Michelin updates German guidebook

MICHELIN Green Guide Germany has been revised as a resource for travelers seeking the full range of the country’s cultural experiences. 

Its ninth edition of the guide is now on sale at Barnes & Noble and on Amazon.com.

The guide has driving tours that include illustrated sections on modern #Germany, its history, architecture, and cultures. 

There are also detailed walk-throughs of museums, galleries, and churches.

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Picture Credit: Michelin Green Guide

Flight booking data reveals impact of Tunisia terrorist attack

THE full extent of the slump in flight bookings and cancellations to #Tunisia after two major terrorist attacks this year is revealed in data published by ForwardKeys, which monitors #travel patterns by analyzing 14 million reservation transactions each day. 

The analysis shows that weekly international bookings fell by 44.7% compared with the same period in 2014 following the museum attack in Tunis on March 18. Bookings fell by 42.2% after the beach massacre near Sousse on June 26, which killed 38 tourists including 30 British holidaymakers. 

The attacks prompted a fall in bookings across a range of countries. The most marked slumps were seen in Switzerland, which recorded more cancellations than bookings.

ForwardKeys co-founder and chief executive Olivier Jager, said: ‘Our data shows that international bookings to Tunisia have been under-performing since mid-2014. Obviously the two terrorist attacks in the first half of 2015 have made the situation considerably worse.’

Major operators cancelled programmes to Tunisia for the rest of this year and summer 2016 after the British Government’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office warned against all but essential travel to Tunisia in the wake of the Sousse attack.

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Picture Credit: "Skopje Airport Check-in" by Janicka - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Skopje_Airport_Check-in.jpg#/media/File:Skopje_Airport_Check-in.jpg

Join the dance in Bath

VISITORS to the Jane Austen's Bath exhibition (to October 4) at the Victoria Art Gallery in Bath will be able to see a display of Georgian and Regency dancing – and learn a few steps themselves – this August. 

The Bath Minuet and Jane Austen Dancers will be dancing in period costume at late openings of the exhibition on Thursdays during August. They will also be talking to visitors about the dances, music, and their Georgian and Regency costumes. The Thursday evening openings have been made possible by funding from Arts Council England to the Bath Museums Partnership.

The Bath Minuet Dancers will be in the gallery from 5-7pm on August 6 and 13; and the Jane Austen Dancers on August 20 and 27, also 5-7pm. The groups will perform twice each evening.

The standard entry charge is £3.50 with concessions available, and no booking is required.

The Jane Austen's Bath exhibition features some of the gallery's best watercolours and prints, so visitors can see the city as she saw it on her visits, and as she depicted it in Persuasion and Northanger Abbey.

There is also a programme of talks, tours, and walks.

www.victoriagal.org.uk

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'Magaluf effect' warning for Canary Islands

THE CANARY ISLANDS could succumb to the ‘Magaluf effect’ unless they move away from mass tourism. The warning came from the islands’ new president, Fernando Clavijo. 

He has suggested limiting the number of tourists to #Tenerife and #Lanzarote to preserve its environment and halt the rising number of all-inclusive holidays.

Clavijo told The Times: ‘The pursuit of the largest number of tourists is killing quality in Spain. It is the Magaluf effect. Lots of people come from Britain and what they need is a quality resort. We may need to put limits.’

Of the 11 million tourists who visited the #CanaryIslands last year, almost four million were from the UK, the largest group by nationality. The total number of tourists rose by eight percent from 2013.

Pedro Quevedo, head of tourism in Las Palmas, in Gran Canaria, told the newspaper: ‘We should limit the growth of the industry, ban building in some areas and protect the environment.’

Authorities in the islands have already banned 50,000 private flats being rented to holidaymakers in a bid to control the sector.

Tourism accounts for 30 percent of the islands’ gross domestic product.

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Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/63086259@N00/2527962912">Vista Punta Brava</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">(license)

Ofsted chief calls for increased term time holiday fines

ENGLAND’S Chief Inspector of Schools says parents who take their children out of school to save money on a family holiday should face higher fines.

The current fixed penalty of £60 per parent is not high enough and is much less than the sum a family can save by booking an off-peak holiday during the school year, says Ofsted’s chief inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw.

The fine rises to £120 if not paid within 28 days of the notice being issued. If the penalty is still not paid, parents can be prosecuted and face a higher fine.

‘I would like to see the fines raised,’ Sir Michael told The Sunday Times. ‘We have too many parents taking their children out in term time. I think schools should adopt a hard line and not allow the youngsters out. If parents are behaving irresponsibly, then the state is right to say: “This is wrong and you are being a bad parent.” ’

The penalty was raised from £50 to £60 in September 2013 as former education secretary Michael Gove tightened the rules on term-time holidays. The tougher rules have produced a stream of complaints, chiefly from parents’ groups who have launched online petitions against the fines.

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Boom ahead for Cuba tourism

CUBA has received two million foreign tourists so far this year, an increase of 16 percent over the same period in 2014, says the country’s Tourism ministry.

#Cuba received a record-setting inflow of three million foreign holidaymakers last year, since when numbers have increased markedly following the restoration of diplomatic relations between the island and the US.

Tourism is the island country’s second largest source of foreign revenues – $2.6 billion (£1.6 billion) – after the export of medical services.

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Picture Credit: Doña Paulina by Antônio Milena/ABr - Agência Brasil [1]. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 br via Wikimedia Commons 

From the Ministry of Strange Events …

WE all know about Glastonbury, but have you heard of …

The World Bog Snorkelling Championships, Llanwrtyd Wells, Powys, Wales – August 30: Most festival-goers hope to keep their wellies clean this summer, but some relishing the muddier side of festival season. 

This sport – if it is a sport – consists of jumping into a water-filled trench in a bog and swimming two lengths as fast as possible. It attracts competitors from all over the world, some from as far away as New Zealand.

Tar Barrels, Ottery St. Mary, East Devon – November 5: A tradition which has continued for hundreds of years and sees locals holding flaming barrels of tar running through the crowds. Seventeen barrels are carried through the streets. 

British Lawn Mowing Championships, Coneyhurst West Sussex – September 26-27: Like many potty ideas, lawn mower racing was dreamt up over a pint in a pub in 1973 … can you tell? The British Lawn Mower Racing Association organizes races all over the UK, enabling grown men and women enjoy the sheer thrill of racing modified lawn mowers. It’s not as expensive as motor racing. 

To enter, your mower has to be approved for use in a particular class of racing, stamped, and given a log book and race number. 

Up Helly Aa, Lerwick, Scotland – January 26: Dating back to the 1840s Europe’s biggest fire festival lights up a dark winter’s day in January. Celebrating Shetland’s Viking heritage, one of the biggest draws is the Jarl Squad, a band of modern-day Viking warriors who make various appearances throughout the day.

Dunmow Flitch Trials, Great Dunmow, Essex – July 9, 2016: Originating, it’s believed, in the 12th century, the trials exist to award a flitch of bacon to married couples if they can satisfy a judge and jury of six maidens and six bachelors that in the previous year and a day they have not – not even once – ‘wisht themselves unmarried again'. The winning couple get the bacon and are carried through the village on the shoulders of local men. Do you fancy your chances?  You’ve got a year in which to work out a way of convincing the jury. Oh, and that flitch word: It’s a side, or a steak cut from the side, of an animal or fish.

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Picture Credit: RUD 2880 by Rud-gr - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons,