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Horror
on Egypt's Holiday Roads
The death of nine tourists in a
horror holiday coach crash in Egypt has prompted warnings
for tourists to be aware of the dangers on foreign n
roads.
The accident happened on a desert
highway between Sharm el-Sheikh and Cairo where the bus
overturned and caught fire.
Those onboard were from Britain,
Canada, Italy, Russia, Romania, the Ukraine and
Egypt.
At least 8,000 people were killed
in accidents in 2006, the most recent statistics
available.
Egypt
has suspended three tourist firms pending the outcome of a
probe into the accident, according to state news agency
Mena.
Spokeswoman
Hala al-Khatib said Tourism Minister Zuhair Garana had
decided that "these agencies will be banned until the
end of the investigation to determine responsibility for
the accident."
The Foreign Office warns British tourists in travel advice
that road accidents are common because of poor vehicle
maintenance and speeding drivers.
Jaws
Alert Shuts Beaches
The
fatal shark attack on a 16-year-old boy off Australia's
New South Wales coast has prompted more warnings for
tourists to take extreme care whilst swimming or surfing.
The
youngster was badly bitten on the legs and body as he rode
his bodyboard at North Wall Beach at Ballina.
The
attack happened just 50 metres off the beach.
The
local authorities are keen to point out that generally sea
bathing is safe but insist swimmers and water sports fans
should always exercise caution.
Experts
believe the culprit was a Bull shark which, along with
white pointers and grey nurse sharks are occasionally seen
in the area but not usually in early part of the year.
According
to latest official figures there were 12 shark
attacks in Australia in 2007, up from seven in 2006, 10 in
2005, and 13 attacks in 2004.
Goa Swimming
Tragedies
The drowning of a British man and
woman in the sea off the coast of Goa in India has
prompted calls for more warnings about sea conditions and
beach safety.
The pair were close friends who
had met when they worked as nurses in the same hospital.
Witnesses say the sea was rough
at the time of the tragedy and according to local police
the pair had been drinking at a beach bar, but were not
drunk.
Their deaths take the number of
Britons who have died in Goa this year to 12.
Goa's
beautiful beaches attract 2.2 million visitors every year,
including 200,000 Britons.
Brits Are Frantic To
Cross The Atlantic
World-wide currency fluctuations
are tempting more British holidaymakers to go that
extra mile, or-a-thousand to take advantage of better
value exchange rates.
A report by the UK Post Office
has found that pound sterling has gained ground over
the past year in several long-haul destinations, including
the US, Mexico, Barbados and Jamaica.
The study, 'What the Pound Buys
Abroad', showed that all the destinations there were
improved exchange rates for Britons in eight countries out
of 20 surveyed and they were all long-haul destinations.
The pound's taken a battering
from the the euro
Real Holiday Guides Editor, Paul
Lockitt commented: " We think there's bound to be a
surge in demand for long-haul holidays which could in-turn
push prices up. However, at the moment they're offering
good value for money.
" Our sources tell us
long-haul destinations have shown the biggest area of
growth, especially the Caribbean and Mexico".
Canary Island Hotels
Scandal
A Spanish court has ruled 22 hotels
were illegally built on the Canary island of Lanzarote.
The supreme court has annulled the
hotels' building licences after finding two councils had
flouted a ban on building regulations, rendering Eight
five-star hotels, 10 smaller hotels, and four others under
construction illegal.
Council officials are now considering
whether to send in the bulldozers or grant an amnesty while a
police investigation continues.
Top-of-the-range hotels that could be
pulled down are the Meliá Volcán, Iberostar Papagayo, Gran
Castillo, Natura Palace, Rubicón Palace, Papagayo Arena and
Son Bou.
Business groups on the island say
pulling down 22 hotels will leave hundreds out of work and hit
the tourist trade hard.
Instead, authorities may bring in an
amnesty in the same way as the council in Marbella did when it
discovered thousands of illegally built hotels and homes, many
belonging to Britons.
Kenya
Tourism Latest
Holidaymakers arriving in Kenya have
been given armed police convoys to their hotels following the
violence and unrest that has swept the country.
As major disturbances caused by a
disputed political election spread safaris and
sightseeing trips have been cancelled due to tourists being
reluctant to venture outside their hotels.
Kenya's tourism industry attracts a
million visitors and generates around £455m ($900m) a year
but experts fear the troubles will seriously affect the
industry.
British tourists have been advised by
the Foreign Office to stay indoors, and the UK is warning
against all but essential travel to areas of Mombasa and the
capital, Nairobi.
