cool global BIZ

Cherry Blossoms Redux, or Jake Shimabukuro and Bon Jovi Riff on "Sakura, Sakura"

 

Jake Shimabukuro, master of the four-string ukelele, performs the Japanese folk tune "Sakura Sakura," traditionally played on a 13-string koto. Video courtesy of JakeShimabukuro's channel on YouTube. Didn't know the intro to Bon Jovi's "Tokyo Road" gave a nod to "Sakura Sakura" (See YouTube video here.) Nice.

 

REAL-LIFE CHERRY BLOSSOMS are beautiful. But the man-made images are tired and timeworn. The familiar and traditional need to evolve, or end up in museums and library archives, seen only by tour groups and Ph.d candidates. Global creatives -- like Hawaiian musician Jake Shimabukuro, rock band Bon Jovi, and the digital photographers here -- dodge the cliches and seek out the new.  (Also see interesting cherry blossom photos from last spring.) 

 

 

"Dreaming of Spring" by Temari 09 (no real name given), under a Creative Commons license on flickr.

 

The People's Republic of Fishin': A Real Global Community and Confederation

 

 

"Hobie Fish the World (Part 6)." Promo video from Hobie Cat on its kayak anglers traveling across France, Holland, Australia, Mexico, Corsica and the United States. Another video shows a stretch of the Owens River in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California that I fished as a kid with my late father. Must be synchronicity. Video-sharing courtesy of HobieUSA's channel on YouTube. 

 

TIME TO GO FISHING, Brother Man. The People's Republic of Fishin' is a color-blind federation, a model of pure merit, where all that counts is your angling skill. No castes, no politics, no boundaries.

This summer, I rekindled my love of the sport while chatting up a cross-section of humanity: Glassy-eyed homeless folk. Fly-fishing tech execs. College students playing hookie. A gang-banger and his homegirl. A famed bass-fishing champ. An outdoor-loving broadcast journalist. Even a former Montana fishing guide whose free tips were golden. All friendly as hell, all eager to talk fishing, all bonding in the warm weather. I imagine that anglers worldwide are no different. 

Well, Obrigado! Brazilian Tourists Dropped a Sweet $6 Billion Into U.S. Economy Last Year

 

WELCOME, TURISTAS! Eat, spend, play! Despite the scary global economy, world tourism still is growing, says the United Nations. And Brazilian tourists alone are dropping $43 million a day around the globe, according to Time. Last year, they poured nearly $6 billion into the U.S. economy. Obrigado! "Indeed," writes Tim Rogers of Time, "despite U.S. visa policies that treat all Latinos as immigrants vying for American jobs and their piece of the American Dream, many are just tourists from down under who have already achieved their own Brazilian or Chilean dreams and just want to visit the U.S. and spend their money here."

(Photo, above) "Turistas" by eozikune (Silvia Siles), under a Creative Commons license on flickr.

 

• Time, "Let Them In: How Brazilians Could Help the U.S. Economy" by Tim Rogers.


• United Nations World Tourism Organization, "International Tourism: First results of 2011 confirm consolidation of growth."


• Wikipedia, "Tourism."


• WSJ blogs, "The World’s Most Wanted: Chinese Tourists" by Jason Chow and "Prepare for the Arrival of Chinese Tourists" by Laurie Burkitt.


• Boston Consulting Group, "Taking Off: Travel and Tourism in China and Beyond" by Vincent Lui, Youchi Kuo, Justin Fung, Waldemar Jap and Hubert Hsu.

 

CoolGlobalBiz, June 9, 2011

 

Global Tourism from BRICs and Other Nations Ready to Boom, Industry Group Says

 

 THE BRICS AND other fast-growing countries will ignite a long-run boom in global tourism and travel, with 2 billion new middle-class consumers over the next 20 years eager to explore the world, according to a recent story by AFP.

David Scowsill, CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council, told AFP at a convention in Las Vegas: "If you look ahead, with about 1.6 billion coming out of China and India, (that's) a huge amount of people coming in with money to burn."

The downside: countries may not have enough airports and other infrastructure to handle the new travelers. Over the past decade, much of the world has seen a 40 percent rise in long-haul travelers, while global tourism growth has slowed in the United States.

 

• AFP via Google News, "Travel Sector Eyes China, India, Brazil for Boom" by Jim Mannion.

 

CoolGlobalBiz, May 19, 2011