“Prime demand has been for Abu Dhabi city maps, our complimentary postcards, visitor guides and our ‘Where To Eat’ guide,” explained Mubarak Al Nuaimi, who chairs the WOC2012 Host City sub-committee for the authority which is a congress supporter. “Demand has been so great that over the weekend we had to bring in additional supplies. Most of the enquiries were from attendees who were on their first visit to Abu Dhabi and wanted to know more about it.”

A key beneficiary has been Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, the world’s largest indoor theme park on the UAE capital’s Yas Island entertainment destination, which offered attendees a special congress discount. Attendees queued to book tickets to the attraction, which boasts Formula Rossa, the world’s fastest rollercoaster.

“This is my first time in Abu Dhabi and I had heard about Ferrari World before I came here so I was determined to try it out. I have bought four tickets to be able to go with my colleague and our partners,” said visiting French ophthalmologist, Louis Pelinard. “I arrived last Thursday and am staying at the Radisson Blu on Yas Island until Monday so it gives me a chance to see the city. I visited the mosque, which was a great experience. I loved the exterior architecture but the interior was not to my taste, but nevertheless it was an experience.”

Swiss ophthalmologist Sebastian Wolf, a representative of the International Council of Ophthalmology, was planning to take in a local restaurant in Abu Dhabi’s Mina area. “I have never been here before and I want to experience something of the local culture. The Al Dhafra restaurant has been recommended to me and so has the Corniche so I can visit them both in one trip,” he said.

Queues also formed at the desk of local tour operator Emirates Tours and Safari LLC where there was strong demand, according to Manager Haris M Ali for desert safaris, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain city tours and dhow dinners.

Among the bookers was Dr Robert Petrarca of London who, on his first visit to the UAE capital, chose to stay at the newly-opened, five-star Rocco Forte Abu Dhabi.

“I have booked an overnight desert camp for myself and my wife, who I have brought with me. I came for the congress but decided to extend my stay for six days to see something of the destination. The desert appeals and providing the weather is good, to stay overnight sounds like a great experience,” said Dr Petrarca.

Attendees at the World Ophthalmology Congress 2012 hailed from 136 countries and over 80 per cent were visiting the UAE capital for the first time.

Visitors to New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup spent around $390 million, according to the International Visitors Survey released by the Ministry of Economic Development today.

“The survey shows the impact of the Rugby World Cup on tourism has been stronger than forecast,” said the Ministry of Economic Development’s Tourism Research and Evaluation Manager, Peter Ellis.

“We’re confident between 60 and 75 percent of the rugby visitors’ expenditure can be regarded as a net increase in tourism spending – that is, an increase over what would have been spent by visitors if there had been no world cup in New Zealand. Taking into account sampling uncertainty, our best estimate is that tourism expenditure in 2011 was between $220 and $340 million higher as a result of the Rugby World Cup.”

133,000 tourists had ticked on their arrival cards that they came to New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup. The survey found that the average expenditure of adults in this group was around $3,400, compared to the average for all visitors of $2,400.

Overall tourist expenditure for 2011 was $5.8 billion, three percent higher in nominal terms than in 2010. Other changes over the year were a significant decline (36 percent) in Japanese tourist expenditure, caused in part by the Canterbury earthquake; and the continued rise in importance of Chinese tourists (26 percent higher spend than in 2010).

In 2011 for the first time expenditure by tourists from China (excluding Hong Kong) exceeded that from the United States of America.

The International Visitors Survey is based on interviews of tourists departing from New Zealand airports. Estimates are subject to sampling error; for example, the relative margin of error for the estimate of Rugby World Cup visitors’ spend is roughly ± 20 percent. The next release is in May 2012.

“These two hotels cap the accommodation offerings at Resorts World Sentosa, which will be fully open once the Marine Life Park, water theme park and destination spa are ready,” said Mr Roger Lienhard, Senior Vice President, Hospitality Development and Projects, RWS. “The hotels are the perfect tranquil getaway, offering guests the chance to be close to nature, lush greenery and serene waters. Yet, what sets the hotels apart is that guests are still just minutes away from the fun and thrills of RWS, and within easy reach to the city for business travelers.”

The resort-style architecture of the 172-room Equarius Hotel and 22 exclusive Beach Villas is complemented by verdant foliage provided by the 2.9-hectare natural forest located at its fringe, as well as 4,000 trees planted by RWS in and around the hotels. With panoramic views of the waterfront, Keppel Bay and Labrador Park, the result is a close-to-nature experience.