Kenya Association of Tour Operators
chairman Duncan Muriuki said reports of widespread violence
may lead to postponement of arrivals but not cancellations.
“Tourists may want to see the violence subside before
embarking on their holidays,” he said.
Vegas Hotel
Hits Jackpot
Las
Vegas has a new luxurious hotel on its world-famous strip -
the first new resort to be built on the brightest street in
the desert in nearly three years.
The
Palazzo also boasts one of the most luxurious shopping
destinations anywhere in the world featuring a mall esplanade
under a glass walkway, generous amounts of natural light, and
a two-story waterfall.
In
addition to Barneys New York, a remarkable 20 stores and
luxury brands are making their Las Vegas debuts at The
Palazzo, in addition to many fabulous restaurants.
The
Palazzo is described as a 'resort-hotel-casino of unparalleled
luxury, sophistication, and contemporary chic'.
Malta
& Cyprus Join
Currency Revolution
Cyprus and Malta have become the latest
countries to adopt the Euro currency in time for the summer
holiday season 2008.
The inclusion of the two islands in the
Mediterranean brings the total number of countries in the
euro-zone to 15.
Both the Maltese lira and the Cypriot
pound cannot be bought by tourists however banks in the two
countries will accept the old currency bills for several months.
All the new EU member states, including Bulgaria, which joined
the bloc a year ago, have to adopt the common European currency,
with only Denmark and the UK so far refusing to ditch their
national currencies.
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British
Airways Prices
Take Off
British
Airways' have increased the cost of flying in the UK and
abroad with its latest round of fuel surcharges.
The
airline has slapped and extra £3 on the cost of short-haul
trips, £10 for long-haul flights of less than nine
hours and £15 on long-haul flights of more than nine hours.
BA
has blamed the increases on record oil prices and other
airlines Low-cost airlines have also had to adjust their fuel
surcharges.
BA Scraps NY Route
Meanwhile, air
travellers have been deserting British Airways in Manchester,
UK in such numbers the airline has been forced to pull the
plug on its daily service to New York.
From November
(2008) BA will cease the service to JFK for `commercial
reasons'. A spokeswoman told us "The route has been
operating at a loss for some time".
As the axe falls on Manchester, BA's services to New York will
be boosted with additional flights out of Gatwick.
A Boeing 777 aircraft will offer four
classes - First, Club World, World Traveller Plus and World
Traveller cabins.
Holiday Price Hikes
-2008
The tumbling pound against the euro
has forced some smaller UK tour operators to slap a surcharge
on their prices.
It means some customers will have to fork out an extra £100
on the price of the package holiday they've already paid
for.
The practice is only allowed 30 days or more before the start
date of the holiday. Tour operators have it in the small-print
on their contracts and can legally demand what they
call, latenotice fees.
However, it's not all bad news; the
pound has seen significant increases against other popular
holiday currencies, including a 19 per cent rise against the
Jamaican dollar and a 13 per cent rise against the Hong Kong
dollar.
California
Meltdown
Travellers heading to California are
being warned to brace themselves for extreme heat and high
humidity.
The freak temperatures, up in the 90s
caused an early season wildfire
close to Los Angeles which sparked the evacuation of
one-thousand people.
A record high of 96 was set in
downtown Los Angeles, exceeding the previous record of 95,
which was set in April 1921.
Fire experts fear they're heading on
course for a 'very bad fire season'.
Jaws
Attack
Meanwhile beaches closed following a
fatal shark attack have been reopened but with a warning to
bathers to be cautious.
A great white shark, like the one
made famous in the movie, 'Jaws' killed a man out swimming in
the sea of the coast of San Diego, California.
Shark experts in the region confirmed
the attack was almost certainly carried out by a great white
due to the way it stalked its 66-year-old victim and
also from the wounds found on the body.
It's reported the incident happened
about 150 yards off the beach and that the victim yelled;
"Shark" before he was fatally bitten on the legs.
Easyjet Flying High
Flights are the most popular online
travel purchase, a report in this month's Which? Holiday
revealed.
According to a survey of the
magazine's members, 21% named easyJet as their favourite site
for booking flights.
British Airways, which has recently
had to contend with the disastrous opening of Heathrow's
Terminal 5, came a close second with 18% of the votes.
Expedia was the clear winner for
booking hotels online while Thomson.co.uk was people's top
choice for booking package holidays.
TripAdvisor.co.uk was the favourite for researching holidays
and as a source of holiday inspiration.
Thumbs Up For
In-flight Calls &Texts
European airlines are deciding
whether to allow passengers to make 'phone calls mid-air after
the European Union ended its ban on in-flight use of mobile
phones.
