UK Tickets

Advice issued to London tourists

musiclover — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 22:27:31 +0000

A new guide containing advice and tips for tourists planning trips to London this summer has been made available. The ’Coming To the UK’ leaflet, produced by the Home Office, lists useful information for tourists in its contents as organisers look to reduce the amount of confusion and queries from holidaymakers in the run up to the 2012 Olympic games.

As the games entered into its 100 day countdown this week, theguardian.co.uk has reported on a number of events – like the one seen at Kew Gardens involving a floral display of the Olympic rings- set up by London 2012 organisers to drive tourism. To deal with problems that could arise from housing extra numbers, the Home Office will be hoping that the leaflets find their way around.

Amongst the information given was a set of guidelines for obtaining visas – with some of the 1 million tourists expected to apply for documents advised to send off their forms as soon as possible to avoid the inevitable rush.

In another key piece of advice, the Home Office told visitors – possibly rushing to hire cars – not to use designated Olympic and Paralympic lanes at Heathrow explaining: “Please do not use these lanes as they are for athletes coaches accredited media and other officials coming to the UK to take part in the games and the arrivals process is different.”

Waits at border security were also seen as a possible stumbling block, as over 100 million passengers are set to land on UK shores during a particularly busy period for transport in the capital. Due to this, leaving plenty of time for getting in and out of ports has been recommended.

Cited by london24.com, the extract read: “The London 2012 games coincide with the summer period when our ports are always busier than normal, so please make sure that you allow time for passing through the border.”

‘Staycations’ lift for Scottish tourism

musiclover — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 20:56:52 +0000

The “staycation” market helped push up Scottish tourism figures last year, according to official statistics. Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed the number of overnight visitors to Scotland rose by 9% in 2011.

There was also a 10% increase in visits to Scotland from within Great Britain, and a 20% rise in the amount spent by domestic visitors.

Internationally, the number of visitors remained relatively static.

However, the latest ONS figures indicated tourist numbers from North America rose by 15% from 2010 levels.

Tourism Minister Fergus Ewing said: “These encouraging figures show just how resilient Scottish tourism is.

“The 9% increase in visitors to Scotland shows growth in one of our key sectors and is good news for Scotland’s wider economy, especially in the current global economic climate.

“These figures are a reflection of the hard work being done by Scotland’s tourism industry, and of the innovative marketing campaigns VisitScotland has created, both at home and overseas.”

In February, the Scottish Parliament’s economy committee warned that a target for a 50% boost in Scotland’s tourism industry by 2016 could not be met.

The 10-year Scottish government growth plan was set in 2006, before the global economic crisis hit.

In a report, the Holyrood committee cited industry concern the target was “not considered achievable”.

Scottish tourism is worth £4.2bn every year and employs about 215,000 people, according to trade association, the Scottish Tourism Forum.

Airlines warn of possible delays at UK immigration Border

musiclover — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 22:17:58 +0000

UK airlines are warning of potential delays at airports during Easter and during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations due to tougher immigration checks at border control.

The British Air Transport Association (BATA) is calling on UK ministers and the immigration department to increase staffing or consider a risk-based approach to screening specific passengers at passport control. BAA, which operates Heathrow airport, is also calling for extra staffing to deal with passport and visa checks, saying that immigration queues can become especially long during peak travel times.

The government has imposed tougher immigration checks following last year’s row in which immigration officials relaxed passport and visa checks beyond agreed limits.

Simon Buck, chief executive of BATA, said in a letter to UK home secretary Theresa May on 21 March that the UK Border Force “will almost certainly struggle to manage the volume of passengers” because of the government’s decision to introduce more stringent passport and visa checks.

“The subsequent impact on airline operations, passenger experience and satisfaction could be significant, especially at peak travel times such as Easter or during the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations,” Buck said, adding that over time this “would also have a significant economic impact given the very significant share of business passengers at our busiest airports, principally Heathrow.”

Buck claimed that if immigration halls at airports become congested due to long queues at passport control, airlines would be forced to keep passengers on the airplane, which could jeopardise the operation of subsequent flights.

“This is a concern to all BATA members. The possibility of disruption may appear remote, but there is a real danger of this becoming a reality if more support is not provided to the Border Force,” said Buck.

The 10 Cases, London, restaurant review

musiclover — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 21:18:08 +0000

Childhood indolence never ceases to plague us down the decades, it occurred to me the other night after going 23 minutes without getting one right on University Challenge; but until a recent lunch the one subject to which I never regretted paying zero attention was mime.

