First-time visitors to the Philippines sometimes make the mistake of arriving in Manila without any further travel plans. To be fair, there’s some fine sightseeing to be done ― especially in the Intramuros area, site of the original Spanish fort ― and the city has a certain apocalyptic charm to it, especially during the monsoon season. Stay too long in Manila, though, and the Philippines’ jungles, dive sites, highland villages, volcanoes and more than 7,000 islands begin to exercise a magnetic p

March 7, 2014

Korea’s southern resort island of Jejudo faces an oversupply of hotel rooms, according to local officials and industry insiders. As more and more tourists complained about the difficulty of booking rooms due to a shortage of hotels, the Jeju government eased regulations and stepped up efforts to attract builders and investments. However, their efforts seem to have gone too far.“Hotel rooms have outnumbered tourists. Unless the number of tourists increases remarkably, we will have a problem,” sai

March 5, 2014

JW Marriott Seoul has named veteran hotelier Matthew Cooper as its new general manager, the hotel said on Monday. Starting as a banquet waiter in Australia, Cooper has built a professional career in hospitality of 16 years with Marriott International. He previously served as the general manager in India at Bengaluru Marriott Hotel Whitefield and at Courtyard by Marriott, Gurgaon. He has been involved in the preopening stages of several hotels and was awarded the Marriott International “Prestigio

March 3, 2014

The trekking guides of Nepal sometimes entertain themselves with a nonsensical piece of doggerel that asks, right before the punch line, “What to do in Kathmandu?” While it may be a dull city for some of the locals, finding something to do or see should never be a problem for a visitor ― except when the country is in the middle of one of its political crises. Before the latest election, worries about stability ― and basic mobility ― put a serious dent in tourism, the country’s main industry. The

Feb. 28, 2014

Some travelers enjoy the leisurely pace of train journeys, while some are hooked on the efficiency of air travel. Others fancy the freedom of road trips, or the challenge of long-distance cycling. Korea can satisfy all these types, but the happiest group of all might be the island hoppers and the seafarers. Apart from the dozens of local ferries, there are sailings to Vladivostok, Russia, from Donghae, Gangwon Province, and to Fukuoka, Osaka, Shimonoseki and Tsushima Island in Japan, departing f

Feb. 28, 2014

France is the most popular country for travel in the world, data showed on Wednesday. South Korea came in at 25.According to data portal World Statistics, France had the most tourists last year at 81.4 million. About 9.8 million travelers visited South Korea.After France came the United States with 62.7 million visitors, followed by China, Spain and Italy with 57.6 million, 56.7 million and 46.1 million, respectively.By Lee Shin-young, Intern reporter (sylee@heraldcorp.com)

Feb. 27, 2014

LOS ANGELES ― Chen Si, 35, and her husband visited Los Angeles from Shanghai for the first time in December, excited about local attractions like Disneyland and Hollywood.They were less enthused about the idea of American food. They booked a room in San Gabriel, where friends said they could find “acceptable” Chinese food in the surrounding neighborhood, Si said.The once-quiet suburb about 19 kilometers east of downtown Los Angeles is in the midst of a transformation built on the growing interna

Feb. 21, 2014

CARLSBAD, California ― It’s mid-afternoon on a hot summer day. After a full morning at a theme park, energy is running low. While the adults are ready to leave the fun behind for a few hours of rest, there are many in the party who don’t want to leave.Legoland has come up with a solution.The Legoland Hotel, which opened in April, sits just outside the entrance to the theme park. The three-story, 250-room hotel is an explosion of primary colors made to resemble the colorful structures that can be

Feb. 21, 2014

CAPE TOWN, South Africa ― I’m normally not a morning person. But by 5 a.m. on my first full day in Cape Town, the sun has risen high enough to peel back the curtain of night and reveal the majesty of Table Mountain. Sleep no longer interests me. I sip hot tea, nibble the chocolate truffle left during turndown service the night before, slide open the doors and take in the view. Behind me, television continues 24/7 commercial-free programming ― tributes, interviews and news about Nelson Mandela. T

Feb. 14, 2014

MINNEAPOLIS ― The northern lights rise like glowing pillars and then unfurl to stretch across the night sky. They wave like a flag, shimmering green with purple at the fringes, below a tapestry of stars. Sometimes they transform nearly the whole sky into their dance floor, flitting north and south in hues from blue to yellow and even pink and red. The beauty is astounding; it’s almost surreal. Or so I’ve been told. The aurora borealis ― and its southern counterpart, the aurora australis ― starts

Feb. 14, 2014