Ukrainians will be able to visit Israel without visas beginning on February 9, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Dikusarov told journalists that all citizens with a passport will be able to visit Israel for 90 days without a visa. Israelis will enjoy the same visa-free travel privileges to Ukraine.

For now, Washington is focusing on "people-to-people" exchanges under which academics, corporations, humanitarian groups and athletic teams could travel to Cuba as a way to promote cultural exchanges and programs with universities.

International airlines are once again landing in Iraq, the conflict-wracked home to some of the ancient wonders of the world. Specialist tour operators are now stepping into the tourism void, catering to the smattering of tourists with an approach more Indiana Jones than package tour.

Ed. Note: Discover America Partnership Executive Director Geoff Freeman writes in response to Adam Clayton Powell III's post, "Man Bites Dog: International Visitors to U.S. Up for Second Straight Year."

We've all heard that there are lies, damn lies and statistics. Adam Clayton Powell's recent post on international travel patterns to the U.S. is the latest example – albeit no fault of Adam's.

JOHANNESBURG -- Regular readers of this blog no doubt saw the headlines last week expressing concern about the drop in the percentage of international travelers who head for the U.S.

In the Financial Times, for example, the headline on September 4 was "US tourism 'needs a warmer welcome.'" And there was this quote: “The image of the US is at an all-time low in many parts of the world.”