Mr. Tsuyoshi Narita, Senior Associate of Peridian Asia, the landscape architecture firm behind the landscape design for the two hotels, said, “We set out to create a tropical garden of peace and tranquility that rejuvenates the senses. Upon arrival, guests will feel like they are entering a different world, as they are greeted by a splendid avenue of trees on both sides. As the hotel comes into view, they will be awed by two majestic 80 – 100 year old Shorea trees, specially chosen for the arrival area, creating a natural yet ethereal landscape.”

Guests at the two hotels can enjoy facilities such as seven meeting rooms, an event pavilion, gym and swimming pool, while a new restaurant helmed by award-winning celebrity chef Sam Leong will be housed in a glass house located adjacent to the Equarius Hotel Lobby. Opening on 16 February 2012, the aptly named Forest will serve chef Leong’s innovative contemporary Chinese cuisine with a strong Thai-influence.

Guests are also located steps away from the upcoming Marine Life Park, a water theme park and a world class luxury spa, offering a one-of-the-kind experience.

The two hotels are designed and conceptualised by American architectural firm, Michael Graves & Associates, in collaboration with DP Architects Pte Ltd, as well as interior design firms Dpd + Pte Ltd and Diana Simpson Design.

 In addition to the two new hotels, two treetop lofts above the canopy of the forest and 11 two-storey ocean suites situated within the Marine Life Park will be launched at a later date. Still to come also is a destination spa by world renowned UK spa brand ESPA, a water theme park and the world’s largest oceanarium – the Marine Life Park.

The Gulf state, which is spending billions of dollars on infrastructure projects as it gears up to host the sporting event, said it expected the whole region to benefit from a surge in tourism.

“The World Cup would contribute 10 percent growth to the value of the region’s hospitality and tourism sectors,” Hassan al-Thawadi said, according to a statement.

The event’s committee has studied other successful models of hosting global sporting events, specifically the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, said al-Thawadi.

“Between 1981 and 1987 for example, the number of tourist arrivals to Barcelona was fairly stagnant at around 700,000. Barcelona’s journey has been an extremely successful one with the city now boasting one of the highest occupancy rates in Europe with approximately seven million visitors each year,” he said.

The event is expected to bring the Middle East closer together, he added. Referring to the World Cup in South Africa, Al-Thawadi said: “This was very noticeable when Ghana was the only African team to qualify for the knock-out rounds. South Africans of all colours and creeds united with the entire African nation and gave their full backing to the Ghanaian team. The World Cup was Africa presenting a unified face to the world.”

Qatar has hosted a string of global sporting events in recent years as it moves to build its profile and accelerate its economic growth. The tiny Gulf emirate hosted the Asian Games in 2006 and the Asian Football Confederation’s soccer tournament in January.

The Gulf state, the surprise winner of the vote to host the 2022 World Cup by FIFA’s executive committee last December, has been dogged by allegations of corruption in the bidding process. Qatar’s bid team strongly deny any wrongdoing.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter in December said defended the choice to host the event in Qatar. “The 2022 World Cup will be in Qatar and I don’t know who can change this decision,” he said. “I personally will intervene if FIFA executive members continue with such declarations (accusations). I understand about the incident in Australia but the case is closed now.

“The World Cup shall be accessible to all cultures and it was time … to bring it to the Arab world,” he added.

In the most prominent countries of the Mundo Maya – Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and parts of Honduras and El Salvador – the tourism industry is gearing up for a record year, with dozens of Maya-themed offerings designed to lure visitors.

The Guatemalan city of Tapachula will feature an 8-foot digital count-down clock in its main park, Mexico’s Riviera Maya are planning reenactments of a popular Mayan ball game and the Sacred Mayan Journey, in which hundreds of paddlers travel in canoes to the island of Cozumel to pay homage to the goddess Ixchel. In all countries, there will be special solstice and equinox ceremonies, Mayan-themed workshops and music festivals.

Celebrities have also gotten in on the action: Paul McCartney is scheduled to perform this spring at Chichén Ixtá, an official World Wonder of spectacular Mayan ruins in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. McCartney’s concert at the historic site, which Yucatán governor Ivonne Ortega Pacheco confirmed on her Twitter account, could be part of the singer’s farewell tour.

As 2012 rolls ahead, hotels, tour companies and other travel vendors have rolled out all sorts of Maya-themed packages and itineraries, which vary from authentic to outrageous.

If you’re thinking about the using this auspicious time to get married you can join the “Mayan Marriage of Many” and tie the knot with 35 other luck couples on an actual Mayan ruin in Belize. The ceremony takes place on Dec.12, with plenty of time to prepare for the end of the world as a married couple, before you’re whisked to a tropical honeymoon paradise. Package prices range from $14,030 to $24,030 depending on what extras you add-on.

