VisitBritain and the U.S. Olympic Committee announced Team USA: Britain Bound, an interactive program that will see an all-star roster of U.S. Olympic and Paralympic champions tour Britain this fall. The program was launched at a One Year Countdown party at New York’s Lincoln Center on Tuesday night and will take fans behind the scenes as the athletes visit some of the Olympic venues and iconic British travel spots ahead of the Games next summer.

Mexico's international image may be taking hits because of the violence produced by drug cartels, but it hasn't hurt its tourism industry, officials say. International tourism to Mexico has increased 2.1 percent in the first five months of 2011 compared to 2010, and it remains the top destination for Americans traveling abroad.

Magic World Russia will encompass over 600 acres and be comprised of multiple theme park concepts as well as hotels, retail, dining and entertainment venues. It represents a collaboration between Russia and a consortium of industry-leading, California-based companies.

The clock is ticking for The Bahamas to really get its tourism industry back on track before major competition from the heavyweight U.S. – which is entering the ring to go after similar markets – takes over.

A controversial bill to increase Jamaica’s tourism enhancement fee passed in the lower house of the country’s parliament this week. The bill, introduced earlier this year by Edmund Bartlett, Jamaica’s tourism minister, would increase the fee on entering tourists from $10 to $20.

The recently created UN Steering Committee on Tourism for Development (SCTD) addressed the contribution of tourism in advancing development during a special event on Tourism for Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction at the Fourth UN Conference on Least Developed Countries (LDC-IV) in Algarve, Turkey on May 9.