The full potential of the fast growing youth market of 16 - 24 year olds is not being tapped, with a only one third of tourism authorities having a youth tourism policy. It was often assumed that the youth market was too low budget to take seriously. However because young travellers generally stay for longer their cumulative spend may be higher than the average tourist. Young travellers are also more likely to spend in local community run operations which are important for sustainable development.

I’ve been away for a few days. Our destination was Norfolk in the east of England but as we live in the north of England we spent a night in the Scotch Corner Travelodge on the way south to Norfolk and a night at the Harrogate Travelodge on the way north again. The Travelodges cost a non refundable £15 per night for room only Supersaver rate, if you book at least 3 weeks in advance. The rooms were a good size, clean and simply furnished. The Travelodge in Harrogate is in the town centre, a great location the only drawback being lack of a free car park at the Travelodge.

The Tourism & Hospitality Diaries welcomes its newest member and guest writer, Karen Bryan. Karen will be writing on Travel in Europe and related issues. An introduction by Karen, in her own words, follows...

As part of the Future Series, the International University in Geneva, Geneva Women in International Trade and the Swiss-Chinese Chamber of Commerce are organizing a roundtable discussion titled "The Future of Business: Focus on China". This will take place on Tuesday 20 March 2007 6 p.m., at Ramada Park Hotel, Avenue Louis-Casaï 75-77, Genève-Cointrin 1216, Switzerland.

Airline Passenger Duty is to be scrutinised on 2 legal grounds in a challange mounted by the Federation of Tour Operators. Firstly it is claimed that the UK Government can not impose charges solely to exit or enter the UK, charges can only be made for use of an airport service. Secondly the manner in which the recent doubling of APD was introduced is being called into question. Only seven weeks notice was given and passengers who had already booked were still liable for the additional tax.

February 23, 2007: Alumni from various Tourism, Hotel & Hospitality schools converged from all corners of Dubai (and beyond!) to attend the first "Reach-Out" in the UAE. The surprisingly positive turnout included over 15 alumni from schools including the Merit School Ooty, Merit Chennai, SSH / SSTH / HTF Passugg and the HTW Chur, Switzerland.

I recently did some research about UK travel companies' online serivce for a guest blog on Travel Rants. I found the Transversal customer service study of top websites in the travel, banking, insurance, consumer goods and telecoms sectors, which can be downloaded if you register at Transversal.

I was amazed to read that 60% of emails to travel company websites did not receive a reply. Of the remaining 40% companies who did manage to respond, the average response time was 42 hours. The travel websites were asked ten pretty basic question e.g. can I fly from this airport to that airport, do I need a visa for that country, what is the duty free allowance? 80% of travel websites could only manage to answer 2 out of the 10 queries.

British Midland are exploiting a loophole so that business class passengers only have to pay the standard rate of APD. They have removed the partitions which demarcate ecomony and business class. I can’t understand this as the business class passengers are still gaining access to lounges and receiving a higher standard of on board catering. Therefore how can they claim that, solely on the grounds that the partition is no longer there, it is now a one class plane? At present passengers travelling with airlines which only have one class, even if it is all business class, such as with Silverjet, pay the lower rate. However with that scenario everyone on the plane is receiving the same treatment.

tags: British-Midland, APD, Airlines, standard-rates, fares, business-class, economy-class, Silverjet

I read an article about the growth of no frills hotels in Asia. Tune Hotels will open a no frills hotel in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur on March 1 2007. The rooms have no cupboards or expensive floor coverings. It is claimed that guests want a clean room, comfortable bed, good shower and a secure environment. Guests only want to pay for what they use. Prices of between 3 - 20 US dollars are quoted. However I read that towels and other basic amenities can be purchased and are then yours to keep. Would you want to carry a wet towel away with you in the your luggage next morning? I began to wonder if you would also have to buy sheets to use on the bed. I know that the price is low but what do you consider to be a frill? It also depends on what they charge you for the so called frills.

The Talent Jungle presents our featured hotelier, our "chosen one". This feature highlights the talented and devoted professionals in the hotel & hospitality industry and brings out their epxeriences, strengths, background and more...in an effort to build a base of knowledge and connect people together.

Name: Andreas Plum

Current company and title: Online Distribution & Field Marketing Manager Middle East - Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

What is your educational background?
European Baccalaureate at European School of Luxembourg
Graduate in Hotel Management - Institut Arthur Haulot - CERIA Brussels
Currently in MBA for International and Tourism Management - University of Applied Sciences, Chur - Swiss School of Tourism

By Jeff N Ross

The global hotel industry is booming. Guests’ service expectations are rising. Hotels fighting to differentiate their brand and claim market share need great staff. Finding hard working, motivated, intelligent, experienced, multi-cultural and multi-lingual personnel is a headache. Yet the benefits of hiring them are huge. They make the hotel manager’s job easier and the guest experience more satisfying.

But how can hoteliers find, hire, train and retain such staff? The process can be relatively easy if hoteliers abide by the following ten golden rules.

Four Seasons has just made waves by announcing that they've agreed to a 3.37 billion dollar buy-out bid. Watch the news clip HERE