July 20th, 2010
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The living history and unique art of Morocco provide an appealing environment for travelers.With its great imperial cities of Marrakesh and Fez or the cosmopolitan city of Casablanca, Morocco has attracted visitors for centuries, and tourism keeps on growing.
This year is also planed to be successful ; The Moroccan government confirmed signals of a record tourism season. North Africa as a whole has also seen strong growth as a destination this year. Thanks to its Atlantic and Mediterranean coast, Morocco lies on Europe’s largest tourist zone and proposes a wide range of summer and winter activities. Tourists will have the chance to experience Trekking amongst the five geographical zones that include desert, coast and plains. An other way to enjoy your holidays in Morocco is to ride a Camel straight into the Sahara, or simply walk in one of those open-air markets with colorful crafts such as carpets, pottery, jewelry, brassware and woodwork.
To discover Morocco, you can find Relais car rental stations where you need them to Rent a car in Casablanca or to Rent a car in Rabat .
November 3rd, 2009
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With less than 1,000 days until the start of the 2012 Olympics in London, excitement is already growing over what will be a huge boost for the local visitor economy. To mark the occasion, Visit London has released a report outlining how visitors to the capital will benefit from £11 billion in investment over the coming years. The improvements are already starting to take shape, including the East London Line railway extension, new cycle tracks and walkways, the renovation of the Savoy Hotel and a new urban park being built in East London. In Spring 2011 the Cutty Sark will be reopened after being damaged by fire in 2007 and a new wing of the Tate Modern will be opened in time for the start of the Olympics. These are new and exciting times for such an historic and fascinating city such as London and I’m keen to see how these new developments will improve an already amazing city!
October 28th, 2009
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According to Chantal Pitin, head of leisure traffic development at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport, more and more people are experiencing skiing in Toulouse with surprising results. As a result of tourists flying into Toulouse, tourism in the area has had a welcome boost. Apparently skiing in the Pyrenees is ‘enjoyable’ and is suitable for everyone, especially as the resorts tend to be small family resorts. I have to admit that although I have been to Toulouse before, I had never thought of it as a ski resort. But I suppose the mixture of sun and snow would be a perfect combination! Although whether it rivals the ski resorts of the Alps remains to be seen…..
October 20th, 2009
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Historically the Greek Islands have always been popular with Britons holidaying abroad, and this trend doesn’t look like changing. According to Sofia Panayiotaki, director of the UK and Ireland branch of the Greek National Tourism Organisation, beautiful landscapes, friendly people and competitive prices are drawing people back every year. Brits make up 20 percent of the Greek tourism market, with in total 60 to 70 million holidaymakers visiting Greece every year. There are also many holidaymakers from France, Italy, Germany and the US. Although Britons usually visit the Greek Islands of Crete, Rhodes and Corfu, due to the impact of the film Mamma Mia, more are now visiting the island of Skopelos where it was filmed. There are also more Britons taking city breaks in Greece than ever before. And hopefully these trends will continue! 
October 14th, 2009
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If you are a lover of history and art, then I’m sure you would want to snap up the chance to buy an historic piece of Paris. On December 14th several pieces will be for sale at auction including stairs from the Eiffel Tower and street lights from the Champs Elysees. These pieces will form part of the Paris Mon Amour (Paris my love) sale to celebrate 120 years of the Eiffel Tower and ‘pay homage to Paris’, according to auctioneer Christophe Lucien. Forty steps of the Eiffel Tower staircase are expected to reach between 60,000 and 80,000 euros, while an oak public phone box is estimated at 1,000 euros. There’s also the opportunity to buy old rubbish bins, street benches, 18th century tourist maps of Paris and ancient books. Basically there’s something for everyone and I would love to have some of this stuff in my house or garden!
