A towering 26-meter statue of Lionel Messi is transforming the small Argentine town of Cutral Co into an emerging tourist destination as the national team’s run to the 2026 FIFA World Cup final fuels football fever.

Hong Kong, the world’s second most visited city for international arrivals after Bangkok, welcomed 26.7 million visitors in the first half of the year, a 13% increase from a year earlier.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was spotted dining at a yakiton restaurant in Tokyo’s Kanda district on Wednesday, where he enjoyed grilled pork skewers before handing out red bean cakes to bystanders.

More than 40 flutists from 12 countries and territories, including Grammy-winning artists, will gather in Phu Quoc from July 23 to 28 for the Vietnam International Flute Festival 2026 (VIFF 2026), the first such event to be held in Vietnam.

U.K.-headquartered hotel operator IHG said it plans to open four more luxury hotels in Vietnam in the next five years as part of efforts to attract wealthy tourists to one of Southeast Asia’s busiest destinations.

Smash Street and Meatsmith from Singapore have been named among the 101 best burger places in the world for 2026, according to an annual ranking compiled by food media company Upper Cut Media House.

Singapore, ranked the world’s second-richest country by GDP per capita in 2025, collected S$8.6 billion (US$6.6 million) in tourism receipts in the first quarter of 2026, up 5.8% year-on-year.

⁠Thailand’s ​foreign ​arrivals dropped ‌by 3.09% to 16.7 million between ​Jan. 1 ⁠and July ‌11 compared with ⁠the same period a year ​earlier, the Tourism ​and Sports Ministry reported ‌on Wednesday.

Restaurant chain Crystal Jade will close its Suntec City outlet on July 16, marking its second closure this year, as part of an ongoing review of its operation in Singapore.

Chinese tourists have been praised for their swift response after preventing a serious highway accident in South Korea, taking control of an airport bus when its driver collapsed and providing cardiopulmonary resuscitation before emergency crews arrived.