About 150,000 people in the last year have visited escape tunnels in Berlin. The tunnels were dug during the time that the Berlin wall was in existence. During those cold war years there were frequent attempts to escape. No-one knows how many made it (one thought is about 300) but well over a hundred died in the attempt.

I write this rumble kneeling on the floor with my laptop on top of a small chest of drawers pushed up against the television. Why? No chairs in this hotel room so you sit on the bed or the floor. A small problem set against all the benefits. This hotel is small, old and completely untainted by modern hotel management thinking. No massive deference to me, the guest, just ordinary civility.

Breakfast this morning was just that. “Do you want breakfast,” I was asked. No choice just bacon, sausage, mushroom, baked beans, fried egg and toast. Whether I should have some fruit and satisfy those health soothsayers who are warning of my imminent demise didn’t come into it. No choice between white, wholemeal or brown bread. But there was orange juice!

According to the Ski Club of Great Britain, some 76,000 fewer of us went on snowsports holidays last winter compared to the previous year. The number dropped to about 1.27 million holidaymakers.

Is this a downward trend? Are fewer of us interested?

Every August, some 20,000 tourists flock to the town of Bunol (in the Valencia region of Spain) to hurl large, red squishy tomatoes at one another. La Tomatina – the world’s largest vegetable fight – is a full blown fiesta and in the week building up to the battle, Bunol is filled with fireworks, food, street parades and parties. However the undisputed highlight of the festival is the tomato fight which takes place between 11am and 1pm on the last Wednesday in August.

I was in Cardiff yesterday for a meeting about tourism. Cardiff has transformed itself over the years. It has had the castle, the National Museum and the shops for years to attract tourists. Then along came the regeneration of Tiger Bay. Now there is a new shopping area that has just opened so on the way to the meeting I thought I would have a quick look. Judging from the number of people there it has attracted initial support and, when the rest of the shops open, it will probably have good Xmas sales.

That’s the conclusion from a company called Collinson Latitude. This company specialises in finding other ways for airlines to make money out of you other than just from ticket sales. It can be travel insurance or entry into airport lounges or a host of other things. The important thing is that they are successful in developing these services for travel companies.

So when they say that two thirds of airlines around the world have systems to increase revenue but that they still don’t focus on the customer you are inclined to believe them. If we take one airline, the one that says it is the favourite airline of Europe, Britain, Ireland and probably countless other places earns a lot of extra money from passengers. It would say that helps keep fares low. It would say that is what it has done for the passenger.

The hotel chain Travelodge has asked 2500 8-15 year olds what they rate as Britain’s most iconic landmarks and it threw up some answers I didn’t expect. The winner was Stonehenge and maybe that’s not surprising since just about everyone can imagine what it looks like. Second choice was Hadrian’s Wall and then came the London Eye.

Oxford and Cambridge are renowned as two of the world’s most famous university towns and consequently crowded tourist hotspots in the summer ‘high’ season. With autumn and the start of the new semester upon us, now is the time to visit if you want to soak up the history and heritage of either without jostling with throngs of other tourists. The question is Oxford or Cambridge? You decide…

See the subtle difference?

According to the Daily Telegraph, the National Trust has spent hundreds of thousands of pounds rebranding itself by dropping the word “The” in front of its name. It is also switching to lower case letters and, according to the article, “jazzing up its brand with bright colours.” The oak leaf symbol will be bigger and instead of just the green, other colours will be introduced.

“I don’t believe people fly because they like the idea of flying.”

That came out of the mouth of Willie Walsh, the head of British Airways in an interview with BBC’s “Costing the Earth” on Radio 4. I listened to it twice because the first time I wasn’t sure that I really heard it but it was still on the repeat so why these intriguing words?

Not being a bedtime reader of the magazine Superconductor Science and Technology, I would have missed a story completely without the BBC catching it and running the story about Hilbert spectroscopy. Without being scientific, let me summarise the jist of the piece.

A Yorkshireman living in Wales who writes a blog called, “Dalesman’s Welsh Ramblings” has won the top prize in a competition organised by Visit Wales. Brian Sherwin is the Yorkshireman and he describes his blog as a mixture of photos, walks and things he likes to do.

