New Wonder
Halong Bay in Vietnam has been named as one of the “New 7 Wonders of Nature”.
The dramatic bay studded with nearly 2,000 limestone karst islands over a 1,500-square kilometer expanse, won a coveted spot on the list, besting the likes of the Grand Canyon, the Maldives and Mt. Kilimanjaro.
News sources inside Vietnam state that Halong Bay expected to see 5.4 million visitors to the bay in 2011, including 2.5 million foreign travellers. Designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1994, and then again in 2000 for its geological value, the bay is Vietnam's top tourist attraction.
The Blue Island Is Green
The Azores is the first Portuguese region to be included in the European Network of Excellent Sustainable Tourism Destinations, named to this coveted group of destinations for the island of Faial, the Blue Island. The EDEN award aims at rewarding destinations for their commitment to social, cultural and environmental sustainability in Europe, and the award is further confirmation of the importance the Azores places on sustainable tourism. EDEN is the acronym for European Destinations of Excellence, a project promoting sustainable tourism development models across the European Union.