peoplefordepass

© Phillie Casablanca

Electric vehicles from Australia, Germany, and Switzerland have completed a 27000 km "emissions free" round the world tour that took a total of 188 days on the road and at sea to complete.

The German three-wheeler electric scooter called "TREV" completed the last leg of the trip in Geneva. One of the vehicles stopped off at the World Climate Conference in Cancun, Mexico after touring through Europe, Russia, China, Canada, and the US, before heading back through Morocco and Spain. The pioneering trip, dubbed the "Zero Race", was backed by the UN and organized by Louis Palmer, a Swiss schoolteacher who made news several years ago when he traveled solo around the world in a solar-powered "taxi". He says he is pursuing these projects to show the people around the world that electric cars are a viable alternative and hopefully to inspire social change in this direction.

© archer10 (Dennis)

American Nicholas Rapp set off on an around the world trip in his '96 Toyota Land Cruiser, that took him over 37,000 miles, mostly overland. He survived landslides, monkey attacks, breakdowns and accidents, jungles, harassment from cops and border guards, and theft. But aside from these minor annoyances, there were no major issues on his trip, and he was able to get home fine and stay within his $50,000 budget.

His trip started out from New York to Buenos Aires, then South Africa to Iran, through India to Bangladesh and around southeast Asia before flying back to the West Coast and then driving home to New York. While it sounds like a crazy trip, Rapp did take some precautions. He got all the current vaccinations and had his truck outfitted with a pop-up tent and other equipment.

Pacific Asia Travel Association said that there was 11% growth in travel in Asia in 2010. 2011 is expected to see a larger number of people travel in Asia. The growth is attributed to a large number of middle class Indians and Chinese who choose to travel in Asia instead of going to other places.

Economic growth, security and political stability in Asia have also seen the increase in the number of American and European tourists opting to travel in Asia, for leisure as well as business. The number of American tourists visiting Asia grew by 10% and saw 13 million Americans travel in Asia in 2010.

Asian tourism is set to grow steadily as western tourists get easily and quickly book tickets and travel plans through social media and smartphones.

© archer10 (Dennis)