Interesting Facts

According to the World Tourism Organisation, nearly one in ten international tourists worldwide is now Chinese. (There were 97.3m outward-bound journeys from China in 2013, of which around half were for leisure.  Chinese tourists spend most in total ($129 billion in 2013, followed by Americans at $86 billion) and per tax-free transaction ($1,130 compared with $494 by Russians).  More than 80% say that shopping is vital to their plans, compared with 56% of Middle Eastern tourists and 48% of Russians.  The Chinese are expected to buy more luxury goods next year while abroad than tourists from all other countries combined. However, only around 5% of China’s population actually own passports.)

Spain will reimpose border checks for a European Central Bank (ECB) meeting in Barcelona in May. (The only grounds for restoring border controls under the Schengen Treaty (the EU's passport-free travel treaty) is a threat to public order. Now why on earth would they think that a meeting of bankers would be a threat to public order?)

The newly designed British passport will feature brand new art work. (Some of the images will be scenes that represent the four nations, including The White Cliffs of Dover, the Gower Peninsula, Ben Nevis and the Giant’s Causeway. There will also be symbols of the UK's maritime heritage and the British obsession with the weather, as meteorological symbols appear on many pages. It's typical, I renew my passport and then they redesign it!)

According to government figures in the UK, more than 60,000 British travellers reported their passport lost or stolen abroad between April 2009 and March 2010. (And it's not just people going abroad, the Identity and Passport Service replaced more than 279,000 passports lost or stolen in the UK or abroad in the same period. The service advises people to take two photocopies of their passport, leaving one at home and keeping one separate from the passport when travelling. Actually looking after the original is a good idea too.)

Henry V created the UK's earliest passports. (According to the Home Office's website they were first issued in 1414 and they were called ‘Safe Conducts’. But even earlier than that a reference to what appears to be a passport is found in the Hebrew version of the Bible. In Nehemiah 2, which is attributed to the time of the Persian Empire (about 450 BC), Nehemiah, an official serving King Artaxerxes I of Persia, asked leave to travel to Judea, and the king granted it and gave him a letter "To the governors beyond the river" requesting safe passage for him as he traveled through their lands, which could also be the first recorded instance of "To whom it may concern.")

In November 2008, people from abroad will be the first people in modern Britain to be given ID cards. (The scheme will cost a staggering £4.7bn.)