News Watch
Beware of Counterfeit Machu Picchu Tickets
Machu Picchu visitors should be aware of a fake ticket scam using altered and previously scanned tickets.
Sargassum Washing Up on Mexico's Riviera Maya
A record sargassum season pushed an estimated 150,000 tons of the brown seaweed onto Quintana Roo's beaches this year. This affected hotel occupancy in the southern Riviera Maya, especially in June and July, although the problem still existed in October.
Low Water Affects European River Cruises
Persistent low water levels on several stretches of the Danube and Rhine rivers disrupted cruises, prompting ship swaps, bus substitutions, reroutings, and cancellations.
Wild Boars Encroaching on French Towns
As wild boar populations grow, sightings have become more frequent in France in places like Nimes and Nantes as well as in wooded regions in the Ardennes and on French Riviera beaches.
Deadly Strikes Shut Riyadh Airport
Airlines suspended flights to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, following multiple attacks on King Khalid International Airport in October. The most damaging was an October 10 strike that killed 12 people and injured more than 300 others.
Edinburgh Charging New Overnight Visitor Tax
Scotland's capital is now charging a visitor levy on overnight stays: 5% of the room rate, applied only to the first five consecutive nights. A three-night stay at £200 a night, for example, adds about £30 to the bill.
Rabies Risk Increases in Thailand
Thai health officials have issued public health alerts in response to an increase in rabies cases mostly tied to stray dogs and cats. Travelers should not interact with street animals and should seek immediate medical attention if bitten.
Indonesia Earthquake
A magnitude-7.7 earthquake struck off the northern coast of Flores Island, Indonesia, on Aug. 15, killing at least 111 people and injuring more than 1,678 others, 336 of them seriously.
Philippines Monsoon Floods
An unusually active southwest monsoon, intensified by 10 tropical systems including typhoons Dolphin and Saudel, brought weeks of flooding and landslides across the Philippines from Aug. 3 through mid-September.
Wildfires Sweep Southern Europe
Successive heat waves fueled wildfires across Croatia, Greece, France, Germany, Spain, Albania, and the United Kingdom in mid-August, scorching roughly 1.2 million acres across the European Union.
Volcano Disrupts Indonesian Air Travel
Indonesia's Anak Krakatau volcano, in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, erupted violently beginning Sept. 4, with its most intense phase lasting about 25 hours through Sept. 6 and ash plumes reaching as high as 50,000 feet.
Monsoon Floods in Pakistan
Monsoon rains and flash floods that began in June 2026 have killed more than 107 people across Pakistan and injured at least 344 others, according to figures reported in late July, with the heaviest tolls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces.
State Department Travel Warnings
As ITN went to press, the State Department listed 24 destinations under its highest-level “Do Not Travel” advisory:
Storms batter Europe
Northern Europe, particularly the United Kingdom and Ireland, experienced multiple major, named storms in February. It was the first time since the current storm-naming system went into effect, in 2015, that three such storms occurred within a week in that region.
Guatemala earthquake
An earthquake measuring 6.2 in magnitude occurred in the mostly rural southwestern Guatemala region on Feb. 16, killing two people and triggering landslides that blocked roads. Two aftershocks measuring more than magnitude 4 followed, with no further reports of damage.
Current advisories
The US Department of State posts up-to-date travel advisories on every country and many territories, ranking each 1 (Exercise Normal Precautions), 2 (Exercise Increased Caution), 3 (Reconsider Travel) or 4 (Do Not Travel).
Deadly Brazil landslide
A landslide and flash floods killed at least 176 people in the eastern Brazilian city of Petrópolis on Feb 16, with more than 110 people still missing at press time. The city received as much rain the day before as it typically receives in the entire month of February.