Unique luxury hotels, fashionable travel and much more….

Venice is stepping up its campaign to try to encourage badly behaved tourists to show more respect for the city.

Twenty million people visit Venice every year and boorish visitors are a source of extreme annoyance to the residents and the city authorities.

The ‘clean-up tsar,’ Augusto Salvadori, says large posters will go up in prominent positions with the message Tenere La Città Pulita (Keep the City Clean).

There will also be reminders to tourists using the Vaporetti (water buses) to give up their seats to elderly people and pregnant women and to backpackers to remove their unwieldy loads before boarding. Foreign fare-dodgers will also be targeted.

The moves are the latest phase of a campaign started two years ago to spruce up the city’s image and clamp down on unacceptable tourist behaviour. A ban on street vendors selling grain led to a significant decrease in the estimated 20,000 pigeons in St Mark’s Square.

Now, a group of young women called City Angels aim to stop visitors dangling their feet in fountains, walking around shirtless and throwing food wrappers on to the ground. In addition, the Venice authorities want to deter people from lowering the tone by eating fast food and packed lunches in popular locations.

One city official commented: “Tourism has a huge impact on Venice – there are 60,000 inhabitants but 20 million tourists. It’s a matter of trying to get along together.”

by Andy Moreton

Browse Luxique’s unrivalled selection of luxury hotels in Venice, including the world-renowned Cipriani, Gritti PalaceBaglioni. and

One of the most famous cruise liners in the world, the QE2, is on her final voyage before she comes a floating hotel – in Dubai, where else?!

The Grande Dame of the seas had a slightly inauspicious entry into her home port of Southampton when she ran into a sandbank at dawn. But she was pulled off quite easily and arrived just 25 minutes late.

“No one on board was injured. A lot of people will have been in bed when it happened and wouldn’t have noticed,” said a spokesman for the owners, Cunard.

The Duke of Edinburgh was at Southampton to lead the farewell ceremonies for the ship, which has carried more than two-and-a-half million passengers since being launched by the Queen in 1967. It served as a hospital ship during the Falklands War in 1982.

Tickets for this last voyage were quickly snapped up, with the highest-priced berths going for around £28,000 ($41,000).
With the Queen Mary 2 now the flagship of the Cunard fleet, and with other vessels due to join, the company announced last year that the QE2 would be sold for £50 million ($73 million).

She’ll reach Dubai on November 26 and be handed over to Nakheel, part of the Dubai World company, which created the planet’s largest man-made island, the Palm Jumeirah.

After refurbishment over the next few months, the ship will dock permanently at a specially constructed berth to add yet another astonishing feature to an island that’s fast becoming one of the wonders of the modern world.

by Andy Moreton

Luxique offers the best rates at a dozen superb luxury hotels in Dubai.

Kenya is likely to reap considerable benefit in tourism from Barack Obama’s election as US President as people seek to trace his roots.

The country’s Tourism Minister, Najib Balala, is predicting a 10 to 15 per cent increase in the number of American visitors and says there will also be interest from Europe, particularly the UK.

Officials have already visited Obama’s late father’s birthplace - the once-sleepy village of Kogelo in the west of Kenya. The President-elect’s paternal grandmother and an uncle still live there.

“Kogelo is now in the international spotlight as a tourist attraction,” said Anastasia Wakesho, who chairs the Domestic Tourism Council. “As stakeholders, we are thinking of coming up with programmes to make the place attractive to local and foreign visitors.”

by Andy Moreton

Luxique can help you book some of the finest villa accommodations and luxury hotels in Kenya at the best rates.

I see our old friend Alain ‘Spiderman’ Robert has been up to his tricks again – scaling the 33-floor City Tower in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.

He made the climb without the use of safety devices, just as he had done at 90 other buildings worldwide, including the Sears Tower in Chicago, the Sydney Opera House, the Eiffel Tower and the Empire State.

