Coping With the Closing of the National Parks
The government shutdown doesn’t just mean the shuttering of offices on Capitol Hill. It also means the closing of about 84.4 million acres that make up the National Park System.From the Grand Canyon to...
View ArticleConsidering the Caribbean: Possible Effects of Rising Sea Levels in Our...
Last week's tsunami-like surge in the Philippines might feel far away, but there's a vulnerable coast line right in our backyard: The Caribbean.Rising sea levels could have considerable effects on the...
View ArticleHow National Landmarks Get Their Names
Click on the audio player above to hear this interview.This week, President Obama announced that the tallest mountain in North America will no longer be called called Mount McKinley. It is now Denali,...
View ArticleCongress Reacts to Refugees, Avoids Visas
Click on the audio player above to hear this interview.Today, the House will vote on a bill halting America's promise to admit 10 thousand war refugees from Iraq and Syria. The fear, of course, is that...
View ArticleTourists Use iPads and Other Digital Devices to Navigate New York City
A simple stroll around Times Square is enough to show that iPhones, iPads and other smartphones and tablets have virtually replaced paper maps, guidebooks and even digital cameras among the tourists...
View ArticleStatue of Liberty to Reopen by Independence Day
The Statue of Liberty, closed since Hurricane Sandy damaged the island where it stands, will reopen to the public by Independence Day, officials said Tuesday.Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar...
View ArticleOpen Phones: #MustSeeQueens
Two candidates in the Queens borough president race are pushing to make Queens a tourist destination. Call in with your pitch: what should tourists and other visitors go see in Queens? If you had to...
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Pop-Up Shops, Outdoor Movies Coming to Sandy-Ravaged Seaport
Manhattan's South Street Seaport — still recovering from Sandy — is getting a temporary face-lift. Pop-up stores, a beer garden, even an outdoor film series, is planned for the area starting Memorial...
View ArticleAirbnb Case Inches Forward
Remember Nigel Warren? He’s the East Village man who racked up a pile of violation notices after renting out his apartment on Airbnb for three nights, while he was out of town. The fines could cost him...
View ArticlePassenger Rail Projects Proliferate in Central Florida
Orlando —"We can’t depend on the old ways of doing things," says Harry Barley, the executive director of Central Florida’s regional transportation planning agency Metroplan Orlando."The old ways have...
View ArticleAirbnb Suffers Setback In NYC Court Decision
A New York City judge has issued a rebuke to Airbnb, the popular short-term home rental site. Airbnb had intervened on behalf of a user, Nigel Warren, who faced stiff fines for renting his Manhattan...
View ArticleAirbnb Legal Questions
Ilya Marritz , WNYC reporter, discusses a recent case where an Airbnb host had to pay a $2400 fine for renting his apartment through Airbnb.
View ArticleBroadway Attendance Falls, Another Victim of Sandy
Attendance at Broadway theaters was down six percent in the year-long season that just ended, according to statistics released Tuesday by the Broadway League, and the group said Sandy is to blame."We...
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The Boomerang Graffito (Or Bad, Bad, Luther B!)
I was standing in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art the other day, where there's a full-sized Egyptian temple, called Dendur. It's housed under a glass roof ...Robert Krulwich/NPRAnd standing...
View Article"Stronger" Than The Backlash?
Mary Mann with New Jersey News Commons at Montclair State University joins New Jersey Public Radio's David Furst to talk about a backlash to New Jersey's "Stronger Than The Storm" ad campaign. People...
View ArticleOpen Phones: What Do You First Notice About the US?
A call in for "the new de Tocquevilles" -- recent immigrants, tourists, other visitors: What do you notice first about life in the US? Customs, physical features, interesting behavior, tell us what you...
View ArticleMexico's Image Problem
Mexico has an image problem around the world, exacerbated by stories of violence and corruption —not to mention lingering stereotypes from the era of the Frito Bandito. Brooke talks to a number of...
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Like Talking on the Phone but a Thousand Times More Thrilling!
