Top Destination Travel News From January

From destinations implementing new tourist taxes to the full list of which national parks will be requiring a reservation this year, January was chock full of great destination news. Click through this slideshow to read bite-sized explanations of the month's biggest news, and click the links provided to read the full stories.

The nation's most popular national parks have been implementing a timed-entry reservation system since the pandemic, and have continued this rule to disencourage overcrowding. This year, nationals parks including Arches, Rocky Mountain, Yosemite, Zion and Shenandoah, among others, are requiring travelers book their visits ahead of time with the system.

Cancun International Airport announced plans to undergo a $1.4 billion renovation and expansion, planning for a station for the new Maya Train, and renovating the airports Terminal 1 and Terminal 4, which should expand the airport's capacity. 

Lexington, Kentucky has launched the most out-there travel campaign yet: "Hey, Aliens! Look at Lexington." The campaign aims to showcase the destination to potential interstellar visitors and included beaming a coded message to a possibly inhabited solar system.

Trinity College Dublin is offering a new, immersive experience to teach visitors about its library collections, including the famed Book of Kells, which brings thousands of visitors to Ireland's oldest college each year.

Brazil's tourism organization, Embratur, has postponed its electronic visa entry system for Americans, Canadians and Australians until April 10, 2024. The reason for the postponement is to allow the high tourist season to continue without any potential hindrances. The new e-Visa program will charge travelers from these countries $89 per person to get a visa, which allows multiple entries over a period of years: for Americans, the visa period is 10 years.

A new rule means that travelers from North America will no longer be required to obtain an e-visa to travel to Turkey, a program which was in place since 2013. Travelers visiting for under 90 days are no longer subject to visa entry requirements. Part of the reason for this new rule could be to encourage more travelers to visit Turkey, which has struggled to recover its tourism industry following the devastating earthquakes that rocked the country in February, 2023.

Greece is the next country implementing a new tourist tax to help raise funds for natural disaster recovery efforts. The tax is based upon the type of and duration of accommodation a traveler stays in, and is charged in euros. Greece expects to see up to 300 million euros generated from the tax this year alone.

A new ancient attraction is available for travelers to visit in Greece: the Palace of Aigai, where the legendary Alexander the Great was crowned king 2,400 years ago. It was destroyed by the Romans in 148 BC, and Greece spent 16 years and 20 million euros to restore the site for tourist and archeological conservation. It's located in Vergina in Central Macedonia.

Two Jamaica airports are installing new passport kiosks to make the lines move faster, as Jamaica's tourism continues to outpace the country's tourism infrastructure growth. The two airports are in Kingston and Montego Bay, two of the most popular air hubs on the island.

Following EU's growing scrutiny of Caribbean's so-called "golden passport" programs, which the governments rely upon as they are a citizenship by investment program, five nations appealed to the EU to allow them to continue these programs. The EU is concerned about how these citizens by investment programs, which are popular for people from China, Nigeria and Russia, could be used to hide illegal activity.

Travelers heading to Quintana Roo will enjoy a few more archaeological sites along the Maya Train railway system, while the site of Kohunlich will be ready to welcome more visitors when the train begins operations.

Beginning April 25, travelers heading to Venice for a day trip will have to pay five euros for day trips (trips that don't include staying a night or two in Venice), during specific times of the year through a new entry ticket system. The entry ticket can be purchased online, while those staying overnight should obtain a ticket exemption.

Experts have noted that 2024 will offer some of the best Northern Lights displays in twenty years, and we put together an exciting list of some of the best destinations where you can discover the lights for yourself. Some destinations include Fairbanks in Alaska, Michigan's Upper Peninsula and northern Finland.

The UNWTO is predicting that international tourism will reach a full post-pandemic recovery this year, expecting it to exceed 2019 international tourism arrival numbers by 10 percent.

China is still struggling to recover its hard-hit tourism industry, as the nation, which was one of the latest to reopen to tourism, is still 60 percent lower in international arrivals than its pre-pandemic total of 97.7 million international tourists in 2019.

Visit Orlando received a $15-million budget cut in funding this year, with the funds going to other community projects as one of the nation's largest tourism boards faces an audit and more governmental oversight. The marketing organization will have $100 million to spend in bringing travelers to the region this year.

The Mexican Navy is adding military personnel to Tulum to help security efforts, especially in high tourist zones. The town currently has around 250 military personnel helping police curb crime.

Following the eighteen homicides that were conducted in January, 2024 in The Bahamas, the US Embassy there issued a security alert to take precautions and keep a low profile while in The Bahamas. The alert cited retaliatory gang violence for the reason behind the murders.

Mexico's beloved Chichen Itza archaeological site broke a single-day visitor record on January 23, as it welcomed 7,500 visitors. The new Maya Train is the reason for the new record.