Alternative Water?
How many people use the pool when the beach is yards away?
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Thursday, June 9, 2011
2010 06 24_La Coma-22.JPG
2010 06 24_La Coma-22.JPG
La Coma in the Pyrenees
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Creepy stalker dog is creepy
Creepy stalker dog is creepy
From our walk this morning. It's alright, they're both my dogs.
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yeah I know it's blurry
especially in the background
Tourism in Mexico Burned by Violence
MEXICO CITY—For several years, Mexico's tourism industry has weathered the storm of violence in the country, persuading vacationers to visit its beaches and ancient ruins on promises that drug-related crime wouldn't affect their travels.
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Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Police confront a gang in Acapulco, a resort town marred by violence.
This year, those assurances might not be enough. Many American travelers are turning their backs on Mexico, put off by some gruesome headlines.
Owners of leading tour operators, including American Express Co., have seen sharp declines in American visitors since the first of the year. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. recently told analysts the drug wars had "decimated leisure travel" at its Mexican resorts. Three top cruise lines say they've canceled service to Mazatlán, a resort hub that's also become the site of a drug cartel turf war.
"It's very hard for me to think that I'm going to convince someone who lives in Des Moines to take their first international trip to Mexico now," says Trip Barrett, Starwood's vice president of brand management in Latin America. He says violence in Mexico and better deals elsewhere are driving down visitors this year.
American Express's tour operator Travel Impressions says it sent 100,000 passengers to Mexico last year but has seen about a 15% decline in bookings this year for independent travelers, meaning those who aren't part of a group.
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Associated Press
Musicians stroll along a deserted beach in Acapulco, Mexico, looking for clients willing to pay for a song.
"Literally, it's just been a continual barrage of stories of finding beheaded bodies and unearthed graves," said John Hanratty, the company's chief marketing officer.
Tourism is a $12 billion-a-year industry for Mexico. Some 22.4 million tourists visited in 2010, up about 4.4% from the year before. But 2009 was affected more by the economic crisis and the "swine flu" outbreak than the drug violence, even though the violence has claimed nearly 40,000 lives since 2006.
Data compiled by Smith Travel Research, a firm that monitors hotel occupancies among large chains, show occupancy in Mexico so far this year either flat or declining across many mid-range hotel chains, though there were some modest gains on the higher end.
A spokesman from Internet booking company Orbitz Worldwide Inc.wouldn't provide specific figures, but said travel to Mexico is lagging significantly behind previous years. Orbitz cites safety fears and last year's bankruptcy of Mexican airline Cia. Mexicana de Aviación, which led to higher airfares among remaining players.
Mexico's tourism officials acknowledge the challenge but say business remains vibrant and most of the violence is not in tourist districts. "There are still travelers coming to Mexico," says Mexico's Tourism Secretary Gloria Guevara.
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Mexican President Felipe Calderón recently met with 22 tourist-industry CEOs during a Las Vegas convention to calm jitters. "I saw thousands of spring breakers in Mexico having fun. My understanding is the only shots they received were tequila shots," he quipped before an audience during the visit.
The majority of violence is between drug cartels and isn't directed at foreigners, says Alfonso Sumano of the Mexico Tourism Board, the ministry's arm that works with the private sector. "They are not going after tourists," he says.
Still, last October, a Canadian visiting Acapulco on business was found dead in his charred rental car after disappearing in the beach town. In January, another Canadian was shot in the leg during a firefight that erupted in Mazatlán. He survived but shortly afterward three luxury cruise lines— Walt Disney Co.'s Disney Cruises, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and Star Cruise Ltd's Norwegian Cruise Line—canceled service to the port.
According to the U.S. State Department, 107 Americans were killed in homicides in Mexico last year, up from 77 the year before and twice the figure before the drug wars began. The agency doesn't break out tourists from the figures.
Rodolfo López-Negrete, chief operating officer of the tourism board, said he hoped visitors would realize the majority of violence takes place near the border, not in tourist districts.
