The cruise ship of the future?

A concept image for a vessel of the future has been released, which does away with the traditional cruise holiday. Instead, a central pod is shown surrounded by three luxury hotels, which may not even enter port.

According to the website Bonvoyage.co.uk, which created the designs, the floating resorts could be favoured due to a “rising global population and an increasing lack of space on dry land”.

It adds that “with so many options to while away the hours on board, the seafaring cities wouldn’t need to speed from port to port offering cultural days out; the emphasis would be shifted from speed through the water to comfort and aesthetic appeal. With multiple helipads, passengers could join the cruise at any time so the giant ships wouldn't even necessarily need to dock.”

While research has suggested that a number of cruise passengers do not leave their ship until the end of their journey, Teresa Machan, Telegraph Travel’s cruise editor questioned whether the designs were realistic, or could even be described as “cruising”.
“Although [the designs] take resort-style elements from the larger US firms, such as Carnival, Disney and to a lesser degree Royal Caribbean International, the concept sounds more akin to a resort or theme park that happens to be at sea,” she said.
“If anything, cruise ships are moving more towards destination-driven itineraries and building in more overnights and time ashore for passengers.”

Other aspects of the design include underwater bridges linking the different pods, while the hotels “are surrounded by a translucent facade that can open and rotate in fair weather”. On-board entertainment includes roller coasters, waterslides, and a sports stadium above deck, as well as cinemas, bowling alleys and restaurants below it.
Telegraph Cruise Show
Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or a first-timer, our three-day event in January 2014 will answer your questions and give you a taste of life on board. Click here to find out more.

Singapore Airlines A380 makes emergency landing

The service from London to Singapore landed safely without any injuries to the 467 passengers and 27 crew members on board, a Singapore Airlines spokesman said.

"Oxygen masks were deployed and the aircraft landed uneventfully at Baku airport at 01:03 (2103 GMT Sunday)," he told AFP by email.

"We are seeking clearance from local authorities to transfer affected customers to a hotel until a replacement aircraft arrives from Singapore."

Airbus said in a statement that it was "following up on this issue and providing technical assistance to the airline".
Angry passengers took to social media to complain about being stranded in the Heydar Aliyev International Airport instead of being put up in hotels.
"We are not going to a hotel but will be flying out tonight after an 18-hour wait around the duty free area," wrote passenger Nic Coulthard on the Singapore Airlines Facebook page at 0930 GMT.
"I don't think it is inconsistent for passengers to be grateful for a safe landing while disappointed at the lack of communication and facilities provided once on the ground," he wrote.
Another passenger, Terri Mann, complained that she had to sleep on a "cold steel bench" with her 17-month old child, and that there were no "food places" at the airport.
"We are all a little hesitant about getting on our next legs of our journeys, just hope the worst is over," she wrote.
Responding to the flood of posts on Facebook, Singapore Airlines said it was sending staff from Moscow and Istanbul to assist the affected passengers.
"Our relief flight will depart for Baku as soon as the approvals are all obtained," it said.
In another comment responding to queries about a supposedly defective door that led to the cabin depressurisation, it said there was a noise reported during an earlier flight.
"The door was inspected by engineers on the ground in London with no findings, and the aircraft was cleared for continued operation," it said.
Passenger Matthew G. Johnson had said earlier that a "loud air noise was heard from the door five rows in front" shortly after take-off from Heathrow Airport in London.
Upon questioning, a crew member allegedly told him that the door had a "mild" leaking seal, Johnson said in a Facebook posting accompanied by a photograph of a dimly lit cabin with oxygen masks hanging from the ceiling.
A few hours later, oxygen masks were deployed and the aircraft began an emergency descent over Afghanistan after the cabin began losing pressure, he said.
Singapore Airlines has a fleet of 19 Airbus A380s, with five others on order, according to its website.
The planes are used for flights from Singapore to various destinations including Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London and Los Angeles.

The world’s most appealing destination from space? Marlborough in New Zealand

He pinpointed the vineyards around Marlborough at the top of South Island in New Zealand as the place he most wanted to visit following his stint as commander of the International Space Station (ISS) last year.

The ‘selfie’-taking astronaut, who became widely known after performing a rendition of the David Bowie song ‘Space Oddity’ at zero gravity, told the BBC how taken he was with the area after seeing it from more than 200 miles above the planet.

"It's a very photogenic part of the world you’re from,” he told his interviewer, the New Zealander Lucy Hockings, confirming that it was the place he most wanted to visit.

He tweeted an image of the country in April last year, with the caption “Blenheim, New Zealand, in the lovely centre of wine country.”

