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Indonesia, Philippines recognized as top 2024 travel destinations
The 31st World Travel Awards (WTA) Asia & Oceania Gala Ceremony, held in the Philippines on Sept. 3, honored destinations and businesses...
Ryan General
Thailand leads ASEAN in push for joint visa allowing easier travel
Thailand is leading a groundbreaking initiative to establish a joint-visa program among six ASEAN countries, aiming to boost tourism and eco...
Carl Samson
North Korea is reopening to foreign tourism
North Korea is reopening its borders to foreign tourists in December, starting with the northeastern city of Samjiyon. This marks the first ...
Food
Japan’s record drop in rice supplies blamed on tourism
Japanese government officials believe that a massive increase in tourism may be one of the reasons for the country’s decreasing rice stockpi...
Bryan Ke
Crime
This Asian city has been named safest in the world for travelers in 2024
Singapore has been named the safest city in the world for 2024, receiving a zero-out-of-100 score on Forbes Advisor’s recent travel insuranc...
Overtourism in Japan could mean extra taxes for visitors
Japan is experiencing a tourism surge fueled by a weak yen and pent-up demand. However, this influx is also leading to some environmental ch...
Japan
Japan sees record-breaking surge in foreign visitors
Japan welcomed a record-breaking surge in foreign visitors in March, marking the first time foreigners surpassed the 3-million mark in a sin...
Michelle De Pacina
Asian American History
Portland bus tour showing city’s anti-Asian, anti-Black past enters 16th year
A unique bus tour in Portland, Oregon, sheds light on the city’s dark past of housing discrimination against Asian and African Americans. Ke...
Music
South Korea to introduce ‘Hallyu visa’ for K-pop and K-drama fans
South Korea has unveiled plans to introduce a new visa catering specifically to fans of South Korean culture. About the Hallyu visa: South K...
China
Check out Yanjin, the world’s narrowest city
A city in China is courting tourists for its unique geographical feature of being sandwiched between two large mountains along a narrow rive...
Meet the Japanese pop ‘boy’ band consisting of men all over the age of 65
Japan has an all-senior-citizen male idol group who once helped promote a prefecture’s tourism industry. Key details: The five-member group,...
Environmental
Japan says Mount Fuji is being spoiled by overtourism
It’s uncontrollable and we fear that Mt Fuji will soon become so unattractive, nobody would want to climb it,” says a local offi...
Culture
Japanese store slams foreign tourists for ‘bad manners’
A Japanese store has put up a sign scolding foreign tourists for having “bad manners.” “Request for Foreign Customers”: The shop located in ...
News
Ad firm fired for featuring footage of other countries in Philippines tourism video
The Philippines’ Department of Tourism (DOT) recently fired the advertising firm that used videos of other countries for its controversial “...
Editorial Staff
Recent college grad from Illinois is thrown to her death by US man near German castle
A woman from Naperville, Illinois, traveling with a friend in Germany was assaulted and killed by a U.S. man last week, according to reports...
French tourist in Japan arrested for punching woman in the face
A French tourist was arrested for physically assaulting a woman in Roppongi, Japan. Charlie Evan, a 23-year-old French national, was arrest...
Economy
Japan approves plan for its first-ever casino as part of $13.5 billion resort
Japan approved the creation of its first-ever legal casino on Friday. Set to open on Osaka’s artificial Yumeshima island in fall 2029, the i...
Australia
Man accused of exposing himself, performing lewd acts in Melbourne beaches
Victoria police are looking for a man who allegedly exposed himself and performed lewd acts in front of multiple people at Melbourne, Austra...
China to fully reopen to foreign tourists after 3 years of COVID restrictions
China will reopen its borders to foreign tourists for the first time after three years of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. On Monday, China’s...
Hong Kong is giving away 135,000 free round-trip tickets to Southeast Asia residents
Hong Kong is offering 135,000 free airline tickets to residents of Southeast Asia as part of a campaign to stimulate tourism after COVID-19 ...
Taiwan announces plan to pay tourists to visit
Taiwan announced new incentives last week in an attempt to bring in 10 million tourists by 2025 after visitor numbers plummeted to below 900...
Ines Shin
Ghibli Park to add rideable Catbuses, ‘Princess Mononoke’ village and more
Visitors of Japan’s Ghibli Park can look forward to the addition of Catbuses and attractions from “Howl’s Moving Castle” a...
Isa Peralta
Hong Kong campaign to give away over 500,000 plane tickets in bid to revive tourism
Hong Kong is offering free airline tickets, spending vouchers and special events in their efforts to bring travelers back after COVID-19 tra...
Vietnamese tourist in Thailand reunited with his lost $194,000 Richard Mille watch
A Vietnamese tourist was able to retrieve his 6.5 million baht (approximately $194,000) Richard Mille watch after losing it in Thailand. The...
Travel
‘KLIA Karen’ goes viral for berating airline staff in Kuala Lumpur
A short clip of a foreign tourist berating an airline staff member at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) has gone viral on TikTok. U...
Iris Jung
Entertainment
Tickets for Japan’s Ghibli Park will soon be available via an official English website
International visitors will be able to purchase Ghibli Park tickets via an official English-language website at the start of 2023. Tickets w...
4 Malaysian tourists in Dublin beaten by group of teens in ‘racist attack’
Four Malaysian tourists were victims of an alleged “racist attack” in Dublin. According to a Facebook post by former newscaster ...
Chandler Treon
Government
Foreign tourists can still have sex outside marriage in Bali, governor says
Foreigners visiting Bali will not be affected by Indonesia’s new law against extramarital sex, according to officials. Last week, the coun...
Asia
12 Asian countries ranked in top 25 deadliest popular travel destinations
In a list by insurance comparison website The Swiftest of the 50 most visited countries ranked for their safety, 12 of the 25 deadliest des...
Business
$2 billion Taipei Twin Towers aims to boost tourism
Construction of the Taipei Twin Towers is now underway with an aim to revitalize the local tourist industry in Taiwan. Plans to build two ...
Khier Casino
Survey reveals Anti-Asian hate crimes in the US are scaring away Chinese travelers
A new survey of 1,000 mainland Chinese citizens found that a majority had “little to no interest” in U.S. travel. The biggest reasons all ...
Daniel Anderson
Thailand is fighting to save a lone tree on a small, uninhabited island from overtourism
A lone tree sitting on a small islet in Thailand has been severely damaged due to a rampant amount of tourists climbing the tree for selfie...
Rebecca Moon
Japanese airline chooses Vulpix for new flight to spark tourism to Hokkaido
A regional airline in Japan is launching a new Pokémon-themed passenger plane focusing on Vulpix and its ice-type form, Alolan Vulpix. Flyi...
South Korea’s tourism campaign with original soundtrack amasses over 240 million total views
South Korea’s latest tourism campaign “Feel the Rhythm of Korea” has gone viral with a total of over 240 million total views on YouTube. Th...
Oregon has been luring tourists with Studio Ghibli-style animated ads for years
A new video from a long-running tourism ad campaign contains the right blend of whimsy and pastel colors to make it seem like a teaser for a...
Lifestyle
Tourists Can Now Fly With ‘Kung Fu’ Moves at Attraction in Fujian, China
A tourist attraction site in Fujian Province, China is giving visitors a chance to experience flying kung fu. The tourist attraction, locate...
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