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During these trips, Chinese tourists spent 148 billion yuan ($21 billion), a 128.9% increase from a year earlier, and on a par with 2019 levels. The figures from this year's May Day holiday - the first travel season since the pandemic without restrictions - are being monitored as a gauge of China's economic health. Official data on Sunday showed activity in China's non-manufacturing sector grew in April, albeit at a slower pace than in March. The travel boom during the May holiday "can be seen as a turning point of China's tourism sector", official Xinhua News Agency said on Wednesday. The China Tourism Academy estimates about 4.55 billion domestic tourist trips will be made this year, up 73% from 2022, Xinhua reported.

☆ Planning a solo trip to Seoul? Here are some places that cater to singles in Seoul
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Monica Pitrelli | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Source: Morgan AwyongOrders are placed and paid for with tablets. In her videos, she recommends solo travelers try restaurants such as Labap for fine dining, or Gimbap Cheongu and Pomato for their wide variety of Korean food. Earlier this year, South Korea announced a new visa for digital nomads is in the pipeline. Some residential buildings allow short-term lodging, which solo travelers can book. Source: Morgan Awyong

☆ Saadiyat: The 'island of happiness' just off Abu Dhabi
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Chris Dwyer | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Jon Arnold Images Ltd/Alamy Stock PhotoWhile Abu Dhabi itself is home to bombastic contemporary architecture, Saadiyat – an easy 20-minute drive from downtown and Abu Dhabi International Airport – is a natural wonderland, edged by small sand dunes. Elevated boardwalks protect them from beachgoers – part of a conservation project led by Jumeirah at Saadiyat Island Resort and its inhouse marine biologist. Department of Culture and Tourism Abu DhabiOpen year-round, Saadiyat Beach Golf Club is home to a Gary Player signature 18-hole golf course. Luc Castel/Getty ImagesInaugurated in 2017, The Louvre Abu Dhabi is France’s largest cultural project abroad. Louvre Abu Dhabi isn’t the only highbrow place on Saadiyat – behind the dunes there are two world-class educational institutions, too.

China's four new vice premiers:Ding Xuexiang, 60, is the first-ranked vice premier who also sits in the ruling Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee, China's top echelon of power. Wang Zhigang, 65, remains minister of science and technology. Huai Jinpeng, 60, remains minister of educationPan Yue, 62, remains head of the National Ethnic Affairs CommissionWang Xiaohong, 65, remains minister of public securityChen Yixin, 63, remains minister of state security. Considered a Xi ally, he had worked with Xi when the latter was party chief of Zhejiang province from 2002-2007. Tang Dengjie, 63, remains minister of civil affairsHe Rong, 60, remains minister of justiceWang Xiaoping, 59, remains minister of human resources and social securityWang Guanghua, 59, remains minister of natural resourcesHuang Runqiu, 59, remains minister of ecology and environmentNi Hong, 60, remains minister of housing and urban-rural developmentLi Xiaopeng, 63, remains minister of transportLi Guoying, 63, remains minister of water resourcesTang Renjian, 60, remains minister of agriculture and rural affairsHu Heping, 60, remains minister of culture and tourismMa Xiaowei, 63, remains head of the National Health CommissionPei Jinjia, 59, remains minister of veterans affairsWang Xiangxi, 60, remains minister of emergency managementHou Kai, 60, remains auditor-general of the National Audit OfficeReporting by Yew Lun Tian, Ziyi Tang, additional reporting by Albee Zhang; Editing by Raju GopalakrishnanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China PMI: economic activity expands for the first time in months as Covid 'exit wave' ends
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Hong Kong CNN —Economic activity in China has expanded for the first time in four months as disruptions caused by the abrupt end of its zero-Covid policy appears to be fading. The official non-manufacturing PMI, which tracks activity in the services and construction sectors, surged to 54.4 in January from 41.6 in December, also marking its first expansion in four months. This is a sign that China’s Covid “exit wave” is coming to an end, said analysts from Nomura in a research report. The official PMI survey mainly covers larger businesses and state-owned companies. Zhu Wanchang/VCG/Getty ImagesChina scrapped most of its pandemic restrictions in early December, effectively ending its three-year-long zero-Covid policy.