For the sports-and-adventure type, try a bike tour through an ancient Mayan villages in Guatemala’s Lake Atitlan, where you can experience climbs of up to 1,200 vertical feet and navigate single-track, rocky, narrow trails that transport you “to your own cosmic realm.”  Prices for this trip, which begins on Dec. 17, start at the more affordable $1,790.

For those who want to experience spirituality at sea, the “Mayan Galactic Alignment” cruise encourages passengers to “celebrate the ascension of humanity into a higher vibration.” For five days passengers aboard the Carnival Triumph will visit sacred sites along the Yucatan Peninsula, witness the end of the Mayan calendar, considered “the epic metaphysical event of our lifetime,” and enter “the ‘World of the Fifth Sun’ together, in a sacred gathering.”  Price for the cruise start at $999.

In Belize, tourists will be able to get access to each of the country’s main archaeological sites, including Altun Ha, Barton Creek Cave and Caracol, with the $25 Maya 2012 Passport, which is available through Dec. 21, 2012.

Plus, for the first time, Belize’s National Institute of Culture & History (NICH) is allowing visitors to camp overnight at the majestic Maya site of Caracol to witness the rising sun over the revered site on the summer and winter solstices and spring and autumnal equinoxes. These Maya Equinox Celebrations are limited to 100 guests per event and allow travelers to camp at Caracol on the evening of the 20th of March, June, September, and December. Click here for more information, The Belize Tourism Board will also be available to take orders at 800-624-0686.

(Of honorable note: one hotel operator in the U.S. we talked to is also hoping to cash in on the Mayan events. The “Live While You’re Alive” package at the swanky Hotel Teatro, in downtown Denver, Colo. includes a night in a luxe suite stocked with Dom Perignon and caviar, private butler, a six-course tasting menu with wine for two, limousine service, a helicopter ride, and a $25,000 shopping spree – all for a whopping $35,000. The price also includes an “if you make it” extra for 2013: a one-night stay in a deluxe room, along with a bottle of Dom.)

The apocalyptic theories behind such tourism offerings stem more from Western influences, such as the doomsday movie “2012,” rather than any Maya prophecy.

Dec. 21, 2012 is significant for the Maya because it coincides with the end of a 5,125-year period in the Long Count calendar. The date marks the end of 13 b’aktun cycles of 393 years each – not the end of the world, many Maya scholars say.

In order to avoid perpetuating misconceptions about impending destruction, some tour operators have been careful to avoid references to “end of the world” or “apocalypse” in their marketing.

In fact, in Belize, the message has been repackaged as an event celebrating a “transition” in the Maya Calendar and the Tourism Board has recently come out with its latest brand: “Where Will You Be When The World Begins Anew Belize? Maya 2012.″

“Without being archeologists or historians, from what we see and what we know there’s a pretty big misinterpretation of what this calendar [ending] means,” says Jonathan Brunger, operations manager for Adventure Life, which is offering a 12-day “Celebrate the Maya” tour that includes visits to Maya sites in Honduras and Guatemala. “That’s not going to be a theme of our trip, but I’m sure it’s going to be a conversation piece.”

The Travellers’ Choice awards honour the top hotels, beaches and travel destinations worldwide based on millions of “real and unbiased” opinions from TripAdvisor travellers.

The Villa Zest Boutique Hotel offers luxury accommodation and is ideally located just a kilometre away from the Cape Town CBD. It is also within walking distance of the world-renowned Victoria & Alfred Waterfront.

Table Mountain, the Cape Town International Conference Centre and the popular beaches of Clifton and Camps Bay are all in close proximity.

“An oasis of calm centrally located in Cape Town, the Villa Zest luxury accommodation in the Green Point suburb is perfectly placed to bring you everything the city has to offer,” the hotel’s website reads: “Palm-lined beaches, the vibrant business district, Table Mountain, and a variety of upmarket restaurants, cafes, bars and nightclubs ensuring guests an unforgettable experience.”

The hotel offers a lounge that opens up into a balcony offering views of the V&A Waterfront, a quiet garden and pool area, a rooftop terrace offering 360° views of Cape Town, an object art gallery, and a media house that offers high-end technology and communications solutions to business travellers.

“The rooms at this Cape Town Boutique Hotel represent the ultimate fusion of style, luxury and comfort,” says the website. “Each room is unique and has been individually decorated, with the greatest attention to detail, using only the finest furnishings and fittings.”

The hotel is rated as “excellent” by 125 reviewers on the website, with 13 “good” and three “average” ratings. The majority of the reviews cite the hotel’s good service and helpful staff as the reasons for the high ratings.

