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Court looks at pub's open shutter case  

IN A move residents fear will push more antisocial and violent behaviour on to the streets, the Coogee Bay Hotel - one of Sydney's biggest pubs - plans to replace the tinted windows in its ground floor bars with bi-fold shutters opening to the beach- front and Coogee Bay Road.

Smokers will now be able to linger longer on the street, chat to their mates sitting by the window, be passed a beer or two, and watch the big game on the hotel's giant TV screens.

This year the hotel has been nominated by the Australian Hotels Association for an award for outstanding community service, despite ranking second on a police list of the number of assaults

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• Smoking ban ensures a healthy Games 

the city's municipal government is also making efforts to ensure a healthy Games by prohibiting smoking in public areas.

The regulation was enacted to meet requirements from the World Health Organization (WHO).

In a 2004 meeting with Premier Wen Jiabao in Beijing, former WHO Director-General Dr. Lee Jong-wook said it was his hope that all athletes and spectators coming to the Beijing Games have a smoke-free environment at the competition venues.

Premier Wen agreed, noting that a smoking-free Olympic Games is in line with the Olympic spirit, and would further enhance tobacco control in Beijing.

Health authorities in Beijing banned smoking in public areas beginning on May 1. . . .

To meet the regulation, a total of 6,700 no smoking signs were place at all Olympic sports venues.

To create a smoke-free dining environment, the Beijing Health Bureau and other organizations issued a regulation requiring no-smoking areas in the city's 40,000 restaurants in February 2007. . . .

Another no-smoking campaign requires medical organizations to take the lead to turn hospitals into a no-smoking environment, then promote the initiative to all of society.

The Beijing Health Bureau has formulated six standards for smoke-free hospitals. . . .

From April to June in 2008, a total of 165 reports on smoking control appeared in the news media.

Posters to promote tobacco control were placed in many communities in Beijing. . . .

The Beijing Health Bureau has also strengthened cooperation with WHO and other international organizations to enhance the tobacco control task in the city.

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5 W.Va. park lodges to become smoke free in 2009 

Five out of West Virginia's eight state-run park lodges are expected to be completely smoke free next year, a move that follows a trend in the nation's hospitality industry.

The initiative is "customer driven," says Blair Taylor, the lodge and resort parks administrator with the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources.

Smoking rooms are always the last to fill up and even some smokers are reluctant to book smoking rooms because of the lingering odor, he said. . . .

National hotel chains such as Westin and Marriott say they've been praised by guests since they decided to go completely smoke free two years ago.

State park guests will benefit greatly from West Virginia's decision to follow the trend, said Bruce Adkins, director of the state Division of Tobacco Prevention.

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Hotel owner prosecuted for smoking on her own premises 

Patricia Coupeland was given a 12 month conditional discharge by Blackpool magistrates after she admitted smoking on a smoke-free premises.

Ms Coupeland, 50, of the Cheers Hotel in Blackpool, told a court the hotel was closed at the time and not taking in guests.

She said: "I was in the dining room doing my paperwork and having a cigarette. It was closed as a hotel at the time and was therefore my private home. There were no guests. I only had a friend stay. The health officer came across as vicious and a person with attitude."

Victoria Cartmell, prosecuting for Blackpool Council, told the court that on February 1 environmental health officer Alan Taylor arrived at the hotel to carry out a hygiene inspection. . . .

"The defendant confirmed it was a smoke-free hotel, but said it was her own home and she was free to smoke in her own home.

"The officer said smoking in her private quarters was okay, but not in the bar."

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• Hotels use anti-smoking laws to build outdoor gaming rooms 

IN the long, dark gaming room of Sydney's Epping Hotel, barely a sliver of light can be seen through the wall of "louvres" that separates a row of poker machines from the outside world.

But this is one of a growing number of NSW hotels taking advantage of unclear anti-smoking laws to build these so-called outdoor gaming rooms.

Anti-smoking groups have blamed what they say are inadequate laws for a rise in the number of outdoor gaming areas in the state's pubs and clubs.

"These are rooms full of poker machines that are very much more indoors than out with opening slats and extremely creative use of louvres," Smoke Free Australia co-ordinator Stafford Sanders said.

"The whole things is a shambles and a recipe for evasion."

Hotels following the trend include the Collingwood Hotel at Liverpool, the Hornsby Inn, the Bayview Tavern at Gladesville, the Bondi Hotel and the Ritz Hotel at Hurstville.

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'Two years of pain after smoking bans'  

An international study showing smoking bans in restaurants, bars and nightclubs have no financial impact on businesses is flawed, according to a Queensland industry group.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) released a report today and found public smoking bans are effective and largely pain-free, after examining more than 900 studies and government research.

The group concluded that smoke-free policies implemented in bars and restaurants have no impact on business activity.

The results are in contrast to Queensland Hotels Association figures, which show an average seven per cent downturn in revenue during 2006 - the first year of smoking bans in Queensland.

Association chief executive Justin O'Connor said businesses had struggled financially as a direct result of smoking bans.

