World Responsible Tourism Awards and World Travel Market Announce Regional Awards Programme

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Brighton, UK (PRWEB UK) 11 March 2015

The Awards, celebrating 12 years at WTM London - the worlds largest event for responsible tourism - this November, is expanding its partnership with World Travel Market portfolio events across the globe in 2015. The first of the regional programme of Awards is the African Responsible Tourism Awards 2015 at WTM Africa, with the inaugural winners to be announced at the event in Cape Town on 16th April.

WTM Portfolio, Director, Craig Moyes, said: The World Responsible Tourism Awards at WTM have been a great success at World Travel Market over the past 12 years. The awards play a key role in World Responsible Tourism Day the largest day of responsible tourism action in the world.

The examples of responsible tourism best practice by companies of all sizes are a testament to how serious the industry takes responsible tourism and what can be achieved if these examples are shared. Im delighted that WTM Africa will be hosting The African Responsible Tourism Awards at WTM Africa.

Tourism is central to the continents economy, which makes it all the more vital that the African travel and tourism industry acts responsibly to preserve and protect its unrivalled natural resources. WTM Africa is the perfect platform to highlight the best practice in the African travel industry.

Justin Francis, Managing Director of Responsible Travel which founded and organises the annual World Responsible Tourism Awards says The World Responsible Tourism Awards have always been global in reach, but together with World Travel Market we're excited to be bringing our trademark rigour to the next generation of Responsible Tourism Awards programmes.

With our new regional range of Awards, we have the chance for local organisers to lead the search for the most inspirational responsible tourism experiences in their destinations. Its a substantial strengthening of the whole programme from the ground up and you never know, you may see one or two of the regional winners sharing the limelight at our global Awards in London later this year!"

The inaugural African Responsible Tourism Awards have already generated significant participation across Africa, with the judging process already well underway. Heidi Van Der Watt, organiser, comments The number of nominations for the African Responsible Tourism Awards far outstripped our expectations. A full 112 nominations from 16 countries, truly covering Africa from north-south and east-west were submitted. Our heartfelt thanks to partners on the continent who helped us to get the word out and the nominations rolling in.

As part of the World Responsible Tourism Awards at WTM family, the judging process for the African Responsible Tourism Awards is Chaired by Harold Goodwin, Professor of Responsible Tourism at Manchester Metropolitan University, Director of the International Centre for Responsible Tourism, and Chair of the main World Responsible Tourism Awards judging panel since their inception.

Going forward the International Awards programme will continue to expand with events planned for WTM Latin America in 2016.

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World Responsible Tourism Awards and World Travel Market Announce Regional Awards Programme

U.S. is most popular travel destination for world travelers, survey finds

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The U.S. is the most popular destination for world travelers. But if money were not a concern, more travelers would rather visit Australia, according to a new survey on the global travel economy.

The survey of more than 44,000 travelers from around the world also found that 67% of U.S. travelers plan to take an international leisure trip this year, up from 50% who reported taking such a trip last year.

Still, the travel budget of the average American traveler is expected to be $8,700 this year, about the same as last year, according to the online survey by the travel website TripAdvisor.

The U.S. was the most popular destination for world travelers in 2014 and for travel plans in 2015, according to the survey. But when asked which destination they would visit if money were no object, Australia took the top spot, followed by the U.S. and Italy.

The cost of travel may be going up. Half of all hotels globally and 59% of U.S. hotels said they plan to increase their room rates this year, with more than one-third of global accommodations and 42% of U.S. hotels planning to raise rates by up to 10%, according to the survey.

For the 40% of global travelers who said they planned to spend more in 2015 on travel, the top reasons were "going somewhere on my wish list" and "my family deserves it."

To read more about travel, tourism and the airline industry, follow me on Twitter at @hugomartin.

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U.S. is most popular travel destination for world travelers, survey finds

VanosEnigmA 097 AI Digital Ethics Transhuman Health Care Creepy RFID MindControl Technology Bitcoin – Video

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VanosEnigmA 097 AI Digital Ethics Transhuman Health Care Creepy RFID MindControl Technology Bitcoin - Video

Media portray unrealistic timelines for stem cell therapies

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A new study by University of Alberta law researchers reveals sometimes overly optimistic news coverage of clinical translation of stem cell therapies--and as spokespeople, scientists need to be mindful of harnessing public expectations.

"As the dominant voice in respect to timelines for stem cell therapies, the scientists quoted in these stories need to be more aware of the importance of communicating realistic timelines to the press," said researcher Kalina Kamenova, who co-authored the study with professor Timothy Caulfield in the University of Alberta's Health Law Institute, based in the Faculty of Law.