☆ China domestic tourism picks up over Lunar New Year as COVID curbs end
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A total of 308 million tourism trips within China have been made during the current holiday period, up 23.1% from 2022's Lunar New Year break and marking a recovery to 88.6% of the number in 2019, data from the culture and tourism ministry showed on Friday. Revenue generated from domestic tourism during this year's holiday stands at 375.84 billion yuan ($55.41 billion), or 73.1% of that in 2019, according to the tourism ministry data. Authorities in early January ended a requirement that inbound travellers had to undergo hotel quarantine upon arrival, a policy that had crippled international travel. Despite the jump, international travel over the holiday period has yet to rebound to pre-COVID levels. During the Lunar New Year holiday in 2019, a total of 12.53 million cross-border trips were made, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

☆ China state media plays down COVID wave severity before WHO meet
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Bernard Orr | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The World Health Organization on Friday urged China's health officials to regularly share specific and real-time information on the COVID situation. The agency has invited Chinese scientists to present detailed data on viral sequencing at a meeting of a technical advisory group scheduled for Tuesday. The European Union has offered free COVID vaccines to China to help contain the outbreak, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. China has rejected criticism of its COVID data and said any new mutations may be more infectious but less harmful. Data on Tuesday showed China's factory activity shrank at a sharper pace in December as the COVID wave disrupted production and hurt demand.

☆ China state media plays down severity of COVID wave before WHO meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Bernard Orr | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

☆ China revises COVID guidelines for entertainment venues
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued the revised guidelines to travel agencies, entertainment and performance venues. A government statement said local administrators should improve the accuracy of their prevention and control measures and should not shut down entertainment venues down at will. The specific measures are mostly in line with China's latest easing of COVID rules, but could be a bright spot for entertainment and tourism firms that have been hammered by a near three-year strict zero-COVID policy. Places such as KTVs, internet cafes and offline board game venues are allowed to operate under normalised COVID prevention rules in low risk regions, which means as long as they apply certain COVID prevention rules, they can open their business as usual, according to the government. Reporting by Albee Zhang, Bernard Orr; Editing by Shri Navaratnam & Simon Cameron-MooreOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Foreign visitors in Japan surge after tourism reopening
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Elaine Lies | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

TOKYO, Nov 16 (Reuters) - The number of foreign visitors to Japan rose to nearly 500,000 in October, the first month it fully reopened to overseas visitors after more than two years of COVID restrictions, more than doubling the volume from September. The number of foreign visitors, for both tourism and business, rose to 498,600 in October, more than double September's 206,500 and surging a massive 2,155% from the year before, the Japan National Tourism Organization said, though it was still down 80% on 2019. This year, 1.52 million foreign visitors have arrived, a far cry from the record 31.8 million in 2019 and the government's 2020 goal - pegged to the Summer Olympics, that were ultimately postponed - of 40 million. "We are seeing the weak yen in a positive way," he said. Japan said on Tuesday it was reopening its ports to cruise ships from March 2023, with some 166 ships slated to visit next year, industry group Japan International Cruise Committee (JICC).

☆ Democratic state Sen. Brad Pfaff faces off against Trump-backed Republican Derrick Van Orden in Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District election
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Hanna Kang | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Democrat Brad Pfaff is running against Republican Derrick Van Orden in Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District. The 3rd District is mostly rural and covers southwestern Wisconsin. Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District candidatesPfaff represents the 32nd Senate District in the Wisconsin State Senate and is a ranking member of the Committee on Agriculture and Tourism. Voting history for Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional DistrictWisconsin's 3rd Congressional District is mostly rural and covers southwestern and parts of central Wisconsin. His opponent, Van Orden, has raised more than $5.9 million, spent $5.4 million, and has $558,000 cash on hand.

