Lebawit Lily Girma

The rise of responsible travel messaging in marketing is a welcome next step, as destinations prepare for the return of large summer crowds locally, and international travelers keep a close eye on their favorite locales. Now's also the time to warn the ugly tourists.

The Utah legislature's bet on the tourism economy placed the state ahead of the recovery compared to its neighbors in the American West. As more vaccinated Americans flock to its big outdoor spaces this year, Travel Utah's challenge remains managing and educating those crowds on responsible travel.

The new bipartisan tourism subcommittee, co-chaired by senators from tourism-dependent states, kicked off Tuesday with testimony from travel executives on U.S. tourism's biggest recovery challenges ahead — and that in itself is another big light in the tunnel alongside vaccines.

It's a backyard tourism boon for the often-overlooked U.S. territory in the Caribbean, where more Americans are flocking. USVI's successful Covid-control could also lead to the first use of in-country vaccine certificates to revive carnival later this month — while tackling local vaccine resistance.

Americans are hitting the road in big numbers again — another sign that the nation is on the road to domestic tourism recovery. It's a timely boost as international visitors are unlikely to return by the summer.

The world’s three largest cruise lines are desperate to stop their $60 billion financial bleed. Destinations have experienced life without megaships for more than year. Is this the end of mass cruising as we knew it or can cruise lines find a place in a more balanced and diversified tourism economy?

Innovating amid budget slashes, natural disasters, plus a pandemic, takes vision. With backyard tourism now on a new pedestal, plus a high vaccination rate, Nashville's tourism execs are beginning to see their efforts bear fruit after having had some of the best tourism numbers in the country pre-pandemic.

Vaccine success is already boosting the economy and consumer confidence in Chile. But another Covid surge shows that a cautious approach in tourism recovery efforts is imperative alongside the vaccination race.

After a year that stripped bare the inadequacy of tourism’s success metrics, how will the industry measure “building back better”? Before it answers that question, there needs to be an industrywide reckoning of tourism's root problem.

A July 4 full reopening to international visitors is what U.S. tourism and aviation groups pushed President Biden on today, plus no mandatory Covid entry test for vaccinated travelers. But reopening sooner than later could be risky amid Covid spikes in other countries.