Afghan authorities say 17 people died early Friday 26 February in a spate of attacks in Kabul that were aimed at foreigners. Suicide bombers struck in several areas, starting with one at 06:30 next to the city’s largest shopping centre. Indian and Pakistan nationals were among those who died. Other bombs went off in areas near United Nations and humanitarian groups’ offices. The blasts come just a day after the Afghan flag was raised at Marja, a longtime insurgent stronghold. Responsibility for the blasts was taken by the Taliban, according to Reuters.
Links to other sites: Bangkok Post, Los Angeles Times, Reuters, Telegraph, UK
The new Aminona resort would be built next to the three existing white towers
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The WWF Switzerland and the Swiss Fund for the Protection of Nature (FP) said Tuesday 8 December they have filed an appeal against the Aminona resort project near Crans-Montana in canton Valais, saying they “fear a fiasco for nature and the surrounding countryside, as well as for the region itself.”
The CHF350 million-plus plan, proposed by Aminona Luxury Resort and Village (ALRV)/Mirax, with support from the commune of Mollens, calls for 15 buildings to be constructed. Mollens has given a green light to the first phase of the project moving ahead, but environmental groups say neither the Russian developer Mirax nor the commune have given adequate assurances to a series of questions raised: the additional pressure on surrounding undeveloped areas, transport management, water supplies in this dryest part of Switzerland, energy management. For transport, WWF and the FP say the commune has provided only contradictory information, saying on the one hand public transport will be provided, and on the other, that the plans call for more than 500 parking spaces with no coordinated public transport.
Switzerland: great trains, great mountains, but fewer visitors in 2009
Neuchatel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss government’s figures for tourism during the summer of 2009, from May to October, show a gloomy picture, with a 4.2 percent drop in the number of overnight stays compared to 2008. Swiss tourists fell by 2.1 percent but a sharp drop in foreign tourism, down 5.8 percent had a significant impact.
Overall, the Swiss tourism industry registered 19.7 million overnight stays for the summer season.
Discreet Swiss hotel windows are sometimes a good minibar substitute
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The 55,000 mini-bars in Swiss hotels consume far more energy than the average home refrigerator for a family of four, some 24 million kW hours in a year. The heart of the problem is the sad news for hotel clients who love drinks in their rooms that a 40-litre minibar consumes 0.9 kW/h versus the 0.24 that a 150-litre refrigerator uses.
Expect tight security around the WTO buildings, but mainly at the CICG where the conference takes place
Several thousand in Geneva for WTO meeting, demonstration
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The barriers were being readied in front of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Thursday 26 November along the lake road in Geneva, and security measures around the area began to move into place for the start of the Seventh Ministerial Conference Monday 30 November, with several thousand people expected to take part.
Hotels have little space, but for local residents the main sign of the global talks will be disrupted traffic.
Detours and road closings begin Saturday 28 November, when 3,000-5,000 demonstrators are expected to take part in an anti-WTO march that starts at 14:30 at the Place Neuve.
Anti-WTO march Saturday after in centre of Geneva
The Vengeron exit (where the road split before the airport) on the A1 autoroute into Geneva, coming from Lausanne, will be closed early Saturday 28 November until the end of the march late afternoon. Traffic will be directed to the airport exit.
The march itinerary supplied by Geneva police:
Update 18 November Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Anne-Sophie Pic, head chef at the Beau-Rivage Palace Hotel in Lausanne, has been given a prestigious second star by French-based Michelin Red Guides, whose new guide to Switzerland comes out 19 November. The Beau-Rivage is one of only thirteen 2-star restaurants in Switzerland. Pic leads the way for the Lake Geneva region, which continues to boast two of Switzerland’s three three-star restaurants, Philippe Rochat in Crissier, canton Vaud and Le Pont de Brent in Montreux, Vaud.
Swiss restaurants have a total of 101 stars, making it the country with the highest number of starred restaurants per inhabitant.
Michelin’s new guide to Tokyo is also out (it goes on sale in Europe only in February 2010). The city now has the highest number of 3-star restaurants in the world, with three. It also has more stars than any other city, 261, and Michelin refers to it as “world leader in gourmet dining.”
Two other restaurants which currently have one star are in line to receive a second star: Auberge de Floris in Anières, canton Geneva and Homann’s Restaurant in Samnaun, canton Graubuenden.
