Take-off and landing slots will have to be booked by private pilots during the 2012 Olympics, the Government has said.

This restriction will apply to business jets touching down at a host of airports in the South East, but also to amateur pilots taking light aircraft out. Transport secretary Philip Hammond is aiming to cut delays and disruption to flights in the South East during London 2012.

Mr Hammond said: “As part of the Government’s strategy to ensure successful delivery of efficient transport services for the 2012 London Olympic Games, I am today announcing the introduction of new measures to limit disruption and delay to all flights using airports in the south east of England during the expected period of peak demand for air services for the Games.”

He said in a written statement that the Airports Slot Allocation (Amendment) Regulations would mean “that during the Games the available air space capacity of south east of England will be able to accommodate the maximum possible number of extra flights”. And he added: “All flights operating in controlled airspace and intending to use a co-ordinated airport will need to obtain, and operate in accordance with, pre-booked take-off or landing slots.”

Restrictions are already in place at Stansted, London City, Heathrow and Gatwick airports, but 36 other airports and airfields will be affected, ranging from massive terminals such as Birmingham to smaller airfields such as White Waltham Airfield.

 Copyright © Press Association 2011

A hotel room that has been designed to absorb the sound of snoring is being trialled in London, as well as nine hotels across Europe and the Middle East.

Crowne Plaza will be testing the room, which includes soundproofing technology and a specially designed pillow, for one week at Crowne Plaza London The City.

The room could help people with snoring partners who are travelling from airports such as Heathrow and Stansted to get a good night’s sleep before their flight.

The company said the soundproofing has been created by mounting egg box-style foam to the walls, reducing noise reverberating in the room, while any echo from snores will be muffled by a headboard that absorbs sound.

An anti-snoring pillow will be included on the bed, as well as a device that aims to make people sleep on their sides, as lying flat on your back often produces snoring.

Hotel spokesman Tom Rowntree said: “We’ve all been there. Lying wide awake at three o’clock in the morning burying our head under a pillow to drown out our partner’s snoring.

“There’s nothing worse than being kept up all night and that’s why we’ve designed this specific snore absorption room to help give our guests a great night’s sleep.”

A survey of 1,000 people carried out for the hotel by Lightspeed found half of couples complain about a partner’s snoring spoiling their holiday.

Copyright © Press Association 2011

London has been voted as the UK’s top destination by visitors from around the world in a new poll.

A survey by travel company TripAdvisor saw the capital beat Edinburgh and Bath into second and third place respectively.

No doubt the city’s travel links and selection of good airports to fly into – whether that be Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted or Luton - helped the city to grab the top spot.

Overall it was voted the third best destination in Europe, and the eighth best in the world.

Paris took the top European spot with Rome in second place, while Cape Town was crowned the world’s best destination.

Emma Boyle, TripAdvisor spokeswoman, said: “Tourism is vital to the UK economy so it’s encouraging to see London and Edinburgh both highly recognised as Europe’s best destinations.”

She went on: “London’s performance is especially meaningful as so much time and effort has gone into preparing the city for the 2012 Olympics and hopefully it will sneak ahead of Paris and Rome before the Games start.”

The top 20 UK destinations were 1. London; 2. Edinburgh; 3. Bath; 4. Cambridge 5. Oxford 6. Stratford-upon-Avon; 7. York; 8. Inverness; 9. St Andrews, Scotland; 10. Liverpool; 11. Glasgow; 12. Brighton; 13. Belfast; 14. Canterbury; 15. Manchester; 16. St Ives, Cornwall; 17. Cardiff; 18. Windermere, Cumbria; 19. Newcastle upon Tyne; 20. Aberdeen.

Copyright © Press Association 2011

Television gardener Charlie Dimmock has agreed to take part in a midnight walk in east London to raise money for Richard House Children’s Hospice this summer.

Although it would be easier to hop on any one of a number of airport transfer buses that service London City Airport, Dimmock will complete the course on foot, but will no doubt receive encouragement from the 1,000 other women organisers hope will take part.

The walk begins at the airport on the stroke of midnight on June 25 and will weave its way along the Docklands. It will also pass along a number of food and entertainment stalls inspired by India, Egypt and the Caribbean.

