A golfing holiday in North Korea might not feature on many travellers’ wish lists, but the concept has become a reality thanks to the efforts of a young British entrepreneur.

Golfing holiday in North Korea

Although the communist nation is one of the world’s most secretive societies, and Pyongyang isn’t serviced by direct flights from Stansted or Luton airport, 32-year-old Dylan Harris has managed to organise an amateur golf competition on the country’s one and only course.

Mr Harris, who runs Wigan-based Lupine Travel, confesses that he ended up arranging the event “by accident” when he tried to organise a bespoke golfing holiday for a very particular Scottish customer.

He said: “Some guy phoned me last summer and said he wanted to play golf in North Korea. He kept phoning back. He said he had played golf in countries all over the world and North Korea was one of the only ones left. He said: “Can you just ask them?’”

Mr Harris said that when he advertised the trip on his website he did not expect to receive much interest, but ended up being inundated with responses.

“I just thought a couple of people would be interested. The tour is full now but I’m still getting inquires coming in every day,” he said.

Lupine Travel, which specialises in unusual getaways, now has 30 clients signed up for the trip from countries as far apart as China, Australia, Britain, America, France, Sweden and Luxembourg.

Mr Harris has done interviews with Japanese television, France 24 and The Wall Street Journal since news of the event broke, and he is hopeful that the event will help to aid peoples’ understanding of the mysterious country.

Copyright Press Association 2011

Budget airline easyJet will add an extra plane to its operation at Scottish airport and put on a new service to Athens, it has been revealed.

Industry chiefs and politicians have welcomed the move which will see a new Airbus A320 added to Edinburgh Airport, boosting its capacity by 300,000 seats a year and benefiting both business and leisure travellers in the process. The move is also expected to create an extra 60 jobs.

A new flight carrying travellers from Edinburgh to Athens will also be added to the airport’s schedules along with new services to Grenoble and Tenerife.

It was also disclosed that easyJet intends to bring in a 180-seat Airbus A320 plane to replace one of its four Glasgow aircraft. The new aircraft will carry an extra 40,000 passengers a year.

Edinburgh Airport managing director Kevin Brown said on Wednesday: “Today’s announcement is not only an investment in Edinburgh Airport, but in Edinburgh itself.

“It has consistently proven that it is a city in which people want to live, work and visit. We will continue to work with our airlines and the city to ensure that as many people as possible can do just that.”

First Minister Alex Salmond said: “The provision of a fifth plane for Edinburgh, a bigger aircraft in Glasgow and the opening up of these new routes will not only create 60 new jobs but will also contribute towards longer-term economic growth.”

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British people spend more than £168,000 on an average of 120 holidays during their lifetime, a survey has shown. 

The Teletext Holidays’ poll revealed that a holiday “life” involves spending more than £2,750 a year starting at 18 and lasts for around 60 years.

Average holidays cost around £860, but people could save money by considering airport transfers to and from their flights.

Travelling by bus to the airport not only removes the cost of parking a car, but it gives tourists the chance to avoid fears over making the flight in time. 

Young people travelling without their parents for the first time tend to head to Newquay in Cornwall, with Blackpool, London and Brighton also popular destinations.

The survey of 3,000 Britons also found that Australia is a popular location for gap-year trippers as well as those taking retirement holidays.

Florida is favoured by teenagers and those with young children, while those in their 20s taking trips with friends like to visit the Spanish island of Ibiza.

The favourite stag and hen party destination is Amsterdam, while Maldives is a popular honeymoon spot.

Teletext Holidays managing director Victoria Sanders said: “Holidays are increasingly being used to mark important milestones in people’s life. There are more people travelling for stag and hen weekends, to get married overseas or celebrate ‘big zero’ birthdays than ever before.

“An ageing population means that we are travelling for longer and we can fit much more of the world into a lifetime than ever before.”

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The number of people wanting to fly out to Syria from UK airports such as Stansted, Gatwick and Heathrow is on the increase, latest figures have revealed. 

UK tourists on the road to Damascus

The Syrian capital of Damascus had the biggest rise in internet searches from British holidaymakers seeking hotels in the city last month compared with 2010, according to accommodation website Hotels.com.

