Fires, Spiking Gas Aside, Calif. Tourism Still Sunny

Near-continuous wildfires and soaring gas prices don’t seem to have made much of a dent in California’s tourism industry, the San Jose Mercury News reports. California's AAA reports only an 0.8% drop in Fourth of July domestic tourism, and a jump in visitors from abroad more than makes up the difference, travel officials say.

"International is looking very strong…the weak dollar makes us a bargain, and California attracts one out of five visitors who come to the United States," says a tourism official. (More tourism stories.)