Tuesday, December 15, 2009

“AP TRAVEL AND LEISURE DIGEST for week of Dec. 14 - Daily Mail - Charleston” plus 2 more

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“AP TRAVEL AND LEISURE DIGEST for week of Dec. 14 - Daily Mail - Charleston” plus 2 more

fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

AP TRAVEL AND LEISURE DIGEST for week of Dec. 14 - Daily Mail - Charleston

Posted: 15 Dec 2009 09:41 AM PST

fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

One Farmers Union restaurant prospers, the other struggles - In-Forum

Posted: 15 Dec 2009 10:05 PM PST

North Dakota Farmers Union officials say they're committed to both of its Washington, D.C., restaurants, even though one has struggled.

One of the two – Founding Farmers – is profitable and winning honors, including being named one of the nation's 50 best new restaurants in 2009 by Travel+Leisure magazine.

The other restaurant – Farmers & Fishers, originally known as Agraria – continues to lose money.

Combined, the two restaurants lost money in fiscal year 2009, with losses at Farmers & Fishers more than offsetting profits at Founding Farmers, said Woody Barth, North Dakota Farmers Union vice president.

But changes at Farmers & Fishers, including new management, are promising, he said.

"We think things are headed in the right direction," he said.

Some background:

Founding Farmers opened in 2008 near the White House.

Founding Farmers "dramatically exceeded sales goals in its first year and is now showing a weekly profit," according to information on the Farmers Union Web site.

The 263-seat, green-themed restaurant features food bought directly from farmers.

Founding Farmers is described on the Travel+Leisure Web site as a "militantly green spot with an urban-barnyard aesthetic (that) takes eco-consciousness to a new level. Menus printed on recycled paper with soy-based ink list such wholesale American favorites as skillet corn bread, a good honest meatloaf and fried chicken."

The restaurant has won several awards, according to the Web site of Vucurevich Simons Advisory Group, the management company for Founding Farmers and Farmers & Fishers.

Founding Farmers' honors include:

  • 2009 Readers' Choice/Best New Restaurant, DC City Paper.

  • 2009 Top 100 Best Restaurants, Washington Magazine.

Agraria was opened by the Farmers Union in 2006 on Washington Harbor, a picturesque part of the city that's a bit farther than Founding Farmers from lobbyists, lawyers and other Washington workers.

The 350-seat restaurant has more space than needed, hurting financial returns, Barth said.

But management of the former Agraria has been switched to Vucurevich Simons, project manager of Founding Farmers, and the new management has made positive changes at what's now Farmers & Fishers, Barth said.

For instance, there's an effort to fill Farmers & Fishers with private dining events, Barth said.

Officials with Vucurevich Simons didn't return two phone calls and an e-mail seeking comment Tuesday.

The Farmers Union is optimistic that the overall operation of Agraria LLC, its Washington restaurant company, will be profitable in the 2009-10 fiscal year, according to the organization's Web site.

Readers can reach Forum reporter Jonathan Knutson at (701) 241-5530

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Early poll-campaigning expenses make up for lost Mindanao tourism receipts - Business Mirror

Posted: 15 Dec 2009 03:26 AM PST

DAVAO CITY—What the tourism sector in Mindanao lost in receipts from foreigners on travel and leisure has been compensated by the frequency of travel by political parties doing early campaigning for the May 2010 elections.

Araceli Ayuste of the Mindanao Tourism Council (MTC) said the expected receipts coming from foreign visitors have been lost immediately after the Nov. 23 carnage in Maguindanao, where 57 persons, more than half of them journalists, were massacred.

Ayuste corroborated the report of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. that local hotels have lost 200-room nights in canceled reservations.

"One of the foreign guests in my resort [Fiesta del Sol Resort at the Island Garden City of Samal] was supposed to stay for four days, but canceled the last two days of his stay due to the advisory from his embassy," Ayuste said.

"Yes, a lot of us have lost income from the foreign guests after that incident, aside from our refunding the lost days," she said.

She said the travels of local residents and the early campaigning of political parties have offset the losses although these did not replace entirely the supposed income that they could have gotten from foreigners doing business travel and leisure activities.

"It's good that the candidates have been partying around, I mean, doing a lot of travels and staying in our hotels and resorts while here," she said. "That, at least, put us in a light mood and helped us remain optimistic."

"We would expect a positive note in the first quarter next year despite the Ampatuan massacre. We would expect the political parties to rock and roll by that time," she said.

Ayuste said that the MTC has already asked its regional chapters to find ways at getting over the effect of the massacre and come up with more aggressive marketing and promotion activities.

"We cannot mourn forever. We have to move on and try to sanitize the image of Mindanao again," she said.

Local residents may again rescue the region's tourism business, like what they have been doing through the years.

"We have 20 million residents in Mindanao.  If each resident just spends at least P2,000 on tourism-related activities, the money would be able to keep Mindanao going," she said.
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