World Tourism Blog

The history of Greece traditionally encompasses the study of the Greek people, the areas they ruled historically, and the territory now composing the modern state of Greece.

The scope of Greek habitation and rule has varied significantly through the ages, and as a consequence, the history of Greece is similarly elastic in what it includes. Each era has its own related sphere of interest.

The first (proto-) Greek-speaking tribes are generally thought to have arrived in the Greek mainland between the late 3rd and the first half of the 2nd millennium BC, where various pre-Greek people had already been practicing agriculture since the 7th millennium BC.

At its geographical peak, Greek civilization spread from Greece to Egypt and to the Hindu Kush mountains in Pakistan. Since then, Greek minorities have remained in former Greek territories (e.g., Turkey, Italy, and Libya, Levant, etc.), and Greek emigrants have assimilated into differing societies across the globe (e.g., North America, Australia, Northern Europe, South Africa etc.). Still today, most Greeks live in the modern states of Greece (independent since 1821) and Cyprus. National Hard Money Association

Before the arrival of the Spaniards, El Salvador was inhabited by the Pipils, descendants of the Aztecs and the Toltecs of Mexico, who had arrived in the 12th cent. In 1524 Pedro de Alvarado landed and began a series of campaigns that resulted in Spanish control. With independence from Spain in 1821, it became briefly a part of the Mexican Empire of Augustín de Iturbide, and after the empire collapsed (1823) El Salvador joined the Central American Federation. El Salvador protested the dominance of Guatemala and under Francisco Morazán succeeded in having the federal capital transferred (1831) to San Salvador. After the dissolution of the federation (1839), the republic was plagued by frequent interference from the dictators of neighboring countries, notably Rafael Carrera and Justo Rufino Barrios of Guatemala and José Santos Zelaya of Nicaragua.

The ARENA party remained in power with the election of Francisco Guillermo Flores Pérez to the presidency in 1999. In Mar., 2000, however, the FMLN won the greatest number of seats in the National Assembly, although not enough to control the legislature. Two earthquakes struck central El Salvador a month apart early in 2001, killing about a thousand people and leaving many homeless. In Mar., 2003, the FMLN again won the largest bloc of assembly seats, but failed to win a majority. The presidential elections a year later resulted in an ARENA victory; Elías Antonio “Tony” Saca received 57% of the vote. An earthquake in Jan., 2005, killed nearly 700 people. An increase in gang-related violence in 2005 led to army patrols on the country’s streets. Legislative elections in Mar., 2006, gave a plurality of the seats to ARENA, but it failed to win a majority and the FMLN was a close second. The government mounted a crackdown against criminal gangs in Aug., 2006; in October it said it had uncovered an assassination plot against the president that was said to be linked to the anti-gang campaign. Hard Money Association

The province of Cuzco is in the Oriental region of Peru, passing through the oriental and central mountain ranges of the Andes.

The city of Cuzco, known as the archeological capital of America contends with Mexico for the honor of being the oldest city of America.

Economical and military capital of the Peruvian vice-royalty received the name of “La Muy Noble, Muy Leal Cabeza de los Reinos del Perú, Santiago del Cuzco” (The very noble, very loyal head of the Peruvian royalties). In the 20th., century it was honored as the Archeological Capital of South-America and Cultural Patrimony of Humanity.

The city of Cuzco is a living museum of America’s history.

Festivities: Qoyllority (May), Corpus Cristi (June), Inti Raymi (June), Nuestra Señora del Carmen (July), Santuranticuy (December).

Tourist Attractions:
The Cathedral, contains one of the largest collections of colonial art of Peru. The Cathedral was built on the palace of the Inca Wiracocha.

The Church of La Compañia de Jesus, built on the palace of the Inca Huayna Capac. The design and front are examples of the Andean baroque.

Church La Merced, with baroque style. The vestry bears a golden monstrance of 1,30 meters of height with 1.500 diamonds.

