Happy New Year to all our readers! Before we move on to this year’s news, here’s a round up of some of the biggest stories we covered on this blog in 2011, it certainly was an eventful year!

January started with the troubled BMI threatening to withdraw its Heathrow – Glasgow route after passenger charges at Heathrow were raised (this was confirmed a month later). Ryanair returned to Manchester with four new routes. And the political troubles in Egypt disrupted flights.

Spiraling conflict in Egypt caused complete cancellation of routes to popular holiday destinations in February. Meanwhile, Which? launched a super complaint on airline card fee charges,the cost of Qantas’ engine troubles were revealed, and airlines flying from the UK finally started to show clearer air fares.

March brought faster flight times under a deal signed by traffic controllers. But by far the biggest news of the month was the huge tsunami which hit Japan and led to re-routing of flights to avoid possible radiation risk, and advice to leave Tokyo.

A Skyscanner survey found Spain back in favour for British holidaymakers in April.

In May Belfast Airport started to charge for going for a cigarette break, and the ongoing battle between Unite and British Airways was finally settled!

More natural disasters happened in June with violent aftershocks in Christchurch, New Zealand and volcanic eruptions in Chile.

The News of the World phone-hacking scandal broke in July with airlines withdrawing their advertisements as a result.

In August research revealed the use of smartphones were ruining people’s holidays.

The Rugby World Cup was held in New Zealand in September, where Wales’ hopes were dashed.

The first biofuel passenger flight took place in October, however green campaigners claimed it wasn’t as environmentally friendly as everyone thought.

Europe announced a ban on body scanners at airports in November, but the UK decided to go against the decision.

Finally, December saw 150mph winds hit parts of Scotland, which is where we are now at the start of 2012 as tremendous winds continue to batter the UK once more.

So, what travel news is in store for 2012? Keep up to date here!

Volcanoes grounding flights, snow grounding flights and stopping trains, strikes galore – 2010 has not been the best year for the travel industry, but in this run down of some of the top stories covered in the Villaseek blog throughout the year I’ll include these and also try to find some good news to include as it wasn’t all bad!

January started with the controversial full body scanner trial at Manchester Airport.

There was the awful Haiti earthquake which sparked calls for aid from holiday makers nearby and help from airlines to deliver aid packages.

The full review of the Eurostar travel delayswas revealed and spared no one.

Easyjet and Ryanair fought it out in a battle over an unflattering advert.

There was some increase in the business travel economy.

The year was plagued by strikes by British Airways cabin crew in a battle over pay and working conditions, the first were in March.

The BA and Iberia merger was agreed in April.

Perhaps one of the biggest pieces of travel related news was the volcanic ash cloud which closed down airspace across much of northern Europe and cancelled the travel plans of millions of people throughout April and May.

A coalition government was formed in the summer and one of the first things they did was to scrap the planned third runway at Heathrow.

There were more BA cabin crew strikes in May, the first for 5 consecutive days.

Despite the strikes and ash trouble, some good news for the aviation industry came as a study showed growing satisfaction with airlines.

A new campaign was launched in July to make passengers more aware of their travel rights, which made for a very informative read.

A study found that three weeks in a holiday villa is the perfect holiday!

Which? revealled airline processing fee rip offs in September.

Airbus’ with Rolls Royce engines got an awful couple of months of bad press after a mid-flight emergency on a Qantas flight.

The year ended with festive gridlock at airports and across the country’s roads due to the snow.

So, it’s been an eventful year indeed! If you want to catch up on the year’s UK travel news, then check out the 2010 review on our sister site, Holiday Cottages.

There’s a new reason for visiting Florida, especially if you have young Harry Potter fans in tow. Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park in Orlando has just opened its newest, grandest and most ambitious addition: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

The Wizarding World is full of sights from the Potter universe. Rides including Dragon Challenge, Flight of the Hippogriff and the Forbidden Journey promise to bring thrills to guests of all ages, while sights like Ollivander’s Wand Shop, Hagrid’s Hut and Filch’s Emporium of Confiscated Goods will delight Potter fans.

If that list of whimsical flights of fancy leaves you cold, flight search website Skyscanner is trying to drum up business with a list of alternative wizard venues. Starting with New Zealand, used as the setting when JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy was filmed. With unrivalled vistas and great natural beauty, it’s the perfect setting for the wizard Gandalf to bestride Middle Earth. Tolkien fans continue to catch flights to New Zealand to experience the world of hobbits, elves and orcs for themselves.

Orcs no good? Then there’s always the Wizard of Oz, in Kansas, USA. In 1900, L. Frank Baum described the adventures of one Dorothy Gale, a young girl who is whisked away by a tornado, ending up in the Land of Oz. Befriending a talking scarecrow, a cowardly lion and a tin man, she journeyed to visit The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and get back home to Kansas, where today fans can visit the Oz Museum which holds masses of memorabilia from the books, films and musicals.

Possibly even more magical, if you’re a basketball fan, would be a visit to the Washington Wizards in Washington, DC. Based in the capital city’s Verizon Center, this professional basketball team had a genuine wizard of the court play for them in the form of superstar Michael Jordan from 2001 to 2003. They still fill their arena for every game and their skill and showmanship make for an unforgettable experience. Or so they say.

Closer to home is Parc Asterix, a theme-park 22 miles north of Paris that’s based on the world of cartoon character Asterix. There you can meet the wizard, a member of Goscinny and Uderzo’s tribe of rebellious Gaul warriors who comically torment Julius Caesar’s legions in ancient France. Getafix is a potion-concocting druid who can prepare an elixir that grants superhuman strength to those who drink it.

