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The Herald Scotland
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Can Bad Bunny's residency spark sustainable travel among 600K fans?
Puerto Rico has long been known for its vibrant culture, stunning beaches and warm hospitality - but this summer, the island is gearing up for an unprecedented influx of visitors thanks to Bad Bunny's concert residency, "No Me Quiero Ir de Aqui" (I Don't Want to Leave Here). And the effects are being felt far beyond the sold-out seats at Coliseo de Puerto Rico. Everyone's vacationing in Puerto Rico. Can the island handle it? With an estimated 600,000 attendees over the course of the residency, the concert series is sparking what Glorianna Yamin, vice president of marketing at Discover Puerto Rico, called a "peak period for tourism." Halfway around the world, Hawaii's high levels of tourism are having a negative impact on the islands. From overcrowded trails to traffic congestion, the Pacific islands have been actively seeking visitors who want to create a deeper connection with Hawaii. Puerto Rico, for its part, is paying attention. "It's definitely a change for the industry," Yamin said. "The entire tourism industry is getting ready." It's not just about the crowds. Discover Puerto Rico (DPR), the island's destination marketing organization, is using this moment to highlight the importance of responsible and sustainable tourism. "We are making sure that we're educating those visitors; first, so they behave as they should, but also so they're intrigued about our culture, our music, our history, our gastronomy ... things Bad Bunny touches on in his album and already has momentum with," Yamin said. A concert that moves markets, people The residency's announcement on Jan. 13 triggered a spike in travel interest. According to data from ForwardKeys, international flight searches to Puerto Rico jumped to over 510,000 in the week following the announcement - a more than sevenfold increase from the previous week. Cities like Los Angeles, Mexico City and San Francisco led the surge, affirming Bad Bunny's global influence and Puerto Rico's expanding appeal. Hotel and rental bookings also steadily climbed. "Those reservations are much, much higher (compared to last year)," Yamin said. And guests aren't just flying in and out for the weekend. "We're seeing peaks starting maybe Wednesday, Thursday," she added, explaining that many concertgoers are extending their stays. To ensure that the influx of travelers has a positive impact, Discover Puerto Rico launched several campaigns online and in traditional media. One standout effort is the Return the Love initiative, a three-part video series promoting respectful tourism. The second effort brought in 11 local partners (small, medium and large businesses) who offered practical advice on how to responsibly enjoy beaches, forests, and even Puerto Rican slang. "Partners actually got ownership," Yamin explained, referencing the pride local stewards felt. "For example, El Yunque said: 'This is my attraction.' It's about inviting visitors in the right way." Shop 2025 Bad Bunny Puerto Rico tickets The Green Path to Sustainable Travel Another major initiative is The Green Path, a website designed to certify visitors as "responsible travelers." Visitors learn about sustainable lodging, excursions, and dining options through videos, quizzes, and immersive content. Those who complete modules unlock exclusive discounts from participating businesses. "That traveler that wants to go to a place but wants to leave it better than what they found it - that has always been our core," Yamin said. This aligns with the island's broader push to combat crowded or overrun areas by decentralizing tourism beyond the metro area. DPR encourages guests to explore other regions by offering curated itineraries and working closely with local businesses to offer concert-themed promotions. "Many hotels, restaurants, and partners are offering concert-specific packages to extend those visits," Yamin said. A catamaran company is offering a dance-themed "Culebra Cafe and Salsa Tour" sailing experience with East Island Excursions. Local artisans are creating Bad Bunny-themed giveaways. Restaurants are crafting cocktails inspired by song titles. "They're getting very creative," she said, "and I get very excited seeing them ... It's going to impact the entire island." Even amid the challenges of coordinating across the island, she sees this as a proud moment. "We're doing everything that we can for when those visitors come - they come educated, they come ready to explore the island ... but in a responsible way," Yamin added.
USA Today
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Bad Bunny's residency is supercharging Puerto Rico's tourism. What happens now?
