Tourism Website Designs

While working on an online contract, I came across this neat and great website in New Zealand - the tourism campaign landing page of 100% Pure New Zeland.  The whole page showcase the beautiful nature of NZ, the people and festivities.  Really nice!

This one is in Thailand, an invitation to the country's "Amazing Thailand Grand Sale" that runs from June 15 - August 15, 2012.

Japan tourism website shows latest features on heritage, indulgence, gourmet, adventure, modern art, pop culture/anime...

Australia's official tourism website has nice features, as well.  However, in my opinion, it's not very eye-catching.

With the rising number of IT talents, India's tourism website is not at all bad. It's comprehensive such that you can view places of interest in each region.  

I know there are more amazing designs of official tourism websites.  Watch out for updates!

Mabuhay.

Puerto Princesa Underground River

Let us visit the waters in the Philippines.  Proudly presenting one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature - the Puerto Princesa Underground River.

The Puerto Princesa Underground River is known to be the longest navigable underground river in the world.  The entire catchment of the underground river is included in the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park (PPSRNP).  PPSRNP is located about 76 kilometers northwest of Puerto Princesa City, facing the South China Sea.

Puerto Princesa City, the capital of Palawan province, can be reached by air and sea.  This site Bambua Nature Park Resort provides a good information on how to get to the Underground River.

For interested tourists who wish to visit PPSRNP, please take note of this booking notice:

Booking status of Puerto Princesa Underground River can be found in this link. As of this writing, booking schedules are "all open" from July to December 2012. (last update was done on May 15, 2012, 12:20 a.m. PST)

Bookings and other information for the Tour can be made at the Underground River Booking Office and are confirmed on a first come, first serve basis.

Notice is hereby given to the public not to be misled by pronouncements posted in the internet and other medium that going directly to the Park or staying overnight in Sabang (village) is a guarantee for the issuance of a Visitor Entry Permit to the Underground River Tour.  The Park denies the existence of such a policy nor has it authorized anybody to make such commitments.  These claims are inaccurate and are designed to promote private interests.

The above notice is found in the official website of Puerto Princesa Underground River.

This new Wonder of Nature is my next destination in two-months time.  Excited!

(Photos from google)

Outdoor adventure

If you are in Dumaguete City in the Visayas region, Philippines and you want to go nature-tripping, go no farther.  The next town of Valencia, just a few minutes away from Dumaguete, offers you a breathtaking view of the mountain and the sea.  The Rush Zipline Tierra Alta is a highly recommended outdoor adventure with your family and friends.

The ride is only Php250.00 per person.  They have complete safety gears so no need to be alarmed.  They have competent personnel to make sure you are well secured before trying the Zipline.

There are four different ways to ride the Zipline:  superman, tandem, sitting and inverted.  I suggest you choose that which gives you the best view from above.  It is 600 meters ride, so I am sure you will enjoy the moment.

See views of the place and some locals enjoying the Rush Zipline:

Rush Zipline ad

The Tierra Alta

A view from starting point

Inverted way

Sitting in tandem

I can't find Superman.. :(

"Oh, my God!"

As RSS Editor of a NZ-based community news website, I have the advantage of being informed of what's new in New Zealand.  This particular news item on tourism caught my interest.  It's about the world's highest cliff jumping.  The operator, Shotover Canyon Swing in Queenstown, that developed a "unique new jump style that offers adrenalin seekers another dimension and a whole new level of scariness."  Imagine sliding off a very high cliff edge from a height of 109 meters?!!  Oh, my God!!!

Read the full article below:

The world's highest cliff jump operator has done it again - developing a unique new jump style that offers adrenalin seekers another dimension and a whole new level of scariness.

In what is believed to be a world 'first', Shotover Canyon Swing's jump masters are 'stoked' over the company's newest jump style, 'The Slide'.

The Queenstown-based thrill ride is already renowned as an 'undie-staining', high-speed adrenalin activity that involves throwing caution to the wind by launching off a platform at the top of a very high cliff edge.  And now customers can literally slide off that cliff edge from a height of 109 metres.

"We're lucky to have very dedicated staff who are committed to finding innovative jumpstyles, and very willing customers happy to enjoy something they can't do anywhere else in the world!" said General Manager, Matt Hollver.

"'The Slide' evolved out of the efforts of our new ideas and testing team who put in a mammoth effort in our stunning outdoors laboratory, perfecting the ultimate jump style, while keeping professionalism and safety always on top of mind.

"After a lot of testing on our in-house 'lab rats', otherwise known as the sales and marketing team, we're pretty sure by the scream decidel level this is the best way to jump we've found yet."

Not your average playground slide, customers get massive speed acceleration from the top of a relatively short aluminum slide.  When they reach the end of the slide, they accelerate faster into free fall, before gently transitioning into a high speed giant swing over the stunning Shotover River.

Continue reading:  Shotover Canyon Swing adds another dimension

Is this not the scariest of all?

Track flights in the air

Tracking arrivals and departures of airplanes is easy and quick to do. Flight tracking was started  in the 21^st century when several institutions had subsidized websites and software development to address the need of airline companies and passengers to track whereabouts of aircrafts. If you are one of those individuals who want to track flights in the air, just follow these steps.

Before anything, make sure you have the following information ready: flight destination, airline name and flight number.

In U.S.A., you have a way of checking for flight delay information. The Air Traffic Control System Command Center can provide you with general airport conditions, but not about flights. It helps provide information if your flight is affected.

You may contact the airline and ask for assistance on the status of the flight you want to know. Most likely, the airline can give you the most possible location of the aircraft and the ETA or the expected time of arrival. Sometimes, airline hotlines are too busy and difficult for you to get through. Another option available is to check online flight trackers.

When you google search for “flight tracker international,” it gives about a million results, but not necessarily the same number of online flight trackers. Some people who have been using web that track flights in the air have their favorite sites.  If you are yet new to this service, check sites and choose which you feel is most convenient to use.

Once you have chosen the site, enter the information such as flight destination, flight arrival (some sites ask for this), the airline company and the flight number.

The following are known sites that air travelers may use.

Flightview is an application, also available for mobile devices, that easily tracks real-time information and graphic view of a flight’s progress and number of airlines being delayed at a certain airport.

FlightAware.com website gives travel users flight tracking and airport activities.

Flights.com gives status of your flight delays, cancellations, and remaining time for flights that just departed.

Another world-wide coverage is Aeroseek.com. It tracks airlines and private aircrafts, airport arrivals and departures, airport weather and security wait times.

Google too has flight tracking service, the gmapsflighttracker.com. It provides inbound flights in selected airports in America.

There are a lot more sites to choose from. We should be grateful to these companies that pioneered the development of this application that enables us to track flights in the air.