President Tommy Remengesau wants to rebrand the Pacific island state as a luxury destination and is proposing a new law that would allow only five-star hotel developments in future, Radio New Zealand International reports. If there are any other infrastructures that they have to do, like opening a road, the investor would do that themselves.” 
 
 The hotels would be rewarded by the government for their assistance with “the necessary tax breaks and exemptions,” said Remengesau. It relies on tourism for 85 per cent of its GDP, but over the years rising visitor numbers have taken their toll – with damage to local coral reefs, relative overcrowding, and wildlife disturbance. The biggest increase has been among Chinese tour groups, and in 2015 the government announced it was halving the number of charter flights arriving from China.
– The Pacific island nation of Palau boasts some stunning sights—but they don't want just anybody coming to check them out. The country's president, Tommy Remengesau, is planning to introduce legislation restricting hotel development to five-star chains, a move that would effectively make Palau a "luxury only" nation, the Telegraph reports. Remengesau says mass tourism is damaging the environment of Palau, which is made up of around 250 islands, and he wants to pursue a "quality not quantity" strategy. "There's a right way to do things and there's a wrong way to do things," says the president, per the BBC. And when it comes to development, he adds, "the best spots around the world have blended in with the environment." Radio New Zealand notes that the proposal comes after massive growth in tourism over the last couple of years, most of which involved package tours from mainland China. Remengesau says tourism spending actually went up after steps were taken to reduce the number of charter flights from China. (A tourism slogan in Australia is pretty darn explicit.)