2010 World Cup will not be moved from South Africa

by Josh Lew on

It could have ended quite badly for South Africa. The first African nation to host the FIFA World Cup almost didn’t get the chance. Earlier this year, FIFA prez Sepp Blatter, the most powerful man in soccer, told the media that his organization had an alternative plan should South Africa not be ready to host in 2010. He cited concerns about security, infrastructure, and construction projects as the reasons for having a plan B.

But yesterday Blatter opened his mouth again. This time he had good news for South Africa: “There definitely is no plan B or C. The only plan is to make the South African event a success.” The tournament will undoubtedly be a huge boost for South Africa’s tourism industry. Security concerns and lagging construction projects are still problematic, and there is still the risk that bad press during the event could kill any buzz the World Cup could bring to the country. But Blatter’s promise not to move the tournament is a huge step for S.A., which can now focus on hosting duties, not on kissing FIFA’s ass.

[Via AFP]

South Africa Gearing Up for World Cup…Maybe.

by Josh Lew on

In a little less than 2 years, South Africa will become the only country on its continent to ever host the FIFA World Cup. That is, unless FIFA decides that the country is unprepared and moves the world’s most watched soccer tournament to one of the alternate locations it has already selected. There are concerns about stadiums and infrastructure projects being completed on time. South Africa has announced that a stadium in Port Elizabeth will not be fully constructed by the time a major tune-up tournament is slated to be played there next summer. In addition, the country is plagued by power outages and high crime rates.

But South Africa seems unconcerned and claims that everything will be ready well before the first shot on goal. To promote themselves to travelers, the country’s tourist organization is beginning a major PR push on the BBC World Services Network. The campaign will include television commercial, documentary-style vignettes about destinations in South Africa and an online, user-generated travel guide. It remains to be seen if these efforts will help the country’s image. It could all be undone if FIFA pulls the plug on South Africa 2010.

Golfing in Greenland and other crazy courses

by Martha Edwards on

Could you imagine going to Greenland to Golf. Wait, scratch that. Can you imagine going to Greenland for any reason? Ok, that was mean of me, but what can I say — being a Canadian and subject to 10 months of winter, I tend to favour warm-weather destinations. But I digress.

Forbes Traveler recently listed their picks for the top 10 craziest golf courses, and, not surprisingly, Greenland’s World Ice Golf Tournament took the top spot. What else made the list?

  • North Star Golf Club, Alaska, where permafrost dominates the landscape.
  • Coober Pedy Opal Field Golf Club, Australia, where the desert course is basically one large sand trap.
  • Hans Merensky Golf Course, South Africa, where Elephants and zebras are frequently seen on the course. Don’t forget to yell ‘fore!’
  • And of course, Nullarbor Links, which spans 800 miles in the Australian outback.

Want to find out the other picks? Click here.

Mexico Named Best Place To Retire

by Martha Edwards on
Been to Mexico? I have a few times and I love it. It’s not just the hot weather and the gorgeous beaches — Mexico is a really friendly, vibrant place with a lot of energy and culture. At least what I’ve seen of it. Anyway, I digress. The point of this post is to write about how Mexico was named the best place to retire by an annual retirement index in International Living magazine. It used to be that Panama held this coveted title, but housing prices have since sky-rocketed — I hope this doesn’t happen to Mexico too!


Want to see what all the fuss is about? Check out our Travel Guide for Mexico. Not interested in Mexico? Learn more about Australia or South Africa.

What are some other great places to retire? Ecuador, Italy, Australia, Malta, Spain, South Africa, Malaysia, France and Thailand all made the list. The US came in at #19, while the UK ranked at the very bottom.

I couldn’t find a copy of the whole list — I wonder if my native Canada made the cut? There are definitely some retirement-worthy places here too. But given the choice between Mexico and the prairie winters, you know which one I’m going with.

(Of course, there are plenty of great places in the U.S. to retire. Check out Money & Finance’s great retirement spots in the U.S. and decide if any of them are for you.)

%Gallery-8079%

The Top 100 Hotels in the World

by Justin Glow on

As odd as it was to have some of the most extreme poverty I’d ever witnessed co-existing with the most grandiose luxury, it was no coincidence that the nicest hotel I’d ever been to was in India. I didn’t have the privilege of staying at the JW Marriot on Mumbai’s Juhu Beach (I was there for a wedding reception), but I did spend plenty of time getting lost in the lavishly decorated hallways leading to the pool and deck area. While the hotel guests were served fantastic, Indian-flavored hors d’oeuvres on one side of the massive, guarded concrete pillar, thousands of Mumbai’s poorest combed the beach for broken bottles, and peddled their wares to the tourists on the other.

And this hotel wasn’t even one of the “nice” ones. Udaipur, India’s Oberoi Udavilas (pictured right) scored the number one spot in Travel and Leisures 2007 World’s Best Hotels award. This is the first time an Indian hotel as scored first. Here are the top ten hotels in the world:

  1. Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur, India
  2. Singita Sabi Sand/Kruger National Park, South Africa
  3. The Oriental, Bangkok
  4. Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet, Turkey
  5. The Milestone, London
  6. Relais Il Falconiere, Cortona, Italy
  7. Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve, Sabi Sands, South Africa
  8. Mandarin Oriental, Munich
  9. Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, Hawaii
  10. Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra, India

For the rest of the list, visit Travel +Leisure. [via]