Direct from World

Like in Paris with his "Velib '" and with his Vélov Lyon, Nantes Launches "Bicloo. The city will offer as of 5 May a system of free bicycle rental service called Bicloo. 700 bikes spread over 79 stations in the city center of Nantes will be made available in an area of 6 km2.

The french designer Philippe Starck in Milan presented the prototype of a small wind turbine, to Mr. All-the-world and can be installed in a garden or a terrace.

"The year 2007 was an exceptional year." Said Petra Friedmann, CEO Opodo France, presenting the results of its annual survey of tourism, made last January with the research firm and consultancy Raffour Interactive.

The whole sector is not something to be enthusiastic. The study highlights a decline in overall rates of withdrawal in 2007 of 1 point over the previous year. 60% of the population over 15 years has directed a stay (excluding business trips, family gatherings and school trips) in 2007, against 61% in 2006 and 64% in 2003. Guy Raffour, CEO of Interactive Raffour firm explained by a decrease in purchasing power.

Brazil has cleared 2.5 million square kilometers (nearly five times that of France) of its original vegetation, or 30% of its forests, according to a study by the Ministry of Environment of Brazil. Most disappeared during the last 500 years.
"This study paints a fairly current situation of Brazilian ecosystems," said Braulio Dias, Director of the National Biodiversity Brazilian Ministry of Environment and responsible for the study, the daily "O Globo". Based on satellite imagery and field research, it will serve as a political tool for environmental preservation, he said.

The chairman of the Football Federation Australia, Frank Lowy, announced that Australia would be bidding to host World Cup 2018. The idea had already been mentioned but it is now official, Lowy assuring that "we have a reasonable chance." Pressed for time, Australia has provided since the event of failure, the Pacific countries should also apply for World Cup 2022 and for the Asian Cup 2015.

Organized by Aventures du Bout du Monde (ABM), the first festival of the "caring and responsible travel" takes place in Paris on 5 and 6 April 2008.
Two days to explore the possibilities of a "responsible tourism", "lucid, humanistic and informed." With hope, explains the association ABM that passengers leaving the eyes open and limit environmental damage, economic or human that tourism can generate. "

The largest trade show dedicated to travel industry has closed its doors on March 9 in Berlin.
ITB Berlin has a record. Dr. Christian Göke, director of Messe Berlin, said: "Once again this year, ITB Berlin has been a fantastic platform B2B trade contacts and sustainable first-class exhibitors from around the world. This year we have for the first time passed the 11,000 exhibitors. "

Nearly one in two French complains of not enough sleep, according to a study published Monday 10 March 2008.
12% of the population aged 25 to 45 years would be insomniac (with a poor quality of sleep), 17% each night accumulate a significant amount of debt of sleep (too little) and 71% would have adequate sleep.
Yet 45% of respondents felt less sleep than they need. An adult requires six to ten hours of sleep per night, said the INPE (National Institute for Prevention and Health Education), sponsor of this BVA survey published a few days of the National Day of sleep on 19 March .

The latest study by the European Cruise Council estimates that the number of cruise passengers in Europe will reach 5 million in 2015. Concerning France, France'association Cruises & Ferries table for its share of 500 000 passengers in 2010 against 290 000 last year. The french market and still holds fifth place in Europe behind Great Britain (1.5 million passengers in 2007), Germany (750,000), Italy (550,000) and Spain (350,000).
The global market of the cruise is expected to amount to 12.8 million this year (10.5 million Americans), according to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), up 2.4% compared to 2007.

The storms - then called cyclones - are not reserved to the Indian Ocean ... The storm "Emma" that swept over the weekend several countries in Europe with winds up to 200 km / h is 13 dead and millions of euros in damage.