Consumer spending on eco-travel and other green goods and services grew by almost a fifth over two years despite the economic downturn, new figures have shown.

According to the Co-operative Bank’s annual Ethical Consumerism Report, the UK’s “ethical market” was worth £43.2 billion in 2009 compared with £36.5 billion two years earlier. This represents an increase of 18%.

The report, which has been compiled since 1999, analyses sales data for various sectors including food, household goods, eco-travel and ethical finance.

It would appear that more and more holidaymakers have been flocking to airports like Luton, Stansted, Heathrow and Gatwick to go on eco-friendly getaways, while also using airport transfers to further reduce their carbon footprint. 

Other winners during the difficult economic period included Fairtrade products, the RSPCA’s Freedom Food-labelled items and ethical banking, but organic food, rechargeable batteries and real nappies, as opposed to disposable versions, lost out with consumers.

Spending on ethical food and drink increased by 27% to reach £6.5 billion, or 8% of all food and drink sales. Fairtrade food grew by 64% to reach sales of £749 million, while sales of Freedom Food products tripled in two years to reach £122 million. Sales of organic food fell by 14% to £1.7 billion.

Ethical personal products including clothing and cosmetics was the fastest growing sector, increasing by 29% to reach £1.8 billion, while the market for green home products such as energy efficient appliances grew by 8% in two years to reach £7.1 billion.

The report also revealed that ethical finance increased by 23% to reach £19.3 billion during the two-year period as consumers became disenchanted with much of the financial services sector.

Copyright Press Association 2010

Passengers looking for cheap flights to the Middle East might be pleased to discover that easyJet has put tickets on sale for its new service to the Jordanian capital of Amman – which begins in late March.

easyJet has put tickets on sale for its new service to Jordan

David Symes, director of the Jordan Tourist Board in the UK, said: “We have been discussing direct flight options to Jordan with easyJet for a number of years and we are delighted at the launch of this new service.”

“With hugely competitive lead-in fares from only £106 return per person, travel to Jordan becomes more affordable to all, and particularly to families who have previously been subjected to the more rigid pricing structures of scheduled airlines.”

Mr Symes revealed that outward fares start from around £100, with returns from around £32. Many visitors in the early summer can expect to pay less than £150 for a basic return flight.

The new service, which takes five hours from Gatwick Airport, could boost the number of British tourists to Jordan by around 12,000 from its current level of 65,000 a year. It follows the launch of the easyJet service to Luxor, in Egypt, last month.

By choosing the right booking and travel periods, Mr Symes insists a family of four can travel to Amman for little more than the cost of a “single ticket on a scheduled carrier”.

He believes the new service will boost demand from independent travellers – who already account for more than 50% of UK visitors to Jordan – as well as others on packages.

Independent travellers find Jordan particularly attractive because it has a wide range of accommodation – from five-star hotels to small, family-run properties and guesthouses. Also it is regarded as very safe and child friendly with plenty for families to do.

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A Wiltshire grandfather spent three days trying to get home from Gatwick Airport after becoming disorientated in wintry conditions.

Moroccan-born Mohammed Bellazrak’s family reported him missing after he did not return to Trowbridge after driving his wife to the west Sussex airport for a flight.

Police in Oxfordshire eventually located the 72-year-old after his car triggered a camera in Oxford. They discovered that Mr Bellazrak had spent from 23 -25 December trying to get back home.

Analysis from number-plate recognition systems revealed that he had driven around various towns in Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire and on the M4 during his arduous journey.

Mr Bellazrak had no mobile phone with him, and he told newspaper reporters that his sat-nav was not working.

Thames Valley Police took him to Oxford police station after he was stopped in Abingdon Road in the city at 2pm on Christmas Day, and after a rest, relatives took him home. He was unharmed by the ordeal.

A police spokesman told the BBC it was “nice the story had a happy ending”.

Mr Bellazrak might want to consider leaving the car at home the next time he travels to Gatwick and instead opt to use one of its many airport transfer services.

Copyright Press Association 2010

 Pop queen Madonna was afforded some extra special treatment when she was caught up in the recent disruption to hit London airports this week. 

The Lucky Star singer’s flight from New York made an emergency landing at Stansted Airport due to the severe winter weather. The plane had initially been bound for Heathrow Airport. 

