Program 605: Vancouver Tourism; Buffalo Hometown Pride; Bosnia

Eager for the Canada-US border to reopen? Whet your appetite to visit Vancouver and Buffalo: A former tourism exec explains issues the industry faces in Canada's West Coast metropolis, and a travel writer from Buffalo rediscovers his hometown's resilience and the fun you can find on either side of the Niagara River. We'll also hear what Bosnia offers as a diamond-in-the-rough destination. 

• Travel writer and former Tourism Vancouver CEO Rick Antonson
• Travel writer Dave Seminara, author of "Breakfast with Polygamists" (Wanderlust Press)
• Sanel Marich, teacher and tour guide from Mostar, Bosnia
• Amir Telibecirovic, journalist and tour guide based in Sarajevo, Bosnia
• Balkan historian Ben Curtis, author of "A Traveller's History of Croatia" (Interlink Books)

• Rick Antonson is the former President and CEO of Tourism Vancouver.  His latest travel adventure book is "Walking with Ghosts in Papua New Guinea," which he describes on Travel with Rick Steves program #594 in February 2020. He tells us he's working on a new book about the history of the Canadian railroad in the Rockies, due out in 2021.
• The International Institute for Peace Through Tourism operates around the world.
• While the coronavirus health crisis makes it inadvisable to visit during the pandemic, the tourism authority for Buffalo, New York suggests the region has a history of resilience and will bounce back from this setback, too, when it's safe to travel again.
• Dave Seminara distills some of his most memorable travel encounters in his books "Bed, Breakfast & Drunken Threats: Dispatches from the Margins of Europe," and "Breakfast with Polygamists," which centers on travel encounters in the Americas.
• Dave Seminara's earlier Travel with Rick Steves appearances include talking about the Gili Islands of Indonesia on program #505A in April 2020, visiting Liechtenstein on its national holiday in program #494A in August 2019, and Basque Country surprises on program #528 in June 2018.
• Ben Curtis has written "A Traveller's History of Croatia" and "The Habsburgs: The History of a Dynasty."
• Amir Telibecirovic spoke at the University of Michigan on the history of Muslims in Bosnia.
• Sanel Maric works with local youth with the non-profit Association Orhideja in Stolic, Bosnia.
• Rick writes about the symbolism of the historic bridge in Mostar.