There was a 486% rise in searches for the Middle Eastern destination during the period, while the Spanish island of Menorca was close behind in second place after a 466% increase. Medina in Saudi Arabia was the third fastest-rising destination in terms of search frequency last month, the figures showed.

Travellers also logged on to search for Malia in Crete, which experienced a 446% rise, Gibraltar, which was up 445%, and Fort Lauderdale in Florida, which had 444% more searches than last year. Orlando, Florida, also increased with regards to search popularity by 442% and Las Vegas saw its number of searches increase by 434%.

Irish destinations Kinsale and Dublin completed the top 10 with 430% and 417% more interest from the website’s users respectively.

Hotels.com communications director Alison Couper said: “Syria is definitely an up-and-coming destination for a Middle Eastern break.

“The number of tourists going to Syria is expected to rise by up to 40% this year according to their government, with historic Damascus, the archaeological site of Ugarit in northern Aleppo, and year-round hot temperatures proving popular with Brits.”

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The average price for a room in a city hotel in the UK rose by 1.7% last year, bucking a downward trend in Europe, a survey has revealed.

Hogg Robinson Group (HRG) discovered that London hotel rooms cost an average of £156.91 in 2010, which represents a 3% rise on the 2009 figure.

The next most expensive UK hotel rooms were in Aberdeen, but the average price of £108.58 was 8% down on 2009.

Heathrow airport hotel room rates rose by 5% to £106.92 last year, which was the biggest increase among the UK locations, while average rates at Gatwick airport and at Bristol increased by 3%, and hotels in Edinburgh (£92.43) were 1% more expensive than in 2009.

However, rates at Dublin hotels fell by 11%, hotels in Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire were down 14% and hotels in Manchester and Liverpool were 3% less expensive than in 2009. Prices for Birmingham hotels were unchanged year to year, and hotels in Newcastle upon Tyne and Belfast were 2% and 4% cheaper respectively.

Despite a 3% fall on 2009’s figure, Moscow was the world’s most expensive city in which to book a hotel room, with the average room costing £258.67 in 2010. London’s room rates, meanwhile, were the 29th most expensive in the world. 

Douglas McWilliams, from the Centre for Economics and Business Research, said: “The UK economy recorded stronger-than-expected growth in 2010 and hotel prices returned to growth.

“Across the UK, some interesting trends emerged as London led the recovery in hotel prices. Within the EU, Heathrow saw the third highest growth rate in hotel prices.”

He added: “In general, business surveys have shown London and south east England, with its large private sector and lesser reliance on the public sector, to be recovering reasonably well.

“In contrast, many cities in regions that are more dependent on the public sector for economic activity have seen further declines in hotel prices in 2010.”

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Online travel agents saw bookings jump 31% in January in comparison to the same month in 2010, new figures have shown.

People seemed to be more interested in heading to the airport and jetting off on their holidays after the severe winter weather, boosted by the January sales offered by many travel operators.

Online holiday bookings were up 173% on December, with people on average spending £886 on their trip – the highest figure since December 2008.

Overall, consumers spent £5.1bn online during the month, up 21% year-on-year, according to the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index.

Chris Webster, head of retail consulting and technology at Capgemini, said: “It seems that the British consumer is looking ahead to sunnier times and taking full advantage of the big New Year sales offered by the major travel operators.”

IMRG spokeswoman Tina Spooner said: “While the index results for January show a very encouraging start to the year for e-retailers, it is important to note this strong growth is on the back of the lowest-ever annual growth recorded in January last year when the e-retail market grew just 4.6%.

“Sales of travel were strong during January, particularly after the severe winter weather in December. Clearly Britons are not tightening their belts where holidays are concerned, with the index recording the highest average spend in this sector in over two years.”

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Belfast International has added Malta to its list of destinations, which already include London Stansted and Paris among others. 

easyJet adds new flights to Malta

The new flights, the airline’s 20th route, will leave twice a week, making it easier for passengers to hop across to the Mediterranean island.

Meanwhile for those flying into Stansted may need to arrange transport into central London to continue their trip or to catch connecting flights at Heathrow, Luton or Gatwick airports.