Church and Monastery of San Francisco, with an outstanding painting of Juan Espinoza de los Monteros. Besides of catacumbs and carving in wood.

Church of Santo Domingo, built on the great temple of the Sun, the Corikancha. It has a valious picture gallery with paintings from the 17th. and 18th. centuries.

And the museums of religious art and regional history are only some of the many tourist attractiveness of the city. NHMA

The history of Alaska dates back to the end of the Upper Paleolithic Period (around 12,000 BC), when Asiatic groups crossed the Bering Land Bridge into what is now western Alaska. At the time of European contact by the Russian explorers, the area was populated by Alaska Native groups. The name “Alaska” derives from the Aleut word alaxsxaq, (an Archaic spelling being alyeska), meaning “mainland” (literally, “the object toward which the action of the sea is directed”).[1]

In the 1890s, gold rushes in Alaska and the nearby Yukon Territory brought thousands of miners and settlers to Alaska. Alaska was granted territorial status in 1912.

In 1942, three of the outer Aleutian Islands—Attu, Agattu and Kiska—were occupied by the Japanese and their recovery for the U. S. became a matter of national pride. The construction of military bases contributed to the population growth of some Alaskan cities.

Alaska was granted statehood on January 3, 1959.

In 1964, the massive “Good Friday Earthquake” killed 131 people and leveled several villages.

The 1968 discovery of oil at Prudhoe Bay and the 1977 completion of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline led to an oil boom. In 1989, the Exxon Valdez hit a reef in the Prince William Sound, spilling between 11 and 35 million US gallons (42,000 and 130,000 m³) of crude oil over 1,100 miles (1,600 km) of coastline. Today, the battle between philosophies of development and conservation is seen in the contentious debate over oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. National Hard Money Association Conference

South Africa, on the continent’s southern tip, is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the west and by the Indian Ocean on the south and east. Its neighbors are Namibia in the northwest, Zimbabwe and Botswana in the north, and Mozambique and Swaziland in the northeast. The kingdom of Lesotho forms an enclave within the southeast part of South Africa, which occupies an area nearly three times that of California.

The southernmost point of Africa is Cape Agulhas, located in the Western Cape Province about 100 mi (161 km) southeast of the Cape of Good Hope.

Mecca, receiving over 3 million pilgrims a year during the month of hajj, and during month of Ramadan for umrah around 2 million. During the rest of the year Mecca receives around 4 million for umrah. This is not really tourism, but rather religious pilgrimage, i.e. people who want to fulfil their goal of seeing the Kaaba or other attractions and observe religious rites. The Hajj, or pilgrimage to the city, is one of the 5 pillars of Islam. However, it is forbidden to non-Muslims.

The mountains, valleys and Red Sea beaches with turquoise water known for some of the world’s finest diving attract some, but not much. Some other spots are hard to reach, such as Nabatean ruins, a four-hour drive from Medina, the nearest city with an airport for visitors to fly into. It is almost dependent on oil, a habit Prince Sultan Bin Salman wants to change by forming the Tourism commission in 2000. No non-Muslim can enter the kingdom without a sponsor. There is also the famous bridge to Bahrain.

Portugal attracts many tourists each year. In 2008, the country was visited by 12.8 million tourists. Tourism is playing an increasingly important role in Portugal’s economy contributing with about 5% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The main tourist areas are, by order of importance, the Greater Lisbon (Lisboa), the Algarve, Portuguese Islands (Ilhas Portuguesas: Madeira and Azores), Greater Porto and Northern Portugal (Porto e Norte) and Alentejo.

Lisbon is, after Barcelona, the European city attracting most tourists, with 7 million tourists sleeping in the city’s hotels in 2006, the number grew 11.8% compared to previous year.  Lisbon in recent years surpassed the Algarve as the leading tourist region in Portugal. Porto and Northern Portugal, especially the urban areas north of Douro River, was the tourist destination which grew most (11.9%) in 2006. Today, most tourists in Portugal are British, Spanish or German, travel in low cost airliners, and are not only in search of the beach and the sun, but mostly searching culture, city breaks, gastronomy, nautical tourism or travel in business.

