Andaman Discoveries, a grassroots responsible travel group in Thailand, has won the 2008 SEED Award, Travel+Lesiure Global Vision Award and is a finalist for the Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Award. Hilary Benn, Minister of DEFRA will honor Andaman Discoveries for their contribution to sustainable development.

Tui Chomphusri is a long way from her home on the sunny shores of Thailand's Andaman Coast. The tsunami of December 2004 set in motion an unusual chain of events that culminates in her visit to London this week. Initially working in disaster relief, Tui inspired villagers to develop alternative forms of income. These efforts spawned an innovative type of tourism that is now garnering international awards."When I arrived to help, I thought I was going to help clean up for a few weeks, and then I would go home again. What I found was something different - a chance to be a part of long-term development. Our efforts grew from simple fresh food delivery into programs that are helping people to build a better future. After all the hard work, I am finally able to take a deep breath and know that we are making a difference," Tui said.
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Emir Kusturica, a Serbian film director and musician, will perform at 9pm at Luna Park tomorrow with The No Smoking Orchestra, also known as TNSO.TNSO was a Yugoslavian garage band from Sarajevo and they sold hundreds of thousands of records.The Bosnian War caused the break up of the band, but it developed into two offshoots, the “western” and “eastern” bands.It is the eastern version, with Emir Kusturica, that will be visiting Buenos Aires.According to My Buenos Aires Travel Guide, they will be performing a piece entitled “Time of the Gypsies,” which comes from their 2007 album Emir Kusturica’s Time Of The Gypsies Punk Opera.Sure to be a fascinating performance, tickets are available at Ticket Portal for 100 to 150 pesos.

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Josefina Scaglione, a 21-year-old from Rosario, has made it to Broadway, receiving the lead roll of Mara in the upcoming performance of Amor Sin Barreras, a Spanish language version of West Side Story.According to the Clarn, Scaglione appeared in Hairsray on Corrientes in Buenos Aires, playing the part of Barbie Van Tussle, which she auditioned for after her part as the lead in The Phantom of the Opera fell through.Scaglione attributes her success to a lot of hard work and a lot of small steps forward and at time small pushes back.She is, naturally, extremely excited to be heading to Broadway and will begin rehearsing the part of Marn in New York in November under the direction of Arthur Laurents.

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Seven students and graduates of the Faculty of Architecture at the National University of Rosario are going to visit 50 cities in 40 days, a whirlwind tour of cities within Mercosur.According to IPS, the project is called Proyecto Brasilia (the Brasilia Project) because the city of Brasilia is a strange amalgamation of architectural phenomenon.It was created to be a “modern” city and it will be interesting for the students to contrast it with other small towns and cities in Latin America.When the students return from their over 10,000 kilometer journey, they will put together an exhibit with a catalogue of buildings visited en route, a DVD, a book and a documentary film.

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Starting tomorrow, TAM is offering a new direct flight from Buenos Aires to Brasilia.According to their press release, they will run one flight from Buenos Aires to Brasilia and one return flight each day.The flights will be in an Airbus A320 aircraft, which will be set up with economy and business class.Surprisingly, this will become the only non-stop flight connecting these two major Latin American capitals.Not only does the new flight facilitate business between the capitals, it also helps people coming from Buenos Aires who want to make connections with many of TAM’s northbound flights.TAM is also restarting flights between Curitiba—also in Brazil—and Buenos Aires.

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This weekend, much of Argentina experienced a cold snap that brought low temperatures and snow to some southern parts of the country.According to the Clarín,in Buenos Aires on Sunday morning, temperatures were recorded at as low as 1.5 degrees Celsius.In Jujuy in the north, temperatures reached a low of negative 8.2 degrees Celsius; this was the coldest temperature recorded in the country during this cold snap.In the southern parts of the country, low temperatures brought snow with them as well, which is good news for skiers and snowboarders. It also snowed in cities in the Province of Buenos Aires, including Bahía Blanca and Coronel Dorrego.

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Despite reports of fog so thick you could not see the waves from the beach, tourists are still flocking to Mar del Plata, one of Argentina’s most popular beach resorts.The past weekend, there were 40,181 tourists visiting Mar del Plata.According to the Clarín, this number is up by 22 percent from 2007, when there were 32,919 tourists that same weekend.Winter break for Argentine’s school children means that places like Mar del Plata should be expecting an even greater number of tourists over the next several weeks.Mar del Plata is ready to receive these hordes of children with events such as Expo 100% Children and the International Puppet Festival; these events will entertain whether the fog lifts or no.

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Argentine Gabriel Storchi left Buenos Aires on December 9th to drive from Ushuaia to Deadhorse, Alaska, fulfilling a wish of his father’s. His father, Juan Carlos Storchi, passed away that December, leaving his own wish to travel between the two farthest tips of the South and North American continents. According to the Alaskan newspaper Newsminer,Storchi had nearly reached his destination as of last Friday and hoped to have completed the journey in just a few more days. The car that Storchi drove in was a 1972 Chevrolet Nova, with solar panels attached that operated the car’s electrical system as well as Storchi’s laptop. The car also had two fuel tanks:one for natural gas and one for regular. Storchi is relieved and proud to be almost at the end of his journey and is planning to fly, not drive, back home to his wife and children.

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Tomorrow is the final day of Arteclásica, an event sponsored by Revista Ñ that showcases the works of over 500 artists. Arteclásica is an event that brings together artists from a variety of disciplines, from paints to plastics, to celebrate the best in art. 2008 is the fair’s 5th year and its growth in size and importance over the years shows in the now international flavor of the event. According to the Clarín, there will be art stands and dealers from Argentina, the United States, Holland, Peru, Chile, and Uruguay. In addition to art exhibits the fair also includes talks and seminars about the complex world of art today.  The event takes place in the Centro Costa Salguero and entrance is 15 pesos.

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After reviewing almost 10,000 entries, Tourism Ireland chose three winners of their “Your Very Own Ireland Podcast Contest.” The winners were chosen to spend a week roaming about Ireland with a guest and to report back on whatever sparked their interest, free of supervision or direction.

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