Listen to a 1940s five-inch transcription disc recording from the highest coin operated booth in the world - the Voice-O-Graph automatic voice recorder on the 86th floor of the Empire State Building.At...
View ArticleAirbnb Won't Comply With Subpoena from New York Attorney General
Short-term home rental site Airbnb says it won't comply with a subpoena from the New York Attorney General asking it to hand over data about its 15,000 hosts in New York City."This demand is...
View ArticleJudge Says Airbnb Can Keep Its Secrets
Airbnb, the popular website for short term room rentals, has won a legal battle with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to keep its users' records confidential.What Schneiderman was seeking...
View ArticleWant to tour a toxic beach? 'Anti-tourism' explores the darker, dirtier...
The latest trend in tourism doesn't look like tourism at all. With the help of some adventurous tour guides, young urbanites are seeking out the world's most unusual, gross and often dangerous locales.
View ArticleRussians flock to their 'little bit of paradise' in Crimea — and back its...
Fighting in eastern Ukraine is putting a serious dent in tourism in Crimea — unless you're Russian. While Ukrainians and Europeans are staying away from the newly-annexed peninsula, Russians are making...
View ArticleJerry Nadler on Ferguson, Helicopters, and More
Are choppers a New York nusiance? US Representative Jerrold Nadler authored a letter to Mayor de Blasio with signatures by many area elected officials calling for the end of tourist helicopter flights...
View ArticleSkip the Bus Tours and Go Canoeing on the Bronx River Instead
Even lifelong New Yorkers don’t know every corner of the city, but New York offers endless opportunities to step off the beaten path and explore hidden places. T. M. Rives, author of the Secret New...
View ArticleAll the Serious Artists Have Moved to the East Village
This is the third and final installment of Pan Am's audio walking tour of New York City. The clip features areas of the Lower East Side, Greenwich Village, and Washington Square Park, and much like...
View ArticleHow to Celebrate Queens Without Ruining It
Citing its new microbreweries, "truly global food culture," the art scene and the Rockaways, the travel guide Lonely Planet recently announced that Queens is its number one U.S. city to visit in 2015....
View ArticleLet's Plan the Pope's NYC Itinerary
Pope Francis has announced he'll visit New York City when he comes to the U.S. in September. Rocco Palmo, Vatican analyst and Catholic reporter discusses the preliminary plans, which so far include...
View ArticleOld Roads to Rome
Travel writer Tony Perrotet has spent his career traveling all over the globe, but he skipped the Mediterranean tour, choosing Tierra del Fuego or the Amazon over Rome. But the discovery of an ancient...
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Five Things You Had to See Online This Week
This week in “Thanks, Internet” — Shlohmo revives a genre, Cindy Sherman becomes emoticons, a tourist remembers why we love NYC, a tumblr takes rap back to the Middle Ages, and Dinosaurs dance to...
View ArticleNew York City's Hotel Boom Is Keeping Prices Down
The Baccarat Hotel and Residences, an imposing high rise in Midtown where rooms go for $1,500 a night, is one of the city’s newest hotels. The 114-room hotel is dripping in crystal, from the champagne...
View ArticleNorth Jersey Rolls the Dice on Casinos
First, WNYC's Jessica Gould reports on the breaking news that New Jersey's Supreme Court ruled that Gov. Christie can cut billions in contributions from the state's public employee pension funds.Then,...
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At height of tourism season, Zika virus puts Caribbean economies at risk
Dominican Air Force personnel fumigate various locations in Santo Domingo against the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which transmits the Zika virus. Photo by Erika Santelices/AFP/Getty ImagesThe Caribbean is...
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U.S. and Cuba sign agreement to resume commercial flights
The Cuban national flag is seen raised over their newly reopened embassy in Washington, July 20, 2015. Photo by Carlos Barria/ReutersOfficials from the U.S. and Cuba met in Havana Tuesday to sign an...