England’s World Cup failure is the travel industry’s gain, as predicted in my previous blog on the subject.

Ryanair reported the best week of business at Liverpool airport last week after England were knocked out of the Cup by Germany. Bookings surged to all destinations – except, rather unsurprisingly, to Germany.

The low cost airline says week-on-week comparisons showed football fans made plans to leave the country in their droves as soon as England were defeated.

Ryanair’s Stephen McNamara said: “English football fans sent our booking system into overdrive as soon as their football team crashed out of the World Cup with bookings soaring by 30% in just one week to destinations throughout Europe – except Germany.

“It is clear that football fans wanted to snap up one of Ryanair’s guaranteed lowest fares, before the national team returned to England, so that they could look forward to a great value summer holiday.”

Is this a representative number? Have any World Cup fans who read this blog done the same? Were you planning on booking a holiday anyway or did the defeat spark off the desire to fly away somewhere for a bit of R & R?

A Spanish festival designed to promote the country to potential visitors will be held in Regent Street, London on 6th June.

The “Taste of Spain” event will include giant paellas, flamenco dancers, medieval food markets and a range of participatory sports challenges. A dedicated ‘Hall of Spain’ will be a key feature for visitors to wander through 80 years of Spanish sporting history and experience the range of sporting activities available in the country.

In the interactive area, there will be an F1 pit-stop challenge that will give visitors a chance to carry out an F1 tyre change against the clock. An F1 simulator will feature the Montmeló FI track in Barcelona and state-of-the-art MotoGP simulators will transport guests to southern Spain to the popular ‘Circuito de Jerez’.

Football enthusiasts can take part in a kick point challenge, tennis players can compete for the fastest serve, basketball fans can try their luck in ‘shoot the hoop’ and golfers can participate in a ‘nearest to the pin’ contest.

Regent Street will be traffic free to allow for many other activities based on the different regions of Spain, including food, culture and music.

“A Taste of Spain” will take place on Regent Street from noon until 19.00 on 6th June.

World Travel & Tourism Council Logo

12 Judges for the 2010 Tourism for Tomorrow Awards run by the World Travel & Tourism Council have been unveiled. The organisation also seeks entries to be recognise best practice in sustainable tourism. The deadline for applications is 2nd December.

The judging process includes a thorough review of each application followed by an on-site evaluation of all finalists conducted by a global panel of experts in sustainable tourism.

The panel will review and select a shortlist of finalists in each of the four award categories to progress to the second stage of the judging process, during which on-site inspections will take place. Following the third stage of judging, a final panel will choose the winner for each category.

The judges on the Finalist Selection Committee for 2010 are:

• Tony Charters, principal, Tony Charters & Associates, Australia

• Jena Gardner, president, JG Blackbook of Travel, and President, The Bodhi Tree Foundation, USA

• Erika Harms, executive director for sustainable development, United Nations Foundation – World Heritage Alliance, USA/Costa Rica

• Marilú Hernández, president, Fundación Haciendas del Mundo Maya, Mexico

• Dr Janne J Liburd, associate professor and director of research, Centre for Tourism, Culture and Innovation, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark

• Mahen Sanghrajka, chairman, Big Five Tours & Expeditions, USA/Kenya

• Kaddu Kiwe Sebunya, chief of party, Uganda Sustainable Tourism Program, Uganda

• Mandip Singh Soin FRGS, founder & managing Director, Ibex Expeditions (P) Ltd, India

• Shannon Stowell, president, Adventure Travel Trade Association, USA

• Jamie Sweeting, vice president, environmental stewardship and global chief environmental officer, Royal Caribbean Cruises, USA

• Albert Teo, managing director, Borneo Eco Tours, Malaysia

• Mei Zhang, founder, Wildchina, China

Members of the winners’ selection committee are:

• Costas Christ, chairman of the judges, Tourism for Tomorrow Awards, USA

• Graham Boynton, group travel editor, Telegraph Media Group, UK

• Fiona Jeffery, chairman, World Travel Market & Just A Drop, UK

• Michael Singh, CEO, ministry of tourism and civil aviation, Belize

Christ said: “There is no doubt that what we are witnessing today may be the most significant transformation in the history of modern travel – the emergence of sustainable tourism principles and practices across the full spectrum of travel and tourism from small and medium-sized businesses to large-scale hospitality and travel corporations.”

He added: “At the heart of the awards is an expert judging panel representing countries from all around the world and an on-site evaluation process of award finalists to document their sustainable tourism practices in action.”

TTG On the Road Logo

I went to the Travel Trade Gazette (TTG) Roadshow in Manchester on Wednesday night at the Thistle Hotel. It was a good opportunity for agents to meet suppliers new and old to discuss products and developments within the industry over a drink.

Agents and suppliers seemed interested and were mingling throughout the night, especially over the wonderful Arabian inspired food paid for by Abu Dhabi, who had a representative give a presentation regarding the future plans Abu Dhabi have to develop as a number one tourist destination (of which I will write a little more in a future blog entry).

The TTG will be carrying its journey on across the country on these dates:

Exeter on the 20th October at the Rougemont Hotel

Portsmouth on the 21st October at the Hilton Portsmouth Hotel

Norwich on the 22nd October at the Holiday Inn Norwich North

Further information can be found at the TTG Website

Manchester city centre will be host to a festival of the Balearic Islands this bank holiday weekend. The festival celebrates Ibiza, Menorca, Majorca and Formentera — and it’s completely free.

You can find out more about the festival via the official festival website

There will be parades happening on Saturday and Sunday at 1pm (and Monday 11am) – finishing up at Albert Square.