http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr
SEOUL, Dec. 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the European Union agreed Friday to expand exchanges in the culture and tourism sector with a free trade deal between the two sides expected to go into effect sometime next year, Seoul's culture ministry said.
South Korean Culture Minister Yu In-chon and Chairman of the EU Chamber of Commerce in Korea Jean-Marie Hurtiger signed a preliminary deal, agreeing that cultural exchanges would play a key role in improving bilateral relations and co-development.
Under the agreement, the culture ministry and the EU Chamber of Commerce will co-host a festival during the Group of 20 financial summit scheduled to be held in Seoul next year, featuring films and performances from Europe.
The two sides will also work on establishing a joint institute on animation, e-sports and tourism, the culture ministry said in a press release.
"I hope the cultural and tourism exchanges between the two sides, which have frankly been inactive in the past, will expand by a considerable extent through this deal," Minister Yu said.
"The agreement has an important meaning for Korea considering the strength European nations have in the global market," he added. "Five European countries, including Germany, Britain and France, take up 21.6 percent of the global cultural content market, and France, Spain and Italy are among the world's top tourist destinations."
The EU, the world's largest economic bloc, is South Korea's biggest foreign investor and second-largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching nearly US$100 billion last year.
Their landmark free trade agreement is expected to be ratified next year.
Europe's entertainment industry makes up some 35.5 percent of the global market.
Cultural content, such as films, performances, broadcast material and games, accounted for less than 10 percent of South Korea's exports to Europe last year, according to the culture ministry.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Nikko Hotels International Prepares for a Spring 2011 Hotel Launch in Xiamen, China
TOKYO, Dec. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- JAL Hotels Co., Ltd., today announced that a new 443-room hotel in Xiamen, China, will be added to Nikko Hotels International, its luxury international hotel group, in Spring 2011. Hotel Nikko Xiamen is one of four new Nikko Hotels properties being built in China. These new hotels will bring the total number of Nikko Hotels in China to nine.
Positioned in an upscale newly developed real estate complex, Hotel Nikko Xiamen will have 25 floors spanning over 500,000 square feet. Hotel amenities include restaurants, banquet halls and a spa and fitness center.
Hotel Nikko Xiamen will be built alongside the Xiamen Software Park and Guanyinshan Business Park, where over 400 companies are in the process of relocating, and an international exhibition and conference center. In addition, a new consulate zone, yacht harbor, a luxury residential zone and entertainment facilities such as a concert hall and theaters are being developed.
With a population of almost three million, Xiamen is located in the southeastern province of Fujian and overlooks the Taiwan Strait. The city is a Special Economic Zone, which has stimulated foreign investment and led to Xiamen becoming one of China's fastest growing cities. Xiamen was also recently recognized as one of China's best cities to live in.
About Nikko Hotels International
Nikko Hotels International is an international luxury hotel group operated by JAL Hotels Co., Ltd. (http://www.jalhotels.com), a subsidiary of Japan Airlines, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. In addition to Nikko Hotels, JAL Hotels also operates Hotel JAL City, a chain of 13 mid-priced hotels for business travelers in Japan. JAL Hotels Co., Ltd. currently has 58 hotels worldwide, in Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and throughout Japan and the Asia/Pacific region.
In 2010, JAL Hotels plans to open one hotel in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and two hotels in China: the 471-room Hotel JAL Tower Dubai, a Nikko Hotels International property; the 388-room Hotel Nikko Shanghai; and the 500-room Hotel Nikko Wuxi. In 2011, the company plans to open three hotels: the 300-room JAL Bahrain Resort & Spa, a Nikko Hotels International property, in Bahrain; the 335-room Hotel Nikko Saigon in Vietnam; and the 411-room Hotel Nikko Guangzhou. For more information and photos, please visit the company's news room (http://jalhotels.mediaroom.com).
SOURCE JAL Hotels Co., Ltd.
Positioned in an upscale newly developed real estate complex, Hotel Nikko Xiamen will have 25 floors spanning over 500,000 square feet. Hotel amenities include restaurants, banquet halls and a spa and fitness center.
Hotel Nikko Xiamen will be built alongside the Xiamen Software Park and Guanyinshan Business Park, where over 400 companies are in the process of relocating, and an international exhibition and conference center. In addition, a new consulate zone, yacht harbor, a luxury residential zone and entertainment facilities such as a concert hall and theaters are being developed.
With a population of almost three million, Xiamen is located in the southeastern province of Fujian and overlooks the Taiwan Strait. The city is a Special Economic Zone, which has stimulated foreign investment and led to Xiamen becoming one of China's fastest growing cities. Xiamen was also recently recognized as one of China's best cities to live in.
