Unique luxury hotels, fashionable travel and much more

Conservationists on the Mediterranean holiday island of Malta are calling for better law enforcement to stop the illegal hunting of birds.

Last September, BirdLife Malta discovered the buried remains of more than 200 protected birds in woodland that’s heavily used by hunters.

Because of its location on the Europe-Africa migration route, Malta has nearly 400 recorded bird species, but it also has a high density of hunters. The remains found included western marsh-harriers, European honey-buzzards and black-crowned night herons.

Birdlife Malta is starting an international campaign to demand proper enforcement of the European Union Birds Directive, which it claims has been largely ignored since Malta joined the EU in 2004.

by Andy Moreton

Luxique can secure the best rates at two of the finest luxury hotels in Malta – the Xara Palace and the Villa Luna.

Congratulations to Ben Southall, the 34-year-old British man, who fought off competition from 34,000 applicants to land the ‘Best Job in The World’.

As regular readers to this column will know, that job is to be caretaker on palm-fringed Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia for six months with a hefty salary, a villa and a very modest work schedule.

Ben, a project manager, sounds like an all-action man – in his spare time he runs a music festival and keeps fit running marathons, climbing, scuba diving, bungee-jumping and mountain-biking.

“The most important thing to me in life is to have an exciting job that makes me happy, puts smiles on people’s faces and achieves challenging goals,” he said.

Tourism Queensland is also extremely content. Global interest in the competition was so great that in the first two days, 200,000 people logged on to the islandreefjob.com website, causing the server to crash.

Tourism Queensland spent £830,000 ($1.25 million) on the campaign, but it’s estimated to have generated more than £54 million ($81 million) in free advertising.

Also happy is Ben Southall’s Canadian girlfriend, Bre -she’s accompanying him to paradise.

by Andy Moreton

Don’t forget that even though you didn’t win, you can still enjoy the magic of the Great Barrier Reef at the Hayman Island Resort, bookable through Luxique.

The global recession is having a severe effect on the Caribbean region - five countries are reporting double-digit drops in tourist visits.

Statistics released last week by the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) show Anguilla taking the biggest hit, with a decline of 18.8 per cent in the early months of 2009.

Visits are down in all twelve reporting nations and territories except Jamaica, Cuba and Mexico’s Cancun region. Tourist traffic fell 14.3 per cent in Antigua, 13.7 per cent in St Lucia, 11.6 per cent in Montserrat and 11.3 per cent in the Cayman Islands.

Winfield Griffith, acting Director of Research at the CTO, said the steep declines in the first quarter were the worst since the tourism slump that followed the Sept. 11th attacks in 2001. “The point at which it will hit bottom is not clear,” said Mr Griffith.

He said the small islands were finding it hardest, partly because airlines have started removing flights to save money.

There’s also been a decline in arrivals of cruise ship passengers, although these have considerably less economic impact because they don’t involve overnight stays on the islands.

by Andy Moreton

Now might be the time to get a top deal in the West Indies. Luxique has a wide selection of luxury Caribbean hotels at the best possible rates.

The Seychelles – a popular up-market holiday spot off the east coast of Africa – has cancelled a luxury hotel development because it believes the land would be better used for food production.

Local residents – mainly dependent on food imports - complained about the arable land being sold to foreign investors and the government agreed to halt the negotiations.

The National Development Minister, Jacquelin Dugasse, said: “The proposed project will not go ahead and the land will remain state property. The feeling was that we should not stop agricultural development when food security is an issue.” He also promised to consult local people on any future projects.

The Director of Tourism, Alain St Ange, was not perturbed about the loss of a new and potentially lucrative luxury resort. He believed the land, currently home to the Agricultural Research Centre, should be developed into tropical fruit farms.

“We can’t give tourists imported apples for breakfast,” he said. “When they come here it’s nice to give them something local.”

by Andy Moreton

The 115 granite and coral islands of the Seychelles, located just south of the equator, have traditionally offered an idyllic destination for tourists drawn to its enviable climate and palm-fringed beaches and turquoise seas. Luxique offers the best available deal at the Banyan Tree in Mahe, which promises romance and rejuvenation.

The President of the Maldives has made a bold, green statement – the islands will become carbon neutral within ten years.

Mohamed Nasheed said this would be achieved by switching completely to renewable energy sources like wind and solar power.

He said the Maldives understood better than most what would happen if the world failed to tackle climate change; his tiny country – made up of some 1,200 tropical coral islands - is one of the lowest-lying on earth and extremely vulnerable to rises in sea level.

He said that going green would cost a lot of money, but refusing to act now would ‘cost the earth.’

“We don’t want to sit around and blame others, but want to do whatever we can; hopefully our carbon neutral plan will serve as a blueprint for other nations to follow,” said the President.

by Andy Moreton

For those who want to taste a little bit of paradise, Luxique offers ten luxury hotels in the Maldives.

The competition’s hotting up for what’s been dubbed ‘the best job in the world.’

As widely predicted, the prospect of becoming the laid-back caretaker of a desert island in the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Queensland for a handsome salary proved highly attractive. There were 34,800 applicants.

Each had to provide a 60-second video, from which Tourism Queensland selected 50 from 22 different countries. A short-list of eleven will eventually be invited to an interview process on the islands; ten will be chosen by the organisers and the other will be the ‘wild card’ whose video gained the most internet votes (www.islandreefjob.com).

