It’s been a tough year for tourism on Maui, but positive signs are emerging. Virtuoso, a luxury travel agent network that books exclusive vacations around the world, said its sales for Maui resorts are up 4% for the first six months of the year. For the winter holiday or “festive” season, sales are up a whopping 66%. A network spokesperson on Monday, Aug. 12 said that West Maui/Lahaina bookings are about 7% lower than Wailea, which makes sense given the incredible fire damage to Lahaina in August of last year. “Even with the noticeable impacts on tourism to Maui, we Read more
Europe
The world’s best city for foodies is Tokyo, Japan, with the most Michelin-star restaurants and budget-friendly dining options starting at $44 USD. Research conducted by AHTI Games looked at more than 50 cities worldwide to discover the globe’s top destinations for food lovers. It found that Italy has the highest number of fine dining restaurants, with 87 earning a Michelin star. London and New York City are hosting the most food festivals and events this year, with five each. AHTI considered several key metrics, includingthe number of Michelin star restaurants, the cost of a mid-range three-course meal, the number of food festivals and culinary events, the number of cheap Read more
A new look at the world’s safest and most riskiest cities for tourists puts Toronto in the top three. Forbes Advisor looked at a variety of criteria, including U.S. State Department advisories, crime rates, and health infrastructure. Cities were given numerical ratings from zero (most safe) to 100 (least safe) Singapore came out on top with a zero rating, which is pretty remarkable. Forbes said the island state has the lowest natural disaster rating and the second lowest health security risk, reflecting the level and quality of healthcare services and infrastructure. Air Canada recently began direct flights between Vancouver and Read more
The Paris Summer Olympics begin on Friday, July 26. And I’m very much looking forward to it. I covered the Toronto bid for the 1996 Summer Games (I seem to recall we lost to Atlanta) for the Toronto Star, and then the city’s (again) unsuccessful bid for the 2008 Olympics, which went to Beijing. It was a tad depressing, but then I handled the Star’s coverage of Vancouver’s winning bid (it was close, but they got it) for the 2010 Winter Games. Covering the bids, as well as the International Olympics Committee voting scandal in the early 2000’s, allowed me Read more
I love a good list. And this one’s pretty cool. Oxford Economics recently released a list of the top cities in the world. The list was based on five categories; Economics, Human Capital, Quality of Life, Environment, and Governance, which are aggregated to create a overall score for each city. Each category was comprised of multiple indicators (four to six, depending on the category), which aim to address some of the most important considerations within their respective categories. “As a result, the Global Cities Index provides a more complete comparison of cities, by ranking them not just on their economic Read more
