The Malaysian Insider :: Features
The Malaysian Insider :: Features |
| London tops ranking of destination cities Posted: 01 Jun 2011 06:53 AM PDT  London will be the most popular destination in 2011, according to a MasterCard report. – Shutterstock The global payment giant's new index of Global Destination Cities predicts London will receive 20.1 million inbound passengers in 2011, slightly more than Paris's 18.1 million. Bangkok is expected to welcome the third-highest number of visitors, followed by Singapore and Hong Kong – in fact, cities in Asia-Pacific account for eight of the top 20 global destinations. By contrast, MasterCard predicts that only one US city will be among the world's most visited this year, with New York taking 12th place and predicted to welcome 7.6 million inbound passengers. The Big Apple can perhaps take consolation that visitors will spend US$20.3 billion (RM61.11 billion) there this year, more than every other city save London, which will see cross-border expenditures of US$25.6 billion. As well as studying total arrivals, MasterCard also looked at visitor growth, forecasting that the Spanish city of Barcelona will see the biggest jump – 24.3 per cent growth in arrivals this year, followed by Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur at 21.8 per cent and Istanbul at 20.4 per cent. The places seeing the fastest growth in the amount we spend, however, will be Istanbul (expenditure up by 30.1 per cent in 2011), Barcelona (up 28.2 per cent) and Dubai (up 24 per cent). MasterCard compiled its predictions of international arrivals, one of the clearest indicators of the human dimension of globalization, by analyzing airline schedules and UN expenditure figures. The company says that many emerging markets were showing growth rates of over 20 per cent, adding that cities in Asia, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, and Africa "will correspondingly play ever bigger roles in knitting the world together." View and download the study from http://newsroom.mastercard.com/2011/06/01/a-new-way-of-looking-at-the-global-economy-destination-cities/ – AFP Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| Russian police offer smokers lollipops to drop the habit Posted: 31 May 2011 08:31 PM PDT  Russian police officers exchange cigarettes for sweets on May 31, 2011 during World No Tobacco Day at Yaroslavsky railway station in Moscow. — AFP pic "The Russian police support a healthy lifestyle," a spokeswoman for Moscow transport police, Yelena Bobylkova, said as the campaign began at Yaroslavl mainline station. Russia has one of the highest smoking rates among developed nations, with the growing numbers of women smoking raising particular concern. Teams of three police — one carrying a bucket of water to snuff out cigarettes, another with a box of lollipops and a third carrying leaflets about the dangers of smoking — patrolled the station in search of smokers. The stunt was to reinforce a smoking ban in suburban commuter trains, Bobylkova said. Surprised by policemen brandishing lollipops in front of television cameras, most smokers meekly threw their cigarettes into the buckets of water and studied the anti-smoking pamphlets. "May 31 is the day when you must say no to tobacco. Forever," one leaflet said. Some smokers murmured they would try, but others were less convinced. "I won't give up smoking until they stop selling cigarettes," said Ivan Mityaikin, 30. Pensioner Yury Nosakov, 65, praised the campaign. "They should organise this more often. I gave up smoking 30 years ago. Neither my children nor my grandchildren smoke. I am proud of that," he told AFP. The Russian government recently introduced large warnings of impotency and death on cigarette packs, but the packs cost just around 40 rubles (RM4) each and smoking is allowed in almost all restaurants and bars. Six out of 10 Russian men smoke as do 21.7 per cent of women, a figure that is constantly growing, Russian health services say. — afprelaxnews.com Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
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