October 6th, 2009
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Last Thursday, 65 pieces of antique china from the Chinese Empire went on show at the Ceramics Museum in Barcelona. Now you may all be wondering why this is so exciting…. Well, not only is this the first time that the pieces have been shown in Spain but it is also the first time that they have been exhibited outside Japan. Therefore I’m sure many people will be flocking to Spain to see them. Whilst the pieces were in Japan, there was an earthquake which caused considerable damage to one of the pieces but thankfully the others were left unscathed and in excellent condition. The exhibition is called “Elegancia y minimalismo. Porcelana imperial china de las colecciones Baur de Ginebra” and includes pieces such as teacups, jugs, vases and pots to clean paint brushes in. According to the chief curator of the Barcelona Ceramics Museum, Toni Casanovas, and Monique Crick, director of the Baur-Museum of Far Eastern Art in Geneva, the exhibition shows how “porcelain objects are just as important as paintings and sculptures” to the chinese. The pieces were collected by Swiss merchant Alfred Baur between 1907 and 1947 and the exhibition runs until January 31st.
September 28th, 2009
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So we all know that Britain is an amazing place to visit, right? Well I read today that Virgin Atlantic and VisitBritain have been trying to reinforce this idea further by holding a special event at Boylston Plaza. To encourage more Americans to visit Britain they have erected famous British icons such as red telephone boxes and monarchs such as Henry VIII around Boylston Plaza. There was even British food on offer! I bet the ex-pats loved it! And all this effort just to encourage more people to visit Britain due to the favourable exchange rate. They even had the mandatory cheesy slogan; ‘get more Britain for your buck‘. This sounds like one publicity I would have loved to have seen!!
August 6th, 2009
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All of you regular readers have probably twigged by now that I’m a huge fan of anything eco-friendly. So I was quite interested when I read about a new website offering eco-friendly luxury retreats. Eco Luxury is a collaboration of environmentally friendly retreats across the world “who are committed to reduce their impact on nature, on surrounding people and culture preservation, the re-investment in training and focus on local procurement whilst offering the HIGHEST level of luxury in hospitality”. They have projects in Australia, Belize and Tanzania, to name just a few. So I had a look at their website with their mission and vision etc etc and it all looks good. And then I had a look at the accommodation……. luxury tents. Now I don’t mind a bit of camping every now and then, but when it comes to luxury, the last thing I think of is a tent. Maybe I am just a snob, but if I’m going on holiday to a luxury resort, I don’t want to stay in a tent. A nice wooden cabin, yes. Tent, no. So if there any of you out there who can afford to stay in a luxury tent, this sounds like the best place to book your eco-friendly holiday!
August 3rd, 2009
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With Eta’s recent attack on the holiday island of Majorca, tourists are more worried than ever of the potential threat of terrorists to their holidays. Normally when booking a holiday to Spain, very few people consider the possibility of being targeted by Eta. And they should have no need to. It is a sad fact that, even though the Basque Country has more autonomy than any other area of Europe, Eta is still willing to kill hundreds of innocent people in it’s campaign for independence from Spain. However, this threat must not stop people from visiting Spain and its islands, or we are allowing Eta to win. We need to take a leaf out of King Juan Carlos of Spain’s book and still go on our holiday to Majorca, or any of the other Spanish islands. If fewer people visit Spain then there will be less tourism resulting in less money for the economy. And it clear from history that economic turmoil and revolution go hand-in-hand.
July 30th, 2009
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So far, I have seen University library staff advertising their Facebook profiles on library websites, I discovered yesterday that my Auntie has Facebook (which I find weird) and now comes the news that the New Hampshire Division of Travel and Tourism has created a page on Facebook called “VisitNH”. Now maybe I’m just being mean, but I find the idea of librarians, aunties and tourism departments on Facebook slightly horrifying. Ok maybe not horrifying, but definitely unnerving. As Facebook is supposed to be a ’social networking site’, should tourism departments be allowed to advertise on there? The page may look like it was set-up to allow Facebook users to become fans of New Hampshire, but when it pops up in your news feed saying that your friend has become a ‘fan’ of “VisitNH” then it is essentially free advertising. And if I’m blogging about it, then you can be sure that there are other people also talking about it. Now I don’t mind people becoming a fan of Marmite (I certainly am), or Bon Jovi, or some other cultural phenomenon, but New Hampshire? I also wouldn’t mind so much if it was some crazy New Hampshire obsessed person who set the page up. I think it’s basically the fact that some governmental big wig thought ‘I know what we’ll do to increase tourism, we’ll make a facebook page’. It just seems wrong.