Describing his experience in the ISS as “intoxicating” and “addictive”, he told the interviewer what it was like to see the planet from space.
“Every time you float by the window, the world is just pouring by, at eight kilometres a second, which is surreal.”
New Zealand, he said, also formed a milestone while watching the world in orbit.
“After you cross New Zealand, you have the long passage across the Pacific, so it’s your real last sight of land for – gosh, it takes a half hour almost to cross the Pacific.”
Tourism authorities from the country are now working hard to try and bring the astronaut – who has more than one million Twitter followers – to get a slightly more close-up view of the country.

"We saw the interview and thought, ‘Oh, light bulb opportunity. Let's see how we can get him down here and make it happen'," said Tracy Johnston of Destination Marlborough, the region’s tourism agency.
Watch the full interview here (New Zealand reference after five minutes and 40 seconds)

Suffolk's 'Curious County' slogan scrapped

The previous motto, along with accompanying Twitter hashtags #curiouscounty and #proudtobecurious, was unveiled in October 2012 but came in for fierce criticism from local MPs.

David Ruffley, MP for Bury St Edmunds, described it as “idiotic and meaningless”, adding that "there is nothing curious about what we have to offer”, while Dr Therese Coffey, MP for Coastal Suffolk, argued that it did “not give a very clear message” and is “often used as a euphemism for something that is not quite right.”

From today it is to be replaced with the less controversial phrase ‘Take Me To Suffolk’. The campaign bills Suffolk as Britain’s greenest county, and an “ideal spring break” destination. A new website has also been launched at www.takemetosuffolk.com that includes an interactive map allowing visitors to browse suggested holiday itineraries or make up their own.

Despite calling time on the ‘Curious County’ campaign, a spokeswoman for Visit Suffolk declared it a success.
“It boosted the county’s economy by more than £750,000,” she told Telegraph Travel. “To say it was a failure would be incorrect.”
The slogan was not the first time East Anglian tourism authorities faced derision for their re-branding efforts. In 2010, an attempt to re-brand the Norfolk Broads as “Britain’s Magical Waterland” was also heavily criticised.
Several other tourism slogans have attracted controversy in recent years.
A plan to promote Edinburgh under the slogan “Incrediburgh” was also dismissed by local politicians, “So where the bloody hell are you?” was shelved by Australian authorities following complaints, and Switzerland’s “Get natural” mistaken for an order to undress.

Average Briton 'has visited seven countries'

The average Briton has visited seven countries outside of the UK in their life, according to a new survey.

The study of 2,000 people, carried out by OnePoll on behalf of London City Airport, showed that France is the most popular overseas destination with two-thirds of respondents having visited the country.

More than half had gone to Spain, the next most popular destination, followed by the USA (41 per cent), Germany (36 per cent), Greece (34 per cent), Italy and Belgium (both 33 per cent).

The survey noted some disparities between male and female travellers. Men were more likely to visit Amsterdam than women, for example, while more women had visited the sunnier destinations of Spain, Cyprus, France, Turkey and Egypt.

Younger people were also more inclined to fly abroad, the results suggested, with less than 10 per cent of those aged 45 and above going overseas in the past year compared to one in five aged less than 45.
Only a very small percentage of Britons (less than five per cent) is thought to have visited more than three quarters of the world’s countries.
Paris was the most visited capital city, with 52 per cent of those queried having been, while eight per cent of people questioned had never visited any capital city at all, including London.

Twenty destinations for 2014: Papua New Guinea

Why? A land of thriving tribal cultures, smouldering volcanoes and vast swathes of pristine mountainous rainforest, Papua New Guinea is one of the world’s last great frontiers and remains largely untouched by mass tourism. Hundreds of islands lie north and east of the mainland, with sparkling white-sand beaches, coral reefs and verdant jungles teeming with wildlife. The magnificent plumage and outrageous courtship displays of the islands’ birds of paradise - two-thirds of the country’s flora and fauna species are endemic - along with numerous species of tree kangaroo, spine-covered echidnas and huge flightless birds such as the cassowary, will delight birdwatchers and nature-lovers alike.

Travelling through this rugged country offers countless opportunities to interact with Papuans, from staying in rainforest villages to witnessing a “sing-sing”, colourful traditional festivals in which warriors don elaborate headdresses and chant to the rhythmic pounding of drums. Papua New Guinea was part of the British Empire in the late 19th century and subsequently administered by Australia (from 1906-75). It is also home to a number of Second World War sites. Visitors can follow in the footsteps of Australian “diggers” (who heroically held off a Japanese ground invasion) on the challenging Kokoda Track, or visit a former Japanese submarine base near Rabaul, where the shells of fighter aircraft still lie half-buried in the jungle. Those who crave truly intrepid travel have the opportunity to scale 4,000m peaks, surf big waves off largely empty beaches, or explore little-known dive sites. Diverse, colourful and extreme, this is an island nation like no other.

How to go: Epic Tomato (020 7426 9899; epictomato.com) offers two different itineraries in the country. For Telegraph Travel’s full guide to Papua New Guinea, go to telegraph.co.uk/papuanewguinea