Reluctance to join Twitter I was extremely reluctant to join Twitter. As with many who have an antipathy towards it, I thought it was a place for self-obsessed morons to blather about what they had for breakfast. I didn’t know what it was for – and in a way I still don’t, but I have [...]
Continue reading about Twitter and the travel industry: Bringing the outsiders together
“You’ll love New York” The other day, I was collared by a friend of a friend, and the subject got on to travel. Within roughly 30 seconds, I got a familiar harangue. “You’ve got to go to New York. You’ll love New York.” Destination recommendations This happens to me a lot. People meet me [...]
Continue reading about Why I don’t heart New York: A plea to would-be travel agents
If Iggy Pop can advertise car insurance, Johnny Rotten can plug butter and Bob Dylan can be the voice of a Sat-Nav, why can’t other music legends get in on the self-prostitution act? The travel industry is clearly missing a trick here – why not get a few rock icons in to boost visitor numbers? [...]
Continue reading about How the travel industry can become more rock ‘n’ roll
Cheap beer in supermarkets? As I was writing my post on British pub closures, I touched upon one of the most commonly cited reasons for pubs going to the wall. Supermarkets often take the blame for a change in British drinking culture. The theory goes that by offering drinks at considerably cheaper prices than pubs, [...]
Continue reading about The real reason that supermarkets are killing British pubs
52 pub closures every week If you believed everything you read, then you’d probably be under the impression that the British pub is going the way of the dodo. According to the British Beer and Pub Association, 52 pubs are closing down every week. Read the media reports, and it’s a national tragedy. Smoking bans, [...]
Continue reading about The death of the British pub has been greatly exaggerated
Yes, yes, we get the picture. Abu Dhabi is the new Dubai, Tasmania is the new New Zealand, Montenegro is the new Croatia and – probably – Walsall is the new Wolverhampton. This cliché, to be fair, is more of an editor-driven crime. Many a writer has turned in a perfectly good, cliché gun-free piece [...]
Continue reading about Travel Writer Clichés: 14 – “The New…”
My little list of Top 15 Travel Twitterers seems to have got itself a fair bit of attention. Interestingly, a lot of comments have centred around my reasons for unfollowing someone. To summarise, if I find a Twitterer dull, irrelevant or overly irritating, then I see no reason to keep following them. Nothing personal – [...]
Continue reading about How to use Twitter effectively: Travel PR companies
Lists of Twitterers to follow If you want a list of people to follow on Twitter, then you’ll not struggle to find them. There are hundreds of such lists out there on the web. Alas, most aren’t very helpful. These Twitterer lists generally fit into one of two categories. Either they’ve got so many names [...]
Airlines and advertised flight prices I have whinged before airlines and their somewhat secretive approach to flight prices. As a general rule, airlines will emblazon attractive prices all over adverts, but make it incredibly difficult to find flights at said prices. When booking online it can be like searching for a needle in a haystack, [...]
Continue reading about Low Price Finder from British Airways: About time too
Don’t know anything about architecture? Can’t think of a good way to describe the building in layman’s terms? Why not use ‘ornate’? It can mean absolutely anything you want it too, providing it’s slightly more complicated than a big block of concrete. And, yes, I have to confess to using this one more than a [...]