He had intended to scale Jakarta’s Menara Mulia building, but police denied him a permit. Eight hours later, he thought he had secured permission to tackle the City Tower and completed the job in 45 minutes.

However, Robert was brought in by the police after finishing the stunt. “It’s hard to say whether we’ll charge him or not. We’re just asking for more information about his climb,” said a spokesman.

Thousands of people, mostly employees of businesses near the building, witnessed his amazing feat. Their view: ‘brave, but crazy.’

by Andy Moreton

Luxique can offer rooms at three luxury hotels in Jakarta hotels, including one of the prestigious Four Seasons range.

New Zealand’s green, sustainable tourism initiatives have been named the best in the world.

The country won the ‘overall winner’ and ‘best destination’ categories in the 2008 Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism awards. These recognise destinations and organisations that are making a positive contribution to local cultures, economies and the environment through tourism.

The panel of judges congratulated New Zealand for setting an example of what governments could achieve in partnership with the private sector to harness the tourism industry for the benefit of a country’s people and the environment.

“If more national governments followed their example, tourism would make a much more positive contribution around the world,” said the citation.

The Chief Executive of Tourism New Zealand (TNZ), George Hickton, said the win recognised that the country was doing its best to look after its ‘100 per cent pure’ brand image and protect the future of its multi-billion dollar tourism industry.

TNZ’s website urges travellers to ‘explore the youngest country.’ “With vast open spaces filled with stunning rugged landscapes, gorgeous beaches, often spectacular geo-thermal and volcanic activity, a temperate climate and fascinating animal and plant life, it is no surprise that New Zealand’s pure natural environment is so attractive to visitors from other countries. ”

For all those reasons, New Zealand is becoming one of the ‘must see’ destinations in the world and Luxique offers a choice of eight luxury hotels in both the North and South Islands.

by Andy Moreton

I took a tour round the Luxury Travel Fair, held at one of the exhibition halls at London’s Olympia.

It was good to escape for an hour or so from the damp and cold of a London November and be immersed in exotic locations from Marrakech to the Maldives.

One stand I found particularly interesting was for a company called GoPhilanthropic (www.GoPhilanthropic.com), which operates under the banner ‘meaningful intelligent travel.’

It offers tailor-made luxury travel options but couples this with support for social and conservation projects worldwide. So, while on vacation you could spend an afternoon donating books or a water well, funding a school or helping an orphanage.

The company pledges to support hotels and other suppliers who are committed to sustainable tourism practices, to buy carbon credits to cover the entire trip and to donate 10 per cent of its profits to efficiently-run environmental projects.

A survey we conducted here at Luxique just over a year ago suggested that holidaymakers left their green concerns at home when they set off. But with an exciting new era about to begin in the United States and a feeling that real change is in the air, maybe the philanthropic path is one to which we should all aspire.

by Andy Moreton

It might seem the height of folly in a recession, but a huge, classy urban shopping centre has opened with much fanfare in London.

The £1.6 billion ($2.5 billion) development, Westfield London (slogan: ‘Shopping In A New Light’), is not in the trendy West End or, indeed in central London at all. It’s situated in White City in the west of the capital. It covers 43 acres – an area the size of Buckingham Palace - and contains 280 shops.

The developers even had a new underground station built (Wood Lane on the Hammersmith and City line) to accommodate the expected crowds.

Tens of thousands of shoppers defied the credit crunch in the mall’s first days and there are high hopes it will thrive in spite of the recession.

The Westfield company says it ‘sets a new standard for shopping in the UK and Europe, offering a huge range of high quality retailers and public spaces, restaurants, entertainment and customer service in a five-star environment.’

But not everyone is crazy about it. Some visitors thought it soulless, locals say it’s too upmarket and traders are angry that they’ve been asked for the highest service charges for any shopping centre in Britain.

