Give a little it'll mean a lot

ACACIA Africa is asking all of its travellers who are finishing their tour in Cape Town to open their hearts and their backpacks and consider donating to SAVE. The SAVE Foundation is a registered non-profit organisation that works to enrich, educate, and empower various township and settlement communities, every donation going to families affected by the shack fires in the Dunoon and Morning Star housing areas on the outskirts of South Africa's Mother City.

Sabine Behrmann, Cape Town Manager, at Acacia Africa, comments, “So far we have donated 20 camping mattresses, in excess of 30 pillows and an assortment of kitchen equipment including pots, utensils, serving bowls. Our tour leaders let clients on our southbound tours finishing in #CapeTown know that if they wish to donate their sleeping bags, pillows or other personal items (clothes, flash lights, books etc) they should simply leave them on the truck after checking into the lodge in Cape Town. We then pass them on to the SAVE Foundation who see that these items get to the needy."

While there's no better time to put the word out, the fires are frequent, so Acacia #Africa is hoping travellers will continue to give what they can over the festive season and beyond.

Sabine Behrmann, comments, "These families are often left with nothing at all so every donation goes a long way to helping them get back on their feet, and no matter how small, travellers will be making a very real impact on these people's lives."


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Solo Travel: not for us

DESPITE much buzz around the solo travel trend, 30.4 percent of Americans say they have never traveled alone. And those who have are more than five times as likely to travel domestically than internationally, according to a new survey conducted by Allianz Global Assistance.

Women are ten percent less likely to travel alone than men, with 35.2 percent noting they have never traveled alone, compared to 25.2 percent of men.

Gender also appears to impact solo travelers' perception of safety, with 76.6 percent of men saying they have never felt unsafe while traveling alone, while 60.3 percent of women say the same.

Solo male travelers seem more susceptible to theft, with almost ten percent (9.7 percent) reporting having been mugged or pickpocketed (versus 6.1 percent of women).

The next most pressing concerns for male travelers include: violence/terrorism (17.8 percent), a natural disaster (17.8 percent), being out after dark (14.8 percent), riding public transportation (10 percent), security/safety of drivers (6.9 percent) and visiting a restaurant/bar (also 6.9 percent).

Being out after dark is the second most concern for women (26.3 percent), followed by violence/terrorism (15.7 percent), natural disaster (9.6 percent percent) riding public transportation (9.4 percent), security/safety of drivers (7.8 percent) and visiting a restaurant/bar (3.7 percent).


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New tourism campaign for Honduras

THE Honduras Institute of Tourism (IHT) announced today its newest tourism campaign that showcases the broad diversity of the country and all it offers international tourists to discover. 

Featuring a two-minute video that takes travelers on a journey to Honduras' most beautiful treasures, the digital campaign, "You Can't Leave Honduras Without Really Knowing Honduras" intends to elevate brand awareness and educate potential travelers of the many curated experiences they can discover in the country.

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Visa related reforms welcomed for South Africa

A number of visa-related reforms which will make it easier for tourists, business people and academia to come to South Africa have recently been announced.

“It was agreed by Cabinet that visa requirements should be simplified for China and India. On 1 October 2018, #SouthAfrica will therefore implement an agreement on simplification of visa requirements with China in order to attract larger numbers of tourists, business people and family members from this country.” stated Minister Hanekom, The Minister of Home Affairs.

He also announced that negotiations for Visa Waiver Agreements are being finalised with a number of countries. These are mainly in Africa and the Middle East and include Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, São Tomé and Príncipe, Tunisia, Saharawi-Arab Democratic Republic, Ghana, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, State of Palestine, Iran, Lebanon, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Belarus, Georgia, and Cuba.

The move towards an e-visa system is at an advanced stage and it will be piloted in New Zealand by April 2019. This will significantly enhance efficiency in the issuing of visas to tourists and business people visiting South Africa. The New Zealand pilot will enable government to improve on any challenges so that it can be rolled out to other countries.

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The Quest for the right traveller

POPULAR European cities are wooing more upmarket, niche and cultured travellers – and fewer mass-market tourists, according to the new report “Megatrends Shaping the Future of Travel” from global market research provider, Euromonitor International unveiled at World Travel Market London.

