A new study by ebookers.com, the European online travel specialist, has found British hotels need to clean up their act.

To help promote this campaign, ebookers is launching a new competition in which you could become a Hotel inspector. The report found that everything from beds to air conditioning, cleanliness to staff approachability all made up the overall hotel experience, which was topped by US hotels, with Spain, France and Greece coming in at the bottom.

Steven Rice, ebookers Head of Offline Marketing in the UK, France and Ireland said:”Choosing the right hotel can be a stressful task and our search for the ebookers’ Hotel Inspector aims to take some of the stress out of the decision-making process, by producing high quality reviews for our customers”. The competition is open to all UK residents, and all you need to do to enter is send an email to ebookershotelinspector@redconsultancy.com by Friday 23rd July including a recent photo and 250 words on where you believe you’d find the best hotel, what you think makes a hotel experience great and why ebookers should choose you.

“This is a great opportunity for one lucky person to travel the World to locate the ultimate hotel, sharing their personal tips and experiences to our customers along the way. We’re looking for people with a passion for travel to help uncover the best hotels on offer and if you think you’ve got what it takes to become ebookers Hotel Inspector we encourage you to get in touch,” said Rice.

Mid-July will see the world’s leading online travel expert, Expedia, unveil a new agency program in India.

Expedia will join forces with the Mumbai based operator Discover the World Marketing to provide first level sales and customer support services for the rapidly booing Indian travel market.

The move will increase Expedia’s position in the Indian sector, with the Travel Agents Affiliate Programme (TAAP) set for release in a little under one month. In line with the introduction of the new offer, Expedia.co.in will also be waiving membership for a period of three months.

Member agents who sign on to the TAAP benefit from the capability to view the Expedia.co.in inventory of car rentals, air and hotel bookings, and also great range destination activities, with bookings available through a dedicated, individual login and password. In addition to the free membership period of three months, travel agents will also be offered a temporary high rate of 12 per cent commission for all hotel bookings, which will revert back to the standard 10 per cent thereafter.

To ensure that the Indian programme experiences effective domestic promotion, Expedia has collaborated with Discover the World Marketing, making the most of promotion to local travel agents through the use of a range of marketing strategies tailored its service the Indian tourism sector.

Expedia’s Manager for Travel Agent Distribution APAC, Stuart Udy, said the launch would follow similar successful undertakings in various other markets such as Italy, Germany, Canada, Australia, the UK, France, New Zealand and the USA.

Leading travel advice and feedback website operator has announced the acquisition of vacation rental specialist Holiday Lettings.

A subsidiary of online global travel Expedia, TripAdvisor is now in charge of what is acknowledged as the largest independent UK vacation rental website. TripAdvisor takes over Holiday Lettings from the British-based property website operator Rightmove, which sold its majority interest in the website for an undisclosed sum.

Rightmove had originally acquired a stake of 66.67 per cent in Holiday Lettings back in March 2007, though it recently stated in its half yearly report that it would classify the site as a discontinued operation, following the disposition of gross assets totalling £1 million.

40,000 vacation rental properties are currently advertised by Holiday Lettings on behalf of property managers, letting agents and private owners. The inventory stretches across 116 countries, ranging from apartments and villas to windmills and farmhouses, houseboats to yurts. 25 million visitors access the site each year according to the official press release.

TripAdvisor launched vacation rentals in 2009, following the acquisition in 2008 of the US-based Flipkey website. The takeover signals that the group is ramping up its competition with vacation rental leader HomeAway. Holidaylettings.co.uk will continue as an independent website.

TripAdvisor Media Group has now grown to encompass 17 different travel brands with the latest acquisition, collectively attracting around 46 million unique global visitors every month.

Remember the good old days of fighting with your siblings over which radio station the family listened to in the car?

However, the almost worldwide takeover of the personal music collection by Apple and the ubiquitous iPod has changed the landscape of travel music forever, with barely a soul on earth now not owning one of their tiny music devices.

But has this been a real benefit to the individual or is it at the cost of personal preference? Sure, everyone has a music collection dozens of megabytes in size, but the ability to share, and thereby devalue you treasured listening, has left many lamenting the standardisation of travel music. Gone are the days of making a special mix tape for that special holiday, but has that music disappeared as well?

So what is the best, as opposed to most commonly accessible or downloadable, travel music? The traditional soft-rock, middle of the road, easy listening rock will always be popular, with its guitar-led melodies and tales of love and escape most suited to long road trips. Oldies such as The Eagles, Credence Clearwater Revival and the Doobie Brothers are all essential for touring the United States, while the British seem to favour rock bands such as Blur, Oasis, Coldplay, the Stone Roses and U2 for getting around.

Few people can think of heading into New York without imaging Frank Sinatra crooning, while Edith Piaf is synonymous with old time Parisian travel. No trip to Jamaica or any island resort in Southeast Asia is complete without the obligatory Bob Marley soundtrack, although beach bums have tuned into ambient and down-tempo dub and chill, with the likes of kiwi band Fat Freddy’s Drop and the west coast sounds of Sublime and DJ Mark Farina ideally suited for the ultimate driving cruise.

Of course, sing along artists such as Ronan Keating, Van Morrison and Elton John remain popular with female drivers, while red-blooded males still get their testosterone kicks to Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Guns and Roses and Elvis Presley.

So it seems that old, easy listening, favourites are still the most played, evoking a sense of impending escape or adventure that comes with the knowledge that you are finally heading somewhere new.

Dedicated followers of fashion who are interested in pursuing a career in the industry will now be able to do so at a new United Arab Emirate campus.

The world-famous London College of Fashion (LCF), which is the only British institution to offer specialised study courses in fashion research, education and consultancy, has announced the launch of its UAE program which will offer potential students the chance to study some of the most popular programs under the school’s top teachers.

 A total of nine short-courses will be offered in the UAE from May 22nd until May 26th 2010, including; Introduction to Fashion Journalism, Fashion Buying and Merchandising, Principles of Personal Fashion Styling, Luxury Brand and Product Design, Online Fashion Marketing, Introduction to Fashion Marketing, The Power of Visual Merchandising, The Business of Fashion and Starting Your Own Fashion Label.

LCF claims that the history of the Middle East, steeped in painting and poetry, is an ideal location for fashion study. The short courses are the same as those that have been a success in the UK and offer UAE residents a great opportunity to develop their skills of just hone their interest. Already several local designers and labels have signed up for the wonderful opportunity.

The courses will be taught be established fashion industry professionals, such as Jimmy Choo, and will provide a Certificate of Attendance to all participants.