Fri 20 Mar 2009
Visitors to a New South Wales zoo were forced to lock themselves indoors yesterday as after a lion escaped its enclosure. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the nine year-old lioness, named Jamelia, managed to break free at Mogo Zoo, near Batemans Bay.
Jamelia was later shot by zoo staff, who described the experience as “traumatic”.
Fri 20 Mar 2009
Time to transfer
You can’t put it off any longer. The deadline for deciding how to manage your Qantas frequent-flyer points is looming.
Qantas frequent flyer members have until the end of the month. Any points left in all the credit card rewards programs after April 1 can’t be converted to Qantas points.
Qantas threw the credit card companies into a tizz last year with its decision to change the way it operates its program, claiming the old system lacked transparency and was too complicated. (more…)
Mon 16 Mar 2009
Australian student or work visa applicants in Britain will soon have to pay a migrant tax.
Ministers will this week announce details of the fee, which is expected to be up to £50 ($106) and which will be levied on applicants from outside the European Union, The Sunday Times reported.
The money would go to local authorities struggling to cope with the impact of immigration on schools, doctors’ surgeries and other public services.
Communities secretary Hazel Blears said that, while many migrants (more…)
Mon 16 Mar 2009
To keep costs down, consider skipping going up the Eiffel Tower and relax on the lawns instead. Photo: Getty Images
Paris may be the most visited city in the world, yet it’s also one of the most expensive.
“This city is worth the price,” says veteran tourist Alex Wadkin, 71, a retiree from Dublin, Ireland, sipping a 4 Euro ($A8) cup of coffee on the Champs-Elysees.
“If you avoid expensive neighbourhoods - like this one - you’ll do alright. But the key is to plan ahead.”
For travellers (more…)
Mon 16 Mar 2009
High expectations
Tourism Australia statistics show that for the past six years, travellers in the 55-plus category spent more on travel than any other age group. Also, in the year to September, people aged over 55 accounted for $1 in every $5 spent on domestic travel in Australia.
Naturally, the brakes are on now but research suggests over-55s still feel relatively well off compared with earlier in their lives and have much greater freedom to travel the way they want.
But it’s a mistake (more…)
Mon 16 Mar 2009
Australians splurged on cruise holidays in 2008, with figures showing 26 per cent growth in the sector in spite of the global economic downturn.
It comes as the number of international tourists visiting Australia fell by 131,000, dragging the overall visitor numbers down.
But a record 330,949 Australian passengers took a cruise holiday last year, making it the strongest growth in five years, statistics released by the International Cruise Council reveal.
Europe, Asia and Australasia rated (more…)
Mon 16 Mar 2009
The sun is out, the sand gleaming white, the waves rolling toward shore in clean, regular sets. At the edge of this palm-fringed paradise, the sea is a pale, minty hue and empty of people. Launching my surfboard from the beach on Hainan Island, I paddle out to catch a wave.
Hainan Island has often been called the Chinese Hawaii, and indeed, it is the only tropical beach destination in China. With coasts on the South China Sea and the Gulf of Tonkin, about a 90-minute flight southwest of Hong (more…)
Mon 16 Mar 2009
A senior Shanghai official has proposed building a luxury rail connection for the Yangtze Delta to cater for tourists at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. Reported by the Shanghai Daily, Wang Zhan, Director of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, proposed an Orient Express-style itinerary that takes in Suzhou, Huangshan Mountain, West Lake in Hangzhou, Nanjing, Wuxi, Changzhou and other cities. He suggested that a rail pass be introduced so that tourists could stop off at various cities.
Mon 16 Mar 2009
Selected reader suggestions for visiting Taipei , compiled from user comments on the Travel section’s Web site.
WHERE TO STAY
I recently spent several days at the San Want Hotel Taipei (No. 172, Sec. 4, ZhongXiao East Road; 886-2-2772-2121; www.sanwant.com/en/index.aspx ). I found it delightful. It is mere steps from an MRT transit station. The local street food was outstanding. The Grand Hotel is grand, but isolated. If you are not into taxis or long walks, it is not an option.
Posted (more…)
Mon 16 Mar 2009
Breckenridge, Colo., (970) 453-5000; www.breckenridge.com
Breckenridge is a complete resort that does a good job of making a lot of visitors happy. In fact, about the only complaint you hear with any regularity is that Breckenridge is too popular. Gee, wonder why that is? Could it be the vast and varied mountain terrain? Could it be the walkable, busy 19th-century historic district town that has hundreds of bars, restaurants, shops, theaters and museums? Or is it the Colorado casualness of the (more…)