Travel rumblings

I like the way the BBC wrote up the results of the public consultation that the council in Edinburgh undertook about its proposed £2 tax a night on hotels.

In future I should like to know that places at which I stay will be as data secure as they can be and that checks are in place to confirm that this is so.

The target of the fee is cruise passengers which, the local council and many locals argue, bring people in for the day and yet contribute little in the way of economic benefit to the city.

Wouldn’t it be better to suggest something more manageable like one or two places a year with a maximum of probably 100 things to see?

All-in-all I’d book with a competitor that does try to stimulate my interest in a holiday which is what Gibraltar, Ireland and Virgin Atlantic manage with their more direct ads!

The spontaneous reaction of many Moroccan’s in decrying the terrorist atrocity and coming out for the vigil suggests that there is anger and shame at the murders.

Edinburgh needs to decide whether it wants tourists or not.

It is the implications of this attack that I find are the most worrying.

What we don’t know is whether guests actually stole these items or whether they just “walked.” That we will probably never know.

Readers may be bored if I mention it again but how can rail fares continue to rise when the service is so lamentable?

There’s another side to the City of Gold says Kaye Holland

The time has come when a sensible debate needs to be had about airline seat sizes.

It is concerned about the behaviour of visitors in the Gion-Shinbashi area of the city where relations between visitors and locals has reached the point where a committee of locals has been set up to encourage more courteous behaviour.

At Edinburgh airport this week, I bought a meal deal. At the self-service checkout the reader wanted to scan the barcode on my boarding card. Why?

I think that I shall remain teetotal on flights. The cabin crew may not like it but my wallet will!

Just as airlines have adopted a no-tolerance policy towards over-drinking and flying, the same attitude should be taken to this sort of behaviour.

Russian visa applications are notoriously complex but the pay off is worth it, writes Kaye Holland

As more and more airports introduce charges for just dropping off passengers is this man’s attitude an indication that passengers might be reaching the limits of the patience with the way that the aviation industry is fleecing passengers at every opportunity?

It all seems like one long drawn-out East Enders plot with everybody lurching from one mess to another with none of the cheery win-through attitudes. Come to think of it East Enders doesn’t have that either!

How long will it take international visitors to forget this unusual spasm of bad weather and once again put any of these destination on the list of future holidays?

Manchester has shown the world (you’d be surprised at how widely this story has been picked up) that it isn’t a pleasant place to visit.

Are crowded skies making journeys longer?

Whatever date might be chosen a holiday between August and December 25th would boost spirits through the long and dank weather that we usually experience in the autumn and early winter.

From November 1st the airline will operate a new hand luggage policy that it says will reduce delays in boarding.

Adrian looks at information provided by My Voucher Codes as to how expensive some theme parks and attractions really are.

BBC research that was released earlier this week, suggests that there are a greater number of closures than many might have believed.

Some airlines have adopted the habit of listing the price of a ticket as being only that price when two people travel together. Is this being transparent?

For Wales to grow by 0.5% is lamentable and there is little evidence that Visit Wales or the Welsh government understands that it has a problem let alone knowing how to solve it.