Major advances have been announced in the quest to compile the first draft of the Human Cell Atlas – a map of all the cells in the body. A collection of more than 40 peer-reviewed papers have been published in scientific journals, charting progress in our understanding in a host of areas from how the…
Major advances have been announced in the quest to compile the first draft of the Human Cell Atlas – a map of all the cells in the body. A collection of more than 40 peer-reviewed papers have been published in scientific journals, charting progress in our understanding in a host of areas from how the…
Vietnamese and Chinese businesses sign cooperation agreement to promote tourism during the Magnificent Guangxi event on November 27 in Hà Nội. Photo of Kim Liên Travel
HÀ NỘI — The unique culture and beautiful nature of Guangxi Province has been showcased in Việt Nam in an effort to boost tourism between the two countries.A culture and tourism exchange conference, on November 27 in Hà Nội, entitled Magnificent Guangxi, saw leaders of the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Việt Nam National Authority of Tourism, the Chinese Embassy in Việt Nam and the two sides’ tourism agencies unite in efforts to increase cooperation.Pundits predicted that the 2024 – 2025 season would be the year of inbound tourism boom in China, home to many beautiful landscapes and ready to welcome international visitors, including Vietnamese.Speaking at the event, Chen Yijun, member of the standing board of the Guangxi Province’s Party Committee and head of the committee’s publicity department, said: “Việt Nam and China has a long-standing and strong relationship.”Under the leadership of the Party and State of the two countries, that relationship is becoming increasingly closer. Today’s event is expected to realise the two countries’ policies and deepen that relationship.”Chen said Việt Nam and China had many similarities in terms of culture, beautiful natural landscapes and shared a rich potential for tourism development.In 2025, the two countries will celebrate the 75th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations, a perfect time to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in cross-border tourism border culture, and continue to deepen cultural and tourism cooperation, he said.Recently, the waterfall tourist landscape areas — Bản Giốc (Việt Nam) and Detian (China) – a cross-border tourism and cooperation zone was officially launched, one year after it had been successfully piloted.
Bản Giốc (Việt Nam) and Detian (China) Waterfall site is one of favourite destinations of border-tourism between Việt Nam and China. VNA/VNS Photo
The Beihai – Hạ Long sea tourism route linking Guangxi and Quảng Ninh Province was also opened earlier this month.“These are very favourable conditions for the two countries to cooperate and develop tourism, especially tourism in border areas. In 2024, about 800,000 tourists have visited Guangxi, among them were 80,000 Vietnamese,” said Chen.She also expected that Việt Nam and China continued to cooperate and exploit tourism across other types of travel, such as caravan tourism, resort and eco tourism and cultural tourism. Minister of the Chinese Embassy in Việt Nam, Wang Qun, said Việt Nam – China relations were developing more and more stably. Guangxi, as an important bridge and gateway between China and ASEAN, maximised its geographical advantage of being adjacent to the sea and land with Việt Nam.The province had successfully exploited its rich and valuable natural resources and diverse culture and promoted extensive exchanges and cooperation with Vietnamese localities.
Guangxi artists perform a traditional dance at the Magnificent Guangxi event. Photo baovanhoa,vn
Humanistic exchanges between Guangxi and Việt Nam reaped many positive results, especially in terms of cross-border tourism.He promised that the Chinese Embassy in Việt Nam would continue to support exchange and cooperation activities between the two countries across different fields, including culture and tourism.He hoped that this event would be a motivation for the culture and tourism cooperation development between two countries, ensuring the stably and long-term comprehensive strategic partnership.At the conference, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hồ An Phong affirmed that cultural exchange and tourism cooperation between Việt Nam and China was among activities of a relationship which was rich in tradition. It was an objective need and a top priority for Việt Nam and this event carried important meaning, contributing to further promoting cultural and tourism cooperation between two sides.
Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hồ An Phong speaks at the event. Photo of Kim Liên Travel
He said the Vietnamese ministry was ready work with the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Guangxi Department of Culture and Tourism to closely coordinate and organise the Vietnamese Cultural Week in China, research and build special tourist routes, and actively participate in the China – ASEAN Tourism Fair and help build a community that shared the future of Việt Nam – China.At the event, participants were briefed about the unique resources, charming scenery, long history and diverse culture of Guangxi, where there visitors were offered countless and convenient travel opportunities.It was also a chance for the two sides to witness the signing ceremony of tourism cooperation agreement between companies of the two countries and an announcement of a special route designed specifically for Vietnamese customers.Following the agreement, the two sides would work together to promote cross-border tourism products into each other’s markets, exchange tourist sources and expand the market overall.”This event gives travel businesses of the two countries the opportunity to learn more about tourism resources of the other side. Việt Nam and China share many similarities in natural resources, beautiful landscape, culture and cuisine but there are also many differences and attractions that are just waiting for us to explore,” said Minh Thế Long, deputy general director of the International Kim Liên Travel JointstockHe hoped that moving forward Vietnamese and Chinese travel businesses would continue to increase promotion and work closely together to increase the number of tourists travelling between two countries, setting up a closer relationship between two countries and two peoples. VNS
Artists from Sơn La Province performing at the Điện Biên-Northwest Culture and Tourism Week held in HCM City last year. —VNA/VNS PhotoHCM CITY — HCM City will step up efforts to strengthen travel linkages with the expanded northwestern region to develop more unique tourism products, according to its Department of Tourism.The number of tourists from HCM City to the region, comprising Điện Biên, Hà Giang, Hòa Bình, Lai Châu, Lào Cai, Sơn La, Yên Bái, and Phú Thọ provinces, is increasing.Many inter-regional travel programmes have been exploited effectively by travel firms in the city, with millions of its tourists visiting the region and vice versa, according to statistics from 10 businesses that are members of the northwest working group.The eight provinces in the region participated in the 20th HCM City Tourism Festival in 2024 with the theme “20 years of vibrant journey,” which attracted more than 150 tourism agencies from 45 cities and provinces and 50 tourism businesses.The provinces also participated in the second HCM City River Festival which attracted 4.5 million visitors.The tourism cooperation programme between the city and the northwest also included tourism promotion on the website dulichtaybac.vn, fanpage Sắc màu Tây Bắc – HCM City and on various social networking sites.The city will organise a forum to review five years of implementing the tourism cooperation programme with the northwestern region next year. — VNS
Ibiza and Majorca, famed for their stunning beaches and pulsating nightlife, are now grappling with the issue of overtourism. The islands are being swamped by holidaymakers to such an extent that finding a spot on the beach is like searching for a needle in a haystack, leaving both tourists and locals exasperated. Lucia Polla, travel…
Share this News:Pune, 28th November 2024: “There has been a shift from terrorism to tourism in Jammu and Kashmir. Adventure sports, mountaineering, and trekking are being promoted, while significant sites like Siachen, Galwan, and Kargil battlefields are being opened for tourists to experience soldiers’ lives on the frontlines,” said Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi. He shared these insights on Wednesday during the General B.C. Joshi Memorial Lecture, organized by the Department of Defence and Strategic Studies at Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU).
Dwivedi’s lecture, titled “Role and Contribution of Indian Army in Securing India’s Growth Story,” shed light on the Army’s multifaceted contributions, ranging from border protection to infrastructure development and crisis management. Army Southern Headquarters GOC-in-C Lieutenant General Dheeraj Seth, SPPU Vice Chancellor Dr. Suresh Gosavi, Pro-Vice Chancellor Dr. Parag Kalkar, Registrar Dr. Jyoti Bhakere, and Department Head Dr. Vijay Khare were also present at the event.
Dwivedi emphasized that obstacles to development harm the nation and that the Army plays a pivotal role not only in safeguarding borders but also in enhancing internal security, providing humanitarian assistance, and managing crises. He highlighted the Army’s involvement in diverse sectors, including road and bridge construction, agriculture, water supply, education, and environmental conservation.
“During emergencies, the Army is the first responder. From setting up hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic to conducting over 40 Himalayan missions, the Army has always prioritized national service,” he said. A single-window system is being developed to facilitate tourism in border areas, he added.
The Army is now focusing on ‘smart borders’ by introducing 4G services in remote areas to benefit both soldiers and civilians. Over 350 military posts are already equipped with 4G. Solar power projects, cultural revitalization in 600 villages, and the preservation of heritage sites are also underway. Dwivedi noted the Army’s commitment to sustainability, citing the planting of over 9.5 crore saplings and the revival of more than 250 water bodies to achieve a zero-carbon footprint.
Dwivedi announced that India, previously an importer of military equipment, is now becoming a key exporter. Small villages, including those in Maharashtra and Pune, are contributing significantly by manufacturing military spare parts. The country is poised to export military equipment worth ₹50,000 crore by 2029-30, he revealed.
Reflecting on the Army’s apolitical and secular nature, Dwivedi highlighted efforts to mediate between the Kukis and Meiteis during the recent Manipur violence. He lauded senior Army officers for their role in fostering dialogue and reconciliation in the strife-torn region. “One payoff of this was recently seen in Manipur where the veterans from the warring communities took on the mantle to ally fears and restore trust among the two ethnic factions. Today, both community members, that is Kukis and Meiteis, in the Indian Army as well as the Assam Rifles, are operating in complete harmony in the same unit. We are also training the police personnel in these areas to instill these values that their duty is more important than their identity”, he added.
Dwivedi underscored the government’s push to transform 48 border locations into tourism hubs. These initiatives aim to showcase the life and challenges of soldiers while boosting local economies. He concluded by reiterating the Army’s steadfast commitment to national growth and security.
