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Archive for July, 2009

Saudi car hire fees to remain stable

Friday, July 17th, 2009

In welcome news for travelers to Jeddah’s Summer Festival, rumors have been quashed that car-rental agents in the area would be increasing their prices during the three months of the festival.  It had been feared that rental car companies would be taking advantage of tourists coming into the area for the religious festival.

Earlier this week officials from the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry got together with the Jeddah director of transport for a meeting with car hire operators in the area.  It was decided that no price rises in car rental fees will be allowed during the time period of the festival, which started on July 16.

“We have an effective agreement between the JCCI and the Transport Administration to resolve all the outstanding problems faced by car rental companies. I think such periodic meetings are very fruitful and productive,” said Saeed Ali Al-Bassami of JCCI.

Currently, an economy class rental car goes for around SR70, while a luxury class vehicle hires out for approximately SR1900.

The two holy mosques near Jeddah attract thousands of pilgrims all year round, but the numbers swell during the Jeddah Summer Festival producing a significant increase in income for the area.

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Minister criticizes “Don’t be a Dick” campaign

Friday, July 17th, 2009

Mark Francois, the shadow foreign minister, has criticized the Foreign and Commonwealth office for its Don’t be a Dick campaign, saying that there are more important issues abroad that should be dealt with.

The campaign is a special awareness campaign targeted at youngsters who tend to party too much while on holiday.  It’s a cartoon campaign, featuring the characters Tom, Dick and Harry.  Dick he is the madcap of the three characters and is constantly finding himself in trouble.

The campaign is communicated through a series of flyers, posters, beer mats, and beach balls that are distributed throughout Europe.  The shadow Minister thinks that the whole approach is a waste of time and money that could be better spent on more pressing issues.

The campaign is aimed at quelling the type of behavior that befell British tourists recently in Greece.  Earlier this year, a group of British holidaymakers were arrested and charged with being drunk, while dressed up as nuns.  In that particular case the charges were eventually dropped.

The British Consulate in Greece estimates that about 70% of the problems they sort out involve young people between the ages of 16 and 20 who have gotten themselves into scrapes and need assistance.  This age group accounts for nearly a third of all British tourists that visit the country.

Thanks to www.dailymail.co.uk for the above information, for more details on this story please visit their website.

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British travelers waste money on tips

Friday, July 17th, 2009

British travelers who don’t understand proper tipping etiquette are throwing money away unnecessarily.

A recent survey has revealed that a significant number of holidaymakers are wasting money on tips because they don’t bother to research local tipping customs prior to going on holiday.  Most tourists spend time researching the best travel deals while completely ignoring the subject of tips.

In fact, the survey indicates that approximately 40% of travelers fail to familiarize themselves with tipping rates. The mistake is a costly one and some holidaymakers wind up spending as much as 30% of their holiday budget on tips.

For example sixteen per cent of Britons who responded to the survey said that they leave tips when visiting Japan.  In Japan a tip is considered to be an insult.

Another fifty percent of respondents said that they would ordinarily leave a tip at an Italian restaurant.  In Italy, the gratuity is always added to the bill automatically.

James Yerkess, M&S Travel Money manager, pointed out: “While the eyes of cash-conscious holidaymakers are eagerly scouring for the best holiday deals, this new research exposes a significant and forgotten holiday cost factor.”

America is widely known as the tipping capital of the world.  The reason behind this is that American waiters are paid low wages and must rely on tipping for most of their income.

New Zealand on the other hand is just the opposite. Wait staff is high paid and rarely receives tips.  It pays to know the customs of your destination.

Thanks to the www.dailymail.co.uk for the above quote. For more information please visit their website.

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Tourists targeted in Jakarta bombings

Friday, July 17th, 2009

Terrorists exploded bombs at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and the Marriott in Jakarta today apparently targeting tourists. As the bombs exploded, windows blew out and debris was scattered up and down the street.

As many as nine people were killed and at least 50 injured in the attack.  Four of the dead and eleven of the wounded were foreigners.  Among the injured were tourists from Australia and New Zealand.  Casualty figures are expected to increase as the day goes on.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: “We’ve got no indications that there are any Britons involved. We’ve got staff still checking and we’re seeking access to the scene and going to the hospitals to check.”

The Islamic fundamentalist group, Jemaah Islamiyah was immediately suspected in the blast. The group has been causing trouble not only in Indonesia but in neighboring countries as well.

Manchester United was scheduled for a stay at the Ritz-Carlton starting on Saturday.  The team has been traveling around Southeast Asia on a four match-tour and was scheduled for an exhibition match in Jakarta next week.

A spokesman for the team said that they had canceled their flight into Jakarta, which had been scheduled for tomorrow and were canceling the match altogether.

Indonesia has been the scene of terrorist attacks in the past.  The same Marriott Hotel in Jakarta was bombed in 2003.

Thanks to www.telegraph.co.uk for the above quote.  Please visit their web site for more information on this article.

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Roadworks could hamper holiday travel

Friday, July 17th, 2009

Over 900 miles of English roadways will be undergoing construction this summer during the busy travel season. Included in the scheduled repairs are 190 projects affecting over 300 miles of roadway in and around the Lake District which is popular with holidaymakers.

