:00:00. > :00:10.Heading to Europe's most popular theme park? If you're looking for a
:00:11. > :00:12.good deal on tickets, we'll tell you why you might have to brush up on
:00:13. > :00:38.your French. Coming up on this week's show, we
:00:39. > :00:43.ask if Disneyland Paris is keeping some of its best prices a secret if
:00:44. > :00:46.you book online. We tell you why this strange-looking contraption
:00:47. > :00:50.might help you get over your jet lag. We sample some of the most
:00:51. > :00:55.fashionable cocktails in northern Spain. And... Join me as I help
:00:56. > :01:00.clean up some coral reefs here in Thailand.
:01:01. > :01:07.Hello and welcome to The Travel Show, your new and essential guide
:01:08. > :01:10.to global getaways from the BBC. We invite you to join us on our
:01:11. > :01:15.travels, and in return, we'll offer you all the advice and information
:01:16. > :01:20.that we pick up along the way. So here's a little taste of what we got
:01:21. > :01:23.in store for you. We'll take you on a global tour of some of the most
:01:24. > :01:27.exciting new emerging destinations, and discover hidden sides to the
:01:28. > :01:31.world's most popular getaways. This is extremely difficult. One thing
:01:32. > :01:35.you've got to be careful of is your balance. My top tip if you're into
:01:36. > :01:39.diving like me is to head to Batala Maga Kanthila. We'll help you get
:01:40. > :01:41.the best out of your gadgets while you're on the road, without
:01:42. > :01:45.forgetting to experience the thrill of making memories that will really
:01:46. > :01:47.last a lifetime. There'll be a wealth of additional destination
:01:48. > :01:50.guides and features from the programme online, and even more at
:01:51. > :01:53.BBC.com/travel. Plus, we'll feature your tweets and your travel tales
:01:54. > :01:57.and you can follow us on our adventures on the road by signing up
:01:58. > :02:01.to our feeds to join us real- time on our journeys around the globe.
:02:02. > :02:09.Taking in over 70 countries and countless destinations in 2014.
:02:10. > :02:21.Follow us on an amazing journey of discovery in 2014.
:02:22. > :02:26.Let's kick off with a trip to France, home to Europe's most
:02:27. > :02:30.popular theme park. But are Mickey and his gang being as upfront as
:02:31. > :02:31.they could be about the cheapest prices to enter their magical
:02:32. > :02:42.kingdom? Time to find out. Disneyland Paris opened with great
:02:43. > :02:54.fanfare in 1992. More than 250 million people have
:02:55. > :02:57.walked through the gates since then. These numbers make it the most
:02:58. > :03:03.popular amusement park in Europe and fifth in the world, drawing in
:03:04. > :03:07.tourists from across the globe. But the price you pay to actually get in
:03:08. > :03:15.can end up varying depending on where you buy your tickets. Back in
:03:16. > :03:18.London, I checked out the website. I've been looking online for the
:03:19. > :03:22.cheapest price that a family of four would pay for seven days in the two
:03:23. > :03:28.parks in February. Here in the UK, that would come to just over 1200
:03:29. > :03:30.euros. However, if you jump on the train behind me for two hours, the
:03:31. > :03:41.price changes significantly. If you visit the website in France,
:03:42. > :03:46.a family of four is offered a much lower price for exactly the same
:03:47. > :03:50.visit. At just over 600, it's less than half the price that I would
:03:51. > :03:57.have paid in London. So, how does this work? It all comes down to
:03:58. > :04:00.Disney's Annual Passports. On the French language websites in France
:04:01. > :04:06.and Belgium, you can buy one of these passes for as little as 159
:04:07. > :04:09.euros per person. For example, it could save you money on a five-day
:04:10. > :04:13.trip but these passes are not mentioned at all on the websites we
:04:14. > :04:16.checked outside France and Belgium, meaning people outside those
:04:17. > :04:26.countries could end up paying a lot more. So what happens if you just
:04:27. > :04:29.show up at the park? Yes, that's right, I've come to Disneyland Paris
:04:30. > :04:36.to find out. Let's see what the cheapest price I can get is.
:04:37. > :04:42.I have been to two ticket desks and I've found out that the cheapest
:04:43. > :04:47.price I can get is half the price that you would get if you were
:04:48. > :04:51.online in the UK. I would be gutted if I had spent that money and think
:04:52. > :04:52.of all that extra cash I could be spending on Mickey while I'm over
:04:53. > :05:00.here. In fact, we made four visits to the
:05:01. > :05:04.gates to ask about ticket prices, and each time we were told that an
:05:05. > :05:09.annual pass would work out cheaper if we were buying for seven days.