As per the report, Egypt’s immense archaeological richness is luring the tourists from around the world. The enduring fascination, particularly in Europe and the US, with the pharaonic era of Egypt’s past is a major pull. The Giza pyramids are one of the world’s must-see sites, and the tombs and temples of Luxor and Abu Simbel are globally renowned. Other pharaonic sites along the Nile Valley are driving the tourism industry in Egypt. In fact, the country has started state-of-the-art Nile Cruises to attract tourists to take a look at Luxor and Aswan.

Banking on its ancient civilization and cultural richness, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism is adopting aggressive marketing campaigns to promote its tourism industry internationally. It has led to an increase in the number of tourists in the past years. The Ministry is promoting the country under the slogans “The Gift of the Sun” and “Egypt… the Incomparable”

Tourism in Poland contributes to the country’s economy. The most popular sites include Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, Lublin, Toruń, and Auschwitz. Other attractions include northeast Poland’s Mazury lake district and Białowieża Forest. Poland ’s main touristic products are: city and historical monuments sightseeng, business trips, qualified tourism, agrotourism, mountain hiking and others. Poland is the 14th most visited country by tourists.

Similarly to other European countries, the first Polish tourists were pilgrims traveling to shrines, both in Poland and abroad. True development of tourism began in the 19th century. The most popular regions were mountains, especially the Tatra Mountains, explored by Tytus Chałubiński. In 1873 the Polish Tatra Society and in 1909 the Polish Sightseeing Society were established to organize and develop tourism. The 19th century was also the time of the rapid appearance of spa resorts, mostly in Sudetes, Beskids and along the Baltic Sea coast, with some of them associated, since 1910, with the Polish Balneology Association. After Poland regained independence in 1918, Polish tourism boomed and was encouraged by the government. The first professional Polish tour operator, Orbis, was founded in Lwów in 1923, followed in 1937 by Gromada tourist organization and tour operator. After World War II all tourist organizations were nationalized by the new communist government. The Polish Tatra Society and Polish Sightseeing Society were combined into Polish Tourism-Sightseeing Society and most of the tourist infrastructure was handed over to the newly-created Workers Vacations Fund (FWP). Tourism was limited to the Comecon countries. This was the era of governmentally-founded tourism, characterised by mass but low-standard tourism. A typical sight was a holiday village composed of tiny bungalows belonging to one of the large state-owned companies. Holidays for children and teenagers were organized by Juventur. After the fall of communism much of the infrastructure was privatized, although many of the company-owned resorts were downgraded because of their unprofitability. The early 1990s saw the foundation of many new tour operators, the majority of which soon declared bankruptcy. Some of them prevailed, however, and strengthened their position on the market, being able to compete with multinational tour operators like TUI or Neckerman, which opened branches in Poland. Nowadays, Poland is a part of the global tourism market, with constantly increasing number of visitors, particularly after joining the European Union.

Tourism in China has greatly expanded over the last few decades. The emergence of a newly rich middle class and an easing of restrictions on movement by the Chinese authorities are both fueling this travel boom. China has become one of the world’s most-watched and hottest outbound tourist markets. The world is on the cusp of a sustained Chinese outbound tourism boom.

China is the world’s fourth largest country for inbound tourism. The number of overseas tourists was 55 million in 2007. Foreign exchange income was 41.9 billion U.S. dollars, the world’s fifth largest in 2007. The number of domestic tourists totaled 1.61 billion, with a total income of 777.1 billion yuan.

According to the WTO, in 2020, China will become the largest tourist country and the fourth largest for overseas travel. In terms of total outbound travel spending, China is currently ranked fifth and is expected to be the fastest growing in the world from 2006 to 2015, jumping into the number two slot for total travel spending by 2015.