Travel Weekly Blog

We're seeing out 2006 with a look back at Travel Weekly's covers since the November redesign. How have we done? We'd love to know which is your favourite - let us know in the comments.

All the best for 2007 from all of us at TW Towers. See you in the new year...

Picture the scene: you're strolling down the Champs-Elysees when you spot a familiar face. Your heart skips a beat; you tremble violently; and as the pavement rushes up to greet you, a single thought fills your mind: yes, that's him!

That's the waiter who laughed at me for mispronouncing croque-monsieur yesterday lunchtime.

This scenario, or something similar to it, leads to the repatriation of 12 Japanese visitors to Paris every year, according to reports on the BBC.

Like many cities, Paris has been romanticised in popular culture, and coming face to face with its brusque reality can apparently come as a severe culture shock to the famously polite Japanese. In a minority of cases, it leads to a breakdown dubbed 'Paris syndrome'.

Whether the breakdown is expressed through dance, like Gene Kelly's at the end of An American in Paris, is unclear, but it goes to show how distressing culture shock can be, and how exposure to false representations of a place and its people can exacerbate it.

I'm sure readers have some stories to share on the subject - let us know in the comments.

Nathan Midgley, Travelweekly.co.uk

Air Canada execs must have been very reassured to have won the best business class to Canada category in the Business Traveller awards.

A bit like Zara Phillips being named Sports Personality of the Year by the BBC, this is one of those awards that's notable simply for the absence of any real competition. Do any of the other airlines serving Canada actually have a business class? With the exception of BA, I'd struggle to name any.

What's next? Best airline to Canada with a predominantly red and green livery? Best airline to the US with the oldest flight crew? (Sorry, that's every US carrier.)

Matthew Hampton, features editor

It’s Christmas time and there is no need to be afraid . . . or so the song goes. But there is a reason to be afraid. You might get one of these baubles sent to you from lastminute.com. We thought we would hang these pink lovelies on our battery operated Christmas tree.

As Christmas pressies to the office go, this one has proved to be the least tasty – the more edible gifts that have arrived in the office have been much more appreciated.

So, what gifts has your office received? Good, bad, pink or tasty – just name and shame.

Martin Couzins, acting editor

Diane Coleman of Tickets Travel, one of our industry bloggers, writes:

Well I don't know about you but December isn't exactly time for most agents and operators to be rushed off their feet is it?

You would imagine most operators would be happy to quote on good bookings (or any bookings for that matter!) – but apparently not!

As an independent agent we like to put our business with specialist operators where we can and hope to receive as good a service as we'd like to think we give our clients – one where we can get through to on the phone, one that values the business and comes back to us when promised etc etc.

Imagine my surprise when I received quite the opposite from two very well respected companies that shall remain nameless.

No. 1 was for a quote for two families to SFO [San Francisco] and Las Vegas – approx £10,000. One North America specialist, which is usually on the button, didn't reply to our email, so we phoned them; a quote was emailed, we were told.

We hadn't received it and we were asked to check. We are a small agency with two computers and not many more staff, we were sure we hadn't, but we checked.

We hadn't received it, so we were told it would be faxed!

It didn't arrive. We chased again. Your fax isn't working, we were told – but we'd just received another fax and we'd just sent one!

We asked why it couldn't be emailed again. Apparently the lady that had completed the quote had a clear out and mistakenly erased it! It did come eventually with another ramble about how it had been sent the week before and how we ought to get our fax fixed, etc [makes you wonder if they need the business!!].

No.2 was for a quote to Chile. I'm afraid to say that 20 years in the business still hasn't given me much experience of South America. The clients may as well have been talking to me in Spanish when they gave me the details!

So I approached a company I'd like to do more business with – a specialist with a director with a very apt name for this season (it wasn't him I spoke to).

I'll be honest with you, he said: “You won’t get anything for Jan or Feb – its peak season.” I'll try for November – but the clients will go any time Jan or Feb, they don't want November.

“You need to book nine months in advance at least for Chile – it'll come back full,” he said.

I was getting nowhere. In the end, I said: “So you don't want to try and see then?"

No, he said, “I'm just being honest”. Shame really as Travel 2 managed to come up with something for £7,300 – admittedly it was difficult to get the seats but we got there in the end.

