A Western tour company in China said Tuesday it has obtained permission from North Korea for Westerners to make day trips into the country from the Chinese border.Gareth Johnson of Young Pioneer Tours said his Xi'an-based company after years of lobbying had received Pyongyang's approval to organize tours for non-Chinese foreigners to the North Korean border town of Sinuiju, which so far has be...

If airlines were athletes, low-cost carriers would get the nod as fan favorites but traditional airlines are earning kudos as the most improved players on the field.Thats the gist of the latest J.D. Power and Associates North American Airlines Satisfaction Study. Released on Wednesday, the annual report shows overall satisfaction with the industry climbing to 695 (on a 1,000-point scale), an incr...

For years, most hotel restaurants could easily be dismissed as unremarkable and unsurprising, their menus seemingly unchanged from year to year. But lately, they have been following the lead of upscale restaurants and offering ingredients grown or produced nearby.Most hotels for years tried to cater to a mass market, said Charles D. Dorn, managing director of the Dorn Group, a hospitality consul...