Hong Kong authorities are considering a pilot booking system for popular hiking routes and a new marine park at Sharp Island due to large crowds during mainland Chinese holidays. The aim is to control visitor numbers, protect trails, and improve visitor experience.
Darwin's hospitality and tourism businesses are struggling with rising fuel costs, lower bookings, and permit delays. Flora's Temper restaurant closed after two years, while Spirit of Darwin cruises reduced operations. Businesses call for government support, including voucher schemes.
Hong Kong's economy is expected to see its strongest quarterly growth in five years, driven by a 17% rise in visitor numbers and increased retail and catering activity, according to Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po.
A study by Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Think China suggests Hong Kong should shift its tourism strategy from volume to value, as mainland visitors display increasingly selective consumption habits despite a recovery in arrival numbers.
Hong Kong Disneyland Resort reported a 36% decline in net profit to HK$536 million (US$68 million) for the financial year ending last September, with revenue down 1.35% to HK$8.69 billion and visitor numbers falling 2.5% to 7.5 million. Managing director Tim Sypko attributed the drop to higher wages, anniversary-related expenses, and depreciation from new attractions including a Pixar-themed water parade. Despite the decline, the resort achieved its second-highest profit in 20 years and became debt-free for the first time.
Dazzling new additions like V&A East are a source of national pride, but so are much-loved regional institutionsThe V&A East Museum, which opens its doors for the first time in Stratford, London, on Saturday, is the latest addition to the buzzing East Bank cultural quarter on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. This £135m architect-designed V&A outpost is a short walk from the V&A East Storehouse (on Time Magazine’s list of The World’s Greatest Places to Visit 2026) and Sadler’s Wells East, both of which arrived last year. The London College of Fashion has been there since 2024 and BBC Music Studios are due to open in 2027. Art, design, dance, fashion and music – welcome to London’s 21st-century culturopolis.This once-neglected area of London – “a place where fridges went to die” as Gus Casely-Hayford, the director of V&A East, put it – has been transformed into a creative mecca. But in many parts of the UK the story is one of falling visitor numbers, job losses and the closure of much-loved music venues and art spaces. These architectural palaces are a far cry from many of the crumbling theatres and museums outside the capital (and their well-maintained European equivalents).Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
