#tourism

🇬🇧 Nine places have been longlisted for #UK #City of #Culture 2029: #Blackpool, Inverness-Highland, Ipswich, #Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, #Portsmouth, #Sheffield, #Swindon and Wrexham. Each will receive £60,000 to develop their full bids, with the winner set to receive £10 million to deliver a year-long cultural programme. Previous winners have seen increased #tourism, investment and local participation. The announcement coincides with over 230 towns registering interest in the inaugural UK Town of Culture competition, open to applications until 31 March 2026. The winner of the City of Culture will be announced later this year. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-city-of-culture-2029-longlist-revealed

Several #tourism stakeholders met in Brussels for the first network meeting of the #EU Code of Conduct for Online Ratings and Reviews for Tourism Accommodation. The initiative, co-created by the EU and industry partners, aims to improve transparency and reliability of online reviews, ensuring ratings reflect genuine guest experiences. Signatories include Booking com, Expedia, Tripadvisor, Airbnb, HolidayCheck, HOTREC, and others. #European Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas said the Code strengthens trust in tourism, helping travellers make informed choices and supporting businesses across the European tourism ecosystem. https://transport.ec.europa.eu/news-events/news/reliable-online-reviews-tourism-accommodation-commission-welcomes-signatories-eu-code-conduct-2026-02-25_en

'Karen has no criminal record. She is a grandmother who spent eight years working as an admin assistant at a primary school before her retirement...So why did ICE detain her, and keep her locked up for so long? A possible answer began to emerge over the weeks she was incarcerated. As Karen got to know the guards at the Northwest ICE Processing Center where she was held, she kept hearing the same thing from them: that ICE officers are paid a bonus every time they detain someone' #ice #usPol #tourism #immigration #prisonIndustrialComplex https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/21/karen-newton-valid-visa-detained-ice

Sagrada Familia tops out, a mere 144 years after construction began https://apnews.com/article/spain-barcelona-gaudi-sagrada-familia-church-ba90e5211913fa954ff63d54dd6efa69?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&utm_campaign=fark&ICID=ref_fark #architecture #history #tourism #spiffy #Spain

The 11th #Global #Tourism #Economy #Forum concluded in #Harbin, #Heilongjiang Province, marking the #event’s first #expansion beyond its traditional #Macao base. The #forum brought together tourism officials, #industry leaders, and #experts from #China and #internationally to #discuss development #opportunities under the #theme “New Quality Productive Forces: Powering the Global Tourism #Economy.” https://cnbusinessforum.com/global-tourism-economy-forum-expands-to-heilongjiang-highlighting-chinas-tourism-development/