WCC Hospitality Travels the World: December 2015

Thursday, December 10, 2015

CULTURAL TOURISM IN GHANA

5 DAYS NICHE TOURISM IN GHANA

DON'T MISS THIS TOUR!!! IS GOING TO BE FUN.
Cultural tourism is a tourism for experiencing another culture, different traditions, food, art etc.
The purpose of this trip is to explore, learn, touch and feel the culture and traditions of Ghanaians.

ESTIMATE COST: The estimate cost of this trip will be $1,158.8 plane fare is not included but accommodation and transportation are included.
The following links are the website of the hotels and museum.
www.goldetulip.com
nodahotel.com
www.ladadibeachotel.com
Website for booking vacation tour in Ghana
booking.com
viator.com
museum
www.menhyiapalacemuseum.com

ATTACHED IS A VIDEO OF 5 DAYS NICHE TOUR IN GHANA.

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Community Gardening NorthWest Niche Tour Presentation

Nancy Pearson 12/07/15

BUSAD 175 - Travel & Tourism Operations - Fall 2015

Tour Project Two - Niche Tour

Community Gardening NorthWest Niche Tour

"Community gardens are potential places for healing. In a time when families have limited resources including money, community gardens can provide nutritious food and medicine. Gardens are also a crossroads where diverse people come together to interact and connect. Elders can share their stories and wisdom, while youth can share their energy and enthusiasm. A garden has potential to foster community healing by bringing isolated people together over a common purpose. For many, gardening is a great way to relieve stress and to reconnect with the earth."

Quote from: Link to "Creating Community Gardens" helpful pdf by NWIC

Join our group as we gain gardening experience while nurturing connections in this tour of Whatcom County's Community Gardening scene. We will be visiting three of these centers for growth and healthy living, see gardening skills demonstrations, give it a try for ourselves and have the chance to lend a hand where needed. Lodging and meals will be provided by The Firs, a retreat center located among mature fir and cedar trees near Bellingham.

People across the world and especially in the Pacific NorthWest are finding that Community Gardens can be a great place to learn the basics of how grow food and how to prepare meals with fresh produce, as well as to meet and work along side neighbors in the garden and even to help the needy by growing extra food to share thru the local food bank. Likely candidates for Agri-tourism like garden tourism tend to live in rural or urban homes with gardens, to read gardening media and websites, be friends of museums or garden attractions, and open-air tourists like walkers & hikers.

As more and more people look for ways to improve their lifestyle and help make the world a better place, gardening has emerged as a shining light that guides us toward healthier ways to live and to build strong community connections. Communities of people who make the effort to garden together experience many benefits including increased sense of community stewardship, people coming together from a wide variety of backgrounds, as a focal point for community organizing, and growth of new community leaders. Many police departments recognize community gardens as an effective community crime prevention strategy, and group discussions started in the garden can lead to community-based efforts to deal with other social concerns.

Community gardens even offer neighborhoods an access point to non-English speaking communities, and allow people from diverse backgrounds to work side-by-side on common goals without speaking the same language.It also increases opportunities for cultural exchange by giving new immigrants the opportunity to grow traditional crops otherwise unavailable locally, to take advantage of the experience of elders, to work together and share in learning from the results. With all these advantages, there's never been a better time to get involved! Come alone or bring the family along for a fun getaway way to learn about community gardening. Dig in!

Day 1

3:00-5:00pm Check in to The Firs Retreat Center

5:00-6:30pm Dinner & Welcome Lecture

Lodging: The Firs Retreat Center is a 7-acre campus among mature fir and cedar trees, just 2 blocks from Lake Whatcom and our private beach, in Bellingham, Washington. The central location is convenient whether coming from Vancouver, B.C. or from the Seattle area. Link to The Firs

Image result for the firs bellingham

Day 2

8:00-9:00am Breakfast

9:00-9:30 Travel to NW Indian College

9:30-12:00 'Pea Patch Gardens' Training, Pt 1

12:00-12:30 Lunch Break (Sack lunch)

12:30- 4:00 'Pea Patch Gardens' Training, Pt 2
4:00- 5:30 Tour NWIC Medicine Wheel Garden

5:30- 6:30 Dinner

Northwest Indian College

‘Pea Patch Gardens’ Training:

Learn how to create small-scale ‘pea patch’ vegetable gardens for beginning gardeners in your community. Pea patch gardens provide an opportunity people of all ages to easily learn skills and gain appreciation for growing healthy organic produce. Learn about basic techniques for preparing and planting a garden, creating healthy soils, composting, garden design, growing seeds indoors and direct sown, planting the garden, caring for the garden and extending the season using hoop houses.

