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Summary of this week’s travel news: The Italian town has introduced tourism taxes on New Yorkers who moved to Italy and met their future husband, as well as dogs who met in a Polish hotel who wanted to boost his country’s fertility rate by holding celebrations for pregnant couples.
During serious times, you may need fun measures.
In common with many countries around the world, including the United States, Poland faces a decline in fertility. In 2023, we recorded a birth of 1.2 per woman, down from 2.06 in 1990.
To increase the number of rugrats in his country, Władysław Grochowski, the owner of one of Poland’s biggest hotel chains, has promised to throw a party of all pregnant couples while remaining in his property.
Poland has 23 arch hotels, with over 4,000 rooms, from Lublin to Wroclaw, where babies can be made.
Eligible couples will receive a free family celebration in event rooms or one of the restaurants. The first baby family born in the program will also get a stroller and a welcome package.
However, don’t throw away your birth control yet. Couples must also reside in Poland, with at least one of their parents being Polish citizens.
Arche is not the first hotel brand to offer perks to those planning a sultry night.
In 2020, Canadian chain hotel ZED offered free stays for couples who made Valentine’s Day baby, and in 2024, Walker Hotel Tribecca in New York offered a “self-love” package to customers who took matters into their own hands.
Connecting with the community
New Yorker Caroline Chilicella moved to a small village near Naples, Italy in 2014, where she was looking for a place where she could “live her life to the fullest and become part of her community.” Now she is happy to be married to an Italian man and is the mother of two children.
She created her own “version of happiness,” she told CNN.
Anesu Masebe found an unexpected version of happiness of himself just before Christmas in 2017. He was when he flew home from Washington, DC to Zimbabwe after receiving catastrophic news that his mother had passed away.
He spoke to seatmate Hannah Brown, who lost his father two years ago on Christmas. “She could have something to do with what I was going through,” says Masube. “It was a moment I really needed it and I didn’t even realise that I needed it at the time.”
The pair got married in 2019. Read their stories here.
Father and son duo George and Josh Kohler cycle around the world. They have already arrived in Thailand after leaving the house in the UK in March this year.
Kohler has a personal goal of covering 60 miles a day, turning his eyes to reaching three Guinness world records. Josh tells CNN “I want to encourage everyone to do small adventures and to encourage big adventures.”
It’s not just the multi-generational adventurers who have been making headlines these days.
Father and daughter Akiyamagawa, 102 years old, and Moto, 70, climbed Mount Fuji in August with family and friends. Akiyama is now the oldest person to climb the tallest mountain in Japan, breaking his own records.
Madame Tussauds Wax Museum is closed forever in Beijing
The Beijing branch of the 190-year-old wax museum chain Madame Tussauds was closed forever this week. It follows the recent closure of museum brand locations in San Francisco, Istanbul and Washington, DC.
Wax Museum audiences melt into the digital age when they began to feel that poses with static dummies are rather quaint. However, Beijing resident Joseph Din remains a fan. He told CNN: “The wax statue was fake, but it’s still a shame to lose the channel to communicate with them.”
When the US federal government is shut down, TSA agents work without payment.
At the time of writing, the shutdown could have extended to next week.
Two couples bumped into each other on a taxi line in the Bahamas.
It kicked off 40 years of friendship.
Italian towns have introduced tourism taxes on dogs.
Dog clampdowns have proven controversial.
That day from London to Sweden.
These travelers are accepting extreme day trips.
