Author: News Team
The Great Northern Hotel is the latest of London’s classic railway hotels to reopen after major refurbishment work. The hotel, which is conveniently located near to both the King’s Cross and St. Pancras International railway stations, was the first of London’s railway hotels when it originally opened in 1854. Following its closure in 2001, it has now undergone a £40 million refurbishment programme and will open next month as a 91-room boutique hotel. The refurbishment has been careful to preserve the building’s period facade, with its classic features painstakingly replaced, and in keeping with its period ambience the hotel’s rooms…
The cruise industry is experiencing massive growth in Europe that is epitomised by the UK, according to recently released figures The figures, released by industry body, the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Europe, showed that the number of cruises booked by Europeans in 2012 rose to a record 6.139 million, doubling the figure for 2004. The CLIA made the figures public at the 29th Annual Cruise Shipping Miami conference, and they reflect an annual growth in the industry of 8 percent per annum over the past 5 years. The UK is in the vanguard of cruise-oriented nations, and its individual…
The European Commission is set to introduce new rules that will give more rights to air passengers. The Commission has laid down new rules that make European airlines more liable for a range of customer services issues, including long terminal delays, runway delays and lost baggage. Scheduled for implementation by 2015, the new rules will put the onus on air carriers to reroute passengers with a competitor airline if they have been delayed for more than 12 hours and no alternative aircraft can be located. Delays on board the aircraft due to congested runways are also addressed, with a ruling…
UK-based on-line travel agent, ebookers.com has become the first company of its kind to provide tickets for the UK’s rail network. The travel agency, which already takes bookings for air travel, hotel rooms and car hire, has now added rail journeys to its portfolio, with the promise of integrating the service to the benefit of its customers’ itineraries. Until now, rail had to be booked through the appropriate booking agent and separate to other travel plans. ebookers can now provide tickets for 20,000 trains per day, visiting 2,500 stations across the UK, on behalf of 21 rail operating companies. The…
A day on from Tuesday’s snow and freezing conditions in the UK’s southeast, travel plans were still suffering disruption in the region this morning. Those worst affected were passengers on Eurostar, the high-speed rail network that connects the UK with France and the rest of Europe via the Channel Tunnel. Continuing freezing weather in Kent, southeastern England, and also in northern France means that delays on the route were inevitable, and longer journey times were also predicted. A statement on Eurostar’s website read, ‘We anticipate speed restrictions remaining in place throughout the day. Unfortunately as a consequence, we will only…
With their growing numbers and healthy levels of disposable income, travellers of retirement age have never been more important to the on-going success of the travel industry. The over 65 age group, while not immune to the ravages of recession, is still producing enough individuals with sufficient levels of affluence and time on their hands to be specifically targeted by travel companies. Growing in numbers as life expectancy improves, unrestricted by school term times, and still healthy enough to target ever more adventurous destinations, older travellers are no longer considered to be nothing more than fodder for Spanish beaches or…
A German airline is offering astronomers and comet fans the opportunity of seeing a comet from the sky. With the Pan-STARRS comet set to have a close encounter with our planet in 2013, the stage is set for enterprising business managers to offer novel means to view the transiting phenomenon. This year, comet enthusiasts will be given a special treat the chance to view the comet from the comfort of an aeroplane. The comet is expected to be at its brightest on March 16, this year, and already, stargazers are packing their equipment in preparation to visit destinations that will…
Celebrity Cruises, a cruise ship company with its headquarters in Miami, Florida, has today released details of its UK-based itinerary for 2014. Bookings for the cruise company’s new schedule can be made from the 21st of this month, and include new itineraries for Spain, the Canary Islands and the Norwegian Fjords. Celebrity has two ships that are UK-based, the Celebrity Eclipse that operates out of Southampton, and the Celebrity Infinity that operates out of Harwich. Included in Infinity’s itinerary are the European Immersive Wine Cruises for vineyard devotees, 14-night trips to Iceland and the Norwegian Fjords, and 11- and 14-night…
A survey that investigated the level of job satisfaction among workers in the tourism and travel industry has revealed that UK workers are among the least satisfied. The survey, which was carried out by Progressive Personnel, a worldwide travel recruitment agency with its UK headquarters in London, reported that 71 percent of UK staff in the travel industry consider themselves to be underpaid, while nearly 80 percent are keen to change jobs. Almost a third of those questioned saw their future outside the travel and tourism industry, compared to a figure of just 18 percent worldwide. Staff in the UK…
New, improved visa rules for visitors to India look like they will exclude British travellers. While travellers from a number of European countries including France, Spain, Germany, Poland and Russia are expected to benefit from being able to buy a visa on arrival in India rather than having to apply for one in advance, UK visitors are still likely to be subject to the existing system, according to a report in the Daily Mail. The nation’s exclusion from the simplified and more convenient process is thought to be a retaliatory move by the Indian government for the UK’s tightening of…