Their analysis of media coverage showed that most news reports were highly optimistic about the future of stem cell therapies and forecasted unrealistic timelines for clinical use. The study, published in the latest issue of Science Translational Medicine, examined 307 news reports covering translational stem cell research in major daily newspapers in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom between 2010 and 2013.

While the field of stem cell research holds tremendous promise, "it has also been surrounded by tremendous hype, and we wanted to quantify that in some degree," Caulfield said. "Pop culture representations have an impact on how the public perceives the readiness of stem cell research, and that in turn feeds into stem cell tourism, marketing of unproven therapies and even the public's trust in research. We wanted to provide findings that would help inform the issue."

Their study found that 69 per cent of all news stories citing timelines predicted that therapies would be available within five to 10 years or even sooner. At the same time, the press overlooked challenges and failures in therapy translation, such as the discontinuation of the first FDA-approved clinical trial of an embryonic stem cell-derived therapy for spinal cord injuries in 2011. The biotech company conducting the trial was a leader in embryonic stem cell therapies and its decision to stop its work on stem cells was considered a significant setback for the field.

As well, ethical concerns about the use of human embryonic stem cells were displaced from the forefront of news coverage, while the clinical translation of stem cell therapies and new discoveries, such as hockey star Gordie Howe's recent treatment, grabbed the headlines instead.

"Our findings showed that many scientists have often provided either by implication or direct quotes, authoritative statements regarding unrealistic timelines for stem cell therapies and media hype can foster unrealistic public expectations about clinical translation and increased patient demand for unproven stem cell therapies," Caulfield noted.

While stem cell therapy research is progressing and has seen a dramatic increase in the past decade of clinical trials for treatments, the vast majority of these studies are still in the safety-testing stage and involve a limited number of participants, Kamenova noted.

"The approval process for new treatments is long and complicated, and only a few of all drugs that enter pre-clinical testing are approved for human clinical trials. It takes on average 12 years to get a new drug from the lab to the market, and additional 11 to 14 years of post-market surveillance," she added.

The science world is under pressure to come up with cures for what ails us, but "care needs to be taken by the media and the research community so that advances in research and therapy are portrayed in a realistic manner," Caulfield said.

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Media portray unrealistic timelines for stem cell therapies

Magical Moments: The Spirituality of Wonder in Religion and Literature – Video

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Magical Moments: The Spirituality of Wonder in Religion and Literature
Alex Nava Explore the metaphor of wonder in the history of the Spanish exploration of the New World, beginning with the period of the Conquest through the 20th century style of literature...

By: The University of Arizona

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Magical Moments: The Spirituality of Wonder in Religion and Literature - Video

Lawyers battle in yoga case

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Jaysea DeVoe leading a yoga class in Encinitas.

An Escondido lawyer trying to force the Encinitas Union School District to end its school yoga program because it has religious roots, squared off in a state appeals court Wednesday against district lawyers who say the program only promotes physical exercise not mystical or spiritual enlightenment.

The Fourth District Court of Appeal is expected to rule in the case by June 9, but in court Wednesday the panel of judges seemed skeptical that the program was somehow still tainted by religion.

Yoga has been a health and wellness activity in the Encinitas school district since 2012, when the Encinitas-based Sonima Foundation gave the district $2 million to add yoga to all physical education classes.

That same year, attorney Dean Broyles who runs the National Center for Law & Policy sued the district on behalf of several parents, saying the program violated the separation of church and state by endorsing Hindu religious beliefs promoted in Ashtanga yoga.

In 2013, a lower court sided with the district, finding that school program had been stripped of any religious overtones and could therefore remain. Broyles and his clients appealed.

In a hearing Wednesday, judges seemed impatient with Broyles contention that the yoga program had spiritual underpinnings.

Its void of religious, mystical or spiritual trappings, Judge Cynthia Aaron said. The judges interrupted Broyles several times during his nearly 30-minute oral argument to the court.

Broyles described the panel later as a hot bench that peppered him with lots of tough but legitimate questions.

They were very animated, Broyles observed.

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Lawyers battle in yoga case

Year in Space, Twin Test: NASA astronaut tells RT about upcoming mission – Video

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Year in Space, Twin Test: NASA astronaut tells RT about upcoming mission
For the first time NASA is planning to send an astronaut to the International Space Station for a whole year. RT spoke to Scott Kelly, who #39;s currently getting ready to blast on his fourth ISS...

By: RT

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Year in Space, Twin Test: NASA astronaut tells RT about upcoming mission - Video