Tips and hints to help your travel planning

1. AA launches one-stop travel booking website

THE Automobile Association of South Africa has launched its own real-time, one-stop online travel agency.

The site, www.aaholidays.co.za, offers bookings for local and international travel. All bases are covered, from accommodation to flights to car hire.

Travellers can book cruises through the site or search for last-minute bargains on flights or package deals.

For those who prefer not to use the Internet, the AA has also introduced 16 Travel Experience agencies, where a consultant will plan and book the trip. For information, phone 083 84 322.

2. Australia gives its citizens a Northern Ireland warning

A ROW is brewing in the United Kingdom following an Australian government warning to its citizens about the increased danger in travelling to Northern Ireland, The Telegraph reports.

The warning follows a series of failed attacks on security forces in Northern Ireland. Three children were injured in one of the attacks.

The statement from Australia's foreign affairs department urged travellers to "be alert to your own security in Ireland".

Politicians and tourism officials, however, have said Australia has overreacted and that the warning could hurt Northern Ireland's tourist potential.

3. New pill may cure jet lag

A PILL that resets the body's internal clock and makes it easier for people to adjust to different time zones may make jet lag a thing of the past, the Daily Mail reports.

A paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports scientists at Manchester University have discovered a chemical method of blocking an enzyme called kinase to control the pace at which the body clock works.

Development of the drug is still in its early stages but researchers believe it might be useful to treat a number of health problems and disorders.

4. BP fund boosts tourism to Florida

A $32-MILLION fund from oil giant BP has helped give tourism to Florida a massive boost in the wake of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, The Telegraph reports.

The number of visitors to the state is said to have increased since the start of the crisis, driven, say tourist officials, by the BP fund.

The state's tourism body put visitor numbers at 21 million, 3.4% higher than the same time last year. One of the BP-funded campaigns carried the message that most of Florida's beaches had not been contaminated by the spill.

Areas where oil has come ashore have seen occupancy rates drop as much as 30% during the peak summer season.

5. Nigeria's Arik Air gets green light from US aviation officials

THE US Federal Aviation Administration has granted Arik Air, Nigeria's leading airline, Category 1 certification, allowing it to use Nigerian-registered aircraft and Nigerian crew on flights to the US.

The airline's Airbus A340-500 aircraft, used between Lagos and New York, carried foreign registrations and have been flown by a Portugal-based operator since the airline started the route.

6. Travellers ignore carbon offset

A PALTRY 7% of airline passengers in the UK claim to be funding green energy projects to offset the carbon generated by their flights, The Guardian reports. A study by the UK's Civil Aviation Authority found that 93% of passengers questioned did not offset their flights. Some 56% knew what carbon offsetting meant, but only 3% chose their airline for being environmentally friendly.

7. SA hotels not overpriced

SOUTH AFRICAN hotels are not overpriced by international comparisons, according to a report by consulting firm Grant Thornton Strategic Solutions.

Following reports that local hotels had priced themselves out of the market, Grant Thornton director Martin Jansen van Vuuren noted an increased number of hotels had opened in 2010, leading to an oversupply of rooms. Along with the effects of the global economic crash, this had kept hotel rates depressed.

The R1365 charged by the Crowne Plaza in Rosebank during September and October, for example, compared favourably with other Crowne Plaza hotels elsewhere in the world, with only the Crowne Plaza in Tokyo coming in significantly cheaper at R763 per night. By comparison, the Crowne Plaza in London was charging R1865 per night while rates in New York and Paris soared to R2606 and R2843 respectively.

Jansen van Vuuren said figures showed average room rates in South African hotels increased by an average 10% a year over the past eight years - higher than the average Consumer Price Index (CPI) of 7%, but keeping pace with price increases of other goods and services.