A recent article in the Wall Street Journal told of how the Hilton Hotel chain, all 21,000 of them have a new customer system called OnQ. This records all customer details and preferences of those who have stayed with them, including movies watched, what and how much you drank from the mini bar and any complaints made. You have been warned!

Italy is to be the first EU country to introduce mandatory screening of passengers arriving from countries affected by the SARS virus and including passengers who have first made stops in other places.

Any passenger showing symptoms of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which currently has killed over 500 people worldwide, will be quarantined.

Due to a computer crash, the Beetle has lost this month’s commentary on our friends Ryanair. We hope to return to our favourite love to hate subject of Ryanair next month, if there is anything news worthy to note.

Changi Airport in Singapore is using high technology to screen the foreheads of inbound passengers as they step off the plane. The infrared fever screening system has a thermal imaging thermometer that works like a camera. It takes a picture of each passenger and transfers the data to a computer screen. Blue dots indicate normal temperature and red fever. Anyone looks feverish is checked for SARS symptoms by a nurse.

Andrev, a student in the beautiful city of Wroclaw wrote in to tell us about his hometown. He says he would like to tell us about a few interesting things about his city and (hopefully) encourage someone to come here!! Let's begin with a Town Hall – one of the most beautiful late Gothic and Renaissances Buildings in Europe. It was started in 14th century with 15th century towers and is situated in the old Market Square a huge 120 square metres itself – just imagine. Another interesting place to see is St. John the Baptist's Cathedral. This was built on the site of the first wooden church and dates from 1000. The present Gothic cathedral was rebuilt between 1244 and 1376. Further development took place in 15th century and added the side chapels and the main portal. The last thing I would like to describe is Panorama of the battle Raclawice – one of a few preserved monuments of this kind in the world a huge 120m x 15m.

If you would like some more information about Wroclaw please contact Andrev on: and_f@wp.pl

Would you like to take part in a documentary we are currently making for Channel 4? It is provisionally titled Travellers Tales, and is about travellers who have experienced tropical illnesses. Perhaps… you unwittingly transported a bot-fly home from a remote destination? Someone on your expedition was cured by a medicine man? You left the country on a mission to solve a medical mystery? Or are you still staggered by a memorable bout of Delhi Belly? I would like to hear about your experience of the places you have been to in addition to accounts of any illnesses you might have had. I am concerned with illnesses ranging from diarrhoea to dengue and would be very interested to hear your story – funny or painful – with a view to including it in the documentary. Should you be interested in taking part, your journeys will be portrayed accurately and responsibly. Please contact me, Catherine on: Catherine.Brindley@rdfmedia.com

If you're going to visit Japan on business, or even if you are going for pleasure, this website shows you how to you bow appropriately and how to behave when you have been invited to someone’s home. There are lots of hints and tips on appropriate presents to take, how to use the washroom, and this is all animated which makes it quite addictive to look at. Take a look at animator and illustrator Nora Krug's web site – we like this!

If you have plans to visit India this summer – never a good time to go – take note that around 200 people have died during the heat wave that is currently sweeping through Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Pakistan where temperatures have soared as high as 47.2C. The high temperatures have led to a shortage of drinking water and deaths through dehydration and sunstroke. Last year, a heat wave killed more than 1,000 people in the state and caused devastating drought. The situation should improve with the approaching monsoon rains, which usually reach the south coast in the first week of June.

The UK Passport Service plans to put biometric chips into passports by 2005. The agency is to run a six-month trial to “evaluate issues around biometric capture using iris, facial recognition and fingerprints to support the passport card development programme.” An 'Omnibase' global database of all passports issued will be created, along with a global lost, stolen and recovered passport database which is due by the end of this year.

The Globetrotters Club has just teamed up with Oanda.com to provide people with information about currency conversions and cheat sheets. To translate currency or make a cheat sheet, visit:

The Globetrotters Currency Converter — get the exchange rates for 164 currencies The Globetrotters Currency Cheat Sheet — create and print a currency converter table for your next trip.

In last month’s Globetrotter e-news, we spoke of 31 tourists being abducted and held in the Sahara for over 2 months. In May, 17 of the foreign tourists (10 Austrians, 6 Germans and a Swede) were rescued, said to be unharmed and flown back to Europe. No formal details of the ordeal have been released for fear of jeopardising the safety of the remaining 15 tourists (10 Germans, 4 Swiss, 1 Dutch) who are still missing. The Algerian newspaper El Watan claims that nine kidnappers were killed in the dawn raid near the Sahara desert town of Tamanrasset, 1,900 kilometres (1,200 miles) south of Algiers and that the Salafist Group had kidnapped the tourists for Preaching and Combat (GSPC).

Last month we reported that both the French and British authorities had decided to retire Concorde. Now, Richard Branson, millionaire owner of Virgin Airlines, has stepped by saying that he could make Concorde profitable and more affordable. He said, “we believe it has as many as 25 years good flying in it. Concorde is a great ambassador to Britain and should be in the air, not broken up and sold.” Under Virgin, the planes would offer cheaper second-class seats while first class prices would increase.

Simon, a single guy from the UK is looking for a travel companion to join him from May 2003 onwards in his travels across the US, over to New Zealand and to Fiji. Simon enjoys the usual things in life and is a keen scuba diver. If you would like to join Simon, please contact him direct on: DISNEYBOND@HOTMAIL.COM

Don, a recently renewed member of the Globetrotter’s Club is starting to research travel to Mexico. He is seeking general advice on suggested places to get off the beaten trail, visit with local people and historic sites. He would likely launch the trip from a popular locale (for best airfare rate) and venture away from there. Any suggestions of places/regions to start my research greatly appreciated. Also, anyone have info on renting a basic mid-size motorcycle in Mexico and touring the 'blue highways.' Don can be contacted on donelda@island.net

Need help? Want a travelling buddy or advice about a place or country – want to share something with us – why not visit our Mutual Aid section of the Website: Mutual Aid

“Ladies and Gentlemen, we apologise for the delay, but there is a security alert at Victoria Station, and we are stuck here for the foreseeable future, so let's take our minds off it and pass some time together. All together now…. Ten green bottles, hanging on a wall…..”

Here’s a little Beetle quiz based on airport codes. How many did you get right! Go on, have a guess!

Which cities are served by airports with the following codes:

1. PHX
2. ATH
3. ZNZ
4. DPS
5. EZE

For the answers, see at the end of the e-newsletter.