Travel Photographer of the Year competition judges, the professional photographers Nick Meers and Chris Coe are running four travel photography master classes over the next three months, which will allow photographers to refine their skills before heading off travelling this summer. Globetrotter members get a £25 discount.

There are two, two-day courses, at Huddersfield (March 12/13) and Elstree (March 15/16) and two, three-day courses, to shoot the Cotswolds at Easter (April 15/16/17), and Forest and Coast in the New Forest (May 18/19/20).

The two-day interactive seminars – aimed at all levels – cover practical and creative photographic techniques, compositional techniques and presentation, and digital optimisation of images, together with vital but often overlooked skills such as editing, selecting and cropping travel images for different uses. In addition Nick and Chris will spend time reviewing and critiquing each photographer’s work.

Prices start at £265.00 (excl. accommodation) for the two-day courses, rising to 3410 (excl. accommodation) for the Cotswolds at Easter course, but TPOTY is offering a £25 discount for

Globetrotters members. TPOTY is also taking bookings for a 12-day master class covering photographing Landscape,

Wildlife & People in Kwazulu Natal, South Africa (April 30 – May 12).

Further information is available on

www.tpoty.com or by emailing

masterclass@tpoty.com or calling 05600 431762.

As we reported back in 2005, French President Jacques Chirac campaigned hard for an international tax on airline tickets to help fight global poverty. Now the French government has approved the levy which will range from EUR1 to EUR40 (USD$1.18 to USD$47.20) on flights from France, depending on distance travelled and the class of ticket.

The levy will takes effect from 1st July. The French government hopes that in France alone, the tax will generate EUR210 million (USD$248 million) a year. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has urged other governments to follow France's lead though the plan has encountered resistance in the United States – not surprising when the US will not sign up to the Kyoto Protocol.

The plan has also failed to win widespread backing in Europe and upset airlines, which fear higher fares will drive away passengers. It has, however, been adopted by Chile and the Chilean President Ricardo Lagos said in September last year the measure had been approved in his country and would go into effect on January 1, when a USD$2 charge would be added to tickets on all outgoing flights from Chile.

A human bird flu pandemic could ground up to 70 percent of aircraft, Virgin Group boss Richard Branson has said at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos.

“If it happens, an airline is going to have 50 percent of its planes grounded, maybe more – 60, 70 percent,” he said. The only positive would be a fall in fuel costs: “It will certainly bring down oil prices with a thump.”

Air travel is expected to be in the frontline should the H5N1 strain of bird flu become easily transmitted between people.

Air travel was crucial in spreading the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, virus around Asia and to Canada in 2003.

“Statistically, there is about a 6 percent chance that in any one year of the next 10 years this becomes a person-to-person problem, and we just have to hope it is not this year,” Branson said.

Seniors and baby boomers over 55 planning a holiday in New Zealand or Australia, can now purchase a discount travel and shopping card – New Zealand Seniors Card. There are currently over 2,500 discounts available including hotels, tourist attractions, cruises, tours, coaches,

ferries and shops. Savings range from 10% to 50% off and the cost of the card is only $29 NZ (around £11). For more details or to join on-line at www.seniorscard.com or email: info@seniorscard.co.nz

Passed on by Globetrotter Committee member Francesca, a new company has written to us. They organise walking holidays in “4 stunning and pleasingly unusual areas of Europe… with charming accommodation in traditional, upland villages.” They are currently running a free prize draw to win a holiday for 2 for 7 nights in Italy's beautiful Majella region.. checkout the homepage on their

website: www.uplandescapes.com

The offer is open until 31 Mar 2006.

If you are planning to travel to Saudi Arabia in the coming months, then good news for getting around. Saudi Arabia's first low-cost airline Sama plans to start flights within months. Sama will begin serving Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah, carrying frequent travellers and pilgrims. Another Saudi firm, National Air Services (NAS), said last year it would launch a low-cost airline and was negotiating with European plane maker Airbus to buy four A320s. NAS says it will also set up a USD$100 million luxury airline, Al Khayala, to fly between the capital Riyadh and the Red Sea city of Jeddah, but has not said when either airline will start.

