Archive for December 2017
Protesters took to the streets of Jerusalem, several cities in the West Bank, and Jordan on Friday 15th Dec 2017, as anger reignited over US President Donald Trump's controversial decision last week to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.Palestinians threw rocks at Israeli security forces in the West Bank city of Bethlehem as hundreds demonstrated outside the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. Thousands gathered in downtown Amman, and Jordanian television aired live footage of smaller protests elsewhere in the country.
Metal security barriers were erected around the Damascus Gate entrance to Jerusalem's Old City, which has often become a flashpoint for protests, and extra police officers have been deployed to control crowds.
Jordan's King Abdullah has also been critical of Trump's announcement, saying last week that there was "no alternative to a two-state solution, and Jerusalem is key to any peace agreement." Abdullah is the custodian of the Muslim holy sites in the Old City of Jerusalem.
The booming travel sector puts in-demand destinations in peril, according to a new report on overtourism from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC)."Some places capture a significant share of the travel and tourism pie, and may be threatened by their own popularity in environmental, social or aesthetic terms," said Gloria Guevara, WTTC's CEO.
The report, "Coping with success: Managing overcrowding in tourism destinations", looks at ways that destinations can identify and prevent overcrowding as well as tools to control where it is already a problem.
Noting that the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) predicts that international tourist arrivals will grow to more than 1.8 billion by 2030, the report says that those arrivals are very concentrated in certain destinations.
"If travelers spread out evenly across the planet, this influx would be relatively easy to absorb," the report said. "Of course, that is not the case."
It notes that France, the most visited country in the world, drew 82 million international arrivals in 2016, while neighboring Germany got less than half that, and Portugal a quarter. Tourism is also uneven within countries, with Paris welcoming triple the number of visitors per capita as the Champagne region.
Fun loving and merry people of Okwelle community, Onu-Imo LGA in Imo state Nigeria.
They are welcoming everybody from all parts of the world to come and experience never ever seen fun and entertainment in their forth coming 3 days carnival from the 28th-30th December 2017.
It is promised to be very colorful and fun packed, as there are going to be exciting programs, interesting and beautiful highlights, comedy, music and many more.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said the Culture and Tourism Sectors have recorded gross shortfall in revenue generation in 2017. The minister said only N500, 000 was generated in 2017 as against the N620, 000 generated in 2016. This was revealed yesterday during the 2018 Budget defense of the ministry before the Senate Committee on Culture and Tourism. Mohammed said: “In 2016 fiscal year, the culture sector generated N620, 000 which has since been remitted to the Consolidated Revenue Fund, Mohammed said.”
The Minister said in the financial performance of the 2017 budget, the sector generated N500, 000 through its agencies which accrued from tender fee only which had been remitted to the Consolidate Revenue Fund. He said for the 2018 Appropriation Bill, the sum of N3, 180,947, 378 was provided for personnel emoluments in 2018 for both culture and information sector.
“For overhead, the sum of N880, 507,008 was provided under overhead expenses in 2018 for both culture and information sector.
“For Capital. A total sum of N810, 510,582 has been proposed in 2018 as capital expenditure under the culture sector while the sum of N496, 678,615 was proposed for both information and culture out of the total budgeted sum of N2, 606,551,260.
“Under 2017 Appropriation Act, the ministry was allocated the sum of N50 million for the equipping of the centres. In this regard contract has been awarded for the equipping of the newly completed centre in Badagry.
“In order to enhance the image of Nigeria abroad, aid cultural diplomacy efforts as well as increase foreign allies the sum of N35 million was appropriated in 2017 for the operation and maintenance of the cultural centres abroad,” Mohammed stated.
In a victory for President Donald Trump, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to allow his latest travel ban to remain in force while the legal fight continues in the lower courts. Seven of the justices ruled in favor of the administration while two - Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor - said the partial stay on the ban should continue.
The court did not give a reason for its decision.
The travel ban - the third one Trump has issued - bars most travelers from eight countries - Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. Six are Muslim-majority nations.
Lower court judges in Maryland and Hawaii had blocked the ban from being enforced.
Tanzania's largest park, Ruaha has been named as one of 21 best places to visit in the world in 2018 by National Geographic. Ruaha, which is located in the southern part of the count is home to about one-tenth of the world's endangered African lions.
According to National geographic sustainable tourism initiatives help visitors see the big cats--some grouped in prides of 30 or more--and support wildlife preservation in and around the park.
Other best trip destination in Africa, which were named by National Geographic are Madagascar, the world's fourth-largest island and Harar, Ethiopia.
Kenya has again been voted as the world's leading safari destination by the World Travel Awards. Kenya scooped the prestigious award during a grand ceremony that took place at JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay Hotel in Vietnam on December 10.
It is the fourth time that Kenya has won the global accolade. Kenya bagged the award last year, in 2015 and 2013.
President Muhammadu Buhari, on Thursday, tasked the management of Shoprite to embrace the local content policy of his administration, with a view to promoting made-in-Nigeria goods, stem capital flight and conserve the most needed foreign exchange. The President, who also lamented that Nigeria could not afford to continue as a dumping ground for foreign goods, especially of such products where it has been abundantly blessed, stated this during the grand opening of the Novare Gateway Mall in Abuja.
According to him, Nigeria’s vegetables and fruits are rated among the best in the world. You would be demonstrating a very great act of patriotism to promote the cultivation of such crops at home as you would wish to shelf on your shops.
President Buhari, whose message was delivered by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, said the Mall, beyond its commercial potentials, represented a practical expression of Abuja’s openness for business, saying it was also a reminder to investors, who were still waiting on the wings, that time, was running out on them.