About Nikko Hotels International
Nikko Hotels International is an international luxury hotel group operated by JAL Hotels Co., Ltd. (http://www.jalhotels.com), a subsidiary of Japan Airlines, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. In addition to Nikko Hotels, JAL Hotels also operates Hotel JAL City, a chain of 13 mid-priced hotels for business travelers in Japan. JAL Hotels Co., Ltd. currently has 58 hotels worldwide, in Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and throughout Japan and the Asia/Pacific region.
In 2010, JAL Hotels plans to open one hotel in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and two hotels in China: the 471-room Hotel JAL Tower Dubai, a Nikko Hotels International property; the 388-room Hotel Nikko Shanghai; and the 500-room Hotel Nikko Wuxi. In 2011, the company plans to open three hotels: the 300-room JAL Bahrain Resort & Spa, a Nikko Hotels International property, in Bahrain; the 335-room Hotel Nikko Saigon in Vietnam; and the 411-room Hotel Nikko Guangzhou. For more information and photos, please visit the company's news room (http://jalhotels.mediaroom.com).
SOURCE JAL Hotels Co., Ltd.
Macao gambles on diversifying tourism industry
www.chinaview.cn
2009-12-17
By Xinhua Writers Guo Likun, Zhang Jiawei and Li Kai
MACAO, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- When visitors return from Hong Kong, friends ask "What did you buy?" When people return from Macao, they're asked "How much did you win?"
"Now Macao wants to become 'What did you win? What did you buy? And what did you see?'" says Alan Hills, who heads Montreal-based Cirque du Soleil's Asia Pacific Regional Office.
"The last part is going to take the most time," he adds.
Gambling on Macao's diversification into a leisure destination and the large potential market in the region, the Cirque, which has six resident shows in Las Vegas, launched the 150-million-U.S.-dollar permanent show, Zaia, at Venetian Macao, a giant casino resort owned by U.S-based Las Vegas Sands, in August last year.
"Right now you don't come to Macao for entertainment. We are starting to change that," Hills says.
Macao, the only place in China where gambling is legal, saw spiraling growth of the gaming industry after opening up the century-old sector to foreign competition in 2002. It has six licensed gaming operators, including U.S gaming giants Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd..
The island city, home to more than 30 casinos and 4,600 gaming tables, has overtaken Las Vegas in terms of gaming revenue.
Casinos contributed more than 70 percent of the Macao government's revenues, paying about 35 percent of their income in gaming taxes. Official statistics show more than 40,000 of about 540,000 Macao residents work in the gambling sector.
To lessen Macao's overwhelming reliance on gambling, the government vowed to "appropriately diversify" the city's economy by expanding its portfolio to develop tourism and include upscale shopping malls, resorts and convention centers.
But even Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) chief executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah admitted it would take time to achieve.
Kwan Fung, director-general of the Macao Society of Social Sciences, said: "It's critical for Macao to optimize the business model of the gambling sector to boost tourism, including sightseeing, leisure travel, shopping and conventions.
"It will upgrade hotel, retail, convention, catering and recreational industries," he says.
GROWING TOURISM OFFERINGS
"We always have the conviction Macao has more to offer visitors than just the rolling dice," said Teresa Costa Gomes, public relations executive with the Macao SAR tourist office.
The cobbled streets, the centuries-old architecture, the piazzas and churches earned its place on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 2005.
In an area of less than 30 square km, the island city has 18 museums, focusing on art, wine, fire control, Portuguese buildings and other aspects of life.
Pop concerts and events such as music and arts festivals, a Grand Prix and dragon-boat racing pull in international visitors, Gomes says.
Luo Lishan, visiting from Zhanjiang in neighboring Guangdong Province and mother of a 17-year-old son, says Macao rates more than a day trip.
"The landscape is changing fast in Macao, and several glitzy casinos and hotels have risen up in the three years since my last visit," she says.
Cameras flash behind her as a crooning gondolier drifts on an indoor canal lined with upscale shops in the Venetian Macao resort on an area of reclaimed land known as the Cotai Strip.
Luo plans to take her son to the Macao Museum of Art in the afternoon after a look at the Sands, one of the three casinos run by Las Vegas Sands.
"I heard the museum has an exhibition of painting collections of the National Art Museum of China right now," she says.
The Macao Museum of Art, the only art museum in the city, is strikingly located next door to the golden Sands.
Museum director Chan Hou Seng attributes the strange juxtaposition to the scarcity of land.
"It's not so bad," he says. "Tourists who have just tried their luck in Sands might visit our museum for a taste of art. And some take the casino's free shuttle bus to and from the border or wharf to come here."
"Drawing a wider variety of visitors will be crucial for the diversification of Macao's gaming and tourism industries, which rely heavily on day-trippers and high-roller gamblers for profits," says Fong Ka Chio, director of Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming at the University of Macao.
"Most of the tourists tend to gamble in the main floor of casinos rather than the VIP halls catering to the high-rollers," he says.
Unlike Las Vegas, much of the gaming revenues of Macao come from high-roller gambling, while Las Vegas earns a larger portion from non-gambling activities such as shows and shopping.
