Overnight stays by GCC visitors to Germany up 15% in 2023

As an NYC resident, I've lived in some cramped apartments. So, I'm intrigued by tiny homes because they tend to make good use of a small space.

After a remarkable development in travel & tourism, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are committed to build consistency across the region while remaining unique and authentic, as shown by Connecting Travel Insight Report 2024, powered by Mabrian travel intelligence.

In 1961, future West German chancellor Willy Brandt declared: “The sky above the Ruhr must be blue once more.” His words were greeted with what sounded like applause but was actually his audience falling off their chairs. Because the Ruhrpott, or Ruhrgebiet, an agglomeration of industrial cities that includes Gelsenkirchen (where England will play their opening match of the European Championship this summer), Dortmund (which hosts group matches as well as a semi-final), Essen and Duisburg was a place where the chimneys of the coal, iron and steel industries poked up above the smog like candles on a giant grey birthday cake. You were more likely to slip in unicorn droppings than breathe clean air in the Ruhrpott.

It’s on about our fifth Kölsch that we begin to get the idea of Cologne’s constitution. We are sitting in Päffgen, one of the traditional brewhouses that produce the pale yellow beer unique to the German city. It comes in small straight glasses (it loses its fizz quickly apparently) and each time one is emptied, another one is delivered by a waiter swinging a kranz, or circular tray, which appears to defy gravity. The process of replacement goes on until you place a beer mat on top of your glass to signal that you’ve had enough.

Whether it is the outstanding Renaissance monuments or authentic, regional cuisine, Italy’s appeal has long been far-reaching. As a country, it has never had to ‘hard sell’ itself to tourists, with the country being a perennial favourite destination for travellers. As well as having more UNESCO World Heritage sites than any other country (59 in total), its rich culture, architecture, art and beloved gastronomy is a source of inspiration for tourists across the world.

Lübeck – Queen of the Hanseatic League – has a fading charm and vulnerability absent from the likes of Berlin, Munich and Hamburg … and most of Germany. I loved my trip there, wandering the cobbled streets, climbing every brick gothic church tower – generally alone! Thomas Mann wrote the unbearably sad novel Buddenbrooks there, then fled to the US from nazism in 1939. The Tin Drum author Günter Grass lived and worked in Lübeck in later life. Visit their former houses, now museums, the Grass-Haus and the Buddenbrook Haus. A singular German city, full of history and significance.Martin Charlesworth

As you might guess from the title of Eugene Levy’s latest series — “The Reluctant Traveler” — he’s a guy who’s happy to stay put.

Jamaica has recorded an impressive 1.7 million visitors as of May 7 of this year. Based on preliminary data, the island recorded 1,016,185 stopover arrivals and over 700,000 cruise passengers, earning roughly US$1.8 billion in revenue. This represents a 4.6% increase in stopover arrivals and a 23% increase in cruise passengers compared to the same period in 2023.

Miral, the leading creator of immersive destinations and experiences in Abu Dhabi, announced record-breaking visitation numbers in 2023 across Yas Island and Saadiyat Island, witnessing an extraordinary surge in destination visits and setting a new benchmark. Revealed during Arabian Travel Market 2024, Yas Island recorded over 34 million visits, a rise of 38% compared to 2022, which recorded 24.9 million. Similarly, Saadiyat Island saw a 44% visitation growth compared to 2022.

Airline rage? Passengers being duct-taped to their seat? Arrests after landing? That is the state of much of air travel today – and it makes a lot of people yearn for the Golden Age of Travel – when Pan Am ruled the skies. And people actually dressed up for the occasion.

‘Do you ever get seasick?” Timm Schirmer, a 27-year-old DJ with a fabulous blond moustache, asks me shortly before we board the Techno Train. “When you’re dancing on the train it can feel like you’re at sea, because you can’t always see that you’re moving.” Worryingly, I have indeed spent many a past holiday retching on boats. But Timm’s question comes after I’ve paid €100 for a non-refundable ticket for what social media suggests is the most intense train ride in Europe. I knew it wouldn’t be plain sailing.

The Toy Story Hotel at Tokyo Disney Resort allows guests to feel like they are stepping into a larger-than-life land of toys, without the larger-than-life prices that can come with staying on Disney property.This spring, my family of three checked in to the 595-room hotel, which is located near Bay Station on the Tokyo Disney Resort Line, the resort's dedicated monorail line.