By The Hunger

Tourist hotspots are forever changing.  Everyone is always in search of something more exotic, more real, more anything and everything.  Travellers are always on the lookout for their next big adventure.  But are these hotspots more an oasis of opportunity or a manufactured mirage vying for a larger chunk of one of the world’s largest industries:  tourism!

Bangkok, Prague, and Machu Picchu were all la mode de tourisme at one time, and they may very well be again.  Nowadays, tourist hotspots change more often than Jordan changes her cup size.  A basic search on the net turns up various travel publications suggesting Antarctica, Cuba, Tehran, Venice, Copenhagen, Tunisia, and Burma to name a few of the current must sees.  Also important to note is that various publications endorse different places depending on their readers’ nationality, bank balance, age, ego and reasons for travel.

In theory, hotspots are hot for different reasons including novelty, danger, luxury, gastronomy, festivals, parties, museums, and sporting events.  The reality is that most cities/countries are accompanied with a political or economical wind of change which in turn makes them more accessible.  

Concierge.com’s list for 2010:  

1)   Marrakech

2)   Kyrgyzstan

3)   Vancouver

4)   Burma

5)   Venice

6)   Antarctica

7)   Cuba

8)   Sri Lanka

9)   Colombia

10) South Africa

Eastern Europe opened up to the world when communism fell with the Berlin Wall:  Prague quickly became the place to visit, as did Croatia after the end of the Bosnian War.

Last year Burma decided to reverse its policy on tourism, embracing it rather than boycotting it – now it’s cooler to visit than its South East Asian neighbors.  Tehran has always been a place of wonder and mystery especially for the Hippie Trail of the 70’s, and after the political situation from the last election it has once again reached lava hot status.

Oscar Wilde famously quipped, “The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about”.  This seems to be true with politics & tourism alike:  everyone knows North Korea and Iran; far fewer know the Republic of Benin.  My prediction is that North Korea could be the hottest hotspot on Earth if Kim Jong Il opened the border.

Sometimes it doesn’t have to be off the beaten path like Burma or the road less travelled (how I loathe these travel cliches to sell “hotspots”) such as Tehran for a destination to become trendy again.  Venice has always been a place “most travelled”, but recent major renovations have seen a tourism renaissance for the floating city.

What about flagging hotspots in 2010?

An article entitled Lebanon, so hot right now describes the boom period it has experienced post the 2008 war. 

“Beaches brim with bikini-clad, tanned women and come night-time, clubs host Europe’s top DJs who play to audiences of thousands, many of whom are flush with cash from jobs abroad and are happy to spend hundreds of dollars on food, drink and music”.

It’s no secret Beirut was once “the Paris of the Middle East”.  That reputation combined with a new face-lift could make it a flagging hotspot for years to come.  Whilst I doubt a domino effect will take place in the Middle East, it’s good to see a flagging oasis somewhere on the horizon and not just a mirage.

Flagging hotspots are no different to normal hotspots – the only way to find out if Lebanon or any other coordinates deserves kudos is to go there.  See you in Beirut!

[Know any flagging hotspots for 2010/2011?]

Flags of the World, Middle Eastern flags, Lebanese flag

By Atlas Al

The well-known children’s song goes something like:

“Mirza and Malik, kissing in a tree, K.I.S.S.I.N.G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage!” It’s safe to assume they’ll have kids like most married people do.

Sania Mirza: one of the best female tennis stars to come out of India.

Shoaib Malik: an accomplished cricketer and previous captain of the Pakistani national team. What should have been a sports marriage made in heaven turned into good old Indian-Pakistani squabbling.

India and Pakistan have had a rough history since the British pulled out in 1947: three wars, constant dispute over the region of Kashmir, both countries have nuclear weapons, violent clashes between Hindus and Muslims.

So when Sania Mirza, a Muslim Indian, announced she would marry Shoaib Malik, a Muslim Pakistani, some Indians felt betrayed. I was laughing as I read worrisome comments made on CNN.com articles about the marriage. One such person was worried that Mirza would start playing tennis for Pakistan – god forbid.

The Mirza and Malik families thought it’d be best if Sania and Shoaib based themselves out of neutral Dubai for several reasons: 1) Everyone’s happy because they aren’t taking sides on where to live, 2) It’s far enough away to avoid the media, yet only a 3-hour flight to Hyderabad (where Sania’s family is from), 3) They can focus on their sports careers, 4) Shoaib already owns an apartment in Dubai after playing in a 2008 Canadian cricket tournament giving him – and his new bride – legal residency in the United Arab Emirates.

At the moment, not taking India or Pakistan’s side is wise until the media downpour passes. But they will be forced to make that decision when a baby comes.

The UAE’s immigration and citizenship laws are very strict. 82% of their population is foreign born, meaning those 82% aren’t and will never be citizens. Justlanded.com – a website of living abroad guides for expats and travelers – says it’s nearly impossible to get Emirati Arab citizenship for foreigners. Furthermore, “Children of foreigners born in Dubai don’t have rights of local citizenship and automatically assume the nationality of the parents.”

When Sania and Shoaib are ready to start a family, what flag will their kids be?

If your mother is Jewish, they say you’re Jewish as well. Is there a rule of thumb if you’re born to an Indian or Pakistani mother or father? What I do know is that dual citizens must choose which nationality they identify with more. No one is ever 50/50, never. You’re either more one than the other. One person, one flag (or as I like to say, “one flag per shag”).

Genetically speaking, their children will be one half Indian and one half Pakistani; however, their children’s flags depend on what culture/country they’ll be raised in. The Dubai move seems like a temporary fix until the marriage hoopla settles down. And when it does settle, where will they eventually call home?