High-roller gaming accounts for about 70 percent of Macao's casino revenue, says Fong.
"Once the gross profit margin from the casino main floor increases, gaming operators will have more funds to invest in non-gaming entertainment facilities, diversifying the gaming sector," he says.
CONVENTION MARKET
From July to October, the prime convention season, the Venetian Macao sees many business people wearing exhibition or conference cards trying their luck on the main floor of its casino.
Tony Lam, president of the Macao Fair and Trade Association, says the SAR government had made the convention industry a key sector for the city's economic diversification.
In 2004, revenue from Macao's convention industry was less than100 million patacas (12.9 million U.S. dollars). But the association predicts it will hit 500 million patacas this year.
Macao is fostering its own convention brand with events such as the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and the Portuguese-speaking Countries, says Lam.
"As the infrastructure continues to improve, the convention sector has great potential to be tapped," he said.
Kwan Fung, director-general of the Macao Society of Social Sciences, says, "When Macao chose Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd. as foreign concessionaires of gambling, it took into account their experience in the convention and leisure industry.
"The SAR government hopes the two companies can use their specialties to turn convention, leisure travel and other service sectors into leading industries for Macao's diversification."
Cirque du Soleil has celebrated its 500th performance of Zaia in Macao, says Hills. "We were hoping other properties will also add entertainment, because the more people that come here for the entertainment, the better off we are. Obviously if someone has the chance to stay overnight, they have the chance to see more shows."
2009-12-17
By Xinhua Writers Guo Likun, Zhang Jiawei and Li Kai
MACAO, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- When visitors return from Hong Kong, friends ask "What did you buy?" When people return from Macao, they're asked "How much did you win?"
"Now Macao wants to become 'What did you win? What did you buy? And what did you see?'" says Alan Hills, who heads Montreal-based Cirque du Soleil's Asia Pacific Regional Office.
"The last part is going to take the most time," he adds.
Gambling on Macao's diversification into a leisure destination and the large potential market in the region, the Cirque, which has six resident shows in Las Vegas, launched the 150-million-U.S.-dollar permanent show, Zaia, at Venetian Macao, a giant casino resort owned by U.S-based Las Vegas Sands, in August last year.
"Right now you don't come to Macao for entertainment. We are starting to change that," Hills says.
Macao, the only place in China where gambling is legal, saw spiraling growth of the gaming industry after opening up the century-old sector to foreign competition in 2002. It has six licensed gaming operators, including U.S gaming giants Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd..
The island city, home to more than 30 casinos and 4,600 gaming tables, has overtaken Las Vegas in terms of gaming revenue.
Casinos contributed more than 70 percent of the Macao government's revenues, paying about 35 percent of their income in gaming taxes. Official statistics show more than 40,000 of about 540,000 Macao residents work in the gambling sector.
To lessen Macao's overwhelming reliance on gambling, the government vowed to "appropriately diversify" the city's economy by expanding its portfolio to develop tourism and include upscale shopping malls, resorts and convention centers.
But even Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) chief executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah admitted it would take time to achieve.
Kwan Fung, director-general of the Macao Society of Social Sciences, said: "It's critical for Macao to optimize the business model of the gambling sector to boost tourism, including sightseeing, leisure travel, shopping and conventions.
"It will upgrade hotel, retail, convention, catering and recreational industries," he says.
GROWING TOURISM OFFERINGS
"We always have the conviction Macao has more to offer visitors than just the rolling dice," said Teresa Costa Gomes, public relations executive with the Macao SAR tourist office.
The cobbled streets, the centuries-old architecture, the piazzas and churches earned its place on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 2005.
In an area of less than 30 square km, the island city has 18 museums, focusing on art, wine, fire control, Portuguese buildings and other aspects of life.
Pop concerts and events such as music and arts festivals, a Grand Prix and dragon-boat racing pull in international visitors, Gomes says.
Luo Lishan, visiting from Zhanjiang in neighboring Guangdong Province and mother of a 17-year-old son, says Macao rates more than a day trip.
"The landscape is changing fast in Macao, and several glitzy casinos and hotels have risen up in the three years since my last visit," she says.
Cameras flash behind her as a crooning gondolier drifts on an indoor canal lined with upscale shops in the Venetian Macao resort on an area of reclaimed land known as the Cotai Strip.
Luo plans to take her son to the Macao Museum of Art in the afternoon after a look at the Sands, one of the three casinos run by Las Vegas Sands.
"I heard the museum has an exhibition of painting collections of the National Art Museum of China right now," she says.
The Macao Museum of Art, the only art museum in the city, is strikingly located next door to the golden Sands.
Museum director Chan Hou Seng attributes the strange juxtaposition to the scarcity of land.
"It's not so bad," he says. "Tourists who have just tried their luck in Sands might visit our museum for a taste of art. And some take the casino's free shuttle bus to and from the border or wharf to come here."
