http://www.bluepeak.net/blog Travel, tourism and photography Fri, 09 May 2008 06:02:07 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Operators often ask me what they can do to improve their websites. While there are many books and course out there, a couple of my colleagues have recently posted some excellent tips. Cover these, and you've gone a long way towards improving your website significantly. William Bakker from Tourism BC ... http://www.bluepeak.net/blog/2008/05/08/tips-for-better-websites/ Newfoundland and Haida Gwaii are hot right now, but my prediction for the next hot destination? Iles de la Madeleine. Until now this small archipelago between PEI and Quebec, out in the middle of the St. Lawrence has made the news because of the annual seal hunt in the area, ... http://www.bluepeak.net/blog/2008/05/07/canadas-next-hot-islands-iles-de-la-madeleine/ To commemorate the 200th anniversary of the return of David Thompson (the greatest HBC explorer of his time) to Ontario, a fleet of canoes - the Thompson Brigade - will make its way from Rocky Mountain House to old Fort William (Thunder Bay , Ontario) this summer. This would be ... http://www.bluepeak.net/blog/2008/05/06/thompson-brigade-2008/ Together with their top destinations, TripAdvisor also published their top 100 places to stay. Canada has three entries in the top luxury hotels: 17: Fairmont YVR airport hotel 27. Hotel Dominion 1912, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada 95. Pan Pacific Whistler Village Centre, Whistler, British Columbia, Canada I would have rated the Fairmont Waterfront in ... http://www.bluepeak.net/blog/2008/04/30/tripadvisor-top-100-hotels/ Another top 100 list, this time it's TripAdvisor's first ever top 100 destinations, as measured by ratings and popularity rankings. The top destinations are: 1 Milford Sound 2 Queenstown Canada has eight destinations in the top 100: 9 Banff 16 Victoria 19 Lake Louise 52 Vancouver 55 Niagara-on-the-Lake 61 Quebec City 77 Whistler 88 Jasper Not bad, but what's interesting about the entire ... http://www.bluepeak.net/blog/2008/04/29/tripadvisor-top-100-destinations/ My friend Will Betz has a great collection of New Guinea photos, but never had a chance to post them online yet. He's finally scanned and posted a sample. Check out the images of bowerbirds, they're amazing. The males of these New Guinea birds build massive structures, and will collect ... http://www.bluepeak.net/blog/2008/04/27/great-photos-from-new-guinea/ Elu lodge is a high-end Inuit-owned lodge, across from Victoria Island on Nunavut's mainland. If you are looking for an escape to the heart of Canada's Arctic, and want to see its abundant wildlife, look no further than this lodge. See a recent article on the lodge in the San ... http://www.bluepeak.net/blog/2008/04/27/visit-elu-lodge-in-nunavut/ The EU finally launched its second Galileo test satellite. Why is this significant? Because the much-delayed project will eventually (currently by 2013) provide an alternative to the American GPS system. It is supposed to be more accurate, and complementary to GPS, which will mean more satellites to receive signals from. http://www.bluepeak.net/blog/2008/04/26/second-galileo-satellite-launched/ There has been a lot of news recently about the woes of the US airline industry. With the skyrocketing prices of fuel, airlines are starting to feel the pain - in a major way. My good friend Will Betz talks about some of the potential doomsday scenarios. If this trend ... http://www.bluepeak.net/blog/2008/04/25/the-end-of-cheap-air-travel/ Ashoka's Changemakers and National Geographic and  have launched the first Geotourism challenge. The competition has received 320 entries (out of 456 nominations). Sadly, there are only twelve Canadian entries, of which four are actually in Canada. They are very worthwhile, though: Pioneer Farm in PEI (stay at a self-sufficient farm), ... http://www.bluepeak.net/blog/2008/04/24/national-geographics-geotourism-challenge/