:05:10. > :05:15.The leaflets and posters are also entirely in French, unlike other
:05:16. > :05:19.advertising at the park. So, are they trying to keep these cheaper
:05:20. > :05:25.prices a secret? We put this to them and they said: "All visitors are
:05:26. > :05:28.able to purchase Annual Passports, either via the central reservations
:05:29. > :05:32.office or the dedicated tickets sales desk at the park.
:05:33. > :05:35.The annual passport was originally created and marketed towards the
:05:36. > :05:39.local market, who are more likely to visit the resort several times in a
:05:40. > :05:42.year. However, a variety of tailor- made promotions are offered at
:05:43. > :05:47.different times of the year to reflect the local needs in each
:05:48. > :05:50.market. Any guest wishing to purchase an offer seen on another
:05:51. > :05:51.official Disneyland Paris website can call the central reservations
:05:52. > :06:00.office." Well, that's what Disneyland Paris
:06:01. > :06:04.had to say, but what can you do if you spot the cheaper passes when you
:06:05. > :06:08.get to the gate? If when you get to the gate you find you've paid more
:06:09. > :06:12.online than you could've got at the gate, what you need to do is make
:06:13. > :06:15.them aware there and then that actually you've paid more, you're
:06:16. > :06:19.not happy, and you want them to resolve it for you. Often, if you
:06:20. > :06:24.can't resolve it, what you may have to do is go with the price that
:06:25. > :06:27.you've paid for now and when you get back home to your country of
:06:28. > :06:29.residence, make a complaint through the European Consumer Centre. The
:06:30. > :06:33.European Consumer Centre helps EU citizens settle disputes across
:06:34. > :06:36.borders. Those visiting from outside Europe can, of course, always
:06:37. > :06:41.contact Disney directly with any concerns. Businesses should not now
:06:42. > :06:49.charge somebody more depending on their country of residence or
:06:50. > :06:53.nationality. If you find you've been charged more, you need to make sure
:06:54. > :06:56.that you ask why. There can be legitimate reasons why you're
:06:57. > :06:59.charged more, but question it and if necessary, make a complaint to the
:07:00. > :07:03.European Consumer Centre. There's no doubt a trip to a theme park is a
:07:04. > :07:07.lot of fun, whatever age you are. But if you're the kid at heart who
:07:08. > :07:11.has to pick up the bills, here's your Travel Show guide to planning
:07:12. > :07:14.the next trip. Tip one - before booking online, phone the attraction
:07:15. > :07:18.direct and find out if there's a way to beat the web prices. Tip two -
:07:19. > :07:22.always look at the price of annual passes. They can be surprisingly
:07:23. > :07:25.good value if you're going for a few days. Tip three - combining
:07:26. > :07:30.attractions with travel plans can save you cash. See if your flight,
:07:31. > :07:37.train or bus operator offers combo deals. And tip four - look at offer
:07:38. > :07:39.sites. If you are flexible on dates, you can get some real bargains on
:07:40. > :07:52.quieter days. Still to come, the bottle that makes
:07:53. > :07:55.water safe to drink in just 60 seconds and the sunglasses that can
:07:56. > :07:59.mean you throw away your camera when you next go on holiday. But first,
:08:00. > :08:07.here is this week's travel news. Hotel rates in Spain have taken a
:08:08. > :08:12.nosedive over recent years, according to an industry insider.
:08:13. > :08:15.UK-based hotel wholesaler JacTravel say that rates have dropped by
:08:16. > :08:23.almost a third in Madrid, mainly because fewer Spaniards are visiting
:08:24. > :08:26.the capital. So it could definitely work to your advantage to shop
:08:27. > :08:32.around and see just how low hotels will go to get your booking. Fast
:08:33. > :08:37.food giant McDonald's has opened its first ever outlet in
:08:38. > :08:40.communist-controlled Vietnam. Up until now, the country has resisted
:08:41. > :08:46.the lure of Big Macs, French fries and steaming hot apple pies. But now
:08:47. > :08:52.they have succumbed to perhaps the most potent of capitalist culinary
:08:53. > :08:54.icons. And researchers in Germany and the UK are investigating how
:08:55. > :08:59.virtual reality technology could help people overcome their fear of
:09:00. > :09:02.flying. Volunteers are being strapped into machines that recreate
:09:03. > :09:06.turbulence and then being exposed to 3-D images of scenes which are meant
:09:07. > :09:13.to counter the stress caused by a bumpy ride. The research is part of
:09:14. > :09:14.a wider project aiming to predict what the in-flight experience will
:09:15. > :09:29.be like 35 years from now. San Sebastian, in Spain's Basque
:09:30. > :09:34.country, has long been renowned for its culinary imagination and
:09:35. > :09:37.traditional cider production. More recently, the seaside city has
:09:38. > :09:42.adopted Spain's drink of choice - the gin and tonic.
