Mid June 2009 - On The Road

news
...continued from page 9
country. www.privium.com www.
dartagnan.eu
Ryanair – web
check in only
Ryanair, confirmed that from 20th
May all new passenger bookings,
including those travelling with infants
and checked in bags, will move
to online check-in and ‘bag-drop’
only as Ryanair phases out the use
airport of check-in desks from its 146
airports by 1 October next.
Ryanair will no longer accept bookings
for unaccompanied minors
(under 16 years old) while all new
bookings will require passengers
(including infants and domestic flight
passengers) to hold a valid passport
or valid national identity card.
Accordingly, Ryanair will remove its
£10/€10 airport check-in fee and
introduce a £5/€5 online check-in
fee per person, per flight, on new
bookings, other than promotional
fares (fares of ‘Free’, ‘C1’ and ‘€5’
will include web check-in on a free
of charge basis), while a €40/£40
‘boarding card re-issue fee’ will
be introduced to encourage all
passengers to arrive at the airport
with their pre-printed web check-in
boarding card.
Hop on, hop off
service
Visitors to Frankfurt am Main metropolis
will be able to discover the
city in an original double-decker bus
while boarding or deboarding at the
most interesting tourist attractions as
often as they please.
Frankfurt is responding to numerous
visitor requests. Guests are now
able to arrange their very own flexible
sightseeing tour. This is a great
advantage particularly for younger
generations, who generally prefer to
discover a city on their own, rather
than by way of standardised guided
MICE NEWS....
Hungary Mice
event
The Hungarian National Tourist Office
in London (HNTO) is bringing
together some of its key MICE suppliers,
including top hotels, conference
centres and DMC’s on Friday
5th June 2009 (11am-4pm) to talk
about this exciting destination, and
the many opportunities there are for
MICE organisers looking for a good
value conference destination.
The event is going to be held at the
conveniently located Strand Palace
Hotel in Central London. Register
your interest early to be entered in
a grand prize draw for a chance to
win one of the five luxury short breaks
in Budapest offered by the exhibiting
hotels. trade@gotohungary.co.uk
Tel. 020 78230413
Istanbul’s congress
valley
The Halic (Golden Horn) Congress
Centre, which recently opened a
tours. This new sightseeing service
supplements the existing range of
motorised city tours, which are accompanied
by a certified tour guide
and generally last two to two-anda-half
hours.
Passengers have multilingual service
(currently 10 languages)The service
runs every hour between 10:00 a.m.
and 5:00 p.m. from Monday to
Thursday and every half hour from
Friday to Sunday. The tour includes
the most important sightseeing
attractions ( and the main rail station)
and lasts approximately one
hour. Tickets, which are valid for
the entire day, are available at the
Tourist Information Offices ‘Römer’
and ‘Main Train Station’ as well as
on the bus.
Warning!
Somerset and Devon County Council
have announced the full details of
the South West Tour of Britain cycle
stages, that takes place on Thursday
17 and Friday 18 September.
The two race routes will cover a
total of 346kms and pass through
a number of towns and villages in
Somerset and Devon.
Stage six of the Tour of Britain will
start in Frome. Riders will cover
187kms passing through the Somerset
Levels, The Quantocks and
Exmoor National Park, before finishing
in the estuary town of Bideford
on the North Devon coast.
Stage seven will cover a further
159kms. Starting in the Devon
market town of Hatherleigh, competitors
will ride close to the edge
of Dartmoor National Park. They will
then race along the Devon Jurassic
Coast and cross the river Axe, before
pedalling over the finish line at Huish
Park in South Somerset.
Last year there were 107,000 spectators
at the South West stage. This
year’s two-day event aims to build
upon previous years. www.southwesttourofbritain.co.uk
main auditoria for 3,104 delegates
and stands on the shore of the Golden
Hornis, an area of great historic
interest in one of the most beautiful
parts of the city. It is connected by
the historical Galata Bridge to the
Feshane International Exhibition,
Congress and Culture Centre.
October 2009 sees the opening of
The Harbiye Congress and Cultural
Centre with an auditorium for 3,500
people, foyer, and exhibition space
of over 10,000 square meters and
further flexible meeting rooms.
Tartu offering
In Estonia’s second City – Tartu,
The Tartu Hotel has opened a new
conference centre with three new
conference rooms taking 50, 30
and 10 delegates respectively for a
conference, banquet or workshop.
All are equipped with up to date
technology. Group catering and
coffee breaks are offered by the café
‘Tartu Kohvik’. 3, Soola St, Tartu Tel:
+372 731 4300; +372 51 80009
www.tartuhotell.ee
CPT News but
Eurotunnel coach
incident
The Rail Accident Investigation
Branch (RAIB) has issued a report
regarding an incident last year on a
Eurotunnel Shuttle train.
