothing in our lifetime, but also served as a warning that you never know what’s coming next, from other diseases to natural disasters to the quickly worsening effects of climate change to war. The sense that “life is too short” and a new fatalism is one side effect of the pandemic. That in turn has led people to stop putting things off for the future, especially an uncertain future. For many people, life’s big trips have always been scheduled for “someday,” and increasingly, someday is now. People are putting a priority on once-in-a-lifetime experiential trips, or “Bucket List” travel, and after extensive interviews with some of the world’s top travel agents and outfitters and more than 30 years of personal experience on the topic, I’ve compiled this list for anyone who is wondering where to go next to experience something much more incredible than the typical vacation.

But everyone’s travel style is different, and if you have a passion for something like golf or skiing, one of those trips will be on you Bucket List, and if you don’t you won’t care. I’ve mixed things up here with a variety to try to cover something for everyone.

When appropriate, I also give specific recommendations for the best outfitters or specialty tour operator to make these dreams come true, but if you travel a lot and want it to be the best it can be, I always recommend using a good travel agent. I’ve written extensively on all the many reasons why this will make your trip better, safer and often cheaper, and you can read a lot more about these advantages here. If you do use a travel agent - and you should - you can pass on my specific recommendations and get the best of both worlds.

African Safari: For the most part, this list is in no particular order, but this is an exception, which is why I put if first. To me this the very epitome of the Bucket List concept, because unlike most of the others, I can’t imagine a personality that would not be wowed. It’s for everyone, and it is truly something you need to experience in your lifetime. I’ve had the good fortune to have been many times, and I would go again tomorrow, because for me it never gets old - it’s more than a once-in-a-lifetime trip - but at least once!

The classic is East Africa, Kenya and Tanzania, but if I were planning your trip and you had never been, I would suggest South Africa, or South Africa and Botswana. South Africa has a lot more non-wildlife appeal, wine country, amazing food, beaches, golf, classic luxury trains, and Cape Town is one of the world’s great cities. Southern Africa is easier to get to and has better luxury safari lodges and much better luxury non-safari hotels and resorts. Botswana probably has the very best concertation of pure wildlife viewing and some of the best lodges of the eight marquee African safari countries I’ve visited. However, East Africa has two unique appeals, the annual great migration across the Serengeti, one of earth’s premier natural wonders, and proximity to Rwanda and its unique gorilla trekking. Gorillas are not found in the same places as all the other desirable African animals and for many travelers gorilla trekking (you have to go on foot to see them) is the single most amazing wildfire experience on earth, and a Bucket List trip in its own right. But it lasts only a day or two, so it is best combined with a conventional East African safari.

Do It Best: Micato Safaris is my pick for making this dream trip a dream come true - by a mile. Not only are they the best safari outfitter I know, but the best company of any kind in the entire travel industry I’ve experienced, and I’m not alone - Micato is the only 10-time winner of any World’s Best Award category from Travel + Leisure Magazine, all for World’s Best Safari Operator. This is a complex trip with a lot of moving parts and using Micato will alleviate all planning concerns and guarantee a great time (read more here). This is especially true if you add gorilla trekking, for which permits are strictly required, very limited, demand far exceeds supply, and insider connections help. Micato has those, I’ve seen it myself.

Easter Island, Chile: People ask me all the time what the best place I’ve ever been is, and it’s kind of stupid question that can’t have an answer in the apples to oranges world of travel. But on the rare occasion when I am asked what the most interesting place I’ve ever been is, I don’t hesitate to say Easter Island. It’s really like nothing else you can imagine, a very remote, almost magical tropical island out of King Kong, where the entire civilization vanished mysteriously, and despite years and years of scientific research, we still don’t know much about the culture, the people or why they vanished. We do know they left behind the mysterious Moai, towering stone statues whose movement over long distances and placement rivals the inconceivable construction of the pyramids in terms of “how on earth did they do that?” Easter Island is a widely overlooked once-in-a-lifetime trip (though I’d gladly go back) that is best done from Santiago, Chile, in turn a great overlooked weekend city destination with amazing food and wine.

Until very recently the best place to stay - by a wide margin - was Explora Rapa Nui. Explora is a personal favorite brand of mine, a Chilean-based group of world-class, eco-sensitive, all-inclusive adventure lodges in places like Patagonia, the Atacama Desert and Machu Pichhu that is justifiably renowned for the excellence of its full-time, in-house guide staff. They lead guests on a huge slate of daily outdoor adventures, all included in rates along with excellent food and wine. Explora Rapa Nui is still a great choice, but was joined just last month by the new Nayara Hangaroa. Nayara is a Columbian-owned luxury eco-lodge chain with half a dozen locations in Central and South America. I have not been to any but they have an excellent reputation.

Skiing Japan: If you don’t ski, Japan is still an awesome vacation destination, exceedingly rich in culture, history, natural wonders and arguably the very best food country on the planet. But if you ski, it’s even better, a no-brainer - they get more snow than any other place in the world, and it is dry, light perfect powder. There are a huge array of resorts, but I especially like the Nagano area, a Winter Olympics venue which has a far more local Japanese feel, with lots of traditional inns (ryokans) and hot spring towns (onsens). Nagano is also accessible by train from Tokyo, and relatively close to Kyoto, so it can be combined into an epic Japan trip.

For American skiers, the northern island of Hokkaido has been more popular, but that’s only because it is what the ski and outdoor magazines and films have covered with a close-minded focus. Hokkaido does get slightly more snow than Nagano, but the difference is irrelevant given that they both get twice as much snow (or more) as other top destinations like Utah and the Alps. Niseko is the biggest and most popular resort on Hokkaido, and has lots of big modern full-service hotels including a new ultra-luxe Ritz-Carlton Reserve. It makes for an easy turnkey ski vacation, but feels very Westernized, more like going to Whistler than Japan (think lots of burgers and tacos), and because it’s easy to fly directly to Sapporo (yet another Winter Olympics host), less conducive to combining with other highlights of Japan.

Do It Best: Scout Ski is a boutique ski travel planning service that covers the world but specializes in Japan, and specializes in the U.S, U.K., Australian and New Zealand markets, very good and very knowledgeable. Alpine Adventures is a larger full-service ski travel specialist that does a great job.

Golf in Scotland: The birthplace of the game and the Holy Grail for golfers. You can have a fantastic golf trip to Scotland without playing the vaunted Old Course at St. Andrews, but if you are talking Bucket List, you sort of have to do it, and once you are there, there are so many great courses immediately around the area - Muirfield, Kingsbarns, New Course, Dumbarnie Links, and more, that’s it’s a waste of travel time to try to zip around the country hitting all the top “must-plays.” Unless you are chartering helicopters there are just too many of them. I’d do an extended stay in St. Andrews and then tack on one other key stop, like the North/Highlands (Royal Dornoch, Castle Stuart, Nairn, Brora); the Southwest/Ayrshire Coast (Royal Troon, Prestwick, Dundonald); Aberdeen (Royal Aberdeen, Cruden Bay); or for the adventurous, the Kintyre Peninsula (Machrihanish, Machrihanish Dunes) with a possible extension to Islay (Machrie).

Do It Best: Securing an Old Course tee time in advance is quite tricky but key to making the other pieces of the puzzle work, and the complex logistics and many moving parts of a Scottish dream golf trip are best left to very experienced pros. I recommenced Haversham & Baker and Perry Golf.

Tuscany: There are a lot of fantastic vacation destinations around the world, and you could make an argument for many other regions, but the reality is that Americans consistently dream of going to Italy more than any other country, and in Italy Tuscany is the 800-pound gorilla of wow factor. There are so many amazing hilltop villages and cities, large and small, each unique in character, plus all the vineyards (it’s where the Chianti region lies), plus the less visited coastal section, plus the gateway city of Florence, just so much to see and do - and eat - that it’s a place you could visit again and again without repeating. Sienna, Montalcino, Monteriggioni are all musts, but I love Lucca, often skipped over by tourists, the Maremma is for wine lovers, home of the vaunted Super Tuscans, and the list goes on and on.

Tuscany is just a fairy tale destination that consistently delivers on the promise of an amazing trip, and it is home to everything from mom-and-pop inns to a vast slate of world-class luxury hotels to a famously broad assortment of villa rentals. For this reason, it is one of the most broadly accessible destinations on this list, and can be done on a limited budget, with extremely deep pockets or everything in between. It’s hard to do a cheap African safari or dream golf trip to Scotland, but there’s a Tuscany for every traveler.

Do It Best: IC Bellagio is an Italy-based, Italy-focused, Italy-expert company that handles every aspect of Italy travel, from booking top tour guides and drivers to having connections with all the best hotels, villas, resorts, restaurants and attractions. I always suggest using an expert travel agent, and if you do they are probably just going to call IC Bellagio, and this is one of those rare instances where you can do it yourself.

Israel: With something for everyone, Israel is steeped in thousands of years of history, easy to navigate, and ideal for everyone from solo travelers to multi-generational families. If you are interested in religion, Jerusalem is the holiest city in the world - for Jews, Christians, and Muslims - home to the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. But Israel’s two biggest cities could not be more different - hipper sibling Tel Aviv is one of the coolest cities in the Mediterranean region, with world class nightlife, dining, and beaches. Both are very appealing, and outside these urban centers there’s a lot more, with gorgeous scenery, varied ecosystems, lots of historic ruins and outdoor activities. While many other countries - like the U.S. - have this mix of urban and natural attractions, you usually have to sacrifice something. But Israel is the size of New Jersey, making it not only possible but easy to explore in depth. The South features the harshly beautiful Negev Desert, the North lush Galilee, and waters include the Mediterranean, Red Sea and famously salty Dead Sea. This in turn means lots of beaches, plus excellent SCUBA diving, from ancient shipwrecks to undersea caverns. For more info, check out the government tourism site. I have not been myself, so Israel is currently tied with Bhutan atop on my own personal Bucket List.

