Posts Tagged ‘France’

Europcar apologises to Ruth Kelly

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

Former transport secretary Ruth Kelly has received an apology from Europcar after she was incorrectly charged more than £1,000 for problems with her hire car.

Car hire giant Europcar reimbursed Ms Kelly 1,341 euros as well as 47.70 euros for petrol following the incident which occurred when the Labour MP was on holiday with her family in August.

Kelly was billed for almost £1,800 for alleged damage to a seven-seater Volkswagan Touran, which she hired in Avignon, southern France.

Shortly after hiring the car the tyres went flat and phoned Europcar’s assistance line which arranged for a taxi to take them to their destination and for a replacement car.

Ms Kelly was informed that there would be no charge for the service, but upon arriving in London, she was shocked to have discovered a £1,180 invoice.

Kelly, who resigned from Cabinet in September last year, said she was also charged for a tank of fuel despite the car being returned with a full tank.

Ms Kelly sent seven emails to Europcar and contacted them twice over the phone but was not satisfied.

Europcar has since said that the amount for the damage and petrol were made in error and would be refunded.  The company has also waived the rental fee.

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American may invest in Japan Airlines

Monday, September 14th, 2009

American Airlines has said that it may purchase equity in Japan Airlines in order to prop up the ally following forecasts of its fourth loss in five years.

American, the world’s second largest carrier, also plans to expand code-sharing with Japan Airlines, its Oneworld alliance partner, according to sources.

The airline has received three government bailouts since 2001 with the most recent in June.   The company has also been in talks on possible stake sales to Delta and Air France-KLM.   It is reported that the carrier is planning to seek 250 billion yet ($2.8 billion) to rebuild its operations.

An analyst at Shinsei Securities believes that the government doesn’t care about who gives the airline money, but Japan Air Lines would rather receive the money from a non-competing airline.

American spokesman Charley Wilson declined to comment on reports of an investment in Japan Airlines.

Code-sharing with the Japanese airline would allow American or Delta more cities within Japan and the ability to sell Japan Air flights direct to customers.  Alliances such as SkyTeam and Oneworld let airlines expand their networks by pulling in more passengers and sharing the revenue.

Japan Airlines recorded a 99 billion yet loss in the first quarter of this year, the most in the last 6 years as the business and leisure travel industry has suffered the most since World War II.

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Netherlands to restrict ‘drug tourism’

Monday, September 14th, 2009

Drug tourists travelling to Amsterdam’s infamous marijuana café’s will soon be banned from purchasing cannabis in an effort to end drug tourism to the Netherlands.

“Coffee shops”, where small amounts of marijuana have been legally bought and smoked since 1976, have become a major industry and a popular tourist attraction in many Dutch cities.

However, the Dutch cabinet is anticipated to introduce tougher measures to prevent tourists buying or smoking marijuana as a part of a major crackdown on the nation’s tolerance on soft drugs.

Ministers of justice, home affairs and health will propose for legislation to keep foreigners out of venues selling cannabis in order to reduce crime and social nuisances.

The proposed chances will see “coffee shops”, which are licensed to sell marijuana, to introduce a member’s only pass system to keep tourists from buying drugs.

A government commission in July concluded that coffee shops should again become utilised for their original purpose; vending for local users instead of large numbers of consumers from neighbouring countries.   The report stated that the situation had got out of hand.

One of the major problems caused by drug tourism to the Netherlands is the influx in foreign ‘drug tourists’, which include a high proportion of young Briton’s, who visit the Netherlands in order to consume cannabis that is illegal in their home countries.

It has become a major problem in towns close to Dutch borders near Belgium, France and Germany.

It is estimated that the legal “coffee shop” trade is worth approximately £1.6 billion every year.

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Air France crash inquiry needs more money

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

Investigators searching for the Air France plane that disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean in June are still searching for answers and require more money and resources to search for the aircraft’s flight data recorder.

Paul-Louis Arslanian, head of France’s Bureau of Investigation and Analysis (BEA) said “At the moment, we can’t explain the accident”.

He said that a further search for the plane and debris in order to locate the flight recorders could cost tens of millions of euros.

