If you are planning to travel to Saudi Arabia in the coming months, then good news for getting around. Saudi Arabia's first low-cost airline Sama plans to start flights within months. Sama will begin serving Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah, carrying frequent travellers and pilgrims. Another Saudi firm, National Air Services (NAS), said last year it would launch a low-cost airline and was negotiating with European plane maker Airbus to buy four A320s. NAS says it will also set up a USD$100 million luxury airline, Al Khayala, to fly between the capital Riyadh and the Red Sea city of Jeddah, but has not said when either airline will start.
All posts by The Beetle
Travel Tip
A travel tip from Stanley in the US via Mac: it is a good idea to only take new dollar bills etc and then iron them (make sure iron is not too hot) so they will not be too winkled. Some countries will not take old or tattered bills. To my surprise I ran into this in Northern Thailand out in the boon docks.
Travel Facts
Travel Facts
- Kazakhstan is the world's largest landlocked country.
- Sri Lanka has lowest divorce rate in the world – and the highest rate of female suicide.
- Australians have a huge 380,000 sq m of land per person – and yet 91% live in urban areas.
- Nearly a quarter of people in Monaco are over 65.
- Americans have the world's highest marriage rates, divorce rates, teenage pregnancies and one person households.
- There are three persons living per room in Pakistan.
- Elderly Dutch and Swedish are the most likely to live in old-age homes. Elderly Japanese are the most likely to live with their children.
- Andorra has no unemployment, which is just as well because they have no broadcast TV channels either.
- China has the most workers, so it's a good thing they've also got the most TV's.
- Indians go out to the movies 3 billion times a year.
Source: http://www.nationmaster.com
Glasgow: Scotland With Style by Charlie Taylor
Last year, in 2005, readers of Conde Nast Traveller magazine – the bible of the travel industry – have recently voted Glasgow as second only to London as a UK tourist destination. It was the 18th most popular city in the world for city breaks in 2003 with 3. 2 million visitors. It was also voted second only to London for its food scene. And, being a resident of this great city, it’s easy to see why Glasgow is so popular. Here’s Charlie’s internet guide of things to do and see whilst in Glasgow.
City of Culture in 1990: virtual tour of his surviving works. Glasgow is a fabulous place for retail therapy and has the glitziest and most stylish of shops, all contained within the city centre.
Glasgow International Airport is on the city doorstep – literally 10 minutes away from the centre, Glasgow West End, centred around Byres Road, is the place to be for small cafes, bars, delicatessens and interesting restaurants. This is where the celebs live! http://www.cnag.org.uk/ggc.htm
The home of Billy Connolly, Glaswegians have a style of humour all their own. It is born out of their tough, industrial history but lives on in what has become a sophisticated, vibrant city one bedroom apartment in the city centre available for short breaks He is also part of Highland Country Weddings Ltd, a Scotland based weddings agency. For free discussion about your own wedding plans and free, no obligation quote, go to http://www. highlandcountryweddings.co.uk/
Being Careful: Eritrea
The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office advise against all but essential travel to Eritrea. We advise against all travel to the border areas with Ethiopia and Sudan. In recent weeks, restrictions placed on the UN Monitoring force by the Government of Eritrea have further heightened tensions along the Ethiopia/Eritrea border. This advice includes Tesseney, near the Sudan border. We also advise against travel in the area north of Afabet in the Sahel region and along one road in the west of the country (see Local Travel Section below for details).
In November 2005, UN agencies in Eritrea withdrew families of their personnel in response to increased tension between Ethiopia and Eritrea over their disputed border. On 6 December 2005, the Government of Eritrea told UN Mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) staff from USA, Canada, Europe and the Russian Federation to leave the Mission within 10 days. The relocation of these personnel to Ethiopia is now complete.
You should be aware that there is a continuing threat to Western, including British, targets from terrorism in Eritrea as there is in other countries in East Africa and the Horn.
You should be aware that travel restrictions may limit our ability to offer immediate consular assistance outside Asmara, Keren, Dekemhare, Mendeferra and Massawa.
Travel options to and from Asmara are limited following the cancellation of scheduled flights between Asmara and Nairobi.
