Foreign Tourists

The Netherlands plans to ban foreign visitors from pot shops in a move that opponents have labeled "tourism suicide. " The Dutch government is trying to stop drug tourism in the country, according to a recent announcement . Under the plan, the "coffee shops" that sell marijuana will become private clubs limited to adult Dutch citizens who have to show proof of ID and become a member to buy marijuana. The Netherlands has long been known for its liberal policy on marijuana sales and use, making places such as Amsterdam a must-see stop for certain college kids and other young travelers.

A record number of foreign visitors helped boost overall tourism spending in the U.S. last year 8.1% to $1.2 trillion, the Commerce Department said. Last year's 62.3 million foreign visitors marked an increase of 4% from the previous year. Foreign tourists spent a record $153 billion here, much of it in the last three months of the year, according to new Commerce data Wednesday. American travelers account for the vast majority of tourism spending in the country. But Commerce Secretary John Bryson touted the increase in foreign visitors, which he said makes travel and tourism the nation's top service export.

A homemade bomb exploded near a mosque in the capital, Male, wounding 12 foreign tourists in the Indian Ocean island chain. Police arrested two people in connection with the blast at the entrance to Sultan Park, a popular stop-off for tour groups. Officials said two Britons were being treated for burns. Two Japanese and eight Chinese were treated and released.

President Obama wants to make it easier for foreign tourists to come to the United States without making it easier for terrorists to get in. Speaking to a crowd at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Obama announced new initiatives to increase travel and tourism in the United States, including one that will make it easier for tourists from Brazil and China to get visas to visit. As first reported this morning by the Orlando Sentinel , the new executive order signed by Obama calls for a 40% increase in processing capacity in both countries over the next year.

Foreign tourists in China will have to insure themselves starting in March under new rules announced Thursday. The National Tourism Administration will charge tourists indirectly through their travel agents or airlines, a tourism official said. Details have not yet been worked out. The official did not give reasons for the mandatory insurance.

Robbers shot and killed a German vacationer outside Miami, police said Friday, in the latest in a series of crimes against foreign tourists. Two men shot German tourist Jorge Schell when he intervened as the assailants tried to snatch his wife's purse outside their motel room in Homestead, Metro-Dade County police said. He died later at a nearby hospital. It was the fifth killing of a foreign visitor in the past few months. Florida Gov.

This week's bloody raids by Egyptian security forces on Muslim militant strongholds mark the latest battle in a continuing war whose international dimensions grow increasingly clearer. President Hosni Mubarak's government has come under ever more violent pressure from terrorists who aim at establishing a revolutionary Islamic regime in Egypt. Officials and police officers have been assassinated and Egypt's 3.5 million Coptic Christians have been singled out for assault.

The souvenir shop owner took the bank note in his hands, held it up to the light and then kissed the grimy paper three times. "This is the first money I've earned since August," he explained. "It's like I've opened up a new shop." Just down the main road of Pagan, another shopkeeper excitedly dusted off lacquerware boxes, teak elephants, tin gongs and gems of questionable quality. "You are a good omen--first tourist for six months," he whispered. "We have been selling our gold to buy food.

Paul Forkan, a 15-year-old British high school student, woke up Sunday to find 2 feet of water surrounding his bed at a beachfront resort in Weligama, Sri Lanka. He started to pile his belongings on the furniture to keep them dry, but soon a second and then a third wave roared in, smashing down hotel doors and sucking people out. Paul escaped by climbing onto a roof. Eventually, he located his younger sister, but not his father. "People just floated away," said the shaken teenager, who was evacuated this morning from the international airport in the capital, Colombo.

Enticed by pictures of unspoiled coastlines and the promise of a day hike, bird-watching or world-renowned scuba diving, more and more international tourists are descending on Channel Islands National Park. Although specific figures are not available, many in the hospitality industry say the number of foreign visitors arriving on Ventura's shores, particularly from Germany and the United Kingdom, is increasing steadily.

The Netherlands plans to ban foreign visitors from pot shops in a move that opponents have labeled "tourism suicide. " The Dutch government is trying to stop drug tourism in the country, according to a recent announcement . Under the plan, the "coffee shops" that sell marijuana will become private clubs limited to adult Dutch citizens who have to show proof of ID and become a member to buy marijuana. The Netherlands has long been known for its liberal policy on marijuana sales and use, making places such as Amsterdam a must-see stop for certain college kids and other young travelers.

