Author: Lee Fletcher
In the aftermath of the 2012 Olympic Games, hotel prices in London are on a downward slide, according to Trivago, a hotel price comparison website. Average room rates for London hotels are expected to drop by 35 percent now that the Olympic games have finished, from an average of GBP201 per night between July 27 and August 12, 2012, to an average of just GBP130 during the following week, which is even lower than the same period last year. Meanwhile, hotel prices in Edinburgh are set to remain high, due to the ongoing Edinburgh Fringe Festival, with rooms averaging GBP177…
Chiltern Railways, a UK-based train company operating on the London Marylebone to Birmingham Snow Hill route, will be developing a new multi-storey car park at Banbury, UK. The new car park to be constructed to serve Banbury station, will be providing around 707 additional parking spaces, and will be operated by Chiltern Railways. The new car park is to open in November 2013, to cater not only for current rail passengers from the area, but also for an expected increase in passenger traffic over the next few years. Graham Cross, the business development director at Chiltern Railways, said, ‘As the…
British Airways, the UK based airline company, is offering a new service to Sri Lanka, from London Gatwick Airport in the UK. The new service will be offering flights three times per week from March 31, 2012, to Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital city. The airline will be operating the service with a Boeing 777 aircraft that offers three grades of cabin, including Club World class, which will feature fully flat beds. Silla Maizey, the airline managing director for London Gatwick Airport, said, ‘This is such an exciting new route for us. The UK has the second largest number of tourists…
Living abroad is more satisfying, if you can identify with both cultures, according to new research from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, in the US. The recent study suggests that those working overseas are likely to remain happy, both professionally and emotionally, if they can embrace their host country’s culture along with their own. The study, carried out by Carmit Tadmor of Tel Aviv University, Adam Galinsky of the Kellogg School, and William Maddux of INSEAD, states, ‘The ability to simultaneously identify with both one’s host and home cultures and the resulting capacity for complex thinking may…
British travellers are losing out on monetary transactions when holidaying abroad, due to poor skills in converting currency, according to new research. Around 15 percent of British holidaymakers are not confident in their currency conversion skills while holidaying abroad, according to the survey of 2,000 British adults, conducted by YouGov, a UK based organisation that canvasses public opinion. The shortcoming is even worse for women, as 20 percent of those surveyed admitted to not having confidence in their maths for currency conversion. Around 40 percent of British travellers, or 20 million adults, opt to pay for goods in British pounds,…
Finland is making attempts to promote its wildlife to attract tourists. The country is looking to enhance its wildlife tourism, even though it is a comparitively new entrant into the field. The nation benefits from exciting and magnificent wildlife, especially its bears, and tourism planners are confident that their efforts to sell Finland as a bear country will pay rich returns. Global tourism statistics show that wildlife tourism is growing at the rate of 10 percent a year. Even though wildlife tourism has generally been a preserve of professional photographers and dedicated animal lovers, more people are becoming interested in…
The wreck of the Costa Concordia cruise liner, which lies off the Tuscan island of Giglio, has been attracting tourists eager to see the once-magnificent ocean liner lying on its side, more than half submerged beneath the sea. The cruise ship attracted much attention from the media when it ran aground after hitting rocks. The ship carrying 4,000 people could not recover from the collision and capsized on January 13 this year. The catastrophe claimed 32 lives, and some bodies have not yet been recovered. The ship is still lying on its side and has now become a favourite spot…
London Heathrow Airport has reported a fall in its July 2012 passenger traffic, despite the 2012 Olympic Games opening during the month. The airport has reported that the fall in passenger traffic is due to ‘UK passengers staying at home, as well as non-Olympic visitors from overseas choosing to defer their journeys’, a situation that was not compensated for by the arrival of Olympic athletes, officials and international visitors to London for the sporting event. BAA Ltd, owner and operator of six British airports including London Heathrow, has announced that the airport, which has been the official airport for the…
Taking holidays is seemingly becoming an afterthought with a growing number of British people, as they cram in as much as an extra week of unpaid work each year. Travelodge, a UK based hotel company, has reported that one in ten British citizens are putting an extra week of unpaid labour into their work schedules, and with approximately one third of the British population working around 16 hours per week overtime, holidays are almost becoming a thing of past. With the European economic downturn impacting on a volatile job market, the average worker in the UK is putting in 9.1…
A recent increase in the number of holidaymakers falling from hotel balconies has resulted in the launch of a safety campaign. Risks taken by holidaymakers on hotel balconies, especially those holidaymakers in the younger age group, have led to three individuals falling to their deaths during this holiday season, and ten others suffering serious injuries. These accidents have prompted The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to team up with travel association, ABTA, to publicise a health and safety message in an attempt to curb irresponsible behaviour. Leaflets are to be handed to young people travelling out to resorts, pointing out…