HK Low Cost Long Haul Carrier
Oasis Hong Kong Airlines, a new start up company aims to be a low cost carrier but operate long haul routes. They plan to make their maiden flight from Hong Kong to London’s Gatwick Airport in June 2006 as Hong Kong’s first low-fare carrier.
Oasis aims to price round-trip tickets starting as low as HKD$1,000 (USD$128), although customers looking for such a bargain would have to book months in advance, said Oasis Chief Executive Stephan Miller, a founder and former chief executive of the city’s second largest airline, Dragonair. Oasis will not be alone. Qantas’ Jetstar arm and Viva Macau also hope to launch low-cost long-haul flights.
Malaysian Big Foot
The government of the Malaysian state of Johor says it is to organise an attempt to track down a legendary ape man said to roam its jungles. There have been a spate of sightings of Big Foot, known in local legend as Hantu Jarang Gigi – ghosts with widely spaced teeth. Last November three fishery workers claimed to have seen a Big Foot family that left footprints up to 45cm long. Conservationists say that damage to branches suggested that the creatures could have been up to 3m tall. There were similar sightings by members of the local indigenous minority who said they had seen a ‘King Kong’ covered in black fur. Now, the chief minister of Johor, Abdul Ghani Othman, says a proper scientific expedition will track Big Foot’s big foot-prints.
Survey Corner: Top Hotel in the World
Institutional Investor magazine’s recently ran its 25th annual survey of its wealthy readers. The St. Regis Hotel in New York was ranked first among the world’s top hotels by Institutional Investor magazine. Survey respondents had average annual incomes of $817,000 and spent an average of 62 nights in a hotel last year, the magazine said.
Following the St. Regis in descending rank were: Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme; Mandarin Oriental, New York; Four Seasons Milan; Four Seasons Singapore; Four Seasons George V, Paris; Mandarin Oriental, San Francisco; Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore; Peninsula Hong Kong and Four Seasons, Chicago.
World Tourism
The World Tourism Organisation announced last month that the number of tourists around the globe should climb by 4 to 5 percent in 2006 and that tourism grew strongly in 2005 year despite natural disasters and attacks.
World tourism as measured by international arrivals, rose 5. 5 percent in 2005 to a record 808 million arrivals though the pace of growth had slowed sharply from the 10 percent rise in 2004. “Gradually slowing growth is expected to continue,” the World Tourism Organisation said in a statement and that growth was likely to stay above the long-term average of 4. 1 percent thanks to a more robust global economy and an improved outlook in Europe, particularly Germany, one of the biggest groups of global tourists.
The WTO said that terrorism, the effect high energy prices could have on the economy and bird flu could yet threaten tourism. “However, experience shows that (terrorism’s) impact lately has been rather limited and short-lived. Travellers overall have assumed the risk and have been undeterred by external threats. ”
So where is tourism growing the fastest? The answer appears to lie in Africa, up by 10 percent, led by Sub-Saharan countries such as Kenya with a 26 percent rise in arrivals in the first 10 months of the year and Mozambique with 37 percent more visitors in the first 9 months of the year.
Tourism to Asia and the Pacific grew 7 percent in 2005. Countries directly affected by the tsunami which washed away hotels and beachfronts in late 2004 suffered drops; the Maldives received 39 percent fewer tourists while visitor numbers to Indonesia fell 9 percent. And Sri Lanka reported a drop of just 0. 4 percent but that figure could have been skewed by the arrival of aid workers and Sri Lankan expatriates.
Whilst a string of hurricanes hit the southern United States last year clouded the outlook for the tourist market, optimism was starting to return and despite lengthy airport security procedures cause delays on arriving in the US, the number of visitors to the United States rose 8 percent last year.
Fave Website
Sent in by Francesca: ever fancied climbing Everest? Now there is a company that trains and supports amateurs. Check out about climbing Everest:
http://www. everest2006. co. uk/
Globetrotters Travel Award
A member of Globetrotters Club? Interested in a £1,000 travel award?
Know someone who is? We have £1,000 to award each year for five years for the best submitted independent travel plan. Interested?
Then see our legacy page on our Website, where you can apply with your plans for a totally independent travel trip and we’ll take a look at it. Get those plans in!!