Wikipedia Will Officially Launch Travel Website Tuesday

by Libby Zay on
Several sources are reporting the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation is slated to officially launch a travel website, Wikivoyage, this Tuesday, January 15. Similar to Wikipedia, the free website will be written by volunteer authors – except this website will solely focus on travel destinations and other travel topics, such as itineraries, phrasebooks and more.

During an interview on Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report” earlier this week, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said the website is a priority for the company.

“We have a travel site that’s opening up soon; we will see how it goes,” Wales said.

The new endeavor has been softly launched since September, and already has more than 26,000 articles in eight languages. Articles are laid out in the familiar Wikipedia format, providing historical and geographic information as well as information on what to eat, drink and do in certain locations.

“Wikivoyage is built with the spirit of sharing knowledge that makes travel so enjoyable,” reads the “about” page on the Wikivoyage website. “Whenever travellers meet each other on the road, they swap info about the places they came from and ask questions about places they’re going. We want to make it easy to share that knowledge and let others share it; our copyleft license means that the facts you know can spread far and wide.”

Rivals Wikitravel, a commercial travel wiki operated by Internet Brands, seem more than unhappy about the new endeavor. According to PC World, the company filed suit against two former volunteers, charging them with theft of intellectual property and unfair competition in a criminal conspiracy. But Wikimedia Foundation has fired back, seeking a judicial declaration that Internet Brands had no lawful right to impede, disrupt or block the creation of the new project.

The good news for travelers is that the guides can be viewed on desktop, tablet and smartphone, not to mention freely downloaded and printed. Although it’s too early to say for sure, the ever-updated website seems as though it will give traditional guidebooks like Lonely Planet, Fodor’s and Frommer’s a run for their money.

Tourists Mistaken For Illegal Immigrants Beaten By Greek Police

by Reena Ganga on

Greek authorities have been cracking down on illegal immigrants to the country but a number of tourists have been detained as part of the sweep. Some of the travelers have even been beaten so badly by police that they ended up in the hospital, according to the BBC.

Greek police patrolling the streets are stopping anyone who looks foreign and asking to see their ID. However, many tourists claim to have been arrested and taken to a police station despite showing authorities their passport.

One tourist from Korea says a police officer punched him in the face after he handed over his passport when stopped in the street in Athens. He was then taken to the police station where he was attacked again in a stairwell.

Another man traveling with his family on a US passport says he was beaten so badly after being detained that he fell unconscious. He woke to find himself in a hospital.

“I went there to spend my money but they stopped me just because of my color. They are racist.” Christian Ukwuorji told the BBC.Greece has been clamping down on illegal immigration as the country’s economic woes make it increasingly difficult to support the growing numbers of immigrants. It’s believed that as much as 10 percent of the country’s population is living there illegally.

Greece is also under pressure from the European community because the country is viewed as a gateway to the EU – almost 95 percent of Europe’s illegal immigrants enter via Greece.

More than 60,000 people have been stopped in the streets since the operation began in August last year. The US State Department has updated its travel advisory to warn tourists of the potential harassment.

[Photo Credit: Flickr user George Laoutaris]

Book British Airways, Get Two Free Nights In The UK

by Libby Zay on

If you’ve been thinking about crossing the Atlantic and heading to the United Kingdom, now is a great time to snag a deal. British Airways and VisitBritain have teamed up to offer “The Big British Invite,” a promotion gifting free two-night stays when travelers book round-trip airfare out of the United States.

The offer – which is valid through midnight on March 31, 2013, so long as flights and rooms are available and a few other terms and conditions are met – includes two free nights at double occupancy in a hotel through May 31, 2013.

Most of the hotels offered are in the 3-4 star range, such as the Holiday Inn London Kensington Forum (the same hotel that previously offered human bed warmers), and other hotels throughout London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester and Newcastle.

But the free stay isn’t all the sale gifts to travelers. Customers will also receive a “Better Island Band,” a bracelet that allows travelers to snag discounts and deals on attractions throughout the United Kingdom. This includes two for one scotch tastings at Glengoyne Distillery in Glasgow, two for one admission at Tower of London, an upgraded tour package at Cardiff Castle, and more.