:09:43. > :09:48.So I enlisted the help of some locals to see if I could find out
:09:49. > :09:53.why this drink had become so popular. You see, this is where the
:09:54. > :09:58.love is. In any other place in the world, you order for a gin and
:09:59. > :10:01.tonic, I bet you they won't go like touching the, you know, where you're
:10:02. > :10:04.going to put your lips. It's important. Ellie explained the
:10:05. > :10:07.Basque have their own word for love when referred to food and drink.
:10:08. > :10:11.Mimo. So it makes sense that locals wound up with a weakness for a drink
:10:12. > :10:14.that aids in digestion, propelling the gin tonic, as it's called in
:10:15. > :10:36.Spain, from a sloppily poured mixture to a perfected ritual.
:10:37. > :10:47.More modern bartenders like to experience it with rose petals. It
:10:48. > :10:53.seems like we have over 20 kinds of June to choose from. Right now, I'm
:10:54. > :10:57.not going to pretend to know what to do with that. But it's not just
:10:58. > :11:08.about the gym. It's about temperature. It poured into a huge
:11:09. > :11:11.glass filled with ice rocks. But as amazing as the gin tonics were, we
:11:12. > :11:16.knew we had barely scratched the surface of San Sebastian's rich food
:11:17. > :11:19.and drinks scene. Needing a solid base for our evening, Ellie
:11:20. > :11:22.introduced me to pintxos, the local version of tapas that, thankfully,
:11:23. > :11:26.are always a delicious precursor to a night of drinking.
:11:27. > :11:32.OK, everything looks amazing. Tell me what we're getting. In here,
:11:33. > :11:36.they're called pintxos. I'll get you to try some hot pintxos from the
:11:37. > :11:37.kitchen or maybe some ham, of course. Whatever you think is the
:11:38. > :11:44.best, I'll eat it. Of course, long before gin tonics
:11:45. > :11:47.came onto the scene, more than 700 years actually, the Basque had been
:11:48. > :11:51.pairing their pintxos with cider or sargadoa. I want to see your pouring
:11:52. > :11:54.skills. Pouring a glass of cider the traditional way is quite tricky.
:11:55. > :11:57.From above the head to aerate the cider and enhance the flavour and
:11:58. > :12:03.natural carbonation. This one I'll use the pourer. And this one without
:12:04. > :12:07.the top. Ooh! Well, let's see if this works, really.
:12:08. > :12:09.I foolishly thought I could do better.
:12:10. > :12:21.SHE LAUGHS. I came to San Sebastian for the gin
:12:22. > :12:23.tonics. But as is often the case, it was the unexpected that made me want
:12:24. > :12:33.to stay. Stay with us here on The Travel
:12:34. > :12:35.Show, because coming up... Let's go diving.
:12:36. > :12:42.It's estimated that around half of the coral reefs in this area have
:12:43. > :14:02.already disappeared. All that and more here on The Travel Show.
:14:03. > :14:07.Here's a gadget for when you wake up in a foreign country and completely
:14:08. > :14:10.forget that the tap water isn't safe to drink. The CamelBak All Clear
:14:11. > :14:16.bottle uses UV light to neutralise bacteria. The lid contains a battery
:14:17. > :14:19.that's charged through a USB port. Full charge will take around five
:14:20. > :14:23.hours, but that'll give you enough power to clean 80 bottles of water.
