Author: Ben Debski

The green escape

Posted on by Ben Debski

Eco-tourism holidays are designed with many different aspects to being environmentally friendly in mind. For instance, you may stay in accommodation that has been built with both local and natural materials. The staff could be local people, so the jobs are supported by the townsfolk. Eco-tourism holidays should go out of their way to preserve the environment and stay true to the local cultures and customs. Taking an eco-tourism holiday does not have to be uncomfortable. There are many hotels and agencies that cater to eco-tourism holidays, yet with a comfortable offer. When travellers learn and respect the country that they are travelling and staying in, the holiday maker benefits, as well. A common misconception is that these holidays cost more, but this certainly does not have to be the case. Many resort hotels are built by using energy saving devices, such as automatic lights and water saving measures that keep costs low. One big trend in hotels worldwide is not washing linens every day when you stay in one of their rooms. Instead, there is a set time period for washing, or you as the customer can request a wash done if you think it is needed.

But ecotourists might not be doing all they can to help protect the planet, according to The International Ecotourism Society (TIES). Themed “Travelling with Climate in Mind,” the TIES Advocacy Campaign is designed to provide information for travel suppliers, organisations and travellers to help minimise their environmental footprint through more conscious use of energy and offsetting greenhouse gas emissions.

“Ecotourism is a large and rapidly growing movement for good in environmentally sensitive areas of the world,” said David Sollitt, Executive Director of TIES, “but the distance between where people live and where ecotourism typically takes place puts people onto aeroplanes, boats, cars and other modes of transportation that contribute greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.” The solution, according to Sollitt, is to make travellers more aware of how the travel choices they make impact global climate change. By engaging in responsible options such as offsetting their transportation through carbon offsets, making recreation choices that have positive impacts on a destination, and being aware of the energy consumption by their lodging, travellers can significantly reduce the amount of greenhouse gases produced through their travel. At NAEC 2007, TIES, along with Native Energy Travel Offsets (NETO), will host a three-hour stakeholder forum on Travelling with Climate in Mind, featuring speakers from transportation companies, ecolodges, national and international environmental and travel organisations and others.

The forum reviewed and commented on the Sustainable Transportation Guidelines for Tour Operators, developed as part of the TIES Advocacy Campaign, in conjunction with the University of Eberwalde’s Dr. Wolfgang Strasdas and CESD, a Washington-based research group focusing on sustainable travel. “NETO is committed to working with the travel industry to help reduce carbon impacts on the atmosphere in this time of crises.” says Megan Epler Wood of NETO, “We are proud to be working with TIES on an educational program to help the industry both reduce its carbon footprint and provide carbon offsets that go directly toward renewable energy infrastructure on Native American lands and family farms.” The stakeholder forum will address the sources of greenhouse gases, ways of reducing carbon release into the atmosphere by both individuals and companies, and voluntary carbon offset programs, and provide an in depth discussion on what the travel industry need in order to be an effective part of the solution. The forum will be divided into two parts with topics including Internal Corporate Management of Carbon, Voluntary Carbon Offsets, Sustainable Transportation Guidelines and the Impacts of a Carbon/Friendly Program on the Travel Industry.

Global warming
There is now broad consensus that tourism is both affected by, and contributing to, global warming. However, there is considerable debate as to what exactly and how much needs to be done about it. The International Tourism Exchange workshop in Berlin last year “Travelling with the Climate in Mind” demonstrated ways to minimise the ecological footprint of travelling—while still having great travel experiences. A number of experts from leading companies and organisations representing various sustainable tourism stakeholders addressed strategies such as implementing climate-friendly management systems and utilising public transportation, and discussed issues such as the compensation of greenhouse gases in long-haul tourism destinations, and the necessary adaptation to the impacts of climate change in developing countries.

The workshop recognised that in view of ongoing growth of the tourism industry, the “business as usual” scenario — if the world continued travelling the way it is now — may have devastating effects on the well-being of host destinations and the future of tourism itself. On the other hand, there are radical demands from certain sectors to reduce travelling substantially in order to curb negative impacts of tourism. The latter “stay at home” scenario is largely viewed as unrealistic, as well as unattractive.    

In spite of their generally high awareness of the dangers of global warming, many consumers are uncertain as to how to alter their travel behaviours, and most tend not to make any change because they are unwilling to forgo their well deserved holidays and unable to find any practicable climate-friendly alternatives. There are several ways to make the way you travel more responsible, starting with flying less.

Reducing your footprint
Taking a flight will dwarf all other elements of your holiday in terms of carbon emissions. Use sites such as carbonresponsible.com to calculate the footprint of a particular journey and see how long it would take you to make the equivalent carbon saving by cutting down on car journeys or using low-energy lightbulbs.

And then there is green accommodation. There are more than 20 ‘green’ accreditation schemes in the UK and more than 100 worldwide. Look out when choosing a holiday for members of the Green Tourism Business Scheme (green-business.co.uk); the greener hotels in package holiday brochures should now display the ‘Travelife’ logo. Find a green tour operator like the Association of Independent Tour Operators (aito.co.uk) which has a rating scheme for members.

Make your own enquiries, too – ask the hotel management directly what they are doing to become more sustainable in terms of carbon emissions, energy and water use and waste minimisation. Does your holiday provider or accommodation employ local people and buy food and other supplies from local producers where possible? The more people that raise the issue with managers, the more they will listen. Establishments with the best records will be happy to tell you all about them.

If you avoid unnecessary car journeys and take care not to waste water at home, take these habits on holiday with you. Use public transport once you are at your destination, keep heating, lighting and air-conditioning to a minimum and take showers rather than using the bath. Many island and mountain destinations have very limited waste and recycling facilities, so it is worth leaving all the unnecessary packaging that comes with holiday purchases at home. Environment-friendly suncreams and toiletries, such as the Dr Hauschka and Lavera ranges, can also limit your pollution of sensitive eco-systems.

Technology and travel

Posted on by Ben Debski

The concept of one electronic device to handle a complete list of tasks, from phone calls and emails, to real-time flight notifications to acting as a boarding pass, is becoming more feasible, though the majority of business travellers still carry multiple mobile devices. In fact, as I sat in a session at ACTE’s Spring Global Education Conference, an audience poll of approximately 160 people yielded that 80 percent admitted to carrying two or more mobile devices. The following article details the features of some existing products that can help business travellers maintain contact with the office, airport, travel agent and even receive the latest weather updates.

The ACTE Global Education Conference program in Rome will offer strategies for the bold, as well as new perspectives for those requiring a more traditional approach to problem-solving. In addition, demand management alternatives, such as teleconferencing and mobile communications, will be explored for companies who are ready to embrace this technological innovation.

The education session, “New Technologies for Business Travel,” will focus in on the two hottest technologies that are seeing rapid deployment across the globe in the business travel sector: videoconferencing and mobile devices enabled with business travel applications. Driven by both demand management and value management, videoconferencing capabilities are increasingly being offered in many companies as a less costly alternative to travel.

Likewise, mobile travel applications have the potential to reduce transaction costs and enable traveller productivity. In this session, attendees will learn about the range of current videoconferencing offerings, case study results from a travel program that has integrated videoconferencing into its travel/meetings program, and business travel applications available for mobile use.

If you already have a mobile device, now would be a good time to add the following dates into your calendar so you don’t miss out on any of the European education events ACTE will be hosting this fall.

Going mobile
In a not so distant future, the scene at a crowded airport terminal will be quite different from what it is today. Business travellers will no longer have to search for flight information on video monitors or stand in line at customer service desks in the wake of a flight cancellation or delay. Instead, they’ll be consulting their mobile devices.

That’s the scenario painted by Yoni Meiri, director of product management mobile for Rearden Commerce, whose on-line booking and concierge product, Personal Assistant, is going mobile. The Foster City, California, company, which has more than 1,250 clients using Personal Assistant, is currently in the process of securing several corporate accounts, including a large UK-based pharmaceutical company, for a test run of Rearden Mobile.

“The interactive itinerary is now in your pocket,” says Meiri, adding that the potential for mobile travel services in the corporate marketplace is enormous. As clients sign up, Rearden loads in their preferred suppliers, enabling a traveller, for example, to book the preferred car service or locate the preferred off-airport parking lot with the push of a button. Later this year, Rearden will enable customers to get reduced rates on long distance roaming services in foreign countries, bringing mobile computing to overseas destinations. Traveller ratings and recommendations will also be added. And when GPS capability is built into a device, useful travel information, such as directions to a nearby restaurant from the traveller’s present location, will automatically be prompted to the PDA or phone.