There were some highly enterprising efforts – my favourite was the Canadian guy who made his pitch through a one-minute musical production number in the street with full supporting cast.

It’s unlikely that the short-listed interviewees will need to pack formal attire. The process will be on the lines of team challenges and a series of physical, skill-based and aptitude tests.

The winner will be announced (with some fanfare, I suspect) on May 6th.

by Andy Moreton

Don’t forget that even if you’re not in the running, you can still enjoy the magic of the Whitsunday islands at the Hayman Island Resort, bookable through Luxique.

Earlier this year, I wrote about a dream job in Australia – to be caretaker on a desert island with a handsome salary and a three-bedroom house thrown in. So many applied, apparently, the website went into meltdown.

Now I hear of another attractive offer, although somewhat less lucrative. The idyllic Indian Ocean islands of The Maldives want to improve educational standards, so they’ve put out a call for British head teachers to consider taking up posts there.

The teachers would leave behind snow, rain and the crowded train for long sunny days and a leisurely commute across a crystal clear bay.

Last October, the Maldives had its first democratic presidential election and a former political prisoner, Mohamed Nasheed, defeated Asia’s longest-serving ruler, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. Mr Nasheed studied in Britain and has said improving education for the country’s poor is among his top priorities.

The country, which has 370,000 people and 1,000 islands, plans to assign British headteachers to oversee seven newly decentralised regions. In addition to heading their own schools, they would be expected to help develop education in their zone.

By Western standards, the likely monthly salary of about 10,000 Rufiyaa (£523 / $745) is not vast. But in The Maldives, this is considerably more than the average.

Having won its independence from Britain in 1965, The Maldives has progressed from an economy that was almost entirely dependent on fishing to one where tourism accounts for 28 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product.

For holidaymakers who want to taste a little bit of paradise, Luxique offers ten luxury hotels in The Maldives.

by Andy Moreton

The island nation of Fiji has begun a drive to boost its visitor numbers.

There’s a new logo and additional funding to try to achieve a ten per cent increase in tourist arrivals this year from 545,000 to 600,000.

The Minister for Tourism, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, said the additional funding would enable Tourism Fiji to develop a higher profile in several key emerging markets offering huge potential, including China, India and Russia.

“The increased funding will also allow Tourism Fiji to step up its efforts in attracting niche market, special interest and sustainable tourism business,” said Mr Sayed-Khaiyum. “These include backpackers, conference business, sports tourism, diving and the key romantic travel market - weddings and honeymoons.”

The travel website www.myfiji.com says: “Fiji embodies everything the romance of the South Seas is supposed to – with laidback maritime charm, a warm, tropical climate, friendly people, exotic fruit and vegetables, and strange yet harmless creatures.”

Luxique can offer a choice of two award-winning luxury resorts in Fiji – the Outrigger On The Lagoon, situated in a 40-acre garden on the island of Viti Levu, and Royal Davui, an exclusive adults-only sanctuary in Fiji’s spectacular Beqa Lagoon.

by Andy Moreton

It’s been billed as ‘the best job in the world,’ and who could argue?

The Queensland Tourist Board in Australia is looking for a caretaker for a desert island with a salary equivalent to nearly £1,000 ($1,500) an hour.

The position requires what’s called ‘minimum effort’ and involves ‘relaxed’ duties such as feeding turtles, watching whales and picking up mail. The successful applicant will also have to produce a weekly online blog, a photo diary and video updates as well as giving regular media interviews.

The post is on Hamilton Island, one of the Whitsunday Islands situated in the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Queensland. From the three-bedroom house that comes with the job there will be ‘unbeatable’ views of a clear lagoon ringed by white sandy beaches with palm trees.

The six-month contract has a salary of A$150,000 (£70,000 / US$103,000 ) including free return flights. That equates to £972 ($1,450) per hour based on a flexi-time schedule of a 12-hour working month.

The offer might sound too good to be true, but the tourist board insists there’s no catch. The role of ‘Island Caretaker,’ starting on July 1st, is being advertised in 18 countries. (www.islandreefjob.com).

Candidates must possess good swimming skills, a love of snorkelling and scuba diving, an adventurous attitude and a willingness to try new things. I suspect there might be a rush.

by Andy Moreton

Luxique offers great deals at three superb luxury hotels in the Queensland region, including the Hayman Island Resort in the Whitsunday Islands.

Police on the Caribbean island of Jamaica are investigating a highly unusual theft – that of an entire beach.

Hundreds of tons of white sand – about 500 truck-loads - disappeared from the planned resort of Coral Beach on the island’s north coast. Developers were forced to call off the proposed £5 billion ($8billion) development, for which the beach would have been the centrepiece.

The theft happened several months ago, but there’s been no sign of suspects or sand.

Illegal sand mining is a problem in Jamaica; the tradition of people building their own homes means there’s a huge demand for sand in construction work.

However, the large volume and the type of sand taken suggests a rival hotel might have been responsible. Police have been carrying out forensic tests on beaches along the coast to see if any of it matches the stolen sand.

by Andy Moreton

Luxique can offer accommodation at three luxury Jamaican hotels, including the stylish award-winning Round Hill in Montego Bay.