A lot of travel and tourism is very straightforward. At the risk of simplifying, you go somewhere, you look at something (buildings, waterfalls, mountains), you do something (swim, lie on beach, trek on a nature trail) and then you come back.  End of story. But there is a different approach. What if the thing you want to see or understand is more ‘conceptual’ or difficult to pin down? This is work in progress, but I hope you’ll see what I mean. At this stage I should quickly say I have always Read more

Budget airlines have been something of a pariah over recent years. They’ve been accused of outlandish expenses that rival traditional airlines, have defended themselves against accusations of poor service, and have been involved in disputes over cancelled routes, narrow seats and hidden charges. They’ve hit news headlines time and again in the UK for the service they provide, but a recent easyJet announcement proves that public opinion is still in favour of flying on the cheap. This week the Read more

By the time Christmas Day arrives, most families are huddled around their Christmas Tree, furiously opening presents, and beginning preparations for the day of celebration. Not so an unusual group of Canadian Northern Inuits, artisan craftsmen and women, who spend their days getting ready for an opening of another kind. For weeks they’ve been compacting snow, carving elaborate frescos, and painstakingly designing chamber after chamber, block by block, on the slopes of Switzerland’s highest mountains. Read more

After various years of recession in the UK and Europe, it is easy to be depressed. And winter is coming too. So be warned: there may be traces of unseasonal optimism in this blog. I’ve found reasons to be happy in lots of numbers about tourism (I know, I am rather strange). Let me put it this way. Call me a nerd, but I’m very aware that the European economy actually contracted last year and will do so again in 2013 (shrinking by under 1% in each year). We European have had the works, what with Read more