Comments include: “Excellent and great stay in Villa Zest”, “Awesome little hotel”, “This place is GREAT”, “Oasis in the heart of the city”, “outstanding customer service,” “Modern design hotel and very helpful staff,” “Fantastic hospitality and beautifully designed boutique hotel,” “THE one & only in Cape Town,” “Almost faultless. Staff were amazing,” and “Best boutique hotel ever.”

Neither website contains sensitive information and trading and flights were not affected. But the ongoing salvos by hackers who use anti-Israel language in their posts has revealed how vulnerable Israel is to cyber warfare, despite its sophisticated computer security units in the military and advanced high-tech sector.

The attacks began earlier this month when hackers identifying themselves as group-xp, a known Saudi hacking group, claimed on an Israeli sports website to have gained access to 400,000 Israeli credit card accounts. The group called it a “gift to the world for the New Year” designed to “hurt the Zionist pocket.”

Israeli authorities said 15,000 accounts were hacked in that episode and credit card information about 6,000 other Israelis was disclosed online a few days later by the same network.

Last week, an Israeli hacker identifying himself as a soldier in an Israeli intelligence unit retaliated by posting information online about hundreds of Saudis, Egyptians, Syrians and others.

On Monday, El Al Israel Airlines took down its website after hacker OxOmar, who has been linked to the Saudi group, warned that both sites would be targeted by allied pro-Palestinian hackers, a person close to the company said. The source was not authorized to speak to the media and requested anonymity.

The company said in a statement that it was taking security measures to protect the website and that disruptions on the site were to be expected.

Orna Goren, a spokeswoman for the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, said the site was overwhelmed by electronic requests that slowed it down dramatically but it was still operating. Trading was not affected, she said.

Cyber experts say Israel is a common target for online attackers who oppose the Jewish state and its policies toward the Palestinians, but there have been no confirmed reports of sensitive Israeli government sites being hacked.

“Right now, we’re not seeing anything that’s especially interesting or especially dangerous,” said Gadi Evron, former head of Internet security for the Israeli government.

News of the hacking led to a linguistic counterattack at Israel’s state radio. Continuing its decades-long battle against the use of English words in its Hebrew broadcasts, the radio’s linguist insisted that reporters use a Hebrew word, “patzchan,” meaning a person who cracks something open, instead of “hacker.”

The plan to impose strict emission limits on planes flying in and out of Europe took effect Jan. 1, and Delta, United, American airlines and US Airways have already added a $3 surcharge for flights between the U.S. and Europe. It is a move that industry analysts see as a way to offset the emission plan’s financial impact on the airlines.

But that is only part of the fallout from the new emission plan.

A trade group for Chinese airlines has threatened to withhold emission data from European officials in protest of the plan. Chinese government officials, however, said they would be wiling to discuss a resolution with the Europeans.

The European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, launched the emission plan in 2005, first targeting utilities and manufacturers and recently adding airlines. Starting Jan. 1, greenhouse gas emissions from airlines are capped at 97% of their average level in 2004 to 2006 and capped at 95% in 2013.

The emissions are calculated by the distance planes fly in and out of Europe and their payload. Airlines that don’t use all their emission allowances can sell the excess to those carriers that exceed the limits. The cost for violating the plan is 100 euros, or about $142, for every ton of greenhouse gases that airlines emit above the limit.

A trade group for U.S. airlines, which challenged the plan in court, estimated that it will cost the nation’s airlines $3.1 billion through 2020.

Representatives for the airlines that added the $3 surcharges said federal pricing rules prohibit them from discussing the reason behind the new charge. But industry analysts say the charge is clearly designed to offset the emission plan.

Environmental groups that support the emissions plan say airlines can avoid paying any emission taxes by flying more efficient planes or buying allowances from other airlines. “The plan has lots of wiggle room,” said Annie Petsonk, international counsel for the Environmental Defense Fund in New York.

She also wondered why airlines have already started to collect surcharges on flights to Europe without knowing how much they will pay in emission taxes. Petsonk also said that “$3 per ticket is lost in the noise of all the other charges they have.”

“We do not expect to be given such a recognition, which is the second, because Melaka has been listed on lonelyplanet.com as one of the 10 destinations which should be visited in 2007,” he told reporters after the monthly assembly of the state administration here.

He said the recognition, made through an article titled “The 45 Places to Go in 2012″, published last Friday, would further spur the Melaka government to boost the state tourism industry.

Last year, Melaka attracted about 11 million visitors, he added.

Mohd Ali said efforts would continue to be made by the state government to attract more visitors, including to add value to all old buildings and diversify tourism products.