Very few of you will have been subjected to that most lethally tedious of academic disciplines, and for that I congratulate you. The headmaster of my eccentric north London prep school was besotted with it. A Gauloises-chain-smoking, potty-mouthed demi-hippy — “I never, ever smoke dope,” he once informed us English students with fearsome pride, “in class” – he made us mime without cessation. To this day, I am sporadically riven with nausea at the memory of my portly, prepubescent self prancing silently about the stage for the edification of stupefied parents, or worse still in “street theatre”, clad only in a jockstrap.

At The 10 Cases, I found myself wishing I had spent less time fantasising about using a crossbow to spear Marcel Marceau through the heart, and more mastering the form. “I’ve cricked my neck,” my friend reported as he sat with his back to the blackboards that act in lieu of any printed menu at this Covent Garden newcomer, done out in the studiedly plain neo-brasserie style with black-and-white tiled flooring and obligatory antique light fittings. “There’s no way I can turn around, so you’ll have to mime the dishes for me.”

Even octopus, which at first seemed the banker, went awry when he misjudged the portrayal of multiple arms as “the Hindu god Vishnu?” When he interpreted my snails on toast as “arthritic paedo sidling up to school gates”, I had a eureka moment. “Wouldn’t it be simpler,” I wondered, “if I read them out to you?” We agreed it would.

The reasoning behind the no-menus policy, presumably, is to underline the pop-in-for-a-glass-and-a-bite informality of a self-styled “bistro à vin” that bashfully refers to itself on its website as “one of Covent Garden’s best restaurants”. Given how laden the area is with touristy mediocrities, this boast is loosely equivalent to Eric Pickles bragging about beating the late Mama Cass in the high jump after clearing seven inches, at the third and final attempt, with the aid of a Churchill stairlift.

In fact, The 10 Cases would stand out as a refreshingly warm and artless restaurant in a far more competitive locale. It has its irritants, such as the tiny tables jammed so close together that the slightest knee tremor could have you up before the nearby Bow Street beaks on an indecency charge. But that may be excused considering the challenge of turning a profit in a tiny space with wine prices as decent as these.

This is the first proprietorial venture of a pair of old university mates who have served time elsewhere in the trade, as cook and sommelier respectively, and what shines out is their enthusiasm. The name refers to the policy of stocking 10 cases each of whites and reds, which are replaced with new ones once the stocks are exhausted. The markups are minuscule by British standards.

We went for a 500ml carafe of an al bariño, a safe pick since this Spanish white never lets you down, but one that enticed our jolly waitress to declare “a brilliant choice!” After the mime fiasco, the praise was timely. We all need reassurance now and then that we have talent for something.

The wine was delicious. The food was generally good as well, though the most memorable dish stood out for its novel presentation. Serving smoked anchovies in their tin establishes The 10 Cases as the George Washington of its field.

The anchovies were a credit to their canning plant, and worked astoundingly well with another appetiser, the radish. “Isn’t it thrilling,” enthused my friend, “to be in on the birth of a new hybrid? This must be how Zeus felt when he created the centaur.” Quail eggs were cold, and so over-boiled that they were virtually unpeelable. This furnished me with a delicious dollop of Schadenfreude. I have never screwed up this hors d’oeuvres despite the technically challenging instructions (place in boiling water for a few minutes, drain, serve with celery salt).

What followed quickly pricked our bubble of misplaced conceit. Tomato and courgette arancini, a Sicilian creation of rice balls fried in breadcrumbs, were good and crunchy, albeit “they look like you could get them in a packet of five from Sainsbury’s”. That octopus was supremely fresh, its powerful chargrilled twang boosted by lashings of garlic and lemon juice.

A salmon steak topped with shrimps and served with crushed potatoes had the ideal combo of crispy skin and juicy flesh, and my melty, flaky lamb shank with butter beans floated in a gentle Irish-stewish gravy.

“Nothing clever or showy, just excellent wine and nice, rustic food served by nice, friendly people,” said my friend as we finished the albariño. “Which isn’t the worst formula in the world.” I nodded, and made a waggling gesture in the waitress’s direction, “And it seems to have worked miracles,” he muttered when the bill arrived within moments, “on your ability to mime.”