View ArticleCuba: The Race Is On
President Obama's trip to Cuba this week was historic — it's been more than 80 years since a U.S. president visited the nation — but was it productive?During a joint news conference between Obama and...
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A waypoint for refugees, Lesbos braces for hardship as tourism declines
Watch Video | Listen to the AudioHARI SREENIVASAN: Tourism businesses on the Greek island of Lesbos are asking for protection from bankruptcy as they face a potential economic catastrophe. Tens of...
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Column: El Nino, the global spoilsport affecting oil, food prices and tourism
Smoke and flames from the wildfires erupt behind a car on the highway near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. Photo by Mark Blinch/ReutersExtraordinarily dry conditions have fueled the wildfire that...
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News Wrap: Terror fears in Europe stoke new warning for U.S. travelers
Watch Video | Listen to the AudioHARI SREENIVASAN: Good evening. I’m Hari Sreenivasan. Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff are away.On the “NewsHour” tonight:DONALD TRUMP (R), Republican Presidential...
View ArticleThe Mexican Tourism Minister Takes On Misconceptions
Enrique de la Madrid, Mexico’s Minister of Tourism, discusses the rhetoric used in the presidential campaign, as it relates to Mexico, and how this portrayal of Mexico differs from his view of the...
View ArticleLincoln Hills
As summer winds down, millions of Americans are packing their bags and hitting the road. In this episode of BackStory, Peter, Ed and Brian explore the history of American tourism. We’ll hear how...
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For creating travel memories, Russell Banks prefers words to images
Watch Video | Listen to the AudioHARI SREENIVASAN: If you’re planning to travel to Iceland or some other destination, you might want to take a tip from novelist and poet Russell Banks. In the age of...
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Tourism in Iceland is booming — but that may not be all good news
Watch Video | Listen to the AudioGWEN IFILL: The tourist season in Europe is winding down, and at least one nation hopes it will stay that way.Iceland was one of this year’s “It” destinations for...
View ArticleBuilding a Spaceship Without the Help of NASA
In 1994, entrepreneur Peter Diamandis pledged $10 million as a prize for the first privately funded team to build and fly a manned rocket into space, despite the fact that he wasn’t sure if anyone...
View ArticleSaving the City of Venice from Tourism
Venice is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Its unique geography makes it vulnerable to rising sea levels, but Salvatore Settis, an archaeologist and art historian, warns that there is a...
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In Cuba, American tourists increase demand for hotels
Watch Video | Listen to the AudioAMY GUTTMAN: Since the U.S. Government eased restrictions on travel to Cuba early last year, the number of American tourists visiting the Caribbean island nation has...
View ArticleAlaska Bingo
Sam Feirstein takes a broken heart to Alaska and finds surprising kindness in enemy territory. Also, Strangers producer/host Lea Thau takes a broken heart to India.
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With a Subway Ride to the Trump Carousel, Syrian Refugees Tour New York
One of the myriad tour groups winding its way through Manhattan this week is not made up of your typical camera-toting, wide-eyed tourists from the Midwest. Instead, these moms, dads and babies...
View Article69 – The Romance and Sex Life of the Date
In 1898, the United States Department of Agriculture created a special department of men, called “Agriculture Explorers,” to travel the globe searching for new food crops to bring back for farmers to...
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Changing tides of U.S. policy may sink Cuban tourism hopes
Watch Video | Listen to the AudioJUDY WOODRUFF: It was almost two months ago that President Trump announced he was closing down some of the opening to Cuba begun in 2014 by President Obama.Mr. Trump’s...
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Irresistible to tourists, has Venice become unwelcoming to its inhabitants?
Watch Video | Listen to the AudioMILES O’BRIEN: There have been a number of reports on how climate change is imperiling the city of Venice. But some projections indicate there’s an even more urgent...
View ArticleTerror attacks hit Tunisia's economy
Last week saw the second deadly attack on Western tourists in Tunisia in four months, dealing a severe blow to the industry that is the country's economic mainstay. Siona Jenkins is joined by Erika...
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