Our resident grumpy group organiser bites into concerns about Entry/Exit System delays, the planned renewal of the Barbican and more seemingly endless words for tourism.
EES delayed? Not for coaches, apparently
Ah yes, another glorious day in the post-Brexit travel era, where nothing says “holiday spirit” quite like a biometric queue. The much-heralded Entry/Exit System (EES to its friends) has now been delayed for car passengers until 2026. A delay? No-one saw that coming.
Luckily for coach groups it’s all systems go or so they say. In a recent statement, the Port of Dover said: “The successful implementation of EES for coach, freight and foot passengers in October has resulted in nearly 13,000 profiles being successfully created.” I’m not sure what that really means. Perhaps some GLT readers have experienced the excitement of EES and can tell me all about it?
Getting lost at the Barbican
I’ve taken my group to a few things at the Barbican over the years and we can all agree on a number of things: it looks a lot better on the inside than the outside; and that you need to arrive in plenty of time, because finding your way around this concrete jungle is far from easy.
It’s not that we’re particularly bad at finding our way, it’s just that the Barbican is a venue well-known for being bewildering with its myriad walkways and levels. Apparently there are 40 different entrances - is this true? I read that even the celebrated explorer, Sir Ranulph Fiennes went missing on the way to his own show there, so that says it all.
However, a ‘Barbican Renewal’ project is in the works and the people responsible have been charged with drawing up what’s been described as a ‘wayfinder’ scheme. Previous attempts at making the Barbican easier to navigate have seemingly failed, so I wait with bated breath to see if anyone can really make a difference this time. The odds must be long.
Let’s make up another strange new word to describe tourism - what fun!
Last time I wrote this column I was moaning about a nonsensical term called ‘calmcations’, now I have been introduced to ‘noctourism’. Ever heard of it? No, me neither but it’s obviously been conjured up by a delusional upstart. It’s a new trend apparently, who knew? I haven’t been trendy since 1976 but in case you are wondering, ‘noctourism’ refers to ‘travel experiences and activities that happen at nighttime.’
What do you call things you do in the day? Maybe we can dive into that little chestnut next time.
For now, just enjoy the findings from Confused.com which reckon that 76% of UK holidaymakers would be interested in ‘noctourism’ (did they know what it was?), and that the USA ranks top for ‘the largest volume and greatest range of highly rated nighttime activities’. Isn’t that a no-brainer given the scale of Trump’s backyard?
Mexico is second so Donald will be pleased he’s come first. Confused.com call it an index and have based it on TripAdvisor listings for highly rated (four stars and above and over 100 reviews) ‘noctourism’ activities in each country.
We’re talking about activities such as night tours, night safaris and stargazing. Why are so many seemingly interested? It appears to appeal to travellers looking for unique activities you can’t do in the daytime (58%), a sense of adventure (54%), as well as observing nocturnal wildlife (50%).
So reading my latest pearls of wisdom you now know that people make up stupid words and that there’s a lot of things to do in America. Especially at night. Genius.
The views expressed in this column are not necessarily the views of the publisher.