:14:24. > :14:27.It takes 60 seconds to purify a whole bottle of water, and the great
:14:28. > :14:31.thing is, if it's not just tap water you want to purify, if you want to
:14:32. > :14:36.use it to make waterfall water safe to drink or something out of a river
:14:37. > :14:42.or a stream - anywhere where there's natural water flowing, this will
:14:43. > :14:46.make good to drink in a minute. You just have to keep it moving until
:14:47. > :14:50.the light goes out. So if you're trekking or if you're off on some
:14:51. > :14:54.expedition, it's ideal. However, if you're just going to a country for a
:14:55. > :14:57.couple of weeks and you're not comfortable drinking the local
:14:58. > :14:59.water, then actually it might be cheaper if you just buy your water
:15:00. > :15:08.bottles from the shop. Ssh! I'm undercover. These might
:15:09. > :15:15.look like normal sunglasses - but they're not. With the SunnyCams, I
:15:16. > :15:19.can film everything that I see. I'm filming you guys right now! Wave...
:15:20. > :15:25.The SunnyCams record video from a tiny camera in the middle of the
:15:26. > :15:29.glass. You press down on the control panel to start recording, and your
:15:30. > :15:33.film will be stored on a Micro SD card. Now, this does take a little
:15:34. > :15:37.getting used to, cos you physically have to move your head in the
:15:38. > :15:41.direction that you want to film at, which can make you feel like a bit
:15:42. > :15:45.of a robot when you're walking along. And we did find, when we
:15:46. > :15:49.watched it back, that the audio was slightly out of sync with the video.
:15:50. > :15:57.But, if you are a boarder, if you like skiing, then these are ideal.
:15:58. > :16:01.I, however, am neither of those - so I'm going to go back to being a spy.
:16:02. > :16:04.OMG, having the holiday of a lifetime. Loving London, I can see
:16:05. > :16:09.Big Ben, the London Eye. I've got to tweet about this, right? So I'm
:16:10. > :16:15.going to send a picture. What? The battery on my phone has died?
:16:16. > :16:20.Hashtag sad face! One way to avoid a social media blackout is the XD
:16:21. > :16:25.Design Solar Charger. There are two ports on the side of the panel - a
:16:26. > :16:29.USB port for your phone and one next to it where you plug in the device
:16:30. > :16:32.to charge itself. I know what you're thinking. Why does a solar powered
:16:33. > :16:38.portable charger need to be plugged into the mains before you can use
:16:39. > :16:42.it? Well, it doesn't have to be. Because - this can be charged by the
:16:43. > :16:48.sun's energy alone but that takes up to 13 hours. So, if you were to plug
:16:49. > :16:52.this in before you left your house or your hotel, and then you're
:16:53. > :16:55.hanging by the pool for the day, you're on a long coach trip, you
:16:56. > :16:59.could use the sun's energy just to keep it topped up which will mean
:17:00. > :17:03.you don't get caught short with your mobile phone or whatever device
:17:04. > :17:04.running out of power. I just wish it was a bit more sunny.
:17:05. > :17:12.HE YAWNS. After a long day of gadget testing,
:17:13. > :17:16.I think I deserve a few minutes out just to relax, maybe just a little
:17:17. > :17:23.power nap. If only I could just get comfy.
:17:24. > :17:33.It gets to the point where you'll do anything just for a little bit of
:17:34. > :17:38.kip. Even wear one of these. I know it looks weird but it's strangely
:17:39. > :17:42.comfortable. Ssh! The Ostrich Pillow is filled with micro-beads, and it's
:17:43. > :17:47.got holes at the top to slide your hands into. But don't forget about
:17:48. > :17:49.your belongings. Someone could take everything you own while your head's
:17:50. > :18:02.in this thing! Coral reefs cover less than 1% of
:18:03. > :18:06.the world's ocean floor, but they're home to around a quarter of the
:18:07. > :18:09.Earth's marine life. But climate change and pollution are putting
:18:10. > :18:15.many of these vital underwater habitats at risk. Here in Phuket,
:18:16. > :18:19.Thailand, tourism is also taking its toll, and threatening some of the
:18:20. > :18:24.most stunning reef systems in the world. But there is hope. There's
:18:25. > :18:28.one organisation in particular which are claiming to make a difference.
