Dubai is certainly doing a lot in terms of tourism development - a keystone to this is water sports, which Dubai is a superb host to. The Mina Seyahi complex in Dubai is one of the key drivers to water sports in the city and offers a great location to watch events (live and in person) that would normally be only covered on television. The Maktoum Sailing Regatta will be held from 21-29 February 2008 and the video below offers a glimpse into the event and sailing in Dubai.

Kango.com has introduced a new travel blog search widget which hopes to alleviate the trouble most of us go through searching for (and through) good travel blogs / posts. The widget employs custom Google search and scours the contents of selected travel blogs which have made it on the list. A great promotion tool, no doubt, for Kango itself, but also a good value addition to most travel blogs to help their readers search for more travel content out there...

Kenya has always been considered a safe haven in East Africa and is a great tourist spot for beach holidays and African safaris. However the recent post-election clashes and continuing violence in the country has torn apart the economy - tourism and the Kenyan hotel industry has been hit hard. News reports indicate a high number of hotel closures and lay-offs with declining visits. At the Coast of Kenya, which accounts for about 2/3rds of the hotel industry, 20 hotels have been shut down (of 150 hotels with 32,000 beds in the region) and others are recording a dismal 10 - 20% occupancy. It is clear that the situation is headed towards a spiral if nothing is done to bring warring parties to an agreement - the hotel industry, which took some time to recover from the blasts half a decade ago, is right back where it started at that point, much to the dismay of hotel operators and tourists.