Results tagged “Hotel” from Intelligent Travel Blog

Today marks the 68th anniversary of the killings at Babi Yar, an atrocity in Kiev, Ukraine in which 33,700 Jews were rounded up and executed over two days by the Nazis. The site, at the edge of a ravine, has become a sacred place for the family members who survived the killings, and as of yesterday, its sanctity will remain intact. Kiev Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky's office said yesterday that he had vetoed a decision by the city council to build the hotel on the edge of the site, which would have been called Babi Yar, after wide protests from Jewish groups.

The controversy in Babi Yar is indicative of issues facing Eastern Bloc nations struggling to get a foothold in tourism. Kiev is looking for ways to expand its accommodations, as it currently has only 125 hotels and 17,000 beds, and needs sites where it can build hotels in order to prepare for the 2012 European soccer championship. But it's also dealing with the aftermath of postwar anti-Semitic policies that failed to recognize the significance of the site for decades. For years following World War II, Babi Yar bore a plaque that only paid tribute to the "citizens of Kiev and prisoners of war" who died there. It was only in 1991, after the Soviet Union's collapse, that a memorial was erected to recognize the Jewish lives that were lost.

As cities such as Kiev attempt to develop and expand their tourism efforts, it's inevitable that they'll also have to acknowledge some of the more sordid moments in their history. The key for them will be to not only focus on developing properties that will accommodate tourists, but on creating sites that will respect the history in the cities and inform visitors about the tragedies in their past.

Photo: In this Sept. 29, 2003 file photo, a man cries as he remembers all his family killed by Nazis at Babi Yar ravine, at the monument to victims in Kiev, Ukraine. (AP Photo/ Efrem Lukatsky, File)

Molly Feltner is traveling through Africa, and got the chance to experience a model sustainable hotel in Rwanda.

In my travels to various destinations in the developing world, I've often been disappointed by how some upscale resorts and hotels go out of their way to separate their businesses and guests from the local population. So I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge, located in a farming community right outside Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda.

Set on the slopes of the volcano Sabyinyo, this luxury lodge caters to well-heeled tourists coming to track the park's mountain gorillas and it supports some of the neediest members of the surrounding community. It's managed by Governors' Camp, which operates several high-end lodges and safari camps in East Africa, but is owned by SACOLA, an association of about 18,000 local Rwandans that is sponsored by the International Gorilla Conservation Programme, African Wildlife Foundation, and USAID.

When guests stay at the lodge, $50 per person per night goes to SACOLA. Since the lodge opened in 2007, SACOLA has earned enough to build more than 1,200 houses for survivors of the Rwandan genocide and other needy families, and fund sustainable agriculture projects as well. Sabyinyo also employs locals--90 percent of the staff members are Rwandan--and most of the food and all of the flowers used on the property are grown by community members.

Senior editor Norie Quintos recently visited New York City with her teenage sons, trying to go as green as possible. Here's her report:

Getting there: The train, the most eco (as well as the most comfortable) way to go, was too expensive, so we took one of the many inter-city buses that ply the busy DC-New York corridor. Public buses are an excellent green option, and the one we booked, a double-decker Megabus, was modern, clean, and offered free Wi-Fi. Promotional rates start at $1 (good luck getting that rate) but typically go for about $20 one-way. On a five-hour ride, you'll likely get hungry; pack a sandwich and bottled water. We saw someone get on with a large takeout pizza.