Rearden, however, isn’t alone. MobiMate, an Israeli company, launched a beta version of a similar product, called WorldMate Live, for Blackberry users last October. WorldMate Live integrates with calendars and email as well as dozens of Internet sources to provide data to mobile travellers, including flight details, information about rental cars, hotels, meetings and local time and weather. A dozen companies have signed up for the service, the largest being British American Tobacco with 700 users, according to Glen Arndt, senior director of corporate sales at MobiMate.

Travellers log onto the service on their Blackberry using a password. The itinerary is synced from their desktop to the mobile device, and back systems link the flight information to the real-time alerts. In the near future, restaurant reservations and flight bookings will be added to the menu of services. The company also looks to expand the service to Windows Mobile Platform in the spring, says Arndt.

“We’re empowering business travellers,” notes Ian Berman, vice president of business development for WorldMate Live. “They don’t have to search for anything anymore. We give them information immediately before they get stuck.” With more than 10 million people using Blackberries and an equal number using Windows Mobile, “the impact on the travel industry is huge,” he adds.

Value of telephony
According to a May 2007 study on mobile travel data by Forrester Research, a sizeable minority of business travellers are already utilizing their mobile devices to obtain travel data. Out of the 87 percent of North American business travellers with mobile phones, 45 percent use mobile data services, such as text messaging and the Internet. Fifty-seven percent of the mobile phone business users surveyed said they’d find it helpful to get airport traffic alerts in a text message before arriving at the airport ,and 39 percent said they’d find it helpful to be able to book a flight on their mobile device.

In another Forrester report on the mobile market for U.S. business travellers, released in December 2007, participants rated being able to check in and check out using their mobiles devices as the most valuable service. The second most useful function was using their phones as room keys or boarding passes. (As a move toward adopting a new IATA standard for boarding pass barcodes, precluding the need for paper, Air Canada last September became the first carrier enabling travellers to flash the barcode at the gate from their mobile phones.)

Skeptics will note that talk about turning the mobile device into an omnipresent provider of travel services has been going on ever since travellers began using smart phones and PDAs. The difficulty of accessing the Web using the device’s tiny keyboards and small screens has been a barrier, as has the fragmentation of the mobile industry, which is characterized by differing types of devices, operating systems and carriers. Travellers’ reluctance to pay for such services and concerns about security of the wireless networks are two other issues, according to the December 2007 Forrester Research report.

However, the popularity of the Blackberry device among business travellers is providing the necessary critical mass for investment in tailoring a product to a particular system. Another impetus is Blackberry’s “all-you-can-eat” pricing model, which doesn’t charge by the transaction, notes Meiri of Rearden.

Meiri and Arndt stressed a crucial difference between their services and the proliferation of mobile Web links and text messaging services offered by airlines, TMCs, on-line booking companies and other travel suppliers: both WorldMate Live and Rearden Mobile utilize technology that requires software to be installed on the device, which is richer and more reliable than the wireless application protocol of those other services. Because WAP utilises a voice network, backups can occur when there’s bad weather or a crisis due to the lines getting jammed.

Because of the software installation, when the Blackberry network went down for three hours on 11 February, WorldMate Live and Rearden Mobile users were still able to check their itineraries, said company spokespeople. And because Rearden Mobile is delivered through the data network of the local service provider, not the RIM network, service was unaffected, said Dan Ford, Rearden Commerce’s vice president of marketing.

A statement from Research in Motion, the company behind the device, said: “Blackberry data services in the Americas experienced intermittent delays on late Monday afternoon (beginning approximately 3:30 pm eastern). Data service levels were restored in the early evening at approximately 6:30 pm eastern. Voice and SMS services operated normally during this time.

“No messages were lost and message queues began to be cleared after normal service levels were restored. RIM continues to focus on providing industry-leading reliability in its products and services and apologizes to customers for any inconvenience.”

Arndt said such outages might call into question the reliability of the device. But he noted that WorldMate Live is being launched in two other systems, Windows Mobile and Symbian, this year, so there will be other options.

Such services are also less expensive, according to the providers. WorldMate charges individual users of its product an annual fee of $100, with a 20 percent discount available to companies with 10 users or more. Rearden Mobile customers are charged a one-time service fee.

The value proposition to the CTM is the convenience of the services, says Meiri. Travellers will become more productive since they don’t have to waste time standing in line. The convenience of the mobile travel services also helps compliance, since it’s easiest for travellers to select those suppliers that come up on their screens. “The experience of complying will become so irresistible that travellers, “Won’t be able to imagine operating any other way. I call it ‘compliance without the tears,’” said Meiri.

Growing demand
Meanwhile, TMCs, on-line booking services and other travel suppliers are hustling to offer travel data services geared to road warriors’ mobile devices. Orbitz’s TLC umbrella of services, for example, enables mobile phone users to check their flight status and last minute availability of a hotel, as well as receive airport information and traveller alerts from the booking services’ proprietary staff of former air traffic control and airline employees, explains Orbitz spokesperson Jim Cohn. Orbitz can alert users about a potential delay either by text message, email or phone call, information that can also be pushed to six other contacts specified by the traveller.

Cohn said more than 2,000 corporate customers had signed up for Orbitz TLC, which entails no extra charge beyond Orbitz’s standard booking fee. In November 2007, Travelocity unveiled a mobile service that enables travelers to access travel information using their Web-enabled mobile device. And this year, GetThere will introduce a mobile service geared toward the corporate market, called GetThere2Go. It will enable business travellers to book and manage trips by accessing their corporation’s travel site on their mobile devices. GetThere is partnering with Usablenet, Inc., a major provider of mobile travel services, for the new product.

“We’ve got a lot of interest from global companies,” says Suzanne Neufang, GetThere’s vice president of customer experience. According to Neufang, the potential for mobile travel services is huge, given the thousands of people using smart phones. In the near future, she expects the introduction of “browser capable devices” will further open the market.

Other services, such as Infotriever, based in Toronto, have long been integrating and updating travel itinerary information, which is then synched into the calendar on a traveller’s mobile device. Infotriever offers its services through a variety of partners, including Sabre, Amadeus, Cornerstone and GDSX. TMCs are also getting into the act:  Carlson Wagonlit’s Freedom, for example, which works with any type of GDS, provides driving directions, alternative flight data, and concierge-type services, such as nearby coffee shops, to travellers’ smart phones. The service reduces costs by eliminating more expensive calls to travel agents and driving more business to preferred suppliers.

Joel Hanson, CWT product manager in North America, says the demand for Freedom had grown from zero, several years ago, to a million transactions a year. “We try to make it as personalized as possible,” as well as synch changes in the itinerary to the traveller’s calendar. Currently geared to North American travellers, Freedom will be expanded globally at the beginning of 2009.

TRX’s on-line corporate booking tool RESX is also going mobile. According to Shane Hammond, president of RESX Technologies,  the latest release of the tool includes a mobile application, accessed through a URL that provides travellers with instant on-demand access to their trip information via their mobile devices, including flight status and gate information.

Not all observers are convinced the business case for mobile travel services has been made. “I have a chorus of travellers asking for this, and CTMs are beginning to be curious about it,” relates Alan Minton, vice president of marketing and account management at Cornerstone, which delivers mobile travel itineraries on behalf of TMCs. “If procurement is spending money, they’re saying ‘give me the ROI, whatever the technology is.’”

Some service providers say mobile travel services will never replace the office. Although WorldMate will be introducing on-device booking in the future, Berman expects it to be most useful for making changes on the road. “Our vision is crisis management.” He notes that interest from Fortune 500 companies is tied to possible applications related to expense accounting and safety and security, which could be built off the WorldMate Live platform that enables the CTM and traveller to communicate.

Arndt says part of his pitch to CTMs is the immediate opportunities in cost savings. He recently met with a CTM based in New York City with 2,500 travellers in the U.S., who informed him that the company pays $35 each time a traveller picks up the phone to ask the TMC if the flight is on time. “In two calls, you’ve paid for the annual license for our product,” Arndt notes.

Furthermore, because companies have already invested significant IT dollars in their mobile devices, they’re motivated to maximise the usage. “CTMs need to look at leveraging the wireless technology,” concludes Arndt. “The devices have come a long way, and now companies can really consider these new applications.”

