<![CDATA[io9: tourism]]> http://tags.lifehacker.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/io9.com.png <![CDATA[io9: tourism]]> http://io9.com/tag/tourism http://io9.com/tag/tourism <![CDATA[Let Vulcan Have Its Star Trek]]> While many people may be excited about J.J. Abrams' Star Trek, few are as excited as the residents of the Canadian town Vulcan, who are depending on the movie to improve their tourism prospects.

Vulcan — population 1,942 — is already a Trek fan-friendly destination, as their tourism website shows:

Make the "Trek" to Vulcan, Alberta, Canada

The Town of Vulcan, sits in the heart of Vulcan County, and at the western edge of the Canadian Badlands in southern Alberta, Canada. Vulcan is recognized around the world for its coincidental science fiction relationship to Star Trek and Mr. Spock’s home planet.... but beyond the sci-fi, there are tonnes of things to see and do throughout this region, all within 1 hour from both the cities of Calgary and Lethbridge.

Make the "Trek" to Vulcan and Vulcan County, Alberta – and boldly go where you may not have gone before…

But that's not enough for the town's tourism co-ordinator Dayna Turner-Dickens; no, she wants Paramount to hold the premiere of the Abrams reboot movie in the town:

I've been communicating with executives at Paramount Canada and they still haven't said no. We're optimistic but they also haven't said yes... We are developing a second proposal now which we're going to send down which outlines the logistics of what an event would look like if it were to happen here. My hope is when I send that on to Paramount they'll say, 'Gee, this offer's too good to pass up and let's give them the movie.'

If it happens, Turner-Dickens — who's set up a Facebook group for supporters to join — has plans to convert the town's community center into a movie theater, and turn the whole town into a Trek convention. Some may say that the small town has no hope, but Turner-Dickens remains almost comedically hopeful:

Most people say you haven't got a chance and it's just crazy but my theory is as long as the senior vice-president of motion picture monitoring isn't saying no to me then I have to be optimistic.

'Planet' Vulcan still hoping to beam in premiere of new Star Trek movie [The Canadian Press]

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<![CDATA[Northern Hemisphere Gets Ready for End of UFO Season]]> The holidays are nearly over, and it's time to start going back to school or return to work after a summer vacation. What you probably didn't know is that it's also the end of UFO season for the Northern Hemisphere. So if you're looking for ET, it's time to hightail it down to New Zealand. Here's why, according to the experts.

According to a report on Real UFOs:

Ufologists have discovered a trend whereby Ufos are seen in the northern hemisphere usually from spring to summer, May - start of september. I guess the obvious reason is that most people are out then on holidays to witness such sightings but there is also some connection with geological phenomena. This is seen with the 'crop circle seasons' of summer and is apparently attributed to a vortex created by changes in water channels under the ground.

Ohhh, right. Vortexes. There's even a video from the History Channel that explains it all to you.

Apparently stone structures and monoliths in England are somehow connected to these vortexes and that explains everything about why when you're not on holiday, you don't see UFOs. I also think it's nice that UFOs tend to show up in pretty places, like Hudson Valley, New York, so you can come for a vacation and check out the alien visitors. Tourism conspiracy, anyone?

UFOs Come in Seasons [Real UFOs]

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<![CDATA[Tourism Without Trash Piles?]]> "Webcam tourism" could one day replace the real thing, thanks to the rapid spread of webcams in scenic areas. From NASA's Mars-cam to the surfcam, these (almost) realtime images let travelers view a beautiful locale before (or instead of) going there in person. Image from SurfhouseSurfcam.com. [icWales]

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<![CDATA[No More Russian Space Tourism]]> It may have been a burgeoning industry, but space tourism is going to flame out after 2008 in Russia. Due to international agreements, Russian officials say next year is the last for civilians to pay wads of cash to zoom up to the space station. So if you've got your hopes set on seeing the inside of the Russian ISS shuttle, make your reservations now. [Discover]

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<![CDATA[Take A Trip To New Caprica In Vancouver]]> Visitors to Vancouver can now join a tour group that takes them across the city's Battlestar Galactica filming locations. You can bet that a trip up to the Great White North will be a lot cheaper than finding something with faster-than-light drives on it.

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