In the near future, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban may have their own top level domain names on the internet, which could spark innovative ways of promoting business and tourism in South Africa's main centres.

To mark the five-year anniversary of that designation, organizers of the annual George Town Festival have amped up the island's cultural offerings, stuffing a huge amount of art, film, music, dance and food into a single month. Despite the heritage connection, the festival isn’t just an ode to the city’s history.

The South Korean government has taken a lot of criticism over the years for its national branding initiatives. Its “Globalization of Hansik (Korean cuisine)” campaign, launched in 2009 and costing around $20 million, was no exception.

Cultural exchange and commercial transactions between whalers, traders and missionaries, and island women, have been occurring since the 18th and 19th centuries. Food, water and commodities were often exchanged for female companionship. In 1962, the changed status of Guam's security clearance requirements, and the budding tourism industry, spurred the striptease industry.

Olivia Companies, the lesbian luxury travel company, announced last month that it joined forces with a coalition of government and nonprofit organizations to form a new LGBT Global Development Partnership. “We are thrilled to be a part of this historic partnership with the U.S. government and the four other founding partners, and to once again reinforce our 40-year commitment to the LGBT movement,”

The slogan "Israel Under Fire," used by various Israeli government bodies during Operation Pillar of Defense last November, was disastrous for Israeli tourism, the head of the Tourism Ministry's marketing department said Monday. Speaking at a conference at Haifa University on public diplomacy during the eight-day operation, Oren Drori, deputy director-general of the Tourism Ministry and the head of its marketing efforts, said the slogan caused "serious damage to the Israeli tourism market.

Culture Secretary Maria Miller today launched a tourism partnership strategy for Britain which calls for the travel industry and the government, together with key public and private sector bodies, to unite behind a long-term ambition for growth that would see Britain welcome 40 million overseas visitors by 2020, spending £31.5 billion and supporting an additional 200,000 jobs across the country.