The quiet revolution

Posted on by Ben Debski

The Church of St John The Baptist has stood solidly in the centre of Cardiff for well over 800 years. As the weight of history housed in the austere architecture of its walls bears down upon the faithful congregation, a man sits unobtrusively in a quiet corner, boots up his laptop and launches his Internet browser. As the musical strains from the restored Father Willis organ, built in 1894, fill the parish church, the young man manages to connect to the World Wide Web wirelessly. He launches his Instant Messaging application and starts to chat with his father online.

At 300,000 feet (roughly 91,000 metres) above sea level, Singapore Airlines flight SQ320 wings its way from Singapore to London close to the speed of sound. Between a can of Diet Coke and a day-old newspaper, another man sitting in Business Class smiles at some comment that popped up onto his laptop screen, already connected wirelessly to the Internet. The flight has six more hours before it reaches Heathrow Airport, but he is already trading family news with his son on the ground, somewhere secluded in one of the oldest remaining medieval buildings in Cardiff City.

This scenario, demonstrating the startling developments in wireless broadband over the last twelve months, isn’t fantasy. It is already reality. But every player that has helped  make this digital communication between father and son possible, has had to pass through a trial by fire individually. The impact of this repercussion has not – yet – been felt to its fullest extent.

Seven parties are involved in the above anecdote. BT Openzone (one) working in the UK has built a wireless broadband infrastructure in St John’s Church with the cooperation of the Parish Church of Cardiff in the city centre (two). Connexion by Boeing (three), a business unit of The Boeing Company and the brilliant purveyors of real-time high-speed Internet services to airline passengers in flight, has installed a wireless broadband infrastructure on board a few aircraft operated by Singapore Airlines (four). Both father (five) and son (six) would naturally be paying subscribers of wireless broadband services offered by individual service providers, in this case, BT Openzone in the UK and StarHub in Singapore (seven).

Seven parties are needed to make sure this family exchange between father and son work seamlessly – their messages flying through the ether without disruption or complication. We should not, however, forget the many indirect influences that may have occurred: from the equipment vendors to the developers and engineers of the technology; from the avid fans to the cynical user.

It is not really surprising to see that this complex ecology of vendors, engineers, service providers, location owners, opinion leaders and ultimate users give rise to the wireless broadband phenomenon over the past few years.

But strangely enough, it is a phenomenon that is not entirely visible to many people, compared to other more prominent technologies such as 3G. Developments in the wireless broadband industry are almost akin to background noise. For every major launch of 3G services by an operator, no doubt accompanied by a splashy advertising campaign across all media, tens of wireless broadband hotspots sprout out like mushrooms at every gourmet coffee outlet, fast food restaurant, airport, convention centres, hotel and yes, even churches. All with no more of a fanfare than a semi-visible sign at the entrance stating WIRELESS INTERNET ACCESS AVAILABLE.

If you are a frequent business traveller and you walk down the main street of a shopping or business district in a popular metropolitan city, you are more likely to be bombarded by mobile ads declaiming a major paradigm shift in mobile communications. Meanwhile, our usual workhorse – wireless broadband – keeps plugging away by expanding its coverage beyond traditional human traffic-heavy locations to quiet corners where a few intrepid individuals pound away on their laptop keyboards, taking sips of coffee or tea in between.

However, despite Wifi’s continued growth, like any individual who has attained some level of maturity, there will come a time where personal ambitions hit a brick wall. In technological years, wireless broadband is reaching its middle age, and suffering the pangs of its first mid-life crisis.

For example, used as a small niche technology and service, it works, and works wonderfully. But as it reaches a larger mass audience, you arrive at some insurmountable issues. Technically, it is up to spec. Operationally, it is cumbersome. Connectivity and interface issues crop up constantly. Standards of quality will vary from hotspot to hotspot, from equipment to equipment. As a subscriber of wireless broadband, with so many hotspot providers in the market, you’re stymied by too much choice for too limited coverage. Besides, how do you know where you can log on wirelessly without trolling through lists and lists of locations provided by a multitude of service providers?

As a business, that’s an even greater challenge. Wireless broadband has a real-estate problem and an expensive one at that. While in no way as costly to roll out as in the cellular industry, businesses need a wide-enough coverage to convince customers that it’s a viable service to subscribe to. But how wide is wide enough? No one knows. Coupled with the fact that wireless broadband as a service is an untested business case, and location owners tend to be wary of strange signals pounding down on top of their own customers, you can see trouble coming a mile away.

There are several ways to survive a midlife crisis. You could quit your job, move to another continent, and perhaps get a flashy car to go with your new wardrobe. In wireless broadband terms, that amounts to getting noticed by the big media and major data analyst houses, each shouting in shriller and shriller terms that wireless broadband is ‘incredibly pervasive’, will be a ‘huge money generator’ and ‘incredibly disruptive to the mobile industry’. In many cases, claims like these are exaggerations or clearly unrelated and unrealistic. In all cases, it just makes cheapens a great technical innovation.

The rational alternative solution is to form an Alliance where collectively the wireless broadband industry – as a technology and a service – could drive the adoption of wireless broadband in a consistent manner. That was the chief goal of the Wireless Broadband Alliance when it was created in March 2003.

From the start, members in the Alliance would need to develop a common commercial, technical and marketing framework for wireless network interoperability. Its ultimate aim is to develop a global alliance of wireless providers that can truly deliver services that users can trust. Foremost on its agenda is the drafting of a set series of guidelines to ensure that there is good customer experience and reliability for all wireless broadband users worldwide. Lofty goals, all.

And in its short two-year history, some achievements have been made. Collectively, the Wireless Broadband Alliance operates close to 40,000 hotspots across 23 markets around the world. The Alliance itself consists of over 20 operators, representing some 228 million mobile users and 19 million broadband users. The Alliance has also been interfacing with a large group of manufacturing vendors – from PC makers like IBM to mobile players like Nokia to ensure that, if new developments in the technology do occur, these would not be created in a vacuum but with real inputs from serious operators that want to make wireless broadband work successfully.

The critical component – inter-operator wireless broadband roaming – has started to bear fruit. Billing across operators for roaming has been put in place.  A consistent brand and marketing engine is slowly being rolled out, and a consistent user interface – that does not overlook the fact that language remains a key component in roaming – to ensure easier logins for wireless accounts have been created. What was once a fragmented market, has congealed into a very solid collaboration between like-minded companies – from the US to the UK, from Europe to Asia to Australia.

Wireless broadband is not out of its midlife crisis yet, though. There still remain many challenges to be faced. Location owners need to be convinced that having wireless broadband on their premises would yield significant benefits to their customers. Standards continue to evolve, so must the adoption of these standards. And what will the result be when both the mobile and wireless broadband spheres collide? With a third-generation-WiFi mobile phone possibly coming out this year, all eyes will be on the eventual wedding.

Wireless broadband is growing up. More and more business travellers are finding that its use as an access medium has immeasurably added flexibility and convenience to their daily work. And it’s clearly an important growth area for many operators. Whatever is the future of wireless broadband, it is on the cusp of outliving the allocated lifespan of any new technology. For many, that is already a great enough achievement.

For more information on the Wireless Broadband Alliance, visit www.wirelessbroadbandalliance.com.

The best hotels in the world

Posted on by Ben Debski

Across all corners of the globe, there has never been a broader choice of hotels – from budget to boutique, glitzy or simply grand. But what is it that lifts a hotel above its competitors, to warrant the accolade ‘great’?

Travel journalist Paul Oswell says service is vital: “It sounds clichéd, but attention to detail is key. From super high end properties to bed and breakfasts, the reason I remember hotels fondly is the thoughtful items they placed in the room, the extra mile they went to help you. This has very little to do with the physical luxury of the hotel – thoughtful service (attentive without being intrusive) makes for a great stay.”

Kevin Evans, founder of travel website www.thetraveleditor.com, says the quality of food sets the outstanding hotel apart from the merely good.

He says: “The quality of the restaurant is one thing that makes great hotels stand out above the rest. Breakfast at the sumptuous Gallia in Milan or in the beautiful courtyard garden of Las Golondrinas in Oaxaca, Mexico, are wonderful ways to start the day.”

A list of the world’s ‘best’ will always be subjective, but we have rounded up an international list of  outstanding hotels – each shining out for its sheer luxury,  service,  outstanding heritage or just that extra something.