Heavy snow then marooned the plane on the tarmac for an hour before Madonna and her entourage were transported to the terminal via a bus. Some of the other passengers on the Virgin Atlantic flight remained on the aircraft for a further two hours before being cleared to disembark. 

“As the plane was diverted to Stansted due to very difficult weather conditions, disembarkation was delayed while ground staff waited for buses to transport customers back to London Heathrow,” said a statement from Virgin Atlantic.  

“We apologize for any inconvenience this diversion caused, but for safety reasons this action was unavoidable.” 

Regarding Madonna’s VIP treatment, a representative from Virgin said: “It is common across airlines that business and first-class passengers disembark first and this is reflected in the higher cost of the ticket.” 

The passengers were among tens of thousands of travellers across the UK who suffered delays due to the recent Arctic conditions. 

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Tourism chiefs are anticipating a 300,000 increase in visits by foreign residents to Britain in 2011.

The VisitBritain organisation’s predicted number will be around 30 million - 1% up on the figure for this year.

Many visitors will use travel from airports such as Luton and Stansted to sample the attractions on offer in the capital.

Meanwhile, the amount of money that visitors spend during these trips is predicted to rise 2% to £17.2 billion.

However VisitBritain believes this figure is significantly lower in real terms than the best year for inbound visitor spend (taking inflation into account) which was 2006 – when spending reached £18.4 billion at 2010 prices.

The group added that the economic recovery is still fragile in large parts of Europe and North America – two areas which account for 85% of all visits to Britain from overseas.

VisitBritain expects pressure on travellers’ disposable income to increase during 2011, as global commodity prices soar and taxes edge up in many parts of the world.

More positively, the continued highly competitive value of sterling against a range of currencies including the euro and the dollar have helped to make a visit to Britain very good value for European and American visitors in particular.

The organisation will start a global marketing campaign in spring 2011, focusing on the April 2011 Royal Wedding and the two major events of 2012 – the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics.

VisitBritain chief executive Sandie Dawe said: “We are looking forward to an exciting and challenging 2011.”

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David Walliams and Matt Lucas caused a stir among airport passengers when filming their latest comedy series for the BBC.

The Little Britain stars will be next seen on screen in Come Fly With Me, a spoof documentary that follows a number of characters who work in or pass through a fictional airport.

Filmed on location at a number of airports – including London Stansted – real passengers witnessed the duo’s antics, including changing into character in the men’s toilets.

Walliams said: “The interesting thing is we get recognised by some British people who might have seen Little Britain.”

“But, obviously, as we’re in an airport, a huge percentage of people are from other countries who probably don’t recognise us and are just utterly mystified as to why there are two men dressed as women having a pee next to them in the toilet.”

While the pair hoped that filming on location gave an authentic feel that could not have been created in a studio, Walliams admitted that there were a lot of distractions.

“We’re used to being on a set and people saying, ‘Quiet please, action’. But here, any moment, a Tannoy can go off, a vehicle can go past beeping or someone can start shouting or running through the airport, so you’ve got to try to concentrate with that going on around you.”

Come Fly With Me airs for the first time on BBC1 on Christmas Day.

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 Officials from Stansted say the airport is operating normally as it bids to ease the load on snow-bound Heathrow.

An airport spokeswoman said a number of airlines had laid on extra flights and the airport was handling re-directed Heathrow flights – with airport transfers possible between the two.

The Stansted spokeswoman added that bosses had shut the main runway for a “short period” on Saturday while a number of flights were cancelled on Sunday.

“We are operating normally – and some airlines have laid on extra flights,” she added. “We have no more snow forecast.”

The news comes as Heathrow prepares to face an inquiry into the way stranded passengers were treated over the weekend.

Transport secretary Philip Hammond said airports had been hit by extreme weather conditions and he did not want to “distract” management attention from efforts to clear a “huge” backlog of flights by carrying out investigations now into what happened over the last few days.

However he said that once the problems were over, there had to be a “discussion” about what went wrong – including how passengers were treated once flights were disrupted.

He told BBC Breakfast: “Once we have got through the problem, once we have got things moving again, then we will have to have that discussion and find out exactly what went wrong and, most importantly, what went wrong in handling passengers who were stranded.”

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A new service from bmibaby will see more flights between Belfast Airport and London Stansted.

The budget airline has announced that 16 flights will leave Belfast each week.

The service, popular with business travellers and tourists, will see many needing airport transfers to Gatwick or Heathrow airports to continue their journeys, or into central London.

