We’ve done all the hard work, so you don’t have to! Read on for the top ten travel stories you need to know today.
1. What could make flying easier? Ice cream
I scream, you scream we all scream for ice cream on planes!
They said it, but you know we were all thinking it – flying would be sooooo much better if airlines served ice cream.
A new study commissied by Geckos Adventures found travellers believe air travel would be made exponentially better with ice cream.
It may seem small [and a little childish to some], but an icy, chocolaty treat mid-flight would lift people’s spirits [mostly because of the serotonin it releases in the brain] and make them a whole lot keener to fly.
2. Australia’s top cruise agents
They’re among the best cruise sellers in Australia and they may very well walk away with the industry’s version of an ‘Oscar’ at this year’s Cruise Industry Awards.
Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Australasia has announced the finalists for the 2014 Cruise Industry Awards, which is set to be the biggest on record.
This year the event held on 28 February will distribute 19 awards across nine categories to the best cruise special agents from Australia and New Zealand.
3. INCENTIVE WINNERS! Find out who is going on a United holiday
Image: lassedesignen/Shutterstock
Ten travel agents are packing up and heading to the US after winning United Airlines’ Melbourne-Los Angeles incentive.
Organised in partnership with the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board, travel agents who booked United flights between Australia and Los Angeles as well as participating hotels in the Los Angeles area went in the running to win a three-night stay in Hollywood, with tickets to a NBA Lakers Game, a tour of the local bar and nightlife and a trip to Universal Studios Hollywood.
The 10 lucky winners are Tracie Pascoe – Escape Travel Stock Exchange Melbourne; Lisa Mccracken – Travel on Crown Wollongong; Yvonne Lennard – Toorak Travel; Lisa Chew – STA Travel UNSW, Kensington; Bronwen Simpson – Hills Travel Centre Kings Langley; Gabrielle Patten – Flight Centre Templestowe; Michelle Nagy– Flight Centre Bondi Junction; Stephanie Eichler – Flight Centre Waurn Ponds; Yehudis Jager – FBI Travel; and Gabrielle Hall – Travel Beyond.
4. India tourism spikes thanks to visas on arrival
The Indian government’s new visa on arrival scheme is paying off, with arrivals in December climbing 421.6 percent compared to December 2013.
Around 14,083 visas were issued during the month, up from 2,700, The Times of India reported.
The majority of tourist influx came from the US – 24.26 percent, followed by Russia – 15.06 percent and Republic of Korea – 11 percent. Australia was the fourth largest market, making up 7.98 percent of total arrivals.
Visa on arrivals launched in November and was make applicable to 43 countries such as Australia, the US, Brazil and Germany.
They work by applying online and picking up the visa upon arrival.
5. New Zealand steering travellers with new website
New Zealand’s tourism leaders have launched a new website, designed to give visitors the information they need to enjoy a safe driving holiday.
DriveSafe.org.nz provides basic information about New Zealand road rules and etiquette, along with links to more details about everything that drivers unfamiliar with our roads need to know. It offers valuable guidance to visiting drivers at three key stages of their trip – before they arrive, when they pick up their rental vehicle and during their journey around New Zealand.
Tourism Industry Association New Zealand (TIA) chief executive Chris Roberts said travellers need to be aware that the country’s roads and driving conditions can be ‘quite different’ from what they’re use to at home.
“Nationally, visiting drivers are involved in only a small proportion of crashes, but we want to do all we can to keep them safe and ensure they remember their trip for the right reasons.”
Chris Roberts. Tourism Industry Association New Zealand (TIA) chief executive
Tips on the website include not getting behind the wheel until they have rested and highlighting the fact that driving in New Zealand can often take longer than expected due to our narrow and winding roads.
There are also links to the New Zealand Road Code and suggested itineraries. It has been translated into Mandarin and German. Translations into more languages are planned.
6. Sneak peek: Celebrity’s ‘Suite Class’ restaurant
Celebrity Cruises is adding a little more exclusivity for its high-end guests – a new Suite Class only restaurant called ‘Luminae’.