The respected writer on architecture, Jonathan Glancey, was also unimpressed. “Westfield is just a tiny step towards our collective desire to undermine the life and culture of the traditional city, along with its architecture, and to shop and shop some more.”

by Andy Moreton

Luxique offers a wide selection of luxury hotels in London including four on the west side of the city within a short tube ride from Westfield: Portobello Hotel, Miller’s Residence, Guesthouse West and The Royal Park.

Donald Trump, the New York-based billionaire, has won his battle to be allowed to build an exclusive £1 billion ($1.58 billion) golf resort on an area of outstanding beauty on the Aberdeenshire coast in Scotland.

The local planning committee originally turned down the scheme, but the Scottish government, led by the Scottish National Party (SNP), has now overturned that decision.

The First Minister, Alex Salmond of the SNP, said the project would create 6,000 jobs – including 1,400 permanent positions. “In tough economic times, substantial investment of this kind is at a premium,” he said.

Detailed proposals will be drawn up over the next few months for what’s been dubbed a ‘golfopolis’ featuring two championship courses, 500 exclusive homes, 950 holiday apartments and a 450-bedroom ‘modern gothic’ hotel.

Environmentalists, who fought against the development, are dismayed. Part of the course will be on an area of shifting sand dunes which have been declared a site of Special Scientific Interest under European Union habitat regulations.

The planning inspectors ruled that the damage to the dunes would be outweighed by the resort’s substantial value to the economy - a judgment challenged by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), among others.

“It appears that the desires of one high profile overseas developer - who refused to compromise one inch - have been allowed to override the legal protection of this important site,” said Aedan Smith, head of planning for RSPB Scotland.

The development will, however, be subject to a series of environmental checks and controls to ensure that remaining plant species and wildlife are fully protected.

Trump said he was honoured and promised the scheme would be ‘a tremendous asset and source of pride over many generations for both Aberdeenshire and Scotland.’

by Andy Moreton

If you’re thinking of visiting this part of Scotland, check out the Marcliffe At Pitfodels, a five-star luxury hotel and spa set in 11 acres of woodland and with a bar boasting more than 100 malt whiskies.

Final preparations are being made for one of the events in the social calendar of the world’s rich and powerful.

The Debutante Ball in Paris is a ‘coming-out’ party for 24 women aged between 16 and 19, whose families are all members of the international elite. The ‘New Debs’ all wear gowns from leading international fashion houses - from Vivienne Westwood to Christian Lacroix.

The guest list is dominated by the international aristocracy, but also includes celebrities from the world of art and sport - an attempt, perhaps, to bring the ball into the 21st century. Proceeds go to Aids and cancer charities.

Admission is strictly by invitation, but for those unlucky enough to be left off the guest list, there’s bound to be extensive coverage in upmarket magazines such as Tatler and Harper’s Bazaar.

The venue for this exclusive bash is the Crillon, one of the finest of the luxury Paris hotels – a traditional haunt for film stars, kings and Presidents.

by Andy Moreton

Luxique can offer the best rates for a stay in the opulent five-star surroundings of the Hotel de Crillon.

One of the most popular tourist attractions in Amsterdam – the Heineken Experience – has just re-opened after an extensive refurbishment and expansion.

Among many new elements, guests can experience an interactive journey through the brewing process of the famous lager beer and will have the opportunity to create and take home their own personalised bottle of Heineken.

The working stables and famous Heineken shire horses will also be accessible through a newly constructed ‘stable walk.’

“We are very proud of the unique experience we’ve created,” said Hans Maris, manager of the Heineken Experience. “The new approach brings to life our passion for the quality of the beer we brew, our great respect for people, cultures and the world in which we live and our commitment to the responsible enjoyment of our brands.”

A revamped website for the attraction has also been launched, offering guests the option to book their visits online (www.heinekenexperience.com).

by Andy Moreton

For your visit to the Dutch capital, Luxique offers a selection of the finest luxury hotels in Amsterdam.