A travel tip from Stanley in the US via Mac: it is a good idea to only take new dollar bills etc and then iron them (make sure iron is not too hot) so they will not be too winkled. Some countries will not take old or tattered bills. To my surprise I ran into this in Northern Thailand out in the boon docks.

Travel Facts

• Kazakhstan is the world's largest landlocked country.
• Sri Lanka has lowest divorce rate in the world – and the highest rate of female suicide.
• Australians have a huge 380,000 sq m of land per person – and yet 91% live in urban areas.
• Nearly a quarter of people in Monaco are over 65.
• Americans have the world's highest marriage rates, divorce rates, teenage pregnancies and one person households.
• There are three persons living per room in Pakistan.
• Elderly Dutch and Swedish are the most likely to live in old-age homes. Elderly Japanese are the most likely to live with their children.
• Andorra has no unemployment, which is just as well because they have no broadcast TV channels either.
• China has the most workers, so it's a good thing they've also got the most TV's.
• Indians go out to the movies 3 billion times a year.

Source: http://www.nationmaster.com

In December 2005, a drunken male passenger on a flight from northern England to the Spanish tourist island of Tenerife was dropped off at a small island off the African coast after he swore at the cabin crew. Press reported that the plane’s captain decided to leave the man at Porto Santo, just 10 miles long and four miles wide, a volcanic outcrop in the Atlantic, after he became abusive when he was refused more alcohol. (The island does have a few hotels, so he wasn’t left to sleep on the beach in case you were worried. ) Needless to say, police met the man at the airport who is due to appear in court in mainland Portugal in January.

To ensure UK travellers are fully prepared for your travels moving into 2006 please be aware that from 1st January 2006, UK residents travelling in Europe will require a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). This will allow you to benefit from free or reduced-cost medical care when travelling in an EEA country or Switzerland.

The EHIC replaces the E111 and is free of charge. For further information on the introduction of the EHIC and on how to apply for an EHIC, see: www. dh. gov. uk/travellers

If you are found to be a stowaway on a ship, the ship owners are obliged by law to bear the costs to send you home.

Unfortunately for seven Tanzanian stowaways who recently boarded a ship sailing to South America at Mombassa in Kenya, three Ukrainian sailors allegedly forced the seven stowaways to jump overboard. Two of the seven Tanzanian stowaways are believed to have drowned while five managed to swim to safety, say police.

Saturday 4th March 2006, 10. 30am – 4. 00pm at the newsroom The Guardian

60 Farringdon Rd

London EC1R 3GA

Cost: £89. 99 (inc VAT)

A day of two intensive workshops:

Travel Writing – How To Do It, and How Not To with Dea Birkett, Guardian columnist and author of Serpent in Paradise and Off the Beaten Track.

Fact, Fiction and Creating a Traveller’s Tale with Rory Maclean, author of Falling for Icarus and Stalin’s Nose.

The workshops include practical writing sessions. Participants should bring pen and paper – they will be expected to write! The emphasis is – whether you are a beginner or already have some writing experience – on developing skills which can be applied to both articles and books. Our aim is that, by the end of the day, each of you will have the tools to produce a publishable piece of travel writing.

Already done some travel writing? Contact travelworkshops@deabirkett. com for details of the Travel Writing Masterclass on Saturday March 18th 2006. Or book the Workshop and Masterclass together and save over £20.

The government of the Malaysian state of Johor says it is to organise an attempt to track down a legendary ape man said to roam its jungles. There have been a spate of sightings of Big Foot, known in local legend as Hantu Jarang Gigi – ghosts with widely spaced teeth. Last November three fishery workers claimed to have seen a Big Foot family that left footprints up to 45cm long. Conservationists say that damage to branches suggested that the creatures could have been up to 3m tall. There were similar sightings by members of the local indigenous minority who said they had seen a ‘King Kong’ covered in black fur. Now, the chief minister of Johor, Abdul Ghani Othman, says a proper scientific expedition will track Big Foot’s big foot-prints.