Raffles, Singapore
The Grand Dame of colonial hotels, Raffles in Singapore was renovated in 1991 and styles itself as the ‘jewel in the crown’ of South-east Asia. The hotel opened in a sombre bungalow building in 1887, named after Sir Stamford Raffles, founder of modern Singapore. But times have changed, and modern Raffles shines for its service and old-style grandeur. The definitive Raffles experience remains taking leisurely afternoon tea, sampled in the 1930s Tiffin Room or the Bar & Billiard Room, fringed by tropical gardens. If you can stay, don’t miss out – the hotel’s 103 suites are complimented with 18 restaurants and bars and a world-class Spa.
http://singapore.raffles.com

The Savoy, London
Currently closed for a £100m restoration project, London’s Savoy Hotel is one of England’s institutions. When the hotel opens in May 2009 the 263 guests rooms, public areas, roof top swimming pool and restaurants will have seen a thorough revamp. One of London’s most central hotels, The Savoy perches on a prime situation on the Strand, a stone’s throw from both the financial heart, The City, and the prestigious shops and boutiques of Knightsbridge and Mayfair. A quintessential Savoy experience is still Afternoon Tea; from 2009, guests will dine in the Thames Foyer, complete with a specially built conservatory.
www.savoy-group.co.uk

Four seasons, Bosphorus, Istanbul
Perched on the European banks of the Bosphorus, this stunning hotel is set in a characterful 19th century palace, re-fashioned as a chic urban hotel and spa. The 141 guest rooms and 25 suites are contemporary and airy. Despite its central position, many boast waterfront and garden views – making this a place for relaxation as well as business or fast city living. The design reflects national heritage: a blend of Ottoman furnishings combine with a deep blues and terracotta, while the rooms and living spaces are decked with traditional Turkish art. The Spa draws inspiration from the traditional hammam, or Turkish bath – there are ten treatment rooms, men’s and women’s hammams and a sky lit indoor pool.
www.fourseasons.com

The Orchard Garden Hotel, San Francisco
It may not be dripping with chandeliers, but the Garden Orchard is setting the bar for environmentally sustainable hotels. It is only one of four hotels in the world to receive Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) accreditation. Furniture is made from forest stewardship certified maple and 85% of original construction material was reclaimed from landfill. There are in-room recycling facilities and cosmetics are organic. The excellent hotel restaurant, Roots, sources ingredients from local suppliers and serves organic food where viable. All this with no compromise on luxury – the guest rooms are large and luxurious, and mod cons include high-speed Wi-fi, LCD television, and iPOD docking stations.
www.theorchardgardenhotel.com

Raj Palace, Jaipur, India
One of India’s most luxurious hotels is also the most expensive – a night at the Shahi Mahal Suite at the Raj Palace in Jaipur costs no less than £20,000. This hotel oozes opulence and history: it boasts one of the biggest crystal chandeliers in India and an antique crockery museum showcasing crockery once used by the Majaraja of Jaipur. The old palace building has been painstakingly restored with its heritage fully in mind. Lord Mountbatten and Fredrick Forsyth have been among its guests. The individually designed 29 rooms overlook the plush gardens, courtyard or pool.
www.rajpalace.com

Hotel Maricel, Mallorca
Mallorca boasts plenty of top-end hotels, but the Maricel stands out for its superlative sea-front location,  impressive service and stylish rooms. The hotel re-opened in 2002 after a long period of refurbishment and remodeling that saw it transformed into an exclusive 29-room five-star hotel.

Since its reincarnation into Mallorca’s stable of top-end hotels, celebrities such as Bill Clinton and The Coors have been spotted here – drawn to the hotel’s exclusive feel, discreet setting and stunning sea vistas.

Famous Spanish architect Xavier Claramunt designed the new-look Maricel, and he has artlessly combined old and new, with art deco touches, high ceilings and white, minimalist décor.

An infinity pool hovering over the sea, a wonderfully private, outdoor spa, and a plethora of terraces with sea views complete the Maricel experience.
www.epoquehotels.com

Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong
Along with the Oriental in Bangkog, the Mandarin Oriental is often lauded as Asia’s best hotel on account of its superaltive harbour position, world-class luxury and acclaimed service.

The hotel has been an iconic city institution since opening its doors in 1963. The 500 guests rooms and suites come with superlative harbour or city views; the hotel claims the suites, which measure up to 300sq m, are the most luxuriously spacious in Hong Kong.

The integrated Mandarin Spa draws on techniques and philosophies around the globe to sooth and relax; Zen and Ayurveda feature strongly, and beautiful Shanghai textures add to the feeling of tranquillity.
www.mandarinoriental.com

Ananda Spa, Himalayas
Set in the Himalayan foothills, Andanda’s Eastern heritage runs through the fabric of this luxurious and exclusive world-class spa. The focus is squarely on restoring balance and harmony using a programme of yoga and ayurveda that works with mind, body and spirit in equal measure.

Nestling among 100 acres of virgin forest, Ananda boasts a Viceregal Palace, acclaimed spa, 75 deluxe rooms and suites and three private villas, housing two double bedrooms, with views of the Ganges river.

The spa is integral to any stay. Facilities include a Turkish steam bath, Finnish sauna, Jacuzzi, couples’ suite, hydro-massage systems and outdoor swimming pool. Treatments are based on the Ancient Indian medical system of Ayurveda, and are taken in 22 treatment or relaxation rooms.
www.anandaspa.com

The Peninsula, Bangkok
This luxurious, top-flight hotel is consistently voted top hotel in Thailand, and won World’s Best Hotel in 2003 by Travel & Leisure magazine. It’s 37 storeys high and perches on the bank of the Chao Phraya River, offering panoramic views of Bangkok at just about every turn. Large rooms allow guests to control their environment with the flick of a hand or touch of a switch – while a host of restaurants offer everything from home-style Thai cooking to an international buffet and Cantonese cuisine. A full-service spa is complimented by a three-tiered swimming pool, fitness centre and every therapy under the sun.
http://bangkok.peninsula.com

Four Seasons Hotel, New York
Last year, a travel journalist gushed that The Four Seasons in New York is set to achieve “a new height in opulence among Manhattan hotels”. The opening of the Ty Warner Penthouse this summer, set 52 stories above street level, has boosted this hotel’s luxury rankings. Set between Park and Madison Avenues, the Four Seasons Hotel New York boasts breathtaking views of the city skyline. All 368 ‘oversized’ guest rooms feature a roomy marble bathroom and King-sized bed (or two twins), plus a list of add-ons that includes a twice-daily housekeeping service and refrigerated private bar. There is also the obligatory Spa, and acclaimed restaurant L’Atelier.
www.fourseasons.com

Spas – three spas to discover

Posted on by Ben Debski

Caudalie Vinotherapy Spa, Hotel Marqués De Riscal
Marques de Riscal is one of Rioja’s oldest and most celebrated wine producers. Don’t expect it to look like any hotel you have stayed in before though – designed by Guggenheim architect Frank O Gehry, the outside is pure theatre; high-octane, titanium-fuelled billows of walls and windows. Inside, there’s continuity with their origins, at least in the spa, as the rich nutrients of the vineyards are transformed into Chardonnay Scrubs and Merlot Wraps. The wonderful Caudalie ‘wine therapy’ concept began in Bordeaux at Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte, and the same team will be working its magic here.

The Spa at Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo
Book in for an evening treatment, as the spa is high up over Tokyo and you’ll get a perfect view of one of the world’s most beguiling night-time displays. The Mandarin Oriental has long perfected the art of Concept Spas – combining the best of what they do, with the best of where they are. For Japan, that means turning the two elements of forest and water – the hot springs and mountains that provide solace to over-worked salarymen – into private treatment rooms filled with running water, jasmine flowers, scented candles, smooth slate, teak walls, understated luxury. You get looked after by ‘wellness experts’, who treat not just the overworked body, but restore a sense of spiritual balance after the madness of the city.

Chi Spa, Shangri-La Beijing
The treatment suites of the Shanri-La’s Chi Spas are among the most spacious in the world, offering a ‘spa within a spa’ concept that provides each guest with their own changing, bathing and relaxation space. First launched in Bangkok in 2004,  and now resident in Beijing, where all treatments fuse ancient healing traditions and rituals from China and the Himalayas. In our language, this means you tell them what you need, and they get to work on transporting you there – creating your own personal Chi Journey using Himalayan Stone Therapy, Chinese herbal wraps and massages, water therapy and good old fashioned steams and saunas.

Get charter

Posted on by Ben Debski

There are now reckoned to be at least 3, 600 charter companies worldwide, offering more than 10,750 models of yacht in 664 sailing areas. It’s easy to see why the chartering business is on the crest of a wave. The biggest advantage over buying a boat outright is the huge cost difference. Today’s superyachts can cost up to £120m, which is what Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen paid for his 414ft-long Octopus.

