There’s some good news for Brits tired of opening their umbrellas over the Bank Holiday weekend – there might be one more hurrah of warmth and sun.

August has been a month marked by grey skies, thunderstorms and buckets of rain.

And surprise, surprise forecasters from the Met Office and weather forecasting company say that the remainder of the long weekend won’t exactly be a ‘washout’, but not necessarily sunny either.

According to weather forecasting company, this late August Bank Holiday weekend will have a normal mix of weather across the UK, but it will not be a washout, unlike a number of our weekends during July and early August.

Today will be drier, with only the odd drizzle pushing eastward while clouds crawl through Scotland in the afternoon and evening.

Temperatures will be pushing between 20 to 22°C. Often cloudy on Monday, with further outbreaks of light rain and drizzle across eastern areas at first.

Elsewhere sunny spells soon developing with some isolated showers here and there, state meteorologists added.

However, according to weather maps from a weather forecasting company, September is shaping up to be a little different.

Between September 2 to September 6, Britain will be blasted with a toasty jet stream from the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe.

Temperatures are set to rise slightly above the monthly average of 17°C, with the mercury rising to 24°C in London, parts of East Anglia and the Midlands on September 2.

The following day, the heat will be cranked up to the same number in Leeds, Manchester and the wider north as well as in the south of England.

Wales and patches of Scotland will be a little cooler for those five days but still generally in the low 20s.

For those two days, the nation will be one degree hotter than it is slated to be in Barcelona, Spain, according to a weather forecasting company and WX charts.

As planet-warming gases continue to inflame climate change, these kinds of temperatures may be what most Brits will be running out to grab their pumpkin-spiced lattes in for the years to come, scientists say.

The Met Office says in its long-range forecast from next Thursday up to September 24 that the rain will remain for the coming week.

Temperatures are likely to be near normal. Through the weekend, high pressure may build allowing a more settled interlude to develop for parts of the country, the national weather service said of the week ahead.

Overall, the Met Office says it’s uncertain what kind of temperatures and weather Britain will see in September.

Temperatures are more likely to trend above the seasonal average, the Met Office added.

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Incessant rainfall continued to batter China as more downpours were predicted in the next two days, weather forecasters have warned. Over 3,000 people were evacuated in northwestern Hunan province.

Chinese weather forecasters on Monday warned several provinces to expect torrential rain and flash floods over the next two days as unrelenting downpours continued in the country.

More than 3,000 people were evacuated in northwestern Hunan province over the weekend as heavy rains lashed Sangzhi, Shimen and Yongshun counties, and Zhangjiajie City, according to state media.

Sangzhi recorded the heaviest rainfall this year, with maximum precipitation reaching 256 mm (10.07 inches) overnight from Saturday to Sunday, according to state broadcaster China Central Television.

It was the most extensive and widespread rain in Sangzhi since 1998, a state channel broadcasted.

China has been gripped by weeks of rains and floods amid an unusually wet summer.

In late July, storms from Typhoon Dokusri caused record rains to hit China in over a decade, with Beijing experiencing its heaviest rainfall in 140 years.

The Chinese government has called for more precautions against flooding as Typhoon Saola is now making its way across the South China Sea, with forecasts expecting it to land at Guangdong province as early as this Friday (September 1).

China’s State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters and the Ministry of Emergency Management organised a video conference on August 26, warning that heavy rainfall in many parts of the country may cause geological disasters including mountain torrents and floods in some small and medium-sized rivers, state media reported.

A traffic police officer guides residents to cross a flooded road with a rope during heavy rainfall in Zhengzhou, Henan province, China.

There is also uncertainty over Typhoon Saola’s path, said the China Meteorological Administration, but it will bring heavy rainfall in the coastal areas including Fujian and Zhejiang provinces from Wednesday to Friday.

Fujian has launched an emergency response to Saola, ordering fishing boats in some waters to return to harbours in the vicinity and all personnel on board to evacuate ashore by Wednesday noon, local media reported on Monday.

