Travel Weekly Blog

Beijing Olympics big screen map: where to watch the 2008 Games in the UK

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:06:31 +0000

The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games began barely an hour ago, and there are a number of big screens showing the events around the UK. There are 16 BBC screens in towns cities, plus three in Central London locations. Scroll past the map for a list.

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Bradford - Centenary Square
Bristol - Millennium Square
Cardiff - The Hayes
Derby - The Market Place
Hull - Queen Victoria Square
Leeds - Millennium Square
Liverpool - Clayton Square
Manchester - Exchange Square
Middlesbrough - Centre Square
Norwich - Chapelfield Plain
Plymouth - Armada Way
Portsmouth - Guildhall Square
Rotherham - All Saints Square
Swansea - Castle Square
Swindon - Wharf Green
Walthamstow - Town Square
London - Leicester Square
London - Trafalgar Square
London - Canary Wharf

More on the Beijing Olympics Check out Travel Rants' Beijing Olympics carnival for some good blog posts on the 2008 Games. Jaunted has a series of posts on the venues for the Beijing Olympics.

Sample ad from BA's 'Terminal 5 is working' campaign. Your thoughts?

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:51:42 +0000

Here's one of the ads from British Airways' new 'Heathrow Terminal 5 is working' campaign (click to enlarge).

As Travolution has pointed out, it must be a nightmare to produce

The copy freely admits its 'daily' punctuality figure is based on 6am to 2pm - leave it any later and the ad wouldn't be out for the next day.

I'll keep this simple, though: what do you think? Reassured, or not?

Here's the official line from the BA press office.

Update: I found a post about the ads on design mag Creative Review's blog - so head over there for some other perspectives on how well the campaign works.

How did the world book its last holiday? Let's Ask500People [poll]

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:55:52 +0000

Ask500People offers these nifty polls with a global answer map attached - so I'm trying one with a classic Travel Weekly question: how did you book your last holiday? Maybe it'll work, maybe it won't. Watch this space. I've also got one on there about travel to the Beijing Olympics, so pop along and answer that if you're interested. Update: ask500peeps seems to have gone down, so if you can't see the widget that's why.

Coming attractions: New York turns Broadway into... a cafe-lined boulevard?

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:59:22 +0000

Spotted on Gothamist: a New York resident has snapped work underway on the new widened sidewalk - I mean pavement - on Broadway:

Says Gothamist:

Between 42nd Street and Herald Square, four lanes of Broadway will go down to two lanes--and a bicycle lane and pedestrian walkway, complete with seating, tables, umbrellas and flower-filled planters, will emerge by August 15

Sounds pretty good. New Yorkers will have adopted a relaxed, continental attitude to life before you can say 'bof'... Pic by flickr user carolitajohnson

Kids' failures at geography play into hands of travel agents

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:25:18 +0000

Having read this latest piece of research from Travelodge on the geographical skills of the UK's youngsters I was remided of a discussion I had recently with some travel agents.

We were talking about the USP for travel agents in the future and one of them half joked that a sound knowledge of geography would be more essential than ever as today's children have a poor understanding of countries, destinations etc.

Cue this research from Travelodge, which demonstrates how ignorant UK yoof is of UK destinations.

Martin Couzins, managing editor

Overweight air travellers: AirAsiaX breaks the 'don't mention scales' taboo

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 11:51:34 +0000

According to Jaunted, weighing air passengers is no longer beyond the realm of possibility.

Air Asia subsidiary AirAsiaX has apparently considered calculating the overall passenger weight so it can maximise the amount of cargo it packs in, thus increasing revenue per flight.

Let's be clear that this isn't the 'overweight passengers should pay more' scenario beloved of pub agitators and stand-up comedians.

Strangely, though, the original report on news.com.au says,

Although admitting the move would be difficult to implement, [AAX general manager] David Wright said charging larger passengers 'could help Aussies lose weight'

Which suggests some kind of disincentive for larger passengers, does it not?

