Chinese travelers scrap holiday trips to Thailand over safety concerns

Chinese travelers scrap holiday trips to Thailand over safety concerns

Chinese travelers are canceling plans to visit Thailand during the Lunar New Year holiday, as concerns over the kidnapping of actor Wang Xing continue to reverberate through the country. Net booking volume for trips to Thailand fell 15.6% from Jan. 13 to Jan. 20 from the previous week, after news of the rescue of Wang … Read more

Company pairs travelers with the visually impaired

Company pairs travelers with the visually impaired

Glyn Evans has been on 30 trips with the same travel company, but he can still pinpoint the moment that stands out as his favorite.   During a trip to Las Vegas, he served as best man for a couple on the same tour who got married on a whim. Yet unlike most weddings, the bride … Read more

What to see in 2025

What to see in 2025

In Salzburg, Austria last spring, I skipped around the fountain outside Mirabell Palace. Others did too. Some 60 years earlier, Maria and the von Trapp children danced around the palace’s Pegasus Fountain, singing “Do-Re-Mi,” one of most famous songs from “The Sound of Music.” The movie recounts the story of the von Trapp family, and … Read more

What to know and how to avoid crowds in Rome this year

What to know and how to avoid crowds in Rome this year

Vatican City is the world’s smallest country by size and population. That’s not stopping an estimated 32 million travelers from visiting this year for Jubilee 2025, a year-long global celebration among those of the Catholic faith. The Jubilee is a time of pilgrimage, prayer, reflection and a renewal of faith, said Jubilee spokesperson Caterina Rigoni. … Read more

How to get to Komodo Island? Jetstar Asia to fly from Singapore

How to get to Komodo Island? Jetstar Asia to fly from Singapore

Jetstar Asia will launch direct flights linking Singapore to Labuan Bajo, the Indonesian town considered the “gateway” to Komodo National Park, the company said. The park, a UNESCO Heritage Site inscribed in 1991, is home to several thousand Komodo dragons, the largest species of lizard in the world, according to UNESCO. Komodo National Park is … Read more

What is the most powerful passport in the world? It’s Singapore again

What is the most powerful passport in the world? It’s Singapore again

Singapore has the world’s most powerful passport, according to the 2025 Henley Passport Index. The nation-state was one of six countries which tied for the top spot in 2024 in the list produced by the migration consultancy Henley & Partners, which ranks passports by the number of destinations that holders can access without needing a … Read more

Which airlines have the fewest delays? Here are the results for 2024

Which airlines have the fewest delays? Here are the results for 2024

Aeromexico was the most punctual global airline in 2024, according to a report published by aviation analytics company Cirium. Some 86.7% of its tracked flights arrived “on-time,” defined as arriving within 15 minutes of scheduled arrival times. This result was “absolutely” a surprise, Cirium CEO Jeremy Bowen told “Squawk Box Asia” Friday. “They’ve had a … Read more

‘Noctourism’ is expected to be a big travel trend in 2025

‘Noctourism’ is expected to be a big travel trend in 2025

Rebecca Douglas has been to Iceland 29 times. And she’s already booked her 30th trip. The goal of every trip is the same: photographing the aurora borealis, or Northern Lights. Douglas has been photographing this spectacular phenomenon since 2010. It’s colors — which can paint the sky a dazzling array of green, purple, yellow and … Read more

One of the best experiences I’ve had as a parent

One of the best experiences I’ve had as a parent

I work shifts, four days on four days off, as a firefighter. This gives me a huge advantage in terms of time I have with my daughter. Together, we’ve attended play dates, and craft and toy sharing sessions — and despite online portrayals of a more equal world, I am usually the only dad present. … Read more

Macao is becoming a city of sports and entertainment

Macao is becoming a city of sports and entertainment

Ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Macao last Friday, Sands China CEO and President Grant Chum said the city is diversifying its economy away from gaming to become “a city of sports and … a city of entertainment.” In an interview on “Squawk Box Asia,” Chum cited a deal announced in early December … Read more