Cuba Looks to Russian Tourists to Revive Ailing Tourism Sector

Just 18 months after Thailand opened the floodgates by legalising cannabis, the country’s new conservative coalition government is seeking to slam them shut.

About 100 Russians flew to North Korea on Friday for a private tour, becoming the first foreign group to visit the reclusive state following the Covid-19 pandemic in a landmark trip summed up by the Russian embassy as “Pyongyang opens its door.”

Dubai recorded its highest ever annual tourist arrivals in 2023, attracting 17.15 million international overnight visitors over the course of the year. The previous record stood at 16.73 million visitors registered in 2019. The data published by Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) showed that 2023’s visitor numbers represented a 19.4 per cent year-on-year growth over the 14.36 million tourist arrivals in 2022.

Dubai is one of Marriott’s largest markets for branded residences outside the U.S. – an upmarket segment of real estate that has boomed over the past decade. Today, Marriott has nine branded residences in Dubai, as well as two more in Ras Al Khaimah and a string of ultra-expensive Bulgari properties.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, January 31. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Europe may not see a tourism comeback from one of its key source markets: China. Chinese interest in traveling to Europe has dropped, according to a survey released Tuesday by the European Travel Commission.

Geotourist and the West Africa Tourism Organisation (WATO) are partnering in a revolutionary data initiative to generate visitor data insights that are not currently achievable in the region. The initiative will be rolled out across 19 different countries,including:

From the protection of its coral reefs, mangroves to the unmissable marine life (where they hope to gain 30% of biodiversity by 2040), it is also home to some of the most important environmental ecosystems.

Plans are in full force for the highly anticipated second staging of the Global Tourism Resilience Conference in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Taking place over a two-day period, the Global Tourism Resilience Conference will include panel discussions, networking opportunities, presentations and lively debates on matters of building resilience in tourism. This group of experts in their collective fields will gather to collaboratively discuss issues that are central to future-proofing travel and tourism to various disruptions moving forward. Global tourism resilience will once again take centre stage with key experts on building resilience in the industry. As tourism destinations continue to recover, it is critical that   tenacity is a focus of planning and development to future proof the industry from any potential shock,” said Founder of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC) and Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett.

Based on its inspection of the first 40 of more than 170 jets, the Federal Aviation Administration appears ready to allow the Boeing 737 Max 9 back in the air.

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My hometown — Victoria, British Columbia — is a popular tourist destination known for its whimsical architecture, beautiful gardens, and horse-drawn carriages.