☆ Turkey received $28 billion from unclear origins in the first 8 months of the year, per the FT. The country's finance minister says some of it was legitimate cash from holidaying Russians.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

From January to August, a record $28 billion from unclear origins trickled into Turkey, the FT said. Turkey's finance minister believes that unaccounted-for tourism revenues were a key part of such inflows. However, the inflows are all legitimate and legal, Nureddin Nebati, the Turkish finance minister said. Turkey's finance minister, however, has played down these concerns. Nebati told the FT Turkey and Russia's relationship are just "good neighbourly relations."

☆ Italian economy faces threat from climate change - central bank
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A person holds an umbrella by the Milan's Duomo cathedral at Duomo square, as temperatures soar during a heatwave in Milan, Italy, July 21, 2022. REUTERS/Massimo Pinca/File PhotoROME, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Rising temperatures risk stunting the growth of the Italian economy over the coming decades, with sectors such as agriculture and tourism among the hardest hit, a Bank of Italy research project said on Wednesday. Gross domestic product per person could fall by anything between 2.8 and 9.5% by 2100 compared with baseline estimates, the report added. Resorts at lower levels faced the greatest risk, with artificial snow unable to compensate fully for the absence of the genuine article. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterWriting by Keith Weir, editing by Alvise Armellini and Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Shares in BTS' management rise after band clears uncertainty over military service
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Joyce Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Heo Ran/File PhotoSEOUL, Oct 18 (Reuters) - The announcement by K-pop mega band BTS that members would serve mandatory military service in South Korea has removed a cloud of uncertainty that has hung over their plans. Investors in HYBE Co (352820.KS), BTS' management group, responded to the news by driving its shares up as much as 7.8% on Tuesday. In 2020, BTS accounted for 730 billion won in sales out of the company's 796 billion won revenue, she noted. The Korea Culture and Tourism Institute estimated that BTS' 2020 No. Hyundai Research Institute estimated that BTS' average annual production impact is about 4.1 trillion won, and the value-added economic effect is about 1.4 trillion won, in a 2018 report.

☆ China's Golden Week spending plunges to seven-year low as zero-Covid batters economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The National Day break is one of China’s longest public holidays and usually a peak season for travel and spending. But this year, people were deterred from traveling by a resurgence of the virus and stringent Covid restrictions. All the weak data point to the heavy damage of Beijing’s zero-Covid policy on consumer spending and the economy, said analysts. China’s service sector is a key source of employment, accounting for 48% of total jobs created, according to government data. “Entrepreneurs’ concerns continued to stem from recurring Covid outbreaks and the impact of related controls on the market,” Wang said.

HONG KONG, Oct 10 (Reuters Breakingviews) - China’s lackluster Golden Week holiday this year casts a dark cloud over the economy. Domestic tourism sales during the country’s annual spend-and-travel blitz fell to $40 billion, less than half of pre-pandemic levels. Before the pandemic, domestic tourists splurged some 650 billion yuan ($91 billion) during the 2019 Golden Week – over a quarter more than during the Chinese New Year festival. Overall, domestic trips were just 422 million during Golden Week, down 18% from last year. China’s Golden Week has lost its shine.

☆ China plans easier border entry rules for some foreign tourists
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterBEIJING, Sept 19 (Reuters) - China's government on Monday issued draft rules aimed at making it easier for some foreigners to enter China for visits to tourism sites along the Chinese border. China has shut its borders to foreign tourists since the outbreak of the new coronavirus in 2020, with only specific groups of foreign nationals allowed to enter the country, such as those holding certain work visas. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterIn recent months, rules have gradually been relaxed, from resuming more direct flights between China and some countries to allowing foreign students with valid residence permits to enter China. read moreChina shares a border with more than 10 countries including Russia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam. read moreRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Ryan Woo; Editing by Toby Chopra and Christian SchmollingerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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