I don't know about you but I cant afford to turn away business for that sort of money and even if I could I wouldn't – I want to keep my reputation as I've spent a long time building it!

Oh and by the way: Feliz navidad.

I'm beginning to get my head round the Spanish after all!

Diane Coleman, Tickets Travel

With Christmas just 11 days away I’m sure most men, like me, are just beginning to think about buying some Christmas presents.

While I can’t advise you on how to put a huge smile on your nearest and dearest’s face, I thought I would share a list of books which I have read and would be more than suitable for anyone with an appetite for travel.

Magic Bus: On the Hippie Trail from Istanbul to India by Rory MacLean is fresh off the presses and is a brilliant travelogue by Mclean covering his experiences in 2003 as he took advantage of the defeat of the Taleban in Afghanistan which allowed him to undertake the trip immortalised in the 60s.

Not only does the book offer an insight into original hippy counter culture but also is a fascinating report on how the countries involved have fared since and now dealing with being in the eye of the War on Terror and global affairs. The kind of book I wish I’d written.

Eric Newby sadly died earlier this year but his accounts of derring do will live on for eternity. Written during the 50s, two of the former SBS’s books typify the kind of English happy amateurism and optimistic lunacy that is sadly missing in today’s life.

The Last Grain Race will appeal to anyone with a hankering for the sea while A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush is a must for fans of the mountains.

Mountaineers will also adore Heinrich Harrer’s Seven Years in Tibet which describes the German’s escape from English internment in India at the start of the Second World War, his astonishing trek across the Himalayas and ensuing time spent as the young Dalai Lama’s tutor.

While we’re on the subcontinent, parents with kids planning to visit India should go out and buy Are You Experienced? by William Sutcliffe immediately. Without a doubt the funniest travel book I have ever read, the chapter dealing with a bad bout of Delhi Belly is worth the cover price alone.

Teenagers will also enjoy Alex Garland’s The Beach, although some travel agents might be offended by the core message of direct-sell.

A more off-beat and stranger account of travel in India can be found in Tahir Shah’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice as Shah visits his ancestral homeland to discover the secrets of the tricks and illusions of the country’s many fakirs, charlatans and other wandering souls.

Be warned though, this book is rarer than a Thomson double-figure commission pay out and you’ll probably only get it in time for Christmas 2007.

William Dalrymple’s The Age of Kali and Saul David’s The Indian Mutiny: 1857 offer excellent insights into the formation and state of India today.

Two last books which deserve a mention are John Burdett’s Bangkok 8 and Bangkok Tattoo. The first two instalments of what look to be a very promising series tell of the trials and tribulations of murder cop Detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep.

However, he’s a man with a difference as he is a formidably advanced Buddhist who uses his special powers, an ability to read people’s past lives and the power to communicate with his dead and equally skilled friend, to solve utterly intriguing crimes. Buy it, read it then book your flight to Bangkok.

Ed Robertson, reporter

Confession number one: I am a bike bore. I could talk for England about and chainsets, lug nuts and bottom brackets.

The bike is the most perfect invention. Its design is fundamentally the same after hundred years – a heroic combination of ergonomics and physics, man and machine.

Confession number two: I hate fold up bikes. Taking a beautiful machine and chopping it in two is just wrong.

“But you can take them on the bus!” say the folders. But if you can’t go faster than a bus over a short distance, something’s amiss.

I was wary, then, when I took the A-Bike out of its box. Invented by Sir Clive Sinclair (forgive me if this doesn’t inspire confidence), this is the uber-fold up.

Unlike a Brompton – which is designed to emulate a full-size bike for the commute – the-A Bike looks no more than a micro scooter with pedals. Designed for short hops, it folds up scarcely larger than a backpack. Indeed, it comes with its own backpack.

Once you get over the fact that the wheels are no larger than a shopping trolley’s, it rides surprisingly well. In fact, my test spin around the TW office turned into a longer excursion around the car park.

It is, admittedly, a little bit wobbly at first. And I wouldn’t want to take it around the Elephant and Castle roundabout – I don’t know which would be more scary, the traffic or the laughter – but for a short-distance commute, this might be the answer.

It unfolds in about 10 seconds, and at £199.99, it’s about £300 cheaper than the cheapest Brompton. The perfect invention? That’s pushing it. But it is a lot of fun.

Matt Hampton, features editor

Julia Feuell from New Frontiers writes:

Today I was interviewed, along with ex-Travel 2 operations director, Kelly Golds, by the BBC regarding the industry job losses expected to be announced soon.

The interview will be televised on BBC One, including Breakfast TV, as well as News 24 and World.

Nigel Cassidy asked me questions about why I thought Thomson may be making the cuts and whether travel industry jobs may be in decline. I felt the weight of the travel industry in answering these questions, but tried to answer as honestly as possible.

The honest answer is I don’t know why Thomson is making the redundancies.

Here is a little warning to those operators out there attempting to boost the bottom line through one particular method.

At the Travel Trust Association’s annual conference yesterday at the Hilton Metropole Hotel in London, I sat with a group of independent travel agents for lunch.

We discussed the usual issues affecting their particular corner of the industry: agent commissions, commoditisation of products, a perceived need that they need to specialise in order to survive, etc.

But imagine my surprise as the conversation became very heated, not because of the mess that is bonding or their almost universal dislike of ABTA, but how some operators have chosen to switch their contact number to that of the 0870 variety.

It appears they feel some companies are “creaming it”, in the words of one agent, because the per-minute rate is now substantially higher than previously and the waiting time for account handlers to come on the line has also suddenly increased.

The solution, according to one of the other agents around the table, is simple: “I don’t use the operator anymore.”

Ouch…

Kevin May, editor, Travolution

There's a piece in this week's Personnel Today (December 12 2006) urging employers to look out for signs of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) in their workforce.

The Seasonal Affective Disorder Association (SADA) defines SAD as a type of winter depression that affects an estimated half a million people every winter between September and April; in particular during December, January and February.

Symptoms of SAD include lethargy, a craving for sweet foods and a desire to avoid social contact. Sound familiar?

As someone whose mood sinks as the days shorten, the British winter finds me wrestling an almost primal need to hibernate (with cake) until spring. And I'm not alone.

Most people find themselves a touch gloomier at this time of year. Not only do we have to contend with the lack of sunshine, but there’s also the little matter of Christmas; there are presents to find, food to buy, recipes to make, nativities to attend, parties to organise, cards to write, post office queues an hour long, not to mention workloads, families, crowds, friends.

So with the shortest day of the year (December 22) little more than a week away, I reckon it’s high time we replaced dreams of a white Christmas with dreams of a hot holiday. Imagine a sandy beach; the distant sound of waves gently breaking on the shore as the sun thaws your winter-chilled bones. Long, light summer evenings sipping chilled white wine with the scent of honeysuckle in the air.

No coats. No crowds. No queues. No sprouts.

Here in the UK perhaps? Or somewhere overseas? Where would you recommend?

Nicki Rose, web content editor

Brian Hordon, from Silversea Cruises and one of our regular industry bloggers, writes:

WTM is a remarkable GLOBAL event, and although I know that there are often negative comments within the UK with regard to the cost (travel, hotel, etc), this expense does not seem to deter many agents who travel from all corners of the world on a "one stop" shopping and learning exersise.

I remember a well know travel personality who left the tour operating world and moved into retail; he would attend the last day at WTM with his 4 x 4 and trailer, "helping" our global tourism partners by taking unused quantities of destination material for use in his high street agency.

Actual specifc destination material is often in short supply within the retail arena, and access to these country, resort, hotel brochures can be of real benefit, and can be distributed by agents AFTER the customer has paid the deposit and the booking is confirmed! No free distribution outlet here!

This entire scenario ia actually a communication feature which can be "loaded" into your newsletter, e-mail blast or blog, targeted at YOUR special customer data base.

I would love to hear what other creative activities have been developed by other agents within the trade show arena.

More World Travel Market. Wherever you looked, whatever you read, from the various platforms hosted by the travel and technology experts within our business, the words appeared with remarkable frequency: dynamic packaging, cruising, specialist holidays, long-haul holidays.

This MUST be sweet music to the creative travel agent who has taken a lot of "hit's" during recent years. Is the tide turning I ask?