Michelin gave new single stars to three restaurants in Geneva, awarding them to chefs:
Indonesian anti-terror units killed four people and arrested a woman in a raid on a house in Solo City, central Java in Indonesia early 17 September, after a nine-hour siege. Police indicated that they were “90 percent sure” that one of the dead was Noordin Mohammed Top, Indonesia’s most wanted terrorist, believed responsible for suicide attacks on two hotels in the capital Jakarta in July. Noordin leads a radical splinter group called al Qaeda in the Malay Archipelago, an offshoot of Islamist group Jemaah Islamiyah. He was earlier believed to have been killed in a shoot-out with police in August, but police later identified the dead person as a florist who was giving the group information. AFP, CNN
© 2009 CICG
Complete coverage of the WCC-3 by GenevaLunch
Conference is 31 August – 4 September 2009
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The third World Climate Conference (WCC-3) promises “better climate information for a better future” but in the immediate short term it is expected to cause a severe strain on Geneva’s traffic and accommodations this week.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Petty larceny, with pickpocketing high on the list, has been rising in Geneva: 1,597 arrests in 2006; 1,794 in 2007 and 1,955 in 2008, according to police figures, possibly in line with a nationwide increase, but comparative figures will not be available before 2010, reports AFP. The news agency notes in an article on Geneva crime that the number of cases of bodily harm have doubled during this period, with figures covering everything from slaps to serious injuries.
Tourists in Geneva
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Hotels in Geneva are increasing the pressure on the government to improve security for visitors to the city, in the wake of accusations by the consul general of Saudi Arabia that police did not do enough when a Saudi citizen was seriously injured and robbed in what the man’s lawyer says was an attack in the city centre, according to news agency ATS.
CNN, in a travel feature, explores the delicate question of when do you label as “theft” the things people take from hotels. The answer is far from black and white, but will probably reassure the many who have worried over the years about tucking hotel soap and shampoo into their bags. Grooming products, it turns out, are often seen by hotels as a way of marketing their brand. On the other hand, taking the sheets is frowned upon, and unscrew your iPod dock and you might find the hotel sees red. Or writes it off and builds it into the cost of rooms.
Neuchatel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Easter was a happy, or at least welcome holiday for the Swiss tourism industry in 2009, giving overnight stays in the country a temporary boost from otherwise gloomy figures. April figures were up 1.8 percent over the previous year, with Germans and Belgians leading the way. When March and April tourism figures are taken together, to discount the impact of this year’s long Easter weekend and fine weather, the number of overnight stays was down by 7.5 percent compared to 2008.
Making prices crystal clear
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The hotel and restaurant industry in Switzerland is under pressure from the Swiss Federal Department of Finance to conform to newly published federal ordinance that covers room and food advertising and pricing. The ministry argues that transparent prices and the ability to compare prices are two essential ingredients in a market economy. Tourism is one of the country’s largest industries, with domestic and foreign tourists spending nearly CHF 21 billion (2004, latest figures).
The pricing regulations (pdf, Fre) include such details as ice cream with cream as an option: the cream should be priced separately. For lodging, the ordinance gives hotels this example:
price per night, breakfast included, sales tax and tourism tax, CHF120.00 (also includes the City Card with a value of CHF6.00, valid for all forms of public transportation).
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland’s gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.8 percent in the first three months of 2009 compared to the last quarter of 2008. The drop was 2.4 percent compared to the same period in 2008. Foreign trade was the main culprit, says the federal government: exports of goods fells by 6.6 percent and of services by 2.3 percent.
Lake of the Four Cantons, Lucerne, one of Switzerland's most popular destinations
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss hotel industry can expect its worst year since 1982, according to a report prepared by consultants BAKBasel, and released 19 May by the Swiss Secretariat for the Economy, Seco. Overnight stays for the 2009 summer season (May to October) are expected to drop 7.2 percent compared to last summer. And things won’t be back to normal until 2011, the report says.
Updated 12:30 Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Preliminary figures for Swiss gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2008 show 1.6% growth (at constant previous year prices) and 3.9% at current prices, based on averages of the four quarters. The estimated figures were released 3 March with Bern’s fourth quarter GDP report. But Q4 figures showed a fall, the second quarterly slip in a row, technically putting Switzerland into a recession (TSR, Fre).
Matterhorn, Zermatt, Switzerland
Neuchatel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The tourism industry appears to be worrying about the impact on its business of the global financial crisis, but the most recent figures, for August 2008, show that tourism remained strong well into the third quarter of the year, with the number of hotel nights up by 3.5%, to 4.3 million nights.
Bern, Switzerland (Tribune de Geneve, Fre) – The political fight over allowing smoking in public is not likely to be resolved soon in Switzerland. Read more…
