What is it about a 2,000-year-old famous structure that makes tourists think it isn’t yet complete without their initials joining the blood, sweat and tears of gladiators past on the walls? After a Russian tourist was fined $25,000 for carving his initial in the wall of Rome’s Colosseum last fall, two American visitors have been accused of leaving their initials behind — and of course, taking a selfie to capture the moment of vandalism. [More]
tourism
Rent Your Own Hungarian Village For Just $750 A Day
By 2.25.15
Let’s face it — most of us are never going to be the mayor of our own village. But if you’ve got some cash to spare, you can buy your way into deputy mayordom by renting a Hungarian village for just $750 a day. [More]
Visitors Bureau For Ice-Cold Ithaca Tells People To Just Go Get Warm In Key West
By 2.17.15
While the central New York city of Ithaca might be home to lovely Cornell University and the fictional University of Ithaca from the classic Breckin Meyer comedy Road Trip, it — like many places north of 35th parallel this week — is unpleasantly, bone-chillingly cold. But at least the folks at the Ithaca Visitors Bureau have a good sense of humor about the weather. [More]
Tourists: Read The Menu Before Ordering So You Won’t Need To Call The Police Over A Big Bill
By 8.1.14
When that gelato is more expensive than you think it should be, who you gonna call? Well, no one, or at least you shouldn’t if you failed to read the menu before ordering it. After all, numbers are written in a language everyone can understand, even if you don’t speak the language. [More]
N.Y. Bar Changes “No Irish Drunks” Sign To “No Sensitive Drunks”
By 7.28.14
It’s time for us to make peace with our Irish brethren, America. A veritable war of words between our country and the Emerald Isle sprung up when a cafe in Ireland posted a sign telling “loud Americans” to stay away, a controversy that pulled in a New York establishment warning “NO IRISH DRUNKS” were allowed. The good news is we seem to have settled things and can all agree that anyone can be loud and drunk, we’re all humans, after all. [More]
Irish Cafe Tells “Loud American’s” & Other Tourists To Stay Away
By 7.22.14
Perhaps it’s a form of anti-publicity that the owners hope will turn them into the next Amy’s Baking Company, with people just coming by to see what all the hubbub is about, but a restaurant in Ireland has irked a good portion of its potential customer base with a sign telling tourist — and specifically American tourists — to get lost. [More]
Antarctica’s Booming Tourism Industry (Yes, Really) Has Scientists Worried About Its Environment
By 6.18.14
Antarctica — just the word conjures up the image of icy expanses stretching for miles, a silent, frigid landscape just waiting to have its secrets uncovered. But while tourism on the lesser traveled seventh continent is surging, scientists are warning that the increased traffic could do a number on Antarctica’s fragile environment. [More]
Marriott Makes Big Push To Get LGBT Business
By 6.2.14
With the Supreme Court and a growing number of states giving the OK to same-sex marriages, the hospitality industry is quickly realizing there is money to be made from a segment of the population that had long been underserved. Not to be outdone by smaller hotel chains that openly welcome business from the LGBT community, the folks at Marriott are spending a lot of money to try to win over these consumers. [More]
Hancock Tower’s Tilting Window Escalates Chicago’s Freaky Skyscraper Window Arms Race
By 5.9.14
After years of friendly coexistence as tall-ass Chicago buildings with top-floor viewing areas that attracted tourists looking to test their acrophobia, the Willis (nee Sears) Tower threw down the gauntlet at its crosstown rival the Hancock Tower (technically, the John Hancock Center) by adding “The Ledge” — transparent boxes that jut out several feet from the building’s Skydeck, giving the visitor a truly knee-weakening experience. So what could the Hancock folks do to out-thrill the Willis’s boxes in the sky? How about a window that actually tilts you out over the Windy City’s streets? [More]
4 Vacation Destinations We’d Rather Be Visiting Than Great-Uncle Jerrold’s Doll Museum
By 3.26.13
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]
British Couple Rewarded For Being 50 Millionth Visitors To New York City In 2011
By 12.21.11
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 10.11.11
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 10.3.11
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 8.16.10
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 7.13.10
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 5.23.10
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 4.19.10
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 3.9.10
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]