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New Hospitality Group SIX & SIX PRIVATE ISLANDS to Open Six Resorts in the Maldives Over Six Years – Travel Industry Today – EIN Presswire
Three U.S. citizens imprisoned by China were on their way home late Wednesday, U.S. officials said, culminating years of U.S. diplomatic efforts to free Americans Washington says were wrongfully detained by Beijing. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he spoke to Kai Li, Mark Swidan and John Leung “as they traveled home to the…
Jorabat, Nov 28: Union Minister for Culture and Tourism, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, on Wednesday reviewed the progress of the under-construction Science City at Sonapur, emphasising its transformative role in fostering scientific temper among the youth of the North East. He directed officials to ensure the project is completed by October 2025, calling it a critical milestone for the region’s scientific advancement. During his visit to the site at Nazirakhat in Sonapur, the Union Minister stressed on the government’s commitment in equipping the next generation with opportunities in research and innovation. “Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision, Science Cities are being developed across the country to inspire young minds and develop their scientific aptitude. The Sonapur Science City will become a beacon for modern science education in the North East,” said Shekhawat. Accompanied by State IT and Science & Technology Minister Keshab Mahanta, the Union Minister conducted an hour-long review meeting with project officials, engineers and experts.Highlighting the need to accelerate construction, he expressed dissatisfaction over delays caused by technical challenges but assured that the project is back on track. “The Science. City must be completed by October 2025, without further delay,” Shekhawat instructed. Mahanta echoed this sentiment, adding that regular consultations between the Central and State governments are addressing the hurdles. “We are working closely with experts from IIT to resolve technical discrepancies. This project is a priority, and we are confident the revised timeline will be met,” he stated. The Science City, spread across 250 bighas at Sonapur, is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Culture, Gol and the Assam Science Technology and Environment Council (ASTEC). It will feature interactive exhibits, thematic galleries, and a Science Park to encourage students to explore advanced scientific concepts.Once completed, the project is expected to position the North East as a hub for science and innovation, and aims to ignite curiosity and promote scientific education, also contributing significantly to the socio-economic progress of the region. During the visit, Shekhawat was briefed by senior officials, including Laya Maduuri, Secretary of the Department of Science, Technology, and Climate Change; Vijay Shankar Sharma, Regional Director of the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM), North- east Zone; and Dr. Jaideep Baruah, Director, ASTEC.ByCorrespondent
A terse statement by Robert Abela on the Castille steps on Tuesday morning brought the curtain down on Clayton Bartolo’s four-year tenure as tourism minister.
But Bartolo’s stint in cabinet was far from uneventful, spanning pandemics, tourism booms and controversies, one of which eventually brought him crashing down.
We trace the steps back through some of the highlights and lowlights of his time at the ministry’s helm.
1. Guiding Malta’s pandemic-wreaked tourism industry through its darkest days
A one-time Mellieħa deputy mayor, Bartolo rose through Labour ranks, eventually joining cabinet as a parliamentary secretary in Abela’s first cabinet back in early 2020.
By the end of the year, he had made the step up to full-blown minister, inheriting the tourism portfolio from Julia Farrugia in a November 2020 cabinet reshuffle, just as Malta’s beleaguered tourism industry was trying to fumble its way through the wreckage of pandemic lockdowns and travel restrictions.
Bartolo, together with the health authorities, performed admirably, gradually bringing tourist numbers back up with relatively few hiccups along the way.
Malta was one of the first countries in Europe to issue digital vaccine certificates the following May, allowing it to finally reopen its doors to tourists, although it narrowly missed out on making it onto a green list of destinations for UK travellers.
By the end of the year, tourism arrivals were picking up pace, with the operators in the sector hoping for a full recovery over the next few years.
By the end of 2021, tourism arrivals were picking up pace, with operators hoping for a full recovery in the near future. File photo: Matthew Mirabelli
2. And, boy, were they right. Tourist arrivals go through the roof
In defending his legacy, Bartolo will be quick to point to the sheer wave of people who have holidayed in Malta over the past few years.
Malta welcomed almost a million tourists in 2021, despite the industry being on its knees for much of the year, before bouncing back to 2.3million arrivals in 2022, only slightly less than pre-COVID numbers.
And things really took off in 2023, with tourist arrivals topping three million for the first time in the country’s history, a year before the tourism authorities planned to hit that particular milestone.
Things haven’t slowed this year, with Malta on track to receive some 3.2m tourists by the end of the year.
By 2023 tourist arrivals had reached three million for the first time in the country’s history. File photo: Times of Malta
3. “Things will be different” – promises to solve Comino deckchair chaos fall flat
The influx of tourists brought a renewed spotlight on the impact of tourists on Malta’s towns and landscapes, particularly in tourist hotspots.
