Bloomberg As Japanese prepare to climb the mountains on Thursday for their inaugural Mountain Day holiday, retailers and tourism operators are gearing up for an $8 billion windfall. They’re counting on customers like school teacher Ayako Kobayashi. The 33-year-old spent more than $700 on a sleeping bag, mattress, backpack and trekking food to climb Mount Kita near Nagano last …

  Mainz / DPA Archaeologist Daniel Markovic ascends from the dig in this ancient city on the river Rhine sweaty and covered in dirt. “I’m completely exhausted after a whole day of hacking, shovelling and carrying,” he says at the end of one of the hottest days in Germany this summer. Markovic has been exposing an ancient wall for scientific …

  Abu Dhabi / WAM The Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC), master developer of major tourism, cultural and residential destinations in Abu Dhabi, announced on Monday that the construction of Mamsha Al Saadiyat, the first residential development within the Saadiyat Cultural District, is well underway. The project was awarded in April of this year to a joint venture between …