Author: Shawon Hannan

British travellers may not be suitably insured while on holiday, says a survey by Hiscox, a UK-based insurance provider. The survey indicates that around 19 percent of the respondents have reported that they have not taken out any travel policy for holidays, or think that they are covered under another policy, such as health etc, or do not know if they are covered or not. The study showed that around 18 percent of respondents assume that their travel agent or airline will compensate their flight cancellation, 21 percent felt that a travel industry body would cover them for a flight…

Heathrow Express, a UK-based express train service from London Heathrow Airport (Heathrow) to London Paddington station, is offering refurbished trains for its corporate customers. The company is offering newly redesigned first-class and standard cabins, specifically based on the requirements of business travellers, and offering a lounge environment in the first class carriages. The new cabins, which were refurbished at a cost of £16 million, have quilted seat covers, larger HD TV screens that provide a range of travel information, and tables with integrated power sockets. The company carries five million passengers per year, of which business travellers’ account for 65…

Water Chariots, a UK-based boat service, is offering a canal boat service for visitors to the UK for the 2012 London Olympic Games. The company is the official 2012 Games Canal Boat operator, and is offering 12 canal boats in a scheduled service, and 18 sloop boats available for charter. Water Chariots is offering departures from Limehouse Marina and Tottenham Hale, and travel via the River Lea, for the closest entry to the Olympic Park, which also hosts the Olympic Stadium and VIP hospitality area. Passengers will also be able to access hospitality areas at the departure points, which include…

City Cruises, a UK-based river cruises operator, will be participating in the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee pageant on June 3, 2012. The company is participating in the celebratory flotilla on the river Thames in London with its fleet of 15 boats. The boats will be carrying around 2,000 passengers, and will be moored on the river before and after taking part in the flotilla. The company managing director, Kyle Haughton, said, ‘2012 is an exciting time for London and this historic jubilee is something everyone wants to be involved in and City Cruises is proud to be flying the flag for…

The golden days of the British “staycation”, or family holiday with the caravan in tow or even just a simple camping trip, used to mean trips to the sea during the summer and log-cabin getaways in the winter. It was once fashionable to vacation within the country, but that fell out of favour with cheap air travel and increasing desires to see the world. The British staycation is back, as high gas prices and the airfare hikes that come with ballooning oil costs have made travel to foreign countries prohibitively expensive. The U.K.’s Camping and Caravanning Club reported a 50%…

Such has been the bourgeoning popularity of the timeshare holiday option that most people know someone who has invested in one, but what seemed like a good idea as the buyer sipped sangria in a Spanish bodega a year or two ago, might not be so appealing in the chilly UK at this time of austerity. There will have been two aspects to the costs involved in purchasing that poolside pad, an initial, one-off purchase price that buys the right to a set period of time in your slice of the Costas, and an on-going service charge or “maintenance fee”…

London Gatwick Airport, considered to be London’s second airport after Heathrow, will be operating close to normal on April 17, 2012, following an emergency landing incident involving a Virgin Atlantic aircraft on Monday, April 16, 2012. On Monday, a Virgin Atlantic aircraft made an emergency landing at the airport, following which the runway had to be closed to operations for several hours, as the aircraft’s passengers were evacuated and taken to safety. The aircraft was flying with its full capacity of 299 passengers and 13 crewmembers on board, and used its emergency chutes to evacuate all passengers to safety on…

Weymouth, the seaside town in Dorset, UK, has recently seen an increase in holiday cottage bookings from foreign visitors for the summer of 2012, fuelled by interest in the upcoming Olympic Games, commencing this July. Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour in Dorset are hosting the sailing competitions for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. The area has natural vantage points for watching the events, even for visitors who are not able to acquire tickets to the Games’ waterside viewing areas. The region will be hosting around 13 events during the Olympics, and has previous experience of hosting many other international…

A UK-based online travel company, lastminute.com, has reported in a survey that UK travellers are increasingly moving towards last minute travel deals. The online survey results report that while 83 percent of UK travellers decide on their vacations up to a year ahead, some are increasingly leaving part of the booking until the final month. Last minute vacationers are often able to benefit from a sizable discount on their travel bookings and hotel accommodation. Around 25 percent of those surveyed have admitted to booking at least a part of their holiday, including hotels or flights, less than a month before…

Accor SA (EPA:AC), a France-based hotel company, has committed itself to sustainable tourism with the launch of its new sustainability programme, Planet 21. The new programme provides strategies to convert each of the company-owned hotels into environmentally sustainable properties. In a briefing held at its Novotel Tower Bridge hotel in London, the Accor group’s executive vice-president for sustainable development, Sophie Flak, said, ‘Energy is the second layer of costs after employees. It’s a huge cost, EUR350 million per year, and we need to focus on reducing consumption of energy because costs won’t go down, particularly with taxes going up in…