Travel News Monkey

The strike by flight attendants at Heathrow has been averted and in the nick of time too. British Airways, which had cancelled 1,300 flights as a precaution, states that all long-route flights will be restored.

The good news for the cabin crew is that their pay is going to rise by 4.6% in this year. The strike was to be held in protest against the reduction in the number of sick leaves and also downsizing the attendant staff. These measures would have saved the airlines 50 million pounds. The news of the strike being cancelled had a positive effect on the value of shares held by British Airways, which rose 2.8% and touched 542 pence.

Jetset Travelworld Group agents can win a European-styled VMoto Montego Scooter by booking tickets of Singapore Airlines’ “Europe Earlybird” fare. The offer is open till 23^rd February 2007. Other prizes include 58-cm LCD TVs and $25 David Jones vouchers. Read more.

Extreme winter conditions in Europe made themselves felt for the first time in 2007. Parts of Germany, Austria, Britain, France, Spain, Switzerland and the Czech Republic reported heavy snowfall which led to chaotic traffic conditions but at the same time gave winter tourism managers something to cheer about. Read more.

TripAdvisor, a popular travel forum with more than four million members has stated that when in Scotland travellers would do well to give Bread and Breakfast establishments a try over hotels as Scotland has some of the world’s best B&Bs. Four out of the top ten B&Bs in Europe are located in Scotland. One is located in Inverness and three are in Edinburgh.

Trafford Bank in Inverness has attracted adjectives such as “Sumptuous” and “Magnificent”. Rooms at this B&B have sherry decanters and iPod docking stations for the convenience of the guests.

TripAdvisor arrived at its list based on ratings given by travellers, its own popularity index and an algorithm which determines traveller satisfaction based on a combination of factors. The charms of B&Bs lie in the individualistic touch that owners can provide so that visitors can get the comfort of hotels and the soul of a more homely establishment. According to VisitScotland, B&B establishments and guest houses make up 60% of the online bookings made by travellers. This indicates that these accommodation alternatives are an important factor in the running of small tourism operations. Read more

The UK hotel industry had a good 2006 in which the revenue per available room (revPAR) showed an impressive 4.4% growth with London leading the way with a phenomenal 16.8% growth. The information is a result of the HotelBenchmark Survey by Deloitte.

This is the third consecutive year in which the UK market has registered growth and is noteworthy for that fact that in 2006 the industry bounced back from the lull in tourism in 2005 because of the bombings. The revPAR for London is £96 followed by Edinburgh which has a revPAR of £67. Aberdeen and Belfast recorded the highest rate of growth in the hotel industry after London.

Nottingham returned the poorest figures with a 5.2% decline in the revPAR. Other poor performers included Sheffield, Leeds, and York.

EnCirca has announced that three million travel destinations which include cities, towns, historic sites, and other landmarks are now available for immediate registration. Till very recently, only government and tourism boards could register .travel domain names. However, now any travel-related company can register these names which are available on a first-come first-served basis. Country-specific domain names in the .travel category are still the preserve of national governments.