Stories discussed in this podcast are from the Travelography Twitter Blog for the week of 2 to 9 February 2009. This podcast is also available at Blubrry.com and Travelgeography.info.
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People have died in their cars trying to escape the Gippsland fires and
there are reports of a busload of Japanese tourists heading towards the
Yarra Valley. Police say they will be blocking people who are driving
towards dangerous areas and people could be charged with hindering
police if they are caught sightseeing in "stupid" areas.
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The body count reached 166 on Tuesday, more than doubling the death
toll from Australia's previous worst forest fires in 1983. Authorities
in the south-coast city of Melbourne warned the death toll would
continue to climb as army bulldozers cleared a path for forensic teams
to enter hamlets cut off by Saturday's inferno.
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Most of today's anti-bird-strike efforts are ground-based, focusing on
making airports less inviting to birds by removing ponds, exterminating
the bugs birds eat, firing noise cannons, installing artificial owls,
and so on. But the next frontier in bird-strike prevention is the sky.
Bird-disturbing radar, pulsing lights, and reflective coatings may
someday make aircraft more visible to birds, so they have time to dodge
oncoming planes
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Hotels, airlines, airports and other travel companies are joining the
Twitter community, too, to pitch services, update travel conditions and
respond directly to the individual needs of customers. They're finding
the mobile nature of the technology is ideal for talking to travelers.
"We consider our Twitter account akin to an information booth,"
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Bookings to popular beach destinations are strong, according to travel
companies, and volunteering vacations continue to gain momentum.
"Typically the student business is more resilient to the economy
because it's like a once in a lifetime trip,"
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Traveling to Suwon, South Korea anytime soon? Feeling flush with cash
and feel like staying in a house shaped like a toilet?