"Drawing a wider variety of visitors will be crucial for the diversification of Macao's gaming and tourism industries, which rely heavily on day-trippers and high-roller gamblers for profits," says Fong Ka Chio, director of Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming at the University of Macao.
"Most of the tourists tend to gamble in the main floor of casinos rather than the VIP halls catering to the high-rollers," he says.
Unlike Las Vegas, much of the gaming revenues of Macao come from high-roller gambling, while Las Vegas earns a larger portion from non-gambling activities such as shows and shopping.
High-roller gaming accounts for about 70 percent of Macao's casino revenue, says Fong.
"Once the gross profit margin from the casino main floor increases, gaming operators will have more funds to invest in non-gaming entertainment facilities, diversifying the gaming sector," he says.
CONVENTION MARKET
From July to October, the prime convention season, the Venetian Macao sees many business people wearing exhibition or conference cards trying their luck on the main floor of its casino.
Tony Lam, president of the Macao Fair and Trade Association, says the SAR government had made the convention industry a key sector for the city's economic diversification.
In 2004, revenue from Macao's convention industry was less than100 million patacas (12.9 million U.S. dollars). But the association predicts it will hit 500 million patacas this year.
Macao is fostering its own convention brand with events such as the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and the Portuguese-speaking Countries, says Lam.
"As the infrastructure continues to improve, the convention sector has great potential to be tapped," he said.
Kwan Fung, director-general of the Macao Society of Social Sciences, says, "When Macao chose Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd. as foreign concessionaires of gambling, it took into account their experience in the convention and leisure industry.
"The SAR government hopes the two companies can use their specialties to turn convention, leisure travel and other service sectors into leading industries for Macao's diversification."
Cirque du Soleil has celebrated its 500th performance of Zaia in Macao, says Hills. "We were hoping other properties will also add entertainment, because the more people that come here for the entertainment, the better off we are. Obviously if someone has the chance to stay overnight, they have the chance to see more shows."
Goa Tourism To Bring Special Force To Fight Crimes Against Tourists
http://www.india-server.com/
2009-12-17
Goa tourism department plans to bring out a Special Tourist Security Force (STSF) that shall help to curb the growing crimes against tourists in the state. Tourism Minister Francisco Pacheco mentioned the government's idea of setting up of the STSF in the annual administration report which was tabled in the Goa assembly on Tuesday.
The report states, "Setting up a Special Tourist Security Force named as tourist security organization is proposed to be formulated in order to provide additional protection and guidance to the tourists visiting the state.”
Goa, the popular tourist spot of India, is reported to have several crimes in the recent times, most predominantly the assaults on foreign women tourists. Police has also failed to control the situation which has led to embarrassing situation for the Goa government.
Recently, 25-year-old Russian woman was raped by a local politician at Colva, a resort in south Goa. The woman has pointed out the inability of the Goa police to tackle the crime and also allowing the accused to escape easily.
Lyndon Monteiro, officer on special duty to the tourism minister, said the state government is taking full care to assure hundred percent safety to the tourists visiting Goa. He said, "We are in the process of setting up the STSF at the earliest to ensure full protection to the tourists coming to Goa." However, he detained from revealing any exact detail about the proposed plan.
Goa is the favorite holiday destination for more than two million tourists annually of which about 450,000 are foreigners.
2009-12-17
Goa tourism department plans to bring out a Special Tourist Security Force (STSF) that shall help to curb the growing crimes against tourists in the state. Tourism Minister Francisco Pacheco mentioned the government's idea of setting up of the STSF in the annual administration report which was tabled in the Goa assembly on Tuesday.
The report states, "Setting up a Special Tourist Security Force named as tourist security organization is proposed to be formulated in order to provide additional protection and guidance to the tourists visiting the state.”
Goa, the popular tourist spot of India, is reported to have several crimes in the recent times, most predominantly the assaults on foreign women tourists. Police has also failed to control the situation which has led to embarrassing situation for the Goa government.
Recently, 25-year-old Russian woman was raped by a local politician at Colva, a resort in south Goa. The woman has pointed out the inability of the Goa police to tackle the crime and also allowing the accused to escape easily.
Lyndon Monteiro, officer on special duty to the tourism minister, said the state government is taking full care to assure hundred percent safety to the tourists visiting Goa. He said, "We are in the process of setting up the STSF at the earliest to ensure full protection to the tourists coming to Goa." However, he detained from revealing any exact detail about the proposed plan.
Goa is the favorite holiday destination for more than two million tourists annually of which about 450,000 are foreigners.
Jumeirah Group To Manage Agile Resort In Hainan
http://www.chinahospitalitynews.com
July 31, 2009
Agile Property Holdings Limited, a leading Chinese property developer, has announced that it had reached an agreement with Jumeirah Group, a Dubai-based luxury hospitality company, for the management of Jumeirah Qing Shui Bay Resort in Hainan province.
This will be Jumeirah's first beach resort in mainland China.
