Cologne  - Cruising by the Lorelei is romantic. In Germanic folklore, a siren's singing on the rock in the Rhine River lured sailors.

But the Lorelei is old hat. River cruise passengers are also drawn nowadays to Russia, France and faraway places with views of rice paddies, not vineyards. Popular rivers include China's Yangtze, India's Ganges and the Mekong in south-east Asia.

Port Macquarie, Australia  - Among the many images from the bush fires that recently swept through the Australian state of Victoria was one of a koala bear being rescued by a fireman. Sam, as the bear became known, had pink-coloured bandages on its paws and was handed over to a carer.

Sam was a lucky little fellow as koalas are not only victims of bush fires, but are killed or injured in collisions with cars on an almost daily basis.

Australia has its own clinic dedicated to caring for sick and injured koala bears in Port Macquarie in New South Wales. Since it opened, it has become a major tourist attraction in the area.

Delhi  - The bus successfully negotiated the serpentine descent from the Himalayas. Snow-capped mountains were still visible to the left. To the right, the road veered down into the Indo-Gangetic plain. There, somewhere, was the location of the next "heritage hotel," an old fort or mansion now serving as tourist lodgings.

The British tourists were eager to find out where they would be spending the coming night.

Santo Domingo  - The north-west of the Dominican Republic has undergone a make-over in recent years with more sand on its beaches, new hotels and less garbage along its highways.

These are just a few of the signs that the region around Puerto Plata and Sosua is becoming attractive again for foreign tourists.

About 10 years ago, the region was making headlines in the tourist trade for its rock bottom prices. Then, investment suddenly dried up, hotels fell into disrepair and beaches became gradually dirty and uninviting.

But that's a thing of the past and Puerto Plata now compares favourably with the more expensive holiday resorts at Punta Cana and Cap Can in the east.

Sydney  - The Brisbane judging panel said Thursday it was investigating press reports that one of the 50 candidates it shortlisted for the dream job of caretaker on a paradise island in Australia's Great Barrier Reef worked as a porn star.

Britain's scandal-mongering The Sun newspaper alleged that Russian police had interviewed Julia Yalovitsyna for her links with erotic film studios in her hometown of Petrazavodsk.

Bangkok  - Tourist arrivals to the Asia-Pacific region fell 2.8 per cent in the last quarter of 2008, with Thailand leading the plunge with a 28 per cent decline, the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) revealed Wednesday.

PATA compiles travel statistics for 37 destinations in Asia, the Pacific islands and the Americas.

The association noted a "dramatic downturn" in arrivals last quarter of 2008 in Japan, Thailand and Sri Lanka, reflecting "both the worsening global economic climate and regional/national issues."