Wetland winner
A wildlife site in London has been chosen as the world's leading sustainable tourism project at this year's Tourism for Tomorrow Awards, sponsored by British Airways.
The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust's Wetland Centre in Barnes won the award for its 105 acres of wetlands, attracting over 140 wild bird species, 25 minutes from the centre of the city.
Converted from four disused reservoirs, the site in south-west London was recycled into over 30 different wetlands with the planting of more than 300,000 aquatic plants and 30,000 trees.
The global winner was chosen from six category winners in which another British project was first. Rheged, the Upland Discovery Centre near Penrith, Cumbria, was the best in the Built Environment category. Other winners were the Temple Tiger Jungle Lodge, Nepal (Protected Areas and National Parks), the Orchid Hotel, Mumbai, India (Accommodation), the European Centre for Ecological Agriculture and Tourism in Poland (Tourism Organisation) and the Olango Birds and Seascape Tour, Phillipines (Environmental Experience). The Wetland Centre won the Large Scale Tourism section.
BA cutbacks
British Airways' cut in its capacity, announced last week, means that 190 services a week have been axed. The route network changes include:
• A reduction of one daily service from Heathrow to both New York and Boston and five fewer flights a week to Washington.
• The suspension of the daily Gatwick to New York service and a reduction in planes to San Diego and Houston.
• Reduced services from Heathrow to Dubai, Bahrain, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Jeddah and Kuwait.
• The cutting of the Heathrow to Belfast route.
• The suspension of flights from Gatwick to Stockholm, Zurich, Gdansk, Shannon, Cork, Gothenburg, Rotterdam and Montpellier. There will also be a reduced service to other European destinations which will lead to 20 fewer flights a day from Gatwick.
• The transfer of the Gatwick-Lyon service to Heathrow with the Heahtrow-Bologna service going to Gatwick.
• A reduction in the Heathrow service to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
BA say that it will look at its network on a week-to-week basis and is prepared to make more cuts to protect its business.
Namibian sponsored trek
The Breast Cancer Campaign is looking for people to take part in a 10-day exhibition trek in Namibia - 130km through the Namib-Naukluft National Park. Trek Namibia will take place from February 9. Trekkers will have to pay a registration fee of £300 and raise a minimum of £2,500 in sponsorship. For details ring 020-7749 3704 or see bcc-uk.org.
Gulf drive
Dubai, which last year attracted 300,000 British visitors, triple the number of three years before, plans to increase numbers by 15-20% annually over the next decade. As of now, there are 277 hotels, with 21,608 rooms, but the number is expected to increase to some 400 at the end of the decade.
