On 1 January 2024 we wrote about how rising prices affect travel. Not only the price of flights, but also the price of activities. Pricing was a topic the year before, 2023. In 2024, conventional and social media dug into the issue of overtourism. Articles about locals protesting, Instagrammers posting about big crowds in Japan…
Tag: Saudi Arabia
Dubai: embracing the artificial
With nearly 17 million visitors in 2023 Dubai is the third most visited city in the world. I am a regular viewer of the European edition of CNN, a channel on which Dubai is often promoted as a tourist destination. This and my urge to travel to new places brought me to Dubai. It’s a…
United Kingdom introduces mandatory Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) for US, Canada, Australia, EU citizens from 2025
The Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is expanding its Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme to citizens of the European Union. Applying for the British ETA will cost you 10 pounds sterling.
ILGA WORLD | Despite more legal protections for LGBTI people, stark opposition has been a recurring theme in debates in every UN member State
‘Laws on Us‘ is the new landmark report by worldwide LGBTQIA+ advocacy organisation ILGA World, mapping laws affecting LGBTI communities across the world. Together with the ILGA World Database, it follows in the footsteps of previous landmark reports by the organisation, namely, the ‘State-Sponsored Homophobia‘ and the ‘Trans Legal Mapping Report‘, and equally encompasses issues…
UPDATE | 64 countries where gay sex is illegal
On 22 April 2024, the High Court of Dominica in the island nation of Dominica in the Caribbean struck down its ant-sodomy law. Time for an update. Both ILGA World and Erasing 76 Crimes count the countries and US states which have laws against gay sex. Spoiler alert: the number of countries criminalising gay sex…
SPARTACUS GAY TRAVEL INDEX 2024 | Malta, Canada, New Zealand, Spain, Portugal the most gay friendly destinations; Belgium now 21st
Malta, Canada, New Zealand, Spain and Portugal are the most gay friendly countries for LGBTQIA+ travellers to venture to this year. Belgium stagnates and due to the advancing countries, it is now 21st on the list.
FORMULA 1 CANADIAN GRAND PRIX | Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal track walk
In May and June 2023, we travelled from east to west across Canada. From Halifax in Nova Scotia to Montreal in Quebec, to Toronto in Ontario, to Vancouver and Whistler in British Columbia. Along the way some night trains and commuter trains, the Niagara Falls and – imagine this – a bus journey. A true…
SPARTACUS GAY TRAVEL INDEX 2023 | Belgium 17th most gay travel friendly country; Malta on 1, Canada and Switzerland share 2nd
The Spartacus International Gay Guide ranks Belgium on a shared 17th place in its Spartacus Gay Travel Index 2023. This year‘s most gay travel friendly countries are Malta, Canada and Switzerland.
REVIEW | Hotel du Raisin in Lausanne
After the year 2021 without visiting my sister Florence in Zug in Switzerland, I finally returned to the Confoederatio Helvetica in March 2022. I stayed over a week. More than a family visit, I organised an excursion to French-speaking Switzerland, also known as Romandy to visit Maxime and the vineyards of Lavaux in the canton…
71 (68) countries where gay sex is illegal
The 17th of May is the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexphobia and Transphobia. IDAHOBIT, or more commonly in Belgium, IDAHOT. As it falls on a Tuesday this year and Tuesday is one of our default publishing days with Thursday and Sunday, I’d thought I’d take a look at the state of affairs regarding state-sponsored…