Author: Shawon Hannan

Centro, a UK based organisation that operates bus, rail and the Midland Metro Tram transport in the West Midlands area, is urging transport chiefs from across Europe to come together to reduce carbon footprints in Europe. The organisation will be sharing ideas with similar associations from Italy, Czech Republic, Poland, Spain, and the Netherlands at the Involve project, which will be working to improve intercity connectivity and lower traffic congestion. The initiative is expected to run for three years, and will include green schemes such as the Birmingham Interconnect project and Local Sustainable Transport Fund schemes. Road congestion is costing…

Even as the Christmas celebrations come to an end, at Premier Inn, a UK-based hotel brand from Whitbread PLC, gifts are still very much on the agenda as the group collates its annual list of left or lost gifts at its branded properties across the country. Travel Inn has collated a list of forgotten Christmas gifts, left in rooms by its guests, which includes 18 Christmas jumpers, a pair of tickets to VIVA Forever, a set of diamond earrings, a set of Little Mix dolls, a Bradley Wiggins’ autobiography, a Furby, a One Direction fan t-shirt, and 17 copies of…

Developers in New York are adhering to their plans to construct the world’s largest Ferris wheel. The city, which is in rebuilding mode after the devastating super storm, Sandy, is to go ahead and build the structure, which it is hoped will also be seen as a mark of the city’s resilience. The new addition will grace the shoreline of storm-torn Staten Island and, once completed, the structure is expected to be the world’s largest Ferris wheel. Even though flooding after Sandy has caused some changes to the nearly $500m project, the developers have maintained their impetus and not scaled…

Rail fares in the UK have increased by an average of 3.9 percent at the beginning of 2013, as most railway companies announce hikes in their New Year fares. Previously, East Midlands Trains, a UK-based train service, had announced an increase of around 4 percent in its fares, effective January 2, 2013, with the cost of a single journey to increase by around £0.52 per ticket. Recent research published by the UK’s Trade Union Congress (TUC), has shown that since 2008, average train fares have increased around three times faster than average wages. This has resulted in the rail fare…

Profits declined for UK hotels in November 2012, with hotels in London registering a 5.6 percent decrease in profit per room. The recent HotStats survey of around 560 full-service hotels in the UK, conducted by TRI Hospitality Consulting, a UK based hotel consultancy group, reported that the euphoria of summer profits from the 2012 London Olympic Games has given way to the worst drop in profits in any one year. In November 2012, hotels also recorded 1.4 percent year-on-year increase in food and beverage revenue, to £35.50 per available room, and a 2 percent decrease in Total Revenue per Available…

Bmi Regional, a UK based airline, is launching new routes from Bristol, UK, to Hamburg and Frankfurt in Germany. The airline is offering five-times-weekly flights to Hamburg from February 11, 2013, and a six times per week service to Frankfurt in late March, 2013. Cathal O’Connell, the airline’s chief executive, said, ‘The launch of new services to Germany is a continuation of bmi regional’s promise to serve key economic and transport hubs to multiple destinations across Europe. Our choice of destinations is based on customer demand and with Hamburg being a significant operational base for major employers such as Airbus…

Eurostar International, a UK-based high-speed rail service between the UK and mainland Europe, is offering a 12-day Express Sale from January 3, 2012. The company has announced a bargain price of £59 return fare from London St Pancras to the continental Europe destinations of Paris, Brussels or Lille. The train company is offering around 150,000 seats to those travelling between January 17 and March 27, 2013. Eurostar is also offering return travel from London to any Belgian station, commencing from £69 in standard class. The Eurostar Plus offer is available for those travelling to Paris and Brussels from London, and…

The European Elvis Championships will be held at Hilton Birmingham Metropole, in Birmingham UK. Announcing its hosting of the event, the hotel has welcomed Elvis Presley fans who will be visiting the city for the event. The event will be held from January 4 to 6, 2013. The hotel general manager, Patrick Stapleton, said, ‘With the outstanding success the event had last year we are anticipating an even greater turnout and exceptional entertainment’. The convention styled contest will include performances by Elvis-inspired artists, including European masters champion, Pete Storm, and popular artist, George Elias. The event will also be staging…

Etihad Airways, a UAE-based airline, has reported carrying around 10 million passengers in 2012. The airline is reporting a 22 percent increase in the total number of passengers carried in 2012, compared to a total of 8.41 million passengers that it carried in 2011. The increase of around 1.8 million passengers is due to more destinations in 2012, with the airline network now covering 87 airports worldwide, and around 245 airports globally through code share flights. James Hogan, the airline president and chief executive officer, said, ‘Etihad Airways has achieved significant expansion in 2012 and therefore it’s very satisfying to…

January is a popular month for British holidaymakers to plan the coming year’s vacations in advance. With the seasonal festivals finally over, and expenditure accounted for, many British tourists book their holidays in January, to ward off post-festivity depression. In 2012, around 8.7 million UK adults had booked their holidays for 2012 by February 1. According to Direct Line January sales report, around 8.9 million UK residents are already searching for bargains in 2013, before 2012 is even over. Thomas Cook, a travel company based in the UK, is reporting that some of the most popular destinations for 2013 are…