tourism – News Stories About tourism - Page 13

Peru Swaps Backpackers
for Well-Heeled Tourists

TRAVEL

Apr 2, 2008 12:13 PM CDT

Peru Swaps Backpackers for Well-Heeled Tourists

Luxury tours aim for big bucks from the wealthy

(Newser) - Peru’s government hopes to carve a thick slice out of the world’s luxury travel market, aided by sumptuous trains with fancy oxygen enrichment systems and high-altitude 5-star hotels, reports Reuters. "It's not that we don't like backpackers," says the country's tourism minister, but with big...

Castro Lifts Hotel Ban for Cubans

Mar 31, 2008 3:03 PM CDT

Castro Lifts Hotel Ban for Cubans

Keeping tourist digs off-limits blasted as 'economic apartheid'

(Newser) - Raul Castro has lifted a ban on Cubans staying at hotels designated for foreign tourists, Reuters reports. The prohibition, which had been criticized as "economic apartheid," had frustrated many Cubans since the country was opened up to tourism in 1990. "Cubans can now stay at our hotels,...

SF Healthcare Tab Lands on Diners' Checks

Mar 19, 2008 5:45 PM CDT

SF Healthcare Tab Lands on Diners' Checks

Restaurateurs balk at measure to fund universal coverage

(Newser) - Sweeping new health care legislation requires all San Francisco businesses with more than 20 employees to contribute to their health insurance—and restaurant owners are suing over the new burden, the Los Angeles Times reports. Owners say the fees cut into already-low profit margins; diners, who are seeing some of...

Tourism Busts Pre-9/11 Record

Mar 11, 2008 3:00 AM CDT

Tourism Busts Pre-9/11 Record

57 million foreign visitors traveled to US

(Newser) - Nearly 57 million foreign tourists visited the US last year, pumping more than $123 billion into the economy, Reuters reports. It's the first time a tourism record has been broken since the 9/11 attacks staggered the industry. Some 17.7 million visitors traveled from Canada and 15 million from Mexico....

Photo of NYC Bomb
Suspect Released

Mar 9, 2008 7:44 AM CDT

Photo of NYC Bomb Suspect Released

$12,000 reward offered in attack on Times Square recruitment center

(Newser) - Police have released photos of a hooded cyclist suspected in the bombing of a military recruitment center in New York City's Times Square, CNN reports. The frame from a grainy surveillance video shows a person in a hoodie riding up Fifth Avenue, near the spot where the bicycle is believed...

New York
Loves Euros

Feb 25, 2008 11:35 AM CST

New York Loves Euros

Awash in tourists, Big Apple shops welcome stronger currency

(Newser) - Wander through the Big Apple these days and you’ll see signs like “Euros accepted!” and even “Euros Only.” The latter is a joke—dollars are accepted, as are British pounds—but many New York City merchants are more than willing to accept visitors' currency, the...

Cuba Takes a Swing at Golf

Feb 23, 2008 12:17 PM CST

Cuba Takes a Swing at Golf

The tiny Communist nation hopes tourists will come back to the island

(Newser) - Nearly a dozen tony golf-resort projects funded by Spanish, British, and Canadian consortiums are under way in Cuba as acting President Raul Castro tries to lure foreign tourists—and their cash—back to the struggling island nation by creating a new Caribbean golf destination, reports the Wall Street Journal. Castro...

US Recession May Imperil Global Tourism

Jan 29, 2008 6:12 PM CST

US Recession May Imperil Global Tourism

UN body predicts slower international travel growth in 2008

(Newser) - The number of international tourists could decrease this year if the US falls into a deep recession, but the UN is "cautiously optimistic" that 2008 will be the fifth straight year of growth, Reuters reports. After 2007's record 898 million tourist trips, a 6.2% jump over 2006, the...

Mexican Aid to Protect Monarchs

Nov 26, 2007 6:10 AM CST

Mexican Aid to Protect Monarchs

Calderon promises funds to stem illegal logging in butterflies' habitat

(Newser) - The famous migrating monarch butterflies have a new ally in Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who yesterday said he would devote $4.6 million more to the central Mexican reserve where the butterflies hibernate—and crack down on the illegal logging that threatens the insects' habitat. Calderon hopes the measure will...

Melting Alaska, Tourist Hot Spot

Nov 14, 2007 1:31 PM CST

Melting Alaska, Tourist Hot Spot

Visitors flock to see climate change first-hand

(Newser) - Tourists traditionally head to Alaska for cruises and fishing, but for a growing number, it’s a global warming pilgrimage. Heating up five times faster than anyplace else, Alaska has drawn politicians, scientists, and now tourists to see the melting future, the Christian Science Monitor reports. “This has immediate...

