tv The Travel Show BBC News September 16, 2018 8:30pm-9:00pm BST
8:30 pm
south mu flit drizzly with mist in the south but mist and fog developing the sort that —— nor the fairly quiet for the night and reasonably cool in the south that already you can see the rain looming large across the south west of ireland and that will bring fairly damp weather if not wet weather into northern ireland and into western and northern and central scotland. for england and wales, generally speaking despite the misty start it should brighten up the misty start it should brighten up and warm up. even where we have more cloud in the north, i9 up and warm up. even where we have more cloud in the north, 19 or 20 on the cards but through monday night into tuesday there is the potential for gales in the irish sea and there's more information on the website. hello, this is bbc news. i'm martine croxall. the headlines: theresa may has revealed her "frustration" with the continued speculation over her leadership, as the prime minister defends her brexit plan. the chinese province of guangdong is being battered by typhoon mangkhut. earlier, the typhoon swept through the northern philippines, killing at least 50 people. "the risk to life is rising" — the north carolina govornor‘s stark words amidst warnings of flooding in the wake of storm florence. a former uk soldier sentenced to seven and a half years
8:31 pm
in a turkish jail forjoining a kurdish armed group has criticised the foreign office, saying it had not offered enough support in his case. let's just tell you about the latest news we are getting from salisbury. we are hearing the emergency services have been called to the prezzo restaurant on high—street in salisbury. two people, a man and a woman, have been taken ill, as a precaution will sharp police are saying they have closed off notjust the restaurant but the surrounding road as officers tried to establish the circumstances surrounding this man and woman falling ill. a witness has reported seeing a person in a hazardous material is it going between the restaurant and an ambulance that arrived. the police are saying at this stage just a
8:32 pm
precautionary measure following the falling ill of two people at prezzo in the high street in salisbury. now on bbc news, the travel show. coming up on this week's programme: seeing the world bit by bit... so i've never done this before — you have to help me. is cryptocurrency the traveller's friend? so ijust scan the shop's qr code, and we get the tick. money sent — that was quick. ..find out what brexit might mean for your holiday... we will be looking at what we know, what we think we know, and what we don't know. ..and we explore the ghost towns of italy... for us, you know, some people choose to take their family to disneyland, and we chose to come to a real place, you know, that's right out of history. how do you pay for things abroad?
8:33 pm
most of us will collect cash from the currency exchange, trade in traveller's cheques, or put it all on our cards. we pay the fees and gulp at the charges. but now there's a new breed of traveller with a digital wallet and a globally—used form of money, known as cryptocurrency. i am in australia's queensland region, catching a flight from brisbane.
8:34 pm
this is the country's first cryptocurrency—friendly airport. it's completely digital. all transactions log onto a block chain. everyone in the world can see your transaction so it is a lot more efficient and a lot more transparent. unlike traditional currencies, the digital variant isn't issued by banks or governments. to me, it's about an increase of freedom, freedom of investment and freedom of transactions and freedom of money. so what are the advantages of paying for things by bitcoin or any other digital currency? it's really safe and simple. there are a lot of people with digital currencies and they don't know where to use them. hi, can i get a takeaway medium flat white, please? and can i pay by litecoin, please? so i've never done this before — you've got to help me. what do i do?
8:35 pm
some investors have made a lot of money speculating on bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. ok, so ijust scan the shop's qr code... but for day—to—day transactions, like buying a cup of coffee, it's often not particularly useful, with few retailers accepting it. and look — we get the tick, money sent. that was quick. that's what brisbane airport is pushing to change, with the assistance of the company travelbybit. it isa it is a digital currency payment processor. we enable anyone to take payments in cryptocurrencies. we have built up an entire infrastructure so you can travel through queensland and pay for your journey with currencies like bitcoin. my flight takes me to gladstone, a small town on queensland's coast and an hour and a half's drive from our final destination, agnes water and 1770, australia's first cryptocurrency—friendly tourist town.
