The U.S. Travel Associationn, the trade group for the country's travel industry, unveiled a plan Thursday to help get more international travelers to visit the U.S. The association's plan calls on the federal government to overhaul the process to approve visas for foreign visitors.

The State Department will be expanding the joint educational programs between the United States Government and the South African Department of Higher Education and Training...to link community colleges across the United States with Further Education and Training centers in South Africa.

The EU needs to add more culture to its diplomatic efforts to promote human rights, democracy and development in third countries, says a Parliament resolution. MEPs advocate setting up a "cultural diplomacy" directorate to take charge of cultural relations and promoting European culture.

Some tourist destinations thrown into the media glare by political turmoil or natural disasters are starting to incorporate these events into their marketing campaigns. Take, for instance, Chile's re-branded campaign slogan ‘Chile is good for you’.

China plans a theme park to celebrate Hello Kitty, the cutesy cat with no mouth but a cult-like following…Hello Kitty’s popularity in China can be seen as a counterpoint to Sino-Japanese political tensions by demonstrating the population’s embrace of Japanese style...

A singer, instrumentalist and composer, Gilberto Gil is Brazil’s ambassador of culture and he’s played this role both as a musician and as an activist… He’s in South Africa this week for a musical project that explores the cultures of the southern people, called Connecting South.

South Korea will use its "soft power" as an instrument of cultural diplomacy to promote exchanges in various areas between countries, the parliamentary speaker said Thursday, as he prepared to host a conference of his counterparts from the Group of 20 countries next week.

The first Indian cultural festival was opened during a ceremony at the Niavaran Cultural Artistic Complex on Tuesday. Indian films and Indian music are being performed during the event and participants will offer Indian food and Indian handicrafts to visitors during the festival...