Latest Leisure travel News

More Memorial Day travel expected, despite high gas prices
LOS ANGELES (AP) — To drive, or not to drive? This Memorial Day weekend, with surging gas prices that are redefining pain at the pump, that is the question for many Americans as a new COVID-19 surge also spreads across the country. For Marvin Harper, of Phoenix, his family’s...

Q&A: Baz Luhrmann on his tragic, razzle-dazzle 'Elvis'
CANNES, France (AP) — It’s the day before Baz Luhrmann is to unveil “Elvis" at the Cannes Film Festival, and it goes without saying that the director — one of cinema's most maximalist moviemakers — is ready to put on a show. “I’ve been ready to put on a show since I...

Sri Lankan leader seeks world's help during financial crisis
TOKYO (AP) — Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa asked for urgent international help on Thursday as his country suffers from a financial crisis. “We are presently undergoing a severe economic crisis that has profoundly impacted the lives of all Sri Lankans, resulting in...

Japan to resume tourism in June; only packaged tour for now
TOKYO (AP) — Japan will open its borders to foreign tourists in June for the first time since imposing tight pandemic travel restrictions about two years ago, but only for package tours for now, the prime minister said Thursday. Beginning June 10, Japan will allow the entry of...

Jon Batiste kicks off Grammy Museum's educational series
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jon Batiste is still putting in some Grammy work: The multi-talented performer will kick off a series geared toward public and educational programs in New York City next month. The Grammy Museum announced Thursday that Batiste will perform during a series titled...

Paris: Ex-leader of Louvre charged with money laundering
PARIS (AP) — The former president of the Louvre museum has received preliminary charges for alleged antiquities trafficking during his tenure as head of the famous Paris museum. Police in the French capital charged Jean-Luc Martinez on Wednesday with “complicity in organized...

Infrastructure plan: $33M to clean up hundreds of oil wells
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — About $33 million of the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan recently signed into law by President Joe Biden will go toward cleanning up 277 of an estimated 15,000 abandoned oil and gas wells on federal land, the nation's interior secretary said Wednesday. ...

Pandemic-weary Americans plan for summer despite COVID surge
HONOLULU (AP) — A high school prom in Hawaii where masked dancers weren't allowed to touch. A return to virtual city council meetings in one Colorado town after the mayor and others tested positive following an in-person session. A reinstated mask mandate at skilled nursing facilities in Los...

Airbnb ends rentals in China to focus on outbound tourists
BEIJING (AP) — Airbnb Inc. will stop listing homes and experiences inside China this summer and instead focus its business in the country on serving Chinese tourists looking for lodgings abroad, a company official said on social media Tuesday. Airbnb began listings in China in...
Tourism thriving in Florida ahead of Memorial Day weekend
MIAMI (AP) — Tourists have returned to Florida in numbers that are surpassing pre-pandemic levels. Officials at Miami International Airport are projecting the “busiest Memorial Day weekend ever," according to a news release sent Monday. Passenger traffic at the...
