Category: Europe

Awarded Luxury Beach Villa – Pinilla, Costa Rica TripAdvisor has announced the winners of the second annual Travelers’ Choice awards for Rentals. 30 best holiday homes across the globe are awarded across three categories i.e. Luxury ($300+ USD per night), Mid-Range ($100-150 USD per night) and Affordable ($99 USD per night and below). A Cozy Designer Minerva Apartment located in downtown Rome was declared the winner in Affordable category with the rates starting as low as $66 per night. An oceanfront condo in Kauai, Hawaii tops the list in Mid-Range category. A Luxury category was topped by a Costa Rican beach ... Read more

Activists from over 14 southern European cities were grouped together to fight against the mass tourism activities in European cities and staged their protest in Barcelona. The protesters urge the government to “establish limits to the tourist industry” and even promote its “decrease”. The activists demand government to reduce mass tourism programmes, as they create pollution, ecological imbalances and traffic congestion. The activists’ first action was to release a manifesto denouncing how mass tourism causes rents to soar, local shops to disappear, creates low wage jobs and generates pollution. The rising number of International tourist arrivals to the European Union has reached ... Read more

Germany welcomed 8, 52,224 visitor overnights in 2017 registering a 13.8 per cent growth over 2016. Owing to this steady growth, the German National Tourist Office (GNTO) in India forecasts a 5-8 per cent growth in tourist arrivals this year. With experiential travel becoming the most sought after genre in leisure travel, GNTO is promoting ”Culinary Germany-More to explore” as its core global marketing theme this year. ”Food forms an integral part of any traveler’s itinerary. ‘Experiencing the local flavors helps enhance the flavor of any holiday and makes for everlasting impressions. With over 5,000 beers from 1,300 breweries, 300 types of bread, ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: AFP France will be hit by by severe travel disruption as hundreds of trains and planes are set to be cancelled in France and scores of schools closed as unions go on strike. Public service workers, air traffic controllers and rail staff in France are on a major strike. Public service workers in France have long been angry over pay – which is currently frozen – that has not kept up with inflation and are upset at changes to their sick pay. Unions accuse President Emmanuel Macron of wanting to take a sledgehammer to the public sector. Hundreds ... Read more

With an aim to adapt to the security concerns and challenges linked to migration and technology, the European Union is planning to update its common visa policy. “With the reforms we propose, it will become easier and faster for legitimate travellers to obtain a visa while security standards will be enhanced. “The new rules will also help improve cooperation with non-EU countries when it comes to return of irregular migrants,” said Dimitris Avramopoulos, Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship. Proposed amendments to the EU Visa Code would be a first step in reform of the common EU visa policy, with an update ... Read more

Finland came on top as the 2018 World Happiness Report by United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network published on Wednesday. All the rankings within the 156 countries are based upon life expectancy, corruption, social freedom, generosity and social support. Contrary to the previous years, the annual report also marks 117 countries based on the happiness and prosperity of their immigrants. The list comes as Finland on top followed by Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden and Australia. India came to 133rd position far-off behind Pakistan and Nepal. And sadly India was slipped 11 places down, as it ... Read more

Expedia presented Tourism Ireland with its 2017 ‘campaign of the year’ accolade on the Ireland stand at ITB in Berlin. Last autumn, Tourism Ireland teamed up with Expedia to grow visitor numbers to Dublin during the shoulder and off-season months. The joint campaign ran for six weeks in Britain, the United States and key Mainland European markets, including Germany. It included video and online advertising, takeovers of the Expedia homepage in the various markets, as well as email marketing. The campaign proved very successful, with double-digit increases in passenger and room demand in all markets during the campaign period; and ... Read more

It’s that time of the year for the travel and tourism industry players and professionals from every nook and corner of the world to hurry to the German capital of Berlin to participate in their dream get-together organised by Messe Berlin GmbH. The platform for this meeting is none other than the much talked about Internationale Tourismus-Börse Berlin (ITB Berlin), world’s largest tourism trade fair. As usual, this year too the event is attracting hundreds of thousands of exhibitors and participants. Around 10,000 tourism companies from 186 countries and regions are represented on an area covering 160,000-sq-m at the Messe ... Read more

