The most visited country in the world, France welcomed 78 million foreign tourists in 2006, an increase of 2.7 percent from 2005.

It has glorious architecture, fabulous museums and exquisite food but France is worried that all this may not be enough to secure its position as the world’s top tourism destination.
A new study shows that despite progress over recent years, France is still struggling to shed its image as an unfriendly nation of surly waiters and grumpy taxi drivers, compared to Italy and Spain, seen as more hospitable, AFP reported.
Some 62 percent of tourists who came to France in 2006 rated the welcome they received as “satisfactory,“ up from 58 percent in 2003, according to the study by the Ipsos, a global survey-based market research company headquartered in Paris, France.
“There is progress, but it’s still not enough. Making tourists feel welcomed still remains the weak point of our tourism sector,“ said the junior minister for tourism, Luc Chatel.
He added, “Nowadays tourists compare a lot more, they are much more demanding and there are destinations that offer top quality customer service and this can lead to a loss of tourists for France.“
The most visited country in the world, France welcomed 78 million foreign tourists in 2006, an increase of 2.7 percent from 2005, according to the tourism ministry.
France’s struggle to offer service with a smile comes amid World Tourism Organization predictions of a tourism boom, with the number of travelers worldwide expected to double to 1.6 billion by 2020.
“Hospitality means a smile from an immigration officer when you present your passport, or ’bonjour’ from a taxi driver or a department store that offers special services for tourists,“ Economy Minister Christine Lagarde told a recent conference of leaders from the hospitality industry.
The tourism ministry has brought together hotel managers, restaurateurs, airport and train authorities as well as taxi and border officials to try to improve service to foreign guests.
A study by the Maison de la France tourism promotional agency showed Italy to be ranked as “friendly and warmer than France“ when it comes to welcoming tourists.
Foreigners rank France’s cultural attractions and food as its top draws while hospitality gets the last spot on the list.
Despite efforts to offer good service at airports for example, only 54 percent of Americans say they are satisfied with the welcome they received upon arrival in France.
The latest push from the tourism ministry comes after Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe in July launched a charm offensive after a separate study showed Paris ranked 52nd on a list of 60 cities when it came to hospitality.

Indonesia’s latest campaign to lure tourists got off to a rocky start after embarrassed officials acknowledged that a key slogan was ungrammatical and ordered it corrected.
“Visit Indonesia 2008. Celebrating 100 Years of Nation’s Awakening“ has been printed on billboards, government websites and emblazoned on the sides of aircraft belonging to the national carrier, Garuda, AFP reported.
To be grammatical, the phrase “Nation’s Awakening“ should be made specific, for example by preceding it with the definite article ’the’ or the possessive pronoun ’our.’
Another option would be to replace ’nation’ with the adjective ’national’.
“Our colleagues tried their best not to be reckless in creating the slogan, I’m sure,“ said Thamrin Bachri, director general for marketing at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, adding, “But we have been advised by several people to change the slogan.“
The 1908 event referred to in the campaign is the founding of Indonesia’s first nationalist group, a development hailed here as a key step in the country’s eventual independence from Dutch rule in 1945.
Many people have questioned the wisdom of referring to the anniversary at all, given that few people outside the country have ever heard of it and would unlikely be interested in attending events to mark it.
“Just delete the subtitle, tourists won’t understand it anyway. Even Indonesians don’t understand it,“ said a comment posted on one unofficial local tourism website.
Bachri said the phrase would be changed to “celebrating 100 years of national awakening“.
The ministry has spent around $96,000 for the campaign, he said, adding, however, that the consulting firm handling the case had agreed to correct the slogan without additional charge.
Indonesia drew about 5 million tourists last year, most to its resort island of Bali.
Neighboring Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia each attract many more, thanks in part to slick advertising campaigns as well as better tourist infrastructure.

Arg-e Ali-Shah also known as Arg-e Tabriz, is a remnant of a fortress built in the Ilkhanid era (13th and 14th centuries).
Currently it is placed in the center of Tabriz, in Iran.
Historians believe that it was used as a military castle but clerics claim that the structure was initially used as a mosque in its early days, but during the Qajar (1781-1925AD) era was used as a military post, and storage facility for weapons (in Persian Ark means castle), according to Wikipedia.
It also played an important role in the Constitutional Movement of Iran in the early 1900s against Mohammad Ali Shah of the Qajar dynasty.
After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, large parts of the building were destroyed to prepare a new place for Friday prayers in Tabriz.
The structure today stands 28 meters high, and is still used for holding Friday prayers in Tabriz.

Morocco wants to attract millions of extra tourists to a chain of seaside resorts being built by Spanish, Belgian and Dutch consortia and US groups Kerzner and Colony Capital.