Debuting in April aboard its 11 ships, the venue will only be available to guests travelling in one of the line’s suites and features one-of-a-king menus for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Created by a team of chefs, the menu, each menu will only be featured once during a two-week cruise holiday.
Among the dishes guests can expect are caviar and crème fraîche, a creamy black truffle risotto with fricassee of wild mushrooms and Parmigiano-Reggiano and a côte de bœuf with roasted root vegetables and béarnaise sauce.
There’ll also be handcrafted desserts such as mascarpone cheesecake and pistachio nougatine with yuzu brown butter and apricot sorbet
“Every menu has been precisely designed with our guests’ varied palates in mind, and we hope they will love our informal, luxury dining experience.”
John Suley, Celebrity Cruises executive chef
Late last year, Celebrity Cruises announced it is expanding its fleet with two new ships.
The two ships will carry 2,900 guests, weigh around 117,000-gross-tonnage and be 984 feet long.
7. Ecruising’s quinceañera celebrations
Online cruise distributor ecruising.travel celebrated a major milestone this week – 15 years of selling and booking cruise holidays to Aussie travellers.
15th celebrations were held at the Sheraton on the Park in Sydney, where staff, clients and other industry colleagues were invited to wish the company a happy birthday.
The company’s founder and chairman, Brett Dudley said he believes the company’s popularity amongst Australian cruisers is due to his philosophy that specialising in something is better than trying to cover a range of products.
8. Bonjour TravelManagers
Image: Alex Brown
More than 55 personal travel managers seized the opportunity to brush up on their knowledge of France as a travel destination, at the French Travel Workshops held recently in Sydney and Melbourne.
Hosted by the French national tourist office Atout France every second year, these workshops bring together representatives from many of France’s major accommodation groups, tourism offices, tour operators and wholesalers, giving attendees the chance to develop strong relationships with their suppliers and learn about regions of France with which they were not previously familiar.
Each Workshop also offered the opportunity for attendees to participate in a 30-minute seminar on Monaco, offering the best-kept secrets of this principality.
TravelManagers representative for Roselands New South Wales, Aliki Iosifidis said the evening was beneficial because it dispelled generalisations of Monaco as an expensive destination.
“I always had this 007 approach to Monaco and thought it was only for the rich and famous. This seminar made me realise how affordable it is with initiatives implemented to promote it to various demographics.”
Aliki Iosifidis, TravelManager
France is a popular destination amongst Aussies, welcoming around one million Australians in 2012.
Over the past few weeks, the country’s capital Paris has experienced a dip in travellers following religious shootings that saw 17 people and three gunmen killed.
Tourism leaders will set off on a world tour to reassure travellers and agents the destination is ‘safe and open for business’.
The tour starts in February with the UK.
9. Where the condoms at?
Sex and cruising, the two go together like peanut butter and jelly. It sounds wrong but it is enjoyed by many.
You’re trapped on a vessel with thousands of other people for around two weeks.
Not to mention, the majority of your trip is spent in your swim suit by the pool, where there are a number of other half naked people are also laying around absorbing vitamin D.
There’s bound to be a little ‘naughtiness’ going on.
10. Ryanair fined $800K for bad service
If we knew we could sue people for bad service we’d be millionaires by now.
The budget airline has been fined around $824,958 by Italy’s antitrust body for operating customer service lines with expensive charges.
The Italian investigation, which launched in June 2014 also found passengers’ problems were rarely resolved, News.com.au reported.
Antitrust body AGM said most complaints came from people who found it difficult and expensive to obtain reimbursement or book alternative flights.
Customers also said it was difficult to change bookings prior to a flight or obtain information about special arrangements.
The low-cost carrier was given 90 days to end the expensive service fees and work with customers to resolve their issues.
The Italian group did acknowledge Ryanair’s attempt to deal with the situation by removing a premium phone number for passenger requiring assistance with boarding and introducing an online chat.
However, the body said the move wasn’t enough to avoid the fine.
Ryanair is now looking to fight the fine.
“We note the ruling and have instructed our lawyers to appeal.”
Ryanair statement