Speculations are rife that travellers would move away from airlines as the wait times are getting astonishingly large due to security and other logistical reasons. Coventry airport is set to negate the effect by offering the best (shortest) wait times.

According to an online poll conducted by Travel Counsellors, passengers have highly rated the airport for its wait times.

According to the poll, on an average, the security checks are completed within 2 minutes; and upon arrival, there is no waiting need for immigration checks.

Any poll would reflect the best and worst of the item under scrutiny. While Coventry won accolades for short wait times, Manchester Airport was found staring at the other end of the line. It was voted as the airport with the longest wait times.

On an average, Manchester Airport ate 23 minutes for security checks and further 44 minutes for passport clearance.

The age-old traditional way of booking holidays through agents is beginning to see light as the trends suggest that travellers are opting for one-stop shop rather than booking their own air tickets, hotel rooms among others.

The first 9 months of 2006 netted 15.3 million holidays in UK while the first 9 months in 2007 has seen a slight gain with 15.4 million. Before the popularity of travel websites, in 2004, the total number of holidays is estimated to be at 19.8 million and the following year it dipped to 18.9 million.

According to some, there is too much risk involved in booking over the web. The risks start with credit card frauds and could extend up to the confusion of booking airline tickets, hotel rooms and getting a reliable feedback on attractions and hotels.

The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) spokeswoman Frances Tuke said - “If you had booked a flight to Australia and a separate tour at the other end, it’s your problem if BA cancels the flight and you miss the tour. If you book a package, the tour operator will sort you out.”

Such instances also indicate that travellers do not want to own the responsibility of the itinerary and the means of getting there; they rather enjoy the holiday as a guest and put the onus on a real person, a travel agent. If the trends are to be believed, traditional travel agents will be back in action full swing while travel websites might have to rethink their strategy.

via icWales

Tourism in the Northumberland is a flourishing business and the figures are suggestive of the fact.

The figures released from International Passenger Survey shows that Northumberland has seen tourist spending increase a third, year on year. Tourists spent £14m in 2005 and it dramatically rose to £19m the following year. Similar rise is expected for 2007 as well.

The county seems to have attracted international visitors more than the domestic ones. It recorded 74,000 last year as compared to 56,000, the year before. It included 344,000 overnight stays last year which is an increase of 11%.

The county's tourism stands on quite a few attractions which are finding popularity among thousands of visitors. Some popular ones include Alnwick Castle and Garden, Bamburgh Castle, Farne Islands, Hadrian's Wall among others.

Tom Wright, VisitBritain’s CEO said - "Despite competition from overseas destinations, Northumberland's tourism businesses can be rightly proud of this magnificent achievement. The key thing is to build on that success. Tourism is tremendously important to the county's economy, and local businesses need to do all they can to maintain and sharpen their competitive edge."

A survey conducted by Alliance & Leicester has found that over-50s are more enthusiastic and eager to travel long distances than any other age groups. It has been surveyed that 50% of them would like to undertake long haul travel and have a lifetime experience. They usually prefer to stay in other countries.

Statistics show that a third of people travelling abroad are over 50. This could be attributed to disposable income and most of it is spent towards travelling outside UK. One in 3 over-50s has visited at least 20 countries, survey adds.

Survey statement read - "The older generation is changing the face of the UK travel market. This age group has travel in their DNA."

Survey also adds that three quarters of people who are over-50 are getting adventurous with their choice of destination.

Travolution, a leading travel magazine in the UK has pulled up top travel websites in the country for not building websites that makes browsing friendly for the disabled. This, in effect, is a direct violation of 1995 Disability Discrimination Act and could be a punishable offence if upheld.

There are around 10 million people who suffer from various disabilities which include partial to complete blindness, hearing problems, inability to move arms and fingers, cognitive impairments and learning difficulties among others.

The analysed websites fail the accessibility criteria for the disabled in various quarters. Heavy usage of graphics and flash objects make it impossible for those who make use of synthetic speech software that transforms text into audible synthetic speech to browse websites. Also, the inability to access the links through keyboard due to the use of javascript navigation makes it a sad picture for physically challenged. Some of the fonts and colours used, make it hard or impossible for the partially blind to navigate accurately.

At the end of the day, it’s these websites that are on the losing side; not because of the violation but for the business they lose by serving the normal person alone. As a business strategy, glaring colours and attractive fonts could work for the majority but businesses should remember that every penny counts, even if it means to have a separate website for the disabled.