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It was recently announced that the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan will now reduce the Sustainable Development Fee (SDF) to US100, per person, per night.

The impetus behind this fee reduction is to boost arrivals to the country.

While the increase in the Sustainable Development Fee was declared as a means to protect the nation’s ecology, a new tourism strategy was also unveiled describing the transformation of three key areas: enhancements to its sustainable development policies, infrastructure upgrades, and the elevation of the guest experience.

At the time when the fee was increased, the government admitted that it was not known if this fee increase would impact tourist arrivals with less travelers coming to visit.

Then, HE Dr. Lotay Tshering, the Honorable Prime Minister of Bhutan, had stated, “The minimum fee we are asking our friends to pay is to be reinvested in ourselves, the place of our meeting, which will be our shared asset for generations.”

Bhutan’s noble policy of high-value, low-volume tourism has existed since they started welcoming guests to the country in 1974.

But its intent and spirit were watered down over the years, without us even realizing it.

Therefore, as they reset as a nation after this pandemic, and officially open our doors to visitors today, they are reminding themselves about the essence of the policy, the values and merits that have defined them for generations.

Bhutan was an isolated country for many years, only opening its borders to tourists in 1974 when it welcomed 300 visitors. By 2019, prior to COVID, over 315,000 travelers had visited that year.

For several years, India was the only country from where Bhutan allowed an almost unrestricted flow of tourists with entry charges.

The 2 countries share 376 miles of border, and India is influential over Bhutan’s foreign policy, defense, and commerce, with Bhutan being the largest beneficiary of India’s foreign aid.

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The Jammu & Kashmir government has finalized 75 places with a mission to attract religious tourists. This was done in a bid to improve the religious tourism scenario in the region. Kashmir in 2022, witnessed a record number of tourists, as per the official information. The decision was adopted after seeing the numbers.

The Tourism Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir, Syed Abid Rashid Shah, explained that he is quite optimistic after the cultural Karavaan event – Jashn-e-Adab. He stated that they are ignoring the tourist influx of last year.

He also highlighted the fact that Jammu & Kashmir’s tourism is thriving and that several factors are responsible for this remarkable growth including the recent G- 20 Tourism Working Group meeting. This meeting was organized in Srinagar. He called this meeting as a major game changer as it enhanced the tourist arrivals from abroad in the region and for the valley, it’s a major achievement.

Also, Shah disclosed the fact that the efforts of the state government to promote remote places had given them optimistic results. He mentioned that the J&K government has earmarked valley’s 75 lesser-known destinations to rejoice local culture.

He said, moreover, 75 destinations have been earmarked for fostering spiritual experiences as well.

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On Sunday, Chief Minister of Kerala, Mr. Pinarayi Vijayan, inaugurated the famous Onam cultural festival of Kerala Tourism in Thiruvananthapuram district.

The state-level inauguration was done by the Chief minister of the cultural festival. At the Nishagandhi Auditorium, this festival was organized by the tourism department on Sunday in the state capital.

Shri V Sivankutty, the state Minister for General Education and Labour, in his welcome speech praised the careful initiations of the Tourism Department in arranging the annual festival in a grand manner.

P.A. Mohamed Riyas, Tourism Minister, Kerala, presided over the festival explained that Onam is a distinguishing festival that pays tribute and encourages the values of inclusivity and closeness. The central theme of this festival in 2023 is Onam, the symphony of harmony.

For hundreds of artists, this festival provides a huge chance, who comes from diverse genres to participate in front of many audiences, who are tourists as well, he added.

This week-long celebration of Onam will set the stage for representing in front a wide audience a diverse form of folk, classical, ethnic and other famous art forms in multiple venues in the capital of Kerala and districts as well for the coming seven days.

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Israel is aiming to greet seven million travellers by 2030.

The Minister of Tourism in Israel offered the country’s government with a strategy to witness seven million tourists by 2030. 

The objective will need the building of 12,000 extra hotel rooms to touch a total of 70,000. 3,941 rooms
need to be added to the stock of hotels by 2024. 