The tourist camels are idle. The trinket shops are empty. The gates of the pyramid complex are locked up tight. The 12-day-old uprising against President Hosni Mubarak has delivered a body blow to Egypt's lucrative tourist trade. Visitors are the country's principal source of foreign exchange, and tourism accounts for 7% of Egypt's gross domestic product. In normal times, which these most decidedly are not, winter is the height of the tourist season. With a respite from soaring summer temperatures, the cooler months are the most popular for taking languid cruises on the Nile, visiting desert oases, touring the majestic temples of Luxor or snorkeling and scuba-diving among the Red Sea coral reefs.

At least 13 people were killed Saturday, some of them beheaded, around the popular beach resort of Acapulco, just as foreign visitors have begun arriving for spring break. Elsewhere in the Guerrero state where Acapulco is located, 11 other people, including soldiers and suspected traffickers, were killed, authorities said. The dead in Acapulco included five police officers, authorities said, who were ambushed while on patrol on the city's outskirts about 2 a.m. Over the next four hours, the bullet-riddled bodies of eight men were discovered in three locations, police said.

Tourism boosters say they fear that new security measures to register and screen visitors to the U.S. may discourage too many big-spending tourists from entering the country. At issue are online registration requirements for visitors from 35 countries -- including Britain, Germany and Japan -- who are not required to have visas and who generate most of the tourism dollars in the U.S. Registration under the Electronic System for Travel Authorization has been required since last year.

He was one of the greatest mass killers of the 20th century, but that doesn't stop the hopeful from praying at Pol Pot's hillside grave for lucky lottery numbers, job promotions and beautiful brides. Nor does it stop tourists from making off with the bone remains and ashes from the Khmer Rouge leader's burial ground in this remote town in northwestern Cambodia. The grave is among a slew of Khmer Rouge landmarks in Anlong Veng, where the movement's guerrillas made their last stand in 1998 just as Pol Pot lay dying.

Tibet reopened to foreign tourists today, a Chinese official said, after the region was closed to foreign visitors following riots there in March. The first group of foreign tourists, from Sweden, arrived at the airport near the capital, Lhasa, this morning, said Tibetan Tourism Bureau spokesman Liao Lisheng. New China News Agency cited another tourism official as saying the Olympic torch relay over the weekend through Lhasa, the regional capital, proved that Tibet was stable enough to let foreign tourists back in. China closed Tibet to tourists after riots that erupted in Lhasa on March 14.

A record number of foreign visitors helped boost overall tourism spending in the U.S. last year 8.1% to $1.2 trillion, the Commerce Department said. Last year's 62.3 million foreign visitors marked an increase of 4% from the previous year. Foreign tourists spent a record $153 billion here, much of it in the last three months of the year, according to new Commerce data Wednesday. American travelers account for the vast majority of tourism spending in the country. But Commerce Secretary John Bryson touted the increase in foreign visitors, which he said makes travel and tourism the nation's top service export.

Tibet reopened to foreign tourists today, a Chinese official said, after the region was closed to foreign visitors following riots there in March. The first group of foreign tourists, from Sweden, arrived at the airport near the capital, Lhasa, this morning, said Tibetan Tourism Bureau spokesman Liao Lisheng. New China News Agency cited another tourism official as saying the Olympic torch relay over the weekend through Lhasa, the regional capital, proved that Tibet was stable enough to let foreign tourists back in. China closed Tibet to tourists after riots that erupted in Lhasa on March 14.

Mexican police searching for drug gangs seized a cache of automatic weapons and grenade launchers at a luxury apartment in the Caribbean resort of Cancun, near hotels full of foreign tourists. Tipped off by an informant, police found 22 guns, 14 grenades and about 500 rounds of ammunition at an exclusive beachside golf course development, a spokesman said. They also found police hats and car stickers with official police insignia.

El Pital, El Salvador In the dark days of the early 1980s, anyone brave or foolhardy enough to ascend the majestic peak of El Pital would have been accompanied by a hellish soundtrack of mortar fire and army helicopters. But as I strolled recently through regal stands of Encino and cypress trees, all was peaceful in this airy mountain lair, which reminds me of a miniature Mesoamerican Yosemite. "There are only three sounds here," said Edwin Rodr?guez, who helps his father, Will, manage El Pital Highland, the area's best-known lodge.