Seemingly around faster than ever, half term is upon us and it usually throws up some surprises as to what destinations we prefer to go to.
But no this year, the choice appears to be pretty similar to those summer places we chose. Last summer you might remember we shunned Spain and many other places in the eurozone and opted for Egypt and Turkey in much greater numbers. Still Spain was the top destination. This time we have done the same. A Spanish destination is top but there have been lots more people heading away to Sharm El Sheikh and Dalaman.

Tomorrow begins one of the most unusual features of the yearlong Homecoming celebrations in Scotland, the Storytelling Festival. This is actually the 20th but as with the rest of Scotland, the Homecoming Festival has given it more prominence.

You will probably all be aware by now that Gatwick has been sold by the owners BAA to the owners of London City Airport, Global Infrastructure Partners. GIP paid about £1.5 billion which in normal times would be a bit of a bargain. Since it was virtually an enforced sale I suppose the other bidders, who included Manchester Airport Group, offered even less

Who said travel had to cost the earth? Here are 25 fabulous travel attractions. And the best bit? They’re absolutely free!

Traditionally, Irish hospitality has been famous for making you feel right at home. Good company, good conversation and a big welcome. But now that is being questioned and by an Irishman to boot.

Once upon a time spas were the preserve of pampered Paris’s and J Lo’s but now everyone is at it. In the twenty first century self improvement is no longer about reading Shakespeare, it’s all about releasing toxins and realigning chakras – so much so that a National Spa Week (we’re in the midst of it) has been created ‘to highlight the many health benefits which consumers can enjoy through a visit to a spa including; detoxifying treatments, improved circulation, anti-stress benefits improved skin condition and general well being.’

One body you may not have heard of is the European Consumer Centre. It’s a newish body set up to act for consumers throughout the European Union. Each country has a local office and the first full year results from the UK are available.

The marketing people always have to have a descriptor when they promote a destination. Glasgow is Scotland with Style, Dublin is Truly Madly Deeply, Benidorm is Spanish Fiestas, Melbourne is Lose Yourself and Arnhem in the Netherlands is the Cool Region.

We’ve known for some time that security systems will toughen. Now we have helpful guidance from the European Union on what will be expected.

I am grateful to the Datanomy Googlegroup and Jeremy Phillips in particular for guidance on how the EU sees the subject of fingerprints.

According to Sabre, who operate booking systems for the travel industry, airlines now consider customer loyalty and retention as the most important issue at the moment. You might be forgiven for thinking it was fuel or staffing but no. From 90 airlines across the world Sabre says the customer is king at the moment.

I have been a sceptic about reviews as readers will know. Their reliability, trustworthiness and volume all needs dissection before you start to believe some of them. Now two travel research groups, PhoCusWright and Compete, have produced some research showing that the number of people visiting these sites is dropping. Between October 2008 and this month the number of people consulting sites like TripAdvisor and IgoUgo has dropped from 55% to 46%.

Yesterday was the last day of the three month project that saw the vacant plinth in Trafalgar Square being used for public art. Since it started in July some 2,400 have stood, sat or lain on the plinth doing whatever they wished. We have had naked people, performance art and people holding placards.

Some older readers may remember the actor Errol Flynn. Born 100 years ago this year he died 50 years ago today.

So what you might say, there have been lots of actors, why remember Errol Flynn in particular?

Yes, that is a suggestion being made by one airline. No, its not Ryanair who have closed down their on-board toilets to add another half dozen seats on the planes.( No Ryanair still has free toilets on their flights)

This comes from the Japanese All Nippon Airlines (ANA). In an interview with the US ABC News, ANA’s spokeswomen, Jean Saito, said that if a plane is lighter it will use less fuel.

Probably Singapore isn’t at the top of your list of must see destinations. Malaysia might be there, Thailand probably, Bali as well but Singapore tends to get missed out.

Is it because it is seen as a business destination, a financial centre or just a place to change flights? Or is it because it is seen as small and thus because of that, there can’t be a lot there.
Whatever it that may be about to change because the Singapore Tourism Board has signed a deal with Visa, the credit card people, to publicise the country over the next 3 years.

Celebrity chef Rick Stein has explored the culinary delights of Britain and France but for his latest TV ‘food odyssey’ the much loved cookery writer and chef travelled further afield – to the Far East.

On arrival in Asia, Stein steered clear of the beaten track and tourist hot-spots; instead he sampled from local chefs, family-run restaurants and street vendors and roamed through the markets of Phnom Penh and the kitchens of Kampot in search of recipes to spirit the rest of us to the Orient.