Top Travel Leads

Conde Naste published last year an article on Sporting Events to See Before You Die, listing Boca Juniors match in Buenos Aires among those not to miss. Indeed ambiance at a soccer at the La Bombonera game in Argentina will rival a tango show, another staple of travel and tours in Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires transgresses the traditional way of Latin American capitals and its strongly European-accented eclecticism shapes its particular profile and you will be mesmerized by what noise sixty-thousand plus fans can make when the Boca Juniors play at home, to say the least. Do yourself a favor, indulge or relax, but no matter what see a soccer game while in Buenos Aires!

One of the biggest questions surrounding the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games is whether China’s fast-growing but seriously stretched aviation system will be up to the task of handling the 2 million visitors expected to pack the Chinese capital for the Games this summer. The answer seems to be: Yes. Determined not to let anything spoil their party, organizers of the 2008 Summer Olympics plan also to take control over the most unpredictable element of all — the weather; the Chinese are indeed among the world’s leaders in what is called “weather modification. If you are still thinking about coming to China this summer, better book your trip fast as air tickets anywhere in China are fast becoming sold out or their price is soaring above the previously published fare prices.  And to be prepared read up on China, the Amazon bookshelves are brimming with wonderful titles.

The upcoming Beijing Olympics have run into the billions and even been subsidized by donations from the overseas Chinese. It promises to be a grand spectacle in which wake the government left thousands of local people displaced and countless historic buildings have been destroyed in Beijing’s rush to modernize. “Bird’s Nest,” the stadium that will host the opening and closing ceremonies will complete on time and as construction costs mount, China’s and Beijing’s accommodations, travel and tours rise by the minute as we near the start of the games, hence don’t procrastinate, if you’re an independent traveler and ponder to visit China this summer, book your China or Beijing tour now!

Last year Business Week brought a fine article, Olympic PR Challenge, regarding the rage the summer games sponors face over issues ranging from the Dalai Lama to Darfur. It narrated well how activists concerned about the environment, conditions in Chinese factories, political prisoners, and the fate of Tibet have all said they will use the Games as a forum for their grievances, calling on sponsors to take action as well. Olympic Watch, a group that’s monitoring China’s human-rights record ahead of the Games, noted that if human rights in China don’t improve, sponsoring the games could be a big problem for the image of Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Kodak, Samsung, Visa and other multinationals. The jest of the message was “You cannot as a large multinational trumpet your corporate responsibility credentials, while at the same time indulging China and refusing to criticize it.” The sponsors of course react by stressing that the Olympics should be about promoting global excellence in sport and not a forum for political issues. Well, what else could they say in their own defense… Bottom line is that while in China you can witness creations of one of the oldest civilizations on Earth, learn about nearly all religious and philosophical mainstreams of the Orient, and visit endless historical sites, monuments and ethnic minorities, it pays even for the sophisticated travelers, that contemplate China tour and plan to journey China in high numbers this coming summer, to keep in mind that despite the showpiece of grand achievements that the Olympics promise to portray the host country as, China still has many challenges and ills to overcome most of which are deeprooted precisely in its social experiment of combining communism and capitalism, a combination which although allowing for economic freedom has nothing to do with freedom of the mind.