Travel briefs | Deadly shark attacks shake Mexico resort

Shark attacks near Zihuatanejo have created an uproar in the Mexican beach resort, with three surfers attacked by sharks in less than a month. Two of the surfers died.

The latest attack was last weekend when a shark bit the arm of surfer Bruce Grimes, an American who runs a surf shop in Zihuatanejo. Grimes escaped with some gashes, but a local surfer was killed by a shark at a neighboring beach the previous day. In late April, a tourist from San Francisco was killed while surfing another nearby beach.

Previously, shark attacks were unheard of around Zihuatanejo; now some tourists are staying out of the water and canceling surfing lessons, and businesses fear the impact.

University of Florida shark expert George Burgess has traveled to Zihuatanejo to find out why the sharks have suddenly become so aggressive.

U.S. drops warning

on Indonesia travel

The U.S. has canceled its eight-year travel warning for visitors to Indonesia, citing a reduced risk of violence from terrorist attacks. The last major attack was in 2005, and arrests have been made.

Indonesia, which is mostly Muslim, was hit by bomb attacks every year between 2000 and 2005, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, 88 of them Australians. "The U.S. has lifted the warning due to objective improvements by Indonesia," said Cameron Hume, U.S. ambassador to Indonesia.

Indonesia blamed the Bali attack on Jemaah Islamiyah, a group linked to al-Qaida that wants to turn the country into an Islamic state.

"Che" immortalized

in Argentina

Argentine-born revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara has returned to Buenos Aires, his defiant expression immortalized in a towering statue.

Guevara left the city in 1953 as a young doctor embarking on a trip throughout Latin America (depicted in the 2004 movie "Motorcycle Diaries"). He would go on to become a political icon of the 20th century.

Now the 13-foot-tall " Monument to Che" bronze statue shows a larger-than-life Guevara, topped off with the revolutionary's iconic beret.

Follow the rules in Hawaii hotels

Before you get the urge to smoke in a nonsmoking hotel room in Hawaii, find out the hotel's smoking policy. Smokers who light up in such rooms may find themselves paying hundreds of dollars extra for the room cleanup.

Travel Hawaii, a Hawaii-based Internet retailer, has set up a database — www.travel-hawaii.com/smoking.html — that details the smoking policies of hotels throughout the state. (Some tourists, especially Japanese, use it to find hotels where smoking is permitted, said Travel Hawaii owner John Lindelow.)

For those who light up where smoking is forbidden, the highest cleaning charge is at the Aqua Palms & Spa in Waikiki on the island of Oahu, which has a $500 fee to clean a smoke-free room.

Many of the hotels increased smoking restrictions after a tighter state law went into effect in November 2006, banning smoking in bars and most other public buildings.

Some hotel chains have designated all their properties smoke-free, including Marriott hotels throughout the U.S. and Canada. Hawaii-based Outrigger Hotels and Resorts are all smoke-free. The chain charges a $250 smoke-cleaning fee.

African tourism is booming

Tourist arrivals in Africa may almost double to 77 million by 2020 as billions of dollars flow to the continent for investment in tourism, the Africa Travel Association said.

Africa's tourism industry will benefit from plans by international companies to develop new resorts, hotels and lodges across the continent, said Edward Bergman, executive director of the New-York based group.

Africa drew 3 million more foreign visitors in 2007 than a year earlier, bringing the annual number of tourists to the continent to 44 million, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization.

Vegas shelves its feel-good slogan

As the crucial U.S. summer travel season starts, how much are tourism marketers scrambling to meet the challenges from fast-rising gasoline prices and airfares? Well, "What happens here stays here" is not staying around, at least for now.

That feel-good slogan, which promotes visits to Las Vegas — also known as "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" — is being shelved for harder-hitting pleas as even Vegas tourism suffers.

The familiar commercials have been supplanted by spots with a fast-talking pitchman who urges the world to "do Vegas right now." The shift includes a new Web site, www.vegasrightnow.com, as the resort tries to lure visitors.

Seattle Times Travel staff and news services