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Norway is currently enjoying a newfound level of popularity amongst tourists. Spurred in part by “the Frozen effect” that has seen tourism rise sharply since Disney’s 2013 film Frozen, which was developed with the support of Norway’s tourism agency, some officials began warning that the country was experiencing “too much of a good thing”. Now a number of politicians are suggesting the implementation of a tourist tax to help local communities deal with the influx of visitors. Local Nordland party leaders of the Socialist Left Party, the Christian Democrats, the Liberals and the Red Party have backed a new tourist...

Whether you crave culture, adventure, or simply kicking back on a beach with a cold cocktail, at least one of these islands is sure to be an ideal destination.  And should you be willing to spend time in the air in order to land near the sea, all the better: this year, three of the top 10 islands in the world — as decided by Travel + Leisure readers — are in Asia. No matter that reaching them requires a generous commitment, fiscally and temporally. For the second year in a row, the Philippine paradise Palawan wins first place...

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NEW YORK — Last winter, the U.S. tourism industry fretted that Trump administration policies might lead to a “Trump slump” in travel. But those fears may have been premature. International arrivals and travel-related spending are up in 2017 compared with the same period in 2016. There might even be a “Trump bump,” says Roger Dow, CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, a nonprofit representing the travel industry....

Full Title: Jihadi first befriended, CHATTED with 2 German tourists before PULLING OUT MACHETE and slaughtering them Abdel-Rahman Shaaban was moderate … and then he wasn’t. One moment, he is the West’s dreamy idea of Muslim immigration, the next, reality. “Stay back, I am not after Egyptians,” Shaaban shouted in Arabic at his pursuers, according to the officials. No, he was after non-Muslim Westerners. Speaking perfect Germans to his German infidel victims, he explained (in Arabic) to his pursuers not to worry, he was after the kufar. EGYPTIAN FIRST SAT, SPOKE WITH 2 GERMAN VICTIMS BEFORE ATTACKING THEM THE EGYPTIAN...

Just as summer is ramping up, Myrtle Beach, a top South Carolina summer destination, is dealing with a flurry of violence that has city and state officials scrambling to calm worried visitors and residents. In the city's most prominent incident, at least seven people were injured in a June 18 shooting that was live-streamed on Facebook. That shooting -- and two others that weekend -- followed six over the Easter holidays in April. The violence prompted South Carolina's Republican Gov. Henry McMaster to visit the city not long after and order steps to beef up security, such as bringing in...

A couple of years ago, many of my local friends were curious about traveling to Cuba. They seemed fascinated by the idea of traveling to an island isolated from reality for 50-plus years. I would often hear this expression: "I want to see it for myself." Some of my friends went, and others never got to go. The ones who went all seem to be singing the same tune: "Beautiful beach, okay hotel, but the internet does not work and the people are not happy." We learned today via the Miami Herald that Southwest Airlines is canceling flights to Cuba:...

6,000 tourists visit the White House Tourist Center every day. As the seat of the executive branch of the U.S. Federal Government, it is not hard to understand why 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is such a popular attraction. However, very few of those 6,000 tourists get to see the West Wing, but last month four lucky Alabamians took the tour of a lifetime through the nucleus of the President’s home. Riley Roby, the husband of Rep. Martha Roby, invited Donna Horne, Chairman of Pike County’s Republican Party; Elaine Ridenour, Secretary of the Alabama Republican Party; and Sue Neuwien, Second Congressional District...

You don't hear too many tourists coming to the United States to shoot firearms. But it is a fact according to the U.S. Travel/Trade, its in many of the wealthy Chinese tourists buckets of things to do in the U.S. In China, you cannot own a firearm, air rifle or even a toy gun. Having a toy gun can land you some jail time. Which obviously has created an odd tourism opportunity here. Enter Dickson Wong, who is a marksman with a deep interest in firearms. He arranges tours for groups of chinese tourists who are gun enthusiasts to travel...

BEIJING, China — Slapping import bans on products like mangoes, coal and salmon has long been China’s way of punishing countries that refuse to toe its political line. But Beijing has shown that it can also hurt others by cutting a lucrative Chinese export: tourists who normally flock to South Korea or Taiwan. China’s recent boycott of South Korea over a US anti-missile shield on the Korean peninsula signals a growing aggression in the way it flexes its economic muscles, analysts say. Beijing has banned Chinese tour groups from going to the South, hammering its tourist market and the duty-free...