For more information or to start booking, here’s more on the Big British Invite promotion.

[Photo credit: Blogger Libby Zay]

National Park Service Puts Permanent Caps On Half Dome Hikers

by Kraig Becker on

Yosemite’s Half Dome is one of the most popular and iconic sites in the entire U.S. National Park system. It is so popular in fact that in 2010 the Park Service was forced to institute a provisional set of guidelines that required hikers to have a permit before attempting to make the long trek to the top. Last week the NPS announced that the temporary system would now become permanent, limiting the number of hikers to just 300 per day.

Prior to the permit system being instituted in 2010, the number of hikers on the Half Dome trail were often excessive. During the peak season the 14-mile route would often average more than 400 hikers on weekdays and as many as 1200 on holidays and weekends. This caused overcrowding, particularly on the 400-foot ascent to the summit, which employs a series of cables to help hikers safely climb to the top. Traffic jams were not uncommon on that stretch of the hike due to the steep and physically demanding nature of the trail. Those delays could often prove dangerous as long lines of people waited for hours for their chance to climb the granite dome.

In an effort to improve safety on the trail and preserve the natural environment around Half Dome, the NPS decided that a permit system would be a wise choice. When they launched the system nearly three years ago the daily limit was set to 450 hikers, but in their announcement last week, the Park Service has reduced that number to 300. About 225 of those would be day hikers while the remaining 75 would be allotted to backpackers.In addition to limiting the number of daily hikers, the Park Service is also using a lottery system to award most of the permits. The preseason application for the permits will open March 1 and run through March 31 and will be available at Recreation.gov. The winners of those permits will be alerted by email on April 15, so if you’re planning on hiking Half Dome this year, it may be wise to select your dates ahead of time and apply for your permits early. The cost of the permit is $4.50 for the application and an additional $8 per person if the permit is actually awarded. An additional 50 permits will be available in a daily lottery up to two days ahead of time throughout the rest of the year.

While this permanent permit system puts serious limitations on the number of people who get to enjoy Half Dome on any given day, I think it’s safe to say those limitations are for the best. Not only do they make the trail safer, they also provide a lot more solitude for those who get to walk it. That makes for a better experience in Yosemite, which is something I think we can all appreciate.

[Photo Credit: Av9 via WikiMedia]

Illegal Ivory Trade Surged To Highest Level Ever In 2011

by Kraig Becker on

A new report from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) indicates that the illegal ivory trade has risen to its highest point in two decades following a sharp upturn in seizure of large shipments of the elephant tusks in recent years. The same report says that 2011 was the worst year on record with a “major surge” in the illegal trafficking of ivory.

The full report will be presented at a CITES conference held in Bangkok in March, but the preliminary numbers are sobering to say the least. Through data collected by the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) maintained by TRAFFIC, it was determined that 2009-2011 were three of the four worst years for ivory seizures on record. Even more troublesome was that news that in 2011 there were 17 large-scale ivory seizures conducted worldwide, easily surpassing the eight that took place in 2009, the year with the next highest total. Those 2011 seizures are estimated to represent roughly 26.4 tons of ivory that was mostly harvested from elephants slaughtered in Africa.

The CITES report says that the illegal ivory trade was relatively stable and small from 1998 to 2008. After that, each successive year has seen a sharp rise in activity. It is believed that those increases coincide with organized crime units becoming more involved with the trade, following a rise in demand across Asia. Thailand and China are named as the two major consumers of ivory in the study.

Because demand has been on the rise in certain parts of the world, a number of African countries have seen their elephant populations decimated by poachers. It is estimated that tens of thousands of elephants are killed each year just to harvest their tusks for sale on the black market. Most of the ivory is then smuggled out to Malaysia, the Philippines and Viet Nam before being sent on to its eventual end location.

The statistics for the ivory trade in 2012 have not been compiled as of yet, but considering some of the events that took place last year, it seems unlikely that this upward trend was reversed.

[Photo Credit: Kraig Becker]