My prediction: Sania and Shoaib will call India home and their children will be Indian flags, and here’s why. They married in Hyderabad where Sania comes from; Sania doesn’t want to live in Pakistan because of security issues; and if the children spend the first few years of their lives in Dubai, there’s a good chance they’ll be surrounded by Indians since the majority of foreign born people in Dubai are from India.

Moving to Dubai merely postpones the inevitable difficult choice of where to settle down, call home, and raise a family. If they received this much media coverage from the wedding alone, wait until we hear reports of a pregnant Sania Mirza. Tick tock, tick tock…

Click here to read the article in The Times of India.

Flags of the  World, Asian flags, Indian flag, Pakistani flag , Emirati Arab flag,

By Atlas Al

Vancouver is a special city for many reasons. One reason in particular is that it has one of the highest concentrations of foreign born populations in the world.

A common definition of foreign born (or non-native) is someone born outside of their country of residence. It can apply to immigrants or expatriates (usually, expatriates intend to return to their country of origin). Dubai, for example, is tremendously multi-ethnic because the majority of the population (a whopping 82%) is from abroad. Most of these foreign born people – most notably from India – will have to return to their native lands because it’s impossible for foreigners to apply for UAE citizenship.

Urban sociologists Lisa Benton-Short, Marie Price and Samantha Friedman wrote a paper entitled Global Perspective on the Connections between Immigrants and World Cities. In it, they developed the Immigrant Index that measures global human migration and immigrant concentrations around the world.

According to these researchers, one of the many variables that should be considered when determining global cities is its foreign born population. I, too, agree that a city’s foreign born population should carry some weight when configuring global city rankings that might alter some of the current GaWC rankings.

The chart below shows some of the data collected from the Immigrant Index:

To be considered a foreign flag, in my opinion, Vancouver’s foreign born population must have arrived in Canada before/after a certain age. Just because a person was born in a different country doesn’t mean they are that country’s flag. It depends how they think and act. Do they behave like Canadians or from the country they were born in? The younger the age of a foreign born person who moved to Canada, the more likely they will consider themselves to be Canadian no matter what their physical attributes are. The older the age, the more they will identify with their country of origin.

Another variable to consider when determining flag status is accents. If they still have one, then that’s a sure sign they’re not a local. It doesn’t always work as a flag status indicator and some people are very good at smoothing out their accent, but it is something to take into consideration.

For example, my dad moved to the USA when he was in his mid-20s. He doesn’t like my jokes about how he’s now more American than French – even with his thick French accent – because he’s lived in the states longer than he lived in France. All jokes aside, he’s a French flag because he’s hard-wired as a Frenchman and he still maintains his French point of reference to the world even though he may have adopted some American attributes in thinking, mannerisms, and dress.

A world event like the 2010 Winter Olympics – beginning tomorrow at the BC Place Stadium – combined with an already multi-ethnic population, will create a flagging “perfect storm.” Spectators, and locals alike, won’t be able to walk down the streets of Vancouver/Whistler without hearing a steady stream of accents, dialects, and distinct foreign languages.

This year’s games will have more than 80 participating nations with the USA, Canada, Russia, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, and Sweden entering more than 100 athletes each in various events. Because of the close proximity of the athletes’ living quarters, is it safe to assume athletes from one country will fraternize with athletes and team officials from other countries, potentially hooking up and getting each other’s flags? With so many foreigners in Vancouver, Olympic athletes won’t be the only ones to have a chance to flirt with foreigners.

There’s nothing like spicing up a city with immigration and an event like the Olympics. I can’t imagine another metropolis outdoing Vancouver’s 2010 Winter Olympic Games to create such a fertile, flag-rich environment. Wait a sec… London is the Capital of the Flagging World. Summer Olympics 2012?

[Chart taken from Wikipedia’s article, “foreign born”; originally from the paper entitled Global Perspective on the Connections between Immigrants and World Cities by Benton-Short, Price, and Friedman.]

Flags of the World, North American flags, Canadian flag, Emirati Arab flag

If you haven’t already heard about the tragedy of 20-year-old, Noor Faleh Almaleki of Arizona, Flagging Headquarters brings the story to you. According to the November 6, 2009 article in the nytimes.com, AZ ‘Honor Killing’ Victim Just Wanted To Be Normal, she chose not to follow the customs and traditions of her family’s native Iraq. On October 20, 2009, Noor and the mother of her boyfriend, were run over by Noor’s father driving the family car. His motive: an ‘honor killing’ to avenge the family from Noor’s decisions to act more American.

Noor and her family moved from Iraq to the United States when she was very young. If you’re surrounded by American customs and culture, even when the confines of your home may seem like a different country, most likely you’ll want to blend into and/or embrace the culture of the country you’re in. If Noor’s father didn’t want to her to be a modern, free-spirited woman, then he never should’ve moved his family to the United States. Sure, I’d rather live in the U.S. than a warzone. However, if you move from an oppressed/restricted Middle Eastern country to an extremely open, Western country like the United States, you have to take into consideration that your family, especially your kids, will be affected.

Noor just wanted to melt into the multi-cultural pot that is America. She may have looked like an Iraqi woman, but she didn’t think like one. According to the Constitution of Flagging’s Age-To-Flag Determination Theory, we must draw the line somewhere to determine one’s flag status. Noor moved to the U.S. when she was very young, under 13 years of age, therefore, she was more American than Iraqi. Her father wanting to kill her reinforces the belief that if you moved to a country at a young age, you are not the flag from the country you came from, rather the flag of the country you moved to.

Flags of the World, North American flags, American flag, Iraqi flag