It has been a while since the last podcast, but today, I took the opportunity of a bank holiday weekend, to record a new episode. I rant about the Florida gulf coast “disaster” and ask for your opinion on the UK’s worst airports, plus news of this year’s Travel BlogCamp.

Subscribe to the Travel Rants podcast on iTunes or listen on your mobile phone using Audioboo.

Rather than blab on for 10 or 20 minutes, I have decided to keep the podcast to 5 minutes, but I welcome your thoughts for improvement. It’s only my third episode and I am still learning, so feel free to contact me with any suggestions.

There’s an interesting article on various news sites about the increase in deaths of foreign holidaymakers on the island of Phuket. Apparently, so far this year 52 tourists have died on the island, compared with 28 during the whole of 2009.

An example of lazy journalism

It’s the type of news that sells newspapers and attracts readers, but none of the articles go into any detail about the type of deaths on tourists, and they do not compare these deaths against the thousands of tourists who visit Phuket every year.

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Last night I read a post on Tnooz about the lack of consumer information on airline extra fees online. I have written about this before, and that I feel comparison sites should truly compare flights, like-for-like, but many compare the flat-base flight price, not including taxes and extras.

Sites must be consumer friendly

I read about Hipmunk (a stupid name!) and I class myself as internet savvy, yet, I found it initially confusing and I wonder if less savvy consumers will be able to use it. I asked them that question on Twitter, but no one has responded yet.

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There is a smell of desperation on social media networks with so many travel companies trying to get their social media campaigns viral and competitions pimped by bloggers. I wonder if the time and money could be better spent on improving customer support and other travel issues.

Queensland tourism campaign was predictable

I partly blame the Queensland tourism board ‘dream job’ campaign because every company, now thinks that it can get the same amount of media coverage. While the initial coverage was fantastic for Queensland, I wonder if it was a truly successful social media campaign.

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The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of travelling in the UK, compared with the hassle of taking a holiday abroad. I spent most of this week on the Yorkshire coast, and it was hassle free. It cost me £25 per night in a decent B&B, with breakfast and free internet, and £21 return train fare.

Hassle free British holiday

The beach in Scarborough was fantastic, and you did not have to fight over sun loungers. Not once did I have queue to check-in my luggage or spend time in airport security. I didn’t have to wait 2 hours before my flight and then find that the luggage was sent to Timbuktu by mistake.

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