Word: tourisme
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...Back in 1995, when the first Antarctica Marathon was run, there was no Lonely Planet guide to the continent. But over the past decade, tourism to the region has trebled, according to the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators. The marathoners aren't the only adventurous souls holidaying in the Antarctic summer. A geophysicist who leads a tour at Vernadsky, a Ukrainian station visited by the runners two days after their race, says his base receives a ship just about every day this time of year. Data from this research outpost (operated, at the time, by the British) helped scientists...
...Minnesota, beams back live video footage via satellite. But another reason is less tangible. There is, it seems, a growing romance with the untouched continent, the site of many - if not most - of the world's last truly pristine landscapes. International treaties preserve Antarctica for scientific research and tourism. And, unlike the Arctic, the Antarctic has yet to see many drastic effects of climate change. Visitors can still see cliffs of ice and the brilliant light blue of icebergs. They can see humpback whales and leopard seals cruise alongside their Zodiacs, or watch penguins chasing each other along the shore...
...plan a marathon in Antarctica, though. Seventy-five miles off the Antarctic Peninsula, King George Island is one of the most accessible, hospitable points on the continental shelf. But the site is still a two-day sea voyage from the world's southernmost city, Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego. Tourism regulations prohibit more than 100 people from gathering in the same place at the same time, so the race start must be staggered. And weather and course conditions are always unpredictable - as they are for all Antarctic expeditions. One year, in fact, the weather was so poor that runners didn...
...such chaos, the U.N. set up shop in 1999. A constitution was written, universities were built. Charismatic former guerrilla commander Xanana Gusmão was elected President. Boasting pristine beaches and untouched coral reefs, the Catholic country-a legacy of centuries of Portuguese colonialism-was trumpeted as a future tourism destination. In 2004, the U.N.'s troops began withdrawing (though peacekeepers returned after last spring's violence), and East Timor was hailed as the little nation that could. The euphoria lasted long enough for World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz to visit Dili last year and proclaim: "It really...
...pretty sentiment, suitable for the birthplace of Jesus Christ. The sign, put up by the Israeli Tourism Ministry, may be written in Arabic script, but its message of peace is clearly not meant for Arabs - not for me, not for the hundreds of Palestinian laborers, school kids, businessmen, teachers, people going to see doctors, who must run the daily gauntlet of Israeli security checks. A tourist who wants to go from Bethlehem to Jerusalem can make the journey by car in 15 minutes. I must go on foot and, depending on the mood of the young Israeli soldiers...