World Tourism Blog

The Caribbean isn’t exactly known to be cheap, but you can stretch your dollar pretty far on certain islands — even when traveling during the winter high season.

Popular hot spots like the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and others offer great value in terms of easy access and well-priced lodging and dining options. But some off-the-beaten-path islands, from Montserrat to Tobago, are also worth seeking out for the extraordinary bang for the buck that they provide.

All-inclusive holidays dominate the scene on most of these islands — great if you want a worry-free, value-packed vacation, but limiting if you want to experience the destination beyond the resort gates; don’t overlook smaller, locally owned villas and inns for terrific, cost-effective alternatives.

Other surefire money-savers include traveling during the off season (from May to November) and looking to budget carriers for cheap flights — these tips, coupled with our editors’ picks for great-value islands, are guaranteed to leave you with enough cash left over to dole out on those frothy, beachfront pina coladas once you touch down! Hard money training

After the last rice has been thrown and the limousine has left the wedding party behind, many newlyweds beat a hasty retreat to a deserted island, a luxury resort or another once-in-a-lifetime vacation destination. Traditionally, the honeymoon was a time for the newly minted bride and groom to “get to know each other.” These days, honeymoons are also a reward for months—if not years—of planning, budgeting and squabbling with future in-laws.

Some historians credit the Babylonians with creating the original honeymoon—their newlyweds drank mead, a honey-based alcohol, for one full month after marrying. Others believe the honeymoon comes to us from the Norse hjunottsmanathr, wherein a young man kidnapped his bride-to-be and held her captive for one month. No coincidence, that’s the amount of time needed for her to conceive—leaving her family no choice but to approve the marriage.

No matter the regional differences, modern honeymoons are now a global phenomenon and a multibillion-dollar industry. But where do most Americans go for their first days of wedded bliss?

Owing to different data-gathering techniques, compiling concrete honeymoon statistics is nigh on impossible. France’s tourism board, for example, can’t tell us exactly how many tourists from the U.S. are there to enjoy their honeymoons—but we know that France is one of the most popular destinations for American newlyweds. To create this list, then, we relied on a combination of statistics provided by tourism boards; data gathered by other credible surveys; and sales numbers and anecdotes from several of the industry’s largest players. Hard money training

A posh Bermuda resort named one of the world’s top 500 hotels this year will close its century-old main building because the economic crisis has sapped tourism to the island.

Elbow Beach Hotel will lay off about 160 employees by the end of November as it shutters 131 rooms and outsources food and beverage services, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group spokeswoman Danielle DeVoe said Wednesday.

“It’s fair to say that current business levels are challenging globally,” she said.

The hotel’s 1908 pastel-yellow building will remain closed for several years. Hotel officials hope to renovate it during that time, although no details have been specified, DeVoe said.

Premier Ewart Brown said he hopes the projected renovation will enable Elbow Beach to compete with other high-end brands.

“The closure of any hotel property is difficult at any time,” he said. “We never want to see Bermudians losing their jobs.”

Elbow Beach will still operate 98 luxury suites and cottages, said Frank Stocek, the hotel’s general manager.

The resort made its debut on Travel + Leisure magazine’s list of the world’s top 500 hotels this year. Mandarin Oriental has managed it since 2000. Rates range from $300 to more than $800 a night.

Bermuda, a British territory several hundred miles northeast of Florida, has seen a nearly 20 percent drop in tourists through June, compared to the same period last year, according to the Caribbean Tourism Organization. Hard money training

Bermuda is an island off the East coast of the USA.  With ten principle islands connected by bridges, Bermuda and its sub tropical climate and cerulean blue ocean has a population of 62,472 people contained within the 50 square kilometers of land mass. Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory situated 1770 kilometers north east of Miami . Bermuda is the oldest of the British Overseas Territories and its per capita income is one of the highest throughout the world.

The major providers to the Bermuda economy are tourism and financial services. In 2005 Bermuda ranked as the world’s highest GDP per capita.

Internationally renowned for the pink sand upon its beaches it is not only the beach environment that attracts visitors to the island. As a designated World Heritage Site scuba divers travel from all over the world to dive amongst the vast array of ship wrecks and coral reefs which are contained in the shallow coastline. Another attraction for visitors to Bermuda is the Crystal Caves which are dominated by stalactites and underground saltwater pools.

Travelling around Bermuda is somewhat harder than other Caribbean countries as there are no hire car facilities. However there is a quality public transport system and also scooters for hire which allow visitors to the island to explore all that is on offer. The Bermuda Government wishes to protect the natural environment and has placed ban on hire cars to reduce traffic and pollution upon the island.

Visitors to Bermuda are impressed by the cultural mix that the island has to offer. The culture of Bermuda has a mixture of American, Irish, Scottish, Spanish and African cultures which allows visitors a truly international experience. Bermuda has a diversified culture which is based on European influences with exposure to international infusion. Bermuda is the home of the International Film Festival each year which results in an influx of business and entertainment travelers.

Travelling to Bermuda is a pleasant experience and due to its Atlantic Ocean location is in close proximity to most European and American airports. Visitors are able to travel to Bermuda in under two hours from many airports including JFK International and Heathrow International airports. For visitors coming from further abroad a trip to Bermuda is a perfect opportunity to have a stay over in a European or American city before of after your Bermuda experience.