Mexico Moves to Save Billfish and Tourism

In an effort to protect one of its key tourist attractions, Mexico has banned all long-line commercial fishing boats (boats that trail miles of net that scoop up everything in their path) from Mexican waters and has announced that all species of fish designated for sportfishing, most notably the marlin, are off-limits to commercial fishermen.

“Sportfishing is one of Mexico’s most vital tourist activities as well as a major source for regional economic development,” said Mexico’s secretary of fishing, Maria de Los Angeles Moreno. “It is crucial that we take a stand to protect our natural resource in a way that benefits both our own population and the entire planet.”

The so-called “marlin treaty,” officially entitled “Development and Modernization of Sportfishing, 1991-1994,” is a cooperative effort between the government and the private sector to promote and protect sportfishing in Mexico. Towns such as Mazatlan, Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo have historically relied on sportfishing as their main tourist draw.

Enforcement of the treaty will be a joint effort between the ministry of fishing on a national level and regional committees composed of representatives of tourism, fishing and government.

Travel Quiz: There are three countries that you cannot telephone from the United States, even with operator assistance. What are they?

Vietnam Vacations: Although 1990’s “Year of Tourism” was a miserable failure in Vietnam, a United Nations expert believes the country could become a favorite vacation spot if it reduced red tape and developed its tourist industry.

Catherine Bouveyron, a consultant at the U.N.’s World Tourism Organization, said the Vietnamese government had been incorrect to think that it could create a tourism industry last year simply by announcing it.

Only about 187,000 tourists visited Vietnam in 1990, and many complained of the expense and hassle of getting visas and of police restrictions on movement around the country.

Nevertheless, Bouveyron said Vietnam, which has one of the longest coastlines in Asia, plus rugged mountains, forests and rich deltas, could one day compete with Thailand, Malaysia, Mauritius and the Caribbean as a tourist destination.

War Caused Dramatic Drop in Air Travel: The Persian Gulf War and resultant fear of terrorism caused U.S. airlines to experience their biggest monthly decline in international passenger travel in more than a decade, according to figures published this month by Travel Weekly, a magazine covering the travel industry.

International travel aboard U.S. carriers plummeted 26.8% in February compared to the same month a year ago. In January, the decline had been 3.3% and was the first decrease since 1986.

On the domestic front, February saw a 5.5% decline from a year ago, much worse than January’s 1.3% drop.

Out of Denmark: A new museum will greet visitors to Denmark on May 15 when the former home of “Out of Africa” author Karen Blixen (who wrote under the pseudonym of Isak Dinesen) is opened to the public.

The museum, on the coast just north of Copenhagen, will feature Blixen memorabilia from her days in Africa, as well as some of her manuscripts.

Danish tourism officials said establishment of the museum came as the result of numerous requests from visitors wanting to know where Blixen lived.

Quick Fact: There are 850 active volcanoes on Earth.

Time Warp: Having free time is becoming so valuable that almost half of the 1,010 people who took part in a nationwide survey commissioned by the Hilton Hotels Corp. said they would sacrifice a day’s pay for an extra day off each week.

The survey, which focused on Americans’ values and attitudes toward time, is part of a series on travel, leisure and time begun by Hilton in 1988. Among its findings:

--Having free time ranked ahead of making money as a goal (69% to 64%).

--38% reported cutting back on sleep in order to “make” more time.

--20% said they called in sick at least once during the past 12 months when they simply needed time to relax.

--33% said they would be unlikely to find the time for their ideal weekend.

Advisory Canceled: The U.S. State Department has canceled its advisory on travel to Thailand, citing the end of the Gulf War and adding that the recent coup “has had no practical effect on travel to Thailand.”

All Aboard: The 50th anniversary of the song that made Chattanooga, Tenn., famous will be celebrated in part by a train excursion re-creating the journey immortalized in the Glenn Miller classic.

The “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” an 18-car special replete with business cars, diners, lounges and passenger coaches, will leave New York’s Pennsylvania Station Sept. 8 and arrive in Chattanooga Sept. 10 to kick off a civic festival.

The route takes in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Charlottesville, Va., Greensboro, N.C., Salisbury, N.C., Charlotte, N.C., Greenville, S.C., and Atlanta.

The train will be filled with invited guests, but a limited number of tickets are available--though not at 1941 prices. The cost? No less than $3,000 per person.

Quiz Answer: Cambodia, North Korea and Vietnam.