Travel brands and blogs: ABTA's not-quite-a-comment on Travel Rants

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 17:11:27 +0000

Imagine you're a big travel brand (ABTA, for instance) and you encounter criticism on a popular consumer blog (let's say, er, Travel Rants). You read the post, decide that it merits a response, and that you're comfortable with the response being public. So you write the response in an email and send it to the blogger, who publishes it as a comment... on the interactive discussion you were just reading. Hmm. What you've done is functionally identical to leaving a comment. But you're still not comfortable with actually leaving a comment. Still, it's good to see a travel brand's press office pay attention to a consumer blog. Next time click 'post', ABTA - the people you're talking to will like you better for it. This is a staple subject among travel and travel industry bloggers - see for example:

A report on the PhoCusWright bloggers' summit by Tracking Tourism
The same from Canadian Tourism
A Travel Rants post about the industry fearing bloggers

Oops: Yahoo puts Beijing Olympic mascots under Tiananmen Square headline

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:36:45 +0000

Spotted on Shanghaiist: this screengrab of a howler by Yahoo. Mascots for the Beijing Olympic Games pose on Tiananmen Square, beneath a headline about commemoration of the 1989 massacre. Apparently an 'automated gallery feature' pulled in the picture based on the keyword 'Tiananmen'. It turns out that keywords can't perform value judgments. Who knew? More on it in the Guardian.

Name that comment and win a West Coast beer guide

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 16:25:59 +0000

This was recently posted to a piece of Travel Weekly content. Guess what it's about, and where it was posted...

First to get it - I hinted at it on TW Blog's twitter recently, actually - can have a copy of CAMRA's rather decent Good Beer Guide to the West Coast USA.

A bad week for travel? Keep it in perspective [links]

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:29:57 +0000

It's been a bit of a rocky week for travel - several bombs, an earthquake, a forest fire, one tragic murder and a hole in an aircraft.

Naturally Travel Weekly has written responses, so I just want to flag up a few things elsewhere on the site.

Simon Calder on why the Qantas incident shows flying is safe
Editor-in-chief Penny Wilson on Antigua's low crime rate
Chloe 'Hotel Girl' Berman on the same
Edward Robertson on ABTA's response to safety fears
A poll for agents on whether their clients are cancelling (TW homepage, ends August 8)

...and finally

Travolution on an unfortunate clash of Serbia headlines

Some reflections on Travel Rants vs the ABTA Travel Convention

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 06:00:00 +0000

So the dust has settled on Travel Rants vs the ABTA Travel Convention, which saw the popular consumer blog arguing that the event should be held in the UK. Both Kevin at Travolution and I argued from the opposite position. What did I take from it all? What I stand by If you happily fly, and don't intend to stop, I fail to see what you gain from ABTA 'setting the example' of not flying. Nor do I accept that flying to a travel event is morally worse than flying for leisure. Both do damage, neither is strictly speaking necessary; the fact that one is more fun is irrelevant. We could push this point further: holidays account for a vast number of flights per year, while travel events account for a number so small it is almost negligible. The important point is that both holidays and travel events suffer if confined solely to the UK. What I think it comes down to Based on the above, we are in this rather familiar position: we all derive benefits from flying, and don't want to give it up. But we accept that it does damage. Where do we go from there? We must talk about mitigating the effects of flying, and not demand the travel industry leads the way to a stay-at-home world none of us wants to live in. In one of my comments I said, "leading by example means demonstrating that sustainable travel is possible." I think this points towards some common ground. What I concede Replying to a comment on this blog, I went further:

If the argument was whether these events could look for more innovative ways to mitigate their effects on the environment, I wouldn't have a problem with that. It's the job of the industry to demonstrate that travel can be force for good, and you don't make that point by staying at home. However, I do think you could argue that the industry isn't making that point well enough.

And a pat on the back My final reflection, and the nicest: I liked the way the debate on Travel Rants was conducted. I always do - Darren's a good host - but this was a particularly hard-fought debate, and its politeness in the face of strong disagreements does Darren and his readership great credit.

Trend links: free rides in Dublin, blind guides in Lisbon, green tours in London [Springwise]

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:20:46 +0000

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'.

Antigua should boost security, not go on the defensive

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:39:19 +0000

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."

Photo: Lufthansa strike begins to bite [joke]

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:05:36 +0000

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.

Zooming in: Gela, Sicily, where a 2,500 year old Greek ship has been raised

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 21:29:41 +0000

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).

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Palermo, Sicily's capital: 85 miles northwest
Catania, a lively university town: 55 miles northeast
Syracuse, a World Heritage site: 55 miles east
Taormina, a popular tourist resort: 80 miles northeast
Cefalu, one of Sicily's best beaches: 70 miles north
Agrigento, celebrated for its Greek temples: 40 miles west

As for the ship, it is coming to Portsmouth for restoration work. Italian officials say a museum will be built to house it in Gela itself - so perhaps there'll be a reason to visit after all...