:18:29. > :18:30.I'm going to be spending the day with them and seeing if I can do a
:18:31. > :18:37.little help myself. with them and seeing if I can do a
:18:38. > :18:39.Morning. Good to see you. Diving is big business in Phuket, and many
:18:40. > :18:44.holiday-makers come here specifically to snorkel or scuba in
:18:45. > :18:48.its warm Indian Ocean waters. Many of the people who work for the dive
:18:49. > :18:51.companies have joined up to form a group that tries to protect the
:18:52. > :18:56.unique environment which provides them with their livelihood. And
:18:57. > :19:03.today I'm going with them, as they go to give one of the local reef
:19:04. > :19:07.systems a spring- clean. We're on the way to the dive site at the
:19:08. > :19:09.moment, it's about an hour and a half away, so in the meantime I get
:19:10. > :19:17.to relax and enjoy the view. An organisation called Go Eco
:19:18. > :19:20.organise an annual big clean up of the reefs and seas around Phuket
:19:21. > :19:25.every summer, but today I am taking part in a smaller scale event, to
:19:26. > :19:29.give me an idea of just what kind of rubbish makes its way to the ocean
:19:30. > :19:32.floor, and what kind of harm it causes once it's down there.' The
:19:33. > :19:41.reef in Phuket is the one to bring all other tourists come to witness
:19:42. > :19:46.the reef. So if you don't have the reef, we have less tourists. That
:19:47. > :19:49.means we don't have income. We have lots of pollution here, like plastic
:19:50. > :19:57.bags, for example, that people throw in the rivers and the sea that float
:19:58. > :20:01.out to the sea. And also sun block, for example the people who're using
:20:02. > :20:04.sunscreen and go in the water. There's also fishing equipment, some
:20:05. > :20:09.people do not really care about, they just throw the fishing
:20:10. > :20:12.equipment in the sea. And before I join the clean up, there's just time
:20:13. > :20:17.for a quick briefing with my dive buddy Marc. We're going to go down
:20:18. > :20:20.the reef, just below us, about six metres, and we're going to descend
:20:21. > :20:24.down along the line. Once we get down to the reef we'll be looking
:20:25. > :20:28.for garbage. So we're going to be wearing gloves, cos they protect you
:20:29. > :20:31.from the reef which sometimes can be sharp. And we're going to carry one
:20:32. > :20:35.of these mesh bags each, so whatever you collect you can stick it inside
:20:36. > :20:37.and then we're going to bring it back to the surface. OK. Ready to
:20:38. > :20:50.go? Let's go diving. It's estimated that around half of
:20:51. > :20:56.the coral reefs in this area have already disappeared. And it didn't
:20:57. > :20:59.take long for me to find out one of the reasons why.
:21:00. > :21:04.It was easy to pick out what shouldn't have been there, although
:21:05. > :21:07.I followed the advice from up above and left undisturbed any rubbish
:21:08. > :21:13.that had already been consumed by the reef. Go Eco say that removing
:21:14. > :21:17.that type of embedded debris causes even more damage to the reef than
:21:18. > :21:20.leaving it where it is.' A keen eye ensured that my bag filled up
:21:21. > :21:22.quickly, and after 20 minutes, with my air running low, it was time for
:21:23. > :21:49.me and Marc to surface. A couple of things that we managed
:21:50. > :21:53.to pick up were a couple of cans here, this length of rope, and a few
:21:54. > :21:56.of these bottles. This one in particular looks as if it's been
:21:57. > :21:59.down there for quite a while. But the actual process of going under
:22:00. > :22:03.the water with Marc and combing through the coral reefs, you really
:22:04. > :22:09.feel as though you're a part of something, like you're really making
:22:10. > :22:13.a difference. Tourism isn't the sole cause of the damage to the reefs
:22:14. > :22:17.here. The fishing industry needs to also accept some of the blame for
:22:18. > :22:22.the debris that finds its way to the ocean floor. But if you're keen to
:22:23. > :22:25.take part in the next clean up, and hold a current diving qualification,
:22:26. > :22:29.you could be helping play your part in ensuring that these amazing
:22:30. > :22:40.wonders of nature, and home to so much of our marine life, survive.
:22:41. > :22:50.That's your lot. Coming up next on BBC Two. As the world prepares to
:22:51. > :22:55.mark the centenary of the start of the First World War, we will be
:22:56. > :22:58.asking if it now OK for places like these to be called tourist
:22:59. > :23:04.attractions rather than sites of remembrance? If you fancy something
:23:05. > :23:15.with a poppy on it, you are spoilt for choice. A tea towel?
:23:16. > :23:23.Until next time, from me Ade Adepitan and the rest of the Travel
:23:24. > :23:26.Show team here in Paris, it's au revoir, a bientot. Goodbye.