Travel in Britain

Over 80% of Indians have either had or are planning a destination wedding, a survey conducted by search aggregator Skyscanner showed. This preference is strongest among Gen Z, with about 50% of that group indicating that they are considering a destination wedding. This figure is 33% among Millennials. 

On a damp morning in Istanbul, I pay a visit to Zeyrek Çinili Hamam, a recently unveiled museum in a 500-year-old public bathhouse that once echoed with the chatter of the Ottoman middle class. Getting there involves zigzagging through the winding cobbled streets of Zeyrek, one of four UNESCO World Heritage sites in Istanbul. It was a holy place 1,000 years ago, during the Byzantine Empire, but these days it's uncharted territory for most Istanbulites. Few people are out: only the odd chain-smoking vegetable vendor and some meandering octogenarians doing their grocery shopping. The fall air smells faintly of raw meat, thanks to the butchers who have long populated the neighborhood. Trying to make sense of Google Maps on my phone, I almost collide with several men haphazardly carrying a sheep carcass from a van. I am lost. Or at least I think I am, until I realize that I've passed the hammam four or five times without noticing its domed roof.

Government officials in Sri Lanka announced that citizens from 35 countries—including the United States—will be granted visa-free entry into the Asian nation, according to the Times of India.

Travel research and events leader Phocuswright has released its Global Travel Market Report 2024, revealing an impressive 24 percent surge in 2023, with gross bookings reaching $1.5 trillion.

Amex GBT (American Express Global Business Travel) has become a giant since spinning out from American Express a decade ago. Last year, it helped employees at about 20,000 companies book $6.3 billion in travel transactions. It’s probably the largest travel management company by sales, though many competitors don’t disclose their financials publicly, making comparisons tricky.

Sri Lanka is set to launch a six-month pilot program on October 1, offering free 30-day tourist visas on arrival to citizens from 35 countries, including the U.S., UK, Russia, India and China. The initiative, which temporarily waives the typical $50 visa fee, aligns with the island nation’s peak travel season, lasting from December to mid-April. This move is part of a broader strategy to revitalize tourism, a sector crucial to Sri Lanka’s economy.

“I tell my friends that I'm now midcentury modern,” the New York–based fashion designer Phillip Lim quips about turning 50. “And like the furniture, hopefully better with age.” Joking aside, Lim, who launched his 3.1 Phillip Lim label in 2005 and now sells his signature clean-lined clothing in shops around the world, saw the landmark birthday as a chance to take stock. “I heard somewhere that, with 50, you get a second dawn. I took that to heart.”

By the time we reached the third waterfall on the Kahunira trail, my wife, Kiki, and I had been walking through the forested backcountry of Kiambu County, Kenya, for nearly three hours. Along the way, we had tasted sweet lady finger bananas in the market town of Githunguri, sipped a sour Kikuyu home brew called muratina proffered by laborers at a rural gravel quarry and made a heart-pounding shortcut across rust-flecked irrigation pipes that traversed a steep gorge fringed with tea plantations.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Scarlett Kiaras-Attari, a marketing executive and education content creator who moved to the UK for her studies. It has been edited for length and clarity.

British Airways is spending $9 billion to lift its reputation after years of slumping popularity.

Aug 23, 2024 • 7 min read

Travellers to Abu Dhabi's Zayed International Airport may soon be able to use facial recognition to check in for flights. 

Skift’s State of Travel 2024 report highlighted that the Middle East and Africa are seeing a surge in international tourism, driven largely by Saudi Arabia’s push in recent years.

China brought in over 17.25 million foreign tourists from January to July this year, a 130% increase compared to 2023, according to latest data from the National Immigration Administration (NIA). The influx is set to generate over CNY 100 billion ($14 billion) in consumer spending, with per capita daily spending nearing CNY 3,459 ($485).

Between Sri Lanka’s eight UNESCO world heritage sites, its thriving wildlife, and pristine white sand beaches, the “Pearl of the Indian Ocean” has enough glimmer for everyone—and now, visiting the South Asia island nation, located off the coast of India, is about to get easier (and cheaper) for travelers from 35 countries.

Nestled on Florida's west coast, Tampa's cruise port is situated on the bay, rather than directly on the Gulf of Mexico. Port Tampa Bay serves five cruise lines and offers a variety of sailings to destinations like the Caribbean, the Bahamas, Mexico and Central America.

Thousands of companies have traded in their big office spaces in favor of remote work. But team building is tough on Zoom and many are organizing regular in-person gatherings to bring employees together. 

The rapidly brightening sky was painted with swaths of orange, pink, and yellow. The early-morning light revealed a city that seemed to be little more than a patchwork of haphazardly planned mid-rise buildings in varying states of repair, punctuated with sprawling bushes, trees quivering in the morning breeze, and lawns sloping toward the nearby sea. The nocturnal beep-beep of tree frogs gave way to the insistent chirp of morning birds that rose from the trees to swoop across the sky like animated chevrons. As I watched the Senegalese sunrise on my first day in Africa, I was vibrating with anticipation. Dakar was waking up, and I was here to witness it.

Oman Air is replacing its first-class cabin for specific routes, joining a growing list of carriers to do so. The replacement is called “Business Studio” and will initially feature on London and Bangkok routes.

Cruise giant Carnival is about to add a new routing to its lineup of Panama Canal cruises — one that no line has ever offered before.

A cruise on the Mediterranean Sea aboard a superyacht was supposed to be a celebratory event for the British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, who was acquitted in June of fraud charges tied to the sale of his company, Autonomy, to the tech giant Hewlett-Packard.