Bhutan: Probably the least visited of the world’s “must-see” countries, Bhutan is often referred to as “The Last Shangri La,” or “Paradise Found.” It is the only Buddhist nation on earth, and gave the world the radical concept of using Gross National Happiness to measure its national success, instead of the more common money-driven metrics. It has been less than half a century since Bhutan first decided to allow tourism at all, and since then it has been tightly controlled to prevent overcrowding and over development, a policy known as “High Value, Low Volume.” It makes it an expensive place to visit, especially since they tacked on a $200 a night sustainability fee for foreign travelers. There is also a required minimum daily spend, which can be hotel, meals, tours guides and such, and a visa is required before you can buy plane tickets, which is important because you can only fly there on the national carriers (see the national tourism site for more info). The process is easier than it sounds if you go through a travel agent or tour operator, and Bhutan is home to many exceptional hotels, with multiple outposts of each of three top luxury brands, Aman, COMO and Six Senses.

In the last full year of pre-COVID travel, 2019, just over 300,000 travels visited Bhutan (in contrast, the city of Las Vegas alone saw over 30 million) making it the place to go for the person who has been everywhere. But I want to go for natural beauty, the world’s highest mountain range, the Himalayas, full of gorges and waterfalls, for the famously photogenic cliffside monasteries, to avoid crowding and pollution, and most of all, to hike. A big highlight is the new Trans Bhutan Trail, a 250-mile-long footpath linking Haa to Trashigang that has been eagerly awaited in the outdoors community and is expected to immediately become one of the world’s greatest walks. The trail was just opened by the King of Bhutan less than two weeks ago. Bhutan itself only just reopened to international travel on September 23 and is ready for visitors. I’m ready to be one of them!

Do It Right: Red Savannah, a luxury travel company specializing in tailor-made trips around the world, has a lot of Bhutan packages and just introduced three new itineraries (8,10 1 and 12 days) offering various tastes of the new hiking trail, and they can facilitate all travel arrangements and requirements.

Angkor Wat & Siem Reap, Cambodia: There is something compelling about ruins and ancient civilizations, especially for American travelers, who have little of these at home, with the notable exception of Native American cliff dwellings in the canyons of the Southwest - which are well worth visiting. Ruins are what drive so many travelers to journey to places like Machu Picchu, Greece, Egypt, Jordan and many other spots, but few destinations compare in scope to Cambodia’s Angkor Wat. The scale is mind blowing, much bigger than most people who have seen pictures expect, especially since so-called travel bloggers and influencers all take the same shot in one or two locations. Angkor Wat literally translates to City of Temples, and it is not one building, or even one group of buildings, but rather multiple sites spread over 154 square miles - seven times the size of Manhattan - containing roughly 1000 pieces of architecture. These in turn were built over a 500-year period from the 9th to 14th centuries, and there is a lot to see. Highlights include the namesake Angkor Wat temple, Angkor Thom (technically a different city of ruins), Ta Prohm, the overgrown jungle temple used to film the original Tomb Raider movie, Ta Som, Ta Nei, Preah Khan, Preah Ko, Pre Rup, East Mebon, and Banteay Srei, among other sites. Some of these are hidden gems, rarely visited by Western tourists and refreshingly empty alternatives to the overcrowded highlights. You could easily spend a week in the area, and that’s just ruins.

The gateway is the modern city of Siem Reap, which is fascinating in its own right, with tons of hotels, shopping, dining, and different touristic sights such as floating villages, cultural centers and even a pretty good golf course. The food is wonderful and even though there are luxury hotels here, Cambodia is an inexpensive place, and packages with park admission, guides and food are all great values. I recommend the Anantara Angkor Wat, an outpost of the Thailand-based global luxury chain Anantara, which combines a first rate, secluded resort that is home to excellent dining and its own cultural offerings with a variety of reasonably priced packages including lots of guided excursions.

Around the World Cruise: Personally, I’m not a cruise traveler, and this is not on my list, but the appeal is undeniable - in many ways it’s the bucket that holds the Bucket List. Many people absolutely love cruises, and there is no bigger, more epic trip than a global circumnavigation, a dream that goes back as far as humans have been taking to the sea. Along the way you see it all (not literally, but still a lot), typically visiting 25 to more than 60 countries, and many of the other Bucket List spots on this list: cruisegoers can take safaris, visit Tuscany, explore Angkor Wat and so on. Not every line offers around the world itineraries, but those that do tend to skew high end, which is nice because you are going to be on the ship a long time, like 100+ to 275 days. These trips should be planned a year or two in advance, and some lines offering them include Regent Seven Seas, Azamara, Viking, Royal Caribbean, Cunard, Silversea, Seaborne, MSC, Princess, Holland America and Oceania. Definitely call your travel agent for these.

Munich’s Oktoberfest: We have natural attractions, manmade ruins, sporting highlights, and epic journeys, so how about an event experience? For this it’s hard to beat Oktoberfest, which is quite literally the biggest party in the world. I’ve been twice and found it absolutely fascinating, would gladly return, and know people who make it an annual pilgrimage and have been many times. It is also full of surprises and far more than just a lot of beer drinking - it has been a major celebration for well over two centuries. Back on October 12, 1810 Bavaria’s Prince Ludwig married Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen, and in the process set a new gold standard for no-holds-barred wedding parties. The soiree was non-stop for five days, with an actual wedding at some point, plus city-wide celebrations, including a horse race. Locals loved the big party so much they decided to repeat it the following year, minus the wedding. And the next, and the next, until Oktoberfest evolved into the current 16-day spectacle of parades, rides, entertainment, food, culture, attractions and yes, lots of beer.

200-plus years of rehearsals have allowed Munich to perfect the world’s biggest bash, which runs like clockwork despite being of such epic proportions. Before COVID it drew around 6 million visitors in just over two weeks - far more than the combined populations of our third and fourth biggest cities, Chicago and Houston, and more tourists than visit the Grand Canyon in an entire year. On average close to 8 million giant liter steins, each close to three typical U.S. beers, are consumed. It always begins on a Saturday (in September not October!) with a citywide parade and symbolic transport of kegs from downtown to the festival park, where the Mayor taps the first one and proclaims Oktoberfest open. Opening weekend is the best time to visit for spectacle, and is also considerably less crowded than the final weekend (but things are least hectic during the week). It is aimed at Munich citizens all ages, not just adult drinkers, and the grounds occupy 100-acres with a State Fair feel. There are rides, games, displays, and more wurst and food stands than you could count, and the famous beer tents are just 17 of more than 600 vendors. That being said, the “tents” are actually temporary buildings that take months to erect, include high-capacity commercial kitchens, performance stages for bands, balconies, and enough bathrooms to cope - the largest hold over 10,000 drinkers. They are also reserved and ticketed, and the biggest mistake travelers make (thousands of them annually, unfortunately) is to show up expecting to get in. It is very, very important to plan ahead and do it right, including scarce flights, lodging and especially tent table tickets, so call your travel agent!

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Content: Egyptian News
Ministers review economic opportunities resulting from sustainable transport
Hamdi Abdalla - Cairo, Monday, August 7, 2023 11: 27 AM - The Cabinet Information and Decision Support Center (CDSC) has released a new analysis highlighting the key steps towards sustainable and resilient transport, the opportunities and challenges it faces, the impact of transport sector emissions on global warming, and the effects of these emissions.
More than half of the world ’ s population lives in urban areas, which are growing rapidly in low-income countries, and this growth is usually accompanied by a steady increase in greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector, which is now one of the most important sectors negatively affecting climate change and putting pressure on infrastructure systems.
Studies have shown that transport infrastructure is vulnerable to the effects of extreme weather events and climate change. Floods can sweep away roads and bridges and disrupt supply chains, storms can disrupt transport services, separate communities from essential services, and heat waves can disrupt railways. Accordingly, transport must be more sustainable and flexible to reduce the social and economic consequences of non-functioning transport services, and it is therefore necessary to rethink how transport operations continue in a way that achieves economic development and environmental sustainability.
On the impact of transport emissions on global warming, the analysis stated that the demand for transport increases as economies develop, urbanize and population increase. The global population is expected to reach 8.5 billion by 2030. As a result, annual passenger traffic is expected to grow by 50%, while global freight volume is expected to grow by 70% over the same period. In developing countries, this percentage could increase to about 60% by 2050, if no serious action is taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The transport sector is also the largest contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the EU, accounting for about 28% of total emissions, and unlike many other industries that are taking gradual steps to reduce their emissions effectively, the transport sector continues to grow by about 0.8% of MtCO2e each year. The energy consumption of the transportation sector accounted for about 95% of the energy generated by fossil fuels in 2019, according to data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) report Energy Technology Perspectives 2023.
Despite a three-quarters reduction in CO2 emissions in the IEA ’ s 2070 Sustainable Development Scenario, emissions from these subsectors will remain the largest contributor to energy-related emissions in the transport sector in 2070, and two-thirds of the emission reductions proposed in this scenario come from technologies that are not yet commercially available, making decarbonisation of the transport sector a challenging task over the next half-century.
In terms of the impacts of transport sector emissions, the Information Centre ’ s analysis stated that climate change causes direct damage to transport infrastructure from natural disasters, estimated at US $15 billion per year.
According to World Bank data, the cost of direct damage to transport infrastructure from natural disasters caused by climate change has been estimated at about $15 billion annually, including poor health care, death, and disruption of economies. [1] For example, during the period from 1990 to 2019, there were more than 1,000 climate-induced disasters in South Asia, affecting more than 1.68 billion people, killing an estimated 267 thousand people and causing more than 127 damages. In addition, some 800 million people in the region (44% of the total South Asian population) live in locations that are expected to become extreme climate hotspots by 2050, and some 62 million people are expected to be pushed below the extreme poverty line if serious climate action is not taken by 2030.
Low- and middle-income countries bear about 60% of the total cost of these disasters, so building environmentally friendly transport infrastructure is essential.
Transport emissions (particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5), particulate matter 10 (PM10), nitrogen oxides (NOX), sulphur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), etc.) also affect human health; the transport sector is the largest global contributor to particulate matter emissions and is closely linked to increased incidence of respiratory, heart and lung diseases and many forms of cancer.
The transport sector is also a major contributor to carbon dioxide emissions, reducing the amount of oxygen that reaches the organs and tissues of the body, exacerbating heart disease.
The latest findings from the World Health Organization ’ s (WHO) Global Urban Ambient Air Pollution Database indicate that 98% of cities in low- and middle-income countries with populations over 100,000 have not met WHO air quality guidelines, and that local air pollution contributes to 2.9 million premature deaths annually globally – more than 85% of which are concentrated in low- and middle-income countries.
Despite the trillions of dollars invested in transport infrastructure each year, which helps us transport our goods, transport investments still need to be developed in a way that supports a reduction in net carbon emissions, according to the Oxford Economics Global Infrastructure Outlook, more than $2 trillion will be urgently needed in transport infrastructure every year until 2040. to support sustainable economic development.
According to the latest IPCC report, average investment flows in transport must increase at least sevenfold by 2030 to decarbonize the sector as a whole, and developing countries will be the most in need of such investments, because developing countries have limited resources to protect transport infrastructure from rising disaster risks.
The analysis touched on the economic opportunities resulting from sustainable transport, pointing out that the money invested in improving the transport sector is economically beneficial and not wasted money. It was found that the additional cost of building sustainable transport infrastructure is acceptable compared to the climate losses that can be reduced. dollars over the lifetime of the new infrastructure.
With less disruption and therefore less economic consequences from sustainable infrastructure, transport plays a central role in the development agenda, facilitating access to jobs, education, health, social services, and local, regional, and global markets.
There are also clear links between the reduction of transport barriers and poverty alleviation.
So we may need to redesign, modernize, and change transportation to meet social, economic, and environmental requirements.
As for measures to enhance the resilience and sustainability of the transport sector, the Information Centre explained that the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have revealed the urgent need to increase investment in smart, environmentally friendly and resilient transport infrastructure and services.
As infrastructure is set to play a key role in the global economic recovery, the analysis highlights the most important policies that play a vital role in enhancing the efficiency, resilience and sustainability of the transport sector:
- First: Investing in high-quality public transport, reducing transport emissions, through initiatives aimed at adopting more efficient technologies, moving to low-emission vehicles, adopting modern technologies and cleaner fuels, and expanding the use of zero-emission means of transport, such as: bicycles, electric scooters, and others.
Second, promote the use of digital technologies and data analytics to improve pathways, thereby reducing emissions.
- Third: the creation of compact cities (cities aimed at reducing dependence on cars, CO2 emissions, energy consumption levels, by making all services available to be close to the citizen, and promoting green spaces), also stimulating the green behaviors of companies and individuals.
- Fourth: Enhancing the possibilities of conducting business remotely, such as telecommuting or e-shopping, which in turn contributes to reducing emissions from transport.
Countries must enhance the sustainability of the transport sector and expand the framework to include those policies and investment programs that support the improvement and sustainability of the sector to enable their economic growth, by supporting governments and local authorities in the public and private sectors to make informed decisions on addressing climate change and harnessing potential opportunities to create sustainable transport systems that enable sustainable inclusive growth amid evolving urban and demographic trends.
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Understanding the multifaceted nature of overtourism is essential for developing responsible tourism policies that balance economic benefits with environmental and social preservation.