Euromonitor International’s new study reveals the tourist boards of many European destinations are on a “quest for the right traveller”, amid media headlines about overtourism.

Euromonitor International’s research team also predicts a ripple effect across the continent when the UK leaves the European Union in March 2019, as the outbound British travel market will be affected by the outcome of trade talks.

The Euromonitor International research found that Europe’s tourism industry has proved remarkably resilient, despite economic and political turmoil, the migrant crisis, and terrorist attacks over recent years.  As well as a shift away from the mass market, Euromonitor International identified a trend towards being “respectful of local cultures and residents”.

It cites the case study of Amsterdam which is trying to shed its party destination image and is piloting several initiatives to minimise the negative impacts of tourism and events on local residents.


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Aussies miss their pets more than their family when travelling

JETSTAR has today released the results of its inaugural “Global Travel Survey”, with almost 30,000 travellers sharing their quirky holiday behaviours. Jetstar customers from destinations across the airline’s network including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore, Greater China and Vietnam took part in the research, responding to a series of holiday-related questions ranging from pet peeves to travel etiquette.

Key findings revealed that a quarter of Australians miss their pets most when travelling, more than 80 per cent prioritise packing a phone over a book, and more than one third say that a person using both armrests is the most annoying behaviour experienced when sitting next to a fellow traveller. Jetstar Chief Customer Officer, Catriona Larritt, said the Global Travel Survey has uncovered insightful information regarding Jetstar customers’ travel behaviours and preferences.

• One in four Australians misses their family pet more than anything when on holidays. This answer was unique to Australians, with every other country agreeing that it’s their family they miss most. 
• Only 9% of Aussies said they’d miss their kids most while on holidays and similarly, only 9% said that their dream holiday involved travelling with their little ones. Perhaps unsurprisingly, most Aussies say they don’t miss anyone at all (32%) while they are enjoying their holidays. 
• Aussies are romantic, with 57% choosing to travel with their partner on their dream holiday, rather than travelling on their own (7%). This was in contrast to Japanese travellers, a large portion of who say they would prefer to fly solo on their dream trip (28%). 
•  The top tip for plane etiquette is to never use both arm rests. A massive 39% of Australian respondents said that this was the most frustrating behavior their neighbour could display, followed by the person who talks to you the entire journey; 19% of Aussies would prefer that chatty passengers keep quiet.  

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Conde Nast unveils Readers Choice winners

THE winners of Condé Nast Traveler 31st annual Readers' Choice Awards have been unveiled, ranking the best hotels, resorts, cities, islands, airlines, airports, and cruise lines in the world. The Readers' Choice Awards are the longest-running and most prestigious recognition of excellence in the travel industry. A recording-breaking number of responses from nearly half a million readers who rated their travel experiences to provide a full snapshot of where and how we travel today.

The 2018 results are all about comfort. Readers stayed closer to home than ever before, pushing more cities like Chicago, Charleston, and Nashville to the top of our lists. They favored the Caribbean and domestic islands in the southeast, like Hilton Head, Amelia, and Kiawah. The properties that impressed them most were smaller and less flashy than in years past, and our small-cruise-ship list is longer than it's ever been, suggesting that the right kind of less is more. The world has changed in ways no one could have predicted, and so it stands to reason that how we get away from it all would, too.

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U.S. tops list for Australian Travellers

AUSTRALIANS are planning trips to the Americas, with the United States and Canada ranking high on the list of preferred destinations for the upcoming 2018 holiday season according to global luxury travel network Virtuoso. Known as a leading trend forecaster in the industry, Virtuoso has surveyed its 1,400 Australian travel advisors to uncover expert insights into luxury holiday trends and the preferences of their elite clientele. 

Top International Destinations 

• United States 

• Canada /Italy (tie) 

• Japan 

• France 

• New Zealand

Top Unusual/Surprising Destinations 

• Iceland 

• Bhutan 

• Mongolia 

• Sri Lanka 

• Antarctica

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Travellers bound for Abu Dhabi

THE latest figures from Abu Dhabi show the number of hotel guests staying in the emirate during June rose by six per cent compared to the same month a year ago.  The UK posted a 14.5 per cent increase for the month, and a 12.9 per cent increase for the first six months of 2018.

