If you’re wondering where your Valentine’s rose is from, chances are the answer is Colombia. More than 500,000,000 Colombian flowers have been shipped to countries around the world to meet the February 14 deadline – including over five million roses into the UK. That’s enough flowers to go round the world at least eight times!

Thanks to the near perfect growing conditions in the Sabana de Bogotá, just outside the capital city, Colombia has become known for its high quality roses, carnations et al. What’s more when you purchase Colombian flowers, you are helping provide safe and financially rewarding work for more than 200,000 workers in Colombia who work directly or indirectly for the country’s second biggest export business.

Augusto Solano, president of Asocolflores, the Association of Colombian Flower Exporters, explains: “In 2011 over USD 5 million was spent by the Colombian flower industry on local social programmes that directly benefitted more than 90,000 workers and their families. Be it low-cost housing, schools, university programmes or medical services, the money spent on flowers throughout the world is directly fed back to the people who grow and look after them.”

The message? If you’re shopping for roses, choose a Colombian one. You’ll be giving a gift not only to your loved one but to the 200,000 workers who grow the beautiful buds. Now that’s what we call, spreading the love….

At the other end of the scale, romantics will be avoiding a night in the UK’s second biggest city, Birmingham, with almost a fifth (19.5 [per cent) of Brits voting it the least romantic place to be.

Looking for a Valentine’s package that will really set your loved one’s heart aflutter? Check out our article, Top 10 Valentine’s breaks

Here at CD-Traveller towers, we’re not interested in what floats the MPs boat: we want to know what YOU would show to friends and relatives from around the world who are planning to visit the UK in 2012. Perhaps it’s a castle or a coastal walk. A museum or a stadium.

Share your suggestions by posting a comment below, or by using a ‘10 GREAT Reasons’ app on VisitBritain’s LoveUK Facebook page or by sending a personalised postcard that can be downloaded from visitbritain.org.

The results of a recent survey which saw more than 700 people take part, suggests that iPhone users are the most romantic, Android users the most adventurous and Blackberry users the biggest spenders on holiday.

“It might seem like just a bit of fun, but in an age where people are so brand driven, the type of mobile you carry really does provide an insight into aspects of your personality. We took this thinking a step further and applied it to travel behaviour, which enabled us to determine the type of traveller a user is, based on their choice of mobile phone,” says Nadine Hallak, Travel Expert for Cheapflights.co.uk.

The survey also concluded that some 14 million hours per year are spent searching for flights while at work, with Blackberry users spending 38 per cent more time searching for flights during working hours than either iPhone or Android users.

The survey found that:

• 59 per cent of the over-60s surveyed are taking nearly three holidays a year with
• four per cent taking as many as seven holidays a year.
• 70 per cent wanted longer holidays.
• Over-60s are taking the most holidays, now travelling to more exotic locations than any previous generations of that age.
• 99 per cent of respondents say they are more active than their parents and grandparents were at the same age.

The most popular destinations are Africa, India, South-East Asia, China and South America.

Howard Carter, managing director of Incognito, said: “The Baby Boomer generation clearly love their holidays abroad and are now competing with their grandchildren in opting to take gap years as they travel around the world. Clearly the ‘Grey Pound’ is very valuable to the travel industry as young families struggling in the economic downturn opt to stay at home.”

Carter continued: “Crucially this is probably the last generation who will retire on full, index-linked pensions. Their children have left home, they are sitting on huge equity investment in their homes and they have cash to spend.”

Are you a grown up gapper? If so, we want to hear all about your great adventures be they during a career break or after retirement. Get in touch by emailing editor@cd-traveller.com or by posting a comment below

And the growth rate was primarily influenced by the UK, which remains Abu Dhabi’s biggest international source market accounting for 139,319 – an increase of 18 percent. “These results should be seen as highly encouraging when viewed against a background of world economic uncertainties which are impacting many destinations,” said HE Mubarak Al Muhairi, Director General, ADTA.

