ReleaseWire

Hawaii's multibillion-dollar tourism industry is booming again, with Hawaii's tourism board reporting that 3.4 million Americans visited one or more of its islands during April, 2014. Almost 100,000 Japanese and about 50,000 Canadians also came to the state during the same time period. With that many people coming to Hawaii in just one month, it's clear that tourism is a huge industry for the Aloha State. It's no wonder that some of its cities seem to have more hotels in them than anything else.

Outbound departures from Norway experienced an increase of 5% in the number of trips made in 2013, which was slightly lower than during 2012. The fact that the Norwegian krone depreciated somewhat against other major currencies effected the slower growth in departures in 2013. The fall in the Norwegian krone is due to a combination of various factors such as poor liquidity and weak growth in the economy of Norway. For some Norwegians, it has become more expensive to travel overseas. However, this factor makes it more attractive to travel to cheaper destinations without affecting overall departures.

Via an Executive Decree, President Juan Orlando Hernandez declared tourism to be a national priority in January 2014. The decree has many directives to bolster tourism over the long term, including the coordination of public and private tourism stakeholders to improve the country's brand and image while also protecting the country's environment, culture and history. Another goal is to demonstrate the country will not tolerate violence and to ensure safety and security throughout tourism...

Hotels in Norway have upgraded their facilities in order to offer spa treatments to their guests or those who want just to have a spa treatment without using the accommodation. Spa facilities give hotel owners additional earnings independently of the season. The majority hotel/resort spas are present around different regions in Norway. The quality of hotel/resort spas is often higher than regular hotels which do not offer spa facilities.

The Slovenian tourism industry is benefiting from 2013's record growth in revenues, and this is set to continue into 2014 on the back of the continuing domestic economic recovery and the stabilisation of the wider region, which contains Slovenia's key tourism source markets. We expect the focus on mountain retreats, health resorts and spas to continue. However, we believe more-high end developments are needed to attract the larger hotel groups, which continue to have a very limited presence in the country.

Ecuador's travel and tourism sector performed well during the review period (2009-2013) in terms of both tourist volume and expenditure. The main factors for tourism growth were government initiatives and continuous efforts to promote country's travel and tourism sector on international and domestic level. A rise in investments, driven by economic growth and public spending, also contributed.

The Arizona National Scenic Trail will now be celebrated worldwide. The 800-mile-long Arizona Trail is showcased in a large-scale, brand new exhibit here at this popular Grand Canyon-area visitor center at the entrance to the Canyon’s South Rim. The exhibit, sponsored by Nature Valley, will be unveiled to the public during a grand opening ceremony on the afternoon of August 14.

A key trend in health and wellness tourism in Bulgaria in 2013 was continuous striving on the part of health and wellness operators to attract more consumers from the middle class and more inbound tourists from the economy segment, rather than being viewed mainly as luxurious venues and therefore expensive. Wellness-focused outlets which have opened on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast target the mass segment of inbound tourists and offer prices which easily compete with those offered by regular hotels in resorts such as Sunny Beach or Golden Sands.

Tourism is expected to grow substantially this year in Florida, with governor Rick Scott’s recent revelation that the tourism sector in Florida made history at least in the first three months of the year.

Texas state parks remain among the few public places in one of the nation’s most populous and increasingly urbanized states where the starry heavens can be viewed in all their celestial glory with only minimal intrusion of artificial light. Copper Breaks State Park in the Panhandle Plains and Enchanted Rock State Natural Area in the Hill Country are the first Texas state parks to be designated International Dark Sky Parks by the International Dark-Sky Association.

Summer weather conditions in Denmark in 2013 were good. The average temperature for the summer months June, July and August was above the average, leaving many Danes who choose to spend the free months in their home country very happy and cheerful. The good weather conditions encouraged the Danes to tour their land with their family and friends, and enjoy the nice landscape and other outdoor domestic attractions. As a result, after a decline in the number of domestic trips in 2012, tourism flows domestic returned to a growth rate, 2%, in the number of trips in 2013.

In 2013, the Ecuadorian government announced that it had identified tourism as a key industry for spurring sustainable economic development. As part of its plan to develop the tourism industry, the Ministry of Tourism has been allotted a budget of US$150 million for each of the next four years, up from the previously-expected US$40 million per year. Some of this budget will go towards increasing international promotions, improving intra-industry collaboration, and supporting innovation. Part of...

Domestic tourism flows continued to perform moderately in 2013, with the number of trips growing by 1% to register 34 million. While leisure trips with free accommodation grew, leisure trips with paid accommodation and business trips in general within the country decreased. When looking at weekend trips with paid accommodation, Finns increasingly opted to stay in Estonia instead of domestic destinations. Estonia offered competitive prices for accommodation and other services.

