Cuba
Cuba has only two golf courses, 10 others having been eliminated in the 1959 revolution. But that is going to change. The tourism ministry announced a policy to allow foreign companies to build at least 10 courses in addition to marinas and other tourism developments. The move is an effort to increase tourism revenue, which accounts for about 20 percent of Cuba’s foreign exchange income. And betting on the eventual lifting of the 48-year-old U.S. embargo, officials have sanctioned building a huge marina to lure U.S. sailors.
India
An element of time travel is available in New Delhi as the city’s Metro nears completion before the Commonwealth Games in October. The first section opened in 2002, and as new lines have gone into service, Delhi’s residents have taken to it with pride. The time travel comes in when a visitor emerges from the clean, efficient and modern Metro to neighborhoods that reflect the Delhi of past centuries: chaotic, crowded, with sacred cows and saddhus wandering the narrow lanes.
Mexico
The U.S. State Department issued an updated travel warning that added three states to areas it recommends travelers avoid because of drug violence: Tamaulipas, parts of Sinaloa and Michoacan. Michoacan is the wintering ground of North America’s monarch butterflies. The warning also cited recent drug violence near the Copper Canyon in Chihuahua, a popular tourist area with one of the world’s top train routes.
Myanmar
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The military government began issuing visas to tourists on arrival May 1 at international airports in Mandalay and Yangon (formerly Rangoon). The 28-day visa costs $30 and eliminates the need for visitors to obtain visas from Burmese embassies abroad. The government reportedly took this step to increase tourism.
Niger
The U.S. State Department warned against travel to the north of the country because of kidnapping threats against Westerners. A terrorist group linked to al-Qaida abducted a French national April 20 west of Agadez, and heavily armed men tried to kidnap U.S. embassy officials in November 2009 in Tahoua.
For updates, check with the State Department at 888-407-4747 or travel.state.gov.