“We are making progress and will make progress and I’m optimistic, but this will take time,” he told journalists in Paris. “It takes a year and a half, being responsible and reasonable, in order to make progress and ensure that we’ve run through all of the questions.”

Investigators still cannot pinpoint the location of the Airbus A330 that was enroute from Rio De Janeiro to Paris when it disappeared from radar screens into the ocean, killing all on board.

So far, the search has failed to locate the aircraft’s data recorders, which could mean the cause of the crash may never be fully known.

Arslanian said Airbus has offered to help fund the investigation but more commitments are needed.

“We have to mobilize resources. It’s not only having promises for money, we need to know who will contribute financially and how,” he said.

The aircraft went down more than 900 miles off the coast of Brazil and hit the ocean belly first at a high speed.

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Paris sees decline in tourist numbers

Friday, August 28th, 2009

Paris is hoping to boost tourist numbers by allowing more shops to open on Sundays, in order to boost tourism revenues that have been affected by the financial downturn.

The city registered a 11.1 percent drop in foreign tourist numbers in the first half of this year compared to the same time last year, according to figures released on Wednesday.

The largest number of foreigners to visit Paris, Americans, has dived over the past year due to the US economic troubles and the high value of the euro, but has picked up again in the second quarter of this year.

Director of the Paris Tourism Office, Paul Roll said the city is “counting on the Americans” in order to maintain tourist revenues and to compensate for the drop in foreign tourists.

He added that America’s economy was hit hard and early by the financial crisis but is expected to emerge quicker, while other economies were later to experience the slump.

The problems with the British economy have also affected cross-Channel travel, as the number of British visitors fell by 23.4 percent in the first half of this year.

Asian tourist numbers also dropped with Japanese visitors falling by 25 percent and Chinese by 17.3 percent.

Overall, the number of travellers to the French capital fell by 7.5 percent to 15.9 million in the first 6 months of this year, the tourism office said, but couldn’t provide figures on overall tourism revenues.

Roll also said that he hopes a new law to allow an increase in the number of shops to open on Sundays could help bring more tourists to France over a full weekend.  Currently shops are closed in France on Sundays.

The tourism authority forecasts a decline of about six percent of tourists visiting Paris in 2009, including French visitors.

Thanks to AP.  For more information on this article visit their website.

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Britons more likely to be arrested in Dubai

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

With the Gulf states’ tough stance on drugs, alcohol and indecency, more holidaymakers and expats are likely to be detained in Dubai than in other popular holiday destinations such as France or Greece.

In the last 12 months, an unmarried British couple were sentenced to three months jail for having sex on a beach in Dubai, and an English mother was also sentenced to three months after being found guilty of adultery.

Travellers are warned by the Foreign Office that they could face more severe punishments for loutish behaviour abroad than they would at home.

The Foreign Office minister Chris Bryant said that tourists should research local laws before they travel or they could find themselves in a foreign jail.

6,919 Britons were arrested abroad between April 2008 and March 2009.

Although most arrests were in Spain and the US, proportionately the most arrests were in the UAE, which has fewer British tourists and expats than many Western countries.

294 Britons were arrested in the UAE with 48 for drug offences.

The UAE is now home to 55,000 Britons and a further 1.1 million tourists visit the nation where Islam is the official religion and strict punishments are given to those who break its rules on modesty and temperance.

Thanks to the Telegraph for the above quotes.  For more information on this article visit their website.

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Briton spends lonely night in town hall by mistake

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

A British holidaymaker spend a night locked in a village hall in the east of France after mistaking the building for a hotel, said the local mayor this week.

The young woman in her thirties was travelling alone when she wandered into the building after seeing a sign for the ‘Hotel de Ville’, which translates as ‘town hotel’ but in French means town hall.

“Some local association staff were holding a meeting there that evening,” said Paul Rumbach, the mayor of Dannemarie, population 2500.

“On their way out they heard a noise in the bathroom, but thought nothing of it and locked the door behind them.”

Upon realising her error, the woman hoped to draw attention by switching on the lights, to no avail.

She finally posted a message in the door in pidgin French which said: “22.08.2009. I am locking here (toilet). Is possible door of to open?”, before curling up to sleep on a chair in the entrance lobby.

