Cultural news

India: Bandits to Become Tour Guides; Stampede in Jodhpur; Bombings in Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra

Date: October 1st, 2008 |

Bandits known as dacoits in India who have given up their lives of crime may become tourist guides in Rajasthan under a government plan to promote tourism to the region. Officials have been talking with the former criminals about engaging them to lead tours of the Chambal Valley in the Hadauti region because they know [read more]

Israel: Ramadan Sept. 1-Oct. 1 Will Crowd Old City of Jerusalem

Date: August 27th, 2008 |

No Comments

The Islamic holy month of Ramadan runs Sept. 1 through Oct. 1, and visitors to the Old City of Jerusalem should expect much larger than normal crowds and a correspondingly heavy police presence. Significant traffic congestion and delays around the Old City are likely. The U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem has made the Old City [read more]

France: Shepherds’ Guard Dogs Imperil Hikers

Date: August 7th, 2008 |

No Comments

Pyrenean mountain dogs (Great Pyrenees) brought into the French Alps to protect sheep from wolves have created problems for summer hikers, attacking and injuring several in recent weeks. The issue has become serious enough that mountain guides have stopped taking clients to certain areas to avoid encounters with aggressive dogs. Wolves recolonized the French Alps [read more]

Italy: Snacking Banned at Rome’s Historic Sites

Date: July 23rd, 2008 |

No Comments

Between now and the end of October, snacking near Rome’s historical sites is prohibited, to the tune of fines up to $80. The new law is an attempt to preserve the city’s treasures and crack down not just on picnickers but also on litterbugs and drunks. Precisely where and how strictly the law will be [read more]

Australia: Victoria Government Locks Out Melbourne Bar Patrons after 2 a.m.

Date: July 2nd, 2008 |

No Comments

Street violence outside Melbourne bars among drunken revelers and thugs got so bad that the Victoria state government imposed a three-month trial for 2 a.m. lockouts on June 3, “lockouts” meaning that patrons cannot enter or reenter a bar after 2 a.m. In 2003, a similar program imposed in Ballarat, about 70 miles northwest of [read more]

Ecuador: Quito’s Old City Now a Haven for Tourists

Date: September 25th, 2008 |

No Comments

A decade ago, Quito’s old city was a dilapidated den of thieves where tourists wandered at their peril as the UNESCO World Heritage Site fell deeper into decay. But now all that has changed. Since the government launched a plan in 2000 to restore the Centro Historico, some 200 buildings have been rehabilitated including the [read more]

Egypt: Hawkers Fenced Out of Giza Pyramids

Date: August 13th, 2008 |

No Comments

In an ongoing seven-year effort to modernize tourism to the Giza Pyramids, authorities have completed a 12-mile fence that encloses the plateau on which the archaeological wonders stand, complete with alarms, motion sensors and a high-tech security system to be monitored around the clock. The hawkers who have made the site a scene of barely [read more]

Greece: Authorities to Clean Up Tourist Behavior at Coastal Resorts

Date: August 7th, 2008 |

No Comments

Authorities vowed to clean up the tourist scene in its seaside resorts after a 20-year-old Australian was beaten to death by bouncers at a Mykonos bar. Many coastal resorts have become notorious for drunken revelry by young foreigners, and Greece’s tourism minister said that much of the violence and indecency that results comes from profit-hungry [read more]

Israel: Retirees Aid Tourists in Old City of Jerusalem

Date: July 16th, 2008 |

No Comments

Visitors who need assistance in the Old City of Jerusalem can now get it from retirees deployed to help tourists. Fifty multilingual volunteers ranging in age from 60 to 85 and versed in the city’s history started work July 13 in an effort to create a more secure environment for tourists. They wear vests adorned [read more]

Italy: Venice Promotes Refilling Water Bottles at Fountains

Date: June 11th, 2008 |

No Comments

With some 19 million visitors a year and the majority of them wandering the city during the hot summer months, Venice is left with millions of plastic water bottles to dispose of when the tourists leave. Authorities are combating the scourge with a campaign to persuade visitors to refill their bottles at the city’s 122 [read more]