Canadians Invade US as Loonie Climbs

Oct 29, 2007 11:47 AM CDT

Canadians Invade US as Loonie Climbs

Exchange rate nears all-time high, sparking spending—and gloating

(Newser) - The commodity-heavy Canadian loonie rose above US$1.04 this morning—just short of its 1957 all-time high of $1.06—on news that Mexico would cut oil production 20%, reports the National Post. Now that the currency tables have turned, Canadian shoppers and vacationers couldn't be happier, the Guardian reports....

New Orleans Back in Swing

Oct 27, 2007 6:25 AM CDT

New Orleans Back in Swing

(Newser) - New Orleans remains a city very much in transition, but its fabled nightlife and cuisine have rebounded enough to more than warrant a trip to the Big Easy, says Travel & Leisure. Jazz and jumbalaya not enough? The city also has a wide range of "voluntourism" opportunites related to...

Dollar's Slide Softens Economy's

Oct 1, 2007 1:44 PM CDT

Dollar's Slide Softens Economy's

Increased exports offset housing market collapse

(Newser) - Even as the weakening US dollar has Americans dropping European vacation plans, some economists are finding a silver lining: A sudden upswing in exports that could help offset the tanking housing market. And while that jump was predictable, writes the Wall Street Journal, a limp greenback also works to slow...

Maldives Blast Injures
12 Tourists

Sep 29, 2007 2:38 PM CDT

Maldives Blast Injures 12 Tourists

British, Japanese and Chinese visitors hurt by homemade device

(Newser) - Twelve tourists are in the hospital after a homemade bomb exploded in the Maldives capital of Male. The bomb, which was detonated with a cell phone, a gas cylinder and a washing machine motor, is a first for the Maldives, a tranquil country. “We are taking this very seriously...

Possible Maddy Photo Surfaces

Sep 26, 2007 8:23 AM CDT

Possible Maddy Photo Surfaces

Tourist in Morocco snapped pic of blonde girl resembling the missing child

(Newser) - A Spaniard on holiday in Morocco has introduced the latest twist in the Madeleine McCann case: A blurry photo in which a similar-looking blond girl peeks around the woman carrying her on her back, almost as if to say "Help me." The photo, snapped at about 200 meters...

Tourism Heats Up as Arctic Does

Sep 24, 2007 8:22 AM CDT

Tourism Heats Up as Arctic Does

Travelers flock to see dwindling ice caps, speeding up their destruction

(Newser) - The effects of global warming are drawing a crowd. About 1.5 million people will visit the arctic this year, as climate tourists swarm to see the world’s ice caps as they are beginning to melt. But it’s an ironic endeavor, the Wall Street Journal notes, because eco-tourists...

Zut Alors!
Rude French Scaring Off Tourists

Sep 2, 2007 10:49 AM CDT

Zut Alors! Rude French Scaring Off Tourists

Sweeten up, official warns his compatriots

(Newser) - France to the French: Take it easy on foreigners. After the land of vin and fromage fell for the first time in years as the top traveling spot, the tourism bureau has issued guidelines about courtesy, the Guardian reports. “Our greatest handicap,” said a tourist official, “is...

Israelis Eye Building Islands

Aug 17, 2007 4:02 PM CDT

Israelis Eye Building Islands

Israel approves plans for new international airport on artificial island

(Newser) - The Israelis want to build artificial islands in the Mediterranean, off the coast of Tel Aviv, and put an international airport on one of them. It's been talked about, on and off, for more than a decade; the project has finally been deemed feasable by a planning committee. The panel’...

Don't Even Go There!

Aug 15, 2007 11:44 AM CDT

Don't Even Go There!

Don't fly away yet! That packaged deal may be too good to be true.

(Newser) - Before you pack your bags, check out Foreign Policy's list of the five most overhyped tourist locales:

Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt: Famous beach and diving locale actually tacky and overcrowded.
Ibiza, Spain: Hippy haven and hedonistic paradise turned into dirty and pricey hole.

Push to Reopen Liberty's Crown

Jun 27, 2007 1:27 PM CDT

Push to Reopen Liberty's Crown

House votes $1M to study reopening to visitors.

(Newser) - The House wants Lady Liberty's crown reopened to visitors intrepid enough to make the climb, and for the second year in a row has set aside $1 million for the National Park Service to figure out how to do it. Since 9-11 only the pedestal at her feet has been...