tourism

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No Joke: Blondes Building Blonde Resort

Lithuanian firm wants fair-haired mecca in Maldives

(Newser) - Blonde ambition or blatant racism? That's the question surrounding a Lithuanian firm's plans to build a blonde resort in the Maldives. The property will be staffed, of course, by blondes—leaving locals to wonder if non-whites will be excluded, notes the BBC , "This is racist and should not be...

Italy Demands Apple Store Ditch 'Offensive' App

There's more to Italy than the Mafia

(Newser) - Italy is home to many things, but a sense of humor may not be one of them. The country's tourism minister is demanding that Apple bar the "offensive and unacceptable" What Country app from its store, and has instructed lawyers to take legal action against its creators. The app,...

Oprah's Trip to Cost Aussie Taxpayers $2.8M

Tourism boost will be worth it, ministers say

(Newser) - Oprah's bringing her audience to Australia —and the Aussie taxpayers will be footing a chokable chunk of the bill. The Australian government is contributing some $2.8 million toward the cost of bringing the Oprah Winfrey Show to the country later this year. Officials say the price is a...

Want to Visit the US? That'll Be $14, Please

Starting today, tourists from 36 countries charged fee

(Newser) - Starting today, visitors to the US will be required to pay what some are calling a “tourist tax.” Anyone entering the US without a visa will have to pay a whopping $14 to do so, Yahoo reports. The EU lamented this unbearable burden yesterday, calling it “inconsistent...

'Danger Tourism' Hits Violence-Plagued Mexico

Europeans pay for thrill of slum safaris

(Newser) - If spending your vacation lounging on a beach sounds boringly safe, Mexico's newest travel trend might be right up your alley. As the escalating violence of the Mexican drug war drives some tourists away, it's drawing others to danger tourism—for example, "safari" tours of a notorious Mexico City...

Rabid Bali Dogs Kill 78 at Tourist Hotspot

Island dangerously short of vaccine

(Newser) - At least 78 people have been killed over the last two years by bites from rabid dogs roaming Bali, a top tourist hotspot. The island is dangerously short of rabies vaccines for humans, and overwhelmed by more than 30,000 dog bites each year. Officials recently killed some 200,000...

Gulf Oil Sickens Hundreds of Florida Swimmers

Authorities are 'winging it' on water safety

(Newser) - Just when they thought it was safe to go back in the water, hundreds of swimmers reported feeling ill after braving the waves when Pensacola authorities lifted the "no swimming" flag. Local officials rejected EPA advice to close beaches and are instead relying on lifeguards to spot oil and...

Mexico Hires PR Firm
 Mexico Hires PR Firm 
MORE TO MEXICO THAN MURDER

Mexico Hires PR Firm

Prez wants to clean up bloody image

(Newser) - Mexico has launched a huge PR campaign to persuade the world that despite the headlines, there's much more to the country than massacres and grisly drug cartel slayings. Over 23,000 people have died in drug-related violence since 2006, which is scaring off tourists and investors. "We are hiring...

101 Places You Don't Need to Visit
 101 Places You 
 Don't Need to Visit 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

101 Places You Don't Need to Visit

Disneyland Paris is just too obvious

(Newser) - Had enough of all those lists of places to see before you die? Then check out 101 Places Not to See Before You Die, which focuses on “overhyped tourist sites" and the like. A sampling, courtesy of USA Today :
  • Ibiza: The Spanish party isle is a great place—"
...

Florida Ads Scrap Promise of 'Clear' Coasts

State has to retool pitch to tourists

(Newser) - Up until this week, the state of Florida tried to lure tourists with ads that promised pristine beaches under a logo of "Our Coast is Clear." Then the tarballs came. The state has scrapped the logo and retooled the message to something along the lines of: We have...

Boycotts Taking Toll on Arizona

Hotels suffer from immigration law protests

(Newser) - Fewer visitors are heading to Arizona, but not the way state lawmakers envisioned when they crafted their controversial immigration law. Arizona businesses, especially those in the tourism and hospitality trades, are starting to feel the pain of boycotts launched to protest the law. So many conventions have been canceled that...

