A Trip News

AUSTRALIAN airlines are pushing to reduce the number of cabin crew on passenger planes.
But the flight attendants’ union says cutting the ratio of one cabin crew member for every 36 passengers to one for 50 passengers would put lives at risk in an emergency.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority has set up a project team to review the proposal, which was last reviewed and rejected by Federal Parliament six years ago.
Jo-Ann Davidson, secretary of the Flight Attendants Association of Australia’s (more…)

Though fierce in competition, mainland travel agencies pin high hopes on tourism market in Taiwan, after the travel ban was lifted a year ago.
    This was because mainland-to-Taiwan tour has been soaring, against the downward trend of visits to and from the United States and European countries as a result of the spread of A/H1N1 flu and economic meltdown.
    Chen Zhichao, deputy general manager of Guangdong Nanhu International Travel Service (GNITS), (more…)

“YOU’RE going to want the jumbos, hon,” my waitress said as she stood, pen poised over her pad, next to my unadorned pine picnic table on the crowded outdoor deck of Waterman’s crab house .
I understood the advice. There’s nothing more disheartening than picking up a steamed blue crab that looks undersize and limp, without the ballast of plenty of meat under the shell — and knowing that the minutes about to be spent cracking and picking through it will be less (more…)

Australian Greens leader Bob Brown says Kevin Rudd should respect the culture of indigenous people, after the prime minister rejected a proposal to ban climbing at Uluru.
A draft management plan for the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park has called for a ban on people climbing the 348-metre-high rock, which is sacred to indigenous people.
Mr Rudd said while it was important to properly manage the country’s natural landscape it would be “very sad” if tourists were denied the chance to scale Uluru. (more…)

In an offer almost too good to be true, British travellers will soon be able to fly to Australia for less than the price of a guide book.
In a take on the term 10 pound Pom, originally coined to describe British citizens who migrated to Australia after World War II, the scheme will allow Brits to travel Down Under for just STG10 ($A20.42).
The move to boost the tourism industry will see 150 Qantas tickets to Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane or Adelaide available for anyone with a valid Working (more…)

Carnival Cruise Lines, the world’s largest cruise line operator, said it will resume visits to Mexican ports.
Following word that the Centers for Disease Control is no longer recommending that Americans avoid nonessential travel to the country due to the H1N1 flu outbreak, the company said its first cruise ship to return to Mexico will be the Carnival Holiday.
The four-day cruise departing May 28 from Mobile, Ala., will stop in Cozumel, Mexico.
No other major cruise line has announced plans (more…)

While most of her fellow Spanish majors chose to study abroad in Spain, Boston College junior Megan Leahy elected to head to Mexico for “a more independent experience.” Leahy, who spent the spring semester at La Universidad Iberoamericana’s Puebla campus, says her classes at BC prepared her so well that she sometimes was mistaken for a native. But she admits that it’s still “hard to fully communicate how I feel or articulate a joke or slang from English to Spanish.”
FRESH CHOICE: Puebla (more…)

NAMED for a jumble of railroad tracks, the Junction section of Toronto was once a booming manufacturing hub, with lively pubs, hotels and shops. But industry declined and, in recent decades, the neighborhood withered as prostitutes and drug dealers staked their turf along Dundas Street West, the area’s main thoroughfare.
The pendulum, however, seems to be swinging back. Spurred by the hipification of other once-derelict districts like West Queen West, the young and artsy are taking advantage (more…)

Delta is launching its inaugural Los Angeles-to-Sydney flight.
The battle for air passengers on the busy Australia-US route has grown hotter with US airline giant Delta launching its inaugural Los Angeles to Sydney flight.
The flight is scheduled to leave LA international airport at 10.35pm LA time on Wednesday (3.35pm Thursday AEST).
Delta plans to steal market share from the dominant airlines on the route, Qantas and United Airlines and another newcomer, Richard Branson’s recently-launched (more…)

For Asia Pacific travellers, overseas trips begin with a visit to the Internet to plan their own itinerary, according to the Travel Smart Survey commissioned by Visa. 72% of survey respondents seek travel tips to help them decide where to go, mainly from the internet (43%) travel agents (23%) or friends, relatives and colleagues (23%).
The way the sexes and generations use the internet for travel planning differs. Women are more likely to be their own travel agents than men with 48% of the women (more…)