Europe books it more online

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Online travel searches may be down, but online bookings are up (at least in Europe). At the end of 2008, 29 percent of Europe‘s €246 billion travel industry happened in that strange place called the “internet.” Traditional bookings are expected to inch higher by 3 percent, providing just a tad more proof that the action’s on the web. PhoCusWright uncovered this and other travel tidbits in a series of reports it just released.

Spain‘s rail and hotel businesses are starting to shift more transactions to the web, making this country one of the fastest growing for online travel. Seventeen percent in 2007, online bookings are projected to hit 26 percent in 2010. I hope to be part of the solution, as I’ll be booking my hotel in Madrid next month on FastBooking. Italy’s expected to hit 18 percent by 2010.

France is already the second largest online direct booking market in Europe and isn’t slowing down. In 2008, it grew an estimated 16 percent to €7.3 billion, but online travel agencies are growing at an even faster rate. More than 25 percent of all travel is booked online in France, with Germany not far behind at around 20 percent.

Yeah, and there’s a whole lot more. If you’re a stats geek like I am, check out some of the reports that PhoCusWright has available on the travel market. Interesting stuff.

Need New Year’s Eve ideas? Crash some plates!

by Tom Johansmeyer on

I assure you that when the ball drops on the last day of 2008, I will not be in Times Square. I will be nowhere near Times Square. So, unless you like the thought of being shoulder-to-shoulder with people you’ve never met while freezing and lamenting the lack of public bathrooms in that part of town, take a look at some of the choices you have this year.

Chomp twelve grapes in Spain
Think of it as a drinking game without the fermentation. Every time the bells toll-12 times in total-eat a grape. This should ensure a sweet year. But, if you cram into Madrid‘s Puerta del Sol (see my thoughts on Times Square), listen carefully for your cue to chew.

Slam china in Denmark
Wait for the queen to finish her annual 6 PM New Year’s Eve address to the Danes. Then, join the locals in a big meal. On a full stomach, throw plates at people’s houses (typically, this is done to friends). The thrown plates are expressions of friendship. I have to assume that a direct hit on a window or expensive glass door is not. Again, just guessing.

Wait for Pinocchio in Ecuador
Ecuadorians burn effigies to prevent their real-life counterparts from stopping by, and people run around the block 12 times while wearing yellow, which they say is lucky. I do hope that they aren’t wearing only yellow … that would look funny.

Mexico: Another place to run around the block
Wear yellow if you choose (and only if you choose) while carrying your luggage around the block in Mexico. But, only do this if you want the year to bring you many travels. Investment bankers, management consultants and attorneys: don’t bother trying to resist it. You’ll be on the road anyway.

[Thanks, IgoUgo]

The Best Holiday Light Displays Around the World

by Annie Scott on


Travel and Leisure compiled videos of the best holiday light displays around the world into one handy album right here. If you wish to feel inferior about your outdoor decorative efforts, look no further.

Actually, these displays are far too fantastic to even inspire envy. Most, like the Brussels and the Tokyo (Roppongi Hills, above) ones, will inspire awe and wonder. So get your coffee, sit back, and let other people take care of the cheer for a little while. It’s beautiful!

[via Travel and Leisure]

Obscure Holiday in the US is a Big Deal in Spain

by Josh Lew on

Try to keep your excitement under control: Columbus Day is coming. While post office employees and history buffs have been waiting, this holiday will pass unnoticed for most people. That is, unless they try to go to the post office or local library, most of which will be closed in memory of Christopher Columbus, first white guy to set foot in the Americas (sorry Leif Ericson, but you didn’t write it down).

But the U.S. is not the only nation that celebrates Columbus Day. So does Spain. Only they don’t call it Columbus Day. It carries the grand title: Dia de la Hispanidad. The day features parades and celebrations of Spanish culture. The Spanish and Portuguese-speaking Americas and Spain’s Iberian kin Portugal get in on the party this year with a celebration of Iberian and American culture called VivAmérica. There are festivals of art and film, concerts and lectures, and little or no mention of the bloody history of the colonization of South and Central America. Most of the festivities will take place in Madrid. The events run until October 12th. Parades also take place in some US cities with large Spanish-speaking populations.

Source

Breaking News: 147 People killed in Madrid plane crash

by Abha Malpani on

A Spanair plane bound for the Canary Islands from Madrid caught fire after skidding off the runway killing 147 people; 173 were on board — 26 are known to have survived.

The plane was delayed for an hour because of technical reasons and when it finally tried to take-off from Terminal 4 of Barajas International Airport, it hardly got off the ground before it swerved off the runway as its engine caught fire and blew-up into flames. This happened around 2:30pm this afternoon (Spain time).

“The plane was totally broken apart, it was all full of bodies,” one of the witnesses told El Pais newspaper (as reported by Sky News).

You can see a video post accident here on Spain’s National newspaper El Pais, unfortunately the commentary is in Spanish.

Before the crash, Spanair pilots threatened to strike after they heard of plans to cut the airline’s workforce by 1000 people.

Spanair is one of Spain’s national airlines — the second largest after Iberia, and owned by the Scandinavian SAS Group.