AMSTERDAM – Effective from 1 January 2020, Amsterdam will ban all tours to its famous red light district that serves as an area of legal sex business.
The ban will affect all organised groups including pub crawls and guided walks.
“We do not consider it appropriate for tourists to leer at sex workers,” said deputy mayor Udo Kock.
“We are banning tours that take visitors along sex workers’ windows, not only because we want to prevent overcrowding in the red light district, but also because it is not respectful to sex workers.”
He added that it was no longer appropriate to “see sex workers as a tourist attraction”.
It is not the first move Amsterdam has introduced to shift the city’s tourism offering away from stag dos and hard drinking. In May last year, Amsterdam launched a measure against antisocial behaviour of tourists making intruders face a huge fine.
British Airways plane flies to Germany, ends in Scotland instead
Passengers on a British Airways flight from London to Dusseldorf experienced an unusual surprise on Monday morning. Once their plane was approaching the airport, they realised that instead of in Germany they are landing in Edinburgh.
The travel error reportedly occurred because of an incorrectly filed flight plan which made both the pilot and cabin crew believe the flight was supposed to fly for the Scottish capital.
“I saw on Flightradar that the flight was flying north instead of south, but I assumed it was a system error of some sort. That is until she wrote to me that they’re in Edinburgh,” said Piotr Pomienski whose girlfriend, Zsófia Szabó, was onboard the plane.
Szabó added that she realised something wasn’t right when instead of the “usual German industrial landscape”, she saw mountains outside the plane.
“When we started descending and I saw some taller hills / mountains, I did think that this isn’t how Eastern Netherlands / Western Germany should look but I assumed we took some small detour,” she said.
“Then my colleague sitting across the aisle from me told me to check Google Maps — and it showed us being around Carlisle.
“The information then spread around quite quickly. Everyone started asking everyone else where they were going — everyone was for Dusseldorf.
“When we landed, there was a bit of a hilarious moment when the flight attendant asked for a show of hands for the people going to Dusseldorf, which turned out to be everyone,” she said.
The captain apologised to the passengers and ensured them the plane would head to Germany after refuelling.
Vegan food company will pay you $66,000 to travel the world
Globetrotters with an interest in the vegan lifestyle will now have the perfect opportunity to earn money during their travels. Vibrant Vegan Co. — a vegan subscription food delivery service based in London — is looking for enthusiasts that could bring them special recipes and tastes from around the world.
The 35-hours-per-week job will pay $66,000 (£55,000) a year plus travel expenses, accommodation and, obviously, food. It will require spending up to four months at a time in countries such as India, Japan, Chile, Turkey and Mexico, in order to help Vibrant Vegan Co. find foods that are both delectable and environmentally friendly.
“There are hundreds of ingredients and recipes across the world that haven’t been presented to the UK consumer, so we hope our new recruit will be able to inspire some new and tasty recipes for our vegan ready meal offering,” said Iain Burke-Hamilton, founder of Vibrant Vegan Co.
“I believe innovation is at the heart of food, so I want someone with an innovative and creative mind to help us build on our current recipes.”
The position requires at least three years of experience in the food industry and is open for nonvegans as well.
China orders 300 new aircraft from Airbus
China Aviation Supplies Holding Company has recently signed a general terms agreement with the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus. The contract covers the purchase of 300 planes in total by Chinese Airlines.
The president of Airbus Commercial Aircraft and future Airbus chief executive, Guillaume Faury, signed the deal in Paris with Jia Baojun, chairman of CAS, in the presence of visiting Chinese president Xi Jinping and French president Emmanuel Macron.
China has ordered 290 A320 family aircraft and ten A350 XWB family aircraft, reflecting the strong demand in all market segments including domestic, low-cost, regional and international long-haul from Chinese carriers.
“We are honoured to support the growth of China’s civil aviation with our leading aircraft families —single-aisle and widebodies,” said Faury.
“Our expanding footprint in China demonstrates our lasting confidence in the Chinese market and our long-term commitment to China and our partners.”
Icelandic canyon closed to visitors after Justin Bieber blamed for overtourism
The breathtaking Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon in Iceland is not only unpronounceable but also closed for tourists. While the majestic piece of nature stayed out of the beaten track a few years ago, it now faces severe consequences of overtourism.
The canyon gained prominence after featuring in Justin Bieber’s music video for the 2015 single I’ll Show You, which lead to thousands of fans flocking to the area.
Visitor numbers to the canyon almost doubled from 2017 to 2018, growing from 150,000 to 282,000.
The rise of popularity has resulted in damage to vegetation which has lead Umhverfis Stofnun — the Environment Agency of Iceland — to close all public access to the landmark until 1 June.
“It’s just a natural wonder that wasn’t meant to be that popular,” Inga Hlín Pálsdóttir, the director of Visit Iceland, told CNN Travel.
“We need to build a better infrastructure there so we can invite people all year round.
“We need paths that can be discovered all year round. It’s not only because of nature, it’s a safety issue.” Travel News
