The Dutch government may block foreign tourists from buying the drug at Amsterdam's famed marijuana cafes, known as "coffee shops."PETER DEJONG/The Associated Press
Travel roundup: three pieces of hot travel news
ON THE GROUND
Not Dutch? No pot for you
The Netherlands wants to stop tourists from going to pot. The new conservative government plans legislation limiting the sale of cannabis in so-called coffee shops to Dutch residents. Justice Minister Ivo Opstelten said crime is a problem and the government does not like that the country's liberal soft-drug policies are a tourist attraction. Amsterdam has already closed some coffee shops in the red-light district and some border towns have banned sales to foreigners.
AT THE AIRPORT
Travel rage = two months in jail
Be careful with whom you argue. Paul Anthony, a British United Nations employee, had words with a female Muslim worker at Dubai airport after she denied him the use of a phone. He was arrested and sentenced to two months in jail. The court was told that Mr. Anthony cursed the woman in front of colleagues and gave her the finger. He spent three days in jail, then was released, pending an appeal. His passport was confiscated.
AT HOME
Canada: too many taxes, rules
O Canada, you're not sexy any more. According to tourism-review.com, an international online travel news site based in the Czech Republic, Canada is being overtaken on the list of popular tourism destinations by Austria, Germany, Malaysia and Ukraine. The site's top story blamed Canada's high airport taxes along with visa requirements for destroying tourism from Mexico and the Czech Republic. Despite Canada's safe, friendly and beautiful image, tourists prefer cheaper destinations "without the insult of a visa and the financial burden of high taxes."
Sources: The Sun, Reuters, Associated Press, tourism-review.com
Special to The Globe and Mail