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Two years of pain after smoking bans: hotels  

An international study showing smoking bans in restaurants, bars and nightclubs have no financial impact on businesses is flawed, according to a Queensland industry group.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) released a report today and found public smoking bans are effective and largely pain-free, after examining more than 900 studies and government research.

The group concluded that smoke-free policies implemented in bars and restaurants have no impact on business activity.

The results are in contrast to Queensland Hotels Association figures, which show an average seven per cent downturn in revenue during 2006 - the first year of smoking bans in Queensland.

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Niue seeks NZ help to ban smoking  

Health authorities in the tiny South Pacific nation of Niue want New Zealand and Australia's help as the country moves to become one of the world's first to ban smoking.

New laws mooted in the country would ban the sale of cigarettes and smoking in all public areas, including inside private homes, which are considered public by lawmakers.

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• Kenyan smoking ban due to take effect: official 

A new law banning smoking in public places and regulating the sale of tobacco products in Kenya is due to take effect nationwide within hours, an official said Monday.

Public Health Minister Charity Ngilu said the Tobacco Control Act, passed in August 2007 but given a nine-month implementation period prior to Tuesday's passing into law, is aimed at protecting public health.

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Rude traveling salespeople evicted from Minn. hotel  

MOORHEAD, Minn. (AP) -- About 40 traveling salespeople were thrown out of a hotel for "very, very rude behavior," a motel manager said.

The salespeople, mostly in their mid-20s, were peddling cleaning supplies, but they sure left behind a mess, said Derek Crockett, front desk manager at the AmericInn Lodge & Suites.

Crockett's staff began getting complaints about the guests less than two hours after they checked in Monday night. The guests were drinking, partying and smoking in nonsmoking rooms, he said.

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Major Hawaii Hotels Strike Up New Smoking Ban Policy 

Hawaii hotels are hitting smokers hard in their wallets when it comes to lighting up where they shouldn't and many couldn't be happier about this tougher stance on smokers. . . .

Many major hotels are happy about setting smoke restrictions.

"Hawaii is about fragrance and aromas as it is about anything and to have the smoke drift through, that it's never been an attractive addition," said Barry Wallace with Outrigger Hotels.

You can still smell smoke in the air in Waikiki, there are about two dozen hotels here that allow some smoking, either in the rooms or on property, and smoking is still allowed at the beach.

But a number of hotel chains, like the Outrigger, have gone completely smoke-free for their guests.

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Hawaii Hotel & Condominium Smoking Policies, from Travel Hawaii 

Hawaii Hotel & Condominium Smoking Policies, from Travel Hawaii In November of 2006, the state of Hawaii instituted a strict new smoking law. As a result, many Hawaii hotels declared all of their guest rooms to be smoke-free. This has been a boon to non-smokers, of course, who no longer have to enter a hotel room with that telltale odor of "smokers past" lingering in the air. However, smokers aren't happy with such policies, as they won't be able to stay at smoke-free hotels unless they stash their habit for the length of their stay, or only smoke "off premises" or in designated areas, which are usually outside any public area in the hotel, e.g. places like parking lots and other outside areas that are at least 20 feet from any doors or windows.

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• Hawaii hotels fining smoking scofflaws 

Smokers who light up in a non-smoking hotel room in Hawai'i may may find themselves paying several hundred dollars more for the room cleanup.

Travel Hawaii, a Hawai'i-based Internet retailer, has set up a database -- www.travel-Hawaii.com/smoking.html -- that details the smoking policies of hotels throughout the state.

Travel Hawaii owner John Lindelow said his company updates the information as policies shift. "This is a rapidly changing area of hotel policy, so we make a lot of phone calls to stay on top of what the hotels are doing," he said.

So far, the top charge goes to Aqua Palms & Spa in Waikiki, with a $500 fee to clean a smoke-free room there.

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Smoke-free life begins in Turkey as of today 

The designated smoking areas in buildings where they are allowed must be isolated from the rest of the building under the new law. This standard is defined as complete isolation of tobacco smoke and odor from the rest of the building. The smoking areas must also have a ventilation system and the area must be enclosed all sides. There will be warnings about the harm of smoking on the walls of smoking zones and clear signage on the doors showing that they are designated smoking areas. People under the age of 18 will not be allowed entry to these zones.

The law also introduces the smoking ban in restaurants, cafeterias and coffeehouses; however, this particular article will not go into effect until July 19, 2009. But, if these places share a space with trade centers, cinemas, airports, bus terminals, sports and entertainment centers or shopping malls, which are not allowed to have designated smoking areas, then they, too, will be subject to the ban beginning today.

The ban also affects hotels

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Enterprise Inns hit by smoking ban 

Pre-tax profit at Enterprise Inns fell by a third in the six months to the end of March as the smoking ban and pressure on consumer spending continued to weigh on business.

The company, which warned in January that pub companies were experiencing one of their toughest periods for many years, said trading was likely to stay tough.

Ted Tuppen, chief executive, said: “A number of pubgoers are smokers, and some of those people have decided to go less often. Consumers are also facing rising costs and that means they have less money to spend.”

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