Bad Bunny's residency is supercharging Puerto Rico's tourism. What happens now? Show Caption Hide Caption Met Gala: Bad Bunny pays tribute to Puerto Rico with his Met Gala look Bad Bunny pays tribute to Puerto Rico with his 2025 Met Gala look. The Grammy-winning superstar announced a world tour on the same day. Bad Bunny's Puerto Rico concert residency is causing a surge in tourism to the island. Discover Puerto Rico is using this opportunity to promote responsible and sustainable tourism. Local businesses are creating Bad Bunny-themed experiences and promotions to capitalize on the increased tourism. 'Don't let go of the flag ... I don't want them to do to you what they did to Hawaii,' Bad Bunny sings in his song 'LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii.' The singer and global phenomenon has made it clear that his homeland of Puerto Rico is at a pivotal moment in its history. Tourism is up, but with it comes the risk of losing what makes the island special. Puerto Rico has long been known for its vibrant culture, stunning beaches and warm hospitality – but this summer, the island is gearing up for an unprecedented influx of visitors thanks to Bad Bunny's concert residency, 'No Me Quiero Ir de Aquí' (I Don't Want to Leave Here). And the effects are being felt far beyond the sold-out seats at Coliseo de Puerto Rico. Everyone's vacationing in Puerto Rico. Can the island handle it? With an estimated 600,000 attendees over the course of the residency, the concert series is sparking what Glorianna Yamín, vice president of marketing at Discover Puerto Rico, called a 'peak period for tourism.' Halfway around the world, Hawaii's high levels of tourism are having a negative impact on the islands. From overcrowded trails to traffic congestion, the Pacific islands have been actively seeking visitors who want to create a deeper connection with Hawaii. Puerto Rico, for its part, is paying attention. 'It's definitely a change for the industry,' Yamín said. 'The entire tourism industry is getting ready.' It's not just about the crowds. Discover Puerto Rico (DPR), the island's destination marketing organization, is using this moment to highlight the importance of responsible and sustainable tourism. 'We are making sure that we're educating those visitors; first, so they behave as they should, but also so they're intrigued about our culture, our music, our history, our gastronomy … things Bad Bunny touches on in his album and already has momentum with,' Yamín said. A concert that moves markets, people The residency's announcement on Jan. 13 triggered a spike in travel interest. According to data from ForwardKeys, international flight searches to Puerto Rico jumped to over 510,000 in the week following the announcement – a more than sevenfold increase from the previous week. Cities like Los Angeles, Mexico City and San Francisco led the surge, affirming Bad Bunny's global influence and Puerto Rico's expanding appeal. Hotel and rental bookings also steadily climbed. 'Those reservations are much, much higher (compared to last year),' Yamín said. And guests aren't just flying in and out for the weekend. 'We're seeing peaks starting maybe Wednesday, Thursday,' she added, explaining that many concertgoers are extending their stays. To ensure that the influx of travelers has a positive impact, Discover Puerto Rico launched several campaigns online and in traditional media. One standout effort is the Return the Love initiative, a three-part video series promoting respectful tourism. The second effort brought in 11 local partners (small, medium and large businesses) who offered practical advice on how to responsibly enjoy beaches, forests, and even Puerto Rican slang. 'Partners actually got ownership,' Yamín explained, referencing the pride local stewards felt. 'For example, El Yunque said: 'This is my attraction.' It's about inviting visitors in the right way.' The Green Path to Sustainable Travel Another major initiative is The Green Path, a website designed to certify visitors as 'responsible travelers.' Visitors learn about sustainable lodging, excursions, and dining options through videos, quizzes, and immersive content. Those who complete modules unlock exclusive discounts from participating businesses. 'That traveler that wants to go to a place but wants to leave it better than what they found it – that has always been our core,' Yamín said. This aligns with the island's broader push to combat crowded or overrun areas by decentralizing tourism beyond the metro area. DPR encourages guests to explore other regions by offering curated itineraries and working closely with local businesses to offer concert-themed promotions. 'Many hotels, restaurants, and partners are offering concert-specific packages to extend those visits,' Yamín said. A catamaran company is offering a dance-themed 'Culebra Café and Salsa Tour' sailing experience with East Island Excursions. Local artisans are creating Bad Bunny-themed giveaways. Restaurants are crafting cocktails inspired by song titles. 'They're getting very creative,' she said, 'and I get very excited seeing them … It's going to impact the entire island.' Even amid the challenges of coordinating across the island, she sees this as a proud moment. 'We're doing everything that we can for when those visitors come – they come educated, they come ready to explore the island … but in a responsible way,' Yamín added.