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Content: Global Economic News
Increasing pressure on the Spanish tourism industry.
Uncontrolled growth in the face of more visitors
There is no longer the possibility of washing up on Spain ’ s little-known beach of Lloret de Mar — like other popular tourist resorts — on ways to conserve dwindling water resources as the country struggles with drought.
While Spain is one of the European countries most affected by the climate crisis, its main tourism sector is under increasing pressure with uncontrolled growth in the face of increased visitors, efforts to reduce its environmental impact and move towards more sustainable practices.
Danish tourist Jonas Johansson, 28, while wandering in the scorching sun along the famous northeastern resort's promenade, said: "It's a shame.
“Taking a shower is good. ”
Spain has seen very low rainfall over the past year, leaving the reservoirs of Catalonia, where the resort town of Lloret, only 29 percent full.
Since March, large parts of this northeastern region of 7.7 million people, including its capital, Barcelona, have limited the use of water for agriculture and industry to ensure the continued supply of homes.
But these measures have not won the support of everyone in a country where tourism accounts for 12 per cent of economic output and provides 2.5 million jobs.
Sarah Loledi, 55, a receptionist at a coastal hotel in Lloret, said: “Water use can be reduced in many ways, without depriving the tourism sector of the possibility of bathing. ”
"We all live on tourism revenues."
Spain is the world ’ s second most visited country after France, receiving 71.6 million visitors from around the world last year, most of them attracted by its sunny beaches.
David Sorem, a geography expert at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, said: “We can ’ t afford uncontrolled sector growth with more and more people coming and fewer resources. ”
Sorem said a tourist in a four-star or five-star hotel could consume more than twice as much as an average citizen.
Catalonia ’ s regional government wants to ensure both tourists and locals consume the same amount of water by 2040.
Jordi Palaudelmas of the local SOS Yurit group, which has been campaigning for years for a more sustainable tourism model, said: “Water resources are limited, and if we dedicate ourselves to tourism, it means we need to rethink what resources we can or cannot give to tourists. ”
The Samba Hotel underwent a rehabilitation process in 1997 to allow it to recycle wastewater, which has so far saved 215 million liters of water, he said.
In this 434-room hotel, bathroom water is sent to a basement where it is filtered and treated, allowing it to be reused.
This system is increasingly widespread, but the sector still has a long way to go.
Laura Perez, the hotel ’ s environmental affairs officer, said: “We should have done this a long time ago. ”
A few kilometers away, sprinklers water a vast municipal garden overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.
Posters show visitors that sprinklers use recycled water, the only type of water that can be used without restrictions this summer.
Like other municipalities, Yurit has for years used recyclable wastewater to irrigate gardens and clean streets.
The drought has increased the use of recycled water by 25 per cent, although the network it provides is still very limited.
Carlos Gil, who is in charge of the parks and gardens of Lurit, said: "In coastal areas, we can save a lot of recycled water instead of going directly to the sea, by finding new uses for it."
In turn, the water park has reduced water use by 32 per cent since 2019 by changing irrigation systems and turning to plants that need less water.
The director of the complex, Julio Lopez, expressed optimism about the future, but stressed that there was still work to be done.
“Spain needs to rethink its situation and use more recycled water, ” he said.
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The route needs revision: the path to carbon neutrality is becoming more complicated
Experts believe that the scenarios of a “green ” future should be adjusted, and explain why this is not bad for Russia
Many industries are trying to assess what awaits the world in the new conditions and how the ratio of benefits and threats from the global energy transition may change due to the current crisis in world relations.
For the Russian mining and metallurgical industry, Nornickel made such an attempt.
The company presented its scenarios of a “green ” future during the 27th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Egypt.
About what forecasts made experts — in the material « Газеты.Ru »
The situation needs updating
Current conditions — all kinds of sanctions, the refusal of the global West from Russian energy and metals, the imminent global recession in the economy — have called into question the future of the global process of decarbonization.
The likelihood of achieving the goals spelled out in the landmark Paris climate agreement (including limiting the increase in global average air temperature to within 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the 21st century), at least to the previously stated point — by 2050 — is becoming illusory.
And a knife in the back of these good hopes stuck those countries that previously ran ahead of the locomotive.
For example, the consumption of coal, which recently all together refused, is growing again.
Moreover, growth began in 2021, before the current geopolitical crisis, and reached almost 6%, and the highest rates were recorded in Europe (plus 15%) and the United States (plus 14%).
Global electricity spending will reach 13% of GDP this year, and in the EU, according to Goldman Sachs analysts, will grow to 15% of GDP in 2023, while economists estimate that sustainable economic growth stops when it reaches the level of 10-11% of GDP.
Against this background, the relevance of the entire climate agenda is, in principle, declining - it would warm up next winter to begin with.
And many previously developed scenarios aimed at achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, at a minimum, require revision, at a maximum, a complete revision.
A window of opportunity for Russia
Norilsk Nickel products, like other metallurgists, are the basis for energy transition, since “low-carbon technologies are much more metal-intensive than traditional ones, ” emphasizes Igor Makarov, Head of the Research and Training Laboratory of Climate Change Economics, Head of the Department of World Economy at HSE.
For example, an electric car requires more than 200 kg of various metals (in terms of one vehicle), while a conventional car with an internal combustion engine requires about 40 kg.
The development of electric transport, renewable energy, hydrogen energy and other energy transition technologies opens a window of opportunity to increase the production of rare earth, non-ferrous and precious metals in Russia, including for the export of these products.
And decarbonization in accordance with the goals of the Paris Agreement by 2040 will lead to a multiple increase in demand for products of the mining and metallurgical industry, ” Makarov said.
The demand for lithium, according to some calculations, can grow 42 times, for nickel - 19 times, for copper - three times.
Much, however, will depend on the pace of development of specific low-carbon technologies (for example, the demand for rare earth metals - from electric vehicles and wind farms, for lithium and cobalt - from electric vehicles, for copper - from power grids, etc.).
At the same time, the main consumers of these metals in the future will be concentrated in the Asia-Pacific region (with a share of at least 40% depending on the metal), primarily in China.
And Europe will become the second largest consumer in terms of demand.
Since the mining and metallurgical industry is still energy-intensive and carbon-intensive, its own low-carbon transformation is becoming a factor for future competitiveness.
But in the changed conditions, companies need to understand which way to move and what to spend money on in the first place.
Uncertainty factor
According to Vladimir Zhukov, Vice President for Investor Relations and Sustainable Development of Norilsk Nickel, the geopolitical situation has made a huge factor of unpredictability in the activities of all Russian metallurgy enterprises.
On the one hand, the energy transition so far remains a huge incentive for increasing the production of “green ” metals:“ But the self-sanctions ” of Western consumers of Russian products bring a powerful factor of uncertainty. ”
Europe and the United States are likely to be in recession.
“Europe, traditionally our main market, is losing its competitive advantage in terms of the cost of electricity and, in principle, access to it due to geopolitics.
What is in the hands of the United States and China, ” Zhukov said.
Also in the EU there is a serious problem of replacing Russian gas, which was a low-carbon source of fuel.
Under these conditions, it becomes obvious, at least temporarily, but slowing the pace of global decarbonization.
According to Zhukov, two forks are possible: both the braking of the energy transition, with a revision of the previously announced goals for the medium term, and, on the contrary, the adoption of more stringent decisions and more aggressive development of low-carbon technologies to compensate for current emissions from the growing combustion of coal.
“The main threats to the mining and metallurgical industry are the introduction of carbon regulation and fiscal punishment for products with a high carbon footprint.
For Norilsk Nickel, this is a low threat, since we have the lowest footprint in the industry, ” the top manager notes.
Under these conditions, Norilsk Nickel is aimed at minimizing the so-called “risks of transition to a low-carbon economy ”, from regulatory ones (tightening of climate legislation, raising environmental standards, etc.) to technological and reputational ones.
That is, those that can – depending on the speed of the energy transition and the decarbonization of the world economy – lead to a reduction in demand for the company ’ s products in the long term.
On the one hand, the company seems not to worry: its food basket is extremely important for the development of “green ” technologies.
On the other hand, the production of Nornickel metals itself should become as “green ” as possible.
Although Zhukov considers low-carbon transformation a “very expensive toy ”, the main consumers – primarily in Europe and the United States – require the company to comply with high standards of ESG ratings and attention to climate risks.
Therefore, Russian metallurgists will have to set a high bar further.
“We have chosen a strategy, largely dictated by our customers, primarily from Europe and the United States, to be guided by the best international practice, which dictates very strict standards in the field of ESG, ” Zhukov described corporate tasks.
Norilsk is warming faster
The relevance of the climate agenda for the same “Norilsk Nickel ”, the largest industrial player in the Arctic zone not only of Russia, but also of the world, is not reduced for another reason.
Global warming in the “physical sense ” does not stop, which means that it will be necessary to adapt to the increase in the number and intensity of certain types of extreme weather events in any case.
In addition, the infamous events of 2020 proved what is fraught with underestimating the physical risks associated with activities on permafrost.
For Norilsk Nickel, the main thing in dealing with such climate risks is to ensure the continuity and safety of production.
Accordingly, avoid incidents that can disrupt this continuity.
Moreover, as the research conducted by the order of Norilsk Nickel by scientists from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics named after A.M. Obukhov of the Russian Academy of Sciences showed, the physical risks in the regions of the company ’ s presence are growing.
The average temperature increase in Norilsk is plus 0.6 degrees Celsius per decade – that is, if you count for half a century, then on the 69th parallel, the target indicator of the Paris Agreement (those “no more than 2 degrees ”) has long been successfully failed.
In addition, it turned out that in the cold season (and it lasts longer than "on the mainland"), the duration of periods with precipitation, and the height of the snow cover, and the average speed of the surface wind, and, even more dangerous, the average depth of soil thawing (with a trend of up to 15 cm / decade) increased.
If previously it was believed that the Russian Arctic climate warms two to three times faster than the world average, in fact it warms here even more quickly.
By the middle of this century, the average annual temperatures in Norilsk may increase even more, precipitation will also increase, the height of snow cover in the cold period will increase by 20-30%, and the depth of seasonal thawing of permafrost soils, especially in the southern part of the NPR, can grow to 2 meters.
Moreover, in recent years, the risks of thunderstorms have also increased, which for this macroregion once seemed simply unthinkable.
Scientists have made similar assessments for other regions of the presence of Norilsk Nickel.
For Transbaikalia, where Bystrinsky GOK operates, a decrease in the number of extremely cold days is predicted, and for the Finnish Haryavalta, an increase in precipitation, including abnormal ones, is predicted.
In short, for large industries, especially those located in the AZ of the Russian Federation, adaptation to climate change becomes a survival factor – and in all senses, not only from the point of view of business.
In this sense, companies need to find a balance between the long-term good goals of low-carbon transformation and short-term down-to-earth priorities, including in the climate sphere.
This is necessary in order to more competently redistribute financial flows and spend money on exactly what is really necessary.
At the same time, it is obvious that it will be extremely difficult to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement in this case, at least in the most ambitious version (to limit warming on the planet to 1.5 degrees).
Based on these grounds, scientists from the Institute of Economic Forecasting of the Russian Academy of Sciences studied about 190 public scenarios of the future from various authoritative expert groups and developed for Norilsk Nickel three scenarios for the development of the world economy and climate change on the horizon of 2050.
Of these, only the first - called Rapid Transition - assumes a temperature increase of 1.7 degrees Celsius, which formally corresponds to the achievement of the Paris Agreement.
However, the probability of this scenario is estimated at only 25%.
The company itself is inclined to the second scenario - it is called Sustainable Palladium, its probability in Norilsk Nickel is estimated at 70%.
In this case, the focus of development will be aimed at maintaining current socio-economic and technological trends.
In general, as can be seen from the parameters of the “green future ” drawn by Norilsk Nickel, a brave new world even in 2050, no matter how hard you try, will still be far from complete carbon neutrality.
Especially, of course, if everything goes according to the third scenario, called Global Growth.
Fortunately, its probability is estimated even lower – at 5%.
According to Zhukov, although Norilsk Nickel considers the second scenario as a benchmark for its own climate strategy, it is important to periodically update the entire agenda.
He also noted the extraordinary high cost of low-carbon transformation of economies, and in any event.
So, according to recent estimates of The Economist, for decarbonization only in the Asia-Pacific region on the horizon of 2050, it is necessary about 26-37 trillion dollars.
And Indian Prime Minister Norendra Modi recently estimated his country ’ s need, and only until 2030, at $1 trillion.
Energy Efficiency Limitations
Scenarios of development with hitting the target of “two degrees ” are considered unattainable at HSE, however, all of them were developed before 2010.
Scientists based their findings on IEA assessments.
Even the most ambitious Green Reset scenario assumes a warming trajectory of 2-2.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.
This is despite the intensification of the development of the climate agenda, the tightening of goals for decarbonization and the development of carbon regulation, including cross-border.
And with the most negative development of events, a complete stop of the “green economy ” is possible, with warming above 3 degrees, an increase in the share of fossil fuels in the energy balance and the lack of cooperation between developed and developing countries.
However, under any scenarios, the main direction for the mining and metallurgical industry is clear.
Metallurgy, and this is no secret, is not only one of the industries that will make energy transition possible in principle, but also one of the main emitters of greenhouse gas emissions.
So, in the world, emissions from the production of steel, aluminum, nickel, copper and cobalt account for about 13.5% (or 4.5 billion tons of CO2-eq.), in Russia - the share of ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy - already 28% of such emissions.
Therefore, the key factor of competitiveness is the reduction of carbon intensity of production.
Vladimir Zhukov is sure that the Russian mining and metallurgical industry has a number of advantages in this regard - low production costs, a good and long-term ore base, relatively modern and efficient production facilities, a large share of energy consumption based on sources with a low carbon footprint (HPPs, nuclear power plants, gas).
