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1. Fewer UK Firms Confident in Chinese Investments
A recent survey shows 60% of British firms worry that a slowing Chinese economy could mean a bigger challenge to their operations in the country, Reuters reports.
"Foreign investors have been sour on China for most of this year due to factors such as a weaker-than-expected post-pandemic recovery, a series of office raids by Chinese authorities, cash-strapped local governments offering fewer investment incentives and higher investment yields in the United States," the news outlet reports.
Julian Fisher, the British Chamber of Commerce Chair in China, told Reuters that in previous years, 80% of firms were investing more due to China's market potential at the time.
2. Mexico Launches Train To Boost Tourism
Mexico is scheduled to introduce its first portion of a new 950-mile railroad across the Yucatán Peninsula on Friday. The project is meant to spur a tourism boom in southeastern Mexico, Reuters reports. However, it is facing backlash over its impact on the environment.
Mexico's government said 295 miles of the railroad will run from Campeche on the Gulf of Mexico to resort destination Cancún. The next phase is expected to open Dec. 31, followed by the final portion in February.
3. Art Basel Boosts US Hotel Performance
The latest weekly data from CoStar shows that Art Basel, the three-day contemporary art festival in Miami, had a significant impact on total U.S. hotel performance.
The Miami hotel market supplied about half of the year-over-year growth in U.S. hotel revenue per available room for the week of Dec. 3-9, the data shows. Miami RevPAR rose 67.9% year over year.
Art Basel this year had an attendance of 79,000 people across the three days, surpassing 2022's estimated 76,000 attendance.
4. Air Traveler Complaints on the Rise
Complaints centered on U.S. airlines have increased in the first half of 2023 despite flight cancellations being down along with other improvements, NPR reports.
"The complaint data is pretty jaw-dropping," according to Teresa Murray, a consumer advocate with U.S. Public Interest Research Group. Delays and mishandled luggage are the biggest issues.
Murray said travelers and airline carriers should set expectations for a challenging holiday travel period.
"We know that the flights are going to be absolutely jam-packed here in the next couple of weeks," she said. "We definitely recommend that you do the old thing of getting to airports early because you have less of a chance of getting bumped. You have more of a chance of getting where you want to get."
5. The Future of Pacific Island Tourism
As it stands today, it would be virtually impossible for travelers to get to Pacific Island countries without air transportation. However, many know that reducing fossil fuel emissions is important for the region, The Guardian reports.
This week, officials from nearly 200 countries at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai agreed to a deal that calls on all nations to move away from fossil fuels.
"Clearing the Pacific Islands of fossil fuels is an admirable goal — and the whole world must follow suit should we want to make any progress on keeping global warming well below two degrees. However, the current investments into growing tourism will make it harder to achieve the vision. The long-term future of the region depends on effective climate action, and how to achieve tourism growth sustainably needs to be part of that conversation," the news outlet reports.