Skift
16-06-2025
- Business
- Skift
Global Travel Grows, but U.S. Drags Down Momentum
Even with Americans eager to visit Europe this summer, weak consumer confidence and currency headwinds at home are weighing down the broader recovery. Global travel showed modest growth in April, but the gains masked weakness in North America. According to the latest Skift Travel Health Index, global travel activity rose 1% from March, while North America slumped 5%, dragged down by weaker U.S. consumer sentiment and reduced travel spending. The declines in North America contrasted with steady or rising performance elsewhere: Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa all posted gains, while Europe held steady. The weakening U.S. economy, combined with political uncertainty ahead of the November election, has led to what some analysts are calling a 'Trump Effect' on American travel behavior. Skift Travel Health Index Score by Region Region Jan-25 Feb-25 Mar-25 Apr-25 Asia-Pacific 102 105 107 106 Europe 100 97 100 100 Latin America 104 103 106 104 Middle East and Africa 99 101 101 105 North America 104 98 98 95 Global 101 100 102 101 Note: Weighted average. The index is benchmarked to the same month of the previous year. Read the April 2025 highlights for more insights on U.S. travel shifts. Europe Anticipates a Summer Upswing A weaker U.S. dollar has made international trips pricier for Americans, yet outbound travel to Europe is holding up. ForwardKeys, an Amadeus company, forecasts nearly five million Americans will visit Europe this summer between July and August. Europe's overall travel performance has stayed steady compared to last year, aside from a slight dip in February 2025. Short-term rentals in Europe have made headlines, with the Spanish government's recent order to Airbnb to remove more than 65,000 listings, driven by concerns relating to affordable housing shortages. This follows broader crackdowns in Spain, including Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's January announcement of higher taxes on holiday rentals and Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni's declaration last June to ban them all by 2029. However, the narrative of a significant slowdown in short-term rentals in Europe might be overstated, given that Skift Research has seen a 10% increase in the sector's performance. According to our partner, Beyond, there was a travel boost from the Easter holiday in April 2025. In addition, there have not been significant decreases in short-term rental supply. The largest decline has been in Ibiza, which has fallen by a modest 2.5% since the new Spanish order. The Skift Travel Health Index is a real-time measure of the performance of the travel industry at large, and the core verticals within it, which provides the travel industry with a powerful tool for strategic planning. We have been tracking travel for 22 of the largest global economies since 2020, with consistent monthly data inputs across 88 indicators that are aggregated to cover categories such as aviation, hotels, short-term rentals, and car rentals. Access the Skift Travel Health Index: April 2025 Highlights for an in-depth analysis and the Travel Health Index dashboard to visualize the data. Skift Travel Health Index: April 2025 Highlights While Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa showed growth and Europe remained stable, North America witnessed a 5% slowdown, mainly due to the 'Trump Effect' bringing policy changes, travel bans, and tariffs, leading to shifts in travel sentiment. Read More
Metropolis Japan
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Metropolis Japan
Will There Be a Giant Natural Disaster in Japan This July?
Image is for illustration purposes only. Travelers from across Asia are canceling trips to Japan after a comic book by manga-profit Ryo Tatsuki warned of a natural disaster in July 2025. Tatsuki predicts a massive tsunami will strike in early July—and her track record has people spooked. She previously 'predicted' both the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami and the outbreak of a pandemic in April 2020, years before either occurred. In 2021, manga artist Ryo Tatsuki had a disturbing dream. She watched from above as the ocean floor between Japan and the Philippines cracked open and rose to the surface, sending massive waves to Japan. She says she saw text flash across a black screen, movie-style. 'The real catastrophe will come on July 5, 2025.' Tatsuki's cult-favorite comic series, The Future I Saw was published in 1999, chronicling her prophetic dreams. Some of her predictions had already occurred at the time of publishing, like the death of Freddie Mercury and the 1995 Kobe Earthquake. However, the manga truly built a following after she accurately predicted the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. Her fame surged again in 2020 when fans noticed that the manga had also included a reference to a global pandemic that would begin in April 2020. Cover of The Future I Saw by Ryo Tatsuki (1999 version) The cover reads: 'Great disaster in March 2011' (published 1999) With each event that seemed to line up with her dreams, her reputation grew. Social media creators and news outlets began referring to her as 'Japan's Baba Vanga,' likening her to the Bulgarian mystic known for her apocalyptic predictions. The comic was also recently re-released as The Future I Saw: The Complete Version . The edition has already sold over 700,000 copies in Japan alone. It compiles her original dreams alongside her most chilling one yet: her vision of a giant tsunami hitting Japan in July 2025. The implication is clear: she was right before, so what if she's right again? View this post on Instagram A post shared by STEVEN W. (@allstarsteven) And while it's easy to laugh it off, these kinds of stories strike a chord. Earthquakes in Japan aren't hypothetical. Everyone here has a memory of a big one. Everyone has a go-bag packed. So when