Remember last year’s Memorial Day travel jams? Chances are they will be much worse this year

Remember last year’s Memorial Day travel jams? Chances are they will be much worse this year

You didn’t think summer travel would be easy, did you? Highways and airports are likely to be jammed the next few days as Americans head out for Memorial Day weekend getaways and then return home. AAA predicts this will be the busiest start-of-summer weekend in nearly 20 years, with 43.8 million people expected to travel … Read more

No more cute snaps of Mt Fuji. A screen is up in a Japanese town to prevent tourist crowds

No more cute snaps of Mt Fuji. A screen is up in a Japanese town to prevent tourist crowds

TOKYO — Sorry, the screen is now up — no more snapping cute photos of Mount Fuji from a popular sidewalk spot in the Japanese town of Fujikawaguchiko. Known as a place that offers some of the best views of the iconic Japanese mountain, the town last month started erecting a large black screen on … Read more

From spring offensive to charm offensive: The Taliban are working to woo tourists to Afghanistan

From spring offensive to charm offensive: The Taliban are working to woo tourists to Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan — KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Around 30 men are crammed into a Kabul classroom, part of the debut student cohort at a Taliban-run institute training tourism and hospitality professionals. It’s a motley crew. One student is a model. Another is 17 and has no job history. The students vary in age, education level … Read more

Pope visits Venice to speak to artists and inmates and finds a city taxing day-trippers like him

Pope visits Venice to speak to artists and inmates and finds a city taxing day-trippers like him

VENICE, Italy — Venice has always been a place of contrasts, of breathtaking beauty and devastating fragility, where history, religion, art and nature have collided over the centuries to produce an otherworldly gem of a city. But even for a place that prides itself on its culture of unusual encounters, Pope Francis’ visit Sunday stands … Read more

Brazil again extends visa exemptions for US, Canada and Australia, this time until 2025

Brazil again extends visa exemptions for US, Canada and Australia, this time until 2025

Brazil’s government has extended exemptions to tourist visa requirements for citizens of the U.S., Australia and Canada until April 2025, extending a program aimed at boosting tourism that had been scheduled to end Wednesday RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil’s government extended exemptions to tourist visa requirements for citizens of the U.S., Australia and Canada until … Read more

Delta Air Lines posts a narrow Q1 profit and says travel demand remains strong despite flight scares

Delta Air Lines posts a narrow Q1 profit and says travel demand remains strong despite flight scares

Delta Air Lines eked out a narrow first-quarter profit and said Wednesday that demand for travel is strong heading into the summer-vacation season, with travelers seemingly unfazed by recent incidents in the industry that ranged from a panel blowing off a jetliner midflight flight to a tire falling off another plane during takeoff. Delta reported … Read more

Venice day-trippers will face steep fines if they fail to pay an access fee under a pilot program

Venice day-trippers will face steep fines if they fail to pay an access fee under a pilot program

MILAN — Day-trippers to the fabled canal city of Venice who fail to pay 5 euros ($5.43) to enter the lagoon city’s historic center during a time-limited pilot program launching later this month will face fines starting at 10 times the entrance fee, officials said Thursday. Venice announced last year it would launch the long-discussed … Read more

As international travel grows, so does US use of technology. A look at how it’s used at airports

As international travel grows, so does US use of technology. A look at how it’s used at airports

WASHINGTON — The Belgian family of four was on their fourth trip to the United States. They had been dreading the long line at passport control when they entered the country but had heard about a new app they could use to ease their way and decided to give it a shot. Within minutes, they … Read more

Evangelical Christians are fierce Israel supporters. Now they are visiting as war-time volunteers

Evangelical Christians are fierce Israel supporters. Now they are visiting as war-time volunteers

TEL AVIV, Israel — When Shawn Landis, an evangelical Christian from Pennsylvania, heard about the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel, he knew he would come to Israel to volunteer as soon as it was safe. Five months later, he was chopping vegetables in a Tel Aviv kitchen, preparing meals for Israeli soldiers. Evangelicals … Read more

Kyoto’s picturesque geisha district fights back against over-tourism with keep-out signs

Kyoto’s picturesque geisha district fights back against over-tourism with keep-out signs

TOKYO — Japan’s ancient capital of Kyoto, long a popular destination for tourists, is closing off some private-property alleys in its famous geisha district because of complaints about misbehaving visitors. Tourists crowd the narrow, quaint streets of the area called Gion, often following tour guides who show people around and lecture for long hours, local … Read more