If you need a reason to treat yourself to a short break this autumn, one of the latest exhibitions is sure to inspire you. The exhibitions follow a path of time and subject with your tastes.

Kunsthistorisches-Vienna

2 November 2022-13 January 2023

To mark the 450th anniversary of one of the greatest painters. Vienne will host the world’s first exhibition for Bruegel this autumn.

Three nights’ price from £795, saving £208 at the Grand Hotel in November and December

◆Includes entrance to the Kunsthistorisches Museum

Mauritshuis-The Hague

11 November 2022-6 January 2023

Peaking in the 18th century, British landowners enthusiastically collected Dutch paintings to display in their country houses. This unique exhibition brings together some of the finest masterpieces of the Dutch Golden Age.

Three nights’ price from £876, staying at the Des Indes Hotel

◆Includes entrance to the Mauritshuis Museum

Doge’s Palace-Venice

31 September 2022-6 January 2023

Celebrating 500 years since the birth of the Venetian painter Jacopo Tintoretto, the Doge’s Palace has brought together 50 paintings from New York, London, Paris, Madrid, Vienna and Berlin here, still visible on the wall of the main hall.

Three nights’ price from £859, staying at the American Dinesen Hotel

◆Includes water taxi transfers and entrance to the Doge’s Palace.

Uffizi Gallery-Florence

December 2022-20 January 2023

To mark the 500th anniversary of Leonardo’s death, his Codex Leicester ,containing sketches(素描)and notes on water and the environment, has been loaned from the personal collection of Bill Gates.

Three nights’ price from £723, saving £136 at the Deli Orafi Hotel in December

◆Includes entrance to the Uffizi Gallery

Recently, China has announced the list of the first five national parks. Each of them is divided into two parts — the core protection area and the general control area. In the core protection area, only research and surveillance (监视) in science are allowed. And the general control area is open to the public, allowing travel activities such as camping and hiking. In the future, national parks are expected to be natural classrooms. People can learn about different kinds of animals and plants through eco-friendly travel activities.

Three River-Source National Park on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the largest national park in China. Because it is home to the sources of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang rivers, people call it “China’s water tower”.

Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park is in Heilongjiang and Jilin Provinces. It covers an area of 14,100 square kilometers. It is our country’s biggest and only place for wild Siberian tigers and Amur leopards to live in.

Wuyi Mountain National Park in Fujian Province is a UNESCO natural and cultural heritage site. The forest makes up over 96 percent of the park. The park is the paradise of birds, kingdom of snakes and world of insects. You can also see the Danxia landform there.

Giant Panda National Park connects panda habitats in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu Provinces. Inside the park are more than 1,600 wild giant pandas. They make up over 70 percent of the pandas in China.

Hainan Tropical Rain forest National Park is the largest tropical forest in China. There are more than 400 kinds of plants that can only be found in Hainan.

Born from the accessibility of mass air travel, modern international tourism has been popularized as “holiday-making” in regions that offer comparative advantages of sand, sun and sea. Travel is often portrayed (描绘成) as a tool for personal growth and tourism as an economic motor for destination countries and cities. There is a tendency to assume that tourism is good for everyone involved.

Today the big bang of tourism drives over 1.2 billion tourists across international borders annually. Many popular places are literally being loved to death. Recent protests in ports of call like Venice and Barcelona against disturbances created by cruise ships show the unfortunate consequences of emphasizing quantity over quality in tourism.

Uncontrolled tourism development has become a primary driver of social and environmental disruption (破坏，混乱). Tourism studies provide much documentation of the many negative social impacts of tourism and resulting resentment (怨恨) that local populations direct toward visitors.

Resentment toward tourists typically develops in mature, heavily visited destinations. Protests in heavily visited destinations suggest that traditional tourism has overstayed its welcome.

Residents often become frustrated when the benefits of tourism are not felt locally. Although it can generate foreign exchange, income and employment, there’s no guarantee that multinational hotel chains will allocate (分配) these benefits equitably among local communities.

On the contrary, when people stay at large resorts or on cruise ships, they make most of their purchases there, leaving local communities little opportunity to benefit from tourist spending. These forms of tourism widen economic and political gaps between haves and have-nots at local destinations.

In recent decades, local residents in destination communities also have found themselves negotiating new cultural boundaries, class dynamics, service industry roles and lifestyle transformations. For example, data show that tourism activity corresponds to increased social problems as local residents adopt the behaviors of tourists.

What does all this mean for the everyday traveler?

First, all tourists should make every effort to honor their hosts and respect local conditions. This means being prepared to adapt to local customs and norms, rather than expecting local conditions to adapt to travelers.

Second, tourism is a market-based activity and works best when consumers reward better performers. In the information age, there’s little excuse for travelers being uninformed about where their vacation money goes and who it enriches.

Informed travelers also are better able to distinguish between multinational companies and local entrepreneurs whose businesses provide direct social, environmental, and economic benefits for local residents. Such businesses are in love with the destination and are therefore deserving of market reward. In the long run, being a responsible traveler means ensuring net positive impacts for local people and environments. With the information available at our fingertips, there has never been more opportunity to do so.