Category Archives: Travel & leisure

Premier Inn owner Whitbread ramps up cost-cutting plans as tax rise looms

Posted on by

Firm’s profits fall 22% and demand slows, with hospitality sector bracing for employer tax increase in budget

The Premier Inn owner, Whitbread, is ramping up its cost-cutting programme amid slowing demand, as the hospitality sector braces for a widely expected employer tax rise in this month’s budget.

The company, which owns the Beefeater and Brewers Fayre restaurant chains as well as the UK’s biggest hotel brand, said its total revenues had been flat at £1.57bn in the six months to 29 August, while profit before tax fell by 22% year on year to £309m.

Continue reading...

Spain logs record number of summer visitors amid overtourism protests

Posted on by

Figure of 21.8 million international visitors to Spain is 7.3% rise on 2023, says national statistics institute

Spain logged a record 21.8 million international visitors this summer, official data has revealed, during a period when anti-tourism protests also took place across the country.

The figure is a 7.3% rise on 2023, the national statistics institute (INE) said.

Continue reading...

Harry’s Bar owner sues Venice city council over waves from speeding boats

Posted on by

Arrigo Cipriani says waves from vessels that ignore speed limits on Giudecca canal are leaving diners with wet feet

The Harry’s Bar culinary empire is as synonymous with Venice as its canals, inventing the bellini cocktail and hosting noted guests including Orson Welles, Ernest Hemingway and Charlie Chaplin during its 93 years in business.

But the lapping of the city’s waters has proved too much for the owner, Arrigo Cipriani, who is suing the city’s council and port master’s office because the feet of his well-heeled customers keep getting soaked by waves from speeding boats.

Continue reading...

Cruise ship stuck in Belfast for four months to return hours after leaving

Posted on by

Villa Vie Odyssey reportedly forced to sail back to Northern Ireland to complete paperwork

The luxury cruise liner stranded in Belfast for four months is reportedly to port only hours after it set sail to cheers and applause from the 125 passengers who thought when they departed on Monday they were finally on their way around the globe.

The Ville Vie Odyssey only made it a few miles out of Belfast lough, however, before it dropped anchor again for the night. Passengers were told it would finally depart at 11pm on Tuesday.

Continue reading...

Norwegian outdoor tourism campaign shelved over environmental fears

Posted on by

State-owned company halts initiative after warnings over opening up ‘right to roam’ laws to large numbers of visitors

A Norwegian tourism campaign aimed at promoting the country as a destination for outdoor activities has been suspended after warnings that opening up the country’s “right to roam” laws to mass tourism could lead to environmental destruction.

Allemannsretten – which gives Norwegians the legal right to camp, swim, ski and walk freely in nature, regardless of who the landowner is – provides the basis of friluftslivet (outdoor life), seen as foundational to the mountainous country’s culture.

Continue reading...

Shares in National Express owner jump as it starts sale of US school bus business

Posted on by

Mobico also reports 24% increase in half-year profits to £71.2m as group tries to reduce £1.2bn debt

The owner of National Express has revealed it has begun the sale of its North American school bus business in an effort to reduce its £1.2bn debt, sending its shares sharply higher.

The share price of Mobico, which changed its name from National Express Group in June 2023, jumped by more than 20% after markets opened on Wednesday, before settling at 14% up at 66p by mid-morning.

Continue reading...

German climate activists stop air traffic after breaking into four airport sites

Posted on by

Police arrest Letzte Generation protesters who cut holes in fences and glued themselves to asphalt

Climate activists have broken into four German airport sites, briefly bringing air traffic to a halt at two of those before police made arrests.

Protesters from Letzte Generation – Germany’s equivalent to Just Stop Oil – gained access on Thursday to airfields in areas near the takeoff and landing strips of Cologne-Bonn, Nuremberg, Berlin Brandenburg and Stuttgart airports at dawn. Air traffic was suspended for a short time at Nuremberg and Cologne-Bonn due to police operations.

Continue reading...

Protests over mass tourism could spread beyond Spain, says Unesco official

Posted on by

Situation ‘out of balance’ as local people are priced out of housing and frustrated by hordes of selfie-seekers

Surging visitor numbers, soaring housing prices and the rise of selfie-seeking tourists have helped to create situations that are “totally out of balance”, a Unesco official has said, adding that a failure to address these issues could see the Spanish wave of protests against mass tourism extend across Europe.

In recent weeks tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in Spain’s most popular destinations, calling for curbs on mass tourism and a rethink of a business model that they say has pushed up housing prices and driven local people out of cities.

Continue reading...

‘Bedlam’ in UK as air and rail travel hit by global IT outage

Posted on by

More than 3,000 flights cancelled worldwide after problem affecting Microsoft Windows

Passengers have described “bedlam” at UK airport check-ins after a global IT outage on what was due to be the busiest day for flying since the start of the Covid pandemic, while train networks have also been disrupted.

More than 3,000 flights have been cancelled worldwide after Microsoft Windows operating systems used by airlines, airports and some air traffic systems were affected.

Continue reading...

EU biometric checks for foreign travellers delayed again

Posted on by

Digital border system that will require fingerprint and facial scans postponed until November

The date for the introduction of the EU’s new entry-exit system has been pushed back again until November, allaying fears of long queues at the border during the October half-term holidays.

