El Gouna

Less than 20 years old, the man-made tourist resort of El Gouna is a complete holiday destination. Situated along a 10km shoreline, the resort is made up of islands, lagoons, gardens, luxury hotels and even boasts a USPGA rated golf course.

Catering for a wide variety of interests, El Gouna offers great shopping, restaurants, clubs, pubs and sailing. The resort also offers plenty for children with go-carting and pony rides amongst the organised activities available.

Hurghada

The Red Sea’s largest holiday resort, Hurghada has more than 20km of beach front hotel accommodation. Whilst a popular destination for scuba-diving holidays, Hurghada is also a highly regarded beach resort catering for traditional family vacations.

The resort has plenty to keep visitors entertained. Scuba-divers are keen to explore the clear waters and untouched reefs of the local Red Sea, whilst other holidaymakers can stay busy bowling, fishing, snorkelling and golfing. Other popular attractions include the nearby Roman remains, the imposing Red Sea Mountains and various shopping boutiques.

Marsa Alam

Although until recently a quiet fishing village, Marsa Alam is becoming an increasingly popular beach and dive holiday resort. Located to the south of the Eastern Desert, European tourists are drawn to the village by the tranquil beaches and exciting off shore coral reefs that host a spectacular variety of tropical sea life.

Whilst still a relatively new resort, Marsa Alam is developing rapidly and already boasts a variety of luxury accommodation and complexes. Served by its own International Airport, Marsa Alam has much to attract tourists, with restaurants, bars and shops located along the paradisiacal sea front. No trip would be complete however without experiencing the resort’s spectacular dive sites, offering an opportunity to swim with white-tip sharks at Elphinstone Reef and spinner dolphins at Shaab Samadai.

Sharm El Sheikh

With an impressive range of hotels and tourist facilities, Sharm El Sheikh is fast becoming Egypt’s most popular family beach resort. Tourists generally head to the region’s cosmopolitan Naama Bay area, populated with shops, restaurants, bars and ‘Sheesha’ cafes.

Amongst Sharm’s highlights are the area’s outstanding dive sites, the Ras Mohamed National Park and the Sharm El Maya Bay. The resort also offers a selection of nightclubs, discos, casinos, and golf courses, whilst water babies can take advantage of the snorkelling and windsurfing activities available. With camel riding, desert safaris and tours of ancient relics further on offer, Sharm El Sheikh is packed with enough attractions to provide an unforgettable Egyptian holiday.

Taba

One of the newest Red Sea resorts, Taba lies on the border of Israel, within view of the picturesque Sinai Mountains. Popular with tourists from Europe and Israel, holidaymakers are drawn to the region’s Taba Heights resort, a cosmopolitan development that includes a variety of top class hotels, bars, restaurants, a casino, an 18-hole golf course and a lively marina.

The waters off the coast of Taba are warm and calm, making the resort an ideal place in which to learn to dive. Offering a range of shallow reefs filled with hard and soft corals, and sea life that includes moray eels, seahorses, rays and snappers, Taba is also popular with more experienced and adventurous scuba-divers.

Branson’s move follows similar action from other American cities including Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and Philadelphia whose representatives also claim travel websites have failed to pass on the money customers were charged for local tourism taxes. The Philadelphia and Atlanta suits have since been dismissed however according to The Interactive Travel Services Association.

Branson first introduced a tourism tax in 1997, calculated on the gross funds aquired from hotel room rentals. In 2006, Branson collected $6.6 million in tourism tax, of which 75% will go towards improving the town’s infrastructure and 25% toward marketing Branson as a tourist destination.

As well as Travelocity and Expedia, Internet travel specialists Hotels.com, Hotwire.com, Orbitz.com and Travelnow.com are also included in the lawsuit.

Branson’s public administrator, Terry Dody, says it is unclear exactly how much money is unaccounted for, but estimates the amount to be “substantial.”

“It’s almost impossible to put our arms around it, because we are not sure how many bookings (there were),” Dody told the Springfield News-Leader. “Over the years, you can imagine what it adds up to.”

Art Sackler, executive director of the Interactive Travel Services Association, has since sprung to the defence of the travel websites, describing them simply as brokers who collect reservation money, minus a service fee, to pass on to local hotels.

“The companies send back to the hotel whatever the negotiated room rate is plus the applicable tax,” Sackler said. “It’s the hotel’s responsibility to send the taxes on to the city or the county.”

  

Measuring in at almost a yard wide, the mahogany encased first-class seats are spacious and welcoming, the ideal place to enjoy your personal 23″ widescreen LCD TV and the 100 in-flight movies on offer. Feeling sleepy? No problem! Your seat fully reclines into a bed that can comfortably fit a 6′3″ adult and comes complete with a Givenchy designed duvet and pillow.

  

Passenger’s are also provided with exclusive Salvatore Ferragamo designed travel bags containing fragrances, body lotion and lip balm and a 5 star in-flight menu that features lobster, veal and Dom Perrignon champagne.

“We firmly believe in bringing back the romance of travel” says Singapore Airline’s Senior Executive Bey Soo Khiang of the lavish first class suite, although when asked if this extended to passengers sharing a bed overnight Khiang is swift to point out ”The seat is for one person only.” Too right, no splitting the $10k ticket two ways!

What $10k Gets You

• Seat width: 35″
• LCD screen width: 23″
• Bed length: 80″
• Furnishings: Bedding, cushions, seat covers and blankets by the Givenchy fashion house
• Food: Lobster, Veal & Beef
• Drinks: Dom Perignon, Krug & 2nd growth Bordeaux red wine
• Entertainment: 100 free movies, TV programs and music
• Amenity kit: Fragrances, cosmetics & cosmetics bag by the Ferragamo fashion house

  

The life of a snow sculpture starts with the construction of a wooden frame that is filled with tightly packed snow. Once the snow has hardened, the frame is removed and the carving carefully undertaken using hatchets and shovels. Many of the artists work at night as the sculptures become fragile during daytime temperatures.

  

The 58th annual festival will take place from 6th-12th of February 2007 at the Odori Site, Susukino Site, and Satorando Site. The official Sapporo Snow Festival website recommends all visitors wrap up warm as February is the coldest month of the year.

  

View The Sapporo Snow Festival Slideshow

The North Yungas, built by Paraguayan prisoners of war in the 1930s, is affectionately known as Death Road amongst the locals; a suitable nickname for a 40 mile stretch that accounts for the lives of 200-300 unfortunate travellers each year.

Those brave enough to attempt the journey across are known to spill their beer on the ground below, a token to the Gods in return for a safe passage. The gesture is well-advised, if only in helping the drivers remain sober as they chance their motoring arm along the precipice of doom.

Not all is bleak. A new by-pass is being built in the Andes that will effectively replace the North Yungas. Worryingly though, it has already been 20 years in the making. For the lorry and bus drivers regularly forced to battle the World’s deadliest route, an alternative to death road cannot come soon enough.

View The World’s Most Dangerous Road Slideshow