Captors Free Americans Abducted in Yemen

Crackdown on kidnappers' relatives leads to quick release

(Newser) - The two Americans kidnapped yesterday near Sanaa, Yemen, have been freed, the Yemeni government tells Reuters . The captors were demanding the release of a jailed relative, but the government arrested numerous other family members to pressure the kidnappers to free the tourists, who are husband and wife. The government did...

Gulf States to BP: You Foot Our Tourism Ad Bill

The $20B Gulf Coast industry worried about summer

(Newser) - The environment and the fishing industry aren't the only ones losing big because of the Gulf oil spill: The $20 billion Gulf Coast tourism industry fears that the constant doom-and-gloom media coverage will decimate summer tourism in the region. That's why Mississippi, Florida, and Alabama are calling for BP to...

Arizona Boycott Targets Baseball, Tourism

Gov. 'disappointed' by call to action

(Newser) - People opposed to Arizona's tough new immigration law should stay away from Diamondbacks games and the Grand Canyon, say organizers of a national boycott of the controversial state. Tourists are being urged to avoid Arizona, and business groups are being told they should hold their conventions elsewhere, Reuters reports. The...

Mount Everest Is the New 'Brokeback'

Nepal wants to host your gay wedding— and honeymoon

(Newser) - Nepal—a country that that considered homosexuality a crime until 2007—now hopes to turn Mount Everest into gay wedding destination. The plan is part of a country-wide push to double the number of visitors in 2011. A typical itinerary might include sky-high nuptials and an elephant safari honeymoon, tourist...

North Korea Desperate for Tourist Dollars

Pressures South to drop ban on trips to Mount Kumgang resort

(Newser) - Things are going to get ugly unless South Korea allows its tourists to resume visiting scenic Mount Kumgang, North Korea warned yesterday. South Korea barred tours to the North Korean resort after border guards shot a woman dead on a beach in 2008. Pyongyang says it will take "extraordinary...

Swimming With Dolphins 'Traumatizes Them'

Harassed dolphins spend less time feeding, nurturing young

(Newser) - Zanzibar's dolphins are becoming incredibly stressed out by the steady stream of tourists swimming with them, British scientists say. The researchers found that dolphins become stressed when people swim close to them or touch them. The dolphins also become unsettled when tourists boats are around and spend less time resting,...

Jamaica Bets 'Jewmaican' Past Will Draw Tourists
 Jamaica Bets 'Jewmaican' 
 Past Will Draw Tourists 
JEWISH PIRATES DEPT.

Jamaica Bets 'Jewmaican' Past Will Draw Tourists

Today's population is small, but remnants abound; plus, Jewish pirates!

(Newser) - When the uninitiated look at Jamaica’s Jews, they might see a small but resilient community: around 200 faithful, an historic synagogue but no rabbi, few choices for kosher food. But if you’re the nation’s tourism director, you see a goldmine. Plans are afoot to launch a Jewish...

Deadly Luge Track Design Driven by Tourism
 Deadly Luge Track 
 Design Driven by Tourism 
VANCOUVER OLYMPICS

Deadly Luge Track Design Driven by Tourism

High-traffic location meant Whistler run had to be steep and narrow

(Newser) - The harrowing speed and difficult turns of the sliding track at the Vancouver Olympics that claimed a luger’s life last week are the result more of the bottom line than any premeditated design decision. Seeking to keep revenues up after the Games, officials located the track at tourist-friendly Whistler...

Sin City Seethes Over 2nd Obama Diss

Vegas defenders: This time sorry isn't good enough

(Newser) - When President Obama said yesterday that families saving for college shouldn't blow money in Vegas, it was the second time he'd singled out Sin City as an example of excessive spending—and his words came as salt in the wounds of a tourism-dependent city hit hard by the recession. "...

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