Tourism tips

Devastating floods that have killed hundreds of people and displaced tens of thousands more in East Africa are now inundating parts of the Masai Mara, one of Africa’s greatest wildlife national reserves.

Airbnb’s Brian Chesky has entered his next innovation era. He sat down with Skift this week at a product event in Los Angeles for a wide ranging interview on AI, loyalty programs, Airbnb for corporate travelers and his billion-dollar pay package. We also talked about the company’s launch of almost a dozen immersive, experience-based homes that they’re calling ‘Icons.’

Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky says a points-based loyalty program is not in the company’s future.

Europe is a cornucopia of travel wonders. But as trends change and consumer demand ebbs and flows, what's the current hot destination on the Continent?

The U.S. travel industry will see a full recovery in Chinese and Japanese tourism by 2026 — one year earlier than previously projected, according to the U.S. National and Travel Tourism Office’s latest annual forecast released Tuesday.

Depending on age and leisure time for traveling, when talking about gap years for “older generations” there are two basic types: adult gap years and golden gap years, also known as silver or middle-aged gap years, and gray or boomers gap years.

Radisson Hotel Group continues to intensify its efforts in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, aligning with the Saudi 2030 vision for hospitality. Building on a robust five-year expansion and transformation plan, the Group aims to establish itself as the preferred brand for owners, partners, and guests by strengthening its presence in major and secondary cities across the Kingdom.

The Philippines has already received over two million international visitors this month, the Department of Tourism (DOT) reported. The country’s tourism receipts from January 1 to March 31, 2024, have also accounted for around PHP157.62 billion, which translates to an estimated 120.70 percent recovery rate from the PHP130.59 billion revenue gained from the same period in 2019 or the milestone year for Philippine tourism before the global lockdowns and industry standstill.

After the devastation of back-to-back hurricanes in 2020, Lake Charles is now welcoming a wave of new developments that will redefine its tourism landscape. Several projects are slated to debut as early as this summer. PORT WONDER: Summer 2024

Luxury hospitality has always been image-based. But recent trends have created jarring distortions that make it hard for guests to understand reality. 

India’s largest bank State Bank of India (SBI) has launched its first-ever travel focused credit card. ‘SBI Card MILES’ has been launched in three variants to cater to different types of travelers, from beginners to frequent flyers. 

His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, has inaugurated the landmark Dubai Reef project with the launch of the pilot reef modules.

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is set to organise the PATA Destination Marketing Forum 2024 (PDMF 2024) at Dusit Thani Hua Hin in Cha-Am, Phetchaburi Province, Thailand, from November 12-14, 2024. The event is co-hosted by the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB),  Phetchaburi City and the Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (DASTA), with the support of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT)

World Sustainable Travel & Hospitality Awards (WSTHA) is calling on pioneers in sustainable travel to gain recognition for their work by entering its inaugural programme before 24 May.

Ryan Reynolds is Yas Island Abu Dhabi’s new chief island officer.

The Italian music icon Andrea Bocelli is set to perform in Qatar for the first-time in a concert organised by Visit Qatar. This year, Andrea Bocelli is coming to Qatar as part of his 30th year anniversary in the music industry tour. Andrea Bocelli has transformed the name of classical and pop music over the last 30 years. The tickets to his concert in Doha are now live and will be held on May 13 at Lusail Multipurpose Arena. The concert goers can expect an evening full of incredible classical and pop music, featuring Bocelli’s greatest hits. The tickets to Andrea Bocelli’s concert are on sale at https://tickets.virginmegastore.me/qa/music/23990/andrea-bocelli

Saudi is emerging as a wellness capital, with its diverse regions championing bespoke wellness experiences. Its awe-inspiring natural landscapes are the perfect backdrop to reset and restore travellers – think pristine waters, lush green mountains, fresh air, outdoor oases and rolling desert dunes, plus a boost of vitamin D to mark the end of winter.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) invites hotel operators and tourists to be a part of its ‘CF-Hotels’ initiative to help reduce the impacts of climate change.

When interest in ChatGPT exploded a year ago, a cottage industry arose of people asking it to perform tasks that have long been the province of experts—write a recipe, curate a wardrobe, and, of course, plan a trip—and then evaluate how well it had done. Generally, the results, while not disastrous, were mediocre. Ah, but ChatGPT is quickly going to get much better, Silicon Valley insists. Perhaps. But AI tools can rely only on the reams of data they’ve scraped from the Internet. So while they might, in the near future, be able to put together an itinerary as effectively as you could based on your own online research, they’ll never be able to deliver the kind of next-level journey a travel specialist can.

Hit and run tourism is everywhere on the news, with people bemoaning the bad behaviour of tourists converging on one picture or sculpture before rushing onto the next, or taking selfies in inappropriate locations and then moving on, leaving behind mounds of litter and noise. What's clear is that there are ways that tourists can be motivated to change their behavior and some traveler groups are trying to create consensus around what it actually means to visit a country.

TUI CEO Sebastian Ebel said recent protests in the Canary Islands are not about tourism, but rather about a shortage of housing and lack of regulation of online platforms like Airbnb.