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I wrote in July about Green Travel Guides’ visit to Bluefields Bay in Jamaica, a project I visited in January of this year. The film crew has now completed another video for the Travel Foundation in Jamaica, this time focussing on Hotel Mocking Bird Hill, near Port Antonio.

It’s a hotel I first learnt about at World Travel Market last year, when it won the ‘best accommodation for the environment‘ category at the Responsible Tourism Awards… Continue reading

Blogs from my recent trip to the New Forest are now live on Greentraveller.co.uk, as part of an in-depth guide to sustainable tourism in the New Forest district:

A Q&A with Anthony Climpson OBE, tourism manager of the New Forest

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Canoeing in the New Forest

My interview with Anthony Climpson OBE (tourism destination manager for New Forest District Council) is now live on Greentraveller.co.uk - which has this week launched a sustainable tourism guide to the New Forest. Read it here

My review of Primrose Valley Hotel in St Ives, Cornwall, is now live on greentraveller…click to read the full review

Primrose Valley is just one of the hotel’s featured on the St Ives tourist board’s new iPhone app. It features nine places to stay, lots of bars and restaurants, things to do and sites of interest, and lots of useful contact details for trains, taxis, boat hire and more – all pinpointed on the an interactive map… Continue reading

My greentraveller feature on the bike policies of all the major UK rail companies…..

Read the full piece here

I went for a lovely lunch with a Peruvian hotel group called Inkaterra today, at a restaurant called Bumpkin in South Kensington.

Inkaterra has some of the most exciting, sustainable hotels in Peru. It all started in the 1970s with Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica right in the Amazon jungle. Next were La Casona in Cusco, part of the super-luxury Relais & Chateaux collection, and Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel right by Machu Picchu. Inkaterra has now launched another sister brand… Continue reading

[This article first appeared in TTG]

Despite a thorough explanation from instructor Derek on how to hold my paddle and how to slow down and change direction, I was still concerned about losing control and smashing up my kayak on the rocks. But Derek assured me the kayaks were practically indestructible. “You might hit into each other, though – the kayaks have got magnets in them,” he warned us.

I’d have thought magnets would make the… Continue reading

[this blog first appeared on greentraveller]

The National Forest has launched a new visitors’ website with a focus on ‘going green’.

The site emphasises eco-friendly attractions and places to stay within the forest, and encourages visitors to use public transport and explore by bike or on foot rather than driving.

The National Forest covers an area of 200 square miles in Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire, and 7.7 million trees have already been… Continue reading

[this blog first appeared on greentraveller]

Survey results released this week as part of National Ferry Fortnight (organised by the Passenger Shipping Association) reveal why passengers choose to travel by ferry instead of flying.

The convenience of taking their own car came out top, with 55% saying this was an important factor. The lack of luggage restrictions (i.e. the convenience of piling your car high… Continue reading

I was out in the Caribbean last week at CHTA Marketplace, an annual trade expo for Caribbean tourism, and attended a press conference by Green Globe – one of a burgeoning number of eco-certifying bodies for the tourism sector.

CEO Guido Bauer revealed the difference that a Green Globe certificate can make to a hotel’s bottom line: having the certificate lets hotels increase their room rates by 3-7%, reduces their operating costs by 3-11%, and adds 1-3% to the property’s value.

It’s great that they have proof of the financial benefit – in a cash-strapped economy like… Continue reading