First of all, Happy New Year! Wishing you wonderful travels in 2026.
New tourist fees in Rome. The fees continue to pile on, but I think they make sense. To improve congestion around the Trevi Fountain, Rome will charge a 2 Euro fee during daytime hours if you want to get close to the landmark.
Spirit Airlines still standing. A $100 million investment has kept Spirit Airlines afloat at least for now after it filed bankruptcy.
New Paris train. It won’t start until early 2027, but there will be a train from Gare de l’Est to Charles de Gaulle Airport running every 15 minutes from 5 a.m. to midnight and will take just 20 minutes. A one-way ticket will cost about 24 Euros, but it will cut down on the sometimes long trip from the airport to central Paris.
American Airlines change. Basic fares will no longer earn frequent flyer miles. I wonder if other airlines will follow suit.
Small plane crash. Seven people were killed a couple of weeks ago in North Carolina when a small Cessna C550 crashed during its landing at Statesville Regional Airport. A former Nascar driver and his family were among the passengers lost.
Cautions about travel near the border of Thailand and Cambodia. As clashes continue between Thailand and Cambodia, officials in several countries are advising that travelers avoid going anywhere near the border.
Attacks across the globe. Sadly, mass shootings and stabbings take place frequently in the U.S., but it’s rare for them to happen in other countries. Recently, however, I’m sure you heard about the shooting on a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney, Australia’s Bondi Beach that killed 15 people. There was also a mass stabbing attack in Taipei that resulted in four deaths. Unfortunately, South Africa has seen an increase in mass shootings. The most recent one I read about was on December 21st at a tavern near Johannesburg. Ten people were killed, and 11 people were arrested.
More countries added to the U.S. travel ban. As of January 1st, eight more countries were added to the ban that began in June, which means citizens of these countries will not be allowed into the U.S. at all: Syria, South Sudan, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Laos, Sierra Leone, and those with Palestinian Authority papers. Already on the travel ban were: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. Other countries face partial entry restrictions: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burundi, Cuba, Ivory Coast, Dominica, Gabon, Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Venezuela, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Ship runs aground in Papua New Guinea. The Coral Adventurer, an Australian cruise ship, was under investigation after a passenger was left behind and died back in October. Now, its vessel is stuck on a reef off PNG, and 88 passengers had to be flown home early.
Melanie Votaw is the Publisher and Executive Travel Writer of LuxuryWeb Magazine. She has visited more than 50 countries on 6 continents and written for such magazines as Executive Travel, Just Luxe, Business Insider, South China Morning Post, Travel Mindset, and more. She is a member of the International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association, New York Travel Writers Association, and International Travel Writers Alliance. Melanie's photography has won awards, and she has also written 43 nonfiction books as either the author or ghostwriter.
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