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Samoa Says It's Still Beautiful, So Please Come Back

The pretty islands of Samoa have a had a rough time lately. As if switching from right side to left side driving wasn't enough, the poor Samoans endured a tsunami in late September which killed close to 200 people, some of them tourists, and that meant a bunch of canceled bookings by future travelers. This is all not great news for a country with tourism as 25% of GDP.

But now we've got the good news: Samoa is back on track. Less than two months after the tsunami, the Samoa Tourism Authority says that tourism is recovering. Some of the 33 resorts that were forced to close are on course to start opening early next year, and although tourist numbers are currently down 20% compared to the same time a year ago, the outlook for the future is better. On top of that, the "It's Still Beautiful" marketing campaign has kicked off to convince tourists that Samoa should still be on their wishlist. It's still on ours, but we've got a long, long list.

Related Stories:
· Recovery Begins In Samoa [The Age]
· Samoa Switches Sides Of The Road For Drivers [Jaunted]

[Photo: YXO]

Driving / Cars / Samoa Travel / → All Tags

Samoa Switches Sides Of The Road For Drivers

As of Monday morning local time, the country of Samoa made quite the change to the way the country moves around. Instead of driving on the right side of the road, they decided to switch things up and drive on the left side. Not since the 1970s has a country shook things up like this, and we’re just glad we didn’t have a visit planned there this week.

To help things go as smoothly as possible, the country is taking a couple days off, as government officials felt that a two-day holiday would ease people into the traffic train wreck. There’s also a three-day ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages, because you know knocking a few back would not help things out at all. So far so good it seems, but that might only be because everyone is still on vacation.

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Reality TV / Survivor / Samoa Travel / Television Travel / → All Tags

Survivor: Samoa to Feature All-Star Cast, Minus Jailbird Richard Hatch

Inaugural Survivor winner Richard Hatch followed in the much maligned footsteps of rejected reality star Rod Blagojevich this week, when a judge ruled that Hatch could not leave the country to participate in Survivor: Samoa.

Hatch served three years in federal prison for failing to pay taxes on his $1 million Survivor winnings, and is finishing up the last 90 days under house arrest. He had argued that appearing on the show would help him pay back the money, but the judge refused to take the bait, so the notorious “fat naked guy” will have to come up with another plan. VHI or Bravo has to have something in the works for him, right?

Perhaps in more interesting news, the court case appears to confirm that the 20th anniversary of Survivor, set to air next year, will indeed by an All-Star, “Heroes vs. Villains” showdown, which hasn't yet been confirmed by the show's producers. But can they really have a villains team without Hatch?

Related Stories:
· Judge denies Richard Hatch's request to participate in 'Survivor 20' [Reality TV World]
· Will 'Survivor' Head to Samoa? [Jaunted]
· Fox's New Reality Show Can't Wait To Fire You [Jaunted]

[Photo: Survivor]