beat the brochure

Only a 4 day week for many but come Friday and the impressive summer weather, naturally in September, most of us were thinking this week had dragged on. Hurricane Irene herself had finally moved on after being demoted but there were a few goings on within the travel industry to keep us amused.

1. – Would you like your dahl shaken or stirred?

There is nothing quite like a celebrity to inject a little interest into tourism for a country, think Prince William in California, not David Cameron in Tuscany. Rumours this week are suggesting that 007 himself may find himself fighting for his life, or that of his rather attractive lady-friend, in Mumbai. Well, if it’s good enough for James Bond then surely we all need to sample the delights on Mumbai ourselves. Quick pop quiz: In which other James Bond film did the man in question visit India?

2. – World Travel Awards.

If you happen to be in Turkey this weekend keep an eye out for some of the top names in the travel industry as they are all gathering in Antalya for a special VIP event to celebrate Turkey’s surge in tourism over the last couple of years. This would be an excellent opportunity to strike up a conversation with however you happen to find yourself next too – it’s always good to make contacts, especially with anything travel related! Let’s also be honest, you deserve a piece of the action too seeing as you yourself has attributed to the success of Turkey tourism over recent years!

3. – To believe or not to believe?

TripAdvisor will most definitely have headed to the pub at the end of this week being told that they will be investigated by the Advertising Standards Authority. Their claims of “reviews from real travellers” and “reviews you can trust” are apparently misleading and untrustworthy according to a report by an online reputation management firm. They also claim TripAdvisor do not do enough to combat the abusive reviews written. So what it the answer? What’s your opinion, is TripAdvisor merely a platform for consumer-generated content and the services themselves should take responsibility for reviews, or should TripAdvisor do more to monitor reviews and edit where necessary?

4. – The world’s most beautiful railway station?

In the next edition of 1000 Ultimate Sites, out at the end of September, St Pancras Station, home of the Eurostar, has been named as one of the most romantic places on Earth. Really? Now this may be a little sceptical but if the big bronze statue of the couple having a hug wasn’t there, would St Pancras Station be considered romantic? Either way, no doubt a surge of marriage proposals will happen at the station over the next year. I shall keep an open-mind on my trip to Brussels later this year!

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