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Something to shout about!

It’s not often that I take the opportunity in this blog to talk about something closer to home — after all, the purpose of these articles is to whet your appetite and stimulate your curiosity so that you venture abroad and experience some of the destinations that I write about. Every now and then though, I come across something that is so good that I simply cannot let the opportunity pass without telling people about

Nippon — Land of the Rising Sun

‘Nippon’ is the word that the Japanese use to describe their own country and the Kanji characters that represent the written form literally translate as ‘sun origin’. Even their national flag continues with this theme, representing, as it does, a red circle against a white background — or as one wit once described it: a Venn diagram indicating what percentage of Japan is actually Japanese, as the country has always famously been homogeneous and indeed

The beauty of Lourdes — How perceptions sometimes do us no favours.

As someone who has worked at the coalface of travel for more than 40 years, one phenomenon that I encountered on a regular basis was that of the over-expectation of clients concerning their resort, cruise or other holiday experience. On many occasions, such over-expectation was clearly the fault of the client themselves; building up an image in their mind’s eye as to what they could expect when they arrived and then being disappointed when the

It’s that time of year again!

The one thing that you can always be sure of at this time of year is that the media and airwaves will feature wall-to-wall editorial content on all things Christmas. From 'How to roast the perfect turkey' or the 'Best way to wrap presents', we, as consumers seem to have an insatiable appetite for all things christmasy (and yes, there is such a word as every one uses it!). So why try to fly in

All roads lead north at this time of year!

With just seven short weeks left before Christmas is upon us, I thought that now might be a good time to extol the virtues of you and your kids going to visit Santa rather than him always having to visit you! As we all know, Santa lives in the North Pole but what some people don’t realise is that because the lines of longitude converge, the nearer they get to the pole, the greater the

Keeping the magic alive!

Every year in the weeks leading up to Christmas Day, conversation increasingly turns to the subject of whether or not we'll get to experience a white Christmas. Sadly, because of the temperate latitude that we enjoy in Ireland that is a statistically unlikely event. There are, however, many many places around the world (and particularly around Europe) where one can experience a picture postcard white Christmas — just like they do in the movies! Last

Heaven does exist — and it’s located in Tuscany!

I'm Irish and I've lived in Ireland all my life and I can't think of anywhere else in the world I'd rather spend the rest of my days — despite the weather, the politicians, the cute hoorism, the naked nepotism at every turn and a hundred or more other things that irritate me and cause my blood pressure to go stratospheric! We've got a great little country and our food  is second to none. We
safeness

Where should I go on my next holiday?

There are all sorts of reasons why people choose the destinations that they do. For some it’s simply price, for other’s weather is their primary concern. Some choose destinations based on their proximity whilst other travellers choose places based on their ‘safeness’. It is therefore interesting to note the results of the latest biannual report from the World Economic Forum which rates countries around the world based on a wide ranging set of metrics that

Istanbul — The city with multiple personalities!

People often assume that just because you work in the travel business, you must have been everywhere. I wish! Don't get me wrong. I have travelled extensively for sure over the course of my 40 years in the industry but what tends to happen is that you end up visiting the same destinations quite a lot — particularly if they feature heavily in the markets that you trade in — and much less so for

Beijing — City of contrasts

I have recently returned from my second trip to Beijing in less than three months. So what is it like to visit the third most populous city in the world? Well, the first impression is that it looks remarkably modern and western in the sense that the entire city (at least from what I saw and I criss-crossed it many, many times) is composed of large, wide boulevards containing dual carriageways with smaller, local access

How travel decisions can sometimes be based on incomplete information

Trip Advisor is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year. The global review site started out life above a Pizza shop called Kosta's in Needham, Massachusetts in February, 2000. It is a great site without question and I must admit that I have started contributing to it in recent times as I realised, belatedly, that I had a lot to contribute given the amount of travelling I do (and have done). What prompted me to write

Now that’s what I call value!

On a recent trip to China, I have to say that I was hugely impressed by the subway system in Beijing. Not only was it clean, safe and efficient but it was also exceptionally good value for money. The subway is the oldest metro system in mainland China — the first line having opened as recently as 1969, and it has grown to 18 lines, 319 stations and 527 km of track in operation, making it the second longest

The art of getting a quote that is both competitive in price and relevant to your needs starts with gathering all the right information about what you want to do (or think you want to do!).

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