Tourism

ANTELOPE ISLAND — A reciprocal signing ceremony creating a “sister relationship” memorandum of understanding between Utah State Parks and the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall of China, will take place this weekend in China.

OGDEN — Wine spritzers top the list of summertime drinks at Rovali’s in Ogden.

LAS VEGAS -- Variously known as an adult playground and Disneyland for grown-ups, Las Vegas brands itself as a place where tourists can enjoy a sense of edginess with no real danger.

But a series of high-profile episodes of random violence amid the throngs of tourists is threatening Sin City's reputation as a padded room of a town where people can cut loose with no fear of consequences.

LAS VEGAS — One Las Vegas shooting range is selling “take a shot at love” packages that include 50 submachine gun rounds. Another is offering wedding packages in which the bride and groom can pose with Uzis and ammunition belts. And a third invites lovebirds to renew their vows and shoot a paper cutout zombie in the face.

Never known for its understatement or good taste, Sin City is bucking the national trend of avoiding flippant gun promotions after the Newton, Conn., elementary school shooting. Instead, it is embracing tourists’ newfound interest in big guns the only way it knows how: by going all in.

SALT LAKE CITY — State officials hope to take promotion of outdoor opportunities in the Beehive State up a notch.

Sen. Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton, told the Standard-Examiner he will run legislation, at the behest of Gov. Gary Herbert’s office, to create a new Office of Outdoor Recreation as a division of the Department of Economic Development.

SYDNEY - Yin Qiang, a technology manager from Beijing, traveled from Australia’s Gold Coast to Melbourne before climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge with his wife. Next time, they might see a show at the city’s iconic Opera House.

“This is a place I would go to again,” said Yin, 42, who visited Australia on work trips several times before his holiday this month. “There’s still a lot of things to explore.”

Chinese visitors are lifting an Australian tourism industry as a local currency that’s gained 55 percent in the past four years against the U.S. dollar and 43 percent against the pound causes British and American arrivals to stagnate. The emergence of China’s middle class is forcing tour operators to adapt to a clientele whose numbers are mushrooming five times faster than the overall growth in visitors.