Fires in Grand Canyon. There are two wildfires that have caused some of Grand Canyon National Park to close temporarily. Sadly, the one at the North Rim has destroyed the historic Grand Canyon Lodge.
Hiker dies in Grand Canyon. Meanwhile, a 67-year-old man from Texas died this month in Grand Canyon National Park, purportedly due to the high temperatures that can rise to 120 F in summer. He was on the South Kaibab Trail, attempting to reach the Colorado River. Be careful out there!
Denver Museum finds fossils in its parking lot. While drilling for another project, 67.5 million-year-old dinosaur fossils were discovered.
No more shoes off at the airport? The US TSA has announced that they’ll no longer require the removal of shoes from most passengers when they go through security, although some people may be singled out and required to take off their shoes.
New Airbnb cancellation policy. Now, if you want to cancel a booking on Airbnb, you can do so for full refund until 30 days before your check-in. If you cancel 7-30 days before, you get 50 percent back. This replaces the policy that required cancellation within 48 hours of booking in order to get a full refund.
More tourism crackdowns – this time, it’s Cannes, France. This city in the Riviera, famous for its star-studded film festival, has voted to limit its ports to ships that carry fewer than 1,000 passengers with no more than 6,000 total passengers entering the city each day. If a ship is larger, it will have to transfer passengers to a smaller vessel to enter the port. The new rule begins January 1, 2026.
Greek tourist taxes. The latest places to institute new tourist taxes are Santorini and Mykonos. The tax will be $23.45 during peak season, $14.07 in October, and $4.69 from November until April.
Delta jet loses part of its wing flap. On July 1st, a Delta 737-900ER lost part of its wing flap in flight. Luckily, it still landed safely in Raleigh, NC with no injuries.
Another Delta debacle. On July 6th, a Delta plane from Madrid to New York had engine issues and made an emergency landing on a remote volcanic island in the Azores. No one was hurt, and everyone was giving vouchers to stay the night on the island and fly to New York the next day.
Tourists killed by elephant. During a walking safari earlier this month, three tourists were trampled by a charging nursing elephant at South Luangwa National Park in Zambia.
Connecticut beach closes all season. Pleasure Beach in Bridgeport, Connecticut has had to close for the entire summer season because of an infestation of multiple species of ticks.
Taxi scam. Christopher Elliott recently reported about a tourist in Panama who was scammed by a taxi driver. The driver acted as though the tourist’s credit card didn’t go through and asked to be paid in cash. But then, the charge did go through for $450 when the fare was only $10! The tourist’s credit card company didn’t want to reverse it as a fraudulent charge because his card was actually swiped. With Christopher Elliott’s help, he was finally able to get the charge reversed. But again, be careful out there!
Cyber attacks on airlines. Hawaiian Airlines, Westjet, and Qantas have all recently been victims of cyber attacks, compromising passenger information, although word is that credit card numbers weren’t compromised.
Allegiant Air incident. On July 6th, an Allegiant Air passenger claimed there was a bomb in his laptop, forcing the flight to make an emergency landing back at its originating airport in St. Pete-Clearwater, Florida.
In other bad passenger news. On July 8th, a TUI Airways flight from Cancun to London had to be diverted to Bangor, Maine after two passengers were caught smoking in the bathroom. This left all passengers stranded in Maine for 17 hours. Honestly, what’s wrong with people?
Spirit Airlines planes taken out of service. On July 4th, three Spirit planes were taken out of service in Detroit when the fire suppression system was activated by mistake with foam deploying on the planes. There was no fire and no injuries.
Bali and Indonesia volcanic eruptions. Some flights had to be cancelled this month due to volcanic eruptions in Indonesia, so if you plan to travel to the area, double check that all is well.
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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