Tourist News

Australia suspends search for Belgian backpacker By AFP Sydney - Australian police on Wednesday said they have called off a month-long search for an 18-year-old Belgian backpacker who disappeared from a picturesque surf town in May.Theo Hayez was last seen on May 31 in Byron Bay, hundreds of miles north of Sydney.

Dad makes tearful plea for backpacker son missing Down Under By AFP Sydney - The father of an 18-year-old Belgian backpacker made a heart-rending appeal for help finding his son Monday, as Australian police admitted they were "baffled" by his disappearance from a picturesque surf town.

Madeira, Portugal's tourist pearl in the Atlantic By AFP Lisbon - Portugal's Madeira islands, where 29 Germans were killed in a bus crash Wednesday, are a favourite European holiday spot and famously the birthplace of soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo.

29 German tourists killed in Madeira bus crash By AFP Lisboa - Twenty-nine German tourists were killed when their bus spun off the road and tumbled down a slope before crashing into a house on the Portuguese island of Madeira.

Taiwan bus inferno kills 26, mainly China tourists By AFP Taipei - A fire ripped through a bus carrying tourists from China in Taiwan Tuesday, killing all 26 on board in the worst road accident to hit mainland visitors since a holiday boom to the island.

FacePalm Friday: 'Batman' stole cash from tourist in NYC By Owen Weldon New York - A man dressed as Batman was arrested because he attempted to steal money from tourists. The incident happened on Wednesday night in New York City's Times Square.

Police confirm agent's lost gun was used to kill S.F. woman By Nathan Salant San Francisco - San Francisco police have confirmed that a handgun stolen from a federal agent's parked car in June was the weapon that killed a San Francisco woman a few days later as she walked with her father on the waterfront.

Boat rides and paraglides an hour from Nepal quake epicentre By AFP - For the adrenalin-junkie tourists of Pokhara, just an hour's drive from the epicentre of Nepal's earthquake, it's business as usual with boat trips and paragliding in a town spared the destruction wreaked elsewhere.

The rise of the real-time translation apps By James Walker Translation apps on the internet and phones have got much better at their jobs in recent years and are now used frequently by tourists. A major question remains though: how reliable are they and do they work? A recent BBC report attempts to answer this.

Heroic tourist robbed while saving a drowning man in Ireland By Scott Tuttle Dublin - Giving credence to the old saying that no good deed goes unpunished, an heroic tourist in Ireland dove into a river to save a dying man only to have his wallet and phone stolen while in the water.

Two American tourists detained in N. Korea 'to face trial' By AFP Seoul - North Korea said Monday it would put two detained American tourists on trial on charges including "perpetrating hostile acts".

7 million tourists visited Malaysia during Q1 this year By James Walker The Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board announced yesterday that the Asian country has welcomed over 7 million tourists during the first quarter of the year.

North Korea detains third US tourist By AFP Pyongyang - North Korea said Friday it had detained a US tourist for "hostile activities" after he reportedly left a bible at a hotel, bringing to three the number of Americans held by the reclusive regime including missionary Kenneth Bae.

Six Pakistani police killed in ambush protecting Spanish cyclist By Anne Sewell Quetta - A Spanish tourist was lucky to escape with minor injuries when cycling through the highly volatile southwestern province of Baluchistan in Pakistan on Wednesday. Six police bodyguards were shot dead while protecting him and five others injured.

'World's most stupid phone thief' revealed in photos and videos By Anne Sewell A German tourist, who admits to getting a little drunk, had her phone stolen while on holiday in Ibiza. She even almost met the thief face-to-face, but has now had a chance to get to know him a whole lot better.

British tourist in Spain suffers terrible reaction to sun cream By Anne Sewell The poor woman and her family came to Spain for the first two-week holiday in five years, but her time in Cala’n Forcat, Menorca was ruined by a bad reaction to a sun "protection" cream. She ended up needing emergency care in hospital for two days.

Ibiza firemen free German tourist from the clutches of a sex toy By Anne Sewell Ibiza - A German tourist got into trouble when using a steel sex toy and he went to the hospital. It took Ibiza firemen two hours to cut through the metal ring, into which the man had placed his ... er ... equipment.

UK tourist throws boiling water from balcony in Canary Islands By Anne Sewell Maspalomas - A tourist from the UK, visiting the Playa del Inglés resort on the island of Gran Canaria in Spain, has been on a rampage, pouring boiling water onto passersby from the balcony of his holiday apartment.

Foreign tourist raped on Rio de Janeiro minibus By Owen Weldon Rio De Janeiro - A foreign tourist who was visiting Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was raped and robbed on a minibus, according to Brazilian police.

British tourist jumps out of hotel window to avoid rape in India By Anne Sewell Agra - A British tourist visiting Agra, home of the famous Taj Mahal, was sent to hospital after jumping from a first-floor hotel window to escape the possibility of being raped.

Australian tourist raped in New York City By Owen Weldon New York - A woman from Australia, visiting New York City, ended up being raped after she left a Manhattan nightclub, according to police.

Photos: Shetland ponies dress up to draw tourists to Scotland By Greta McClain Scotland's Shetland ponies are getting all dressed up as part of a National Tourism Organization advertising campaign aimed at drawing more tourism to the British island.

Photo shows tourist moments before she was gored by rhinoceros By JohnThomas Didymus A photo shows Chantal Beyer, 24, a safari tourist in South Africa, the moment before a rhino gored her from behind. Beyer poses with her husband while on a safari tour in South Africa.

Video: Crocodile leaps on tourist in Australia By JohnThomas Didymus A video that shows a crocodile leaping off a rock at a Swedish tourist in Australia has gone viral. The tourist was swimming in water when the crocodile leaped from a rock and landed on top of him in the water.

Crocodile leaps at tourist swimming in Australia By Sheetal Patel Three Swedish tourists had a surprise while swimming in a national park in Australia when a crocodile leapt from rocks landing on one of them.

1 dead after whale watching catamaran capsizes near Cape Town By Anne Sewell Hout Bay - One person has died and six are missing after a whale watching charter boat carrying around 43 people capsized near Hout Bay, Cape Town on Saturday afternoon.

Shocked tourists find human torso below Niagara Falls By Darren Weir Niagara Falls - Tourists on the Maid of the Mist boat ride below the Niagara Falls, were shocked to see a human torso floating in the river. Police say the body is of a middle-aged woman who was obviously murdered.

Bus in Bulgaria explodes killing six tourists By Melissa Horrocks Burgas - Six people were killed and another 30 seriously injured in a bus explosion, in Bulgaria. Bulgarian officials believe it is a terrorist attack.

One tourist, two days, two rescues By Gar Swaffar Saint Petersburg - One tourist on vacation was able to make a big difference by rescuing three people, in two incidents on two separate days.

Video: Tourist captures moment iceberg 'calves' and flips over By JohnThomas Didymus A tourist was lucky to catch a rare sight on video: the dramatic moment an iceberg flipped over, bringing up a new mass of ice over the surface of water during a process called "calving."

Tourist Image