In total 339,592 visitors were guests of Abu Dhabi’s 162 hotels and hotel apartments during June, an increase of more than 19,000 over the previous year.

For the first six months of 2018, the figures show #AbuDhabi upping the total number of hotel guests to the emirate by five per cent on the year, with 2,413,230 guests in total arriving.


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Most annoying travel habits

WITH the summer holiday season in full swing, Agoda, one of the fastest growing online travel agents (OTA), has been asking travelers what they think are the most annoying travel habits. 

Noisy travelers (57%), travelers glued to their devices (47%), and those insensitive to cultural nuances (46%) topped the most annoying habits of fellow travelers according to Agoda's global 'Annoying Travel Habits' survey. Mass tour groups and selfie-takers, cited by 36% and 21% respectively, completed the top five irritants.




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Travel Japan with a local

TRIPFRIENDS, an SNS application dedicated to introducing tour guides to tourists, which the company SeaCalls has developed based on the concept that "Traveling alone is no longer lonely."

Tripfriends, fully compatible with Android and iOS, attracts many keen travelers, helping them find nice food at places visited, experience Japan's culture and look for partners to enjoy various activities.

Tripfriends is recommended to people who would say:

I like traveling alone but would sometimes like somebody's company
I want to interact with locals
I want more people to know about my town
I want a social networking site where users love traveling
I want to make an album of my travel memories and share it with my friends
I love hanging out with people more than anything

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Tokyo Metro Opens New Tourist Information Center

A new tourist information center has opened in #Tokyo station to assist international travelers. This is the fifth tourist information center Tokyo Metro has opened with the other five being located in Ueno, Ginza, Shinjuku, Omotesando, and Shibuya stations. 

The newest information center will keep 9:00 am – 5:00 pm hours 365 days a year to serve traveling tourists in need and will be located near the central ticketing gate of the Marunouchi line. 

In addition to offering transportation information and Tokyo Metro tickets, the information desk will also provide information on facilities around Tokyo station as well as sightseeing spots, and hotels in the area.

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Most popular European destinations for American travellers

LONDON and Paris continue to be the most popular European destinations for American travelers this summer, but the remaining spots on the Top 20 list saw significant movement from 2017, according to an analysis by Allianz Global Assistance. This year, Reykjavik, Iceland jumped from 17th to third, Barcelona, Spain slipped from fifth to seventh and Nice, France cracked the Top 20 for the first time to come in at 11th.

American travellers visiting Reykjavik has grown significantly in the last few years. Ranked 28th in 2015, the destination cracked the top 20 in 2016 and 2017.Thanks in part to increased direct airlift from the U.S. to the island nation, Iceland's otherworldly landscapes and colorful city homes have been trending on social media in recent years. Despite talk of over-tourism and discussion to potentially limit the number of annual visitors to the country, Reykjavik's popularity continues to rise this summer.

Barcelona's fall in rankings from fifth in 2016 and 2017 to seventh in 2018, may have been caused by several recent incidents. In the last year, Barcelona experienced a terrorist attack in the popular Las Ramblas area; political turmoil as Catalonia attempted to cede from Spain; and organized street protests in Barcelona.

Nice lands on the list for the first time, this suggests that American perception of the city's safety has recovered from the 2016 terrorist truck attack during the city's Bastille Day celebration.

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Record numbers blow into the windy city in 2017

VISITORS to the city of #Chicago in 2017 reached 55.2 million – a new record and 2.5 percent increase over the previous year. The increase of 1.4 million reaches the Mayor’s ambitious goal of 55 million visitors annually – two years early.

2017 marked another major increase in leisure visitors to the city as Chicago hotels reported an overall annual increase of 6.3 percent. This increase of the leisure segment was particularly strong in the key summer months as hotels reported an increase of 7.4 percent during the four-month period June through September – more than double the growth of the previous summer. Overall, Chicago hotel demand in terms of rooms occupied grew 3.3 percent in 2017.

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Creatures of habit

BRITS are creatures of habits when they travel, a study has found. Almost half of travellers admit they always go through the same habits and rituals to ensure their journey and holiday goes to plan.

