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Monday, November 5, 2012

World Travel Market 2012 Delights of London From Budget Hotels

World Travel Market 2012 Delights of London From Budget Hotels


The main Ibis by the ExCel centre (above) is fully booked and cost well over £100 but I found another Ibis Budget City Airport hotel was within walking distance of ExCel where the world's tourist boards and attractions gather in what is now a remodelled area of East London.
    Why did the show move from Olympia/Earls Court (closing down) to here - miles from Heathrow? ExCel was chosen because it's London's biggest conference centre, they told me. I was chilled from cold wind blowing up skirts Marilyn Monroe style through East London docklands from the sea.    But I was entranced by the overhead aerial pod (cable car) carrying tourists across the river.

Helpful hotel staff had suggested a quieter room over the car park.  Both the hotel and (Whitbread's) Costa next door offered breakfast of a takeaway almond slice at £1.50. A bedroom cost a modest £75, had a lovely soothing lime green colour scheme,  and the dinkiest little light over the bed - just reach up and tap and lights go off - and on again next morning after my helpful wake up call. 


  I was born late (Caesarian) but try harder by booking a hotel the day before at my destination. No time to wait for a taxi. The hotel staff give me a call by knocking on my door. Either because there is no phone in the room or the see thru hem dress I wore yesterday is even sexier than I thought.

    So, already wearing my pre-printed badge, I'm soon running after others also dragging carry-on airline bags. The nearest DLR to the IBIS City Airport was Pontoon bridge and I was excited to find that I was walking across a pontoon (moving) bridge where signs warned pedestrians to stand back and get off when the bridge was moving

I ran along the huge centre to the press office for the press networking breakfast. Networking would have been faster if it had been like Speed-dating with everybody having half a minute to exchange business cards. Leith breakfasts had tasty almond pastries and they kept running to refill the run out coffee.

The Ramada reception had asked a hotelier for £300 but he found an offer of £150 on the net.
My Budget Ibis at £75 was starting to look like a bargain.

Israel's Attractions
   At the Israeli tourist board promotion I've perfected my introduction, 'My name is Angela Lansbury, I'm a freelance travel writer and I'm researching my forthcoming book on Jewish travel. I already know about Abraham and Moses, and Jesus, but I and my readers would like to know about modern figures, pop starts like Amy Winehouse, or the Beatles, and why and when they visited Israel, or if you are buying souvenires of them, and your plans for more people of interest to the younger generation.' Madonna is mentioned, a barmitzvah, and the fact that the Beatles were discouraged by a prime minister who thought they'd be a bad influence on Israeli youth. Also an Israeli opera festivfal featuring operas such as Nabucco, famous for the music of the Hebrews.
   In the press office outside the conference room I've just met my friend, freelance travel writer, Louise Cahill, who I met at Swanwick Writers' Summer School. She's still thanking me for introducing her the Toastmasters speakers' clubs. Toastmasters' teaches you to give impromptu speeches in 2 minutes. I don't know whether it's the training or her natural brightness but she has a good question for the ministers of tourism, more succinct than my question, 'What can I as a freelancer offer to editors which will make them think: I must run this story" ?'
   We learn that Israel that Tel Aviv was voted the most innovative city (yet actually it's all art deco), Israel has four seas, the Red sea, the Dead Sea. the Sad sea of Galilee (aside losing money and water) and Israel's successful Facebook page has 1007,000 people.The Israelis calim to have invested money in historical sites connected with all religions and Palestinian tourist boards are taking the first steps towards joint marketing. Just time for a quick half bagel and I'm off to the next show. Tell you more later.

London's Latest Attractions and Travel
1 km cable car goes to Greenwich peninsular.
thecrystal.org
createlondon.org
ssrobin.org
industri-us.org
wakeupdocklands.com
gasworksdock.org.uk
wbstudiotour.co.uk (Harry Potter studio Warner Bros tours)
stratfordlondon.app.com
emiratesairline.co.uk
wtmlondon.com

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