Women's World Cup 2019

Have you been following the Women's World Cup?  It's the quarter finals and these players rock!!
France is up against the US today and the US women have good odds at winning.

Good luck to all athletes!

Geography of fear: fright tourism in urban revitalization

Robert S. Bristow and Ian Jenkins

Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events

Abstract
Urban centres encompass a variety of tourist attractions. To expand these offerings, the opportunities must recognize the temporal and spatial constraints of travel. Temporally a night-time economy can fuel visitation and has traditionally been centered on entertainment, food and drinking establishments. The former has broad appeal to all visitors while the latter are more attractive options for the young and fearless. Spatially, to attract a broader audience of visitors, one most overcome the fear of the night so important in family friendly opportunities. Following the examples in several cities, the commodification of dark tourism themes has been shown to encourage family visitation, despite the macabre theme of the attractions. For the purpose of this study, an assessment of common fears is asked of night-time tourists as they prepare to enter an urban haunted attraction. The attraction is promoted to scare the guest but at the same time, expected to be safe. In this manner we begin to understand the dual nature of fear (i.e. repel vs attract) evident in night-time tourism experiences.

KEYWORDS: Urban revitalization, entertainment districts, fright tourism, night-time haunted attractions, dark tourism

What did you do on the Summer Solstice?

Remember it is only 24 hours long.

The day started out muggy, but cleared up in the afternoon and the sun came out with cooler temps.  At least here.

The AT in October Mountain State Forest.

For more weather sites click here, or here for Iceland.

The Green Book Revisited

Now that the Hollywood movie has provided an account of car travel for African Americans in the 20th century, we are reminded that free travel is still not available for people around the globe.

You may recall I blogged about the Green Book before where I provided a short PowerPoint Slide Show with references. So you can search for more material on the copious subject.

For instance, another Blog also reports on the Green Book (date 17 June 2019).

Now what about today?

Since some American States has denied some rights to their citizens, out of protest, no public funds are available for public sector employees to travel to those states.

Consider this debate about the upcoming Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, ASCP conference in South Carolina:

"We write to engage you in a discussion of great importance regarding our upcoming conference hosted by Clemson University (in Greenville, South Carolina, October 24-27, 2019) as well as decision-making regarding future conference locations. On April 2, the California Attorney General placed South Carolina on a list with nine other states where California employees cannot travel on state funds, due to South Carolina’s discrimination against the LGBTQ community in adoption and foster care (https://oag.ca.gov/ab1887). The ten states include Alabama, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas."

The bottom line here is how to deal with the ethical issue.  

Summer travel to the Caribbean

Summer is a popular time for vacations and the Caribbean is a popular destinations for many. Thinking of visiting an island soon?  You might want to pause and check out the National Hurricane Center to see what storms may be brewing in the North Atlantic.

For my summer island trips I wait until the last minute to book.  Like Grace Bay?

Summer trips tend to be more affordable, especially compared to the winter months when people, like me, need to escape the snow and cold.  Also, if you were set to do a cruise, note that Cuba is now off the list.  Too bad, the country really could use the tourist money.

Oh, yeah, we are still in Spring and Summer is still five days off (Friday).

Popocatépetl Volcano Volcanic Ash Advisory

Updates on an active volcano is found here.

and some data and images found here.

International Air Transport Association Annual Report 2018

Want to read about air travel?  Check out the annual report from IATA.

Highlights include the environment, safety, security, cargo and "passenger experience."

Domestic travel in China is the largest market.