Qing Shui Bay (Clearwater Bay) is to the south of Sanya and is a 40-minute drive from downtown Sanya and Sanya Airport. The resort covers an area of 210,000 square meters with a total floor area of 60,000 square meters, and has 250 guest rooms and 50 luxury villas. Guests will have access to Clearwater Bay's 12-kilometer beach of pure white sand, six restaurants and cafes, a waterfront conference center, and Talise, Jumeirah's signature spa.
Chen Zhuolin, the chairman of the Agile Group stated that the cooperation with Jumeirah will add a new landmark to Hainan Clearwater Bay, while enhancing the quality of the entire project. The two will jointly develop Hainan Clearwater Bay into a large-scale resort and residential community.
July 31, 2009
Agile Property Holdings Limited, a leading Chinese property developer, has announced that it had reached an agreement with Jumeirah Group, a Dubai-based luxury hospitality company, for the management of Jumeirah Qing Shui Bay Resort in Hainan province.
This will be Jumeirah's first beach resort in mainland China.
Qing Shui Bay (Clearwater Bay) is to the south of Sanya and is a 40-minute drive from downtown Sanya and Sanya Airport. The resort covers an area of 210,000 square meters with a total floor area of 60,000 square meters, and has 250 guest rooms and 50 luxury villas. Guests will have access to Clearwater Bay's 12-kilometer beach of pure white sand, six restaurants and cafes, a waterfront conference center, and Talise, Jumeirah's signature spa.
Chen Zhuolin, the chairman of the Agile Group stated that the cooperation with Jumeirah will add a new landmark to Hainan Clearwater Bay, while enhancing the quality of the entire project. The two will jointly develop Hainan Clearwater Bay into a large-scale resort and residential community.
European paedophile trolls in Africa
http://www.speroforum.com
By Martyn Drakard
Thursday, December 17, 2009
A little-reported phenomenon is spreading in holiday resort areas of the developing countries, largely unreported by international or local press, and which goes under the benign name of “child sex tourism” (CST). This euphemistic term for a different brand of pedophilia has moved its focus, in the eastern hemisphere, from the tsunami-prone areas of Sri Lanka and points east to the coast of Kenya.
To be scrupulously fair, however, pedophiles seek out and travel deliberately to those places where they’re sure of finding children and young people ready for sexual relationships. Whereas many “child sex tourists” –men and women- are “situational abusers”, who occasionally seek out children as partners but who do engage in sexual relationships with them when the opportunity arises. That opportunity is often a trip to a foreign country, where they are known by no-one, will never meet the partner again, and where the people are easy prey and have little notion of their rights. Pedophile tourism is fuelled by poverty, Internet, ease of travel and weak law enforcement.
The laws of most developing countries in Africa are unprepared for this. The Gambia has recently set up a hotline to inform on cases of sex tourism, and Senegal has a special anti-CST unit within the police force in two of its popular tourist destinations. But in Kenya’s present constitution, which goes back to 1963 independence, prostitution is not illegal; only living on the earnings of prostitution is termed a “misdemeanor”.
Kenya, the economic giant of the region, has an “open-door” economic policy aimed at attracting as much foreign investment as possible, and tourism is a major foreign exchange earner. Mass tourism has benefited the economy in the past forty years, almost without a break, and now many charter airlines operate direct flights from Europe to Mombasa international airport.
Mombasa is no longer a sleepy town on the Indian Ocean. With about one million inhabitants, it is a major port on the east African coastline, serving landlocked Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, eastern Congo and southern Sudan; cruise liners dock there for some days to allow tourists travel to the game parks and enjoy the beaches; and it is a strategic military base. It is also a drugs trafficking point, has long-standing connections with the Gulf and the Red Sea, and is fast becoming an economic hub in its own right. Its cosmopolitan make-up, international standards and welcoming, friendly people complete its tourist appeal.
Add to this explosive cocktail the fact that the City Council issues cards to barmaids to work in lodging-houses which are effectively brothels, establishments owned by influential people, who are deemed “above the law”; and that the media and the government have neglected to bring the issue to light, and, lo and behold, a perfect setting for pedophile tourism.
Cross the main highways leading north or south of Mombasa and a different world reveals itself. On the beach side are the hotels, casinos and luxury villas, the smart supermarkets, and tourist attractions such as crocodile villages and snake parks. On the other side is Africa: Africa with its grinding poverty, fight for survival, its squatters and the hard-earned money from working on sisal and sugar plantations.
Few tourists cross the highway, except to travel in air-conditioned comfort to a game park; others may just cross to make a pedophile contact. Education in this region has only just started to catch up with the rest of the country because it is now heavily state-subsidized; parents didn’t have the money before. Some children still find it easier to escape from the inland villages, however, to look for a living in Mombasa or Malindi. African girls and women are seen as easily “available” and submissive, and direly need the money, and perhaps prospects of a better life somewhere in Europe so a “mzungu” (White person) contact is “useful”. Young men from poor or broken homes, with little or no education, except for an adequate smattering of English, German and Italian are “available” and charming.