Acapulco, however, presents a troubling case, tourism companies say. The resort town has also become a major theater of the drug war: On a single weekend this year, more than 30 bodies were found, including night-club workers abducted after hours and later found hanging from a bridge.
Acapulco's violence is affecting resorts that are hundreds of miles away, according to Starwood's Mr. Barrett."When the Joneses hear 'Acapulco,' they know it's a resort," and then other resorts suffer by association, he says. He pointed to recent declines over the usually booked Easter holiday in Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos, where Starwood operates more than 1,200 rooms under its Westin and Sheraton brands. Puerto Vallarta is about 450 miles from Acapulco and Los Cabos, at the southern end of the Baja peninsula, is even further. But vacancies were high enough that Starwood began offering all-inclusive meal packages and fourth-night-free discounts.
Many foreign hotel companies are banking on security improvement in the long-term and are continuing with development projects in Mexico, according to the Mexican government.
Starwood, which says Mexico remains its sixth-largest country, recently opened a St. Regis in Mexico City and will open a Westin in Guadalajara in August. Hilton Worldwide, the closely held chain that owns brands including Hampton Inns, has plans for 12 new hotels, five of them to open this year, although none is along the border or in Acapulco.
"The perceived situation has been challenging at best to manage," says Terry Dale, president of the U.S. Tour Operators Association, a trade group. "But Mexico is part of the business. It's not going anywhere."
Write to Nicholas Casey at nicholas.casey@wsj.com and Alexandra Berzon at alexandra.berzon@wsj.com
american express co, john hanratty, flu outbreak, travel impressions, starwood hotels, drug cartel, drug violence, acapulco mexico, independent travelers, american travelers, swine flu, turf war, violenc, violence in mexico, top cruise, mexican resorts, international trip, trip to mexico, group view, deserted beach
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Getty Center
Getty Center
Opened in 1997, the Getty Center offers a stellar art collection and Richard Meier's beautiful architecture in a gorgeous hilltop surroundings. Not your typical stuffy museum! A definite must when visiting L.A.
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Tuesday, June 7, 2011
MV Raylight - as the "Vital Spark"
Valon Behrami criticises former West Ham United manager Avram Grant
Valon Behrami criticises former West Ham United manager Avram Grant
Valon Behrami has delivered a scathing verdict on Avram Grant, the former West Ham United manager, and revealed the strength of feeling in the Upton Park dressing room against the sacking of Gianfranco Zola.
Thoughtful: Valon Behrami offers stinging verdict of Grant's reign Photo: ACTION IMAGES
By Jeremy Wilson
10:30PM BST 03 Jun 2011
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The midfielder is expected to start for Switzerland against England at Wembley on Saturday but, up until January, was also part of the West Ham squad who eventually finished bottom of the Premier League.
He traces the decline back to the decision of co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold to change managers.
“They sacked Zola for no reason I think,” said Behrami, who left Upton Park for Fiorentina in January.
“Everybody was with him. We’d had a difficult season but we secured safety two or three games before the end of the season. We felt that that with him as manager we could improve.
“The players were very, very sad when they sacked him and the first day with the new manager was difficult to accept. Everybody was still with Zola.”
Of Grant, Behrami said: “Maybe sometimes a manager has to take charge of a situation in a stronger way.
“Avram was a good person but he left the situation to drift along too easily.
"It was a time when he had to change something. He had to bring something new. But he didn’t give a thing.
“We tried to do a good job but what the players needed was a reaction.
We needed something new and we didn’t feel that we got it. We felt that the situation was the same, going down.”
Behrami spent almost three seasons at West Ham and believes that the new manager, Sam Allardyce, has the strength of personality to galvanise his former team-mates.
However, he does not think that he would have enjoyed the direct style with which Allardyce has become associated.
“I don’t really like it because I like to play like Zola wants to play — every time with the ball, every time try to be attractive as well,” said Behrami.
valon behrami, sam allardyce, west ham united, david gold, team mates, photo action, difficult season, david sullivan, action images, upton park, former team, fiorentina, good person, three seasons, three games, dressing room, wembley, midfielder, good job, bst
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