Thus, Russian aluminum is already “greener ” than Chinese, since almost all the factories for its production are located in Siberia and are connected with hydroelectric power plants.
And the carbon footprint of Norilsk Nickel is one of the lowest in the world, since the company ’ s own generation is based on hydroelectric power plants and gas CHP plants.
At the end of 2021, the total share of electricity consumption from renewable energy by Norilsk Nickel enterprises reached 47%, which is 1% higher than the same indicator in 2020.
However, since most of the emissions in the industry are not from the production itself, but from energy consumption, what to do is clear: reduce energy intensity.
There are many ways – from switching to cleaner energy sources (from coal to gas, and then to renewable energy sources) to improving energy efficiency and using carbon capture and storage technologies (the so-called carbon capture and storage technologies).
CCS).
At the same time, measures aimed at improving energy efficiency, which, although not cheap, but still give some tangible economic effect, can make only a limited contribution to the overall reduction of greenhouse emissions.
“If you take one hundred percent, it ’ s 5-10 percent.
The rest are CCS technologies, green hydrogen, other innovative technologies, but they are all very expensive.
And in the current difficult financial and other conditions, we are forced to temporarily suspend such projects, "Zhukov said.
At the same time, he adds that a year ago, the company “thought ” about the possible acquisition of a number of low-carbon technologies.
In general, according to Igor Makarov, Head of the Research and Training Laboratory of Climate Change Economics, Head of the Department of World Economy at the Higher School of Economics, on the horizon until 2030, the speed and direction of decarbonization processes both in the world and in Russia will largely be determined by the speed of global economic recovery and the general level of conflict in international relations, including the severity of anti-Russian sanctions.
According to Vladimir Zhukov, in the current conditions, the state environmental and climate policy should stimulate the achievement of national priorities - reducing emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere and the volume of waste disposal at landfills ("because it is just good for the environment").
“In terms of the climate agenda, abstracting from the global one, we have our own pragmatic tasks: everything that concerns buildings and structures located in the permafrost zone, with the risk of collapse and deformation; replacing high-carbon (coal, fuel oil) with low-carbon sources of fuel is cleaner emissions; obtaining benefits from the global energy transition in terms of supporting the growth of green raw materials production and the development of domestic technologies that can be used for sales to the global market where possible.
For example, batteries, ” concludes Zhukov.
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Content: Nikita Kondratiev: tourism outside politics for Russia - RIA Novosti, 09.06.2024
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SPIEF-2024
Nikita Kondratiev: tourism is out of politics for Russia
© RIA Novosti / Alexander Kryazhev | Go to Media BankDirector of the Department of Multilateral Economic Cooperation and Special Projects of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Nikita Kondratiev at SPIEF-2024
Director of the Department of Multilateral Economic Cooperation and Special Projects of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Nikita Kondratiev at SPIEF-2024
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The Ministry of Economic Development is working to promote the Russian brand abroad and attract foreign tourists.
A visa-free group exchange with China and Iran has been established, close to the abolition of visas for tourists from India, direct flights to Saudi Arabia and Indonesia are just around the corner.
The fact that tourists from China and the Middle East are looking for in Russia, whether Europeans go to our country, how to get an electronic visa without getting up from the couch, and whether the regions are ready for the flow of foreign tourists, said in an interview with RIA Novosti on the sidelines of the SPIEF Director of the Department of Multilateral Economic Cooperation and Special Projects of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Nikita Kondratiev.
Interviewed by Marina Pervukhina and Dilyara Solntseva.
RIA Novosti was the media partner of SPIEF-2024.
— Since this year, the program of promotion of Russia abroad — Discover Russia — has been launched.
How does she show herself?
- Last year, when we met, an idea was just emerging, and we developed the concept of this program.
A lot has already been done, including the Discover Russia brand.
We are working on 17 priority countries that were approved at the session of the Prime Minister.
For 2024, the list for promotion includes China, India, Saudi Arabia, Iran and the UAE.
In 2025-2026, more Southeast Asian states will be added, primarily Indonesia and Malaysia.
And then this list will be expanded, Thailand and a number of other areas will be added.
Top travel bloggers drove through Ugra and tried the Khanty cuisine
This year, our tourism brand, combining efforts and financial resources with the regions, presented at the largest international exhibitions in India, Saudi Arabia and twice in China.
We already see the results of this work in requests from foreign partners.
They are interested in the Russian tourist product and are already applying for its selection, because everyone has their own request.
- Are they different?
– There are certain aspects of working with each tourist from each individual country.
For example, the Chinese are primarily interested in large cities - Moscow, St. Petersburg, they pay special attention to Murmansk and the Northern Lights, love busy cities, they are attracted by mass.
Plus, a certain organization of food for Chinese tourists is necessary.
They want not only to try traditional Russian dishes, but also to see Chinese in the menu.
The Middle East, of course, is a very high demand.
This is a minimum of four stars at the hotel, but mostly five stars.
Citizens from the Middle East do not like to have many locations in the tourist product.
They are ready, for example, to see Moscow or St. Petersburg and two or three more places.
Chinese tourists, on the contrary, like more excursion programs with a historical component.
Experts told how Moscow attracts tourists from China
— Are there any results on Discover Russia that are confirmed by the numbers?
— It will not be quite correct to evaluate only one component of the work on the inbound tourism track.
It is complex and includes not only marketing efforts, but also regulation, visa facilitation, development of air traffic, creation of infrastructure within the country.
As a result, this all turns out to be a large comprehensive program for promoting Russia abroad.
But, as representatives of our business said today, following the results of the first quarter, we have a 50% increase in the settlement of foreign guests in hotels compared to the first quarter of 2023.
Are the Europeans coming to us?
The Europeans are coming, yes.
If you look at the same statistics on e-visa, then the first place is taken by China, followed by Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and followed by European countries, primarily Germany and Estonia.
However, as far as European countries are concerned, it is now an individual story.
Is it difficult for Europeans to get a visa in Russia?
- No, they go through the same procedure as citizens of other countries.
We did not follow their path and do not build obstacles.
For us, tourism is out of politics.
As they say, people-to-people connectivity.
Therefore, we try to avoid any political moments in this matter.
Maya Lomidze: tourism in Russia is growing, no matter what
How long does it take to obtain an electronic visa to Russia?
— On average, from the moment of submission to its receipt, it takes 6 days.
And it does not matter what country it is, whether it is the Middle East, Asian or European region.
For all the procedure is the same: a questionnaire is filled out, certain verification procedures are carried out.
If everything is filled out correctly and no additional questions have arisen, then the person receives a visa in less than a week.
— And to get to Russia, do foreigners need to give fingerprints?
- No. No.
The e-Visa does not mean that.
It's filling up from home, on the couch.
You do not need to visit any consular offices, submit everything on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the procedure for issuing a visa is launched.
How many e-visa applications have been submitted?
— Since August 1, 2023, for ten months of work of the electronic visa, we have about 300 thousand foreign citizens came on an electronic visa.
Of course, more applications were submitted, but some submit them, but then for some reason do not come.
Between Europe and Asia: what will surprise tourists Big Ural trail
How much does an electronic visa to Russia cost?
So far, $52.
Business circles have already proposed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to work out a reduction in the cost of an electronic visa.
This is really important – the competitiveness of the visa is one of the elements of attracting foreign tourists to our country.
How do foreign tourists pay for this visa?
- Through the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
— How is the process of group visa-free exchange with China going?
What are the expectations for 2024?
— As part of the visa-free group exchange, since August 1, the incoming tourist flow to Russia amounted to about 140 thousand Chinese citizens for 10 months.
By the end of 2024, we plan to reach 1.5-2 million mutual trips on both electronic and group visa-free trips.
These are not the same numbers as they were before the pandemic, but we are confidently moving towards our goals.
“I still do not understand ”: the Chinese shocked the attitude of the Russians
— How is the process of discussing visa-free group exchange with India going?
At what stage is this question now and when can bezviz be launched?
- With China and Iran, we have this mechanism already launched on an ongoing basis and it works well.
Things are more complicated with Indian partners.
We prepared a similar draft agreement and handed it over to the Indian side.
Now colleagues are considering it, the document is undergoing internal approval.
After that, in June-end of July, we will begin the negotiation process.
It will last from a month to three.
But we set ourselves the task of reaching the signing of the agreement by the end of 2024.
— That is, can we expect that the first visa-free groups of tourists from India will be able to come to us closer to the spring of next year?
- Yeah, you could say that.
Everything will depend on the coordination procedure, but from experience with China and Iran, I will say that after the signing of the agreements, it takes a month or two for explanatory work.
That is, we are working with the border control authorities, hotels and after that the groups are already starting to go.
We usually do a few test groups first.
If we understand that the mechanism works and all the problems are eliminated, then we launch a mass flow of tourist groups.
What other countries do you plan to abolish visas with?
- Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Malaysia and Myanmar, as well as a number of African countries.
With Myanmar, the story is that we enter them on a visa-free regime and are working on an agreement on a complete visa-free regime on both sides.
The document is now being considered by the Myanmar side, and we have a task to sign it at the Eastern Economic Forum in September.
Experts told how to pay in Russia foreign tourists
— And who else besides Myanmar is close to visa-free travel with Russia?
It is a matter of negotiation.
Our relevant ministries have tried and such agreements are already on the side of a number of countries.
A separate priority is Saudi Arabia, because the flow of tourists from there is growing strongly: by the end of 2023, the growth was 60% compared to 2022.
And according to the results of the first quarter of 2024, the tourist flow from Saudi Arabia to Russia increased 15 times.
If about 500 people came in for the first quarter of 2023, then for the first quarter of 2024 - about 6.5 thousand.
- As soon as we have a visa-free regime with Saudi Arabia and direct flights, how much more will this flow grow?
How difficult it is to predict.
Practice shows that after the visa regime was abolished with the UAE in 2017, the tourist flow from there to Russia increased 5-7 times.
That is, we hope that with Saudi Arabia there will be the same growth - 3-4 times, taking into account the already high base.
— What is Russia ’ s position: visa-free regime should be at parity or not fundamentally, and on the one hand can operate visas?
— Now there is a rule that parity must be observed so that the Russian Federation introduces a visa-free regime for someone.
Tourists from Bahrain fell in love with alpaca in the mountains of Sochi and Russian snow
— What are your forecasts, how many foreign tourists will come to Russia this year?
First of all, we have set target indicators for ourselves until 2030, when 16 million foreign tourists should come to us.
That ’ s a plus of $12 million to the 2023 base.
For 2024, we set a goal of just over 5 million — 5.1-5.2 million.
That is, the increase is slightly above 1 million, compared with 2023, about 20-25%.
— Did you pay attention, maybe foreign tourists tell you what they lack in Russia, what problems they have, what needs to be improved?
— In fact, there is a rule: how many tourists, so many opinions.
Therefore, for our part, we are trying to do everything for the development of infrastructure in our country.
Much is being done in terms of the development of modular hotels, rooms, and the construction of entertainment infrastructure.
There is a promotion program, which is aimed at adapting the tourism product for each country and meeting, so to speak, the average needs of tourists from specific countries.
In Russia will create a memo for foreign tourists
— In Russia there is Muslim Friendly, on the sidelines of the SPIEF, the representative of the CSR said that it is possible to accept Indian Friendly.
Agree?
- Of course.
Muslim Friendly, Indian Friendly, China Friendly, these are certain standards of leisure for foreign tourists from China, India and Muslim countries.
They relate to both hotels and food, the provision of a full range of services.
For example, halal standards, if we are talking about Muslim Friendly.
For Indian tourists, much attention is always paid to nutrition.
It is very important for them, if they pay for a five-star hotel, then they must have a certain food, which they are accustomed to.
— What countries, except Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, are negotiations underway to launch direct flights?
- We have priority now - Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Malaysia.
At the Islamic Forum in Kazan, we held talks with the Malaysian side and they are very interested in organizing direct flights.
The Ministry of Tourism of Malaysia is now working with its transport agency in order to settle all the necessary organizational issues.
We are interested in direct flights from the point of view of the entry of Malaysian and Indonesian tourists, because we also see a growing demand from them for trips to Russia.
Sanctions did not cut the wings: how the Russian aviation is developing
— Tourists from the Arab world mainly go to Moscow and St. Petersburg?
— From the point of view of citizens from the Middle East, it is primarily Moscow and St. Petersburg, Kazan.
Often tourists from these countries come to Russia, as many say, to wait out the heat.
They are comfortable with the climate in the central part of Russia and are interested in our sights.
Now the citizens of the Middle East are more and more interested in Russian culture, Russian history.
And this is an additional incentive to attract them to our country.
— Are Russian regions ready to welcome such tourists in terms of infrastructure and service?
— Yes, on average, the flow that now goes to the regions from foreign countries and even high-level, I mean, tourists with requests, they quite calmly provide this level.
The same promotion program that exists and works, its task is to show Russia for these tourists, its hospitality not only from the point of view of the usual cities, such as Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kazan, but also the Far East, Siberia, the regions of the North Caucasus.
— Has the average check of a foreign tourist in Russia increased?
We have to look at each country separately.
Chinese citizens spend a little less if we take group visa-free travel.
Middle Eastern tourists have a bigger check.
On average, around $800 from foreign tourists goes for a trip.
Has the portrait of a foreign tourist changed in Russia?
— The portrait of not only a foreign, but also a Russian tourist has changed after the covid.
Everyone wants an individual approach, an exclusive product.
The tourism industry is also changing.
Tourists from the Middle East go to Russia for huskies, said Lomidze
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Overtourism refers to the situation where the volume of tourists in a destination surpasses the local community's ability to accommodate them sustainably.