Local culture heavily frowns on such behavior, but local people are also very tolerant and hospitable, and their good-nature is taken advantage of. And pedophile tourism is a money-earner, so the authorities pretend it doesn’t exist or seem to.
It is a thriving industry still in parts of South Asia, as well as Central America and those parts of Africa where tourists venture. It is also an international disgrace. The media, in particular, are hypocritical about it. A pastor or priest who abuses children is called a pedophile, molester, defiler or pervert; it makes front-page news and the media is after his blood until his church apologizes. A Briton, German or Italian is said to be “on a spree” or having a bit of “legitimate fun”: he or she is called a sex “tourist”. He’s not reported; no need to apologize either for a life ruined.
Martyn Drakard writes from Uganda and Kenya.
By Martyn Drakard
Thursday, December 17, 2009
A little-reported phenomenon is spreading in holiday resort areas of the developing countries, largely unreported by international or local press, and which goes under the benign name of “child sex tourism” (CST). This euphemistic term for a different brand of pedophilia has moved its focus, in the eastern hemisphere, from the tsunami-prone areas of Sri Lanka and points east to the coast of Kenya.
To be scrupulously fair, however, pedophiles seek out and travel deliberately to those places where they’re sure of finding children and young people ready for sexual relationships. Whereas many “child sex tourists” –men and women- are “situational abusers”, who occasionally seek out children as partners but who do engage in sexual relationships with them when the opportunity arises. That opportunity is often a trip to a foreign country, where they are known by no-one, will never meet the partner again, and where the people are easy prey and have little notion of their rights. Pedophile tourism is fuelled by poverty, Internet, ease of travel and weak law enforcement.
The laws of most developing countries in Africa are unprepared for this. The Gambia has recently set up a hotline to inform on cases of sex tourism, and Senegal has a special anti-CST unit within the police force in two of its popular tourist destinations. But in Kenya’s present constitution, which goes back to 1963 independence, prostitution is not illegal; only living on the earnings of prostitution is termed a “misdemeanor”.
Kenya, the economic giant of the region, has an “open-door” economic policy aimed at attracting as much foreign investment as possible, and tourism is a major foreign exchange earner. Mass tourism has benefited the economy in the past forty years, almost without a break, and now many charter airlines operate direct flights from Europe to Mombasa international airport.
Mombasa is no longer a sleepy town on the Indian Ocean. With about one million inhabitants, it is a major port on the east African coastline, serving landlocked Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, eastern Congo and southern Sudan; cruise liners dock there for some days to allow tourists travel to the game parks and enjoy the beaches; and it is a strategic military base. It is also a drugs trafficking point, has long-standing connections with the Gulf and the Red Sea, and is fast becoming an economic hub in its own right. Its cosmopolitan make-up, international standards and welcoming, friendly people complete its tourist appeal.
Add to this explosive cocktail the fact that the City Council issues cards to barmaids to work in lodging-houses which are effectively brothels, establishments owned by influential people, who are deemed “above the law”; and that the media and the government have neglected to bring the issue to light, and, lo and behold, a perfect setting for pedophile tourism.
Cross the main highways leading north or south of Mombasa and a different world reveals itself. On the beach side are the hotels, casinos and luxury villas, the smart supermarkets, and tourist attractions such as crocodile villages and snake parks. On the other side is Africa: Africa with its grinding poverty, fight for survival, its squatters and the hard-earned money from working on sisal and sugar plantations.
Few tourists cross the highway, except to travel in air-conditioned comfort to a game park; others may just cross to make a pedophile contact. Education in this region has only just started to catch up with the rest of the country because it is now heavily state-subsidized; parents didn’t have the money before. Some children still find it easier to escape from the inland villages, however, to look for a living in Mombasa or Malindi. African girls and women are seen as easily “available” and submissive, and direly need the money, and perhaps prospects of a better life somewhere in Europe so a “mzungu” (White person) contact is “useful”. Young men from poor or broken homes, with little or no education, except for an adequate smattering of English, German and Italian are “available” and charming.
Local culture heavily frowns on such behavior, but local people are also very tolerant and hospitable, and their good-nature is taken advantage of. And pedophile tourism is a money-earner, so the authorities pretend it doesn’t exist or seem to.
It is a thriving industry still in parts of South Asia, as well as Central America and those parts of Africa where tourists venture. It is also an international disgrace. The media, in particular, are hypocritical about it. A pastor or priest who abuses children is called a pedophile, molester, defiler or pervert; it makes front-page news and the media is after his blood until his church apologizes. A Briton, German or Italian is said to be “on a spree” or having a bit of “legitimate fun”: he or she is called a sex “tourist”. He’s not reported; no need to apologize either for a life ruined.
Martyn Drakard writes from Uganda and Kenya.