8:36 pm
25 litecoin... even the taxi accepts cryptocurrency. so i just click send? yes, and i should get a ticky here when it goes through. tick. and it's done. done. when you arrive here, you can pay for your hotel stay, any of the tours you want to take in town, yourdinner, your breakfast, coffee, lunch, drinks, whatever it is. so pretty much everything that you could do on a normal travel trip, you can pay in cryptocurrency. gordon is the man pushing agnes water's digital revolution. for the merchant, nothing changes. so the australian merchant puts in $100 for a service that is provided, the customer simply chooses the digital currency they want to use, and that is converted at the point of sale into australian
8:37 pm
dollars, the same. so the merchant gets $100. over 30 businesses in this small beach community accept crypto. so during my stay i am going to rely entirely on my digital apps. so, looking in my wallet, i've got american dollars, i've got japanese yen, and i've got australian dollars. and even more annoying is these coins. what do you do with them when you get home? travelling with crypto, ijust have a couple of apps on my phone. so, i'm going to pay by cryptocurrency today. absolutely. i am going to pay by bitcoin. so i'm going to pay in litecoin. in litecoin? ok, so i slide to send here... payment is relatively straightforward. i open an app, type in my pin number, scan in the retailer's qr code, and we are done. it is even possible to add a tip and pay for a tip in cryptocurrency. who knew?
8:38 pm
but, as with any emerging technology, there is the occasional hiccup. it is taking a while. it is. it always helps to charge your ipad. maybe it is a wi—fi issue? there we go. done. all right, you got it? yes, all approved, thank you very much. thank you. amazing, that was so fast. i feel kind of weird, not having signed anything. tick, done. here, almost everybody in the tourist business, from posh hotels to cafes, restaurants and tour operators, arejumping on board the crypto wagon. so, it is all well and good to be scanning and tapping my way around agnes water and 1770, but what are the pitfalls? the main disadvantage
8:39 pm
is always going to be, particularly with really volatile and easily—traded digital currencies, that the price will fluctuate while you are on holiday. so my number one piece of advice for anybody who is planning to use cryptocurrency instead of your local currency, trading into aussie dollars, is to do the maths. do some research, ask yourself how long you are going away for and how much it will cost to be buying and selling this currency. i don't think it actually needs to be terribly different to using any kind of foreign currency, it is just that with a bit of research you may come out ahead and also have a bit of crypto fun. well, if you are thinking of heading to this part of australia any time soon, here are some travel show tips for things to see
8:40 pm
and do around queensland, though you might have to leave your cryptocurrency at home and bring more traditional ways to pay. the great barrier reef is top of so many travellers‘ bucket lists, and you can see why. it is the longest and most famous reef system in the world. most people would choose to access it from cairns or port douglas. but there are wilder, quieter spots to pick from further south. and do try to minimise the damage your travels will cause to this fragile ecosystem. look out for tour operators accredited by the ecotourism or earthcheck schemes. it is going to be much easier to fly into brisbane from 2020. queensland's capital is getting another runway, which will give the airport a similar capacity to giants like singapore and hong kong. the city itself is often overlooked, but it is worth a couple of nights. there is plenty going on, from craft beer tours to giant secondhand bookshops to a beach right in the city centre. the gold coast is hardly off the beaten track. it is australia's themepark capital, and where you go for quintessential aussie beach life.
8:41 pm
there are long and beautiful stretches of sand and loads of surfing opportunities. 0urtip? go during winter. you'll find it quieter, cheaper, and the water is still easily warm enough to swim in. and right now is the best time of year for whale watching along the fraser coast, just a few hours north of brisbane. it runs from the beginning ofjuly until early november. head for harvey bay and take a boat out to see humpback mothers and calves playing in the sheltered waters, an experience you will never forget. coming up — travelling after brexit. simon looks at how it might affect you and your holiday.
8:42 pm
and we head to eastern italy to explore its crumbling but beautiful ghost towns. it is a good model because you preserve the history and at the same time sustain the economy. sustainable tourism that develops the village? absolutely. don't go away. the travel show — your essential guide, wherever you are heading. the uk may be in the european union's departure lounge, but destination brexit is far from clear. this week's global guru is tackling some of the key questions regarding post—brexit travel between the uk and the eu.
8:43 pm
we will be looking at what we know, what we think we know, and what we don't know. what we know... every current british passport carries the words european union on the front cover. they will remain valid as british travel documents until they expire. but they will cease to give automatic right of entry to eu countries. and from october 2019, the colour of the british passport will change to blue. which, coincidentally, is the same as existing croatian passports. anybody hoping that you might get the good old —fashioned hardcover passport back, well, i'm afraid you won't. the format is stipulated these days by the international civil aviation 0rganisation. british driving licences with the eu flag will continue to be valid until their expiry dates but,
8:44 pm
as with passports, once the uk leaves the eu the european union power will end. this means if a uk national moves to an eu country, he or she will probably need to apply for a new licence in that country. and vice—versa. it's not clear what the rules will be for both uk and eu nationals driving in each other‘s territories. some say the international driving permit may make a comeback. i think that's a little far—fetched. three hours late? you could get cash compensation. the european union currently has very strict rules on air passenger rights. if a flight is delayed by three hours or more or cancelled, then you get cash, unless the airline can claim extraordinary circumstances. now, the eu is actually looking at reforming those rules, but the uk government has said that existing standards of air passenger rights will remain in force. what we think we know...
