Bare necessities of life
GERMANY’s third-largest city, Munich, has legalised public nudity by introducing six designated nudist zones. Since last autumn — when statewide laws against nude suntanning expired — the issue of public nudity has been debated in the city. It has now been decided that nudists are officially welcome to strip.
The six designated areas are not fenced off or hidden away, although their location in parkland grants them a degree of privacy.
One nudist zone is situated in a main tourist spot along a stream, barely 10 minutes away from Munich’s main square.
SO LONG, SCHENGEN SCHLEP THE trauma of applying for a Schengen visa may be a thing of the past if new planned European Union procedures are adopted.
According to Travel Buyer, the EU wants an overhaul of the visa-application process, which could be in place by 2015.
The key provisions are a proposed touring visa, which would allow visitors to travel in Schengen countries for up to one year as long as they do not spend more than 90 days in a single country in any 180-day period, along with the mandatory issue of multiple-entry visas valid for three years for regular travellers. The plans also call for the visa-processing deadline to be cut to 10 days from 15 and for travellers to be able to apply for a visa on arrival for stays of up to 15 days.
$30M UPGRADE FOR MAPUTO HOTEL SOUTHERN Sun Maputo has shut until August for a $30-million refurbishment.
The hotel on the Avenida da Marginal aims to reopen on August 1. The project will include the addition of 111 guestrooms.
AF DEPLOYS A380 TO IVORY COAST AIR FRANCE will operate an Airbus A380 on its three weekly flights to Abidjan from the start of Europe’s winter, Travel Buyer reports. This marks the first West African city to be served by the double-decker.
NEW PASS FOR INDIAN OCEAN ISLES AIR AUSTRAL has partnered with Air Mauritius and Air Seychelles to offer reduced fares to travellers between Indian Ocean islands. According to Travel Buyer, the Indian Ocean Pass will allow holders of a long-haul air ticket reduced fares on 15 routes serving Comoros, Madagascar, Maldives, Mayotte, Mauritius, Reunion, Rodrigues and Seychelles.
STAR ARRESTED FOR BOMB THREAT AMERICAN football star Aldon Smith was arrested at Los Angeles airport after allegedly making a bomb threat to a security agent. Travelmole reports that the San Francisco 49ers linebacker made the threat after being randomly selected for secondary screening. He was arrested, charged and later released on bail of $20 000.
HAMMER ATTACK AT LONDON HOTEL THREE women from the United Arab Emirates have been seriously injured in a hammer attack at a top London hotel. According to Travelmole, the women, believed to be in their 30s, were attacked at the four-star Cumberland Hotel near Marble Arch. Police believe they were the victims of a failed robbery.
ISLAND LOSES CRUISERS CRUISES have stopped calling and excursions have been cancelled at the island of Roatan in Honduras, following the fatal shooting of a crew member this month. The man, who worked on Norwegian Cruise Line’s ship Pearl, was shot dead in what has been described as the “latest and most shocking in a series of violent reported incidents affecting visitors to the island”.
Cruising Excursions, which operates tours of the island, announced last week that it was cancelling its tours there.
A spokesman said it was “very sad for the majority of law-abiding islanders, especially those who make a living from tourism but we cannot recommend cruisers go ashore until we are reassured that measures are in place to protect visitors”.