Interesting Facts

Online review site Trip Advisor has banned all reviews written in Welsh. (Trip Advisor is arguably the world's largest travel website, and supports languages from all around the world, but they have banned all submissions in Welsh.  Allegedly, the ancient Celtic language, one of the oldest European languages with over half a million speakers in the UK, breaches their sites strict language guidelines.  Trip Advisor said that they were unable to integrate Welsh into their moderation and review policies. In other words no one speaks Welsh there. Surely some enterprising Welsh speaker could set up their own review site.)

According to a study by the British Heart Foundation, Brits have very ambitious To Do lists.  Unfortunately the top item on most people's list is to win the lottery! (That's not an ambition, it's a wish! So here are the other 9 top items:- Win the lottery (not an ambition) Travel the world See the Northern Lights Experience a once-in-a lifetime challenge See world famous landmarks such as the Taj Mahal or the Egyptian Pyramids Swim with dolphins or sharks Live and work abroad Build your own house Go on an African Safari Start up a dream business and run it What would be on your top 10 things to do? Please don't say "Win the lottery".)

London buses are no longer accepting cash payments for journeys*. (There are different ways to pay the bus fare: An Oyster card with pay as you go credit, Travelcard or Bus & Tram Pass A Visitor Oyster card A contactless payment card to pay as you go A Day Travelcard In fact, according to the Payments Council, cash payments make up the majority of transactions in the UK - just.  Cash transactions account for 52%, but this is down from 58 per cent in 2009. For now cash is still king, but with virtual wallets, and mobile payment systems, the march of a cashless society seems to be unstoppable. Stop the world, I want to get off.) *That said, legally, they are not allowed to refuse a cash payment.

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.)

According to a survey run by Travelodge, on average British parents splash out £478.25 to take a short break and / or four day trips with their children this Easter, (The top 10 UK Easter destinations were:- 1. Blackpool 2. London 3. Birmingham 4. Cornwall 5. Brighton 6. Cardiff 7. Devon 8. Bath 9. Edinburgh 10. The Lake District However, in a study conducted by Sainsbury's, when asked to name their top five wishes for the perfect Easter, kids would most enjoy a family picnic, followed by an Easter egg hunt at home. I'm sorry if you are reading this after having spent all that money, but maybe you should have asked your little ones.)

According to a study commissioned by Teletext Holidays, Brits spend 18 days on planning their holiday (On average, people in the UK spend 14 days choosing a holiday destination. We spend just over 13 hours researching the accommodation, and 11 hours sorting out all the transport from the flights to car hire. A further nine hours are dedicated to washing and ironing clothes, and eight hours are spent on trips to the hairdresser and tanning salons. We then spend another two days packing our suitcases before finally jetting off. They have even come up with a new phrase PHT - Pre-Holiday Tension.)

According to a survey conducted by Sunshine.co.uk, 55% of Brits on holiday abroad seek out British home comforts. (The things that they admitted to specifically looking out for included:- - Restaurants serving British food – 37% - British bars – 25% - UK TV channels – 21% - British stores – 17% - British Brands – 12% I can understand UK TV channels, and for British Brands, maybe the odd packet of Rich Tea biscuits, or Tetley tea bags, but the rest is a mystery to me.) Source

According to a    study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the   loss if sea ice in the Arctic will allow ships to navigate freely across the North Pole by the middle of this century. (Currently  the Northwest Passage is navigable in summer only about once in every seven years, but this could be open in around 40 years, and p olar icebreakers will soon be able to cross directly over the North Pole.   The downside is  geo-political tensions between countries that have territorial claims in the region, will increase.  Canada claims that the Northwest passage falls under its sovereignty whilst the US insists it is an international shipping route, and  Russia has made territorial claims extending out to the North Pole.  Hah! Wait till they find my little LEN flag flying there. )

According to the MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index, London is the most popular destination city for overseas travellers. (Unsurprisingly it also heads the league table in the average amount each visitor spends. According to the London Development Agency, visitors to London spend around £20 billion each year.)

According to quarterly magazine Delayed Gratification, to date 531 people have travelled into space. (The criteria for what constitutes human spaceflight varies, but The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) defines spaceflight as any flight over 100 kilometres (62 miles) high. This definition is recognized by most countries.  Funnily there's a list of 528 people on Wiki, but the edition of the magazine I read listed 531 people.  I managed to find a copy of the original PDF, but can't read the font and I'm not sure who the extra 3 people are.  Anyone with better eyesight is welcome to look.) PDF Here

This year, 2.556 billion people are expected to make their way home via bus and train for the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations. (Two and a half billion people! I just hope that China Rail is better than British Rail.)

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.")

BBC South East has revealed that airlines deliberately fly longer routes over the Atlantic Ocean to avoid paying air traffic control charges. (These routes are known as tango routes, and they can produce an extra three tonnes of carbon dioxide.)

CO2 emissions from shipping are twice the level of aviation. (Darn it! Now I'll have to cancel that world cruise I was planning.)

3% of UK workers travel at least three hours every day. (Poor guys. I hope they enjoy travelling.) Source: RAC Foundation

54% of all the cars in the UK are used for commuting. (So start working at home and the UK's traffic problems are solved.) Source: RAC Foundation

25m people commute to and from work in the UK. (I bet they all pass each other going in different directions.) Source RAC Foundation

According to a study by the RAC 14% of commuters go to the office by bus or train, while 11% walk. (Add that to the previous fact of 71% going by car and that must mean that 4% of people don't go to work, or maybe they cycle?)

A study by the RAC Foundation has found that around 71% of British workers travel to work by car. (Whatever happened to "Go to work on an egg"?)