Ecologists say a tragedy is unfolding in north Africa where construction firms are moving in on some of the last unspoilt stretches of Mediterranean coastline in the search for profits.
With Spain trying to preserve what remains undeveloped on its built-up shoreline, Morocco has stepped forward as a willing host for large-scale tourism development as it seeks to narrow the north-south wealth divide and lift millions out of poverty, Reuters reported.
The cost, say environment campaigners, will be irreparable damage to the Mediterranean’s wilder southern shores where urban and industrial expansion, rampant pollution and illegal sand extraction are already taking their toll.
Morocco wants to attract millions of extra tourists to a chain of seaside resorts being built by Spanish, Belgian and Dutch consortia and US groups Kerzner and Colony Capital.
The first is under way in Saidia on Morocco’s eastern edge, where Spain’s Fadesa is turning a low-lying area of forests and dunes into 7 million square meters of shops, golf courses, hotels with 17,000 beds and 3,100 villas and flats.
On its British website, Fadesa promises “landscaped parks and green areas, as well as pleasant public spaces, (will) harmonize with the beautiful natural surroundings.“
Last month, machines lumbered over a landscape of earthworks, workers’ shacks and the tattered remains of what campaigners say was Morocco’s only juniper forest.
“We call them the destroyers,“ said local environment campaigner Najib Bachiri.
He added, “They dug up 6 km of dunes and killed thousands of tortoises just so you can see the sea from the corniche.“
In a statement, Fadesa said it had “put in place measures for the protection, recuperation and regeneration of the environment beyond what was demanded by Moroccan law“.
Seven out of 47 of Morocco’s Mediterranean beaches have disappeared in recent years, the European Environment Agency (EEA) said in a report last year.
In Algeria, of between 250 and 300 km (160 and 190 miles) of sandy beaches, 85 percent were retreating and losing sand.
In valleys throughout the Maghreb, new dams for irrigation are trapping sediment that once washed down to coastal areas to bolster important wildlife habitats.
Wildlife groups said Fadesa was given carte blanche to destroy the dunes that protected Saidia’s hinterland from the sea and flatten all but a small patch of forest.

The boom in the tourism industry has the potential to provide employment to more than 200,000 trained people by 2010, said India’s Minister of Tourism and Culture Ambika Soni.
Speaking to a group of students of tourism and hospitality management from Acharya Nagarjuna University, Andhra Pradesh, Soni said with the ongoing tourism boom in the country, sufficient trained manpower is required to meet the growing demands in hotel and travel related agencies, IANS reported.
“The sector has immense potential to provide employment as more than 200,000 trained people will be required in the next three years by 2010,“ she said.
She said tourism has become a high profile sector with 400 million domestic tourists and about five million foreign tourists in the country.
Urging the students to utilize the potential of employment generation in the tourism sector, the minister said they should not look for government jobs only but create opportunities for themselves to become entrepreneurs.

'Chah Kuh' a tourism destination near Iran's Qeshm Island.

With pitchforks and heavy coats, three teenage cousins brave below-freezing temperatures and learn how to pitch straw into a sheep pen--something their teacher, 27-year-old Matt McClain, has been doing since he was a kid.
Bleating sheep may not be the expected soundtrack for a holiday vacation but some farm families in Nebraska and elsewhere are hoping to change that with an old-fashioned holiday celebration that includes chores, chopping down a Christmas tree, baking cookies and more, The Canadian Press reported.
“The way we look at it is, every farmer needs a supplementary income to support their farming habit,“ McClain said.
He added, “Nowadays, with the price of fuel and fertilizer and everything, you’ve got to be a major farmer to make . . . it work.“
His parents, Lorraine and Jerry McClain, invite families to their Republican City farm for what they call a “1900s Family Christmas Adventure“.
“It’s just like a family thing. There aren’t enough things for families to do all together,“ said Lorraine McClain. “We also like to educate about what farmers do and ranchers do.“
Such agri-tourism is gaining traction in Nebraska and beyond.
Country Adventures has 160 listings in Nebraska, about a dozen in South Dakota and a few in Kansas and Missouri, said CEO Marge Lauer. Many vacation packages include hunting, fishing and lodging.
People can book a vacation pay online with a credit card or PayPal.
“They could stay at this bed and breakfast one night, they could go horseback riding the next afternoon, they could tour a dairy the following day, stay at another farm home,“ Lauer said.

Singapore achieved a new record for its tourism sector when it received its 10 millionth visitor on Saturday.
The lucky visitor was 36-year-old Sanjeev Bhandari who arrived with his wife and two children to celebrate Christmas in the city, reported Channelnewsasia.
They were warmly received at Changi Airport’s Terminal 2 Arrival Hall by Singapore Tourism Board’s (STB) deputy chief executive (international), Quek Swee Kuan, and an entourage of performers showcasing Singapore’s unique blend of the modern world and rich cultures.
They were also welcomed with prizes worth over S$50,000 Business Class air tickets from Singapore Airlines, complimentary stays at The Shangri-La Singapore, The Amara Sanctuary Resort, and a luxury cruise onboard the SuperStar Gemini, as well as shopping vouchers and personalized guided tours.
STB said this year’s achievement of 10 million visitors surpasses last year’s record of 9.7 million.
STB added that Singapore is on track to achieve its 2007 tourism receipts target of S$13.6 billion.
This means that the republic should be able to achieve its tourism 2015 targets.
These include increasing tourism receipts to S$30 billion, welcoming 17 million tourist arrivals and creating jobs for 250,000 people.
This year, Singapore was ranked as Asia’s top country and city for meetings. And according to the Union of International Associations, it is also among the world’s top three cities for meeting.