Tourism News

Airbnb is booming in Africa, but the first cracks in the success story are beginning to show – in hotels griping about the lack of regulations, and locals priced out of prime property. Can African cities avoid the side effects of the sharing economy that already blight more-developed markets?

Travel leaders are at least starting to admit there might be a problem with unmanaged mass tourism, but many are still in denial about the real reasons it has become such a big issue.

This week in tourism, cruise lines were busy. Celebrity Cruises is building a new luxury ship to sail the already expensive Galapagos, and Royal Caribbean is prioritizing new tech. We're more excited about facial recognition streamlining the boarding process than we are about virtual reality dining.

Travel warnings and alerts are important to many travelers, and any country that cares about tourism tries to avoid getting on such a list. But the U.S. State Department's list is often selective and political, and isn't an exhaustive list of places where travelers could face danger.

This week in tourism, we did a feature on Myanmar, specifically how travel companies are divided on how to cope and respond to the military's genocidal policies. Compared to cruise line earnings, it's a pretty dark story, but one that demands our attention.

Disney's $4 billion purchase of Lucasfilm and the Star Wars franchise five years ago is the deal that keeps on giving — and costing, given all the additional investment in store. The entertainment giant clearly sees a future full of big returns on that investment.

Officials have let U.S. hotel companies off the hook when making changes to U.S. Cuba travel policy. European and Caribbean companies, however, will likely feel the effect of new restrictions.

SeaWorld has not been able to turn its attendance slide around, and back-to-back hurricanes didn't help. But executives hope to address deeper perception issues — the buzz phrase that's been around for years now — with a new ad campaign.

We are not going to go as far as the part-of-the-problem or part-of-the-solution juxtaposition. But travel companies can decide whether to play it safe or get involved when it comes to atrocities and misguided policies breaking out all around. That's the debate and the dilemma.

Many travel brands were sweetening their deals for U.S. travelers last year to encourage them to take advantage of their dollars going further. The deals have remained pretty sweet this year, too, as countries like Canada and the UK are already reporting record U.S. visits.