If some of the ski holiday companies are to be believed some of us have got so enamoured of the white stuff that we are “inundating” (their word not mine) companies with enquiries about skiing holidays.
Can this be true? Haven’t they seen enough of the stuff? Have they forgotten already the need for clearing paths and roadways, waiting for non-existent trains and buses to get to work, delayed flights to take them to ski resorts and no milk in the villages because the delivery trucks can’t get through.

Regular readers can stop reading right now if they don’t want to hear me talk again about providing an adequate safety net for passengers outside the ATOL bonding scheme.

As you probably all know by now, those passengers who bought a package holiday under the Globespan name are probably protected under the ATOL system. Those of you who bought just a flight with a credit card (not a debit card)and paid more than £100 may be able to claim a refund from the credit card providers. The rest of you, I’m afraid, will probably be out of pocket. And for those of you who are covered then you still have the hassle and probable expense of rebooking with another carrier if there is availability. To check your position, see www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=1985&pagetype=90.

The collapse of the Globespan group will hit Scotland particularly badly.

Over the weekend over 40 events really saw the end of Scotland’s Homecoming Year. As you will remember this was a year long celebration of things Scottish and a determined effort to draw people back to their roots. It was almost an attempt to woo people back much as the Irish have successfully done. The timing, though this couldn’t have been planned, gave Scotland a strong tourism appeal whilst other countries laboured to attract visitors. With St Andrew’s Day today heralding the official end, it is probably too early to say how successful it was although that hasn’t stopped people from hailing it as a runaway success.

I’ve had a few days off so there has been has been less than usual posted.My break has been a bit unusual in that I have done it all by train. One thing it has taught me is that not many trains offer wifi free or otherwise. And having spent most of the time in [...]

Over 300 events will take place in Scotland this year as the country celebrates what it has termed it’s Homecoming Year.

Although it began with the new year events, it kicks off properly with the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns over the weekend of the 24/25th of January and ends, not unsurprisingly with St Andrews’s day on November 30th.