News & Blog

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Travelling to shop: the rise of shopping as a major motivation for international travel

March 2017 In January this year around 3 million people flocked to Dubai for its 2017 Shopping Festival. This month-long annual event offers discounts on a wide variety of consumer goods, particularly fashion, jewellery and electronic goods, alongside activities and daily prize draws. The festival was first set up over 20 years ago with the […]

First direct freight train from China arrives in London: towards the new Silk Road

  February 2017 The first direct train from China to the UK recently rolled in to its destination in London’s Barking terminal after a 16 day journey of 7,500 miles. The freight train travelled through nine countries from Yiwu in the east of China all the way to London, via Kazakhstan, Russia and on through […]

ITC report reveals “seismic shifts” in individual travel behaviour in England

Car use down, rail use up; but significant differences between age groups and between town and country     January 2017 A recent Independent Transport Commission (ITC) report has revealed strikingly changing patterns in individual travel behaviour that could have huge implications for the future of Britain’s road and rail networks. The report, carried out for […]

Chinese tourists in Kidlington – travel and the search for authenticity

  30th November 2016 Over the summer, residents of the large Oxfordshire village of Kidlington were baffled to discover their seemingly unremarkable home had become a magnet for coach-loads of Chinese tourists. Tourists were spotted enjoying the sights of Benmead Road, a street of modern semi-detached houses, taking photos of everything from the gardens in […]

The Ethical Paradox of Last Chance Tourism

Is the rush to visit places before they disappear actually hastening their demise? 15th November 2016 The Great Barrier Reef was in the headlines this summer as researchers found the reef was experiencing the highest level of coral bleaching on record. UNESCO included the Great Barrier Reef in a draft report on tourist destinations at […]

Bangkok overtakes London as the world’s top tourist destination

 Asia-Pacific shows fastest growth, fuelled by intra-regional tourism   29th September 2016 Bangkok has overtaken London to become the world’s most visited city (by number of overnight visitors), according to a recent report by Mastercard. Despite a short-lived downturn following last year’s bomb blasts, Thailand’s tourist industry has continued to grow and the country’s capital […]