Paul Simmons, easyJet Regional general manager, said: “We’re delighted to be launching this new route to Malta, which is a popular destination for leisure and business travellers, and strengthens easyJet’s existing destinations from Northern Ireland.

“Malta has a rich history that is evident in its stunning architecture. For today’s visitors, there is also the obvious attraction of clear blue waters and dry, warm summers,” he added.

Once in Malta, it’s well worth catching the ferry over to the small neighbouring island of Gozo – well known for its rustic scenery and plethora of churches – 22 in total. The Xewkija church, featuring its famous dome which is larger than London’s St Paul’s Cathedral, can seat 3,000 people.

Gozo is also famous for its Ggantija temples – the oldest religious structures in the world.

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Gatwick Airport saw passenger numbers increase by 11.8% year-on-year last month. 

Some 2.09 million people passed through the West Sussex airport, which was said to have coped well with this year’s snow and wintery conditions.

The airport saw it largest increase in people using it European scheduled services, which were up 20% on January 2010 figures.

However North Atlantic passenger numbers were down 1%, while European charter traffic fell 0.4% year-on-year.

Stewart Wingate, Gatwick’s chief executive, said: “We are delighted to be seeing increased volumes from our existing carriers.

“Only last week, British Airways announced it is to move its high-end, leisure route to Mauritius from Heathrow to Gatwick, and we are equally delighted to welcome a new airline to Gatwick – airberlin – which is now operating twice-daily services to Hanover and Nuremberg.”

From November 1, flights back from the Indian Ocean isle will take off 12 hours later than at present, creating more time for relaxation before the journey home.

The better timing coincides with the route being switched from Heathrow to Gatwick, further strengthening the airline’s premium leisure programme at the airport.

The changes will create evening departures for both the outbound and inbound flights to allow customers to maximise their time on holiday.

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The 2012 Olympics in London might be a long way off but air passengers are getting an early taste of next year’s sporting extravaganza through an exhibition at Britain’s busiest airport.

Featuring Olympic-themed works of art, the exhibition is being held at Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport and is helping to relieve the monotony of the check-in process for holidaymakers waiting to board their flights and enjoy a relaxing getaway in warmer climes.

The exhibition features a number of paintings, photographs and sculptures, including a bronze sculpture of the torso of Paralympic gold medal winner Lee Pearson.

Passengers can buy any of the 50 works of art and have them delivered to their home, with proceeds split between the artist and the British Paralympic Charity.

Sarah Lewis, account manager for sponsorship and experience at Heathrow, said: “This exciting new exhibition honours the best of Britain’s sportsmen and women as we eagerly countdown to the 2012 London Olympics.

“We are constantly looking at ways to make every journey better at Heathrow and provide passengers with an immediate taste of British sport and culture, and believe that this art exhibition will be as captivating as it is unexpected.”

The exhibition is at one of the four expo locations in the terminal, which include an open-space exhibition in the check-in hall.

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UK no-frills airline easyJet has announced a new route from Gatwick Airport to Zagreb, Croatia.

New route to Zagreb launched

Flights will go to the Central European country five times a week and prices for a seat on the plane start at £25.99 one-way, including taxes.

Zagreb, Croatia’s capital, is known as the country’s cultural and political hub, with the picturesque Medvednica Mountain in the background and the Sava River running through it.

The city history can be traced to the era of the Roman Empire and the city itself was once split in two. It is well known for its great geographical location as it straddles the Pannonian Basin, which leads to the Adriatic, Alpine, Dinaric and Pannonic regions.

The carrier now flies to 92 destinations from London Gatwick and will soon be taking the total to 100 when more European destinations are added.

General manager of the airline Paul Simmons said: “We’ve launched the new Zagreb route as it is a popular destination for both business and leisure passengers. With flights from £25.99 one-way and departing from London Gatwick fives times a week we’re making it accessible for everyone.

“easyJet is the largest airline to fly from London Gatwick and the new Zagreb route means we fly to 92 destinations. A further six new routes will be launching shortly to Amman, Aberdeen, Izmir, Verona, Seville and Bologna providing even more choice to travellers.”

Copyright Press Association 2011