We love London town: part three

Ahead of the 2012 Olympic/Paralympic Games, actress Rhona Foulis reveals why she makes for Mildred’s and what she would do if she were Mayor for a day

A day in… Dundee

Dundee is transforming its waterfront, to draw visitors in. Adrian looks at what there is for the short break tripper

Irish Passport Office

From the website:

“The Passport Office, which is part of the Department of Foreign Affairs, issues passports to Irish citizens.

All Irish citizens are entitled to apply for an Irish passport. Services are provided by the Passport Offices in Dublin and Cork and by Irish Diplomatic and Consular Missions overseas.”

Everywhere’s Been Visited

To those adventurous who say they are not sure where to go next because they have been everywhere, done everything there comes from national geographic a salutary reminder that this world of ours is bigger than we thought. Given how many humans there are in the world and the level of exploration there has been you would have thought what else was left to find.

The Everglades, Madagascar and the Galapagos

As one goes off another returns.
Last week, in Brasilia, UNESCO met to approve a new list of additions to its World Heritage Register. There were lots of additions and announcements and we’ll have a fuller review after the meeting is over on Tuesday.. There are two announcements though, about places that nearly everyone will know.
Sad to relate that the Florida Everglades have returned to being listed as endangered on the UNESCO list of heritage sites in danger. In addition the tropical forests of Madagascar have been added as well. But the Galapagos Islands and Machu Picchu have been taken off as UNESCO views the efforts by Ecuador and Peru to safeguard them as succeeding.

Its Official. Fewer of Us Went Abroad

Did we really need the official figures from the Office of National Statistics to tell us that fewer of us holidayed abroad this summer? Up until the end of September we took 14% fewer holidays abroad than 2008. It may not seem a lot but that equates to 9.8 million fewer visits. (A visit can be a day trip to Dublin or Calais as well as a holiday or a short break). But if you look at the figures for the main three months between July and September overseas visits dropped by just 1% and that, I think, is the key result. In the main holiday period, the number of us going abroad hardly altered.

Ryanair Rumblings

Ryanair is the largest airline in Europe. Whether you like it or loathe it what it does can have a big impact of how we travel and how tourism happens. If it decides to get involved with an airport that airport had better play along to Ryanair’s rules or it just pulls out. Examples at [...]