From ‘The Blue Yonder’…Feb 2009 * Vedic wedding by the banks of Nila * Recognitions for TBY * Jessica Lee travels to Kerala as a scholarship winner * Community Based Tourism: A success? An interesting observation from Harold Goodwin and Rosa Santilli. Read more * TBY Responsible Tourism networking  at ITB Berlin					Feb-March 2009 update
	Subscribe to our newsletter | Archives Catching up… It’s been a while since we wrote to you about The Blue Yonder. While running around and packing more and more new initiatives to the work, we sometimes forget to write it down for those who are not next to us. We were quite busy, including organising a wedding for an English couple! We have been to Rajasthan many times to see the improvements in our new initiatives on Travel Philanthropy. ITB has invited us to be their partner to promote Responsible Tourism at the world's leading travel fair in Berlin. We have also started a micro-loan project for stake holders from our community to set up workshops both in Rajasthan and Kerala. More on this later...		Sacred fire place set up for solemnising the wedding of our guests.			Recognitions for TBY: *The Week ( 15 Healthy things to do in 2009) *Footprint Handbook 2009 amongst the "5 very best sustainable Tourism initiatives in India” *Irish Times recommends us in the “5 eco trips for 2009” *Rough Guides 'Clean Breaks: 500 New Ways to See the World" by Richard Hammond and Jeremy Smith, published August 2nd 2009 Read more on awards and pottery initiative
	The couple getting married according to Vedic Tradition	The Wedding: Phil sent us an email a week or so before his holiday in Kerala asking if we can organise a “wedding”! (He wrote, “Also, just out of interest, how difficult would it be to arrange a wedding in Kerala? Just wondering that's all”). Obvious answer was ‘yes’ from our side. The only problem was that except for Phil and one of our colleagues in Bangalore, no one including Phil’s girlfriend had a clue about what was going on behind the scene!. Two days after relaxing on the beaches of Marari, Phil sends another SMS to us, “Emily said Yes! Please go ahead with the wedding plan”. He had proposed to her while on a traditional houseboat in the tranquil backwaters of Alleppey. How beautiful! Read more to find out how they got married…
	Jessica Lee: World Nomads –TBY Travel Scholarship Winner travelling to River Nila World Nomads Travel Scholarship winner is visiting Nila this month to travel with The Blue Yonder. David Stott, who will be mentoring her to become a professional and published travel writer, commented. “It was extremely hard to separate the top five, but Jessica took the prize for several reasons. First, her fantastic pen portrait of rush hour in Cairo put me right in the moment, as the distorted roar of the muezzins ("Even in prayer Cairo is deafening") rose into the sky above the car horns. Second, she did a great job of evoking the moment that fortunate and patient travellers sometimes get to experience, of coming to feel at home in a foreign place. Her comment to the gridlocked taxi driver ("You need a louder horn") was sardonic, sympathetic and funny. Though there's always room for a little extra polish, Jessica's writing shows loads of potential and, just as importantly, passion for the work, and I'm confident she'll grab this opportunity with both hands." Read Jessica’s writing that won the competition here...
	Supported by:			The Blue Yonder Responsible Tourism Networking at ITB Berlin 2009: We invite you to join us in Berlin to network with the Tour Operators, Grass Root organisations, Media, Policy makers and all the flag-bearers of Responsible Tourism. Venue Messe Berlin Hall 4.1 / 211 Date 13-03-2009 Time 1800-1930 View Map here If you have a new initiative to be launched in-front of crowd that understand Responsibility in Tourism, then this is the space! If you are looking for finding partners in different parts of the world, then you wouldn't want to miss this. The event will be preceded by discussions on Travel Philanthropy and presentations from many new initiatives across the world (1700-1745). Looking forward to meeting you in Berlin! "In my view one of the primary positive facets of sustainable tourism is the willingness of participants to share information and experience willingly,unselfishly and honestly. Vision on Sustainable Tourism is dedicated to this end - to provide the sustainable travel and tourism industry's informed global information exchange, product and service marketplace." Valere Tjolle on Vision's support to the Responsible Tourism Networking event.  Read more for details.
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