Tourism News

The new Los Angeles Times venture is yet another example of a journalistic organization looking to tourism to save the day. Beyond expanding revenues, the trips offer an extra benefit to star reporters — "free" travel.

We won't call it a Trump bump but we do see some kind of increase occurring in international visitor spending so far this year. But spending seems to be down since February. The Summer travel season should provide more clarity.

The stage has been set for a showdown in October that will have serious ramifications for the U.S. travel industry.

Mayors have power to dictate how a city positions itself for tourism. Orlando and Birmingham's stories are ones where the mayors entered office admitting their cities weren't being smart about tourism and they improved their marketing strategies from there.

This week in tourism news, we dove deep into meetings and events. What does the keynote speaker of the future look like, and how can conference planners leverage such an asset?

SeaWorld has been trying hard to assure shareholders that it is moving beyond the controversy and financial woes that followed the Blackfish documentary. This investigation — whatever it entails and however it turns out — is a major setback.

The Cayman Islands feels its new meal-kit campaign is new and exciting, and in many ways it is. It's refreshing to see a tourism board take a novel approach to reaching consumers and there will be a lot to learn in how consumers will respond.

There's good and bad in this report. Spending will continue, of course, but it is shifting into new markets and leaving some legacy markets in the lurch.

Skift's data show many U.S. adults weren't planning an international trip this year even with a stronger dollar, but for those who were a more favorable exchange rate largely wasn't a make-it-or-break-it factor in the decision process.

Breaking news on Trump's Cuba policies dominated this week's tourism coverage. Earlier this week, Trump suffered a loss as his travel ban remains blocked by a U.S. Court of Appeals, but he plans to get his way in Cuba by restricting travel.