If you ask the British what the best things are about living in the UK, you probably wouldn't expect to hear "food" topping the list. But that's exactly what happened when the Holiday Inn hotel chain ran a survey recently to discover 50 things Brits most love about their land.
Coming right on top, fish and chips is apparently the best reason to be in Britain. Other food and drink experiences in the top ten included old-fashioned pubs, a Sunday roast dinner and a "cream tea" in the afternoon.
While we personally don't travel to Britain for its food, some of the other things on the British best-loved list are also not convincing reasons for us to hop on a plane: the queen came in at #2, the ever-more-expensive British pound at #9 and the National Health Service at #14. We've got a feeling the British need to get out more.
This won't be the first time we've mentioned how Britons have "rows" instead of arguments. American Express did a survey about the current vacation habits of the British, given the so-called credit crunch, but discovered that most of them don't care about that at all--and think much more about holiday rows.
The stats show that almost half of the survey respondents argue about how much stuff is being crammed into suitcases before the trip even begins; two in five have arguments stemming from getting to the airport on time (or not).
The cost of a vacation and the kind of accommodation are also issues that induce quite a few arguments amongst traveling Brits, according to the survey. The biggest problem seems to come from people in Yorkshire--one in five have to turn around to pick up something they left at home.
A new survey has found that travelers in the US are pissed off: For the first quarter of 2008, the US airlines collectively earned a 62 percent approval rating, their lowest since the September 11 attacks shook up the airline industry back in 2001.
The results of this latest survey reflect widespread dissatisfaction among frequent fliers. The lead expert behind the numbers told Reuters that air travel in America is "getting worse" because a lack of flight options allows poor service. Some airlines received survey scores in the low 50s, which makes them less popular than the IRS. Then again, as Chris Elliott says, "you need a survey to tell you that?"
If you're wondering which nations have the best tourism conditions, check the new World Economic Forum Travel and Tourism Report. What the WEF measures is how "conducive" an environment is for travel and tourism--whatever that means--and the results make for interesting reading about the places that might be most welcoming to visitors.
Top of the list is Switzerland, closely followed by Austria and Germany, with Australia coming in fourth. Of the English-speaking nations, the UK is sixth, the United States seventh and Canada ninth.
What does that all mean? Well, they say that Switzerland is on top because it has great cultural and natural sites, useful transport and good training for tourism industry staff. Germany pops up high on the list because it's also good at dealing with business travelers and holding conventions.
At the bottom of the list--presumably destinations that just aren't able to cater to tourists at all--you'll find Chad, Burundi and Bangladesh. Surprisingly near the bottom of the list, there are also Cambodia, Namibia and Bosnia, which are all getting plenty of satisfied visitors these days. Just goes to show you can't believe everything a survey tells you.
And to think we'd always considered Paris the capital city of Love. It might be for some, but a recent British survey unearthed the disturbing result that 34 percent of British travelers consider it:
the city most likely to cause them to argue on a romantic break, with lovers' moods darkened by a "grey" and "difficult to navigate" city and surly restaurant service.
What might be worse is the fact that 10 percent of Britons surveyed have ended their relationship while on vacation with their partner. That makes going on holidays sound kind of risky.
Other top cities for arguments and break-ups included Marrakesh, Morocco and Amsterdam, so take these results to heart next time you're planning your hopefully-romantic trip.
We're still picking our jaws up off the floor at the latest University of New Orleans poll that shows more than half of respondents think the city is one of the nation's most dangerous. The same survey says a third of people think the French Quarter was one of the hardest hit areas during Katrina, and about one in four people think parts of the city are still underwater.
Wrong, wrong and wrong. The Quarter was largely spared major damage and flood waters are long gone. While New Orleans does have some crime, you probably won't get caught in it unless you go looking for trouble. (We suggest you don't.) But USA Today, which ran the AP story about the poll early this morning, isn't helping correct misconceptions with the headline "New Orleans crime may be keeping visitors away."
We beg to differ: 3.8 million folks stopped by in 2006, and New Orleans will host 6 million by the end of 2007. That's not bad, given the fact that airlines slashed service to Louis Armstrong International after the storm and entire tracts of the city remained evacuated for months.
We hate to sound boostery, but the last thing New Orleans needs after so much progress is more "scary" headlines.
Everybody dreams of vacationing on a beautiful island--or at least we do. But if we all headed to the same island, things would go downhill pretty fast. So a recent survey done by National Geographic Traveler and their island experts has attempted to rate 111 popular island destinations according to their sustainability and the impact that tourism has already had on them.
They decided that islands with not-so-fantastic beaches and cloudy weather are doing the best at the moment: places like Scotland's Shetland Islands and Denmark's Faroe Islands rate in the top five. Experts were asked to name islands that are "authentic, unspoiled, and likely to remain so." Only the Faroe Islands fit that bill. But in the next category of islands--those that are almost unspoiled but just have minor difficulties--some great destinations pop up: Australia's Kangaroo Island and Tasmania, Dominica, the Grenadines, Molokai in Hawaii, Santa Catalina in California and France's Corsica.
Thing is, we're not quite sure how to use this list for our future vacation planning. Should we avoid the islands which are currently unspoiled and just spend our tourist bucks on the already-spoiled spots? Or should we try the authentic places and just not tell anybody else about it?
It sounds like it's those beloved double-decker red buses that make all the difference. For the second time running, the London public transportation system as been named the world's best in an annual TripAdvisor poll.
London also topped the lists for the safest public transport system, the best subway system, and the best taxis. The downside: high quality usually means high cost. Along with the accolades it was also awarded the title of the world's most expensive transport system.
So what's the message here? TripAdvisor reminds us "you get what you pay for" (unless you're flying these days, in which case, all bets are off). We think other cities can learn a valuable lesson learn from this: If you make cabs and buses look like old-fashioned toys, everybody will love them, no matter how high the fare.
0 Comments - Add Yours
by amandak
