Gondolas, palaces and 'O Sole Mio"—ahhh, the usual romantic image of Venice. Granted, the city known as "La Serenissima," is quite lovely and enchanting, but also full of money potholes and tourist stereotypes.
Because we like you, and because we've had our fair share of Venice visits and wish all the same enjoyment for yours, we're helping you out with our list of What Not To Do In Venice: The Top 5 Tourist Mistakes.
Check them out, after the jump.]]>
You might think a shooting range could be a slightly dangerous place to visit on vacation because there's that small chance you could get shot. Unfortunately, eight Japanese tourists were killed at a Busan indoor shooting range in South Korea on the weekend, but ironically, because a fire burned the place down.
So far there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the fire, although they seem to think it started in a sofa near the entrance (cigarette butt, anyone?). The Japanese group was on a two-day trip to Busan, which is one of the closest parts of South Korea to Japan.]]>
With good cause, we once decided Easter Island was the loneliest place on earth, but apparently that hasn't stopped the problem of too many tourists making their way to the historic and scenic spot, a ways off the coast of Chile.
The locals are of course happy that they get a reliable income from tourism, but they would also be happy with less. Thanks to Easter Island's energetic tourist industry, largely led by visitors wanting to see the much-photographed statues of ancient chiefs, the immigrant population of Easter Island is now about equal to the native Rapanui people. We guess those stone statues so beguiled the visitors, that many decided to make the island their expat home. ]]>
It's time again for the now-annual Expedia survey results on the world's best and worst tourists: and the French have done it again. Done it again on the wrong end of the scale, that is, because the survey says:
French travelers are the biggest skinflints, the worst tippers and the least able or inclined to speak foreign languages. They also finished next to last in terms of their politeness and behavior.
Ouch. At the top of the list were the oh-so-polite Japanese, again, followed by English, Canadian, German and Swiss tourists. In some interesting individual categories, the Japanese were named as the least likely to complain and the Italians won the best fashion sense gong, while Americans, Italians and Spanish scored the top three spots in the "loudest tourists" section.
Keep this info in mind when choosing your travel companions in the future and you might end up having a better trip.
Related Stories:
· French Tourists Still the World's Worst [Time]
· World's Worst Tourists: The French Who Only Speak French [Jaunted]
· Japanese Tourists Are the Best [Jaunted]
[Photo: lecercle] ]]>
He's literally a fashion victim! Haha but really, it's official: we can't ever go to Dubai because we fear that the second we touch down, we'll be arrested. That was pretty much the case this last week for a Lebanese tourist in the Emirate, who made the mistake of wearing one of Marc Jacobs' celebrity nude T-shirts, and was promptly hauled in and sentenced to one month in jail for sporting the offending garment.
His T-shirt, part of a series ironically benefitting NYU's melanoma research—the perfect thing to wear to a beach resort, natch—featured Victoria Beckham almost nude, with text covering her rude bits. The man was originally confronted by a local at a bakery, and when he returned after changing clothes, the police were waiting.
Considering that we totally own one of the shirts from the same series, although ours sports a naked man (Marc humself), we should probably steer clear of using it as a beach cover-up outside of the Burj Al-Arab. But considering how money and label-focused Dubai, you think maybe we could get out of any trouble by explaining that Marc Jacobs is the designer for Louis Vuitton? Yea, we didn't think so either. Keep it clean out there folks; only plain American Apparel T-shirts allowed and leave the racy ads at home.
Related Stories:
· Man Jailed In Dubai For Wearing Marc Jacobs T-Shirt [StyleList]
· In Dubai, Sex On The Beach Could Lead To Prison [Jaunted]
· Dubai Travel Coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: elvis_payne; T-shirt photo: ebay]]]>
Over at HotelChatter, we've seen the room rates in New York drop pretty drastically. Just today, we learned the Gansevort Hotel has dipped to under $200. These are dead-of-the-winter rates in the spring. It's quite unusual but it's also great for anyone heading to NYC this summer.
And now NYC & Company, New York's official marketing, tourism and partnership organization has just launched a new promotion for tourists, NYC: The Real Deal. The promotion is actually three phases of deals and offers spread out over the summer.
The first phase is "Buy One, Get the Second One 50% Off" and applies to more than 100 NYC & Company member businesses such as museums (the Whitney), tours and attractions (the NYC Ballet), nightlife spots, spas and even transportation (the NY Water Taxis). And yes, it even applies to hotels. ]]>
What is New York City to its tourists but a loud, crass and hectic metropolis centered around areas like Times Square and Fifth Avenue, places that only further the frenetic mood. Seeking to counter this as well as bolster their own resources, the tourist board opened the starkly fresh "Official NYC Information Center" in Midtown this January.
Nestled into a storefront on Seventh Avenue between 53rd and 52nd Streets, the friendly space designed by WXY Architecture is packed to the gills with user-friendly technology. It's pretty much a confused tourist's dream, with touch-screen map tables which can help you to create personalized city itineraries, along with the ability to browse free events and NYC Visit's "Just Ask the Locals" feature.]]>