Tourism News

After three decades of fast growth, Dubai needs to shift its reputation toward a more authentic and culturally-infused destination experience, using local and visitor crowdsourced content.

Illinois' Republican Governor Bruce Rauner needs to put aside political horse trading and release the funds for Choose Chicago's tourism promotion efforts that drive Chicago's visitor economy and job growth.

Portland's indie spirit is paying dividends to help position the city in the global travel market as a place where creativity and innovation is valued and fostered to help connect visitors and locals.

Chinese travelers will increasingly search for local, authentic products to snag during overseas trips as they become more independent and forgo escorted shopping tours, many intending to spend whatever it takes to bring home souvenirs with great stories.

Chinese consumers want to cruise in Asia, and cruise lines are jockeying to meet the demand. If the Asia experiment doesn't work out, lines can send their ships back to high-demand regions like the Caribbean and Mediterranean.

Leisure and business markets will remain equally important to any travel brand that takes on virtual reality but Visit St. Petersburg/Clearwater's plan to virtually bring its meetings and sports venues to business audiences far and wide is an experiment that's very promising.

These are the tourism trends we were talking about this week.

There's plenty for Europeans to see in their own countries and some non-EU currencies becoming more unfavorable to Europeans, such as the U.S. Dollar, makes choosing a European vacation even more ideal.

Young Chinese travelers increasingly want to connect with their adventurous sides as that market matures, but they're also bungee jumping, luging, and skiing to show-off cool photos on their social media profiles to prove they deserve attention and respect.

The notion of tapping into the rhythm of local life is a big part of what luxury consumers are looking for to separate their experience from all the others.