Air tax strangling economic growth says BAR UK

musiclover — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 23:39:01 +0000

The Chancellor’s decision to push ahead with the double inflation increase in Air Passenger Duty (APD) in yesterdays’s budget has been branded as a reckless brake on the economy by the Board of Airline Representatives in the UK (BAR UK).The organisation, representing over 80 airlines, is critical that widespread opposition to the exorbitant increases is being ignored by the Chancellor, citing that his Treasury continues to treat air travellers as an easy target.

Mike Carrivick, chief executive of BAR UK said “The number one priority is economic growth. A policy of disproportionately high air travel taxation and a failed aviation policy, provide two glaring examples of how the Government’s aim for economic recovery is being damaged by its own doing. It is a day-dream to assume that air travellers will continue to pay increased air taxes without shrinking the market. Hitting families and businesses with ever-increasing APD rates and restricting much needed capacity increases at key airports is a recipe for failure.”

Mr Carrivick added “To make matters worse, residents and visitors to UK are all affected by yet another aviation tax, under the guise of the EU Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS). By the time the Chancellor wakes up to the fact that visitor numbers are dropping, other countries will have already benefitted at the expense of the UK.

“We call on the Chancellor to abandon the April APD increase and to reduce the previous rates by the amount of additional income received from the EU ETS.”

Punctuality figures soar across UK airports

musiclover — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 00:49:58 +0000

FLIGHT punctuality improved at leading UK airports in the last three months of 2011, figures show. Comparatively mild weather at the end of last year means as many as 80 per cent of scheduled flights were on time at the ten main UK airports in October-December 2011, which include Edinburgh and Glasgow Airports, the Civil Aviation Authority said.

This compared with a figure of only 68 per cent in October-December 2010 – a period during which flights were badly affected by heavy snow.

The average delay for scheduled flights fell from 21 minutes in the last three months of 2010 to just 11 minutes in October-December 2011.

For the whole of 2011, a total of 80 per cent of scheduled flights were on time, up from 73 per cent in 2010.

The number of charter flights on time rose from 63 per cent in the last three months of 2010 to 73 per cent in October-December 2011.

The average charter flight delay dropped from 38 minutes in October-December 2010 to 21 minutes in the last three months of 2011.

The statistics related to flights in and out of Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, Stansted, London City, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow Airports.

Among the 75 scheduled international destinations with the most passengers in the last three months of 2011, flights to and from Larnaca in Cyprus recorded the worst on-time performance of 63 per cent and the highest average delay of 21 minutes.

Flights to and from Rotterdam achieved the best punctuality with an on-time performance of 92 per cent, while flights to and from Berlin (Shonefeld) achieved the lowest average delay of six minutes.

UK visa rules could hurt Chinese students

admin — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 02:16:58 +0000

Tens of thousands of Chinese students in the United Kingdom (UK) could be forced out of the country if a basket of strict visa policies takes effect next year.

The UK’s Home Office intends to tighten visa regulations for international students to reduce the country’s annual net migration and cope with high domestic unemployment.

The Home Office has posted a consultation on its website to seek public opinion about the proposal until Jan 31, 2011.

Click here to find out more!
The regulations would cancel the Post Study Work (PSW) policy, which grants foreign graduates of specified courses up to two years of free access to the labour market.

It also raises the English-language requirement for many foreign applicants from level B1 to B2. B1 is equivalent to an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) score of 3.5 to 4.5, while B2 is equivalent to an IELTS score between 5 and 6.5.

Britons looking for sunnier Christmas

admin — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 02:14:11 +0000

According to travel organisation ABTA, nearly four million Britons will head overseas during the Christmas and new year period.

ABTA predicts that the busiest pre-Christmas days for travel will be tomorrow and next Thursday.

It’s estimated that around 1.5 million travellers will be jetting away from Heathrow with 700,000 flying from Gatwick, 323,000 from Manchester, 138,000 from Birmingham and 70,000 from Newcastle.

In Scotland, almost 300,000 holidaymakers are expected to depart from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen airports.

Monarch Airlines said it was flying 200,000 people abroad from tomorrow until Sunday January 9, which marks a 20 per cent increase over the 2009/10 festive period.

The airline’s most popular destinations this Christmas are Tenerife, Alicante on Spain’s Costa Blanca, and Malaga in southern Spain.

More than 200,000 will travel across the Channel or through the Channel Tunnel and a further 225,000 will use high-speed Eurostar trains on services between London and Paris and Brussels.