Northern Ireland tourism minister Arlene Foster said: “Air access is ritical to restoring visitor growth from the Great Britain market. 

“The new route is a very positive factor working in favour of Tourism Ireland’s plans to promote Northern Ireland in the Great Britain market next year.”

Last month the company announced plans to switch its Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff and East Midlands routes to the City Airport in January.

Having all flights depart from the same location provides a “more convenient” service for customers, representatives said, while Thursday’s announcement will “compliment” their range.

“We currently offer a range of domestic routes from Belfast to key UK regions and this new London route will complement these services providing our customers with even more choice,” managing director Julian Carr said.

“With up to 16 services a week with convenient flight times, this route will be ideal for both business and leisure customers wishing to travel to London.”

The move has also been welcomed by airport officials.

“Belfast City Airport to Stansted has been one of the most popular routes served in the last few years,” said City Airport director Katy Best. 

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Nearly four million Britons will leave these shores over the festive period, with some heading for the ski slopes and others hoping to get some winter sun and avoid the prospect of a white Christmas at home, travel organisation Abta said.

Spain, Dubai, Turkey and Florida are some of the most popular spots for sun worshippers, and Geneva is the top arrival destination for skiers and snowboarders – with many then moving on to resorts in the surrounding areas.

Those seeking a more bustling, cosmopolitan break have pushed Paris, Amsterdam, Madrid, Dublin and New York into the spotlight for the most sort after city getaways, while Sydney, which offers sun, beaches and city life, not to mention the cricket, has also been a popular choice. The Sydney test in the Ashes series gets under way on January 3.

Figures from Abta have revealed that, unsurprisingly, Heathrow will be the busiest airport with about 1.5 million travellers jetting off from the west London site over Christmas and the start of the new year.

In addition, 700,000 will fly from Gatwick, 370,000 from Stansted, 323,000 from Manchester, 250,000 from Luton, 138,000 from Birmingham and 70,000 from Newcastle.

In Scotland, 145,000 will depart from Edinburgh Airport, 101,000 from Glasgow and 48,000 from Aberdeen.

Monarch Airlines said its most sought after destinations are Tenerife, Alicante and Malaga.

Abta chairman John McEwan said: “Christmas is traditionally the busiest time of year for the travel industry and I am delighted to see that so many of our customers are taking this opportunity to head off on holiday and to visit friends and family, both in the UK and overseas.”

Copyright Press Association 2010

Tourists heading to the UK are just as excited about the country’s fine cuisine and clothing as they are about its castles and famous London monuments, according to a survey. 

The poll by VisitBritain showed that visiting restaurants was the favoured pastime of tourists, with shopping for clothes and accessories coming a close second.

But before visitors to the UK get a chance to enjoy the splendours the country has to offer, many of them will need to secure the correct airport transfers between London airports – such as Heathrow and Stansted – and the capital. 

VisitBritain strategy and communications director Patricia Yates said: “This detailed report gives us a fascinating insight into exactly what attracted 30 million overseas visitors to Britain last year.”

She also explained that while the nation’s famous sights are a major draw for travellers, the shops and restaurants very popular too, with more British restaurants winning Michelin stars in 2010 than at any other time in the 35-year history of the gastronomic award.

She added: “It also shows different areas of Britain have strong individual identities as tourism destinations in their own right.

The poll also found:

:: LONDON – where there was the highest proportion of overseas visitors going to see monuments and buildings;

:: NORTH EAST ENGLAND – a greater proportion of foreign visitors went to the pub in this area than anywhere else in England;

:: NORTH WEST ENGLAND – the area where overseas tourists socialised with the locals the most;

:: YORKSHIRE – rural areas were the big attraction for foreign holidaymakers;

:: WEST MIDLANDS – 9% of overseas tourists to this area went to the theatre, lured by Shakespeare’s Stratford-upon-Avon;

:: EAST MIDLANDS – one in three visited the countryside, including the Peak District;

:: EAST ENGLAND – foreign visitors were lured by the attractions of Cambridge and the Suffolk coastline;

:: SOUTH WEST ENGLAND – one of the areas where sports activities were particularly popular for overseas visitors;

:: SOUTH EAST ENGLAND – visitors in this area ranged further away from where they were staying than in any other area;

:: SCOTLAND – more visits to the pub were made here by foreign tourists than anywhere else in Britain;

:: WALES – 37% visited castles.

Copyright Press Association 2010