Image result for community garden training nwic

Image result for garden bed hoop house plans

Now let's go visit the Medicine Wheel Garden; Enjoy!

Medicine Wheel Garden

Bellingham FoodBank's Community First Garden Project

Image result for bellingham food bank community garden

“This program let me grow food for my family. Now I can put fresh organic food on the table thanks to my new knowledge and skills.” —Rita, proud Garden Project Gardener

Get your garden on today!

Link: Community First Garden Project
"The Community First Garden Project has built all 25 raised-bed veggie gardens for this year's group of new garden recipients and provided the soil, seeds, starts and support for them to grow their own food. Our gleaning program, Small Potatoes Gleaning Project, is already talking to other local farmers and reminding them that we have more than 100 volunteers who are eagerly waiting for the opportunity to harvest their farms' excess veggies. And Victory Garden participants have been picking up seeds from us that they'll grow into donated produce from their home gardens."

Day 3

8:00-9:00am Breakfast

9:00-10:00 Travel to Bellingham Food Bank Garden Project

10:00-12:00 Assist in building raised-beds for new garden

12:00- 1:00 Lunch & Travel to Cloud Mountain Farm Center

1:30- 3:30 Beginning Vegetable Gardening Class

4:00- 5:30 Seed Starting Class

6:30- 8:00 Dinner & Sharing Time

Image result for garden seed-starting classes

Cloud Mountain Farm Center

1:30-3:30pm Beginning Vegetable Gardening: Vegetable gardening is more than planting seeds. In this general overview learn how to successfully grow a wide variety of produce throughout the year, including how to get started, planning your plantings, managing your soil and fertility inputs, and timing for succession harvests.

3:30- 4:00 Break

4:00- 5:30pm Seed Starting Class: Starting your own vegetable transplants at home can save you money and expand the varieties you can plant. In this workshop we'll discuss seed starting mediums, containers, sanitation, and fertility. This is a hands-on experience; you will go home with a flat of seeds ready to grow, and the skills to grow them successfully.

- See more at: http://www.cloudmountainfarmcenter.org

Thanks for joining us.
See you around the Community Garden!

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Community Gardening NorthWest Niche Tour

Nancy Pearson 12/07/15

BUSAD 175 - Travel & Tourism Operations - Fall 2015

Tour Project Two - Niche Tour

Community Gardening NorthWest Niche Tour

Join our niche as we gain gardening experience while nurturing connections in this tour of Whatcom County's Community Garden scene. We will be visiting three of these centers for personal growth and healthy living, learn thru gardening skills demonstrations, give it a try for ourselves and have the chance to lend a hand where needed. Comfortable lodging and tasty, nourishing meals will be provided by The Firs, a retreat center located among mature fir and cedar trees near Bellingham.

People all across the world and especially in the Pacific NorthWest are finding that community gardens can be a great place to learn the basics of how grow food and start consuming more fresh produce, as well as to meet and work alongside neighbors in the garden, and even to help the needy by growing extra food to share with food banks. Likely candidates for Agri-tours like garden tourism tend to live in rural areas or in urban homes with gardens, to read gardening media and related websites, be friends of museums or garden attractions, and be open-air tourists like walkers & hikers.

