Internet Endangers Travel Agencies

Independent travel information website, Travel-bite, recently published a tips article with a rather doom-mongering tone in regards to traditional high street travel agents last month.

It stated that the rise of Buy-It-Yourself holiday packages were replacing the work that agencies would carry out in the past. But how exactly is the internet changing how we plan our holidays? And how is it set to change further?

Companies such as travel-bite offer a similar range to each other, varying from hotels and flights as well as transport; which give the consumer the opportunity to shop around quickly and simply - and at their own discretion. These online travel agents have no doubt grown in popularity but if you are looking for an even cheaper deal, it is probably best to go to a specialist airline tickets seller online - to get that lucky last minute deal.

However, when it comes to cheap travel insurance, travel-bite.co.uk goes into little depth other than the importance to shop around, or to consider your local post office.

Interestingly, many companies have jumped onto the cheap travel insurance bandwagon on the web with an immediate ten per cent discount if you purchase online, and a range of travel insurance offers including annual, single trip and additional cover for holidaymakers hoping to hit the piste.

So is the internet really killing off the high street travel agent? A few years ago, The Independent published an article denying that there was a risk to travel agents, arguing that consumers were still willing to plan their holiday, and to pay a little bit more, if they are going to be able to sort it quicker or discuss it with someone face to face.

This was certainly a fair point then, yet with these financially tough times upon us (and its knock on affect on the appeal of some destinations) it might now seem that the pull of finding a good deal on the internet is getting ever stronger. And with more choice on the net, and an improving web-presence of trusted household names, it should only increase the service satisfaction of customers booking their holidays this way during the following winter months.

Cure for Jet Lag?

A new cure for jet lag could be on the market in the next few years after trials show a pill can reset the body's natural sleep rhythms.

Tasimelteon works by shifting the natural ebb and flow of the body's sleep hormone melatonin.

In trials, published in The Lancet, the drug helped troubled sleepers nod off quicker and stay asleep for longer. Experts said the drug would be a welcome alternative to addictive sedatives like benzodiazepines.

Commenting on the work, Dr Daniel Cardinali from the University of Buenos Aires said the findings would be welcomed by millions of people - "shift-workers, airline crew, tourists, football teams, and many others."

Body Clock Trickery

The hope is that if you have shifted your body clock and you've slept well, then you should perform well the next day, said lead researcher Dr Elizabeth Klerman at Brigham and Women's hospital in Boston.

In trials on 450 people who went to bed five hours earlier than normal to replicate crossing into a different time zone, those who took the drug enjoyed between 30 minutes and nearly two hours more sleep than volunteers who received a dummy pill.


Top Tips for avoiding Jet Lag

• Top up on sleep before you travel
  
  
• Shift your watch to your destination time zone as soon as you board the plane
  
  
• Avoid alcohol
  
  
• Spend plenty of time outdoors in the daylight
  

Natural melatonin - the darkness hormone which peaks at night - is a popular treatment for patients with body clock-related sleep disorders.

But the researchers say the potency, purity, and safety of melatonin pills is unregulated. Also, there are mixed results about whether they work in shift-workers and people with jet lag.

The US team says more work is now needed to check that their drug, which works on the same receptors in the body as melatonin, actually improves daytime performance and alertness without any carryover sedative effect.

Don't Eat?

A new discovery of a "mealtime clock" in our brains suggests that a short fast from eating could allow people to cope with jet lag and nightshift grogginess.

This food-related clock, which was found in mice, is similar to our body's primary timekeeper called the circadian rhythm, so scientists think the finding could apply to humans.

While the light-driven circadian rhythm is in charge most of the time, the researchers suggest in the May 23 issue of the journal Science that the mealtime clock takes over when food is scarce. By changing animals' behavior patterns so they don't snooze through an opportunity to eat, this newly discovered clock may be crucial to survival. And it could also ward off jet lag in humans.

Clifford Saper of Harvard's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and his colleagues discovered the food clock by running experiments in mice that were missing a key biological clock gene. The team restored the gene's function in one part of the brain at a time to see which cells responded to food.

"We discovered that a single cycle of starvation followed by refeeding turns on the clock," Saper said, "so that it effectively overrides the suprachiasmatic nucleus [the circadian clock] and hijacks all of the circadian rhythms onto a new time zone that corresponds with food availability."

In addition to keeping animals' bellies plenty full, the clock has implications for travelers and shift workers.

For example, if you travel from the United States to Japan, your body needs to adjust to a 13-to-16-hour time difference. "Because the body's biological clock can only shift a small amount each day, it takes the average person about a week to adjust to the new time zone," Saper said. "And, by then, it's often time to turn around and come home."

By changing your eating schedules, a traveler might be able to rev up this secondary clock and adjust more quickly to the new time zone.

"A period of fasting with no food at all for about 16 hours is enough to engage this new clock," Saper said. "So, in this case, simply avoiding any food on the plane, and then eating as soon as you land, should help you to adjust."

The research was supported by grants from the U.S. Public Health Service.

Sphere Hotel Concept is Stunning

Amazing hotel designs keep springing up all over the place at the moment. This ?Sphere Hotel' looks so cool and is planned to be located somewhere between Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Visitors to the hotel will access it by an aerial route as it?ll be constructed on an artificial island, about 300 meters away from the beach. The Sphere will feature 200 rooms in 14 floors that will comfortably accommodate about 1000 guests, together with public business zones, boutiques, restaurants, bars and numerous other entertainment areas.

The Sphere Hotel is a concept architectural design that aims to promote a healthy and comfortable holiday destination.


Apart from offering a secluded retreat in the very lap of nature, the Sphere will also promote an eco-friendly lifestyle. With moist beach air flowing across the structure, the Sphere will make use of natural air conditioning. While the hotel will exploit the natural light coming through the glass panels to light the rooms during the daytime, on the other, the thermal glass facade will generate adequate solar power to fulfill all energy requirements.

Post Office® Foreign Exchange and Travel Insurance popular as ever

The Post Office� has been named Britain's Best Foreign Exchange Company at the 2008 British Travel Awards - for the second year in a row.

The UK's largest bureau de change provider beat off competition from several major competitors to secure a third* of all votes in the category.

The Post Office� was also voted Best Travel Insurance Company for the third year in a row.

The British Travel Awards is the largest of its kind in the UK. This year more than 90,000 votes were cast by consumers and industry professionals across a range of categories.

Helen Warburton, Post Office� head of travel services, said: "It's an honour to be chosen as the people's favourite travel money provider and travel insurer again this year. We have the largest bureau de change network in the UK handling 14 million transactions annually and issue over one million travel policies every year. We continually review our services to ensure they meet customer needs."

Lorraine Barnes Burton, CEO, said: "The British Travel Awards are highly regarded within the industry and the Post Office� has once again proven that it is a leader amongst travel insurance and foreign exchange providers."

The Post Office� is the largest bureau de change provider in the UK, offering over 72 different currencies with 0% commission on all foreign currency and travellers' cheques. The Post Office� pre-paid Travel Money Card offers customers a secure and convenient way to carry their holiday money.

The Post Office� Credit Card charges 0% commission for all purchases made overseas and also offers customers the flexibility to pay for two large purchases at any time at a discounted fixed rate - ideal for splashing out on holiday!

Customers can buy currency over the counter at over 8,000 Post Office� branches nationwide. The full range of currencies is available on demand at 1600 branches, euros and US dollars are available on demand at more than 2,500 branches and 3,800 branches sell euros over the counter. Customers can pre-order currency for next day collection at any Post Office� branch in the UK.

To find your nearest Post Office� bureau de change branch call 08457 223344 or visit postoffice.co.uk