Elgin Marbles Row Rumbles On
Solution to Dispute between Britain and Greece Could Hit Museums
http://archaeology.suite101.com
John Reynolds
Dec 17, 2009
A row between Greece and Britain over the ownership of some of the world's most famous ancient marble sculptures shows little sign of being settled.
The so-called Elgin Marbles were taken from the ruined Parthenon in Athens by a British aristocrat under questionable circumstances and now have pride of place in the British Museum in London.
But the Greeks, who have recently completed and opened a new Acropolis Museum with space set aside for the Elgin marbles, want the sculptures back so the Unesco World Heritage Parthenon site is as complete as it can be.
Who Owns the Marbles?
The dispute comes down to a matter of ownership and has now spread to include other Middle and Near Eastern artefacts which are housed in European and North American museums. Egyptian archaeological authorities, for example, are now demanding the return of the Rosetta Stone from the British Museum. It’s the stone from which Egyptian hieroglyphics were first interpreted.
“Elginism” is now being used as a noun to describe cultural vandalism and is the name of a website and campaign that wants cultural items like the Marbles returned to their countries of origin. The new Acropolis museum in Athens has demanded their return, the British Museum has firmly said no and the two governments are taking no current part in the dispute so there is currently a stalemate.
How Did the Marbles Get to London?
At the beginning of the 19th century, Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, who was the British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, which then ruled Greece, persuaded the authorities to allow him to remove pieces from the neglected Acropolis buildings. Locals had already used some of the stone for their own building and in some cases had ground the marble down to make lime. At the time, not much respect was being shown by the Ottoman authorities.
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In the first three years of the century Elgin and his agents spent about £4m in today’s money removing about half the surviving sculptures from the Parthenon together with pieces from other parts of the Acropolis site and taking them to Britain. Elgin’s actions were controversial even then, with grecophile poet Lord Byron among his detractors although his actions were eventually approved by Parliament and the British Government bought the Parthenon sculptures in 1816, placing them on permanent display in the British Museum.
Among the admirers of the sculptures was another great poet, John Keats, and the marbles were a great popular success among visitors to London.
They are now housed in the Duveen Gallery which was designed to emulate the dimensions of the Parthenon with the sculptures placed in the appropriate locations.
The marbles consist of 17 figures from both the east and west pediments together with 15 panels, called metopes, plus about half of the frieze which was originally around the eaves of the Parthenon.
Because of the state of the Acropolis buildings at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and official indifference to them, many European collectors took sculptures and other pieces of marble which are now in museums throughout Europe. Elgin took the bulk of them.
The authenticity of Elgin’s original permission to remove the sculptures has been questioned – not difficult as the original permission document has been lost. Lawyers still argue over the legality of Elgin’s actions and those of the British Government in acquiring them.
The Arguments
The Greeks say the Parthenon sculptures should be reunited in the new Parthenon museum so visitors can better appreciate the whole site. Other countries have already returned their fragments. There is also the questionable legality of their initial acquisition by Elgin and Britain. The British Museum, meanwhile, says the return of the Marbles would be the tip of an iceberg that would eventually see the world’s great museums emptied of most of their exhibits. It argues that it needs to maintain a single worldwide cultural collection in a World Heritage Site and that Elgin saved the marbles from damage by once notorious Athenian pollution.
The latter issue – who could look after the marbles the best – has become one of the central issues in the debate. The Athenians now claim their Acropolis Museum would house the sculptures in a state-of-the-art environmentally controlled room and preserve them from deterioration. It also says the British Museum has not been all that careful in its own cleaning of the marbles and that it has caused some damage to the artefacts itself.
The argument over cleaning has continued for almost as long as the argument over Lord Elgin’s alleged legal permission to remove them. The British Museum has admitted that it made mistakes in cleaning the marbles but claims they would have suffered greater damage in Athenian pollution.
The dispute often descends to a childish exchange of “give them back” and “no” and a UK opinion poll carried out by MORI in 2002 revealed 40% of respondents favouring a return to Greece and 16% in favour of keeping them in London. A deal whereby the British and Greek retained joint control and including long-term loan agreements received even more support, with 56% backing return and just 7% backing their retention in Britain.
What does the Future Hold?
Least of all among the factors influencing people’s opinion is the fact that thanks to cheap air travel in Europe, it is no longer prohibitively expensive for people who want to see the Marbles to fly to Athens and see them and the rest of the Acropolis at the same time.
Whichever way the argument over the Elgin Marbles goes, the final decision will affect the content of all the world’s major museums and could completely change the way the public sees the remnants of the past.
Read more at Suite101: Elgin Marbles Row Rumbles On: Solution to Dispute between Britain and Greece Could Hit Museums | Suite101.com http://archaeology.suite101.com/article.cfm/elgin_marbles_row_rumbles_on#ixzz0ZxLleqLs
http://archaeology.suite101.com
John Reynolds
Dec 17, 2009
A row between Greece and Britain over the ownership of some of the world's most famous ancient marble sculptures shows little sign of being settled.