Lifting the restriction means that
individual airlines can whether to offer cell-phone use.
The EU deemed previous concerns over
safety negligible, and said airlines should be left to decide
if and how to enable in-flight calling.
In the US however the head of the
Federal Aviation Administration announced they had no
immediate plans to lift their ban on in-flight cell-phone
calls.
The Med - A
Recipe for
'Jellyfish Soup'
A
leading expert is warning the Mediterranean is turning
into a “soup of jellyfish and microbes”.
Enric
Sala of the Spanish Scientific Research Council (CSIC)
says over-fishing and pollution are two of the main
causes, turning the waters into a gigantic pool dominated by
jellyfish.
If his
predictions come true it would have a devastating affect on the
Spanish, Italian and Greek fishing industries, not to mention
tourism. A recent survey of holidaymakers revealed one of the
biggest fears while swimming in the sea was getting stung by a
jellyfish
Earlier
this year (2008) a 10-year-old Swedish girl died y after being
stung by a jellyfish while swimming off the coast of Thailand.
The
girl went into an anaphylactic shock, a severe allergic reaction
and despite doctors trying to save her life they could not save
her.
Shamu On The Move
Tourism
in Florida could take a hit with plans unveiled to give the
world-famous killer whale Shamu his own island as part of
SeaWorld's plans to expand in Dubai with a four-park complex.
Busch Entertainment Corp. said a corporate partner will develop
a SeaWorld theme park, a Busch Gardens theme park, a Discovery
Cove day resort and an Aquatica water park in the United Arab
Emirates city.
Dubai
is rapidly emerging as one of Orlando's biggest rivals on the
worldwide tourism stage and new theme parks could lure more
holidaymakers away from Florida.
The four parks will open in 2012 on an island shaped like a
killer whale in the sea in the Persian Gulf off Dubai. Other
man-made islands, are expected to contain as many as 56
hotels as well as shopping and housing for 280,000 people.
Not
Enough Rain In Spain - Or Portugal
Spain
and Portugal have recorded one of their warmest and driest
winters, according to official figures.
Rainfall
on the Algarve between September (2007) and January (2008) is
the lowest since 1971.
Meanwhile
across the whole of Spain average January temperatures were
1.7°C higher than usual, 1.3°C higher in Portugal.
Whilst
the weather might have brought some cheer for tourists the
continued drought could mean water-saving measures being
introduced.
Reservoirs
in both countries have been deemed adequate to see them through
2008 if the dry spell continues.
Bulgaria Battles
Bulging Beaches
The
number of foreign tourists booking for Bulgaria this sumer
(2008) has taken a dip and it could be due to the country's
bulging, crowded beaches, experts say.
Bulgaria's
popularity as a winter sports resort has decreased by 15%
according to figures, while foreign tour operators report there
are fewer reservations for the summer season compared to 2007.
According to the figures from the Bulgarian tour operator
Ambassador Tour, the main reason for the drop in the number of
foreign tourists this winter is the lack of snow during season
2006/2007.
TUI claim fewer reservations for Bulgaria's summer resorts might
be due to changed habits of the tourist, who do not plan their
holiday so early.
According to experts, the number of Bulgarian tourists visiting
the country's popular resorts is rising, while foreigners
already prefer going to less crowded resorts.
Is the 24/7
Party Over 4
Ibiza
The
24/7 party could be over for
clubbers in Ibiza Town. Dance clubs will be banned from offering
"after-hours" entertainment on the island between 6am
and 10am.
The
Balearics regional council claim many clubs have been causing a
disturbance for residents and other tourists in the resort.
It
could also pave the way to additional restrictions on afternoon
raves. Locals have been tolerant of the noise and youth culture
over the years but recently many have complained it's getting
out of hand due to excessive drugs-related offences.
The
authorities took the unprecedented decision last summer to close
three of the biggest venues, including Amnesia which was shut
for a month and fined. for its "lax attitude" towards
the problem.
The
resort town of San Antonio, a mecca for clubbers at night,
banned after-hours clubs some time ago.rld’s party cities
have a lot to live up to.
The Top 10 clubbing
destinations in the world are as follows:
1) Ibiza (53.42%)
2)
New
York (10.62%)
3)
London
(9.25%)
4)
Miami
(5.82%)
5)
Tokyo
(3.77%)
6)
Reykjavik
(2.74%)
7)
Barcelona
(2.40%)
8)
Sydney
(2.40%)
9)
Milan
(2.40%)
10) Berlin (2.05%)
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