The Ministry of Tourism aims to quicken the speed of hotel building by reducing planning processes and the analysis of the building strategies of Tel Aviv.

These steps will increase those taken in 2022 to expand and surge supply, which comprise regulating the loftiness perimeter for hotel creation in Eilat so as to add hundreds of rooms in the resort city, in addition to building devoted camping and ‘glamping’ centers.

A minister from the tourism ministry specified that Israel aims to surge the amount of visitors by nurturing Asian tourism.

The minister also said that Indian tourists can apply for visas online beginning at the conclusion of this year. This move is expected to substantially upsurge influxes from the world’s most populated country.

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In order to strengthen international collaboration on desertification prevention and control driven by science and technology, the 9th Kubuqi International Desert Forum kicked off on Saturday in the city of Ordos in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

This year’s forum, with the theme “Technology-empowered desert control for the benefit of mankind,” drew about 300 attendees from both home and abroad, including dignitaries from other countries, UN representatives, diplomats from nations that have been severely affected by desertification, government officials, experts, scholars, and businesspeople.

Sub-forums will feature in-depth debates on subjects including preserving desert biodiversity and resource sustainability, preventing sandstorms and controlling the desert with technology, and advancing land restoration using knowledge and technology.

During the forum’s opening ceremony, the China-Arab International Research Center for Drought, Desertification, and Land Degradation was formally inaugurated.

The Chinese government has constantly prioritized technology-driven green growth over the last few decades and researched efficient strategies of controlling desertification, such as the one used in the Kubuqi Desert in Inner Mongolia, in the face of a serious desertification threat.

Due to this, the region impacted by desertification has continuously shrunk, and the country as a whole has successfully stopped its expansion. Animal husbandry, eco-tourism, renewable energy, and several other ecological enterprises have all grown as a result of this.

The Kubuqi International Desert Forum was established in 2007 and has since developed into a vital forum for countries to share their experiences in battling desertification and advance the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Over 3,000 people have taken part in the meeting thus far, representing almost 100 nations, regions, and international organizations.

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Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek has welcomed the latest tourism numbers, saying that tourism revenues will help reduce the current account deficit.

Tourism is booming! Türkiye welcomes a remarkable 7.1 million foreign visitors in one month, marking the best July in history, Şimşek wrote on social media.

Türkiye’s current account deficit is expected to shrink significantly, from a 12-month rolling deficit of $56 billion in June to around $40 billion in December, thanks to a slowdown in consumer loan growth and a sharp rise in tourism revenues, the minister said.

This is supportive of a more stable [Turkish] Lira.

Tourism is one of the major sources of hard currency for the country’s economy.

In July, foreign tourist arrivals increased by 7.3 percent from a year earlier, the data from the Tourism Ministry showed last week.

More than 30 million tourists visited Türkiye in the first seven months of the year, raising hopes that the country may host a record number of holidaymakers in 2023.

Foreign tourist arrivals rose by 16.2 percent in January-July to 26.8 million, while 3.3 million Turkish citizens residing abroad vacationed in the country during the same period.

In the same period of 2019, Türkiye hosted 26.77 million foreign visitors.

As a whole in 2019, Türkiye received a record number of tourists, including more than 45 million foreigners and 6.7 million Turks residing abroad.

Despite the ongoing war with Ukraine, tourists from Russia increased from 2.2 million in January-July 2022 to 3.5 million in the first seven months of 2023.

Germans constituted the second largest group of foreign holidaymakers at 3.2 million, up from 2.99 million a year ago.

Some 2.1 million Britons vacationed in Türkiye in the same period, rising from 1.8 million a year earlier.

Tourism revenues

Türkiye’s tourism revenues amounted to $21.7 billion in the first half of 2023, rising by a strong 27 percent from the January-June period of last year.

The country set a target of attracting 60 million tourists and generating $56 billion in tourism revenues in 2023.

Türkiye posted a current account surplus of $674 million in June thanks to strong tourism revenues and a smaller trade deficit due to a fall in global energy prices after reporting a deficit of $7.84 billion in May.

