Jaunted - Tag: World Cup Travel

World Cup 2018 Goes to Russia, 2022 to Qatar (Where It's Illegal to be Drunk)

JetSetCD — 2010-12-02T11:20:42-05:00

Just moments ago, two huge announcements hit the world, news that brings major repercussions for tourism, development, media and (of course) money. FIFA revealed the winner countries who will get to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cup. Russia will host the 2018 World Cup and Qatar will host the 2022 World Cup. Yo, Qatar Airways and Aeroflot, you can start sketching some new World Cup airplane livery now.

Russia beat out England, Spain-Portugal and Holland-Belgium to win for 2018, while Qatar took top spot for 2022 over the United States, South Korea, Japan and Australia.

Where Else to See Funky Fish, Now That Paul the Psychic Octopus Has Died

JetSetCD — 2010-10-26T08:32:47-05:00

Today is a sad day in the soccer world, but also in the crazy animal stunts world, as Paul the Psychic Octopus has passed away. There'll be no more World Cup match predicting for him, but they had planned to retire him from that sort of thing anyways. At first we wondered what is the typical lifespan of an octopus, anyway? Three to four years for his sort, apparently, so in theory we should have all been preparing for this, as he was just over two and a half. His death now ends a great year of tourism for the aquarium in Oberhausen, Germany.

The The Daily Mail got the aquarium to comment:

'He appears to have passed away peacefully during the night, of natural causes, and we are consoled by the knowledge that he enjoyed a good life here,' said Stefan Porwoll, manager of the aquarium in Oberhausen.

The Vuvuzela, Star of the World Cup, Now Banned from European Stadiums

JetSetCD — 2010-09-01T12:59:02-05:00

Now that this year's World Cup has been over for a couple months, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) is getting around to discussing those pesky plastic horns so popular in South Africa, the Vuvuzela. Unfortunately, they aren't liking what they're hearing because UEFA has announced a ban on vuvuzelas in stadiums for all European Championship and Champions League matches.

Prior to the South Africa World Cup, vuvuzelas weren't part of the football (soccer, whichever word) fans cheering aresenal, but then those fans traveled to World Cup, spent some pocket change on the big horns, and decided that practically bursting the ear drums of fans of the opposing team was good fun. Thus, the vuvuzela has migrated north and European games aren't having it.

Emirates Flight Attendants Played a Big Part in the World Cup Final

JetSetCD — 2010-07-12T09:01:05-05:00

Who were those women in veils behind the South African president and other FIFA officials during the World Cup trophy presentation yesterday? Why, they were flight attendants for Emirates Airlines, a major sponsor of the 2010 World Cup who obviously gave enough money to get their girls up in the spotlight.

Following yesterday's final match between Spain and Holland, which Spain won with a single goal during stoppage time, a whole line of these khaki-clad, red-lipped ladies emerged with trays of the player's medals. Asking who they were was a popular question echoed across Twitter, but the answer lay in the big red ad banners for Emirates around the field. They also showed up the day before to present the third place prize to the German team.

Does Spain's World Cup Win Make You Want to Travel There?

JetSetCD — 2010-07-12T08:36:06-05:00

Only days after three runners were gored during the famous Pamplona Running of the Bulls, Spain puts a positive sheen back on their country with the 2010 World Cup win. So will Spain see a spike in tourism thanks to La Furia Roja's bringing home the trophy? Yes and no.

Despite the fact that FIFA believes this World Cup final to be the most-watched television event of all time, eclipsing the 2006 World Cup audience estimate of 700 million, a microscopic portion of those will have the resources to travel to Spain. There will be fair-weather fans, yes—those who book a trip to Spain just to share in the triumphant spirit that's sure to last at least the rest of the summer, but we'd like to think that the largest group of tourists coming to Spain in the next year will be those of Spanish heritage, their patriotism having flared up with the World Cup win.

So Spain, prepare to welcome your old friends and family back. Keep the sangria cold.

What do you think? Has Spain's win made you dream of a trip to Madrid or Barcelona?

[Photo: Jaunted; we took a picture of the television]

Oberhausen: Where to See Paul, Germany's World Cup Psychic Octopus

Omri — 2010-07-08T16:45:03-05:00

Not to put too fine a point on it, but the World Cup makes people across the planet go totally batshit crazy. One of the stranger rituals that's emerged in recent years happens in Germany, where Paul the Octopus plays the modern Oracle at Delphi. The Oracle, of course, was famously consulted by the Greeks before they embarked on the wars that gave birth to and shaped Western civilization. In Paul's case, he's given supplications and asked to predict the outcome of Germany's World Cup matches.

Paul is given food in two separate boxes, where one box has Germany's flag and the other is marked with the flag of Germany's opponent. The box that Paul goes for first is who he predicts to win the match. So far his record this year has been perfect, including predicting Germany's loss to Serbia and win over Argentina. At some point Paul's choices became so eerie that people started insisting, far from the mollusk predicting soccer outcomes, that he was actually influencing who won and lost.

Go Orange for Holland and Win a Flight to Amsterdam

JetSetCD — 2010-07-08T15:46:11-05:00

Can you believe that the World Cup is already almost over? The final game, between The Netherlands and Spain happens this Sunday, and we've scheduled our travels around it, of course.

If you want to do something more with all the energy you spend yelling at the TV, then Holland's tourism board is hosting a contest to test just how devoted you are to the Holland team, and it's actually a fun contest with a great prize. Simple take a photo of yourself showing your Holland Oranje pride and post it to their Facebook page for a chance to win two tickets to Amsterdam. You've got to show them how you "plan on displaying [your] orange spirit for the final match."

Here's some inspiration: we actually own some neon orange Dutch wooden shoes (don't ask) and we'd drive to one of these US cities also named Holland and do some creative posing in front of the town sign. Hopefully you'll come up with a better idea, but that's a start.

You have from now until Tuesday at noon to submit your photos, so Hup, Holland, Hup!

[Photo: VisitHolland's Facebook page]