Brazilians against high travel fares
SAO PAULO, 17 June 2013: Thousands of youths clashed with riot police across central Sao Paulo late last week in a fresh round of rowdy protests over higher mass transit fares.
Police reported at least 60 arrests following running battles with demonstrators demanding a rollback of an increase in bus, metro and train ticket prices from US$1.50 to US$1.60.
Small groups of vandals set fire to garbage in the streets, while others smashed store windows or spraypainted buses.
Cyprus resorts work for the banks
PAPHOS, 17 June 2013: After Cyprus’s bloated banking sector was hit by a body blow this spring, sending the economy further into recession, cut-price summer holiday offers are attracting tourists, but not the spending needed.
On the pebbly beach in front of Aphrodite’s Rock, tourists bask in the sun and bathe in the clear azure waters of the eastern Mediterranean.
“I’ve been here many many times, and the crisis didn’t change anything for me,” said John, a 55-year-old consultant from Britain. “I just brought more cash. But I can see that restaurants are emptier. Everything is emptier.”
Strikes hit Euro trains
PARIS, 13 June 2013: France is braced for another day of travel chaos on Thursday as striking workers bring the nation’s rail network to its knees after an air traffic controllers’ strike that grounded thousands of flights.
The nationwide rail strike got under way on Wednesday evening and was expected to result in less than half of normal services operating until Friday morning.
The rail strike follows two days of disruption in the skies caused by air controllers protesting over plans to create a single centre to control European airspace as opposed to the 27 national centres.
EU threats over ‘single sky’ plan.
STRASBOURG, 13 June 2013: The European Union unveiled Tuesday controversial plans for its decade-old dream of a single airspace, despite a strike by air traffic controllers in France and plans for protests in several countries.
The plans include fines for member states that fail to meet targets for the creation of a “Single European Sky”, a scheme that Brussels says will cut costs, reduce pollution and increase safety.
Unions say the plans will lead to job losses and affect work conditions while France — where hundreds of flights were cancelled due to the strike on Tuesday — and Germany expressed doubts.
Beware of Brazil’s sky-high prices
RIO DE JANEIRO, 13 June 2013: Tourists planning trips to Brazil for the World Cup next year will face some of the world’s highest accommodation, restaurant and transport prices.
Prices have gone through the roof, particularly in the country’s tourism gateway Rio, which this month is one of the hosts for football’s Confederations Cup and in July welcomes Pope Francis for a major Catholic Youth festival.
Famous for its annual carnival and spectacular beaches, Rio is now the world’s third most expensive city when it comes to hotels, according to a recent Brazilian Tourism Board (Embratur) study.
UK travellers picky on price
June 12, 2013 by PRnewswire
Filed under Europe, Hospitality, News
LONDON, 12 June 2013: UK holidaymakers, age 25 and older are expected to spend £27 billion on hotel stays this summer, whether it be in the UK or long-haul destinations in Asia.
The average traveller is planning to book an average of 10 room nights during the main summer holiday period, July through to August, according to a new survey released today by Room Key.
Though nearly three-quarters (74%) said price will drive their hotel decision, location was a close second at 66%, and over half of travellers (52%) said that facilities will play a significant role in their decision. Hotel brands (24%) and the family friendly nature of the properties (21%) are two further factors that will influence hotel choice, according to the survey.
Tips and tricks for business travel
June 11, 2013 by TTRweekly Staff
Filed under Americas, News
Chicago, 11 June 1 2013: Executive Travel Directors identify five common sense tips to make business travel easier and safer, according to a release from the group issued Monday.
They advise that we keep all travel documents in one place even though most airlines are going mobile with digital boarding passes and flight itineraries; it is still important to keep all documents in one place as a back up.
Take an empty water bottle through security. Airports confiscate bottles with water. To avoid paying inflated airport prices have an empty bottle ready and fill it up at a water fountain inside the airport departure areas.
China travel boom reaches US
WASHINGTON, 11 June 2013: Visits from China and Latin America registered substantial growth to the United States last year, while European markets suffered declines, according to a government report released Monday.
A record 67 million international visits were clocked into the world’s biggest economy in 2012, up by 4.3 million from the previous year, the US Commerce Department said.
It also was a record-breaking year for international travel and tourism spending, which surged 10% to US$168.1 billion.
Spat over PNR exchange
BRUSSELS, 5 June 2013: Russia and the European Union headed for a fresh spat Monday over demands by Moscow for European airlines to hand over air passenger data or face being barred from Russian airspace.
Hours ahead of an EU-Russia summit in Yekaterinburg already clouded by disagreement over Syria and energy, Brussels voiced concern at a Moscow plan to introduce new rules, 1July, on the exchange of so-called Passenger Name Record (PNR) data — information collected by airlines during reservation and check-in procedures.
The European Commission said that with only weeks to go, it had no information on Moscow’s new requirements.
Indian truckers rape tourist
NEW DELHI, 5 June 2013: A US tourist was gang-raped by a truck driver and two accomplices after hitching a ride in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, police said Tuesday.
The incident follows the alleged rape of a 21-year-old Irish charity worker in Kolkata at the weekend and comes as the country attempts to tackle widespread sex crime with tougher anti-rape laws.
“The 30-year-old was raped by men in a truck on Monday night. They offered her a lift and she accepted it,” police Inspector Abhimanyu Kumar told AFP from Manali, a tourist destination in the foothills of the Himalayas.