Brian Hordon, director of training development, Silversea Cruises

Gosh, we are media luvvies here this week. Just a day after reporter Paul Nelson appeared on ITV Wales, Travel Weekly found itself gracing the pages of the Metro newspaper this morning.

A story we featured in last week's edition, about a supposed sickness bug that knocked ABTA delegates off their feet at the recent convention in Marbella, was picked up by Metro and turned into a nice page lead.

"Trade journal Travel Weekly" was quoted at the bottom of the article.

"The ABTA convention is establishing itself for tummy upsets. With next year's event lined up for Tenerife, can we suggest steering clear of the seafood!"

What a funny bunch we are - ahem.

However, we suspect we got a fair share of the paper's female readers, having ex-tennis star/sex-symbol Bjorn Borg - in a shocking jumper, it must be said - pictured alongside [no relation to the story!].

Here I am being interviewed for ITV Wales current affairs programme Wales This Week for a feature which includes the failure of ABTA travel agency Mossley Travel.

The show is examining the business dealings of one of Mossley Travel’s former owners and includes details of the agency finances and 2003 failure.

I was asked to appear to clarify the role ABTA plays when one of its agency members ceases trading.

The show aired last night [Monday 11th December] at 8pm.

Paul Nelson, reporter

Ever since Hugh Grant’s hapless character in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral stood up Duckface at the altar, weddings have had a bit of a naff image.

Read through the celebrity and wedding magazines and it seems there’s only one way to tie the knot – bold and brash, like Jordan and Peter or Cheryl and Ashley.

Nowhere suffers more from the naff wedding image than all-inclusive hotels in the Caribbean. Seen by some as the epitome of tackiness, the worst images are of a conveyor belt of hot and sweaty brides in meringues and grooms in morning suits stood by the pool and surrounded by beetroot-red sunbathing Brits.

It was on a recent weddings and honeymoons educational trip to Antigua that I was given the chance to see real-life Caribbean all-inclusive weddings, and I couldn’t help wondering if they would be for better or worse.

The weddings were held at Jolly Beach Resort, a three star hotel on a fabulous stretch of beach. On the day I was at the hotel there were three events happening, one wedding and two renewal of vows.

The first event I saw was the wedding. I felt sorry from the nerve-wracked couple, it had been postponed from 2pm to 4pm because of rain. The couple had about 40 guests and were getting married in a gazebo overlooking the pool. Jolly Beach is a big resort, so although capacity was quite high, there weren’t too many people about. The guests all walked through the gardens into the floral-decorated gazebo - there is no entrance from the beach or pool, so they were kept separate from sunbathers.

All in, a steel band started playing. Then came the bride in a long champagne coloured satin gown. The bridal procession shimmied up the path to the gazebo in time to the music and a short ceremony took place. Rather than fit in with the resort, the chatter from other guests fell to a lull, while everyone cricked their neck to get a look.

A bell rang out from the gazebo to let everyone know the couple had married, applause broke out and the party went off for a champagne reception in a private room in one of the restaurants.

The reception venue looked like any you might find over here – flowers everywhere, white table cloths and white chair covers with big bows on the back of the chairs. There was no sign of the next renewal of vows as it was a small party, with the ceremony taking place after the wedding in a different gazebo at the other end of the beach.

The wedding couple were certainly happy with their big day, and I was impressed too. The Jolly Beach wedding felt special, yet down to earth, and the character of the couple really came through. It was a tasteful, intimate ceremony, where the focus was on enjoying the Caribbean for what it is – beautiful weather and beautiful beaches, sunsets, flora and fauna.

OK, so a resort doesn’t have the gravitas of a huge cathedral or stately home, but it also doesn’t have the stuffiness. When you get married abroad you sign up for a different type of wedding. Over here people can try to make their weddings so posh in an attempt not to be naff that they bear no relation to the couple who are actually getting married. There was none of that nonsense at Jolly Beach – just simple enjoyment of a special event.

Emily Ashwell - deputy features editor

With the exception of the public sector's dot-edu and dot-gov, industry-specific top-level-domains have never been conspicuously successful.

Like dot-travel, about which Paul Nelson wrote in Travel Weekly 1 December, dot-info and dot-biz – the two most prominent TLDs launched in recent years – both saw few of the domains registered within them activated.

Several years on, neither of them has achieved a fraction of the public recognition that dot-com has.

