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The Dawn of a New Era in Tourism - Space Tourism The simple gift of an apple was presented to Dennis Tito as he returned to earth as the "Worlds First Space Tourist". An apple is the Kazakh national symbol and is traditionally presented to returning cosmonauts, but this was the first time that such a gift was given to a Tourist! Much has been said about the correctness of this voyage but we believe that the Travel Industry should regard this as the dawn of a new era in our, sometimes difficult and competitive business. Every Travel Company, Hotel or Resort dreams of the 'Big One' a customer who breaks all records for spending more money on their trip. $.20 million is certainly a large amount and in a way ironic that it was the Russian Aviation & Space Agency that lead the way and charged the world's first space tourist. As Fred Abatermarco, the Editor of Space.Com said "This is one small step for Dennis Tito but one giant leap for space tourism". Our Industry is often ignored by Governments but our combined impact on world economy and employment is vast. Many are creative and strive to find new and creative ways to promote tourism, let this episode be a lesson to all of us.  |
