What happens in Mossman ...

Maybe, as the current phrase goes, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" needs to be broadened -- to include Australia.

Tony Fox, owner of the White Cockatoo resort in Mossman, Queensland, the north Australia state, said despite the global economic downturn his resort has been fully booked for a proposed month-long "rainforest nude party" in March 2009.

How does that sit with the local community? Says Mayor Val Schier, "I am not opposed to it as long as no laws are broken. As long as it is with consenting adults then there is no problem."

Fox's "clothes optional" resort also made headlines three years ago when his "partner-swapping parties" made headlines following public complaints, and subsequently were halted by the police.

"It doesn't take rocket science to work out what the party means," Fox said, explaining further his plan for the proposed “risqué” party where “anything goes" for a month. His holiday resort will be transformed to a “hedonism resort.” He said, "Tough economic times call for stiff measures."

All states and territories in Australia, except Queensland, have had designated clothing-optional beaches since South Australia declared the first, Maslin Beach near Adelaide, in 1975.

Australia, with its thousands of kilometers of deserted beaches, has a reputation for its nudist beach parties. Nude bathing occurs on a regular basis even on the most popular beaches. Some are designated as a legal clothing-optional beaches, but on others nudity is unofficially condoned, according to an Australia Web site guide to nude beaches.

[Go here for the full story.]

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• Australia's nude beaches
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Nazi resort to be opened to the public

From the Telegraph of London:

Germany is embroiled in a controversy over a monumental Nazi-era holiday resort on the German island of Ruegen that is to be opened to holidaymakers for the first time.

The giant complex of hotels in the Prora resort on the country's biggest island in the Baltic Sea was designed to house 20,000 tourists as part of Adolf Hitler's "Strength Through Joy" program to keep the German nation healthy.

The construction of the mammoth project began in 1936 but was abandoned in 1943 due to the war, and the five six-story concrete buildings on Ruegen's beautiful sandy beach were never opened to the public.

[Go here for the full story.]

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• Hitler's Eagle's Nest
• German Tourism Today
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U.S. airlines may again cut seating

From Bloomberg.com:

U.S. airlines that pared seating capacity about 10% this year may deepen the cuts in 2009 to ensure the industry makes its first profit in a recession.

The pullback at big carriers including Delta Air Lines Inc. and American Airlines may reach 8% and include non-U.S. markets where they’ve been expanding in the absence of discount rivals, according to six analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

“It’s coming,” said Kevin Crissey, a UBS Securities LLC analyst in New York. “You definitely want to see them out in advance of the difficulties. Err on the side of cutting and if you miss a bit of revenue, so be it. You don’t want to get run over by weak demand.”

New reductions would build on this year’s retrenchment, the U.S. industry’s most sweeping since the Sept. 11 (2001) terrorist attacks.

[Go here for the full story.]

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• Airline Capacity Cuts Go Global
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Baja California crime wave continues

From the Los Angeles Times:

Blood continues to spill in Tijuana and and other border-area communities. And the debate rages on as to whether it's safe for surfers, campers, fishermen and other tourists to travel in northern Baja California.

First, the latest grim news: Nine human heads were found Sunday in Tijuana, along with a note tying the massacre to the ongoing war between rival drug gangs.

A day later, a report emerged describing November as the deadliest month during President Felipe Calderon's two years in office, with at least 701 killings linked to organized crime occurring throughout Mexico.

Tourists, by and large, have not been victimized.

[Go here for the full story.]

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• Travel to Mexican Border Towns
• Four Good Reasons to Visit a Border Town
• Dowd's Guides