Latest news with #visitors
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Baby giraffe Titali ready for limited public viewing at Maryland Zoo tomorrow
A three-month-old baby giraffe named Titali is ready to meet her first visitors at the Maryland Zoo starting tomorrow. The Giraffe House, which has been closed since Titali's birth in March, will open to limited groups of visitors who purchase special viewing passes.
NHK
2 days ago
- NHK
Japan sees record number of foreign visitors for May
More than 3.6 million foreigners visited Japan in May, marking a record high for the month. But there was a greater than 10 percent drop in visitors from Hong Kong due to an unfounded rumor that a major earthquake and tsunami will hit the country this summer. The Japan National Tourism Organization says an estimated 3.69 million foreigners visited Japan last month. That is a 21.5 percent increase over last May, and the highest figure ever for the month. The major countries with the biggest jumps in visitors were China and the United States, which saw increases of 44.8 percent and 26.3 percent, respectively. Many other countries and regions surveyed set records for May. On the other hand, visitors from Hong Kong were down 11.2 percent as flights to various parts of Japan were canceled in the wake of the quake rumor.
The Sun
4 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
Domesday English town is transforming its seafront with splash park, pop-up markets & new walkways in £7.2m makeover
A DOMESDAY English town is transforming its seafront with a splash park, pop-up markets and new walkways in a £7.2m makeover. However, the latest phase in the town's seafront transformation is taking longer than planned. 3 3 Improvements to Littlehampton's seafront between East Beach, South Terrace and Windmill Road got underway in the autumn. The town, seaside resort and civil parish sits in the Arun District of West Sussex. The work is being funded by a £7 million levelling up fund from the government and it is hoped the improvements will attract more visitors to boost the town's economy. The revamp includes new toilets and beach showers, improvements to the car park, including electric vehicle charging points, walkways and new sustainable planting. A new water play area and a pop-up marketplace off Banjo Road with four fixed stalls will also come to the beach. An activity hub is also planned to include a bouldering wall, beach volleyball, petanque and basketball courts. Waterfalls, rock pools and water jets will be installed for the water play area. There will also be social spaces throughout the development to include pergolas, picnic tables and benches, that will be shaded by new trees and plants. However, Arun District Council said the current work to the drainage connection is taking longer than anticipated due to an unexpected obstruction below the ground reports The Argus. Because of this, traffic controls will be in place for 'a few more days'. Trendy English seaside town has rooftop bar that 'feels like the Med' As well as the drainage work, contractors have installed a low railing along the edge of the car park and a windbreak fence around the volleyball area. The barbeques are back on site following their winter refurbishment by Littlehampton Town Council. New picnic benches will soon be arriving and bicycle racks will be placed in different locations around the site. Brightly coloured safety surfacing has appeared around the water play area and the work will continue into next week when the weather is dry. Scaffolding has been removed from the foreshore building but work continues inside and fencing is being installed around the yard area. Contractors have also started to clear the site in Banjo Road, ready for new tarmac surfacing to be laid. It is hoped that, weather permitting, the landscape contractors can complete the remaining planting within the next two weeks. Meanwhile, a picturesque town in Devon is home to one of the UK's most beautiful beaches - complete without arcades and rides. The Victorian town of Sidmouth in east Devon has a 200million-year-old coastline, being the gateway to the Jurassic Coast. Britain's 'trendiest' beach town is also set for biggest transformation in a decade as fresh plans unveiled. And a seaside town with the world's biggest fish and chip shop is about to be much easier to get to. Plus, a UK seaside town crowned top place in the world to take bored kids this summer. 3
New York Times
4 days ago
- New York Times
Visiting the Storm-Battered Blue Ridge Parkway? Here's What to Know.
When Hurricane Helene ravaged much of the Southeastern United States in September, the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway also took a beating. Most years, the 469-mile parkway, which winds through the Appalachians in North Carolina and Virginia, tops the list of the most visited National Park Service properties, dazzling travelers with waterfalls, mountain vistas and lush forests. Despite the storm, the parkway still ranked second last year, with nearly 17 million visitors, after the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in the San Francisco Bay Area. Landslides, flooding and fallen trees caused by the hurricane's heavy rain and high winds caused extensive damage to the parkway, closing the entire road for about two weeks. Maintenance crews have repaired much of the damage over the last several months, despite layoffs and budget cuts at the N.P.S., though sections of the roadway as well as some campsites and a destroyed visitor center remain closed indefinitely. Here's what to know if you plan to visit the parkway this summer. What happened? Hurricane Helene, which killed at least 250 people across seven states and caused nearly $80 billion in damage, dumped up to 30 inches of rain and brought wind gusts of up to 100 miles per hour along parts of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The storm destroyed the visitor center at Linville Falls and caused at least 57 landslides along the parkway in North Carolina alone. Park employees have worked tirelessly to restore the roadway and its surrounding amenities despite the staffing and budget cuts, said Eboni Preston Goddard, the Southeast regional director for the National Parks Conservation Association. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
South China Morning Post
4 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
20% tourist spike in May as more than 4 million visit Hong Kong
Hong Kong welcomed more than 4 million visitors in May, marking a 20 per cent year-on-year increase, with authorities attributing the surge to the Labour Day 'golden week' holiday. According to provisional figures released by the Tourism Board on Monday, more than 3.1 million of the total visitors in May were from mainland China, representing a 19 per cent rise from last year. The number of non-mainland tourists also increased significantly, by 24 per cent from last May, reaching 955,345. Of these, 56.2 per cent were short-haul visitors. The Tourism Board said that last month's increase was due to the Labour Day holiday, which ran from May 1 to 5 on the mainland, alongside a range of citywide activities including large-scale concerts, meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibition events. Overall, more than 20 million visitors arrived in Hong Kong between January and May, a 12 per cent year-on-year increase. While visitors from the mainland made up the majority of Hong Kong's tourist population and showed a 10 per cent growth from January to May, other visitors showed a higher growth of 18 per cent.