The so-called Elgin Marbles were taken from the ruined Parthenon in Athens by a British aristocrat under questionable circumstances and now have pride of place in the British Museum in London.
But the Greeks, who have recently completed and opened a new Acropolis Museum with space set aside for the Elgin marbles, want the sculptures back so the Unesco World Heritage Parthenon site is as complete as it can be.
Who Owns the Marbles?
The dispute comes down to a matter of ownership and has now spread to include other Middle and Near Eastern artefacts which are housed in European and North American museums. Egyptian archaeological authorities, for example, are now demanding the return of the Rosetta Stone from the British Museum. It’s the stone from which Egyptian hieroglyphics were first interpreted.
“Elginism” is now being used as a noun to describe cultural vandalism and is the name of a website and campaign that wants cultural items like the Marbles returned to their countries of origin. The new Acropolis museum in Athens has demanded their return, the British Museum has firmly said no and the two governments are taking no current part in the dispute so there is currently a stalemate.
How Did the Marbles Get to London?
At the beginning of the 19th century, Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, who was the British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, which then ruled Greece, persuaded the authorities to allow him to remove pieces from the neglected Acropolis buildings. Locals had already used some of the stone for their own building and in some cases had ground the marble down to make lime. At the time, not much respect was being shown by the Ottoman authorities.
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World of dark fantasy
Literary world of Richard A Valicek There shall never be another dawn
www.richardavalicek.comWrite Screenplays Fast
Download the step-by-step guide to writing a screenplay in 10 days!
www.10dayScreenplay.com
In the first three years of the century Elgin and his agents spent about £4m in today’s money removing about half the surviving sculptures from the Parthenon together with pieces from other parts of the Acropolis site and taking them to Britain. Elgin’s actions were controversial even then, with grecophile poet Lord Byron among his detractors although his actions were eventually approved by Parliament and the British Government bought the Parthenon sculptures in 1816, placing them on permanent display in the British Museum.
Among the admirers of the sculptures was another great poet, John Keats, and the marbles were a great popular success among visitors to London.
They are now housed in the Duveen Gallery which was designed to emulate the dimensions of the Parthenon with the sculptures placed in the appropriate locations.
The marbles consist of 17 figures from both the east and west pediments together with 15 panels, called metopes, plus about half of the frieze which was originally around the eaves of the Parthenon.
Because of the state of the Acropolis buildings at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and official indifference to them, many European collectors took sculptures and other pieces of marble which are now in museums throughout Europe. Elgin took the bulk of them.
The authenticity of Elgin’s original permission to remove the sculptures has been questioned – not difficult as the original permission document has been lost. Lawyers still argue over the legality of Elgin’s actions and those of the British Government in acquiring them.
The Arguments
The Greeks say the Parthenon sculptures should be reunited in the new Parthenon museum so visitors can better appreciate the whole site. Other countries have already returned their fragments. There is also the questionable legality of their initial acquisition by Elgin and Britain. The British Museum, meanwhile, says the return of the Marbles would be the tip of an iceberg that would eventually see the world’s great museums emptied of most of their exhibits. It argues that it needs to maintain a single worldwide cultural collection in a World Heritage Site and that Elgin saved the marbles from damage by once notorious Athenian pollution.
The latter issue – who could look after the marbles the best – has become one of the central issues in the debate. The Athenians now claim their Acropolis Museum would house the sculptures in a state-of-the-art environmentally controlled room and preserve them from deterioration. It also says the British Museum has not been all that careful in its own cleaning of the marbles and that it has caused some damage to the artefacts itself.
The argument over cleaning has continued for almost as long as the argument over Lord Elgin’s alleged legal permission to remove them. The British Museum has admitted that it made mistakes in cleaning the marbles but claims they would have suffered greater damage in Athenian pollution.
The dispute often descends to a childish exchange of “give them back” and “no” and a UK opinion poll carried out by MORI in 2002 revealed 40% of respondents favouring a return to Greece and 16% in favour of keeping them in London. A deal whereby the British and Greek retained joint control and including long-term loan agreements received even more support, with 56% backing return and just 7% backing their retention in Britain.
What does the Future Hold?
Least of all among the factors influencing people’s opinion is the fact that thanks to cheap air travel in Europe, it is no longer prohibitively expensive for people who want to see the Marbles to fly to Athens and see them and the rest of the Acropolis at the same time.
Whichever way the argument over the Elgin Marbles goes, the final decision will affect the content of all the world’s major museums and could completely change the way the public sees the remnants of the past.
Read more at Suite101: Elgin Marbles Row Rumbles On: Solution to Dispute between Britain and Greece Could Hit Museums | Suite101.com http://archaeology.suite101.com/article.cfm/elgin_marbles_row_rumbles_on#ixzz0ZxLleqLs
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