Gas Is Cheap, but There’s Nowhere to Go
U.S. gasoline prices have dropped to their lowest levels in four years, and they are almost sure to go lower as oil prices plunge.
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tourism
Tokyo Closes Cherry Blossom Parks to Slow Spread of Virus
Japan’s cherry blossoms are in full bloom, but flower viewing has come to an abrupt halt in Tokyo because of the coronavirus.
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Virus Chaos Snarls Farm Workers as New Season Buds in Europe
Asparagus grower Henning Hoffheinz is looking at blue skies, a record-early harvest – and a big problem.
Read moreEven in Rural West Texas, Coronavirus Shutdowns Hit Home
A onetime cow town and borderlands military outpost turned international arts destination in Texas is eerily quiet during what would otherwise be a busy spring break season in tourist towns.
Read moreSpain to Follow Italy Into Lockdown, France Shutters Businesses
France ordered the closing of just about everything the rest of the world loves about it — the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the cafes, restaurants and cinema — and Spain drew up plans Saturday to lock down its 46 million citizens as governments took increasingly desperate measures to put more space between people and contain the coronavirus.
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Italy Hit With $8.5M Fine, Growing Daily, for Ignoring Judgment
Just over 48 hours into a nationwide lockdown to contain a coronavirus spread, Italy was slapped with an $8.5 million fine Thursday over tourism-boosting grants that the EU’s top court ruled illegal.
Read more‘Backyard’ of Texas Braces for Coronavirus Outbreak
The Big Bend region of West Texas, often called the state’s “backyard” for its sprawling national park and sought-after remoteness away from urban life, is one of the most sparsely populated parts of the country.
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Airbnb Sued Over Deadly Halloween Shooting at Rental House
The family of a man shot dead during a Halloween party at a Bay Area rental house sued Airbnb Monday claiming the vacation rental company should have known that large crowds, underage drinking and illegal activities frequently occurred there.
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Trial Begins for Jailed American Pals in Policeman’s Slaying
After months in a Rome jail, a pair of boyhood pals from California went on trial Wednesday, accused of murdering an Italian policeman during a summer vacation in Italy.
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Cruise Ship Passengers Celebrate Release From Quarantine
About 500 passengers left the cruise ship Diamond Princess on Wednesday at the end of a much-criticized two-week quarantine aboard the vessel docked in Japan that failed to stop the spread of the new virus among passengers and crew.
Read moreMuseum Views
The Court of Appeal of England and Wales ruled against a group of residents of a luxury apartment building in London who live parallel to the 360 degree viewing gallery at the Tate Modern who want the museum’s trustees to build a barrier to stop visitors from peeking into their glass paneled apartments.
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Cruise Ship Turned Away in Other Ports Docks in Cambodia
A cruise ship that had been stranded at sea for about two weeks after being refused entry by four Asian governments because of virus fears finally docked Thursday in Cambodia.
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Bats for Sale at Indonesian Market Despite Warnings
Bats, rats and snakes are still being sold at an Indonesian market known for its wildlife offerings, despite a government request to take them off the menu due to fears of a link to the deadly coronavirus.
Read moreTourism Contracts
An appeals court in Florida reversed an order quashing subpoenas seeking a media company’s records showing its actual costs to produce celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse’s cooking show “Emeril’s Florida.” The information is sought as part of the Florida House of Representatives’ investigation into the integrity of certain tourism promotion contracts.
Read moreTime Shares
Washington state sued Reed Hein & Associates dba Timeshare Exit Team, Hein & Sons Industries, et al. in King County Court, claiming they “unfairly and deceptively contracted with more than 32,000 consumers looking to be rid of their unwanted timeshares and have collected millions of dollars in upfront fees from consumers in the process,” in which, despite their misrepresentations, they have no expertise.
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Nervous Universities Cancel Study-Abroad Programs
As concerns about China’s virus outbreak spread, universities all over the world are assessing the risks to their study-abroad programs, and some are canceling them and prohibiting travel for hundreds of thousands of students.
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Chinese Virus Whacks Tourism Industry in the Wallet
This should have been a good year for global tourism, with trade tensions gradually easing, some economies growing and banner events like the Summer Olympics taking place in Tokyo. But the viral outbreak in China has thrown the travel industry into chaos, threatening billions in losses and keeping millions of would-be travelers at home.
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French Writer ‘Regrets’ His Pedophile Sex Tourism in Asia
French writer Gabriel Matzneff said in an interview Wednesday that he “regrets” his trips to Asia to have sex with children, claiming that at the time “no one ever said it was a crime.”
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Emotional-Support Animals Could Be Barred From Planes
The days of passengers bringing their pets on airplanes as emotional-support animals could be ending. The U.S. Department of Transportation on Wednesday proposed that only specially trained dogs qualify as service animals, which must be allowed in the cabin at no charge.
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