News Page
There are new stories in the news everyday however, many of them affect the Travel & Tourism industry. This page updates the recent news stories which do affect the industry. There are many trends and factors which effect the tourism industry and people's choice of where they decided to visit. They can either effect the country positively or negatively. These factors are: natural disasters, health warnings, epidemics and pandemics, terrorism, environmental issues, cost of travel and world recession.
'Catastrophic' Engine Failure Causes BA Jet Fire-
A British Airways plane bound for London with 170 people on board has burst into flames on the tarmac at Las Vegas Airport. The Boeing 777-200 was preparing to take off shortly after 4pm (local time) on Tuesday when its left engine caught fire, sending thick black smoke billowing into the sky. The 157 passengers and 13 crew were evacuated using emergency slides as around 50 firefighters tackled the blaze, while 13 people were treated in hospital for minor injuries.
Source 9: news.sky.com - 2015
Source 9: news.sky.com - 2015
QUEEN ELIZABETH II Britain’s Longest Reigning Monarch-
9th September 2015, marks the day that Queen Elizabeth II has become Britain's longest reining monarch. She has been on the throne for 63 years and 7 months. The royal family play an important role in the British tourism industry. The Senior Royals visit regions throughout Britain to publicise some of the Best-of-British attractions and beauty spots. Between them they've visited theme parks, museums, miniature railways, theatres, pubs, farms, hotels, caravan parks, tea rooms, forestry centres, youth hostels and places of natural beauty. This underlines the importance of tourism to the national economy. The wide variety of venues being visited shows how much the UK has to offer tourists both from home and abroad. Many tourist itineraries include a royal event or attraction and the Royal Family recognise the part they can play, not only in celebrating the tourist industry's successes but also helping to boost its fortunes. The industry has been hit by the effects of the September 11 terrorist attacks in America, the foot-and-mouth outbreak in the UK and the Iraq war, costing an estimated £3 billion in lost revenues.Tourism is one of the largest industries in the UK, worth about £76 billion in 2002 and contributing 4.5% of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Last year, there were approximately 23.9 million overseas visitors to the UK, spending £11.9 billion. It is estimated there are 2.1 million jobs in the UK related to tourism, 7% of total employment.
Source 10: www.dailymail.co.uk- 2015
Source 10: www.dailymail.co.uk- 2015
Mexican tourists killed by Egyptian security forces-
Security forces in Egypt have mistakenly killed 12 people, including Mexican tourists, during an anti-terror operation. The tourists were travelling in four vehicles that entered a restricted zone in the Wahat area of the Western Desert, the ministry said. Sources said eight of those killed were Mexicans.Ten Mexicans and Egyptians were also injured. Egypt has been battling Islamist militants for years. Attacks on army and police, mainly in the Sinai peninsula, have escalated since Islamist President Mohammed Morsi was ousted in 2013. Egypt's interior ministry said the four vehicles the tourists were travelling in were "mistakenly dealt with" during a joint military police and armed forces operation.It said the incident happened on Sunday in an area that "was off limits to foreign tourists", but it did not give an exact location. Survivors said they suffered an "aerial attack" after stopping for a meal, according to Mexican Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu. She could only confirm that two Mexican nationals had been killed.
Source 11: www.bbc.co.uk- 2015
Source 11: www.bbc.co.uk- 2015
Air India's flight attendants 'too fat to fly'-
The national carrier of India, Air India, is grounding around 130 flight attendants after measuring their BMI body fat levels. Air India last year warned 600 of its 3,500 cabin crew to lose weight within six months or risk being taken off flights and given a job on the ground. The airline now plans to remove about 130 from cabin crew duty because their body mass index (BMI) levels remain above the prescribed limit. A BMI is a measure of body fat based on a person’s height and weight. The airline said that the “normal” BMI for an air hostess is between 18 and 22, “overweight” between 22 and 27, and “obese” for a value above 27. For male attendants the brackets were 18 to 25, 25 to 30, and above. The NHS says a “healthy” BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9. After the state-run airline’s staff were tested last year, the 600 found to be “overweight” or “obese” were declared “temporarily unfit” for flight duties and asked to undergo clinical examinations and lose weight by changing their diet and lifestyle and exercising more, while being monitored by staff. In 2013, Air India said that deploying female flight attendants rather than male could save them about £329,000 per year in full costs because they weight on average 33 to 44 pounds lighter.
Source 12: www.telegraph.co.uk- 2015
Source 12: www.telegraph.co.uk- 2015