A Chinese HR company has announced it would like its new staff to include plenty of “dogs”. To reflect this, in its recruitment ad, they invited only people born in the Year of the Dog to apply. The reason? A personnel manager for the company said, “We believe that people born in dog years are born with some good characteristics such as loyalty and honesty. ”

According to the Chinese zodiac, 2006 is the Year of the Dog. Were you born in the Year of the Dog? Those born in 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982 and 1994 were all born to this astrological sign.

Oasis Hong Kong Airlines, a new start up company aims to be a low cost carrier but operate long haul routes. They plan to make their maiden flight from Hong Kong to London’s Gatwick Airport in June 2006 as Hong Kong’s first low-fare carrier.

Oasis aims to price round-trip tickets starting as low as HKD$1,000 (USD$128), although customers looking for such a bargain would have to book months in advance, said Oasis Chief Executive Stephan Miller, a founder and former chief executive of the city’s second largest airline, Dragonair. Oasis will not be alone. Qantas’ Jetstar arm and Viva Macau also hope to launch low-cost long-haul flights.

A recent report in “Holiday Which?”, published by the British Consumers’ Association, found that the number of people who take “independent holidays” has now overtaken those booking the traditional package, predicting that 55 percent of overseas holidays in 2005 will have been arranged independently. Travellers are searching the internet and booking flights, cars and hotels on-line. In the travel industry, this is called “dynamic packaging”: travellers who build their own itineraries, or vacation packages.

Unsurprisingly, tour operators recognise this trend and have responded. For example, Flexibletrips. com, part of Thomas Cook, allows you to build exactly the sort of holiday you want by “bundling” flights, hotels, car rental and extras such as tours and transfers. British Airways plans to introduce a “shopping basket” feature on BA. com allowing travellers to book hotels, and other travel products, alongside flights.

The disadvantage to dynamic packaging is that you may not have financial protection if something goes wrong – (pay with a credit card, not a debit card) and it can be hard to compare like with like e. g. some packaged breaks may include airport transfers and a room upgrade, and of course, all this internet searching takes time.

Air New Zealand and Qantas Airways confirmed have barred men from sitting next to unaccompanied children on flights. The policy came to light after a man seated next to a child was asked to change seats with a woman in another row and was told by a Qantas flight attendant that the airline’s policy stipulated that only women should sit next to unaccompanied children. The man asked to move, Mark Worsley, 37, was later told by the airline that Qantas wanted to err on the side of caution. “I felt that it was totally discriminatory,” Worsley told The New Zealand Herald. A Qantas spokesman confirmed the policy and said the airline believed customers wanted the policy.

Bear in mind, before you read this, that this news is reported by the China Travel Service.

“China is the main engine driving Asia-Pacific travel; and by 2020, China is expected to be the world’s No. 1 travel destination with an estimated 100 million tourists visiting every year. ”

Sent in by Francesca: ever fancied climbing Everest? Now there is a company that trains and supports amateurs. Check out about climbing Everest:

http://www. everest2006. co. uk/

Visitors to Asia and the Pacific should look out for the new SkyTeam Asia Pass that gives access to 61 cities in 21 countries through three major gateways: Guam, Seoul and Tokyo, on flights with Air France, Continental Airlines, KLM, Korean Air or Northwest Airlines. You need to buy 3 coupons, or a maximum of 8, in conjunction with an intercontinental round-trip ticket to the region on any SkyTeam of the 9 SkyTeam member airlines, at www. skyteam. com. Someone arriving from Europe, America or Africa could choose to visit Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo, Osaka, Taipei, Bangkok and Saigon for $2,310 (8 coupons), saving at least $4,000 on regular air fares.