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BRUGES, Belgium, Aug 5, 2023 (AFP) – Inhabitants of Belgium’s cobblestone-and-canal city of Bruges are clear: summertime tourism has hit capacity. “It’s really reached a red line now,” says one, 55-year-old architect Arnout Goegebuer, as he sits inside a cafe, peering out a window across a packed outside terrace. “We don’t need more tourists anymore, it’s enough — maybe a little bit less” is needed, he says. It’s a sentiment reiterated by other residents of […]
By Juliette COLLEN PARIS, July 12, 2023 (AFP) – From subtly shifting the position of Ramses II’s sceptre, to touch-ups on a necklace or headdress, ancient Egyptian artists were more creative than previously thought, according to a study published Wednesday. Using new portable imaging and chemical analysis techniques, an international team of scientists took a fresh look at paintings in the Valley of the Kings — a royal burial ground for pharaohs and other ancient […]
By Deva LEE Pictures by Amna Yaseen, Video by Faisal Satti LAHORE, Pakistan, July 10, 2023 (AFP) – Pakistani mountaineer Shehroze Kashif faces sub-zero temperatures and biting winds in his race to scale the world’s highest peaks, but his biggest challenge is finding the money. Kashif, 21, aims this year to become the youngest person to climb every peak above 8,000 metres (26,247 feet), all of which are in Asia, with five in Pakistan. Summiting […]
PARIS, July 6, 2023 (AFP) – UNESCO on Thursday condemned the bombing of a historic building in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv and expressed “its sincere condolences” to the families of five victims. “This attack, the first to take place in an area protected by the World Heritage Convention since the outbreak of the war on 24 February 2022, is a violation of this Convention,” the UN cultural agency said. UNESCO added that the […]
By Camille LAFFONT A long trek across the desert of northeastern Niger brings the visitor to one of the most astonishing and rewarding sights in the Sahel: fortified villages of salt and clay perched on rocks with the Saharan sands laying siege below. Generations of travellers have stood before the “ksars” of Djado, wondering at their crenelated walls, watchtowers, secretive passages and wells, all of them testifying to a skilled but unknown hand. Who chose […]
by Hélène COLLIOPOULOU Agence France-Presse PAROS, Greece (AFP) — It’s early morning in the picturesque village of Naoussa on the Greek island of Paros, and jackhammers are already echoing as locals ready for what they hope will be a record tourist season. After two bad years because of the pandemic, tourist numbers bounced back spectacularly last year, and this summer the Aegean island hopes to do even better. Construction sites are abuzz all over the […]
Cairo, Egypt (AFP) — Archaeologists in Egypt have unearthed a sphinx statue “with a smiley face and two dimples” near the Hathor Temple, one of the country’s best preserved ancient sites, the tourism and antiquities ministry announced Monday. It is the latest in a series of discoveries revealed over the past few months. The limestone artefact, believed to be a stylised representation of an ancient Roman emperor, was found inside a two-level tomb near the […]
Cairo, Egypt (AFP) — Scientists have discovered a hidden passage inside Egypt’s Great Pyramid, the authorities announced on Thursday, part of a seven-year international research project. The passage is nine metres (30 feet) in length and more than two metres in width, the antiquities ministry said in a statement. Egypt’s Tourism and Antiquities Minister Ahmed Issa told reporters at the ancient site in Giza also known as the Khufu, or Cheops, pyramid, that the “gabled […]
CHISINAU, Moldova (AFP) — Hungarian budget airline Wizz Air announced Monday it would suspend all its flights to and from Moldova due to security concerns linked to growing tensions with Russia. “Due to recent developments and the high, though not imminent, risk in the country’s airspace, Wizz Air has taken the difficult but responsible decision to suspend all its flights to Chisinau as of March 14,” the group said in a statement. Moldova, a pro-European […]
LA URIBE, Colombia (AFP) — For years, the crystal clear river flowing between giant boulders served as a strategic guerilla route in Colombia’s bloody armed conflict. But today tourists bob happily down it in multi-colored inflatables, accompanied by birdsong and the rush of water. The Guape Canyon, a 35-meter (115-foot) deep natural wonder in the town of La Uribe in the southern Meta department, was hidden for decades by the fighting between Bogota and the […]
Peru (AFP) — The Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, Peru’s tourist jewel, reopened to visitors on Wednesday, 25 days after it closed due to demonstrations that have shaken the country since last December. The first groups of tourists could be seen entering the archaeological park early in the morning, taking advantage of an unusually sunny day as they toured the different sites and sacred temples that make up the “llaqta” (“citadel” in Quechua). Some 700 […]
by Ahmad Parhizi and Jerome Rivet Agence France-Presse Tehran, Iran (AFP) — Western tourists, who flocked to Iran just a few years ago, are being advised by their governments to stay away, forcing the Islamic republic’s struggling tourism industry to look elsewhere. Hoping for better days, tourism professionals are wooing visitors from countries like China and Russia which maintain good ties with Iran. Westerners have long been attracted to Iran’s many ancient and Islamic sites, […]
