Author: Shawon Hannan
The global financial crisis has meant that many travellers on a restricted budget have been seeking out cheaper forms of accommodation, with hostels being among the most popular. Recent research conducted by Hostelworld.com, a hostel booking website, in collaboration with Lonely Planet, a travel content providing company, has shown that around 94 percent of respondents are keen to consider hostel accommodation in 2012 due to budget considerations. The study, which questioned over 5,000 people in 141 countries, found that around 90 percent were unwilling to pay more than £64 per night for accommodation, while around 54 percent of those studied…
Holiday buyers are being told to beware of scams that are coming to light as buyer trust in the travel industry is on a high. A poll carried out by online directory, 192.com, which asked who shoppers trusted when making a transaction, has apparently revealed that travel agents are viewed as a safe pair of hands in financial dealings. 1,500 UK residents were questioned for the survey, and 39 percent of them said that they were comfortable with making payments to travel agents. This compared very favourably with car dealers who polled 11 percent, and estate agents who polled 15…
The number of British travellers being admitted to hospital, being arrested, or being the victim of crime in foreign countries is on the increase according to the British Behaviour Abroad survey, released by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The survey revealed that 10 Britons a day are admitted to foreign hospitals, with a total of 3,739 being treated last year. Majorca alone has seen an increase of 132 percent in hospitalised Brits over the past two years. Figures revealed that common causes of hospitalisation include heart attacks, balcony accidents, and car related accidents. A high percentage of these accidents…
Delhi Duty Free has announced that it has launched a car-giveaway campaign. The company has launched its first car promotion, ‘Where’s your Mini?’ Travellers who shop at the Delhi Duty Free malls between July and September this year stand a chance of winning a new Mini Cooper, manufactured by Mini, a subsidiary of BMW. Visitors need to spend at least $50 to be eligible for the prize. For each $50 purchase, customers will receive a coupon that could entitle them to win the car. If they use a Visa debit or credit card for the purchase, they will receive two…
Autogrill, a provider of food & beverage and retail services for travellers, has announced that it will launch operations in Dubai and Istanbul through its HMSHost International division. The company is to offer its range of fine dining at Istanbul and Dubai airports. Once the operations are launched, HMSHost International will have 13 points of sale at Istanbul airport in Turkey. The move is expected to generate overall revenue of more than €100m in the 2012 to 2022 period. The company will also open four points of sale at Dubai airport in the United Arab Emirates. That operation is expected…
The Japanese city of Kyoto is to offer business travellers free Wi-Fi access. Business visitors will be able to access the Internet using free Wi-Fi services available throughout the city. The scheme, considered to be the largest municipal scheme in Japan, is being launched to satisfy the needs of business customers who use smart phones and tablet computers. The service is expected to be a boon to business travellers who visit the city to attend conferences and meetings, as it will allow visitors to have seamless Internet connectivity in the city and will do away with the need for them…
London Gatwick Airport, in the UK, is gearing up for a busy flying season for summer, with around six million passengers scheduled to transit through airport during this period. While most flights for the 2012 London Olympics Games are landing at Heathrow Airport, Gatwick Airport is expected to handle round 10 percent arrivals for the world’s biggest sporting event. With schools in Britain closing for the summer break from July 20, 2012, until September 3, 2012, the airports will also handling a large number of British travellers flying out of the country for a vacation abroad with family and friends,…
Holiday Inn London Regents Park, a luxury hotel located in central London, is offering considerable savings on its rooms for a limited period of time. The hotel is offering a discounted room rate of £99 per room, per night, on a twin sharing basis, on stays from July 13 to 26, 2012. The rates being offered reflect a saving of up to 50 percent on the hotel’s normal rates, while for the 2012 Olympic Games period, the rates at the hotel are being increased to £220 per room, per night. The hotel is located close to many of the main…
The influx of visitors to the UK for the London Olympic games is about to be matched by a mass exodus of Brits departing the country for their annual holiday. Now that the school holidays are underway it is estimated that as many as two million British holidaymakers could be leaving the UK this weekend and heading for the sunshine resorts in Europe and beyond. Heathrow Airport alone expects to speed the departure of 482,000 British travellers over the next two days. 50,000 more will exit on Eurostar trains through the channel tunnel. Provincial airports are also likely to experience…
With the summer vacation season about to hit its busiest period, the hope for better weather and the popularity of upcoming festivals have increased the interest in camping as a holiday option. Winfield Outdoors, a company selling outdoor camping gear in the UK, has reported an upward trend in sales as an increasing number of families decide on camping holidays, and festival fans prepare to make the annual pilgrimage to their favourite event. The upcoming UK festivals include Bestival, to be held from September 6 to 9, 2012, at Robin Hill Country Park, Downend, Isle Of Wight, with a line-up…