Borderzine (https://borderzine.com/tag/tourism/)
For nearly two years, land borders between Mexico and the United States have been closed to all non-essential travel. Air borders between the countries, though, have fallen in a grey area — with private planes and chartered flights touching down every day in El Paso.
Garnachas y restaurantes Juárez y El Paso is a Facebook group that has been gaining popularity among border residents. It began as a hobby two years ago and now is an online community with more than 50,000 members. The driving motivation for the group is to stimulate Juarez business and entertainment activity following a half decade of a declining economy and business closings sparked by high crime and violence. Group members rate Juarez restaurants and cafes on a scale of one to 10, using colloquial Juarez personalities such as superstar “divo” Juan Gabriel and the well-known clown Niko Lico, and others. For example, ten “Juangas” means the establishment is super good and one Niko Lico, means it is awful.
Operating for about a year now, the Juárez Turibus continues to be a popular attraction for visitors and Juárez residents alike. The bus tour is sponsored by the Mexican government to attract tourism to the border from the U.S. and other parts of Mexico and give visitors a different point of view about the city. But the variety of theme tours offered has proved a big draw for locals too. Turibus has three different types of tours:
Tour 1 ($6) – Historic District, Plaza la Mexicanidad and Casa de Adobe. There are two five-hour tours daily from Tuesday through Sunday
Tour 2 ($24) – Goes to the Samalayuca Dune Fields Tours are offered twice a month on Saturdays and Sundays.
El Paso is unlike any other city in the nation with its unique cultural dynamic. The city’s arts and events bring thousands of visitors every year and more than $2 million in direct spending. In this TV-style news magazine, journalism students at the University of Texas at El Paso take a closer look at some of El Paso’s artists and how economic efforts are affecting the creative community. The show aired live on Google Hangouts on Air on May 29, 2015. The program was made possible by support from the Sam Donaldson Center for Communication Studies, the UTEP Department of Communication and Borderzine.com
See the complete special report and featured stories here.
EL PASO, Texas — The sound of rolling thunder in this border city’s convention center signals that the conference venue has once again been transformed into a bowler’s paradise for the 2015 USBC Open Championships. With the tournament in full swing, the United States Bowling Congress expects more than 7,000 teams – bringing about 100,000 visitors all told – to visit El Paso throughout the 128 days of competition from March 7 to July 12. This is the first time in the tournament’s 112-year history that it will be hosted in El Paso, following the USBC Women’s Championships that was held here in 2010. Albert Williams Jr., from Prince George, Virginia, a first-time tournament participant, said he was pleasantly surprised with the unique venue. “I knew El Paso was out here, but I didn’t think that there would be anything here big enough to host this kind of event.