Author: Lee Fletcher

Work on a museum to be built at Ground Zero in New York to pay tribute to victims of the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre, which took place 11 years ago today, is to continue after the resolution of a disagreement over funding for the project. Had work gone ahead on the project without interruption, the museum would have been scheduled to open on today’s anniversary, but despite the delays, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has now been able to announce that the work is set to continue. The project has been beset with financial wrangles, mainly…

The recent success of the 2012 London Olympic Games has helped to highlight the fact that most of the UK’s hotels, attractions, rail operations and airlines are yet to be fully supportive of people with limited mobility or other access needs. The impetus that the games has generated in the UK has been taken up by a number of charitable organisations that have highlighted the lack of facilities at British hotels and attractions. Guy Parckar, the head of policy and campaigns at the charity, Leonard Cheshire Disability, said in an interview, ‘Often accessible hotels are rendered totally inaccessible because staffs aren’t…

Vietnam is a new favourite destination for British holidaymakers, according to a recent report. The UK’s Post Office, a mail delivery organisation that also deals in travel currency, has released a report stating that Vietnam’s currency, the Dong, is the fastest growing foreign currency for tourists, emphasising the fact that many more Britons are visiting Vietnam this year. Sales of the dong during this summer have increased by 68 percent compared to the same period in 2011, while an air service from London Gatwick Airport to Hanoi Airport, operated since December 2011 by Vietnam Airlines, has also been a factor…

BT, a UK based telecommunications company, has reported that British travellers often find it difficult to take a holiday without checking their emails or social networking sites. Research conducted by the company, which involved 2,000 respondents, has revealed that around 33 percent of them plan to check work emails or voicemails even when they are away on holiday. Around 41 percent of the respondents said that they log into their social networking accounts while on holiday, confirming that technology addicted British holidaymakers cannot resist the lure of their electronic devices, even when on vacation. One in four respondents admitted that…

According to the findings of a survey, UK travellers prefer to book their holidays online rather than use an agent. Trivago, a hotel price comparison website, has completed a survey of around 4,142 people during a two week period, from August 13 to 27, 2012. Around 85 percent of respondents prefer to book their own hotels through the Internet, using a computer or a smartphone, as travel arrangements become more high tech every year. Only 15 percent of travellers from eight different countries had opted to book their holidays via the traditional methods of visiting a travel agent or calling…

Flybe, a UK-based airline company, has announced the cancellation of its service between London Gatwick Airport and Aberdeen Airport, in Scotland. The airline is currently offering a three times-daily service between the two airports, operating an Embraer aircraft. The last service will be on October 27, 2012. In a statement the airline said, ‘Flybe carefully reviews the viability of all our 180 plus routes on a regular basis looking not only at passenger numbers but also at external cost pressures,’ said the company in a statement. This is done not only to monitor where we can offer increased regularity on…

VisitEngland, the official travel promotional agency for England, has acquired GBP2m in sponsorship from the UK government. The fund will be used for promoting tourism in England and an extension of the Holidays at Home campaign to encourage UK residents to take holidays in the UK. The chief executive officer of VisitEngland, James Berresford, said, ‘The fantastic events of 2012 have provided tourism with an unprecedented opportunity to raise the profile of England as a destination and build on the swell of national pride that the Diamond Jubilee, The Torch Relay, London Festival 2012 and The Games have ignited in…

Authorities are rebuilding the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul, which was once the best-stocked museum in the region. Since then, the museum has been through many hardships and without the dogged determination of its staff it would have been completely lost to the Islamic hardliners who once ruled the nation. During years of civil war, the building was shelled and looted. It caught fire during the 1992 civil war and a significant number of its famed exhibits were looted. Taliban extremists smashed many of the centuries-old statues that were once the museum’s proudest exhibits. The museum is slowly being…

Maysan, a region in Iraq, is receiving a face-lift to enhance its reputation as a tourist destination. With the plan to transform the region into a tourism hot spot having gained approval, officials in Maysan province are making major efforts to develop services in the region. Building infrastructure including parks, resorts and hotels is being pursued as a top priority. Speaking to reporters, Ali Dawai Lazim, governor of Maysan, said, ‘The province is witnessing a qualitative leap in the field of tourism due to its many attributes, which could transform it into a tourism outlet for Iraqis coming from all…

Taiwan is expecting a significant number of tourists for its Moon Festival. Authorities are busy preparing facilities for tourists arriving for the festival, especially visitors from the mainland. It is expected that more than 200,000 mainland tourists will visit Taiwan during the festival period. The festival, which is to be held in the middle of autumn, has already received plenty of prior attention from tourists who have been booking their tickets for the event in advance. Travel agencies have reported an increase in bookings for the festival, with a growing number of people eager to take part in the festivities,…