For the full low-down on what to see and do in Abu Dhabi, check out our two part article:

http://www.cd-traveller.com/2010/12/04/cultural-desert/
http://www.cd-traveller.com/2010/12/06/cultural-desert-part-2/

With the London Olympics just around the corner the attention of the lucky few that have tickets, is now turning to where they are going to stay. With many of London’s top hotels holding their rooms for big group bookings visitors are being forced to look elsewhere for a place to stay. However, this is no bad thing as many of London hotel rooms are small, soulless and could be in any of the world’s major cities. In a city as diverse as London, there are many different and exciting alternatives places to stay which are more interesting a dull hotel.

A Room for London

Perhaps the most unique bedroom in London is Living Agriculture’s  A Room for London designed by David Kohn Architects, in collaboration with Fiona Banner. This temporary structure is part hotel room, part boat and is perched on top the Queen Elizabeth Hall at the Southbank Centre. With just one bedroom on offer and as it is only available for a short time,all the spaces were sold out within ten minutes of being online. This is truly unique alternative to any hotel room and its 360 degree  windows give you  views that are only rivalled by the London Eye.

With just two rooms, 40 Winks is likely to one of the smallest boutique hotels in the world but what it lacks in beds it certainly makes up for in character. Designed by David Carter this quirky resting place is ideal of anyone who is looking for an eccentrically English hotel in the heart of London. The hotel is also great who people who are just looking for a day out as they offer old vintage afternoon tea parties and glamorous pyjama parties to passers by.  Its unique combination of high fashion and shabby chic have made this hotel a favourite for celebrity and fashionistas.

Live it up like a local through onefinestay

For travellers who are looking to experience the ‘real’ London then the only option is to stay in a home of a true Londoner. This has been made possible by the launching of a series of new companies who allows guests to stay in in upscale homes while the owners are out of town. Being in the home of real local means that tourists can avoid all of the queues which are typical of a tourist hot spot such as London. In recent years there has been a large increase in couchsurfing, but this is most effective for solo travellers. This new idea of home rentals allows whole families to stay in upscale family homes which have more space than only hotel room. All onefinestay holiday rentals also come with all the amenities that you would expect from a top hotel.

For  further information on Onefinestay - a London based company  which allows visitors to live like a local  - please visit www.onefinestay.com

From Monday till Thursday (February 6-9), striking pilots, cabin crew and ground staff will be protesting about a bill the French government has introduced which would mean unions would have to give greater notice of strike action. It is just possible the strike may be extended.
If you are flying with Air France, then you can rebook your flights free of charge subject to certain restrictions. Click here for further details. They hope to be able to continue a majority of their flights but haven’t listed timetables for next week yet.
If you are flying on any other airline into or out of France, do check their websites because there may be some delays and possible cancellations due to either ground handlers or the fact that the flight crew could be members of one of the unions. easyJet don’t expect major disruptions, Ryanair, flybe and British Airways make no comment on their websites as yet.
Because the unions haven’t given the nature of the strike, disruption could be minimal or more damaging for passengers. Once again, we probably won’t find out the true extent of how we might be until Monday morning.

But if you think we have got it bad in Britain, think again. Our European cousins are even worse off: Berliners are battling temperatures of minus 14C, while in Warsaw its minus 20C and in Paris and Prague, it’s minus 8C and 17C respectively. Brrrrrr!

Time to experience Africa or book that break in Barbados ?!

The ASA’s ruling comes as no surprise to anyone at CD-Traveller towers. TripAdvisor reviewers might be asked to sign a declaration that their reviews are real and that they have no incentive or competitive interest with the places commented on, but it doesn’t deter foul play and several members of the CD-Traveller team have been offered  discounts and upgrades in exchange for positive reviews. (Rest assured, as morally upstanding citizens we have always refused!)

So should we be turning away from TripAdvisor? Not necessarily, says CD-Traveller. Sure some of the reviews maybe bogus but there are plenty of accurate ones too. The message? Use TripAdvisor but treat it with caution: keep in mind that, like anything, if something sounds too good (or gross) to be true, it probably is.