There’s an old saying that a boat owner only has two good days – the day he buys it and the day he sells it, because there are a multitude of “hidden” running expenses such as mooring fees, winter storage, insurance, maintenance, and, if you buy a superyacht, the crew’s wages.

It isn’t just about finance, though. Part of the reason for the increased popularity of chartering is the way it now embraces the corporate business world as well as leisure and holiday markets. And for many prospective yacht owners, chartering is the perfect way to try before they buy.

As Stuart Carruthers, cruising manager of the Royal Yachting Association, says: “You can charter a boat for several weekend or weeks a year with none of the responsibilities.”

To many enthusiasts, the sheer freedom of chartering is the main attraction. When it comes to destination, there are no horizons. A picturesque break around the British Isles, the sunshine of the Mediterranean or Pacific, secluded beaches of the Caribbean, the peace of the open sea…there are a host of charter companies willing to turn these dreams into reality.

In the business world, sales of corporate days and events afloat have never been more buoyant. Team building on the water is becoming increasingly popular as a method of testing and extending the abilities of leadership, communication, initiative and team bonding.

Companies such as Southampton-based Corporate Yachting (website here) provide sailing events embracing client entertainment, team building, staff incentives and rewards, along with corporate charters for major regattas such as Cowes Week.

For holidays and pleasure sailing, chartering divides into four areas:
1. Bareboat, with a nominated skipper who is experienced and takes full liability for the safety of crew and vessel. Bigger yachts (over 40ft) are best with a skipper and two experienced crew members.
2. Crewed, a vessel with a qualified skipper and crew are hired to take charge and direct responsibility.
3. Skippered, where a qualified captain is hired with the vessel and is responsible for the safety of you and the yacht. One crew member must have previous knowledge, as assistance with boat handling duties may be required.
4. Flotilla, where you sail on one of a number of vessels under the supervision of a lead boat. Sailing knowledge is essential for the nominated skipper but flotilla sailing is the perfect introduction for yacht “rookies.”

For charter abroad it is best to go with one of the established companies or on personal recommendation, although the U.K.-based website www.yachtcharterguide.com offers probably the most comprehensive global guide.

Ten years ago, a big yacht was classed as about 165ft but vessels like these are now commonplace on the French Riviera. There are around 3,000 yachts that are more than 100ft and that figure increases by ten per cent each year.

Luxury yachts are the current celebrity accessory. The Beckhams celebrated their recent wedding anniversary on a £20m 134-fit yacht borrowed from designer Robert Cavalli. Cavalli’s wife Eve pointed out: “It allows you to keep your distance.”

Other celebs who have chartered recently include rapper P. Diddy, who held a £675,000 party on a yacht at St Tropez, and Rod Stewart and Penny Lancaster, who displayed their baby son while sailing around the Med.

Sunshine in a bottle

Posted on by Ben Debski

Arguably the world’s best cuisine, certainly some of its finest wines, historic towns, charming villages, glorious and ever-changing countryside – Burgundy’s offer is hard to resist, Rolling hills, vast forests, shimmering lakes and lots of sunshine are all in the mix and then there’s that priceless extra ingredient of Burgundian hospitality.

These are people who have long had a soft-spot for entertaining visitors, especially Brits. After all, weren’t they on our side against the French kings for most of the Hundred Years War?

It is, of course, wine that has sealed that pact of friendship and, after too long a spell being overshadowed by youthful challengers from the New World, the big, rounded reds and exquisitely complex whites of Burgundy are making a welcome and overdue comeback to favour. “Sunshine in a bottle”, “Smooth as black satin sheets” – the epithets are many and slip off the tongue as easily as these wonderful wines slip down the throat.

Pleasant to sip in the garden on a beautiful summer’s day, perfect to accompany a family gathering round a table laden with good food, the great wines of Burgundy are also the ultimate for corporate entertaining. And what better way to entertain clients and reward staff than to take them on a wine and gastronomy tour of France’s most bountifully endowed region?

Based in the little Côte d’Nuits town of Gevrey Chambertin – and there’s a name to be conjured with by wine connoisseurs – Tours et Detours (www.toursetdetours.com) is an agency that specialises in wine tourism.

“Imagine travelling along the legendary ‘Route des Grand Crus’, enjoying a tasting with the fabled vines of Romanée Conti as a backdrop, or framed by the wonderful interiors of the hallowed Château de Clos Vouget,” enthuses director Marie Tesson, adding, “The magnificently restored L’Abbaye de la Bussiere, run so ably by the same English family who own Amberley Castle in Sussex, is another perfect setting and their young chef has just attained well earned Michelin Star status.

“We can stage a theatrical evening under the famous patterned tile roof of the Hospices de Beaune or arrange an amusing wine themed treasure trail between Pommard and Mersault, at the heart of the Côte de Beaune. Other options include a rally in authentic old army Jeeps to discover the vineyards of the Côtes de Nuits or a wine casino event at the Relais et Châteaux member L’Hostellerie de Levernois.”

Along with all those great vintages, visitors to Burgundy can discover the gastronomic delights of inventive modern cooking (more Michelin stars than any other region), counterpointed by the classic regional dishes prepared ‘à la façon de ma mere’ (‘the way my mother made them’). To the familiar boeuf bourgoignon ,coq au vin and Dijon mustard can be added such less well-known delights as gougeres (little pastries filled with cheese), jambon persillé (succulent ham coated with spices and herbs) and pain d’épices (gingerbread),

As an aperitif, nothing serves better than a kir, made with white wine to which a dash of locally produced crème de cassis (blackcurrant liqueur) has been added, or, even better, a kir royale, created with Crêmante de Bourgogne sparkling wine and, for a special touch, with crème de Mûre substituted for the cassis.

Burgundy’s attractions are manifold and most of them are associated with good living, fresh air and the great outdoors.

There are 800 km of pleasant cycle routes along dedicated tracks and quiet green roads, using canal and river footpaths, disused railway lines, vineyard tracks and little trafficked byways. Or you can cruise at a snail’s pace along 1,200 km of lovingly restored canals and navigable rivers and see great towns like Dijon and Chalons sur Sâone from a very different perspective.

Early morning and late evening hot-air balloon excursions are truly magical while golfers will find championship standard 18-hole challenges awaiting them.

For a truly enticing option, extend your trip to take in a prepared itinerary that adds the neighbouring wine regions of Champagne and Alsace.

An ultimate memory to take home? As the sun slowly sinks in the west, stroll leisurely across the vast wrought-iron acquaduct that carries the Canal de Bourgogne across the gentle River Sâone, Champagne glass in hand, taking an occasional top-up from the waiter on the private cruiser gliding along slowly by your side.

Good buys

Posted on by Ben Debski

Netgear Skype Wi-Fi phone
Finally internet calls get up from the PC and start leaping around the house. If you can get over the slightly tacky stylings, the freedom to roam the house as you take advantage of the wonders of VoIP makes up for it.
Netgear’s Skype WiFi Phone is the world’s first wireless Internet phone that can make free calls to other Skype users anywhere in the world, anytime you have WiFi access, without a PC. Up to 200 contacts are shown right on the phone’s colour display so you will know exactly who is online. You will also be more available for your friends to call, because you no longer have to be on your PC to be connected. You can even make calls to ordinary phones using SkypeOut for just pennies a minute and no monthly fees.
from £150.00

Sony camera
Lineage doesn’t always count for much in gadget-land, but cameras are a different matter. Making a box that takes decent photos seems to be a skill few companies can master, especially with any consistency. That’s why Nikon and Canon are still at the top of the tree. However, the T30 represnts Sony’s attempt to reach straight for the upper branches. Rolling into town in the wake of the T7 and T9, two of the finest compact snappers of 2005, it packs even more power than those illustrious predecessors. Look round the back and tell us you don’t get a little clammy over that new 3in display. The sensor has been upped to 7.2megapixels as well, and goes to a supersensitive ISO 1000 for shooting in low light. The casing is aluminium – even though it feels more like solid plastic – and you can’t complain about the sleek styling. It’s in use, though, that this finely honed image-taker leaves the others in the blocks; the sensible-shoes lens cover acts as an on/off switch when slid up or down, and popping it down results in almost instant start-up. Shutter lag also seems non-existent – the autofocus locks on in an instant, even in dark rooms where flash might be needed.