This was most stark in Comino, where a viral Times of Malta video viewed millions of times the world over showed deckchair operators’ illegal takeover of the Blue Lagoon in the summer of 2021.
By the time summer 2022 rolled around, activists had had enough, descending on the bay to manually remove deckchairs and umbrellas themselves, while demanding drastic changes to how the site is managed.
“Things will be different next year,” Bartolo promised at the time, pointing to ongoing talks over a management plan for Comino.
Only, they weren’t.
By the following summer, Bartolo had renewed beach concessions for the site, reneging on a promise to publish a tender for the service, saying that the government was yet to finalise its management plan.
Meanwhile, he refused to publish information about the concessions, arguing that they were commercially sensitive, and rebuffed allegations claiming that he and Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri had a conflict of interest into the concessions.
Umbrellas set up by operators hogging the available space by the water’s edge. File photo: Karl Andrew Micallef
4. Skills card for foreign hospitality workers
One of the flagship reforms that the Tourism Ministry introduced under Bartolo’s watch, the skills card promised to drastically improve the quality of Malta’s hospitality sector.
Bartolo described the move as a “bold” reform which would ensure that anybody working in the hospitality sector has the necessary skills.
After some teething problems, the card was eventually introduced in March 2024, three months after initially planned.
The jury is still out on the scheme’s success, with initial reports showing that half of the candidates who applied for a skills card failed to make the grade.
Clayton Bartolo and Film Commissioner Johann Grech with an entourage at the local premier of the Jurassic World film.
5. Film industry glitz, glamour and controversy
While tourism may have been Bartolo’s bread and butter, he was also responsible for the infinitely more glamorous matter of Malta’s film industry.
Throughout his tenure, Bartolo (and film commissioner Johann Grech) were dogged by persistent questions about Malta’s extravagant spending on everything from a controversial cash rebate scheme (€143millio over five years) to a film festival (€3.9m this year) and accompanying promotional short film (another half a million euros).
The pair frequently defended these expenses, arguing that the expenditure is needed to attract film productions to these shores, and pointing to the money that these films leave in Malta’s coffers, much to the scepticism of economists.
But there’s little doubt that several reputable international film productions shot their films in Malta in recent years, most recently Ridley Scott’s Gladiator 2, with Bartolo reportedly planning to turn part of the film’s set into a Popeye village-style tourist attraction.
And while it pointed to a lack of transparency and good governance, Bartolo is likely to have felt vindicated by a recent report from the auditor general, which found that the government’s calculations on the film industry’s return were largely spot-on.
6. Embarrassing gaffes and Manchester United shirts
Bartolo has had to contend with a parade of self-inflicted gaffes throughout his time as minister.
One bizarre instance involved Bartolo’s inexplicable decision to turn up to a match between Birkirkara and Manchester United’s women’s team kitted out in the English side’s signature jacket, drawing ire and ridicule in equal measure.
Clayton Bartolo smiles as he wears a Manchester United jacket ahead of a match between Birkirkara and Manchester United. Photo: Facebook
Bartolo’s well-documented affection for all things Manchester United had previously raised eyebrows when the Tourism Ministry renewed a multi-year sponsorship deal with the club to promote Malta as a tourist destination.
But while Manchester United may get his pulse racing, we learnt that Bartolo is less keen on PN MP Rebekah Borg, after an embarrassing hot mic blunder was caught on a parliament livestream.
Not realising that his microphone was still turned on, Bartolo was heard telling fellow minister Roderick Galdes “oh god, I detest this one with a passion, man”, as Borg rose to speak.
And Bartolo’s stint as a member of the parliamentary accounts committee also met with a series of missteps, not least when Bartolo was caught sending questions to a witness before he testified, prompting calls for his resignation from the committee.
“It seems I made a mistake”, Bartolo sheepishly admitted after he was rebuked by speaker Anġlu Farrugia.
Clayton Bartolo (right) and his now-wife Amanda Muscat. Photo: Facebook
7. From a lavish wedding to consultancy scandal
Bartolo had barely finished rebutting claims that he and his wife Amanda Muscat had abused public funds to stage a lavish Manoel Island wedding when the pair found themselves embroiled in another scandal.
With the couple’s wedding still under the auditor general’s spotlight, a standards commissioner report had found that Bartolo had conspired with Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri to give his then-partner and secretary Muscat a fake €68,000 consultancy job in the Gozo Ministry.
Amid widespread calls for their resignation, Bartolo and Camilleri were admonished by a parliamentary ethics committee, with Muscat grudgingly returning over €16,000.
Hoping to get off with a slap on the wrist, news that Bartolo and Muscat were the subject of an FIAU investigation into alleged kickbacks proved to be the final nail in Bartolo’s coffin.