Title:

Content: MOSCOW, 24 Jan — PRIME.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday will hold a meeting with members of the Russian government on the development of domestic tourism in 2023, the event will be held in the mode of video conferencing, the press service of the Kremlin reported.
The Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov, the Minister of Transport Vitaly Saveliev and the Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology Alexander Kozlov will make reports on the development of domestic tourism to the head of state.
The meeting will also consider a number of current issues.
The development of tourism in the Russian Federation since autumn is engaged in the Ministry of Economic Development instead of Rosturizm.
The agency ’ s functions were transferred to the ministry after Rosturizm, which had operated in Russia for 18 years, was liquidated in October in accordance with Putin ’ s decree.
The head of Rosturizm Zarina Doguzova eventually agreed to join the expert council under the government of the Russian Federation.
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko, who continued to supervise the direction of tourism, said that in the current situation, the president's decision "will allow the government to concentrate the resource as much as possible on the challenges and priorities of the industry."
WHAT THE CABIN PREPARED FOR THE MEETING WITH PUTIN
Chernyshenko on January 23 at a meeting with Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin told about the results of the winter tourist season and future plans.
He said that the tourist flow in Russia during the winter holidays increased by 10-15% over the year, and in addition to the traditional leaders (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan), the tourist flow increased in a number of other areas - in the ski resorts of the North Caucasus, Sochi, the Sakhalin region, Sheregesh, as well as in the resorts of the European part of Russia and the Urals.
More than 3 million people rested there - 10% more than in the past.
The load of hotels on average was also high - from 70 to 95%, the Deputy Prime Minister added.
He also spoke about the development of programs to increase the mutual tourist flow with friendly countries and about the preparation for the tourist industry of a new loan program with a rate of 5%.
Mishustin, in turn, noted that state assistance should be aimed at improving service and developing infrastructure in all regions of our country.
He also stressed that special attention should be paid to children ’ s recreation so that it is accessible to children from new regions of the Russian Federation.
One of the measures to support the tourism industry in 2022 was the tourist cashback program.
But the issue of its extension remains unresolved.
In November last year, Putin instructed the government to provide proposals for the allocation of additional funds for tourist cashback in 2023-2025.
As expected, the Russian authorities may return to the issue of financing the program in 2023.
In particular, the parliamentarians asked the Russian Union of Travel Industry.
The State Duma also came up with another initiative – to create a tourist cashback for children whose fathers are in the zone of military special operation in Ukraine.
HOPE FOR TOURISM DURING THE CRISIS
With the beginning of the special operation and the strengthening of sanctions pressure, relations of the Russian Federation with many other countries deteriorated, this affected the tourism sector.
Therefore, as Putin stated, the active development of domestic tourism in these difficult modern conditions comes to one of the most significant places.
At a meeting of the Presidium of the State Council for Tourism Development, the head of state noted that Russia has "tremendous potential" in this area and it is necessary to help not only well-known tourist centers, but also those subjects of the Russian Federation that are still developing the industry.
The President explained the high attention to domestic tourism by the fact that this industry contributes to economic growth and replenishment of the budgets of regions, small towns with a rich history, rural areas.
The head of state cited statistics according to which tourism directly affects the development of more than 50 other, related industries, creates jobs, good prospects for small and medium-sized businesses.
The President then proposed to rely on the experience of regions that have achieved success in the development of the tourism industry, including the Far East.
Among the main goals of Putin at the State Council outlined: the creation of modern and affordable tourism products, the formation of a wide demand for them, the removal of administrative barriers, the development of tourism infrastructure and logistics, the creation of conditions for attracting investment, training for the industry.
NEW SEA RESORTS AND VISA FREE FOR FOREIGNERS
According to the results of the September meeting of the State Council, Putin at the end of October approved a list of 17 instructions relating to the development of domestic tourism.
For example, the president instructed the government to submit proposals by March 1 to create federal year-round sea resorts by 2035, capable of accommodating at least 10 million people per year.
Until April 1, the government was instructed to submit proposals for supporting import substitution projects for goods and equipment that are used in tourism and have no Russian counterparts.
Also, the Cabinet of Ministers was tasked to consider issues of updating the cruise and pleasure fleet, including financing the construction of at least 140 cruise ships of the “river – sea ” class under the program of preferential leasing.
And by June, the government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSB should submit proposals on establishing a visa-free regime without taking into account the principle of reciprocity for foreigners visiting the Russian Federation for tourist, business, educational purposes and to participate in sports and cultural events.