8:45 pm
the european union is bringing in what i call an online border, aimed at non—eu citizens who don't need a visa to visit europe. and that's almost certainly the situation that british travellers will be in. it is called the european travel information and authorisation system, and it works like this. you'll go online, pay a fee of 7 euros, and fill in lots of personal details, including your state of health and any criminal records. your responses will be checked against a range of databases and if you are granted a permit, then it will be valid for three years. the european health
8:46 pm
insurance card, or ehic, has proved extremely popular, and the british government says that it wants a reciprocal health agreement to continue. that would mean that british holidaymakers who have qualified for medical treatment on the same basis of citizens of their host country. tax and duty—free shopping for journeys within the european union ended in the summer of 1999. once the uk leaves the european union, travellers entering the uk from eu countries will be allowed to bring with them strictly limited quantities of duty—free goods. and the blue channel will disappear from uk airports. what we don't know... roaming charges for phone calls, texts, and internet use on mobile phones within the eu were abolished in june 2017. once the uk leaves the european union, those benefits will no longer legally apply
8:47 pm
to british travellers. it will then presumably be up to individual mobile phone providers to decide if they are going to bring back roaming charges for uk travellers to the eu and european visitors to britain. for over 20 years, the european union has had open skies, allowing any eu airline to fly between any two eu airports. it's fostered the no—frills revolution, which has transformed aviation. the british government says it wants the same arrangements to continue, which will allow any uk or eu airline to fly to, from, or within the uk or the eu. the transport secretary, chris grayling, told me he's confident that an aviation deal will be sealed, even if there is a hard brexit. so planes will continue to fly. with 165 millionjourneys between uk
8:48 pm
and eu airports last year, travellers buckling up for brexit are looking for clarity and convenience. as more becomes clear, we will bring it straight to you. and that's all for global guru for this week. and, finally this week, we head to italy's abruzzo region, east of rome, and a fortified medieval village. it is best known for its ancient architecture, cheeses, and local wine. santo stefano di sessanio. it is also home to one of italy's best—kept secrets that has been keeping the area in business. amelia went to visit.
8:49 pm
they are known as italy's ghost towns, thousands of ancient settlements across the italian countryside that have fallen into ruin as a lack ofjobs, poverty, and natural disasters drove away the people living there. the towns have been left frozen in time. this village was practically deserted after the 2009 earthquake. but, as you can see behind me, more and more people are starting to come back. it is thanks to a bold idea that is breathing life and money into a forgotten few of these rural communities. the concept is a simple one — converting the deserted buildings into an almost invisible scattered hotel. it's called an albergo diffuso. the village of santo stefano di sessanio dates back to medieval times. when entrepreneur daniele kihlgren arrived 20 years
8:50 pm
ago, it was crumbling and almost abandoned. people have gone away, they went away because it is very poor. there was no economical chance to survive in such a place. he wanted to find a way to bring local people and tourists back to the village while still preserving the area's ancient culture and traditions. he decided upon a sustainable tourism model, cold —— called an albergo diffuso. these may look like deserted buildings from the outside, but inside individual hotel rooms have been created throughout the village, restoring the design from the middle ages. they have really tried to keep things exactly as they would have been. the door is made from reclaimed wood.
8:51 pm
the furniture has been made by local artisans. it is not super luxurious, but it really looks amazing. you can feel what it would have been like to live in this village all those years ago. even the bed is reassuringly hard. but this sustainable tourism model relies on staying hidden. when i arrived there was one hotel, now there are 21 hotels. you will never ever see these hotels. there is no sign or anything. because we want to preserve the identity of the village. guests are encouraged to take part in local life, and residents make money from their traditional skills, like weaving and crafts, or traditional cooking lessons that teach visitors how to make ancient recipes and local breads from the region. some good teamwork here. this is under his grandmother's recipe. yes, si. delicious. and you can also hunt for delicacies like black truffles in the nearby mountains. that's huge. so how much would that cost? 100 euros.
