Tourism

Norway's fjords region earned the highest score in National Geographic Traveler's sixth annual "places rated" survey of destinations that have best weathered the pressures of heavy tourism and other threats. In their decision, judges noted its "gorgeous scenery and well-preserved rural life." The cover story for the November-December issue also ranks Vermont (pictured) as the top U.S. destination, followed by the Columbia Gorge region of Oregon and Washington, and Massachusetts' Berkshires.

A presidential election is a conversation about the nation's future, but all Richard Brenner was hearing in Van Nuys were fragments, disconnected bits and pieces. He wanted more. He yearned for a lively discussion, some policy, a vision. While presidential candidates swarmed through early primary and caucus states such as Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina in the nominating process, they often ignored California.

In a sign of how the once-mighty U.S. dollar has fallen, India's tourism minister said that greenbacks would no longer be accepted at heritage tourist sites such as the Taj Mahal. For years the dollar was worth about 50 rupees and tourists visiting most sites in India were charged $5 or 250 rupees. With the dollar at a nine-year low against the rupee -- falling 11% in 2007 and now hovering at about 39 rupees -- that deal has become a losing proposition for the tourism industry.

When bartender Jessica Nelson was offered the chance to work overtime during the final weeks of caucus season here at the downtown Marriott Hotel, she eagerly canceled her holiday plans. These are boom times in the Corn State: The tips she's earned from serving high-end martinis and bottles of microbrewed beers over the last couple of weeks are at least double her normal take -- far better than even a New Year's Eve party.

The giant snowstorm that buried Big Bear Lake over the weekend seemed gentle and reassuring compared with the smoke, fire and evacuations the mountain resort has endured. Mother Nature, for now, acting motherly. In fact, despite slick roads, cars entombed by snow and freezing temperatures, it was pretty much impossible to find anyone willing to utter an unkind word about the weather.

Four giant waterfalls will be erected in New York for three months this summer in a public art project city officials hope will create $55 million in tourism revenue. The waterfalls, including one that will fall from the Brooklyn Bridge, are the brainchild of Danish artist Olafur Eliasson. Installation will cost $15 million, funded by private donations to New York's Public Art Fund. "It's about seeing water in a different way," Eliasson told a news conference Wednesday.

The site of a proposed low-cost housing project near Disneyland that ignited a firestorm of protest has been sold to a Texas hotel developer. Renaissance Development, a Fort Worth company with more than $1 billion in past projects, said Thursday that it planned to build three upscale hotels and restaurants, shops and pubs on the 26-acre parcel. The sale could signal an end to a battle that has divided Anaheim over the last 18 months. Irvine-based SunCal Cos.

A Florida-based cruise line's efforts to protect its lucrative Hawaii business through a federal rule change is generating a wave of concern among port and business representatives, who say it would harm jobs and tourist revenue. Critics say that the change proposed in November by the Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection agency would affect any foreign-flagged cruise line traveling between U.S. ports.

Check-in at the Cecil Hotel had to wait a few minutes because Kerri Torrance, the clerk working the graveyard shift one night in November, had to deal with a heist. A man staying on the 10th floor had called down to report that a woman had grabbed his money and bolted. After the woman dashed through the lobby and burst out the front doors onto Main Street, Torrance called police while a handful of guests waited. "She's right out there . . . you see . . . well . . .

A shop on the Santa Cruz wharf will stop selling T-shirts marked "Surf City, Santa Cruz California, U.S.A.," ending more than a year of litigation with the Huntington Beach tourist bureau, a lawyer for the agency said Sunday. The suit became a proxy debate over which California beach town could call itself the nation's surf capital. The Huntington Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau registered the "Surf City U.S.A."