Foreign refugees are continuing to flee the U.S. to Canada through the open, U.S.-Canadian Border. In a report by NBC News, foreign refugees are passing through the U.S. to Canada, specifically a small border town of less than 700 people known as Emerson. The vast majority of the refugees are of Somali descent who were originally placed in the U.S. Other refugees passing through the northern border are from Nigeria, Eritrea, and Djibouti. According to NBC, since January, more than 300 foreign refugees have crossed the U.S. border into Emerson.

President Trump's Religious Liberty executive order, like many of his orders, set out good general principles. The principles, e.g. "It shall be the policy of the executive branch to vigorously enforce Federal law's robust protections for religious freedom" are good. The actual legal authority is limited. It's a good start for a much broader program. The order largely takes on the Johnson Amendment. But as a practical matter, that needs to be repealed by Congress. And it should find its way to the agenda. President Trump can try to limit its enforcement, but as long as it's there, it's a...

<p>A flash of excitement about travel to Cuba after the country opened its borders to the U.S. in 2016 for the first time in decades may have lost some of its shine.</p> <p>Americans are less interested in travel to Cuba this year than they were in 2016, a survey from insurance provider Allianz Global Assistance found. Some 76% of the 1,514 respondents said they were not likely to plan a trip to Cuba in 2017 compared to 70% in 2016. Only 2% of those surveyed planned to visit Cuba in the next six months or by the end of 2017, the same as 2016 despite a projected increase in travelers from the country’s ministry of tourism. It also found that 60% of Americans said “would not like to travel to Cuba” compared to just 58% in 2016.</p>

In another move to free up domestic energy supplies, President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday aimed at lifting the Obama administration’s offshore drilling restrictions.For decades, bad policies have blocked access to America’s abundance of domestic resources, yet America has still managed to be a global energy leader. Trump’s executive order, “Implementing an America-First Offshore Energy Strategy,” could unleash further success in the energy sector.The economic potential sitting just off America’s coasts is enormous. The Outer Continental Shelf is awash with natural resources, containing an estimated 86 billion barrels of oil and 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.Realizing...

Airlines all have their own uniforms for flight attendants, but those uniforms were never a reason customers choose to fly a particular airline…until now. VietJet, a regional airline in Vietnam, has its young flight attendants dress in corporate colored bikinis, and that marketing gimmick has helped the company’s CEO, Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, become the country’s first self-made female billionaire. Bloomberg reports, “With the initial public offering of Vietnam’s only privately-owned airline, Thao is set to have a net worth exceeding $1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, making her the country’s first woman billionaire.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1Ia1fLc8hw

One state may be getting wise to the fact that government-funded tourism promotion is a bad bet for taxpayers and do away with two state agencies tasked with economic development and tourism promotion. Recently, Florida House’s Careers and Competition subcommittee voted in favor of a bill that would end Visit Florida and Enterprise Florida. Those government entities are similar to the Pure Michigan advertising campaign and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, respectively. Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s Michael LaFaive, who co-authored a study last year examining the efficacy of state-funded tourism promotion, told the Naples Daily News that Florida doesn’t...

Washington’s Japanese cherry trees are expected to be at peak bloom between March 14-17, the National Park Service announced Wednesday.

Paris and the surrounding region lost 1.5 million tourists on 2016 as visitors, especially from the Far East, stay away due to ongoing terror fears. According to the Comité Regional du Tourisme, the Paris Ile-de-France region also lost 1.3 billion euros in tourist income, while the number of nights spent by foreign visitors in the region’s hotels also fell by 10.8 per cent. Some sights in particular “have suffered deeply from the lack of tourists and cancellations by school groups”, the committee says, including the Arc de triomphe which saw a 24 per cent drop in visitors. The Louvre museum,...

Tourism in the greater Paris region Île-de-France has been hit hard by terror fears, the latest figures show. But it’s turning around. “In total, in 2016, hotel owners in Île-de-France welcomed 1.5 million fewer French and international tourists compared to 2015,” the Regional Tourism Committee reported on Tuesday. While the average number of tourists visiting the region has only decreased by 0.8 percent, the drop was particularly sharp among some countries more than others. There were 21.5 percent fewer Chinese tourists setting down their suitcases in the Paris region, and 41.2 percent fewer tourists from Japan checking in to hotels...

The president gets to live there, but the White House actually belongs to the American people and starting March 7, they can start to take tours for the first time during Donald Trump's presidency. First lady Melania Trump said in a statement Tuesday she's looking forward to welcoming visitors. "I am excited to reopen the White House to the hundreds of thousands of visitors who come each year. The White House is a remarkable and historic site and we are excited to share its beauty and history. I am committed to the restoration and preservation of our Nation's most recognizable...