A pharmacist noticed the message on Saturday morning and released the tourist, who explained she had assumed that ‘Hotel de Ville’ was a hotel.

“She asked me where she could find a real hotel. I gave her directions and she set off, looking pretty sorry for herself,” said the mayor, who is thinking of having the Dannemarie town hall sign posted in English and German.

Thanks to the Age newspaper.  For more information visit their website.

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Surge in late bookings increase car hire costs

Monday, August 17th, 2009

Last-minute holidaymakers are pushing up the price for rental cars this summer, mostly in Spain and Portugal.

The price increase is primarily due to a shortfall in fleets, as companies have not been able to obtain credit to buy new cars this season, and due to a forecasted drop in demand.

The situation has forced some tourists to cancel their holiday plans rather than go ahead with plans without car hire.

“Every summer there is a seasonal shortage of rental cars,” Michael Taride, President of Hertz Europe, told Sky News.

“We are buying additional fleet and keeping and maintaining cars for a longer period of time to accommodate the increase in demand.”

Span has been worst affected by the crisis with some holidaymakers paying twice the amount to higher a car compared to the same period last year.

Italy, France and parts of the UK are also experiencing car hire difficulties.

£365 is the cheapest weekly car rental in the Spanish resort of Malaga, and a small van such as the Volkswagen Touran will be about£850 per week.

Back in May we announced that demand was down so we would reduce our fleets to give us more flexibility,” Avis spokeswoman Hilary White said.

Car hire companies predicted a slowdown in demand due to the recession and had chosen not to upgrade cars or fleets.

Thanks to Sky News for the above quotes.  For more information on this article visit skynews.com

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Washout Summer Brings Last Minute Travel Surge

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

Travel companies across Britain are reporting a recent surge in foreign holidays following predictions of more rain.

Britain has already received a fortnight of rain, while the Met office has revised a forecast of wet weather until September, with travel firms inundated with requests for late deals.

Online travel company Expedia said that in the last few days there has been a significant increase in queries for long haul destinations, with Thailand up 165% and Hong Kong up by 122%.

The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) was reporting that its members were experiencing increases of business of over 40% as many people had put off booking in advance.

Holidaymakers were either planning on staying at home or postponing their holidays until next year, but the bad weather has forced many to reconsider.

Spokesman for the ABTA, Sean Tipton, said “We were expecting a late booking market because of the recession and people worried about their jobs were leaving it as late as possible to make a decision, but the bad weather has created a real surge.

“We sold 45 million holidays last year and were running well down on that. The good news for consumers is that means there are more late deals than usual as tour operators struggle to fill capacity.”

Travel companies say that perceptions of the price of European holidays were usually wrong, with many operators is Greece and Spain forced to drop the prices to fill hotels.

A survey released in July showed that a cup of coffee and a bottle of beer were all cheaper in Spain and France than in the UK.

Britain’s favourite destinations to travel abroad this summer are Turkey, Greece and Spain, and prices to Mexico have slumped following the outbreak of swine flu.

Thanks to the Telegraph for the above quotes.  For more information visit telegraph.co.uk

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French sun lovers getting shy

Friday, July 24th, 2009

French women, notorious throughout the world for going topless, are starting to cover up more. In fact, in a recent survey 24% of respondents said that they thought it was rude to go topless. Over half the ladies said that going topless in your own private garden would be alright but they shunned the idea of public nudity.

Paris recently instituted no topless sunbathing rules at its man-made beaches along the Seine. Police levy fines on women caught without their tops on. In Saint Tropez the feeling is that topless sunbathing is old fashioned, a thing of the past. Most ladies in the South of France prefer to wear tops.

The girls who still enjoy walking around with their breasts exposed are the same ladies that started the trend and that are now in their sixties. The younger generation of French career women are much more modest.

Shops in France selling women’s swimsuits have reported an increase in sales of full one-piece suits.

The generation of feminists that insisted on doing what they wanted with their bodies are fading out and giving way to modern women with more traditional ideas regarding their bodies and where and when to display it.

Thanks to www.guardian.co.uk for the above information. For more about this article please visit their website.

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