World’s top tourist spot is in U.S.

CHARLESTON, S.C. » Last year, readers of Conde Nast Traveler magazine voted Charleston the top tourist town in the United States. This year they went one better.

The magazine announced its readers have now voted Charleston the top tourist destination in the world. The designation is based on a poll of about 47,000 readers of the magazine.

They voted Cape Town, South Africa, and Florence, Italy, as the next two choices.

Charleston was also voted the top tourism destination in the United States.

Tiger reserves to open to visitors

NEW DELHI » India’s top court has lifted a ban on tourism in tiger reserves across the country but asked local governments to regulate visitors.

The ban, issued by the Supreme Court in July, was lifted last week after the government announced new rules aimed at allowing tourism to coexist with conservation.

Under the new rules, no new tourist facilities can be created in the tiger areas and only 20 percent of habitats will be open to visitors.

India is home to more than half of the world’s estimated 3,200 tigers, with most living in reserves set up since the 1970s.

American folk portraits on display

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. » A new American folk art exhibition at Colonial Williamsburg is highlighting some of the historic area’s newly acquired paintings and some old favorites.

The "American Folk Portraits" exhibit at the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum includes 45 portraits and one sculpture.

Early American folk portraits are treasured for their historical significance, curator Barbara Luck says. Without them, Luck says, many aspects of the lives of the middle and lower classes wouldn’t have been recorded.