Departure Gate
(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-10-17 13:09
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Your passport to the latest destinations and airline promotions
China plans yacht port in Tianjin
China plans to build a first-class yacht port in the northern city of Tianjin by the year's end, which will allow the country's super-rich to dock their luxury vessels near Beijing, local officials said on Wednesday.
The port will cover an area of 900,000 square meters in Tianjin's booming Binhai district and will have 750 berths to accommodate luxury yachts about 90 meters (300 feet) long. Five-star hotels, commercial areas and yacht manufacturing and repair bases will also be set up in the port area.
Most admired nations ranked
The latest annual list of the world's "most admired" countries was revealed Thursday. The US stayed on top, with Germany second, France third, the UK fourth and Japan fifth on the 50-nation list.
The 2010 Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands Index was compiled from the views of about 20,000 adults from almost two dozen countries. It covers categories such as "rich in historic building and monuments", "natural beauty", "interesting and exciting place for contemporary culture such as music, films, art and literature" and "excelling at sports".
SeaWorld to add two Florida venues
A new roller coaster and a tropical-fish grotto are coming to two Florida theme parks owned by SeaWorld Parks &Entertainment.
Park officials announced Wednesday that the roller coaster Cheetah Hunt is coming to Bush Gardens Tampa, while Grand Reef will open at Discovery Cove in Orlando.
The roller coaster will launch riders from zero to 60 miles per hour at the start of the 4,429-foot track and include a 130-foot drop. A new cheetah habitat will be built alongside the roller coaster.
Grand Reef at Discovery Cove will have a white sand beach, underwater grottos filled with eels, reef sharks and other tropical fish. Visitors will be able to snorkel and go on an underwater walking tour.
Charleston voted a top destination
Charleston is again listed as among the United States' top destinations by readers of Conde Nast Traveler magazine.
The magazine announced that more than 26,000 readers had voted Charleston No 2, just behind San Francisco.
It's the 18th straight year that Charleston has been voted as among the top 10 travel destinations by the magazine's readers. Nearby Kiawah Island was voted the top island resort in North America.
The South Carolina coast is the heart of the $18 billion tourism industry of the state.
Private spaceship makes solo flight
Virgin Galactic's space tourism rocket Space Ship Two achieved its first solo glide flight on Sunday, marking another step in the company's plans to fly paying passengers.
The rocket was carried aloft by its mothership to an altitude of 45,000 feet and released over the Mojave Desert. After the separation, Space Ship Two, manned by two pilots, flew freely for 11 minutes before landing at an airport runway, followed by the mothership.
The entire test flight lasted about 25 minutes.
The six-passenger rocket is undergoing rigorous testing before it can carry tourists to space. In the latest test, it did not fire its rocket engine to climb to space.
Russian plan to attract tourists
The Russian government is planning to launch an ambitious program to make the country a tourist paradise by 2016 and thrust it into the ranks of major tourism destinations.
The Russian government is considering a 352-billion-ruble ($11.7 billion) plan to improve infrastructure, trains and launch a major advertising campaign.
If the plan is successful, up to 40 million foreign tourists could visit Russia every year, in five years.
Airline news and deals
Singapore Airlines promotion:Singapore Airlines will equip its aircraft with a wide range of onboard communication features from as early as the first half of 2011, making it the first airline in Asia to enable customers to access Internet and phone services even at 35,000 feet.
Charters from Guilin:The Liangjiang International Airport in Guilin will increase 11 charter flights from Oct 16 to the end of the year, which will bring thousands of Malaysian and Singaporean tourists into the international tourist resort.
From January to September, more than 50,000 tourists travelled the Guilin-Kuala Lumpur route, a year-on-year increase of 7 percent.