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A few nice travel things from the latest Springwise newsletter...
The free rides one is particularly interesting - Chris 'Long Tail' Anderson's latest big idea is that 'free is the future of business'.
TW editor-in-chief Penny Wilson sent over this comment on Antigua's response to the murder of Catherine Mullany...
"Resorts and hotels in Antigua clammed up when Travel Weekly reporters asked them what their security arrangements were, following the shooting of a British honeymoon couple there this week.
I don't blame them, really. No doubt hospitality chiefs thought we were trying to pin the blame on them. Not true.
But I think what would really calm holidaymakers in Antigua right now is large and visible security presence surrounding them.
People feel reassured by a show of strength, even if they know a determined gangster will break through it if they really want to.
Witness airports such as Heathrow, for example, where visible security has increased tenfold and more since 9/11."
Okay, not really. This is a toy TW Blog's office neighbour - Celebs on Holiday author Nicki Rose - found at home.
Remember, your retro travel stuff could be bringing colour to the blogosphere. Pics to twblog@rbi.co.uk.
A 2,500 year old Greek ship - the largest and best-preserved of its kind - was raised off the coast of Gela, Sicily today. Here's a look at where it fits on the tourism map.
Gela itself is an oil refinery centre with little to attract tourists, but there's plenty in the wider region, notably Agrigento's celebrated Greek temples, about 40 miles west. (NB: Gela's the red pin).
There's a lively debate on Travel Rants about ABTA's Travel Convention taking place overseas (it is common for ABTA, ITT and AITO to hold conferences abroad).
I've pointed out that all registrations include a carbon offset premium, and Kevin at Travolution has commented that,
In my opinion, conferences are often hosted overseas to 1) get the delegate numbers 2) introduce travel companies to new products/regions 3) provide a positive environment for business to get done.
In addition to that, decamping to the UK for environmental reasons would be read as a tacit admission that flying is wrong.
Travel bodies won't want to be seen to think that - not least because they don't think it.
Some other issues that have come up:
Take a look, and/or let us know what you think below.
There were several major incidents abroad over the weekend, including bombs in Istanbul and India and forest fires on Rhodes.
Not all of these affected tourists, but they will fuel the debate over how operators communicate with holidaymakers who are caught up in, or are staying close to, incidents abroad.
The penetration of mobile devices makes SMS messaging an obvious solution (see our recent feature on new mobile services for travel companies) and technology providers like Travel Buddy are helping operators to send information direct to holidaymakers in resort.
With terrorism still high on the agenda and extreme weather events apparently on the rise, you can imagine SMS updates from operators becoming commonplace in the coming years. Is it something TW Blog readers want to see - and would you pay a premium for it?
Update - July 28, 11.15am: the FCO's Turkey page has been updated with details of yesterday's attacks, but says 'the overall level of [travel] advice has not changed'.
I'm just following the horrific bomb attacks in Istanbul this evening.
Turkey's government seems certain that it was a terrorist attack. The target was residential area Gungoren, which is well away from any tourists areas, so it seems likely this is the work of the PKK rather than any anti-Western group.
The FCO warns of a 'high threat from terrorism' in Turkey - but then London has a high risk from terrorism too, and the advice goes on to emphasise that travelling to Turkey is safe:
Around 1,920,000 British tourists visited Turkey in 2007. Most visits are trouble-free. The main types of incident for which British nationals required consular assistance in Turkey in 2007 were for replacing lost or stolen passports (over 340 cases)
The exception is the Mount Ararat area, which the FCO advises against non-essential travel to following the kidnap of three German nationals (now released) earlier this month.
We're are always writing about destinations in the travel blogosphere, and rightly so. But what would a tourist map of your own area look like?
Travel Weekly lives where London blurs into Surrey, so we have city attractions to the north and stately homes, parks and such to the south (and the same in Kent, off to the east).
I've picked out a few of the sights and attractions near TW Towers on a map (we're the red pin)...
It'd be great to see some other travel bloggers pick this up - so tagging Darren at Travel Rants, Kevin at Travolution, Guillaime at Hotel Blogs and the guys at Tracking Tourism.
The 10 Downing Street website has published a response to the petition asking for a new bank holiday to "to commemorate The Fallen and our Nation".
It's nine paragraphs long, but only one matters:
These proposals are being given careful consideration by the Government, alongside other representations we have received to institute a new 'British Day', and as part of these deliberations, we will of course examine the case for introducing a new public holiday.
Move along, folks. Nothing to see here.
With all the news of a resurgent UK holiday market, TW thought it time to look up some vintage UK holiday footage. Here we have a short film capturing 1950s Blackpool.
It was made by British Transport Films.
Check out the rides . . .
Martin Couzins, managing editor
Regarding today's passport strike, here are important bits about what's closed, what's open and who to contact.
More on the Identity and Passport Service site.
It isn't up to the trade to keep your passport up to date, of course, but part of me thinks travel trade bodies could benefit from throwing up some simple information in situations like this.
