Other travel news
Northern delights
Last year Northern Ireland saw the number of visitors from the Republic increase by 14 per cent, to 366,000. The exchange rate, cheaper hotels, restaurants and pubs, and Victoria Square shopping centre were big draws, according to Belfast Visitor Convention Bureau. Forty-two US cruise ships are booked to visit the city’s port in 2009. City Hall, Ulster Hall and Ulster Museum will reopen this year, and the city’s event calendar includes the arrival of the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge, in August.
“There is a real sense that this is Belfast’s moment,” says Gerry Lennon, the bureau’s chief executive. See www.gotobelfast.com.
Airbus’s wide berth
Airbus is considering introducing bunk beds to the design of its premium-economy cabins to maximise the use of space on long-haul flights. The aircraft manufacturer is also redesigning its interiors because half of British holidaymakers are too wide for conventional seats, according to SizeUK. The square footage in a cabin is worth up to 20 times the value of real estate in London’s West End.