Health and wellness tourism recorded current value growth of 1% in 2013, and value sales reached 54.7 million. This category, which grew healthily during 2011 and 2012, saw growth almost stagnate as both domestic and international visitors cut back on their spending on health and wellness services and products in Finland. Trips by Russian tourists to health and wellness establishments, a key source of value sales for health and wellness tourism, were moderately positive, but notably less so than in the previous years. Visits by Finns became moderately negative. Sluggish current value growth was also partly due to increasing price-based competition as companies tried to keep volumes from dropping further by offering a number of price-based promotions.

In 2013 there was 4% growth in the number of people visiting tourist attractions. There are many tourist attractions for all religions, with many historical landmarks. Israel also has the lowest point on land in the world, the Dead Sea, which attracts a great deal of attention from tourists. As Tel Aviv is becoming a modern city and centre for business and technology, more and more people are visiting the city and then touring.

Outbound travel increased in 2013, with the number of trips rising by 4% for the year. The gain was supported by a number of factors, including moderate improvement in the national economy and resulting improvement in consumer spending on travel, a long cold winter and expansion of outbound direct routes by Canada's air carriers.

Inbound trips grew 7% in 2013 to 1,366,000. Colombia and the US represent the two most important tourism sources for Ecuador in terms of trips, making up 25% and 18% of inbound tourists, respectively. Despite its large share of tourists, Colombia saw a decline of -2% of trips to Ecuador in 2013. The US saw a 1% increase.

Haunted happenings, ghostly specters and paranormal activity is abound in NYC and New Yorker's are looking for answers...answers from Pete and Stew Kandel (known as Dr. Pete and Dr. Stew) paranormal investigators and licensed NYC tours guides aka New York's own “Ghost Doctors.”

According to research conducted by booking search engine Trivago, average daily rates offered by hotels and other travel accommodation establishments in Bulgaria decreased in 2013 and the country continued to be the cheapest destination in Europe for the second consecutive year. As a result, demand and occupancy rates increased in 2013 and the number of both inbound and domestic tourists increased in comparison with 2012. The price decrease in 2013 was mainly initiated by hotels in summer...

Danes have a long and strong tradition of travelling abroad, mostly for long holidays during the summer months in warm destinations but also for shorter trips during the wintertime, for skiing and for those interested in enjoying the sun in warmer countries, out of Europe. One of the reasons for the custom of travelling abroad during the summer months is that Danes are known to dislike the unstable local weather conditions, as it often rains even on sunny days. Moreover, the convenience of travelling within the European borders makes it appealing for many people to take a short weekend break spontaneously and travel abroad. In 2013, the tourism flows outbound category continued to grow by 1%.

Outbound departures increased 13% to 1,156,000 trips in 2013 with spending rising 5% to US$988 million in current terms. The most popular destination for Ecuadorian travellers by far is the US, which at 395,000 trips captured 34% of all outbound departures. Following the US are Peru with 203,000 trips and Colombia with 108,000 trips. The popularity of the US as an outbound destination is mainly due to the high number of Ecuadorian immigrants living in the US. Many of these expatriate Ecuadorians have relatives who still live in Ecuador and many of them take the opportunity to visit their friends and family in the US. Regional destinations, including Peru and Colombia but also destinations like Panama and Argentina, perform well because they tend to be less expensive than transoceanic trips, for example to Europe or Asia.

Mylar space blanket was made for astronauts. Though it was designed to be used in outer space, it can be utilized in several ways one would never think of. The Mylar Space Blankets are strong enough to shield one from the many severe climates, but has several other uses also. If one is a survivalist, or the outdoors type then they will come to know many ways to use mylar space blankets and is quite helpful. This can also be utilized in the house to decrease your monthly efficacy bill. Blacking out the windows with the stuff will maintain the heat in the home where it belongs to.

MarketLine's Company Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Partnerships & Alliances and Investments reports offer a comprehensive breakdown of the organic and inorganic growth activity undertaken by an organization to sustain its competitive advantage.

2013 saw 4% growth in the number of trips, compared with stagnation in 2012. In current value terms 2013 also saw faster growth than in 2012. This can be explained by the increase in low-cost charter flights to places such as Europe.

Travel and tourism recorded strong growth in 2013, mainly supported by a growing need from Chinese consumers for relaxation amid the quickening pace of life and increasing enthusiasm for experiencing foreign cultures and lifestyles. This robust growth was also fuelled by rising disposable incomes, which resulted in both domestic and outbound tourism being increasingly affordable to the average consumer in China, in addition to enforcement of a tourism law in 2013.