It's going to inspire 'passport strike advice' searches from concerned travellers - why not be the guy that search brings them to, and give them some brand-boosting useful information?
Is it me or does this picture of the new A380 statue at Heathrow make the aircraft look like it has had a very bad landing?
Martin Couzins, managing editor
Today marks the 50th anniversay of the death of Burton Holmes, who was using self-produced travel films in his popular lectures by the late 1890s, and invented the term 'travelogue'.
Holmes introduced film clips into his lecture series as early as 1897. He visited hovels and hotels all over the globe, traveled to every continent, to every country he could find (except Afghanistan); six times around the world, beginning at a time when airplanes had not yet been invented.
He went on to considerable success, and has his own star on Hollywood Boulevard. Here's a list of Holmes's proper films on IMDB, and a 1920s clip from Japan, courtesy of the Travel Film Archive's YouTube channel:
(Via the Metafilter travel tag page.)
I post this out of sheer curiosity: I've just upgraded my mobile phone to something with GPS and advanced media capabilities in the hope it'll be a good travel blogger's gadget.
Since you ask, yes it is the size of a modest fridge.
It will, if nothing else, help me get more out of location-based networks such as Brightkite (which you'll find me on as 'nath' - I have a limited number of invites, email me if interested).
Is anyone using a similar device, and has it been a help? If not, what gadgets do you find most useful when travelling and/or blogging?
The resorts of Laredo and Noja, in Spain's Cantabria region, are on the news agenda after ETA bombs exploded on beaches and golf courses - thankfully causing no serious injuries.
Here's where the towns lie in relation to Bilbao and Cantabria capital Santander (distances given as-the-crow-flies):
Broadly, they're family-friendly coastal resorts that offer something less hectic than the east coast, with lower temperatures. The big beaches are Noja's Ris and Laredo's La Salve.
The map includes the towns and some of the attractions that draw tourists to the wider region:
Laredo is also famous for Batalla de Flores (Spanish language site), a festival which sees flower-covered floats fill the streets on the last Friday in August.
Tripadvisor forum member Wellerman says of the area arund Noja:
Admittedly the weather is not as reliable as the south or the islands but if you want somewhere with fantastic beaches, and wonderful scenery away from the boring over populated costas then it's a great place... You would probably be best to hire a car as there are some brilliant places within driving distance
A while ago I wrote about the 'lipstick effect', the theory that rising sales of small luxury items are an indicator of trouble in the economy.
This week the Sunday Times ran an arts feature on the subject, pegging it on the launch of Mamma Mia - apparently ABBA's music is one little luxury that has always sold well in times of hardship (though not in my house).
Here are the travel-related stats and conclusions the ST pulls out:
The Travelodge point is interesting, but only half the story - we report today that the chain is to build 55 hotels in seaside locations such as Blackpool, Newquay and Bournemouth.
This suggests that Travelodge expects to see more leisure customers as well as business customers.
It also shows the brand investing in locations that are synonymous with the cheap'n'cheerful British holidays of old.
On the subject of indicators, see also the 'hemline indicator', which states that hemlines go down - as they are now doing - when the economy worsens.
To this we could perhaps add the 'indicator indicator', which states that the worse the economy gets, the more journalists will cast around for forgotten indicators to peg stories on...
The New York Times reports that Los Angeles hotelier Doug Manchester is facing calls for a boycott of his properties after he donated $125,000 to an anti-gay marriage campaign.
As far as issues go, it's a non-story - Manchester can support whatever legal cause he wishes, and his opponents can boycott whatever they wish.
But it does highlight the potential buying (and perhaps more importantly, blocking) power of niche groups, in which the consumer's use of tight-knit community and advice sites means word can spread quickly.
I'd be interested to know if readers boycott a brand - travel or otherwise - for any reason?
Not every travel nightmare ends in disaster. This week our agent columnist Maureen Hill writes about a client who had their belongings stolen in Venice, Italy...
A pickpocket made off with the couple's tickets, passports and English money ... The embassy agreed to stay open after their usual closing time of 12pm to issue our clients with emergency 24-hour passports ... Kirker did its bit and reissued tickets, while the Londra Palace supplied €200 to help our clients enjoy their last day (when they promised to reimburse the hotel they wouldn't hear of it).
That's right - the hotel gave them money.
The four-star hotel is situated (as the crow flies):
Here's the map:
Hotel Londra Palace gets an average 4.5 for service on Tripadvisor. Here are a few relevant comments:
The concierge was brilliant, advising us where to go, phoning restaurants to make bookings and having our keys ready when we returned without us having to say the room number [by Fivehoppers]
On our departure to the airport I managed to forget my shoes in the lobby ... staff actually called our water taxi to ask us where we would like them posted! They also made some very good recommendations on places to eat [by LondonCm1]
What really stood out for me was that, in a city where unsmiling rudeness is an art form, most of the staff were friendly and charming, and keen to do whatever they could to make our stay as pleasant as possible [by AreAnyNamesNotTaken]
Is US price comparison site Cheapflights.com doing what folks have long speculated metasearch sites would do, and making a big commitment to content? Specifically, community user-generated content?