A French-owned coach parked in
the Shuttle train rolled backwards as
the train began to move foreword,
stopping only when it hit a fire door
to the next carriage.
RAIB concluded that the immediate
cause of the accident was that the
coach was not sufficiently restrained.
The coach parking brake was not
applied and first gear was not engaged
and chocks that should have
been placed under the wheels of
the coach by Eurotunnel staff were
either missing or were incorrectly
positioned.
Graduated Fixed
Penalties and
Financial deposits
New UK regulations introducing
the issuing of fixed penalties to PCV
and HGV drivers commenced 1
April 2009.
The new fixed penalties will apply to a
range of drivers’ hours, tachographs,
overloading and vehicle safety offences
and the fines payable at the
roadside will range from £30 to £200
and will be non-endorsable.
A number of £60 or £120 fines
are endorsable and carry 3 penalty
points. Alternatively the driver can
contest the fine and he can opt to
go to court rather than accept the
fixed penalty.
It is anticipated some Police forces
will commence using these new powers
after 1 April and VOSA (Vehicle &
Operators Service Agency ) Enforcement
Officers will commence issuing
the fixed penalties at the roadside
from 28 May 2009.
Details of each fixed penalty issued
by VOSA will be sent to the Operator
of the vehicle concerned and where
there are repeated offences this will
be followed up by a VOSA investigation
with the driver and operator.
This could include the matter being
referred to the Traffic Commissioner
who could take action against the
driver’s vocational driving licence.
VOSA officers will also be able to
immobilise vehicles where they consider
the vehicle or driver are a risk
to road safety if they were allowed
to continue with their journey. This is
primarily aimed at Operators where
VOSA considers there is a significant
risk that the driver might ignore the
prohibition after VOSA have left the
site. Full details will be published on
the CPT website shortly.
London Coach
parking
In April the City of Westminster rolled
out ‘Pay by Phone’ parking arrangements
for coaches.
All coin payment meters and coinoperated
pay and display machines
were withdrawn from the streets -
none of the general conditions of
parking have been changed and
the usual time restrictions still apply,
payment for parking at all designated
coach parking bays across
the city must now be made via the
council’s Pay by Phone service.
To begin using the service, operators
will need to register for a Westminster
Pay by Phone account. Your driver
can do this by phone when parking
in Westminster for the first time,
however CPT recommends that you
register online at: www.westminster.
gov.uk/paybyphone
For fleets in excess of 10 vehicles
contact Westminster’s pay by phone
team at Verrus for assistance T:0870
112 4612 or email: uksupport@
verrus.com
Once registered, you can manage
your account online at www.verrus.
com/westminster/index.aspx
If you do not wish to use the pay by
phone service the Council do have
Parking Cards which available in
£2 and £4 denominations and can
be purchased from Westminster Libraries
or One Stop Services. www.
westminster.gov.uk/libraries www.
westminster.gov.uk/onestopservices
Wembley coach
parking
Operators wishing to book a coach
into the Wembley Stadium Arena
facilities, other than for event days,
should now contact Jane Harrison at
‘City & Suburban Parking, telephone
020 8900 2405, who will assist with
this process and make appropriate
arrangements with on site security.
Pre-booking is still required for this
facility, as per the events booking
procedure. The longer notice period
given to City & Suburban Parking, the
easier they will be able to facilitate
requests.
Whitby Coach
Parking
CPT has discovered that the temporary
arrangement for coach
parking at the Harbour side (Lang
borne Road) in Whitby has been
withdrawn.
Two alternative coach parks are
available in the town at West Cliff
Coach Park, off North Terrace Crescent,
Whitby, adjacent to the Pavilion
and Theatre and offers approximately
30 spaces. (additional bays
are available by arrangement) .
Abbey Headland Coach Park, Abbey
Lane, Whitby offers approximately 6
spaces. The costs have not changed
and remain at £5.50
Bayswater Coach
Park
Following its closure in January, the
Bayswater Road coach park in London
has now been re-opened, with
the operation now being controlled
by Euro Car Parks.
The Bayswater Road coach park is
opposite St. Petersburgh Place and
has 20 coach bays. Open 24hrs
Mon-Sun with meter and pay by
phone options. 3 - 12hrs - £10,
12 - 24hrs - £20
For further information on coach
parking contact CPT’s Coaching
Executive, Graham Messenger:
graham@cpt-uk.org.
10 On The Road - Mid May - Mid June 09