Travel rumblings

Is this a ploy by the tourist boards of France and the UK to widen our eating habits by introducing us to the cuisine of each other’s countries?

Should we then have a day – say 1st of July – where we are reminded that we should take holidays for health and well-being reasons?

For the last two days I have been listening to dozens of people connected to airports – mangers, owners, contractors and planners – all talking about procurement for airport development.

The tourist board for Singapore should be dlighted with the worldwide coverage they received earlier this week. It certainly would have cost more than $15 million if they had to pay for it.

Would I bet on Heathrow’ expansion hapening. Not yet, I wouldn’t.

How do you measure whether a tourist office is profitable enough? And why should you? Isn’t the role of a tourist office to provide information to prospective holidaymakers rather than to sell holidays? I ask the question because India’s minister for tourism, KJ Alphons, has decided to close down up to half of the tourist offices outside India that it has. His says that the reason is because it sees, “the continuing digitisation of tourism marketing making bricks and mortar offices less essential. For the
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That ninety seven items had to be thrown doesn’t show carelessness; it shows systemic deceit and a hotel culture that tolerated it.

News arriving at Just about Travel suggests that two of our very biggest tour operators are delaying payments to customers that are owed compensation due to delayed or cancelled flights.

Councillors in Edinburgh last January decided that they would look again at introducing an accommodation tax. Four months later and those plans have still not materialised. Why?

For a start goats won’t be allowed. Other creatures banned include insects and hedgehogs (surely not the easiest animal to carry) and barred are any animals with tusks or horns so a highland calf is an obvious no-go!

The Rail Delivery Group which represents the train companies, Network Rail and even the RMT union called for change as did the Campaign for Better Transport and Transport Focus. Everyone wants change it seems. But why has it taken so long for them to realise it?

But I’ll remember the day that a bank holiday was what it was supposed to be – a great day to get out and enjoy our countries.

With a big splash, VisitDundee was launched in late March this year, as a new tourism venture to promote the city as a short break destination.

I am beginning to wonder just what information the Department for Culture etc, (which as readers will know is where the tourism minister hangs his hat) Visit England and Visit Britain do hold.

The killing of innocent civilians has to be condemned

It took 37 minutes at ten fifteen in the morning to get from Euston just as far as Aldwych on a number 59 bus. The distance is under two miles.

Palma on the island of Mallorca, and a very popular destination for British holidaymakers, is to ban flat owners from renting their apartments to travellers as from July 1st,

American Express says that we spend more time planning our holidays than actually being away from home.

Part of the government’s aviation strategy will probably include measures to make it easier for disabled passengers to fly with less hassle than they may currently experience.

And before you ask, yes I have asked for upgrades on my travels and no – to the best of my memory – I didn’t lie. Mind you, I wasn’t very successful either!

Next time, Visit England, forget the politicians who did next to nothing to help and concentrate on publicising tourism benefits to us – the visitors.

After the event, the BBC reported that Holland Kaye said that disabled passengers stranded on planes at Heathrow would not receive compensation for the delay.

There has been a bit of an outcry about the fact that a Franco-Dutch firm called Gemalto has won the contract to produce the new post Brexit, blue passports. The hubbub has arisen because a number of MP’s and Brexiters feel that a British company should have been awarded the contract. Lord Foulkes said the matter should be reviewed “in the name of not just security, but of national pride.” At present De La Rue prints most of the passports with about 20% of blank
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The fine handed done in Liverpool County Court only illustrates that tour operators will pursue those fraudulently claiming even if it costs them more than paying out a claim initially.

Overall AirHelp says that passengers – not just Americans – are owed more than €5 billion by airlines, a staggering sum.

Scottish Tourism Month just seems a handy title to hang a number of trade meetings around and nothing more.

Ex-Londoners complain that life in the capital circa 2018 is getting worse but Kaye Holland is hooked and hopes never to leave

Yesterday it was announced that Ryanair was pulling the vast majority of its flights from Glasgow Airport. Instead of there being 23 flights from the airport there would be just three – to Dublin, Wroclaw and Krakow.