Well, in as far as that it has set up its Flights and Travel Forum at all, yes.
But the news that it is using Ning hints at toes being dipped in the water (not that this is a criticism, since the usefulness of social networking in a metasearch context is unproven).
Ning's core network-building service is free. It then offers premium services for a monthly fee. By the looks of it Cheapflights.com has bought:
It seems to have left the custom URL option - $4.95pcm, plus the yearly cost of hiring a domain - on the shelf, sticking with the ungainly cheapflights.ning.com.
Based on that, we can speculate that the service itself is costing Cheapflights.com $334.80 a year.
Presumably there will have been a one-off design cost, plus ongoing resource costs associated with site monitoring, and we can't speculate about those; but my impression is that Cheapflights.com sees in Ning a low-cost way to try out UGC.
A few questions strike me:
Every year, groups of New Yorkers take to the streets to capture the sunset aligning perfectly with the east-west lines on the city's grid.
This year Manhattanhenge hit on May 29/30 and again on July 11/12 - I've dug up some embeddable photos from flickr.
by JSchumacher
by effingboring
by marf2010
The American Museum of Natural History explains:
Had Manhattan's grid been perfectly aligned with the geographic north-south line, then the days of Manhattanhenge would be the spring and autumn equinoxes. But its street grid is rotated 30 degrees east from geographic north, shifting the days of alignment elsewhere.
Any city crossed by a rectangular grid can identify days where the setting sun aligns with their streets. But beyond the grid you need a clear view to the horizon, as we have over New Jersey. So Manhattanhenge may just be a unique urban phenomenon.
Update: there's a Wikipedia page about Stonehenge replicas and derivatives around the world. Hat-tip to Triphow.
When business traveller Dubai resident Michelle Palmer isn't catapaulting Jumeirah Beach Park into the news by having sex on it, what can holidaymakers expect from it?
Opened in 1989, it's a 12-hectare area of park with a (usually) family-friendly beach attached.
You'll find it:
According to Virtual Tourist user Escadora7:
Somewhat outside the buzzing city-streets, Jumeirah seems to be moving at a slower pace. People are sunbathing, barbequing, or playing Volleyball and other beach-games; a little food-shack sells soft-drinks and snacks (hot-dogs, keebabs, etc.)
And that's seconded by Tripadvisor user shax:
My wife enjoyed our visit to the beach. it was not 'untidy and dirty' like some told us but very enjoyable. You are not disturbed in any way and can really get on with your holiday. There are open showers for those who wish to wash of and places to eat very nearby,
According to Dubai City guide you can expect to pay 5 dhs for access to the beach, and 20 dhs for parking.
Ladies' day is Saturday, but don't expect to see Palmer sunning herself there - she faces a jail sentence of between three months and six years...
Overheard: one side of a telephone conversation taking place on the news desk.
"We actually write for travel agents, so that isn't really the sort of thing we cover."
[Pause]
"Well... what kind of footwear are we talking about?"
The US National Hurricane Center's latest report has Hurricane Bertha about 350 miles off Bermuda.
Image: NASA Earth Observatory
Bermuda should see the worst of the storm on Saturday and Sunday - predictions say it will be closest in the early hours of Sunday morning, passing 153 nautical miles east-south-east of the island.
This doesn't mean Bermuda is safe - it is already being affected by 'large swells and high surf'. FCO advice is to 'monitor Bertha's progress closely and listen to advice from the local authorities'. Check weather.bm for updates.
Bertha is a category one hurricane, so it doesn't have the ferocity of Dean or Felix last season. But it has broken a record of its own: according to NASA's Earth Observatory, "no hurricane has ever formed so far east before August 1."
Rollercoaster fans: here's a preview of Manta, a ray-themed ride in development at SeaWorld Orlando...
Here are the details:
TW Blog was wiped out by the relatively tame Crush's Coaster in Disneyland Paris, so I went to Neil Buckley, our in-house adrenaline junkie up in sales, for a comment.
This looks awesome. Standing in the queue would be cool as you're looking at the rays thinking, in a minute I'm going to be riding on the back of a 12ft mechanical one.
Four loops is not a lot, but the bonus is the speeds that you are going at, and the fact that your car skims the water giving you a sense of gliding along the surface.
The only other coaster I've been on where you sit like this is Air at Alton Towers, which is my favourite - but with the added bonus of getting wet, or almost getting wet, people are gonna love that. Bring it on!
(And I've had to cut some, er, colourful expressions of enthusiasm out of that.)
If you're not of Neil's persuasion, you'll be able to look round the aquarium without going on the ride, which is a nice touch. It's due to open in summer 2009.
Dubai is a fun and exciting destination. As with many destinations around the world, the abuse of alcohol in public spaces is not tolerated and in this respect Dubai is no different.We want everyone to enjoy their time in Dubai, and as such people are expected to behave responsibly and respect the culture, traditions and local laws of the emirate.
Lesson to travellers: understand and respect the local laws of the destination.
Here is the FCO advice.