I couldn’t help but notice the contrast between the following two stories:

American Airlines has launched a website specially targeting female flyers.

Is this the way forward for major travel companies, to have a separate website for women?

Meanwhile over on the other side of the Atlantic, Latvia has announced that its parade of blonde women through the streets is set to become an annual event after it was found to boost tourism.

“Bemused onlookers, including many highly appreciative young men, watched awestruck as 1000 fair-haired maidens dressed in pink and white marched in serried ranks through the sunlit Latvian city accompanied by a blonde orchestra.”

The Telegraph goes camping in Australia in a strange 4×4 with a pop-up tent.

The Times goes to the dirtiest hotel in Britain according to Trip Advisor to see if it’s as bad as they say (it’s worse). They ask if there are any good all-inclusives (no). In fairness, they come up with 17 good ones, but all but four are pretty expensive. They also go to Veneto and Berlin.

The Irish Independent head to Sicily, where the “men are hotter-looking than Mount Etna”.

The West also head to Italy with a trip to Abano Terme (it’s in the north).

The  Telegraph heads north and goes late-season skiing in Norway and Sweden. Both can be summed by: good snow, nice vibe, moderate terrain, but very expensive alcohol. There’s more skiing in The Guardian with a trip to Vermont loosely linked to Obama and Slovakia. The Guardian also has Burkina Faso, Toga and Benin and B&Bs in Ghent.

The West has an interesting article on Macau and writes about couchsurfing.com, which now has over 900,000 members.

The Times has a safari in Abu Dhabi, Thailand and Mariella Frostrop goes to Parrot Cay in Turks & Caicos where a 5 room villa will set you back a mere $11,000 a night.