Taiwan's soft power in the cultural and creative industry was the highlight of the presentation. A magic balloon man impressed the audience by quickly twisting balloons into a kangaroo, the icon of the outback, Taipei 101, the world's tallest green building in Taipei, an American cartoon character.

As Russia tries to undo its reputation as the most unwelcoming tourist destination in Europe, Moscow is investing $3 billion to make the country more enticing to visitors and has set aide $82 million for its 200 nature preserves, some of which are unique natural wonders that have never been open to even the Russian public, much less foreign tourists.

...the project shows the scale and ambition behind China's push to revitalize red tourism. For years, the industry has been dominated by sleepy tours of leaders' homes and historical sites. That's changing. Red tourism is a big business. Between 2004 and '10, a total of 1.35 billion people have gone on red tours...However, the red-tourism market depends heavily on government-sponsored group tours

Taiwan has been a relatively quiet player in the tense dispute about territorial claims in the South China Sea. That could change with an unusual initiative that Taipei says is a peaceful approach to asserting its sovereignty in a body of water where China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei also have claims. The plan involves tourists, rare turtles and a remote atoll.

Harpa—the Reykjavik Concert Hall and Conference Center—is too new to be in guidebooks. But as Iceland’s latest attraction, it’s a sign that this country, which essentially went bankrupt during the global financial crisis, is crawling back onto its feet. Harpa adds a cultural dimension to Iceland’s appeal...Visitors are coming not only to see performances, but also to shop and to eat.

When the first Americans to participate in people-to-people exchanges with Cuba in 7½ years leave Miami on a Marazul charter Thursday afternoon, the central Virginia couple will be aboard. They want to meet the people who go with the music and cigars, said Liane Young.

Popular Japanese culture has often baffled the western world. But now local authorities are taking lessons from Japan on how to use popular culture, regional history and local produce to promote regions across the country. The Japan Local Government Centre, which boasts an office in central London, is working to share the lessons of Japanese local authority projects with their counterparts in the UK.

The Indian Embassy has taken to Sina Weibo, the popular Twitter-like microblogging service from China, in an attempt to portray India’s modern image and promote Indian culture and tourism to Chinese youngsters. Since Sina Weibo boasts a hundred million users...it provides a perfect platform for the Indian embassy to remove the earlier misconceptions and present a modern image of India.