This results in overcrowding, strain on infrastructure, environmental degradation, and diminished quality of life for residents.

Title:

Content: Environmental and industrial safety are our main objectives
2439
Dear voters!
On April 26 of this year, extraordinary elections of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan will be held.
Elections are an opportunity to draw the attention of society to the main issues of our life.
My vast work, production and life experience suggests that the attention of the state is not always properly paid to environmental and industrial safety issues.
That's why I put forward my candidacy.
The main goal of my election platform is to consider the tasks of transition to environmentally friendly development in the context of human development, to demonstrate the need to take into account environmental aspects and industrial safety issues in such a transition.
* * *
The second half of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries is a time of unprecedented economic growth.
However, rapid economic growth is increasingly carried out without proper consideration of the capabilities of the environment, permissible economic loads on it.
Irrational use of natural resources, pollution of the natural environment with waste, depletion of the gene pool and biological diversity leads to the degradation of the natural environment and human habitat.
As a result, the natural environment is degraded.
Today, the issues of ozone depletion, pollution of the waters of the World Ocean, pollution of land and soil cover, depletion of biological diversity as a result of human industrial activity are relevant.
As a result of the processes of soil degradation, about 7 million hectares of fertile land are removed from the world agricultural turnover annually.
The main reasons for this process are growing urbanization, water and wind erosion, as well as chemical (clogging with heavy metals, chemical compounds) and physical (destruction of soil cover during mining, construction and other works) degradation.
Of great concern is the pollution of the atmosphere by dust and gaseous wastes, the emissions of which are directly related to the combustion of mineral fuels and biomass, as well as to mining, construction and other earthworks.
One of the main aspects of the environmental problem is the reduction of biological diversity.
Currently, the Earth ’ s biodiversity is estimated at 10 to 20 million species.
The damage in this area is already felt enough.
In the second half of the 20th century, the process of reducing the gene pool accelerated dramatically, and if the existing trends continue in the 21st century, 1 / 5 of all species that now inhabit our planet may disappear.
Man is depleting non-renewable natural resources and endangering the production of those elements that could be revived.
It changes the environment of nature upon which its physical and mental existence as a biological and social phenomenon depends.
Environmental pollution is becoming more acute and alarming.
Therefore, today it is necessary to talk about ecology not only as a section of biology, but also in a broader sense.
With the advent of man and the development of his economic activity in the evolution of the biosphere began to act a new factor - anthropogenic.
Man began to use the biosphere to meet his needs.
The level of human impact on the environment depends primarily on the technical equipment of society.
It was extremely small in the early stages of human development.
However, with the development of society, in the course of technological progress, the situation changed radically.
The twentieth century, which formed a qualitatively new relationship of science, technology and technology, enormously increased the scale of the impact of society on nature and posed a number of extremely acute problems for humanity.
However, no matter how we try to change the environment, life on Earth develops according to the strict laws of nature.
That is why human civilization, in order to ensure its sustainable development, must also follow these laws and principles.
Living in harmony with nature is one of the fundamental principles of the existence of Man on Earth.
Even the great philosophers of antiquity taught that it is possible to command nature only by obeying its laws.
However, many facts give grounds to characterize the current relationship between man and nature as anthropogenic ecocide - the destruction of people's natural habitat, including the conditions of their own existence.
Therefore, today we must understand and perceive ecology as the science of our own home.
That is, about the biosphere, the features of its development and the role of man in this process.
People should understand the laws of the development of the biosphere, know the possible causes of its degradation.
Society should form a model of behavior in which the laws of the development of the biosphere are not violated.
Back in the early twentieth century, the famous naturalist V. I. Vernadsky said that humanity has become the main geological-forming force of the planet, and one day the time will come when people will have to take responsibility for the further development of both Nature and Man.
It was obvious to Vernadsky that the biosphere, under the influence of intelligent human activity, was changing into a qualitatively new state.
This new state of the biosphere, transformed by human thought and labor, Vernadsky called the noosphere.
Its essential characteristic is the maintenance of the global equilibrium of the system on the basis of an optimal combination of socio-historical and natural-natural laws.
The biosphere existed before the appearance of man on Earth, it can exist without him.
But man cannot exist without the biosphere.
Awareness of the global environmental danger threatening to destroy humanity has forced the world community to look for new ways out of the situation and led to an understanding of the need to develop the concept of sustainable development.
Noospheric humanity must find a way to restore and preserve the ecological balance on the planet, to develop and implement in practice a strategy of crisis-free development of nature and society.
In the late 1960s, the idea of using a scientific approach to the problem of biodiversity conservation increased again, which was reflected in the creation of a global network of protected areas, on the basis of which international cooperation and exchange programmes began to develop.
Within the framework of these programs, special zones have been created in which it is possible to deal not only with the conservation of biological diversity, but also with the monitoring of environmental processes.
It was during this period that the concept of zoning was proposed, which consists of the creation of three special zones: the core, the buffer zone and the transition zone, or the zone of cooperation with the local population.
In the same period, biological reserves began to be created, the main activity of which was to conduct long-term research on the conservation of biological diversity.
The result of the research was the creation of a worldwide network of biosphere reserves, combining specially protected natural areas, reducing biodiversity losses, preserving the values of the ecosystem.
Today, the network of biosphere reserves is a kind of engine for the exchange of experience, the basis for educational and research programs, monitoring of the environmental situation.
Unfortunately, at present, man is an aggressive element of the ecosystem, but only he, being a sentient being, can stop the destruction of biological diversity and Nature as a whole.
Man is quite capable to assume the functions of managing the ecological development of the planet.
That is why ecology today must go beyond just biology.
Ecology should become an interdisciplinary science that studies the problems of human interaction with the environment.
The interaction of man with nature has its own specifics.
Man is endowed with intelligence, and this gives him the opportunity to realize his place in nature and purpose on Earth.
Today, humanity needs a new paradigm of progressive development that can ensure the well-being of society without undue pressure on the natural environment and without its destruction.
In the near future, advanced countries will move to the formation of a new technological base based on the application of new scientific ideas and developments, globally advanced technologies, biotechnology, etc.
And we must not lag behind them.
Particular attention should be paid to the issue of modernization of environmental policy and the role of civil society in a systematic transition to environmental development.
It is important to be clear that we will be able to achieve safe development only by revising the concept of development of our economic system.
In particular, the source of growth should be the transformation of the economy through the transition to environmentally friendly, low-waste technologies that are environmentally friendly and allow us to ensure an intensive increase in the degree of our competitiveness, well-being and quality of life of society.
Our primary task should be the rational and planned use of natural resources, the protection of the environment from pollution, the introduction of a planned system of state control, international and social measures aimed at the rational use, protection and restoration of natural resources, satisfaction of the material and cultural needs of future generations.
The role of education should not be underestimated.
Therefore, vital measures for the dissemination of knowledge about environmental and industrial safety are the introduction of a compulsory subject in general education schools and the teaching of the basics of ideas about ecology and safe development, as well as constant environmental and educational activities.
We must inculcate knowledge about the environment, the principles of a safe and environmentally friendly existence, knowledge about the need to protect and preserve nature and the reality around us.
Civil society structures, including mass public organizations and youth movements, as well as professional institutions, have a special role to play in disseminating the ideas of preserving environmental balance and industrial safety.
It is necessary to develop civil activity in environmental and environmental issues.
People themselves must consciously come to the idea of   the need to preserve the ecological balance and pristine nature.
All human economic activity must be subjected to a thorough analysis for environmental impact.
The development of such institutions in the center and regions will contribute to the consolidation of the efforts of the expert community and civil society to identify ways and implement clear tasks of modernizing the economy to ensure environmentally friendly development.
Ensuring the success of these tasks involves the development of a broad movement in Kazakhstan in support of increasing the environmental competence of the masses and safe development, as a priority for the activity of civil society, and the definition of this topic as one of the fundamental vectors of support from the state.
Dear Kazakhstanis!
Industrial safety issues are also important in the life of all industrialized countries.
Industrial safety is aimed at compliance with industrial safety requirements established in technical regulations, rules for ensuring industrial safety, various instructions and other regulatory legal acts.
All these documents must be executed.
A certain degree of protection of the vital interests of the individual and society as a whole from possible emergency situations at hazardous production facilities and minimization of the consequences of these accidents should be guaranteed.
To prevent these situations, a set of measures aimed at ensuring the safe operation of technical devices should be implemented at all hazardous production facilities.
All organizations operating hazardous production facilities are obliged to take care of the safety of their employees, facilities and the environment.
All businesses must operate in a way that minimizes the harmful impact on the environment.
In 2004, the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On technical regulation" was adopted.
The law clearly sets out norms on the safety of products and processes, on multi-level standards and certification.
My goal is to achieve transparency and the correct implementation of these norms.
It is necessary to ensure systematic public control over the activities of enterprises in the interests of ensuring the safety of products and processes.
It is necessary to ensure that the requirements of technical regulations become mandatory not only on paper.
It is necessary to ensure that in the implementation of construction, industrial development, any economic activity does not suffer our rich nature, our unique landscape.
Dear voters!
In my program, I tried to convey to you the main idea – the importance of the principles of clean ecology and industrial safety in the life of the state.
Our common task is to create a new, balanced model of the country ’ s development in the context of safe and environmentally friendly development in the third millennium.
Paid by the CEC of the Republic of Kazakhstan from the funds allocated to candidates from the Republican
budget, and the electoral fund of the candidate for the presidency of the Republic of Kazakhstan A. K. Kusainov.
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Title:

Content: Posted Today, 04: 51
Published Today, 04: 51
Modified Today, 05: 44
Updated Today, 05: 44
"By itself": What is happening with tourism in Bashkiria
24 April 2023, 04: 51
Photo by Andrey Nazarov / Vk
You can endlessly look at the fire, how others work and talk about tourism in Bashkiria.
In a region with great tourist potential, they do nothing that can radically affect the development of the industry, experts say.
“Tourism has been growing in recent years.
But it grows by itself, regardless of the officials, ” said an industry participant who wished not to disclose his name in a conversation with Mkset.
Mysterious tourist flow
"The main tourism" in Bashkiria can not sit in their chair for a long time.
For less than 4.5 years of leadership of the republic Radiy Khabirov was replaced by five officials responsible for tourism.
The most famous of them is Rustem Afzalov.
As mayor of Sibay, he probably referred to an “extremist ” as“ excrement. ”
Since Afzalov refused to apologize for the lost word, Khabirov had to do it.
Already as minister Afzalov again “sat in a puddle ”, talking about the tourist flow.
Based on the data of “Sberbank Analytics ”, he said: in 2021, Bashkiria was visited by 3.5 million tourists.
Speaker of the State Assembly Konstantin Tolkachev doubted the correctness of the indicator, suggesting that it took into account all transit guests.
Five days later Afzalov spoke before the head of Bashkiria.
This time, he was unable to explain the difference in his speech with the figure on the dashboard — 5.4 million trips per year.
The official data is completely different.
In the tables of Rosstat it is said about 1.9 million tourists for 2022.
This is the third indicator in the PFC.
In the first place - Tatarstan with an indicator of 3.7 million, in the second - Nizhny Novgorod region with 2.2 million people.
In January-February of this year, 526,576 tourists were registered in Tatarstan, and 312,067 in the Nizhny Novgorod region.
In Bashkiria — 268,152.
Tourism in Bashkiria - as souvenirs: outside everything is beautiful
Photo: mkset.ru
Support measures: “There are no special illusions ”
Experts in the field of tourism note: in Bashkiria is extremely insufficient accommodation facilities for tourists: hotels, hotels, campings.
In 2021, the region formed a program for the development of glamping - comfortable hotels in nature.
Developed the procedure for granting subsidies for the creation and development of glamping, collected applications.
And then silence.
“The competition was not held, ” recalls market participants.
The Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Tourism of Mkset reported that the program was not implemented “due to the fact that the federal program was launched. ”
And for the same purposes, there is no subsidy for two programs.
In 2022, the glamping was built without the participation of Bashkiria, but the regional authorities actively talked about the process.
In the Meleuzovsky district, such an object was erected with the involvement of a grant from Rosturizm.
Entrepreneur Rafael Gizatullin built a glamping in the Arkhangelsk district on his own and credit funds.
The local administration helped with land and other matters, but there was no help from the region.
“If there is a program, it will probably help.
But we still have to win the contest, ” he said.
This year, the Ministry of Tourism also assumes that only the federal budget will subsidize glampings.
Industry participants are waiting for the distribution of 550 million rubles allocated to Bashkiria.
It is already known that 209 million of this amount will be spent on the creation of the tourist code of Ufa, another 6 million will be spent on the Ufa International Marathon.
Only 149 million rubles are provided for the development of tourist infrastructure, the creation of campsites and campgrounds in 2023.
“There are no special illusions.
In 2020, when we all applied for grants of Rosturizm, the feds considered the applications.
There was a really tough objective selection - out of 11 thousand, only 450 winners were chosen.
Now the federal money will be distributed by the commission in the republic.
That is, the selection is likely to be opaque, ” suggests the head of one of the projects.
Expert on domestic tourism Tatyana Rakulova notes that dissatisfied with the distribution of funds will always be - there is a category of people who want not to work, but simply to receive money from the state.
“I ’ m absolutely against giving away money just like that.
To co-finance the costs of companies in order to make the final tourist product cheaper and more affordable is one thing.
But just giving money for some stories...
I hope that in Bashkiria the money will be distributed clearly and efficiently, because it is always possible to spend it, ” Tatyana Rakulova.
Bashkiria is very beautiful, but there are no good roads
Photo: Radiy Khabirov / Vk
Bashkiria has another way.
Opinion of an expert from Tatarstan
Leonid Press, CEO and co-founder of the Kazan travel company STEN, is sure that budget funds do not need to be invested in the construction of hotels - they must be private.
Regional authorities should be engaged in infrastructure projects: to build roads, parks, airports.
Then the business will come and build the necessary facilities for work.
“Why was all this good in Kazan?
Because the issues were not solved at the same time.
In 2005 there was the 1000th anniversary of Kazan, in 2013 - the Universiade, then - the World Cup, very big money was allocated.
The leadership of the republic and the city invested this money in the improvement of the city: roads, interchanges, hotels, airport, parks.
They invested money, there was an interest of the head of the tourism agency in the republic, who came from tourism and knows how it should be - and everything worked out, "he explains.
In Bashkiria, he believes, there should be another way: for the development of tourism, you need to use the interesting nature and geographical proximity to neighboring cities - Yekaterinburg, Samara, Kazan.
“We need to create a recreation area.
To develop ski complexes - after all, there are mountains.
If you use the nature of Bashkiria, then everything will be fine there, because now everything has narrowed down, ” the expert believes.
Support for glamping is just not the most successful solution, he continues.
No one will go there in the winter or in the winter.
In the construction of such facilities, it is necessary to solve issues with sewage treatment plants, and the cost of placement in them in the end is too high.
People with money will not go there - they have country houses and dachas, where "everything is the same, but better."
Bashkiria needs large comfortable sanatoriums, and there should be a lot of them, notes Leonid Press.
“Yes, there are sanatoriums in Bashkortostan.
Why are they not budget?
Because they are few, they have no competition and poor hotel management.
Of course, it is very cheap, unfortunately, now there is nothing.
But when there are many sanatoriums, people from other regions will definitely go to you.
It is good for any region when someone comes to leave money there.
They spend not only on what they watch, people eat, someone buys souvenirs.
If there are a lot of tourists, this is good for the budget, ” Leonid Press.
Issues involving tourists, of course, are not solved quickly, the tourist flow increases for years.
But, if there is political will and funding is allocated, everything turns out, the expert emphasizes.
The main trouble.
Opinions of experts from Bashkiria
The investments of regional authorities in the tourist attractiveness of local participants in the industry seem ill-conceived.
For example, the construction of a museum complex near the Shulgan-Tash cave: the building, outwardly resembling a small shopping center, did not fit into the natural landscape at all.
No utilities: centralized sewerage and heating.
That is, maintaining the building will probably not be so cheap.
A museum in the style of scientific pop, where the entertainment component clearly prevails over the scientific one, would be more appropriate and visited in Ufa.
The museum complex "Shulgan-Tash" was opened with pomp, but it did not fit into the landscape
Photo: website of the head of Bashkiria
The object was also criticized by scientists.
So, the head of the South Ural archaeological expedition and practice of the Moscow State University Vladislav Zhitenev immediately after the opening of the complex noted on Facebook * that it turned out to be “not a museum of Paleolithic cave art of the Kapova Cave ”, but a museum of local lore“ with an emphasis on Kapova ”.
The Doctor of Historical Sciences also noted that the building is not inscribed in the landscape, calling it “a ringing vulgarity and a knockout blow to taste. ”
He noted that the building is perceived as a “mediocre shopping center ”.
“The most important thing is that the residents of Burzyansky district and Bashkiria did not deserve such an attitude, as did the guests of the republic, ” Vladislav Zhitenev.
Another museum complex will be built in the Chishminsky district.
The Ufa project - Ufa-II Settlement - where it is not necessary to build an autonomous sewage system, was last recalled in 2021.
Mkset sent a request to the government of Bashkiria about the fate of this project, which was last planned to be completed by the 450th anniversary of Ufa.
"Ancient Ufa" was created, but the archaeological park was never built
Photo: Museum-Reserve "Ancient Ufa" / Vk
Regional entrepreneurs agreed to discuss the problems of the industry with Mkset only on the condition of anonymity - they fear that they will not be allowed to work for the expressed opinion.
Representatives of the tourist industry note: it is pointless to artificially create new points of attraction when there are already working, but in need of attention routes: for example, May rafting along the rivers Zilim, Sakmara, Nugush, Lemeza, Yuryuzan, Big and Small Iner.
There is a tourist flow there, but infrastructure is needed.
The same goes for the very popular ski resorts.
But the main problem is the roads.
The way to the sights often runs through not the best municipal highways and even on dirt roads, which in the rain and off-season become impassable.
Tourism in Bashkiria continues to develop regardless of what the authorities do - just so the circumstances develop.
Against the background of the fact that vacation abroad becomes inaccessible, there is a growing interest in domestic routes.
Rafting attracts thousands of tourists every year
Photo: Ministry of Emergency Situations of Belarus / vk
Tourism by itself
Bashkiria likes to talk about tourism.
Forums and other events.
That is one of the statutory goals of the Tourism Development Center 2 is designated as assistance in the implementation of activities.
Forums, as a rule, are held with the participation of budget money, it is easier to hold them than to build roads.
Meanwhile, really important projects, where there is already a tourist flow and you need to deal with infrastructure, are being pushed into the background.
For example, the money could be used to ensure the comfort and safety of alloy lovers.
In May, thousands of tourists pass through the rivers of Bashkiria, and not a single year is complete without emergencies or accidents.
Big problems with the protection of tourist-attractive areas
In the meantime, representatives of the industry do not feel any serious involvement of the state in their lives.
Yes, there are programs for entrepreneurship, they can also include a company that is engaged in tourism.
But separately for the industry, no significant support measures have yet been created.
Tourism survives on its own.
* Recognized as extremist.