According to transport spokesperson Norman Baker, travelers could be facing hours of delay on roadways instead of enjoying their holidays.

“Spending hot summer days sitting in traffic isn’t anyone’s idea of a holiday, but with hundreds of miles of roadworks planned and likely engineering works on many rail lines too, it seems that summer travel chaos may be hard to avoid.” said Mr. Baker.

Ordinarily August is one of the quietest months on the roadways and a perfect time to begin such roadwork, but with more and more Brits choosing to “staycation” it’s expected that the roadways will be busier than normal. It’s estimated that 50% of holiday makers who normally go abroad are planning to stay at home instead.

Further complicating the problem is the fact that most of the projects are centered in the heavily visited areas in the North. The biggest traffic jams will be experienced during the August bank Holiday weekend

Some of the work will be done at night in order to minimize as much as possible the impact on holiday traffic.

Thanks to www.telegraph.co.uk for the above quote. For more information visit their website

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Car rental mogul acquires magazine

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

Clive Jacobs, the rental car mogul and Holiday Autos founder, has purchased the TW group from publisher Reed Elsevier. TW publishes such trade magazines as Travel Weekly, Gazetteers, and Travolution. The purchase price remains undisclosed.

Jacobs is vice-chairman of Lastminute.com, a website acquired by Holiday Autos in 2003 in a £39.7 million deal.

Reed Business Information was TW’s parent company which failed to attract a buyer last year when it was put up for sale. Now, with the divesting of TW, it looks like RBI may be better positioned for the spin off.

Jacobs is bringing back Simon Ferguson for the position of CEO at TW. Ferguson was formerly one of Reed’s publishing directors for its travel magazine portfolio. He left Reeds back in March.

“The travel portfolio has been a valued part of RBI, but we recognise that, under Clive’s independent ownership, the team will be able to integrate completely into the industry they serve,” said Jane Burgess, of RBI.

This division actually only accounted for 1% of Reed’s overall revenues last year.

Besides Ferguson as CEO, other directors that were named were Ian Findly, formerly of Emap, Michael East, an industry consultant, and Colin Morrison formerly of RBI.

Reed is still looking for a buyer for the Business Information branch of its business as it continues to dump media assets dependent upon advertising revenue.

Thanks to www.telegraph.co.uk for the above quotes, for more information on this story please visit their website.

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Pet Airways makes maiden flight

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

What began as an unpleasant plane ride in the cargo hold for Zoe, a couple’s Jack Russell terrier, ended up today with the birth of a new airline designed especially for pets.

Pet Airways’ maiden flight departed on Wednesday from Farmingdale, New York’s Republic airport. Pet owners, Alysa Binder and Dan Wiesel, founded the airline after recognizing a need for a better way to transport pets.

It has taken the couple five years of hard work to fulfill their dream of the first all-pet airline. The couple’s background in consulting and their business experience came in handy as they acquired their fleet of five planes and navigated their way through the maze of FAA regulations necessary to set up the venture.

Pet Airways offers a totally unique service. Their planes have, basically, been set up as flying kennels. Animals fly in the main cabin of a renovated freight plane. The aisles are lined with pet carriers instead of seats. Each plane can carry up to 50 dogs and cats at a time and the pets are escorted by flight attendant’s who check on them every fifteen minutes.

The service also features a pre-boarding lounge. Prior to departure each pet is walked and get given a bathroom break.

According to Binder and Wiesel, the airline is already booked up solid for the next two months.

Thanks to www.guardian.co.uk , for more details on this story please visit their website.

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British voted worst tourists in Europe

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

In a recent poll of hoteliers in the EU, Britons were awarded the dubious honor of being the overall worst holidaymakers in Europe. They complain more, tip less, and are the sloppiest.

By contrast, when the poll was expanded to include the opinions of hoteliers worldwide, the Brits faired much better, coming in second best.

“Being voted the worst tourists in the world by our closest neighbours highlights the fact that the ‘Brits abroad’ moniker is a label we still haven’t managed to shrug off.,” said Jonathan Cudworth, of Expedia.

The poll was conducted by Expedia, the online travel giant. Expedia surveyed more than 4500 hotel businesses worldwide and just recently released the results of the extensive poll.

The Japanese came in first in the category of best overall tourists. They beat the competition by a wide margin. They are cleaner and quieter than any other nationality and they complain the least.

In the worldwide poll the French took the honor of being the worst holidaymakers. The French were found to be the rudest by far and they tip the least.

Best dressed went to the Italians with the British following up in a close race for second beating out the French who came in third.

The United States was not left unscathed, but was awarded first place in the category of loudest followed up by Italy and Spain in that order.

Thanks to www.dailymail.co.uk for the above quote, for more information on this article please visit their website.

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Crete Car Hire by Eurocar marks 50,000th customer

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

Eurocar, a car hire company based in Crete, celebrated their 50,000th customer recently.

Ever since the company was founded it has experienced a steady increase of customers from all over Crete. As a result, the car hire firm has firmly established itself as an important player in the island’s car rental market. (more…)

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Travel insurance exempting swine flu

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

Cancellation of travel plans due to swine flu may not be covered by travel insurance. The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) is advising holidaymakers to check their travel insurance policies as it has been reported that some insurance carriers are introducing exemptions for swine flu illness. (more…)

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