As more and more people look for ways to improve their lifestyle and help make the world a better place, gardening has emerged as a shining light that guides us toward healthier ways to live and to build strong community connections. Communities of people who make the effort to garden together experience many benefits along with super-nutritious fresh produce, including increased sense of community stewardship, coming together from a wide variety of backgrounds, provides a focal point for community organizing, encourages the growth of new community leaders, and can lead to community-based efforts to deal with other social concerns. Community gardens have been recognized by many police departments as an effective community crime prevention strategy.
In addition to a place to grow plants for fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers, Community Gardens also increase opportunities: for cultural exchange by giving new immigrants the opportunity to grow traditional crops otherwise unavailable locally, to take advantage of the experience of elders and the enthusiastic energy of youth, to work together and share in learning from the results. Community gardens even offer neighborhoods an access point to non-English speaking communities, and allow people from diverse backgrounds to work side-by-side on common goals without speaking the same language. Bring the family on a fun getaway way to learn more about community gardening!

Tour Itinerary:

Day 1

3:00-5:00pm Check in to The Firs

5:00-6:30pm Welcome Lecture & Dinner

Day 2

8:00-9:00am Breakfast

9:00-10:00 Travel to NW Indian College

10:00-12:00 'Pea Patch Gardens' Training

12:00- 1:00 Lunch Break (Sack lunch)

1:00- 3:00 Tour NWIC Medicine Wheel Garden

5:30- 6:30 Dinner

Day 3

8:00-9:00am Breakfast

9:00-10:00 Travel to Bellingham Food Bank Garden

10:00-12:00 Assist in building raised-beds for new garden

12:00- 1:00 Lunch & Travel to Cloud Mountain Farm Center

1:30- 3:30 Beginning Vegetable Gardening Classj

4:00- 5:30 Seed Starting Class

6:30- 8:00 Dinner & Farewells

Transportation during tour is provided via rented vans. Estimated cost per person is $500.

http://www.thefirs.org/index.php?page=retreat_center

http://nwicplantsandfoods.com/tribal-gardens

http://www.cloudmountainfarmcenter.org/index2.cfm?page=_workshops

Sunday, December 6, 2015

Taste Your Way Through Mexico!

December 2015 / By Jen Donahue

A fan of tacos? Love the spice from the south? Take your taste buds on a journey through authentic Mexican cuisine. As you travel from city to city on your guided tour you’ll discover traditional dishes, harvest from local farms, and cook with culinary experts to create fresh, true Mexican food. Reel in fresh fish for ceviche with local fisherman, grind your own corn at the mill to make fresh tortillas, and take home a recipe for the best mole sauce. Side by side with your chef and your friends, you’ll discover Mexican history, culture, and mouth-watering flavors.

Immerse yourself in the culture, and learn from locals what delicious dishes natives have cooked for their families for generations. Understand and participate in traditional preparation and harvesting processes. Interact with locals as you wander through colorful markets and discover uniquely exotic foods and flavors. You will truly discover how people live on a daily basis, a welcome insight to their tables at home. In between cooking sessions, you can travel to historical ruins and delight in local festivals, absorbing both the past and present of this gorgeous culture.

A great example of Lifestyle tourism, this combo of culinary and agriculture experiences blend learning and the exposure to daily life activities of the local culture.

Starting in Puebla, visitors will arrive to Mexico City by airline of choice. After arriving to the resort, car and/or mini-buses will be provided for each day for tour travel from city to city. Local transportation like buses, and taxis (recommended) can be used for solo day adventures.

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This 5 day tour is fully guided, with transportation included. Solo day adventures are encouraged. Below is the tour itinerary and travel map:

Day One: Dinner with the Chef at Puebla Resort

Start off the trip right in the kitchen! Stop by a local farm with the chef to collect eggs and meat. Learn to make your first Mexican meal, and sit down to dinner in the gorgeous mountain setting.

Day Two: Market Stroll in Mexico City

Meander the local markets for tonight’s dinner ingredients. Learn about different spices from the chef. Chat with locals to learn the language.

Back at the resort, learn to make an authentic local dish. Dig in!

Day Three: Learn the Art of Making the Tortilla

Road trip to a corn mill site in Oaxaca. Grind your own corn and learn how to make tortillas from scratch. Stop in town for some street food, taste test some native comfort quick food.