Unlike sustainable tourism, which aims to minimize negative impacts while maximizing benefits, overtourism creates a scenario where the costs outweigh the advantages, often leading to irreversible damage

Title:

Content: 14 September 2023, 17: 05
UNESCO vs Russian tourism.
Who will win the battle for the "Volcanoes of Kamchatka"
Ecologist Rybalchenko: Russia can develop tourism at UNESCO natural sites
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The UNESCO World Heritage Centre continues to juggle important decisions on the conservation and protection of natural sites.
At first, the organization tried to protect the network of natural parks "Volcanoes of Kamchatka" from "aggressive" tourism, and then suddenly refused to do so.
Although the Russian authorities did not make a single attempt to spoil the natural heritage of the Kamchatka Territory.
Bipolar solutions of UNESCO
The specialized agency of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization - UNESCO - did not include the "Volcanoes of Kamchatka" in the list of world natural heritage under threat.
Recently, the 45th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee was held in Saudi Arabia.
According to Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Victoria Abramchenko, his decision is a “balanced and non-politicized approach ”.
“Russia has demonstrated to the world community the priority of environmental measures and environmental policy aimed at preserving unique natural complexes, ” she said.
Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Victoria Abramchenko / RIA Novosti
The Deputy Prime Minister recalled that the Ministry of Natural Resources has long been working on the creation of the national park “Volcanoes of Kamchatka ”.
Until November 1, the department will submit a regulatory legal act on this to the government.
A protective zone with a special regime for the use of land and water bodies will be established on the territory.
This will allow “to ensure the integrity ” of the facility, as well as“ control over the growing tourist flow and an appropriate level of security, ” the deputy chairman said.
Tourists study the scheme of the Klyuchevskaya group of volcanoes and the scheme of the regional zone of slag cones of the Tolbachinsky volcano / RIA Novosti
“Volcanoes of Kamchatka ” was included in the list of UNESCO World Natural Heritage Sites in 1996.
And the question of their inclusion in the list of places under threat was raised in 2021.
The committee ’ s fears were caused by plans to build a tourist cluster “Three Volcanoes ” in the region – a resort with hotels and ski slopes, eco-camps and geoparks.
However, the negative side of the organization at the UN managed to avoid, as the authorities of the Kamchatka Territory changed the boundaries of the natural park "South Kamchatka".
Recently, in mid-August, UNESCO again recommended that the “Volcanoes of Kamchatka ” be classified as a“ heritage under threat ”.
The organization was concerned about changes in the boundaries of the natural park “at the national level ”.
But, as time has shown, the committee quickly “changed shoes ” and decided to abandon its own initiative.
At the same time, the region is experiencing a number of problems, such as recent forest fires and volcanic eruptions.
As of August, the area of burning massifs in the Kamchatka Territory has reached several million hectares.
Of course, all natural disasters pose a threat to national parks and the nature of the Far Eastern District in general.
It is possible to build, but without fanaticism.
Despite the fact that the Volcanoes of Kamchatka are trying hard to make an object of a specially protected natural area (SPNA), this does not mean that any types of construction are prohibited there, Ilya Rybalchenko, an expert of the ONF, a member of the council of the IHO of the Russian Ecological Movement, explained to 360.
He said that in such areas it is possible to build hotels and hotels.
As an example, Rybalchenko cited “the largest national park in the world ” Kislovodsky, which is considered the main Russian recreation facility.
“There are standing and building new sanatoriums on healing mineral water.
If we are talking about state ownership of land, then the presence of sanatoriums and hotels in this territory can be due to the fact that they are located in protected areas, which have a federal category of protection of I-II levels, ” the ecologist said.
Vacationers in the Valley of Roses in the Kislovodsk National Park / RIA Novosti
The interlocutor of “360 ” explained that the placement of sanatoriums and hotels in such a territory can be allowed only after environmental expertise and obtaining the necessary permits from state authorities.
Actually, what the Ministry of Natural Resources is working on now, trying to get a building permit in the area of   the Volcanoes of Kamchatka.
“Under UNESCO protection ” label and domestic tourism
The procedure for obtaining a permit may take a little longer.
Rybalchenko reminded that the objects included in the World Heritage List are protected by an international treaty.
The inclusion of the object in this list provides legal protection against destruction, alteration or exploitation for purposes not related to conservation, the ecologist stressed.
Therefore, the inclusion of [Kamchatka Volcanoes] in the list is important from a political, historical, and environmental point of view.
Ilya Rybalchenko
Expert of ONF, Member of the Council of the Russian Ecological Movement
He added that Russia thus demonstrates its commitment to the protection of natural and cultural heritage.
However, even in this situation there are some difficulties.
“It is important to maintain a balance and prevent a situation in which the decision taken can potentially deter the development of tourism from encroaching on this object, ” Rybalchenko said.
A tourist at the house on the territory of the base of the Klyuchevskaya natural park in the area of the Big Fissure Tolbachinsky eruption (BTTI) in the Kamchatka Territory.
In the background - volcano Ostryi Tolbachik / RIA "Novosti"
Meanwhile, the development of domestic tourism is critically important today, he added.
This is especially true of the eastern part of the country, because its residents often find it difficult to travel to Kislovodsk, the Crimea and the Krasnodar Territory.
Easy way out — to exclude an object from the list?
It is possible to remove natural objects from the list of world heritage on your own initiative, but the procedure is not easy.
The approval of the World Heritage Committee will be required, the environmentalist said.
“The committee will consider the request based on the inclusion criteria and the potential impact on the safety of the facility.
However, it is important to note that exclusion from the list can have significant consequences for the protection and preservation of the object, ” Rybalchenko explained.
The view of Lake Baikal is one of the cleanest lakes of our planet.
It is included in the UNESCO / RIA Novosti World Heritage List
In turn, UNESCO has the right to delete a particular object from the list if it considers that it no longer meets the criteria for inclusion.
“But it requires a broad international consensus and can be challenging given political and economic factors, ” the expert concluded.
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