Nokia N93 phone
If you’re looking for that sleek phone that won’t ruin the line of your suit skip this bulky beauty. If you’re looking for the killer combo of a phone, camera and camcorder you won’t do better than this though, with sharp images and all the usual telephony gubbins along with Nokia’s web browser, this is a tidy package. As far as video recording and picture quality go, this model is best on the market. Not only that, but if work on the go is a must the pre-installed software can work with office documents, including QuickOffice, one of the best applications for Symbian and there’s also a PDF-file reader.

Taxi Hailer
As the winter months ensure that we spend increasingly large bookends of the day shrouded in darkness, it is pleasing to know that somebody out there has spared a thought for those of us stranded on the pavement, flapping our arms in vain to be seen by passing taxis. The Taxi Hailer is a convenient credit card-sized super bright flashing light.  Designed by London Taxi Driver Tony Brady, it is easily spotted by taxi drivers negotiating their way through crowded streets.  The hope is that this will revolutionise the frustrating cab-hailing process; preventing people from throwing themselves into the path of oncoming traffic to stop a taxi and giving a sense of security to lone travellers late at night. Whether you can get the thing out of your pocket and flashing in time to catch the fickle eye of a passing cabbie, is another matter.  
£9.99.

Bopit
For those who have long craved to play the ridiculously addictive toy but feared they would look stupid with the garish lights and plastic casing can breath a sigh of relief. There’s a new executive Bop-It in town – introducing Bop-It Extreme 2. Not content with updating its look Extreme have upped the gaming ante with new music and hidden beats to unlock. Choose between a pop, rock, Latin or R&B soundtrack to bop it to, and the longer you play, the more the beats evolve and change. And if you don’t want your fellow passengers to kill you? You can Bop-It solo and hone your skills and coordination in silence thanks to the handy headphone jack.
£24.95

Griffin iPod Accessories
As if our little white friend wasn’t perfect already, there are myriad accessories to the music trapped within the white prison to your car stereo, home HiFi or anything else with an FM receiver. No wires, no hassle and it can get radio for you as well. The PowerJolt will bring your beloved back to life if you’re out and about, serving as in-car charger you can listen to your tunes while it does its magic. The iTalkPro boasts twin internal microphones for recording in CD-quality stereo, ideal for all your dictating need. Not only that, but the iTalkPro also allows you to record off other audio devices straight into your iPod by connecting it to anything with a headphone socket and pressing record.

Never bored of Bordeaux

Posted on by Ben Debski

It’s easy to be cynical about over-hyped wines, particularly when they come from Bordeaux. The region has played ‘boy who cried wolf’ too many times to be taken seriously. Not enough sunshine to soften the wines? Trust the Bordelais to describe it as a ‘classic’ vintage. Too much rain leading to diluted tastes? ‘Early drinking wines’. They have an answer for everything, and a reputation for putting the prices up to match.

But every once in a while comes along a year that reminds us just what is so magical about this tiny spot of the wine world, and why on the secondary auction market, Bordeaux wines account for over 80% of the activity, offering returns that prove surprisingly steady.

2005 has been called Bordeaux’s ‘vintage of the century’, ‘best vintage since 1961’ and many other things. It received plenty of plaudits at the time, and much of it was snapped up ‘en primeur (as wine futures, two years before bottling)’. The time for bottling has just been and gone for most of the wines, meaning that these wonderful (if wallet-smarting) wines are ready for delivery – and can now be bought in your local wine merchant.

With such a big year, you can expect the wines to last for a long time, but the sunshine and sweet ripe fruit means that many are ready for drinking, or at least will taste pretty amazing already, even if they do have a long life ahead of them. And this is a year to experiment with both small and big names – it doesn’t take a genius to work out that buying a Chateau Mouton Rothschild 2005 is going to bag you a pretty nice tipple (current price per bottle reaching £1000), but with such an outstanding vintage there are excellent wines at all levels, and searching out the wines that punch way above their weight is definitely part of the fun.

Chateau Bellefont Belcier, Saint Emilion Grand Cru 2005 (approx €38,75)
The 20-hectare property was promoted to grand cru classified status in 2006, under successful direction from the brilliant Dominique Hebrard, meaning that the 2005 really is a bargain because you get all the talent of the winemaker without the classification tag on the label. As with so many of the 2005 Bordeaux, this has all the juice and ripe fruit that the region can lack in less successful years, and here the notes of strawberries, lavender and blackberries of the majority-Merlot make it taste wonderfully seductive only three years after harvest. Some toasted oak gives it a sweet finish. This is classic Right Bank Bordeaux.

Chateau Brane Cantenac, Margaux (approx €77.00)
This is owned by Henri Lurton, patriarch of one of the great clans of the region – if you start to get interested in Bordeaux wines, it won’t be very long before you come face to face with the Lurton name. Henri is one of the most reclusive, publicity-shy of the bunch, but that doesn’t stop him from expressing his pedigree through his wine, and this is already tasting delicious, but no doubt can keep going for decades. This is a chateau that I often think is overlooked among the glittering Margaux hierarchy, and the 2005 shows just why we should sit up and take notice, with its heaps of burnt herbs, liquorice, and a sweetness to the black fruits that comes entirely from perfectly ripe picking. Elegant but unmistakably flamboyant, like Oleg Cassini in a glass.

Chateau Rauzan Segla, Margaux 2005 (approx £80)
Not only is this one of the prettiest chateaux in Margaux, but it is also one of the real stars of recent years. In 1994, the second classified growth estate was bought by the Wertheimer family of Chanel, who installed a winemaking team led by David Orr (from Chateau Latour) and American John Kolasa. The quality just keeps getting better under this team, and although it is not a cheap wine, it is very definitely worth it. The 2005 was one of my personal favourites of the appellation, taught and muscular and still barely at the beginning of an enormously long life. Rich blackcherries remind me of overindulging on pick-your-own farms in the 1970s, while the gorgeously perfumed nose just goes on and on.

Clos de Clocher, Pomerol 2005 (approx €65)
This small Pomerol property (just over four hectares in one of Bordeaux’s smallest appellations) is always good value for money, but never more so than in 2005, as owner Jean Baptiste Buorotte didn’t raise his prices to quite the degree of many of his neighbours. The attractive name (a clocher is a church tower) comes from the fact that the vineyard is within sight and sound of the small village church that is pretty much Pomerol’s only landmark. Taste-wise, classic Pomerol flavours of violets and truffles abound. Full-bodied but not overpowering; this is a serious wine to watch.

Chateau du Moulin Rouge, Haut Medoc Cru Bourgeois 2005 (approx €11)
Described by many sources as one of the best value-for-quality 2005s on the market, this small, understated properties is located in the middle of many more prestigious names in the Medoc region of Bordeaux. It is family-run, unpretentious and uses many traditional winemaking methods, from barrel ageing to natural egg-white fining. The 2005 wine contains 50 percent Merlot, 45 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 5 percent Cabernet Franc, giving it a softer taste profile than many wines from this region, and ensuring that the ripe red fruits take precedence. At this price, you can afford to enjoy the best qualities of this vintage again and again – definitely one to buy by the case.

Chateau La Dauphine, Fronsac 2005 (approx €15)
It has now been seven years since Jean Halley bought this estate from the Moueix family of Chateau Petrus, and the quality has just kept getting better and better. This appellation is just five minutes drive from Saint Emilion and Pomerol, and has many of the qualities of both, without the price tag. Always good value, the 2005 La Dauphine was recently bumped up to a 90-pointer from Robert Parker, meaning that all of a sudden it’s sought after in the US, but although completely sold out at the property, there is still plenty of it available in stores… Round, flattering brambly fruits, full of concentration and purity of flavour. 80 percent Merlot and 20 percent Cabernet Franc.

Express yourself

Posted on by Ben Debski

Five top journeys

Glacier Express, Switzerland
The world’s slowest ‘express’ winds its way at a leisurely 38.5km through breathtaking Alpine scenery. In winter, it’s ‘like travelling through CS Lewis’s magical world of Narnia’ says train guru Mark Smith from seat61.com.

Eastern & Oriental Express, SE Asia
Absorb the tropical countryside of Asia – rice paddy fields, rubber and palm trees – while revelling in pure luxury on the 1920km between Singapore as Bangkok.

Blue Train, South Africa
Butler service, lounges, an observation car and full-sized bathtubs on the 1600km journey are just some of the features that help this Pretoria-Cape Town train live up to its billing as ‘a five-star hotel on wheels’.

Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian Express, Russia
One of the world’s epic train journeys recently got a facelift, with twelve swanky new carriages and dining car introducing pure luxury into an exotic, culturally fascinating odyssey. www.trans-siberia.com

Shinkasen, Japan
Whereas many other great journeys offer historic elegance, Japan’s new Nozomi bullet train whizzes by into the future, devouring the 520km between Tokyo and Kyoto in two hours and 10 minutes.

It’s real travel again
One thing Mark Smith likes to make clear is that he’s no trainspotter. ‘I’m sure Alan Whicker doesn’t have these problems,’ jokes the man behind the cult rail information website seat61.com, when the word ‘enthusiast’ is mentioned. ‘The travel’s the thing. I like travelling by train and ship because it’s civilised.’

With his online trove of timetable information and links, tips on booking and even photographs and videos of onboard accommodation, Smith – the ‘man in seat 61’ – has certainly plugged into the zeitgeist. He explains how growing public emphasis on green and stress-free travel have helped turn a hobby website into a full-time phenomenon.

Why seat 61? We’ve heard it’s your favourite Eurostar seat?
Yes, that’s true. I found myself always asking for it, to make sure that I got a seat that lined up with a window, and it faces another across a table. It’s much more sociable than staring at a seat back.

What inspired you to develop this comprehensive information resource for UK rail travellers heading to Europe and beyond?
I’ve always found it very easy to go by train, say down to Spain or Italy. It’s far more practicable, quicker and cheaper than people think, but finding out about it beforehand was a nightmare. So after stumbling on a guide to writing your own website, I started in 2001 with a simple page about getting from the UK to principal cities. From there, it sort of snowballed.

It certainly has. How on earth do you manage to keep it so detailed and current?
I used to have a full-time job, and would update the site on a laptop while commuting to work. I was the only person delighted when the train ground to a halt outside Marylebone waiting for a signal! But in September (2007) I was able to give up my job to concentrate the site full-time. It’s a bit like detective work, putting different sources together. Increasingly, seat61 visitors are emailing with me with suggestions, comments, corrections and updates, so it’s also growing organically.

The rediscovery of rail travel is an oft-discussed media topic. Do you have hard evidence that this is genuinely happening?
About three years ago, I was getting 150,000 visitors a month and now it’s half a million. There’s undoubtedly been a change.The train is no longer forgotten. It’s real travel again.

Has the nature of your readership changed since the site’s inception?
Initially, it was a whole raft of people who were forgotten by travel agents – people afraid of flying or who simply preferred to go by rail. However, in the last two years, their numbers have been overwhelmed by people citing the hassle of flying and the environmental impact of flying as reasons for switching to the train. That’s been a huge effect – really huge.

So, which are the most popular country pages or journeys?
In Europe, it’s Italy, followed by France and then Spain, where you can catch Eurostar to Paris and a direct train hotel from Paris to Madrid or Barcelona. Around the world, the journey everyone wants to do is Singapore to Bangkok – either one the luxurious Eastern & Oriental Express or do it on the regular daily train for £30. Germany, the Netherlands, China and the United States are also popular destinations.

Many of those are holiday routes. Aren’t many rail journeys just too slow for business travellers?
For decades, it was a truism of railway marketeers that three hours was the magic figure. If you could get the train journey, centre to centre, down to three hours you could compete for business travel with the plane. But about a year ago, the chief executive of French Railways (Guillaume Pépy) declared that’s now changed. It’s now more congested to get to and from the airport, we’re being told to check-in two hours before the flight, take-offs are often delayed and so on. So that magic figure is now at least four hours and sometimes five.

Which potential new business routes does this create?
Between Perpignon and Paris, where the French Railways have a five hour 15 minute journey time, they have a 50 percent market share of the air-rail market. That’s been a big shift. It’s worth mentioning Madrid-Malaga (three hours) and Madrid-Barcelona, which should come down to three and then two and a half hours soon. And I don’t think the airlines will know what’s hit them when London-Amsterdam, with one change in Brussels, comes down from five hours, 30 minutes to four hours, 10 minutes as planned.

Do punctuality, seamless travel and a growing number of eco-friendly corporate polices figure in the equation?
Of course, plus the train is more productive, with powerpoints for your laptop and, in some cases, Wi-Fi. Travelling by plane you get bugger-all done, as you’re not allowed to use your laptop until after take-off and you can’t work the taxi to the airport and so on. I would like to see the railways get their booking sites right and for business travel agents to offer rail directly instead of just flights and car-hire.

Off-duty, do you have any favourite rail trips?
One is the Caledonian sleeper from London to Fort William. First of all I love the train, because it’s a hotel on wheels with a lounge car that serves excellent scotch whisky and haggis. And what could be better than going to bed in the big bad city of London and waking up in the middle of the Western Highlands?

Finally, do airlines ever have the privilege of your custom?
When it’s unavoidable. Our family flew to New Zealand last year, but once we arrived we stayed on the ground. From London, I’ve got as far as Nagasaki overland, and on another occasion to Hong Kong, but I’m always tempted to travel further.

Organising a successful uk conference

Posted on by Ben Debski

The British Isles offer a rich diversity of venues and support services for those tasked with organising a meeting, conference, or similar business event. For example, there are around 3500 venues from which to choose: city centre or airport hotels, country house hotels, purpose-built conference centres, management training centres, college and university venues, and the myriad of unusual venues which range from tourist attractions to stately homes to sports stadia, steam trains, and even a lighthouse or two. There are also a growing number of specialist conference and event management companies, able to take on the whole planning, marketing and staging of an event, or simply be contracted for certain aspects.

Given this plethora of choice, how should you go set about the process of organising a conference in the UK, and which external bodies and agencies can be relied on to provide expert assistance and advice?

The organisation of a conference in the UK requires a similar strategic approach to that needed for planning and managing most other events elsewhere. Clear objectives should be set from the beginning, a budget has to be established, a venue must be sourced, delegates’ accommodation and travel arrangements made, a programme has to be prepared and the conference managed for its duration.

Increasingly, health and safety, security, venue contracts and service guarantees are among a number of other aspects needing serious consideration. Then, after the conference is over, final administrative details have to be completed and some evaluation of the conference should take place in order to make appropriate ROI calculations. While there are different factors to take into account when organising a conference for 500 delegates rather than one for 50, the essential components are the same.

Choosing the right venue and location
An event organiser is always keen to maximise delegate attendance and ensure that the event in question is seen to be accessible, not just for delegates but also for speakers and possible VIP attendees. The choice of location is key to meeting these two objectives satisfactorily. The choice of location will also, however, impact on other aspects of the event, not least the overall budget, but also social programme options, the possible theme for the conference and the type of venue available, for example.

It is likely to be the case that for some types of meetings/events, a more out-of-the-way location will be appropriate to enable attendees to focus on achieving the aims of the event without too many disturbances or distractions, or to ensure that the event is seen as different or distinctive. Events such as board retreats, some training courses and certain incentive-type events fall into this category.

There is a whole range of tools and resources available to companies: trade magazines, exhibitions, directories, websites, CD-Roms and DVDs, promotional material from venues and destinations, familiarisation and inspection trips, venue finding agencies and professional conference organisers (PCOs) are some of the main ones.

The internet has transformed, and continues to transform, venue search activities, offering immediate access to information on venues nationally and internationally, including ‘virtual’ tours of venues and online booking of conference and meeting rooms (not just accommodation). While such immediacy may well have great attraction for the increasingly busy conference/event organiser, a word of caution needs to be sounded here. Online booking may be fine for a small half-day meeting for 10-20 people where all that’s really needed is a suitable room with some refreshments and possibly AV facilities, but it will often not be appropriate if the event is larger and of longer duration.

Conference organisers should still, wherever possible, visit the venue before booking. Pictures and photos in directories or on a website may give a very misleading impression of what the venue is actually like, and they will certainly not help in judging the quality and professionalism of the staff in the venue who will be assisting in delivering a successful event. Such assessments can only be carried out through first-hand, face-to-face interaction. We are still a people industry and happily are not yet reliant on robots to service and support our events!

Sources of advice and assistance
Many of the types of venues discussed above are linked with their local area conference or convention bureau. There are around 80 such bureaux throughout the British Isles, stretching from Belfast and Edinburgh to Torquay and Jersey, and representing all the key conference ‘destinations’.

The primary roles of convention bureaux are marketing (i.e. to maximise conference business for their destinations) and the provision of event support services (ensuring that events are run as successfully as possible). The USPs of bureaux include their intimate local knowledge and contacts and their ability to provide objective advice and tailored support.