The launch of the new biometric checks for foreign travellers, including Britons, entering the EU, has been delayed from 6 October until at least 10 November, with many smaller airports yet to have facilities in place.

Continue reading...

London Tunnels moves IPO plan to Amsterdam in blow to UK markets

Posted on by

Proposed tourist attraction hopes to bring 2m visitors a year to abandoned wartime network

London Tunnels, which aims to convert an abandoned underground network into a tourist attraction, has ditched plans to float in the capital, instead opting to list in Amsterdam.

The company aims to make the Kingsway exchange tunnels, a network of 8,000 sq metres under Holborn in central London, into a new attraction that will bring in 2 million visitors a year.

Continue reading...

Lake District caravan owners forced out by 60%-plus price rise

Posted on by

A huge increase in fees means many vulnerable people have to leave the Derwentwater site they call home

Retired and vulnerable holiday homeowners claim they are being priced out of a “breathtaking” waterside campsite in the Lake District after the Camping and Caravanning Club raised one of the main charges by more than 60%.

The row at the static caravan park on the edge of Derwentwater, sometimes called “Queen of the Lakes” because it is cradled by fells, is over the “siting” fee owners pay when ageing vans are replaced.

Continue reading...

European cities hope jet-setting Taylor Swift fans will splash the cash for Eras tour

Posted on by

The superstar arrives in Europe next month – and Swifties, tourist boards and venues are already preparing

Tim Brown, 44, and his wife, Marcella, 34, may not consider themselves bona fide “Swifties”, but when it was announced last June that Taylor Swift would be visiting their corner of the globe this summer they could not resist joining the scramble for a pair of tickets.

A post-pandemic appetite for live music events has fuelled huge worldwide interest in the American singer-songwriter’s Eras tour, which surpassed in $1bn sales in November to become the highest-grossing series of concerts in history.

Continue reading...

Liquid restrictions at UK airports to remain in place until June 2025

Posted on by

Travellers will have to wait another year for 100ml limit to be lifted after government extends deadline for new scanners

Holidaymakers will continue to face limits on the amount of liquid they can carry on flights out of the UK this summer after the government extended the deadline for airports to install new security scanners by a year.

The Department for Transport had previously set a target for the introduction of 3D scanners in all UK airports by 1 June, but this has now been extended by 12 months because some major airports will not be ready in time.

Continue reading...

Network Rail to spend £2.8bn to cope with effects of climate crisis

Posted on by

Funding for drains, embankments and other measures is part £45.4bn five-year investment plan

Network Rail is to spend nearly £3bn to protect the railway from the effects of the climate crisis and extreme weather, as it warned that the country’s network was having to contend with hotter summers and increased winter floods.

As part of its new £45.4bn five-year investment plan, the body in charge of Great Britain’s rail network will spend £2.8bn over the next five years on activities and technology to help it cope with the impact of climate change.

Continue reading...

Tui investors vote to leave London Stock Exchange amid record results

Posted on by

More than 98% of shareholders in Europe’s biggest travel operator vote to delist in favour of Germany

Tui, Europe’s biggest travel company, is abandoning the London Stock Exchange in favour of listing its shares solely in Germany.

A vote on Tuesday resulted in 98.35% of shareholders backing a company proposal to drop its UK listing, in what will be seen as the latest blow to London’s standing in international finance.

Continue reading...

EasyJet announces ‘grans go free’ deal on holidays to Europe

Posted on by

Offer comes as research shows half of families in UK have never holidayed abroad with grandparents

EasyJet’s holiday wing is offering “grans go free” places on trips to Europe, after research found half of families had never holidayed abroad with their grandparents.

Under the offer, one grandparent on the trip can travel free of charge to countries including Spain, Greece and Italy. The tour operator said it hoped the deal would encourage Britons to take a holiday with three generations of their family or more.

Continue reading...

Britons cut back on dining out and buying clothes, Barclays reveals

Posted on by

Annual card spending report says consumers are prioritising travel and nights out and buying value-range groceries amid cost of living crisis

Hard-pressed consumers cut back on eating out and buying new clothes to prioritise spending on travel, entertainment and a visit to the pub over the past year, as soaring inflation and rising bills sharply curtailed the rate of spending growth.

Consumer card spending increased by 4.1% year-on-year in 2023, almost two-thirds lower than the 10.6% rise in 2022, as the sharp increase in the cost of living took its toll on households.

Continue reading...

‘Dangerous precedent’: fears over plans for Calanais stones access fee

Posted on by

Land access groups worry it will lead to charges at other sites, while pagans are alarmed about restrictions on worship

For generations walkers, pagans and artists have freely roamed around the standing stones at Calanais on Lewis, drawn by the site’s monumental scale, its coastal views and the spiritual impact of the rising sun and moon there.

But there are growing fears that proposals by Historic Environment Scotland (HES) to introduce an admissions charge and control access to the neolithic site for the first time, could have a significant impact on those freedoms.

Continue reading...

Travel firms urged to halt trips to Uyghur region over China rights abuses

Posted on by

Exclusive: Report says optics of western firms organising Xinjiang tours amid ‘crimes against humanity are disastrous’

Uyghur advocates have called on western tourism companies to stop selling package holidays that take visitors through Xinjiang, where human rights abuses by authorities have been called a genocide by some governments.

The request comes as China reopens to foreign visitors after the pandemic, and as its leader, Xi Jinping, calls for more tourism to the region.

Continue reading...