Although the world is currently sat under the germ-infested cloud that is swine flu, it doesn’t appear to be affecting the popularity of the world’s germiest’ tourist attractions. You may well be thinking ‘how on earth can a tourist attraction be germy?’ so let me give you a few examples…. The Blarney Stone in Blarney, Ireland. 400,000 people last year kissed the Blarney Stone, according to the people from Blarney Castle and Gardens. So how many germs will people have passed on to others through kissing the stone? Next example, Market Theater Gum Wall in Seattle, Washington. In a tradition stretching back to 1993, people waiting to see a show in the theater stuck their chewing gum to the wall. The theater did used to clean it but have now given up so that the gum is now several inches thick on the 15 feet high and 50 feet wide wall. And my final example, St. Mark’s Square in Venice, Italy. Each year 2 million tourists visit St. Mark’s Square, rubbing shoulders with thousands of dirty pigeons leaving mess and attacking tourists. Now it’s probably just a case of luck whether you actually catch anything from these tourist attractions, but just keep it in mind the next time you go to touch or kiss something that thousands of people (or pigeons) will have kissed or touched before you!
Swine flu? What swine flu?
July 23rd, 2009 3 comments »Seeing as the world seems to be in panic over swine flu, I thought I had better make some sort of comment on it! News coming out of the international media seems to be that British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have started screening people for symptoms of swine flu and then refusing to allow them to board if they look like they have the virus. As a fairly frequent flier, I find it incredible that the airlines are going to so much trouble and spending time to try and spot people who have swine flu even though the vast majority people who have it, only have mild symptoms and recover within days. From what I have read, it seems to be nicer than the normal flu! But I suppose on the other hand, it is quite unfair on the other passengers, if one passenger on a flight has swine flu and they end up catching it. In order to relieve fear, ABTA has released a statement in which they say that fear of swine flu should not stop people going on holiday, but that also when they go on holiday they should ensure that they have adequate insurance. This is sensible advice, especially when in this financial climate, many economies are relying heavily on tourism. In Greece, the Tourist Development Minister Kostas Markopoulos has called for an end to exaggerated reports of swine flu in the country. He said that “The new flu has not damaged tourism yet, though continuing exaggerations would place Greece in the group of countries with high problem and this would have serious impacts on the tourist industry“. So what seems to be the main message is for people to continue travelling and going on holiday!
To infinity, and beyond…..
July 21st, 2009 No comments »So yesterday was the 40th anniversary of the Moon landing and what better way to celebrate than to speculate on the possibility of space tourism in the near future! According to examiner.com, space tourism is not that far away with space travel already an option for the extremely rich. This is mainly due to the fact that in February 2009, space travel halved in price. There is also the fact that there are already two companies, RocketShip Tours and Virgin Galactic, which are vying for our custom. RocketShip Tours has also teamed up with Ensemble Travel Group, an organisation of almost 500 travel agencies, to promote space travel. While on July 27th 2009, Virgin Galactic will unveil their Mothership “Eve” at the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2009. Although I’m sure space travel will be very popular in the future, I’m not sure I will joining them! What with the lack of oxygen and all…..
Top train ride
July 9th, 2009 1 comment »The Rocky Mountaineer rail journey across Canada has just been named the best train ride in the world. The result comes from a survey of members of the Society of American Travel Writers. Randy Powell, president of Rocky Mountaineer, said “It is truly an honour for our Rocky Mountaineer train to be recognised and singled out as the best in the world by SATW, a prestigious organisation with members who are highly respected for providing expert travel advice”. The Rocky Mountaineer takes passengers through the Canadian Rocky Mountains from Vancouver to Banff or Jasper. Other train rides in the top ten were the Glacier Express in Switzerland, the Peru Rail and the Flying Scotsman. I love trains, so maybe I’ve found my next holiday……
Happy Birthday Virgin Atlantic!
June 22nd, 2009 No comments »Ok so it may not be the most exciting news ever, but today is the 25th anniversary of the first Virgin Atlantic flight way back in 1974. Since then it has become the UK’s 2nd largest long haul airline. To celebrate its anniversary, Virgin Atlantic is recreating its first flight with the aid of Kate Moss and a few other celebrities. The main reason I wanted to write about this, however, is the amazing advertising campaign which Virgin Atlantic launched earlier this year to celebrate. It recreates the atmosphere of a by-gone era so perfectly and with such style that I just felt that I had to write about the festivities. However, some fun-spoilers have accused the company of creating a sexist advert. Seeing as I’m a woman and I don’t take offence, how can it be sexist?
Rap Jumping?
April 30th, 2009 1 comment »If you have never heard of Rap Jumping, you are not alone, neither had I! It is described by Tourism Victoria as ‘forward abseiling with a pulse’, so definitely not for the faint-hearted! Essentially you jump off the side of a 25 metre high building and walk, run or Tarzan-swing down the side of it. Rap Jumping takes place in Melbourne on the Urban Central building in the city centre. It was originally started by Peter Mackail, an ex-SAS soldier, in 1989 after developing the technique in the Army. It costs $65 for 3 jumps and is open everyday (weather permitting). Now as much as I would love to have a go, I’m scared of heights so I’ll let you guys try it out first!
New electronic art hotel in Poland
March 27th, 2009 No comments »This month one of the most unusual hotels in the world opened in Poland. Blow Up Hall 50 50 is a luxury hotel in Poznan, Poland, which is themed around electronic art. It is built around an interactive art project by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, which consists of 2,400 scrambled images of hotel guests doing whatever they’re doing. The hotel has 22 bedrooms and instead of being given a key for your room, you are instead given an iPhone to locate your room (especially handy as none of the rooms have numbers). The action of reserving a room is also unconventional. When you make your reservation you are presented with three colours, three pictures and three numbers. The choices you make, dictate what spirit animal you are and you then booked a room accordingly. Sounds like amazing fun!
New giant solar energy system
February 19th, 2009 1 comment »Yesterday at the Crowne Plaza Alice Springs hotel in Australia, the largest building-mounted solar energy system in the southern hemisphere was switched on. The new energy system costs $3.3 million but will hopefully reduce the hotels energy consumption by 40 to 80 percent, depending on the time of year. Their energy efficiency programme also hopes to cut energy consumption by a further 18 percent. 3110 light bulbs will be replaced with energy efficient options as part of the energy efficiency programme, as well as the replacement of shower heads with new energy efficient ones to save water and gas. The amount of water saved is enough to fill over 30 Olympic swimming pools. The rooftop solar panel system will save the most amount of energy, reducing the hotels annual carbon footprint by 420 tonnes of CO2. I find it commendable that such a high profile hotel chain is doing something to save energy and the planet.
New Legoland hotel!
January 23rd, 2009 No comments »Legoland California has received permission from the City of Carlsbad Planning Commission to build the first Legoland Hotel in the US. However, the owners of Legoland still need permission from Carlsbad City Council and the California Coastal Commission to build the new hotel. This is not the first Legoland Hotel in the world, as there is currently one at Legoland Billund in Denmark. The hotel in Denmark was built in 1991 and has 176 rooms. The new hotel will be built on the carpark next to the entrance to Legoland and aims to turn the park into more than just a one-day attraction. The first phase of construction will contain 175 rooms, a 14,383-square-foot restaurant, 11,051-square-foot retail space, a 6,364-square-foot bar/lounge, an outdoor pool and a water play area. I can’t wait!!
