Holi get Travel

This year, the number of motoring tourists, particularly those with electric vehicles , increased, resulting in long queues at ferry terminals for passages for their cars. A Hainan official who refused to be named said places for EVs on ferries were limited under safety guidelines issued by the provincial transport department. According to Hainan Strait Shipping, which operates passenger services between the island and the mainland, EVs can spontaneously combust and so need to be restricted to designated areas. Such a fire could spread quickly and be difficult to extinguish, presenting a greater safety risk than traditional vehicles, the company said last weekend. Each ferry is also limited to carrying no more than 10 per cent of its vehicle capacity in new energy vehicles, with a total not exceeding 18 vehicles. 02:56 Chinese airlines on biggest hiring drive in more than 3 years as travel demand rebounds Chinese airlines on biggest hiring drive in more than 3 years...

A leading building society is trialling a ban on new holiday-let mortgages in some popular tourist destinations. Campaigners say the move by Leeds building society could improve the situation for local residents currently struggling to buy or rent in parts of Norfolk and Yorkshire that have seen a surge in the number of properties turned into holiday rentals. The announcement comes days after the government unveiled new rules for short-term holiday lets in England that aim to rein in a sector that has been described by some as “ out of control ”. In recent years there has been growing concern about the number of properties being let out on a short-term basis, leading to local people being priced out of their communities. Platforms such as Airbnb have made it easy to do this as a potentially lucrative side hustle , while the tax treatment is more favourable than it is for buy to let. On top of that, the coronavirus pandemic and cost of living crisis have increased demand for domes...

Thursday, Feb. 22, marked the fifth anniversary of a new Saudi national holiday called Foundation Day. This holiday, according to the 2019 royal decree that established it, commemorates the 1727 “beginning of the reign of Imam Mohammed ibn Saud and his foundation of the first Saudi state.” Unlike the Saudi National Day, which celebrates the political idea of the unification of the contemporary Saudi state in 1932, Foundation Day serves a two-fold function: the celebration of one political myth and the erasure of another. It celebrates the myth that the contemporary Saudi state is a “third” state in an imagined, unbroken three centuries of historical Saudi Arabia in the Arabian Peninsula. It also erases the Wahhabi political myth, or the narrative that the “first” Saudi state began after a covenant had been made between Muhammed ibn Abdul-Wahhab, the founder of the Wahhabi movement, and Mohammed ibn Saud in 1744. By selecting 1727 as the starting year of the “first” state instead of 1...

For the first time since Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has collected travel records (nearly 50 years ago), in 2023  Indonesia replaced New Zealand as the top destination for short-term trips overseas by Australians (short-term resident returns). Around 1.37 million Australians travelled to Indonesia in 2023, while 1.26 million travelled to New Zealand.  For Australian’s travelling to Indonesia, 86 per cent were going for a holiday and 7 per cent to visit friends or relatives. It was different for those going to New Zealand, with 43 per cent going for a holiday and 38 per cent to visit friends or relatives. Jenny Dobak, ABS head of migration statistics, said: “New Zealand has been the leading destination annually since our records began nearly 50 years ago. Short-term resident returns are still climbing towards pre-pandemic levels. They are yet to reach the peak of 2019.” We can also see that short-term resident returns are recovering quicker than short-term visito...

February 23, 2024 BEIJING – The first thing Lu Yan did after returning to Beijing over the weekend from a two-week Spring Festival visit to her hometown was to collect her “furry baby” and take the feline back to her apartment. She had placed her 3-year-old cat, a British shorthair breed with white and gray fur, in a pet hotel before she left for Zibo in East China’s Shandong province. “Most of the time, I arrange pet boarding for my cat if I have to leave Beijing for long business trips or vacations,” said Lu, who works at a publishing house. If she has to leave Beijing for only a few days, she has someone come to her place at least twice a day to check on her feline friend. “It’s less of a hassle this way, but for any absence longer than that I will definitely opt for a boarding service,” Lu said. She spent about 2,000 yuan ($278) during Spring Festival to have her cat — named “Seventeen “after Lu’s birth date — well taken care of while she was away. Lu was pleased that there ...

Zhanjiang, a city in South China's Guangdong province holds grand celebrations during the Chinese New Year holiday. Now expats take the chance to observe local customs and fit into the community. Watch the video to see more. Video courtesy: Zhanjiang Multimedia Adblock test (Why?) from "holiday" - Google News https://ift.tt/yDowMpZ via IFTTT

A Singaporean woman died in a go-karting accident on the Indonesian island of Batam on Wednesday. She was identified as 33-year-old Arini Mohamed Adinan by Senior Superintendent Zahwani Pandra Arsyad of the Riau Islands regional police. The accident took place at Golden City Go-Kart in Bengkong at around 3.30pm local time, Zahwani said. Arini was on a holiday in Batam with friends and had recently celebrated her birthday, he added. According to Zahwani, a witness saw Arini driving a go-kart car with the number 14 around the circuit twice, Berita Mediacorp reported. “There were no problems during the deceased’s first round of go-karting. However, go-kart number 14 suddenly crashed into the tyre barrier at high speed. The tyres were not the issue,” he said. The witness, who Zahwani said worked in the game room at the venue, approached Arini and saw that her helmet had been thrown off due to the crash. Singapore elderly couple killed by water heater in ‘truly tragic accident’...