Those who want more than a taste of India, Egypt and the Caribbean can always book a holiday to these popular holiday destinations, with airports such as Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton all in relatively close proximity.

Charlie said: “I’m really looking forward to taking part in the Midnight Walk. It should be a lot of a fun.

“The target is to get more than 1,000 women walking.

“It doesn’t really matter how fast or slow you do the walk – with that amount of women on the streets of east London, I’m sure there will be a real buzz on the night.

“Richard House is a great cause. It provides essential care for children across London and currently has about 170 children on its books. However, to keep going, the hospice needs to raise £3.1 million each year.

“Show your support for the good work it does and sign up.”

Copyright © Press Association 2011

The Spanish island of Majorca was the preferred destination for Britons travelling abroad for some sunshine during the winter season, statistics compiled by a car rental website have shown.

Majorca tops winter holiday poll

Carhiremarket revealed that Palma de Majorca was the most popular destination for vehicle rental in December 2010 and January 2011, while Malaga and Alicante were second and third most popular respectively.

According to the price comparison website, a quarter of all Britons heading abroad for a fly-drive holiday during the winter months chose to visit Spain, flying from airports such as Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton. 

Winter breaks in America were also a popular option with holidaymakers, with Orlando listed among the top 10 destinations for car hire. Paphos in Cyprus and Porto in Portugal also featured on the Carhiremarket list, along with the Caribbean island of Martinique, which made the top 10 list for the first time.

Those Britons who did escape the extreme winter weather that hit the UK at the end of 2010 and the start of 2011 might have opted to leave their cars at home and instead use bus transfer services to reach the airport.

Anel Brun, product manager for carhiremarket, said: “As the Met Office warned late last year that December was almost certainly the coldest since records began, many Brits took to the skies and flew off to sunnier climes.”

Copyright Press Association 2011

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.”

Copyright Press Association 2011

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.”

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

Extra bank holiday for Royal Wedding, to be held in Westminster Abbey

The announcement that Prince William and Kate Middleton’s spring wedding will be a public holiday has ensured that millions of Britons will enjoy two long weekends off next year. 

The April 29 Royal wedding falls on the Friday before the May Day Holiday on the following Monday, May 2, giving workers four full days off. The previous weekend is Easter, when schools close and much of industry shuts down for the traditional four-day break.

While millions of Britons will be glued to their television screens as the pair tie the knot, some may be tempted to take advantage of two long weekends in a row by heading to the airport and jetting off abroad.

Unsurprisingly, the revelation that Britons will receive an extra day off next year has been greeted with some cheer from industry officials.

A TUC spokesman said: “Working people will look forward to the extra bank holiday next year to celebrate the royal wedding.”

“The UK would benefit from having more days of national celebration. With a further bank holiday to come in 2012 for the Queen’s diamond jubilee, people will get used to the extra day off so we should make it a permanent fixture with a new community day bank holiday from 2013 onwards.”

A CBI spokesman added: “The Royal wedding is a day for national celebration, and under these unique circumstances a one-off additional bank holiday is appropriate.”

London could also see an uplift in tourists for the event. The city has good transport links feeding Luton, Stansted, Heathrow and Gatwick airports.

Copyright Press Association 2010

More people could be taking transfer buses to Stansted following news that flights to the Cape Verde Islands will be available from the airport. 

Flights to Cape Verde will soon be taking off from Stansted, it has been announced

Budget flight website airflights.co.uk announced it would be putting on the flights, which will also enable travellers to head for Banjul in the Gambia, from this winter. 

Previously, flights to the relatively unknown Cape Verde were offered by the website from Gatwick or Manchester – heading to the islands of Sal and Boa Vista.  

However, rumours that the place is earmarked as an ‘in’ destination has seen the firm extend its service.

The cheap flight specialist called the move a ‘great development’.

Many travellers looking for something a little more exotic are expected to head from London to Stansted once the flights begin jetting off. 

Lying off the cost of West Africa, Cape Verde is made up of separate islands including Sal, Boa Vista, Maio and Sao Nicolau. 

Vast white beaches can be found at Sal and Boa Vista, while those looking for more rugged terrain would be more at home on one of the other islands – which all have strong historical links to Portugal. 

Copyright Press Association 2010