Key Quotes - Travel/Tourism

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Last update: Wednesday 25th March
 
The Department for Transport (DfT) did not follow its own rules over the bidding process for the West Coast main line franchise, Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson has told MPs. The rail franchise system is ‘flawed’, Sir Richard told the House of Commons Transport Committee. He was giving evidence after Virgin Trains launched a judicial review of the decision to award a 13-year West Coast franchise to rival FirstGroup.
Travel/TourismThe Sentinel, September 11, 2012
 
The number of forged passports spotted at British ports and airports has fallen by almost half over the past five years, it was revealed. Some 1,858 fakes were detected by border officials last year, down from 3,300 in 2007, according to figures obtained under Freedom of Information legislation. The UK Border Agency said that the introduction of biometric data had made it more difficult for criminals to forge documents.
Travel/TourismThe Sentinel – 6th August 2012
 
Holidaymakers face a sharp increase in the cost of flying following a 10 per cent increase in Air Passenger Duty. The tax on holidays, to be imposed next month, will add £250 to the cost of a family of four flying to Florida and about £360 to the cost of a four-strong group travelling to Australia. Visitors to Britain must also pay the duty on their return journey, meaning the tax could harm the important tourism sector in the Jubilee and Olympics year. Airlines said the tax would price ordinary families out of flying abroad and could be the ruin of smaller tour operators already struggling to survive the recession. The Government was accused of "burying bad news" after the Chancellor made no reference to the tax during his Budget speech and instead outlined the increases in papers released by the Treasury.
Travel/TourismDaily Telegraph - March 25 2012
 
Pilgrims are flowing back to the traditional site of Jesus’ baptism on the Jordan river as Israel removes 40-year-old land mines and improves the area, but barbed wire and armed soldiers testify to the area’s tense past. Jewish tradition holds this also is where the ancient Israelites crossed into the Promised Land following their flight from Egypt.
Visitors have tripled since 2004, reaching almost 60,000 in 2010 and some 44,000 during the first four months of 2011 said manager Saar Kfir, who works in the Civil Administration.
Travel/TourismLife And Work July 2011
 
Children will not be subjected to a X-ray body scanner which produces “naked” images of flight passengers, airport officials said last night. Bosses at Manchester Airport had a rethink on allowing under-18s to undergo the check after child protection experts warned that their security workers risked breaking the law by creating indecent images of juveniles.
Travel/TourismThe Sentinel – October 19th 2009
 
A drunken British man had to be saved by police after he began handing out thousands of Euro at a Spanish airport. The mystery visitor at Mallorca Airport was dishevelled and smelly, but had come into inheritance and quickly attracted a crowd when he began giving away bundles of Euro. Officers found 52,000E (about £44,960) on the man, who flew to the island from Manchester, and persuaded him to go home.
Travel/TourismThe Sentinel- 9 July 2009
 
Passenger complaints have soared on the rail line running through North Staffordshire – despite a £9 billion upgrade. West Coast Mainline operator Virgin Trains received 52.1 per cent more complaints in the twelve months ending March 2009 than in the previous twelve months, figures from the Office of Rail Regulation showed. In the year 2007-2008, 360 complaints per 100,000 passenger journeys were received from the London-Scotland line, which runs via Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent and Crewe. Last year the figure soared to 548. The statistics also showed that only 76.4 per cent of trains ran on time in January to March 2009 – well below the national average of 90.3 per cent.
Travel/TourismThe Sentinel- 10 July 2009
 
It is unacceptable that low rail fares are mainly found on the internet, a report by MPs has said. The report, by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, said: “This approach undermines the whole basis of the railways as a public service available to all. It excludes those people without access to the internet, without the time to search or who decide to travel at short notice."
Travel/TourismThe Sentinel- 19 May 2009
 
Satellite tracking devices are being installed in buses to revolutionise public transport. Bus companies in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire are working with regeneration leaders to install the devices in the next two years. The high-tech initiative will enable bus passengers to obtain up-to-the-minute information on bus itineraries at bus stops, online or on their mobile phones.
Travel/TourismThe Sentinel - January 2nd, 2009
 
Rail passengers will today have to fork out for fare rises well above the inflation level, with some tickets going up by more than 11 per cent. Customers watchdog Passengers Focus said rail travellers would “shudder and shiver” when they saw the new fares. But the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) said some fares were staying the same or going down and commuting by rail was “considerably less expensive than commuting by car”.
Travel/TourismThe Sentinel - January 2nd, 2009
 
A beloved pier destroyed by fire will “live on forever” in a popular board game. The pavilion on the Grand Pier in Weston-super-Mare was gutted when a blaze broke out in July. Makers of the property game Monopoly will unveil their latest board – Monopoly: Somerset – which has a space dedicated to the 104 year old pier.
Travel/TourismThe Sentinel - 14th October 2008
 
Lorries are to be banned from a county’s country lanes in a bid to end the chaos caused by wayward satellite navigation units. Gloucestershire County Council is banning HGVs from an area of 150 square miles. It comes after a number of cases where lorries were diverted down routes which are too tight for trucks.
Travel/TourismThe Sentinel - 24th October 2008
 
The Mothership which will launch the first space tourists into the atmosphere was unveiled by Sir Richard Branson in California. WhiteKnightTwo (WK2), the carrier aircraft which will be used to launch SpaceShipTwo into orbit, “will allow thousands of people to realise their dreams” and “act as a catalyst to transform human access to space”.
Travel/TourismThe Sentinel - July 29th 2008
 
More than nine million motorists will lose out under controversial road tax reforms, the Government admitted. Some 43 per cent will see their bills rise by up to £245 by April 2010, compared with less than one in five who will be better off in real terms. It is the first time official estimates have been disclosed of winners and losers from the changes – which ministers insist are designed to punish high-polluting cars rather than raise revenue.
Travel/TourismThe Sentinel - July 10th 2008
 
Cost-Cutting car owners are regularly running out of fuel as they try to economise during this period of record high petrol prices, it was revealed today. Many motorists are “driving on empty” with 20 per cent saying they can no longer afford to fill their tank right up, a survey by breakdown company Britannia Rescue found. In the last three months, 340,000 drivers have suffered a breakdown due to running out of fuel.
Travel/TourismThe Sentinel - July 18th 2008
 
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