Travel item recorded a net inflow of $4.2 billion in the month, according to the latest data from the Central Bank.

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Comments on taking holidays at Guiyang in midsummer went viral on the social media.

Many a visitor posted photos and recommended different routes of travel, including easily-encountered waterfalls, vast cloud sea and serene countryside.

Reputed by its cool climate and quality ecology, the “Cool Guiyang” becomes the ideal travel destination for summer.

According to a travel portal, tourism orders of Guiyang have increased by 70% YoY since July.

In recent years, driven by economic development, people’s preference on travel has evolved from a fine ecology and climate to cultural experience and spiritual enjoyment.

The National Summer Tourism Development Report recently issued by China Tourism Academy pointed out that, under the combined influence of the development of the aging society, the increase in the size of middle class and the in-depth implementation of Healthy China strategy, the volume of summer tourism and related markets has reached 1.2 to 1.5 trillion RMB .

Facilitated by the influence of “Cool Guiyang” IP brand, Guiyang takes full advantage of its resources in summer resort and wellness tourism to demonstrate its charms.

In the meantime, it strives to build the optimal “home” for “seasonal” traveling of wellness and create the name card of “Cool Guiyang” as a well resort.

Currently, by formulating high-quality construction and service standards for “Cool Guiyang for Travel and Life”, detailing the renovation of rural housing, construction of supporting facilities and management services, Gui’an focuses on optimizing the spatial layout of residential areas by renovating the Xiuwen Taoyuan Resort Belt, Xifeng Nanshan Homestay Belt, Qingzhen Hongfeng Homestay Belt, Huaxi Qingqiangao Line, Wudang Yangchang-Baiyi Line, Kaiyang Gallery and Gui’an Seven Villages.

Apart from Gui’an, Xifeng County of Guiyang with natural endowments in red culture, exquisite orchards and natural landscape attracts lots of tourists to take long summer vacations here.

Here, tourists can either go to Xifeng Camp Revolutionary History Memorial Museum to feel the power of faith in the revolutionary age, or go to Wujiang Gorge scenic area to appreciate the high cliffs on both banks.

These are the travel and long stay destinations designed by Xifeng in recent years for people who seek well-being tours, study tours and “migratory bird-style” tour .

According to the 2023 Comfort Index of Seasonal Health and Summer Resorts in China, Guiyang ranked the second among 76 cities.

In the future, Guiyang will step up the construction of demonstration places for summer stay at municipal level, guide and cultivate a batch of demonstration belts to better meet the diversified and customized demands of the tourism market.

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Locals in the Austrian town of Hallstatt have taken part in a protest against mass tourism.

Hallstatt, which is a World Heritage Site, has just over 700 inhabitants – but gets up to as many as 10,000 visitors a day during high season.

Residents are calling for limits on the number of daily tourists, and for a ban on tour buses after 17:00 local time.

While tourism has been good for Hallstatt’s economy, some locals say there are simply too many visitors.

Hallstatt, with its picturesque old houses on the shores of a pristine Alpine lake surrounded by craggy mountains, has become a tourism hotspot in recent years.

In 2006, it featured in a South Korean romantic drama boosting its popularity in Asia with a replica of the town being built in China six years later.

Many visitors come in search of the perfect selfie, with the lake, the slim pale grey church tower and the stunning mountain scenery as a backdrop.

As one of Europe’s most over-touristed destinations some locals say there are simply too many visitors, especially day trippers, who are bused into town in large coaches.

For now, like Venice and other places affected by what’s known as over-tourism, it looks as if Hallstatt will have to endure the mixed blessings of its popularity.

In May this year, residents briefly erected a wooden wall on the most popular spot to take selfies, blocking the view of the Alps, in protest against noise pollution and traffic.

After a backlash on social media, it was removed.

Back then, the mayor of the town said he wanted to reduce the number of buses that pass through Hallstatt by a third.

Hallstatt received about a million visitors a year before the COVID-19 pandemic.

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