a manga taps into that fear, it doesn't take much for it to go viral. Travel agencies across Asia are reporting a surprising drop in bookings to Japan, and they're pointing fingers at the comic. The steepest drops are coming from Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea—the places where the prediction seems to have caught the most attention. According to The Guardian, citing Bloomberg Intelligence and ForwardKeys data, average bookings from Hong Kong are down 50% compared to last year. And for late June to early July, right when the so-called disaster is supposed to hit, bookings have fallen by as much as 83%. Meanwhile, Greater Bay Airlines and Hong Kong Airlines are cutting down on their Japan-bound flights. Of course, Japan's Meteorological Agency has made it clear: there's no scientific way to predict an earthquake this far in advance. In fact, there's still no reliable method to predict one, even a few minutes before it strikes. Tatsuya Honjo, head of the Association for Skeptical Investigation of the Supernatural (ASIOS), has publicly pushed back on Tatsuki's reputation as a seer. He points out that many of her earlier predictions never came true—and that her correct ones could just be lucky guesses. The cover of her first manga even listed dates like July 2, 1994 and November 26, 1995, which passed without incident. Even Tatsuki herself admits to Bunshun Online in an interview, 'To be honest, I can't say for sure what this dream really meant. I've always been the type who wants to understand the cause behind things, so I don't feel entirely convinced myself. That said, after what happened with the Great East Japan Earthquake, I also can't say with 100% certainty that something won't happen.' As Honjo comments, when a prediction appears to align with a real event—like March 11, 2011—people remember that one, not the duds. You could argue this story went viral because it hit a generation raised on earthquakes, media sensationalism and social media anxiety. This image is for illustration purposes only. But also, it's just a good story. It has suspense, visuals and a message of redemption—because in her dreams, the disaster isn't the end. According to Tatsuki, the world changes after July 2025. In a dream she had on January 1, 2001, she saw a bright future where people cooperate and connect more deeply. An 'age of mind,' she calls it. If that sounds like new-age fluff, you're not wrong. But in an era when hope feels harder to come by, it's part of the appeal. Short answer: There's no scientific research to say that you should. Japan remains one of the safest countries in the world to visit, with a robust disaster-response system and some of the most earthquake-resistant architecture globally. Japan's natural disaster experts and scientists have warned of no particular event to watch out for in July. If you're planning a trip, at any time, the best thing you can always do is prepare well. We've put together a few guides to help. Start with Earthquake and Tsunami Preparedness in Tokyo: Evacuation Tips and Access Guides. And if you're packing, don't miss our Emergency Evacuation Backpack List for a quick, practical checklist. For the ultimate learning experience, try an earthquake simulator at on of Tokyo's disaster prevention centers. Canceling your trip based on a dream from a manga artist? That's a personal choice. But it's not one yet backed by science. Still, stories like this remind us just how powerful fiction can be—not only to entertain but to influence behavior, reshape perception and create real-world consequences. Even in the age of data and digital alerts, it turns out we're still deeply superstitious creatures.
Sydney Morning Herald
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Asian tourist numbers to Japan are plummeting. A comic book is to blame
Holiday bookings to Japan from key Asian markets have plunged ahead of the busy summer season. The cause: rumors of an impending earthquake prophesied in a manga graphic novel. Social media and viral posts have unsettled travellers and renewed attention to manga artist Ryo Tatsuki's prediction of a huge earthquake that would inundate Japan with tsunami waves. Tatsuki, whom some claim predicted Japan's 2011 earthquake, gives July 2025 as the date of the impending event in a graphic novel that was first published back in 1999. The manga was republished in 2021 with additional content and the quake speculation has gotten new life on social media recently, with YouTube videos and Facebook posts that warn people of travelling to Japan attracting millions of views. Though scientists say the exact timing of earthquakes can't be predicted, airline bookings from Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong have dropped since April — with bookings from the latter plunging by an average of 50 per cent versus a year ago, according to a Bloomberg Intelligence analysis of ForwardKeys data. Weekly arrival bookings for late June to early July from the Asian financial hub have also nosedived by as much as 83 per cent. Greater Bay Airlines and Hong Kong Airlines have both scaled back some flights to Japan this month as officials implore the general public not to give stock to the rumours. Yoshihiro Murai, the governor of Miyagi prefecture, said last month the rumours were starting to affect tourism and asked people to not take the speculation seriously. Japan's Meteorological Agency's website reminded people that current science can't predict tremors with any high accuracy. Japan's location in the so-called Ring of Fire, a region of heightened tectonic activity encircling the Pacific Ocean, makes it one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries. Japan's last major earthquake was in 2011, which caused a devastating tsunami and nuclear disaster in Fukushima. Even so, overall tourism to Japan remains buoyant. In April, Japan recorded a record-breaking 3.9 million foreign visitors, lured by the cheap yen.