Services include:
– Venue selection
– Familiarisation/inspection visits
– Delegate information
– Accommodation booking
– Social programme advice
– Access and local transport
– Supporting conference bids
– Financial assistance

The British Association of Conference Destinations (BACD) is the trade association representing conference destination marketing organisations across in the British Isles. Members are convention and visitor bureaux, conference desks, and national tourist boards. Founded in 1969, BACD is the oldest of the conference sector associations in the UK. Conference bureaux may be contacted directly or via the BACD web site (www.bacd.org.uk).

This is also the time to consider whether the conference should be organised in-house, using a company’s own staff resources and expertise, or outsourced to a professional conference organiser (PCO). A PCO can undertake all aspects of the management of an event or simply be contracted to manage certain elements. The services offered by a PCO range from planning/administration/marketing to financial management, exhibition organisation and technical aspects of the event (such as producing ‘abstracts’, briefing speakers, handling the press and media).

If it is decided to outsource the event to a PCO, care needs to be taken in the selection of the company used. It is advisable to shortlist for consideration only those PCOs that are members of their professional association, who have had to prove their capabilities in the process and/or who can provide strong testimonials from other satisfied clients. The Association of British Professional Conference Organisers (ABPCO) can give assurances for the professionalism of its members.

Association of British Professional Conference Organisers (for outsourcing aspects of the management of a conference to a PCO): www.abpco.org

Both associations may be contacted by telephone on 0121 212 1400

The quiet revolution

Posted on by Ben Debski

The Church of St John The Baptist has stood solidly in the centre of Cardiff for well over 800 years. As the weight of history housed in the austere architecture of its walls bears down upon the faithful congregation, a man sits unobtrusively in a quiet corner, boots up his laptop and launches his Internet browser. As the musical strains from the restored Father Willis organ, built in 1894, fill the parish church, the young man manages to connect to the web wirelessly. He launches his Instant Messaging application and starts to chat with his father online.

At 300,000 feet (roughly 91,000 metres) above sea level, Singapore Airlines flight SQ320 wings its way from Singapore to London close to the speed of sound. Between a can of Diet Coke and a day-old newspaper, another man sitting in Business Class smiles at some comment that popped up onto his laptop screen, already connected wirelessly to the internet. The flight has six more hours before it reaches Heathrow Airport, but he is already trading family news with his son on the ground, somewhere secluded in one of the oldest remaining medieval buildings in Cardiff City.

This scenario, demonstrating the startling developments in wireless broadband over the last twelve months, isn’t fantasy. It is already reality. But every player that has helped  make this digital communication between father and son possible, has had to pass through a trial by fire individually. The impact of this repercussion has not – yet – been felt to its fullest extent.

Seven parties are involved in the above anecdote. BT Openzone (one) working in the UK has built a wireless broadband infrastructure in St John’s Church with the cooperation of the Parish Church of Cardiff in the city centre (two). Connexion by Boeing (three), a business unit of The Boeing Company and the brilliant purveyors of real-time high-speed Internet services to airline passengers in flight, has installed a wireless broadband infrastructure on board a few aircraft operated by Singapore Airlines (four). Both father (five) and son (six) would naturally be paying subscribers of wireless broadband services offered by individual service providers, in this case, BT Openzone in the UK and StarHub in Singapore (seven).

Seven parties are needed to make sure this family exchange between father and son work seamlessly – their messages flying through the ether without disruption or complication. We should not, however, forget the many indirect influences that may have occurred: from the equipment vendors to the developers and engineers of the technology; from the avid fans to the cynical user.

It is not really surprising to see that this complex ecology of vendors, engineers, service providers, location owners, opinion leaders and ultimate users give rise to the wireless broadband phenomenon over the past few years.

But strangely enough, it is a phenomenon that is not entirely visible to many people, compared to other more prominent technologies such as 3G. Developments in the wireless broadband industry are almost akin to background noise. For every major launch of 3G services by an operator, no doubt accompanied by a splashy advertising campaign across all media, tens of wireless broadband hotspots sprout out like mushrooms at every gourmet coffee outlet, fast food restaurant, airport, convention centres, hotel and yes, even churches. All with no more of a fanfare than a semi-visible sign at the entrance stating ‘wireless internet access available’.

If you are a frequent business traveller and you walk down the main street of a shopping or business district in a popular metropolitan city, you are more likely to be bombarded by mobile ads declaiming a major paradigm shift in mobile communications. Meanwhile, our usual workhorse – wireless broadband – keeps plugging away by expanding its coverage beyond traditional human traffic-heavy locations to quiet corners where a few intrepid individuals pound away on their laptop keyboards, taking sips of coffee or tea in between.

However, despite Wifi’s continued growth, like any individual who has attained some level of maturity, there will come a time where personal ambitions hit a brick wall. In technological years, wireless broadband is reaching its middle age, and suffering the pangs of its first mid-life crisis.

For example, used as a small niche technology and service, it works, and works wonderfully. But as it reaches a larger mass audience, you arrive at some insurmountable issues. Technically, it is up to spec. Operationally, it is cumbersome. Connectivity and interface issues crop up constantly. Standards of quality will vary from hotspot to hotspot, from equipment to equipment. As a subscriber of wireless broadband, with so many hotspot providers in the market, you’re stymied by too much choice for too limited coverage. Besides, how do you know where you can log on wirelessly without trolling through lists and lists of locations provided by a multitude of service providers?

As a business, that’s an even greater challenge. Wireless broadband has a real-estate problem and an expensive one at that. While in no way as costly to roll out as in the cellular industry, businesses need a wide-enough coverage to convince customers that it’s a viable service to subscribe to. But how wide is wide enough? No one knows. Coupled with the fact that wireless broadband as a service is an untested business case, and location owners tend to be wary of strange signals pounding down on top of their own customers, you can see trouble coming a mile away.

There are several ways to survive a midlife crisis. You could quit your job, move to another continent, and perhaps get a flashy car to go with your new wardrobe. In wireless broadband terms, that amounts to getting noticed by the big media and major data analyst houses, each shouting in shriller and shriller terms that wireless broadband is ‘incredibly pervasive’, will be a ‘huge money generator’ and ‘incredibly disruptive to the mobile industry’. In many cases, claims like these are exaggerations or clearly unrelated and unrealistic. In all cases, it just makes cheapens a great technical innovation.

The rational alternative solution is to form an Alliance where collectively the wireless broadband industry – as a technology and a service – could drive the adoption of wireless broadband in a consistent manner. That was the chief goal of the Wireless Broadband Alliance when it was created in March 2003.

From the start, members in the Alliance would need to develop a common commercial, technical and marketing framework for wireless network interoperability. Its ultimate aim is to develop a global alliance of wireless providers that can truly deliver services that users can trust. Foremost on its agenda is the drafting of a set series of guidelines to ensure that there is good customer experience and reliability for all wireless broadband users worldwide. Lofty goals, all.

And in its short two-year history, some achievements have been made. Collectively, the Wireless Broadband Alliance operates close to 40,000 hotspots across 23 markets around the world. The Alliance itself consists of over 20 operators, representing some 228 million mobile users and 19 million broadband users. The Alliance has also been interfacing with a large group of manufacturing vendors – from PC makers like IBM to mobile players like Nokia to ensure that, if new developments in the technology do occur, these would not be created in a vacuum but with real inputs from serious operators that want to make wireless broadband work successfully.

The critical component – inter-operator wireless broadband roaming – has started to bear fruit. Billing across operators for roaming has been put in place.  A consistent brand and marketing engine is slowly being rolled out, and a consistent user interface – that does not overlook the fact that language remains a key component in roaming – to ensure easier logins for wireless accounts have been created. What was once a fragmented market, has congealed into a very solid collaboration between like-minded companies – from the US to the UK, from Europe to Asia to Australia.

Wireless broadband is not out of its midlife crisis yet, though. There still remain many challenges to be faced. Location owners need to be convinced that having wireless broadband on their premises would yield significant benefits to their customers. Standards continue to evolve, so must the adoption of these standards. And what will the result be when both the mobile and wireless broadband spheres collide? With a third-generation-WiFi mobile phone possibly coming out this year, all eyes will be on the eventual wedding.

Wireless broadband is growing up. More and more business travellers are finding that its use as an access medium has immeasurably added flexibility and convenience to their daily work. And it’s clearly an important growth area for many operators. Whatever is the future of wireless broadband, it is on the cusp of outliving the allocated lifespan of any new technology. For many, that is already a great enough achievement.

For more information on the Wireless Broadband Alliance, visit www.wballiance.com.