For those of us still trapped firmly in the chilly, sloshy, sleet-filled embrace that is this miserable winter, vacation sounds like just an exotic dream. While you’re painting your daydream pictures for the time when you can finally take off, there are some fast-growing tourism industries out there getting more popular with visitors. [More]
4 Vacation Destinations We’d Rather Be Visiting Than Great-Uncle Jerrold’s Doll Museum
By March 26, 2013
British Couple Rewarded For Being 50 Millionth Visitors To New York City In 2011
By December 21, 2011
Tourism can be seen as a reward on its own — you travel somewhere new, see some sights, take home a snow globe (not in your carry-on, of course). But in the case of one couple from England, they were given an actual prize just for being the 50 millionth visitors to New York City. [More]
Japan Proposes Offering 10,000 Free Round-Trip Tickets To Boost Tourism
By October 11, 2011
In order to boost flagging tourism after the nuclear disaster, earthquakes and tsunami, the Japan Tourism Agency has proposed a bold plan. They’re going to give away 10,000 free round-trip tickets. [More]
U.S. Hoping Chinese People Will Travel Here To Buy Products Made There
By October 3, 2011
With a large number of Americans still feeling the sting of the economic doldrums, the U.S. is banking on a hope that tourists from China will come to this country and spend money on products that were probably made in China. [More]
Woman Says Donald Duck Groped Her
By August 16, 2010
Did Disney’s eternally overreacting duck mascot put the moves on a woman visiting Epcot Center a couple of years ago? That’s what the woman claims happened; in her lawsuit, she says a park employee dressed as Donald Duck grabbed her breast and molested her, “then made gestures making a joke indicating he had done something wrong.” She’s asking for $50,000. [More]
Government Wipes Out Geese Population In Brooklyn To Ensure Airplane Safety
By July 13, 2010
In what has come to be known as “Sully’s Revenge” (by me, just now), wildlife biologists herded about 400 geese from Brooklyn’s ginormous Prospect Park into cages last week, then “took them to a nearby building where they were gassed with lethal doses of carbon dioxide.” [More]
Whoops: New Florida Airport Opens 100 Miles Away From The Oil Spill
By May 23, 2010
Bad timing. A new international airport opens up in Panama City, Florida today — only 100 miles away from the notorious BP oil spill off the coast of Louisiana. Instead of celebrating, the area’s visitor’s bureau is trying to convince tourists that the water is still clean. [More]
How Far Can You Get On $10?
By April 19, 2010
Earlier this month, CNN asked readers to see how far they could stretch $10. A lot of people chose unusual purchases or silly things, but there were some good ideas for tightwads too. [More]
Visit NYC, Eat Breast-Milk Cheese
By March 9, 2010
If you want to try human breast-milk cheese, make sure you stop in at Klee Brasserie in New York City the next time you visit. It’s made from the chef’s own wife, and he tells the New York Post, “It tastes like cow’s-mik cheese, kind of sweet,” and changes flavor depending on “what the mother eats.” His wife says, “The breast is there to make food.” Maybe, but I’m thinking this is a good way to shave a little off the cheese budget. [More]
Coming To Nevada Brothels In 2010: Male Prostitutes
By December 14, 2009
If you’ve always skipped the brothels while in Nevada because they didn’t offer the kind of companionship you’re looking for, Merry Christmas! On Friday, the Nevada Board of Health changed its health code so that male sex workers can be tested regularly for STDs, which means starting next year men can sell sexual favors alongside the women working at the Shady Lady Ranch. [More]
Las Vegas Builders Say No More New Casinos For The Next Decade
By October 6, 2009
We hope you like the current casinos in Las Vegas, because that’s what you can look forward to for the next 10 years or so. No newly built Mount Rushmore facade, no Mini Grand Canyon indoor shopping avenue, no Godzilla-shaped hotel—nothing new to delight the vulgar parts of your optic nerve. The Wall Street Journal says after a decade in which casinos spent more than $30 billion on expansions, they’re now going to pay off debt and focus on “branding, marketing and customer loyalty.”
Danish Government Promotes Unwanted Pregnancies, Tourism
By September 16, 2009
Here’s another one for the apology pile: the Danish government is apparently very, very sorry for creating one of the most bizarre tourism campaigns ever. VisitDenmark, which promotes tourism, created a fake website for a pretty young mom who got drunk one night, had sex with a stranger, ended up with a baby, then made an internet video to find the father. The story was purely a hoax—the young woman, an actor; the baby, not hers—and many people sucked in by the sad tale are now pissed off.
Don't Bother Visiting The Grand Canyon Skywalk
By August 27, 2009
Update: We asked the Skywalk to confirm that they have a “no-refunds” policy. Their answer is at the bottom of this post.
Don't Bother Visiting These Tourist Attractions
By August 19, 2009
Andrew Harper at Yahoo!’s travel site has published a list of U.S. tourist destinations that aren’t worth the time it would take to tromple* through them on your way to the gift shop. We’re disappointed he left Seattle’s Pike Place off the list, but the rest are pretty spot on.
Want Free Health Care? Visit Mexico City
By June 9, 2009
Although the A/H1NI flu virus (referred to as the swine flu) outbreak didn’t kill everyone like alarmist media commentary led us to believe it would, it did deal a devastating blow to the Mexican tourism industry. The sprawling metropolis’s hotels are lonely places these days, sitting at 27 percent capacity compared to 50 percent a year ago.
NYC's New High-Tech Public Bathroom Is Freaky, Robotic
By January 26, 2008
For years, New York City was a grim place to be when you had to use the bathroom, since there are almost no public facilities (not counting Starbucks). But earlier this month the first of 20 high-tech pay toilets opened in the city, in Madison Square Park just north of 23rd Street. Now the next time you visit the city and need to answer nature’s call, grab a quarter and head over there to experience the strange combination of a $100,000 prison cell/car wash/elevator/Louvre. It’s the cheapest “experience” you’ll probably find in the city.
London Launches SMS Toilet Locator Service
By November 30, 2007
Beginning today, if you’re in the Westminster area of London and text the word “toilet” to 80097, you’ll be sent the location of the nearest bathroom. The service costs 25 pence ($0.52) per request.