Uckermark is the first region in Brandenburg to be designated a “Sustainable Destination”, and will be receiving the certificate from TourCert at ITB Berlin. One of the most attractive landscapes in Germany, Uckermark, is located in northern Brandenburg between the Oder and Havel rivers. For the past year, consultants from TourCert, a specialist in tourism sustainability certification, have been providing Tourismus Marketing Uckermark GmbH with professional advice in order to ensure the future viability of this region for tourism. Back in 2012/13 the support by numerous local players on the tourism market helped the region to win the first nationwide ... Read more

The Disneyland Paris is all set for a 2 billion euro, multi-year expansion, adding three new areas that are based on Marvel, Frozen and Star Wars, along with multiple new attractions and live entertainment experiences. The expansion plan announced by Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company Robert A. Iger is one of the most ambitious development projects at Disneyland Paris since its opening in 1992 and underscores the Company’s commitment to the long-term success of the resort as Disney’s brand beacon in Europe. “We’re very excited about the future of Disneyland Paris and continue to invest in its long-term success,” said ... Read more

France’s first sex doll brothel opens in Paris with three silicone sex dolls ready for rent. Having paid sex was made illegal in France in 2016, but the law had no mention about paying for sex with a silicon doll. The brothel website XDolls advertises three different kinds of dolls on offer – Lily, Sofia and Kim and also displays the pictures of each kinds of dolls. The website even offers Virtual Reality experience to the users. “Welcome to Digisexuality. Live the experience 2.0 with our immersion pack. Sex and virtual reality, strong feeling guaranteed!,” reads the website. The contact ... Read more

More than 150 people had to be rescued from a ski lift in Austria after it faced a mechanical problem at Kreischberg ski resort in Styria, Austria. Several helicopters were called to help move skiers out of the chairlift, with a majority of the seats suspended more than 50ft above ground. A number of British tourists were among those rescued by the Austrian Armed Forces rescue helicopter. It took almost three hours for the team to rescue the skiers. Since it takes much time to mend the mechanical problem of the ski lift, the authorities decided to use the helicopter service ... Read more

A total of 8.88 million foreign tourists visited Bulgaria last year, reporting a 7.6 per cent growth compared to 2016. Around 1.16 million tourists came from neighboring Greece, a figure that was up 8.5 per cent year-on-year, the Bulgarian tourism ministry said on its website. With 1.14 million tourists, Romania came second, with an increase of nearly four per cent, the ministry said. Germany, Turkey and Russia came third, fourth and fifth respectively, the ministry said, adding that among these countries the most significant increase was the growth of Turkish visitors, at 12.5 per cent. More than 61 per cent of ... Read more

Due to heavy snowfall, high winds and avalanche hazard, The Peak Express, Harmony 6 Express, Symphony Express, and Whistler T-bars in Whistler, will not be in operation. On Blackcomb, The 7th Heaven Express, Glacier Express, and Showcase T-bar will not be in operation , all The Peak 2 Peak Gondola will also be on standby to start the day due to high winds. Alpine lifts and T-bars on both Whistler and Blackcomb will be closed today due to weather conditions, informed the authorities. The Crystal Ridge Express will be closed for the day due to high avalanche risk. Whistler Blackbomb has ... Read more

Turkey announced their new year 2018 as ‘The year of Troy’, with respect to celebrating the 20th anniversary of adding the old city of Canakkale on the UNESCO world heritage. Though Turkey has adopted various other possibilities in the field of tourism such as promoting their local cuisine, they have come up with a new approach to waking the global audience through the opening of Troy museum. The movie, which was a 2004 blockbuster and has fans from all over the world, generated with its distinctive characters featuring the history of Trojan War. The Turkish government thus predicts to draw ... Read more