It's Monday and time for travel news again! This week, we can tell you about TUI's fake holiday at the T-centralen, how to expose Instagram cheating, and the new tourist tax that perhaps will be introduced in Iceland. Don't miss out on reading FREEDOMtravel on Mondays - it keeps you up to date with the latest travel news!
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Good accommodation brings Swedes back
Despite the fact that Swedes like to discover new destinations, many would like to go back to places they have been before. The main thing that attracts Swedes back is nice accommodation. This is according to a Sifo survey from Ticket. However, young adults (18-30 years) think a little differently. In this target group, it is affordability, good food and cool nature experiences that attract them back. The Swedes' top 5 reasons for returning to a holiday destination:
- Nice accommodation (48%)
- Affordable (38%)
- Good food (37%)
- Good weather (36%)
- Cool nature experiences (26 per cent)
Fake holiday with TUI at T-Centralen
For two weeks, visitors to Stockholm Central Station will get a holiday feeling with the help of the temporary destination "Fakeation Beach". A number of "professional holiday makers" have been hired to fake holidays in a specially built glass cage with a sandy beach and sun loungers. In a 'Fakeation Studio', passers-by can also take 'fake holiday photos' and post them on their social feeds to compete for a real holiday.
New flight disruption compensation service
European Consumers is launching the Flight Calculator service to make it easier for passengers affected by delayed or cancelled flights. When air passengers are affected by a delayed, cancelled or overbooked flight, EU rules may entitle them to financial compensation of up to €600 from the airline, but it can be difficult to know what to claim. The Flight Calculator is here to help.
6 factors reveal instagram cheating
Having many followers on Instagram can be a way for influencers to collaborate with companies and earn money. One problem that has arisen is that it is possible to buy followers, and Breakit reporter Towe Boström recently revealed how easy this is. Here are the tips on how you (as a business owner who wants to collaborate with an influencer) can make sure the followers on Instagram are genuine:
- Strange names - Disjointed letters or many from a country unrelated to the person may indicate automation or a 'troll factory'.
- Do the followers have followers? - If not, it is likely to be a fake account. If they don't have a single picture, that's also a warning sign.
- Are engagement and number of followers related? - Lots of followers but no comments is weird. More likes than views on a video also indicates that something is wrong.
- Randomised comments - Comments consisting of single words or unrelated to the image may be written by a robot.
- Sudden increase in the number of followers - When a user buys followers, it is likely to be on a single occasion, not a few at a time every day.
- Statistics - If the influencer has many followers but low reach (how many people have seen a post). can it is because the followers are fake.
Iceland considers new tourist tax
Tourism at Iceland has quintupled in the last seven years and now the country's government is considering introducing a tourist tax, reports TravelNews. The development has been a major boost to the country's economy, but is also perceived as a threat to the fragile environment. We recently listened to Iceland's First Lady and Promote Iceland who talked about various sustainability initiatives, such as 'The Iceland Pledge' to be a responsible tourist. Now they are apparently also considering a kind of 'entrance tax'.
Did you miss last week's travel news? Read the Imprisonment for smoking, power over holidays and travel price cuts
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Lena - good for the soul says:
Gets so upset about that with purchased followers! How do you think!? Not very far in any case. It is quite clear!
Hmm, tourist tax in Iceland. Best to hurry there then maybe. 🙂
Hug Lena
29 January 2018 - 6:16
Helena says:
I am also so tired of those who buy followers. Can it really last in the long run? I hope not ...
29 January 2018 - 15:47
Britt-Marie Lundgren says:
How cool that you suddenly have the same criteria for return as "young adults".
We realise that we are not the only ones who want to visit Iceland. We would love to rent a campervan there and do the island properly, but the price tag on that trip has meant that it still remains on the "to-do" list.
29 January 2018 - 9:53
Helena says:
Maybe you have a young mind! 🙂 Travelling around Iceland is not super cheap. We would also like to go there again and see more!
29 January 2018 - 15:49
Ama de casa says:
They also have an "entry tax" in other sensitive places, such as the Galapagos Islands (at least they used to). If that money goes to preserving the sensitive environment, it's good, but I'm quite suspicious and doubt that the money ends up where it's supposed to land...
Instagram is a completely unknown world to me, but I once left Metroblog because they accused me of having "automated page views". Which I did NOT have.
Hope you have a good start to the week! 🙂
29 January 2018 - 10:20
Helena says:
But what a strange thing to be accused of on the Metroblog?
29 January 2018 - 15:53
Johnny Friskilä says:
Well, that has been discussed a bit in the travel blog world - when companies only ask how many followers you have and you yourself are eager to answer "how many followers do I need to collaborate with you?". But no, it's probably not worth it in the long run.
Otherwise I can understand if Iceland wants to introduce a tourist tax. I think more people should do that.
29 January 2018 - 12:05
Helena says:
I hope that foul play doesn't pay off in the long run. Sometimes it looks like it does unfortunately, but in the long run I think companies should be more aware.
29 January 2018 - 15:54
Liniz Travel says:
Yes, buying followers on instagram is quite easy to do 🙁 it's tragic when companies go for it too.... and tragic when people buy followers too!
Good News! Now I am a bit wiser!
Hugs from Las Palmas
29 January 2018 - 14:59
Helena says:
Totally agree. Unfortunately, purchased followers hurt both the companies (who get scammed) and other influencers, as it gives the industry a bad reputation.
29 January 2018 - 15:55
Mr Steve says:
There's a lot of faking going on these days. Unfortunately, even if the fake holiday at the T-centre can be considered a rather innocent action.
Tourist tax sounds ok, provided the money is spent on environmental conservation.
29 January 2018 - 16:53
On a journey of discovery says:
What a nice picture of Iceland! We are currently in Mallorca and from 1 January this year they have increased the tourist tax that was introduced in 2016. The tax is at most around 4 Euro per person per night. So Iceland will be in good company.
29 January 2018 - 18:58
BP says:
Fake news, fake holidays. I wonder what will come next... A bit of a sigh over it all, I must say.
I (thankfully) don't have Instagram. Starting to realise why. Sigh again!
Tourist tax, here too I sigh. It depends on how high it is. If you want tourists, it is rather stupid to introduce a tax that makes it even more expensive to visit Iceland, where the prices are already too high.
29 January 2018 - 19:05
Husis blog says:
The owners did not know about the flight calculator, but they did know about the compensation that all travel companies and airlines keep quiet about.
The male owner received this compensation just over a year ago when the plane could not be flown back to Sweden.
Now he has heard that there are even companies that write to the airlines in these cases and charge about 25% for the work. A good salary for that little work.
29 January 2018 - 19:51