Part of the problem with info and biz is that they don’t do what they claim to. Though intended to indicate legitimate businesses and informative websites respectively, their use is completely unregulated.

Dot-travel doesn't have that problem – it is genuinely restricted to travel and tourism – but it will have difficulty shaking the perception that industry TLDs are meaningless at best.

On top of that, I’d argue that using all six letters of ‘travel’ instead of an abbreviation (dot-trl and dot-tvl are both available) breaks one of the Web’s unwritten naming conventions. It risks looking a little awkward and dated, which will not endear it to big new media brands like Lastminute.com.

Are these problems insurmountable? No, because dot-travel is offering peace of mind to anxious online shoppers – a compelling offering for consumers making high-risk purchases such as holidays. It is also slowly but surely winning over tourist boards and destination marketers, particularly in the US and China.

To make sure retailers follow, Tralliance, the company that operates dot-travel, must win round consumers. The domain needs to be marketed convincingly to the public, with explicit backing from the 'independent third parties and industry associations' that participate in its screening process. If that works, there is a chance the trade - and maybe even Lastminute - will follow.

Nathan Midgley, Travelweekly.co.uk

It’s funny how irritating situations can throw people together.

It was during an unwelcome fire alarm drill at Travel Weekly Towers recently that I bumped into Stephen Rhodes, Travel 2/4’s new commercial director and an absolutely vital contact for me for the Asia and Australia features.

I borrowed a colleague's mobile phone to record the momentous event.

He was visiting news reporter Kelly Ranson for a new brochure release when the dreaded alarm went off (leaving him umbrella-less in the rainy car park of Reed Business Information).

Not the most exciting place for a first meeting, but an ideal chance to learn about the brochures and a reminder that for every false alarm, there’s a real opportunity. [Shocking pun - Ed]

Jo Gardner, reporter

The launch of a film usually brings with it a load of excitement for travel and tourism authorities. Cumbria Tourism, for example, is gearing up for the general release of Miss Potter, which had its world premiere in London last night. The film of Beatrix Potter’s life focuses on the Lake District, where she lived. Added to this, Peter Rabbit is taught in Japanese schools so the area can be sure of some healthy Japanese interest.

For Brazil, the release of Turistas has been more problematic. The film follows the adventures of some unfortunate backpackers who end up being drugged by a gang of organ traffickers whilst on holiday. The tourist authorities are so concerned about the damage to their country’s image that they have employed a PR agency to limit the damage. Check out the trailer on Myspace.

There must be some other great examples of good and bad destination PR thanks to the silver screen. Has anyone got any examples?

Martin Couzins, acting editor

UPDATE: An email arrives from Tom at TheBigCruise:

Just wanted to thank you for your write-up about us in the blog - it's a really nice piece and such a relief that you've "got it"; you can't begin to imagine the problems we've had with journalists who don't.

As you know we're keen to break down the preconceptions and it's pieces like that that really help us; if there's anything we can do to help just let me know?

Political Correctness, that scourge of modern life, is not only hated by the Daily Mail and its hordes of readers but by the very people it is supposed to ‘protect’ if the marketing material for the UK’s first gay cruise is anything to go by.

Last week I received an email from theBIGcruise entitled: “Seamen Wanted!”. Having made further inquiries (in my capacity as cruise reporter I hasten to add), I was sent an email that started with the greeting “Hello Sailor” and a newsletter extolling the virtues of the three-day jaunt from Dover next May on the Norwegian Cruise Line ship.

On the face of it this cheeky piece of marketing is enough to get the PC Thought Police frothing at the mouth and, if it was the work of a non-gay organisation, there would be calls for a public flogging.

But thankfully the great British sense of fun and determination not to take oneself too seriously is actually helping to break down prejudices far more effectively than any worthy nonsense the PC brigade dream up.

Tom, from theBIGcruise, told me: “We’re very proud of the fact that theBIGcruise smashes stereotypes and preconceptions; both of the ‘gay market’ and the traditional cruise travel guest.

“Right now our typical guest is 33 (20 years younger than the British cruising average) and works in the ‘professions’ (lawyer, accountant, senior management) as opposed to the preconception of hairdressers or OAP’s.”

Watch the ad here

Lee Hayhurst, deputy news editor