Fliers also follow the same routines when it comes to the time they arrive at the airport, the food and drink they consume and even going to the toilet before boarding. It also emerged that 72 per cent of Brits believe they are an organised traveller, while 20 per cent admit that although they usually get everywhere on time, and with everything they need, it is a little haphazard.

Researchers also found many travellers follow a set routine when boarding the plane with 52 per cent always going to the toilet beforehand, even if they don’t need to.

Half of British fliers will head to the gate as soon as it is announced, while 40 per cent will hold back to miss the rush, without leaving it until the last minute.

A daring one in twenty admit they won’t make a move to the gate until the ‘final call’ message is flashing up on screens.

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Up in the air . . .

JAPANESE travellers are being enticed Down Under with Singapore Airlines and its subsidiaries SilkAir and Scoot, to nine Australian gateways.

The promotion offers passengers special airfare as well as either complimentary access to the Ambassador Transit Lounge or a night’s accommodation in Singapore during their stopover.

The campaign, which includes online advertising and email promotions to direct people to offers on Singapore Airlines’ website and Australia.com, is also targeting people in the Hiroshima prefecture with SilkAir’s new service via Singapore.

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Golden era of air travel to make a revival at Sydney Airport

FELIX Hotel by 8Hotels, is about to turn Sydney airport accommodation upside down. From the moment you walk in and make your way to the Penthouse for check in you know you are somewhere unique. This brand new 150 bedroom boutique hotel is helping to relive the golden era of air travel. It has been designed to capture a modern urban aesthetic, with a 1960s twist. 

Launching in early 2018, Felix Hotel is located within a 2-minute drive from Sydney Domestic Airport and 10 minutes’ drive from the international terminal. 

Designed with the digital nomad in mind, the hotel has self-check in kiosks and a 24hr food shop, with locally sourced gourmet food and drink options that can be charged back to your room with the swipe of your key. The high flying theme runs throughout the hotel from room types; first class, business, premium economy and economy, through to conference rooms, Boeing and Airbus. Guests will enjoy the step back in time, with all the conveniences of the most modern of hotel, with a hip inner-city vibe at an affordable price.

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British Airways invests

BRITISH Airways has revamped its flagship Concorde Room at Heathrow Terminal 5, taking inspiration from the very best of British Design. The refurbishment to the airline’s exclusive lounge included re-upholstering iconic pieces of furniture, and adding new feature pieces to the room, all of which are illuminated by handblown glass lighting with bone linen shades and ochre silk linings. 

The terrace, which is so popular with travellers thanks to its position overlooking the runway, features luxurious sofas and new elegant loungers. Mobile phone chargers are also on hand for travellers to ensure their devices are fully charged before they fly. Carolina Martinoli, British Airways’ director of brand and customer experience, said: “In recent years we’ve invested in our lounges, including new ones in Boston and Gatwick South Terminal and revamped spaces in Edinburgh, Cape Town, Amsterdam, Belfast, Washington, Singapore and Dubai.

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Conde Nast scores Tokyo as #1 top large city in the world

Condé Nast Traveler today announced the results of its 30th annual Readers' Choice Awards with #Tokyo recognized as the #1 top large city in the world, with a score of 91.35, and #Kyoto recognized as the #3 top large city in the world, with a score of 88.98.

"This recognition from Condé Nast's readership is a testament to the growing North American passion for Japanese destinations," stated Ken Iwata, JNTO New York's Executive Director. "JNTO will continue and further its effort to inspire people to visit Japan, including hidden gems of less-traveled areas such as Setouchi."

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Eurostar tempting Australian travellers and travel agents

EUROSTAR is tempting travellers with an ‘Early Bird Savings’ promotion that slashes 20 percent off the cost of selected tickets while also rewarding travel agents with a $50 Coles Group & Myer gift card for every $1000 worth of #Eurostar fares booked during the sale period. 

The 20 percent reduction applies to Standard Premier (First Class) and Youth (Second Class) fares booked between 3 October and 10 November 2017. The discounted tickets are valid for travel between London, Paris and Brussels from 2 November 2017 until 21 August 2018. 

The Early Bird fares – available through Rail Plus, Rail Tickets and Infinity Rail – are exchangeable with a fee, but are non-refundable and non-transferable.

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Picture Credit: Planet Blue Adventure 49548826@N02/36860072242 London & Eurostar views via photopin