Well, that didn’t take long, did it? Just three days after Michael Jackson’s death, and a tour company is already trying to cash in. A few minutes ago, I received perhaps the most shameless press release I have ever received. I suspect other journalists and publications did as well. Michael Jackson’s star On Saturday, [...]
Continue reading about The world’s most shameless press release
Well done, Mr or Mrs Hack. It must take Amundsen-like powers of exploration to find somewhere containing a few things that are slightly different from each other. Now for a challenge: head on out there and find me a city that doesn’t have contrasts. I want to read about somewhere that is utterly uniform in [...]
Continue reading about Travel Writer Clichés: 2 – City of Contrasts
OK, now that Michael Jackson’s death has finally stopped being billed as ‘Breaking News’ by the news networks, I feel as though I can say this… Wrong star on the Walk of Fame One of the strangest side stories resulting from Jackson’s passing away was that fans had rushed to pay homage at his [...]
Continue reading about Michael Jackson and the grief tourists
I have never had much love for Jetstar at the best of times, and I will usually happily pay more to avoid flying with them. But when I was booking my flight from Sydney to Cairns a few months ago, the Jetstar flight worked out as the best deal. It wasn’t quite the cheapest, but [...]
Continue reading about Rescheduling flights: when airlines take the piss
Why do people (ie. Lazy travel hacks) insist on describing any island that might be a bit far away and slightly exotic as a ‘desert island’? I’m pretty sure that there’s not an island in the world that receives the requisite lack of rainfall to be classified as ‘desert’. And yes, I do know that [...]
Continue reading about Travel writer clichés: 1 – Desert island
A few weeks ago, I was in Queensland, Australia. I had a spare day and picked up a leaflet for an Aboriginal guided tour in the rainforest. It sounded pretty good – promising plenty of explanation about traditional uses of flora and fauna, plus a cultural aspect. Demand for Aboriginal tourism It’s exactly the [...]
As was entirely predictable, the knives are already out for Ben Southall, winner of Tourism Queensland’s ingenious ‘Best Job In The World’ competition. The Sun and its Murdoch-owned Australian counterparts have already laid into the 34-year-old lamb to the slaughter. He’s been billed as a “whingeing pom” because he said he’ll miss the English summer [...]
Continue reading about Best job in the world? I don’t think so.
Major airlines and sale prices There are some absurdly cheap long-haul airfares dotted around at the moment. Major airlines seem desperate to fill their planes, and as a result prices have fallen to astonishingly low levels. Most eye-catching of all is the current Singapore Airlines sale, with return flights to Singapore costing from £295 and [...]
Continue reading about Cheap long-haul airfares – if the seats are available
If you read most magazines and newspaper travel sections, going away is all one big rosy walk in the park. Everyone stays in perfect hotels, bumps into an undiscovered gem around every corner, and enjoys a stunning vista from every angle as they sip on their cocktails. It’s not actually like this, of course. But [...]