8:52 pm
you've done really well. it's a really big truffle. it's a good smell. it took five years of restoration and millions of euros of private investment to transform santo stefano di sessanio into a tourist destination. many of italy's other deserted villages could never afford this kind of investment, but in santo stefano, the albergo diffuso model is slowly helping to rebuild the community. young people who grew up in the area are starting their own businesses rather than leaving. serena's father was a shepherd, but she runs her own wine bar and sells local cheeses. people had a poor life. now they have vacation and luxury and fun. the albergo is important for us because we did not have jobs before. but now, tourists arrive from all over the world. for us, you know, some people choose to take their family to disneyland and we chose to come to a real place
8:53 pm
that's right out of history. but this kind of holiday isn't for everyone. rooms in santo stefano can cost up to 400 euros a night. and getting to the towns can be difficult. but the scattered hotel idea is catching on around the country. there are now a0 officially recognised alberghi diffusi in italy. it's a good model because you preserve the history and at the same time you produce economy. so a sustainable tourism that develops the village? absolutely. that's all we have got time for this week. coming up next week: christer is here to look over some of the best moments from the last few months. i'm sold. no pressure. here we go. are you ready?
8:54 pm
0h! from lucy's look around one of south africa's most notorious skyscrapers... it is incredible to think of everything that has happened here. it is a real haunting feeling. to a difficult rail journey through jordan. .. for a re—enactment, it is pretty realistic. i'm actually scared. we have had some wild times this year. i hope you canjoin us if you can. if you want to follow us on our travels in real time you can sign up to our social media feeds. all the details should be on your screen now. until next time, from me, carmen roberts, and from the team in queensland, australia, it's goodbye. good evening. last week felt like alton because we had chilly mornings and some mist and fog. this week, we turn our attention to autumnal gales and circling rain. we've had some rain meandering southwards through the weekend, but we're turning our attention to this massive cloud out in the atlantic which is ex—hurricane helene.
8:55 pm
so it's got some tropical air mixed in amongst that low pressure system, so it will enhance the rains. it will give us some autumnal gales as well, particularly through monday night and into tuesday, but interestingly it'll also give us more warmth in the south. temperatures will return to the mid—20s, especially across england and wales, and not only will it warm up — it'll be quite humid both by day and by night. so it does look as if the south in the next few days will see some of the driest and the warmest weather. but, as we saw with those low— pressures but, as we saw with those low—pressures around, there will be some heavy rain and at times some autumnal gales. by wednesday it looks very windy as well, in the north—west with severe gales. back to the here and now, misty damp conditions with this progression, and to the north it clears up but some mist and fog at all levels and a fairly chilly night, i suppose, compared with what is the common, but already rain building across the south and west of ireland, and through monday that will push northwards across northern ireland
8:56 pm
into much of central and northern scotland. while england and wales will have some damp weather, even some fog first thing monday, it looks like it will brighten up, plenty of hazy sunshine, and it will warm up plenty of hazy sunshine, and it will warm up as plenty of hazy sunshine, and it will warm up as well. into the high teens here but in southern and eastern areas, mid—20s quite easily, especially in the sunshine. as the sun goes down we will have those winds escalating further, pushing further heavy rain across the west of the country, gales through the irish sea affecting parts of northern wales, england and parts perhaps of southern scotland. temperatures now i can do what they should be during the day at this time of year. when seizing on tuesday but windy across the board, wet for northern and western areas. —— wind easing on tuesday. more stormy weather to come as well. as soon as we say stormy weather to come as well. as soon as we say goodbye to that low— pressure soon as we say goodbye to that low—pressure this product could bring even windier weather, particularly further north. bye—bye.
8:57 pm
this is bbc world news today. our top stories. dozens are killed amid widespread destruction in the philippines — now typhoon mangkhut moves on to china. with six months to go until brexit, theresa may defends her plan for britain to leave the eu and hits out at speculation over her future. this is where i get a little bit irritated — this is not, this debate is not about my future. this debate is about the future of the people of the uk and the future of the united kingdom. elderly people in good health should not take an aspirin a day. a major study says it's risky for those over 70. and in sport: the four times formula one world champion, lewis hamilton, has won the singapore grand prix, putting him a0 points clear.
71 Views
IN COLLECTIONS
BBC News Television Archive Television Archive News Search ServiceUploaded by TV Archive on