Cunard has had massive response to its planned Queen Mary 2 circumnavigation of Australia in early 2012.

Queen Mary 2, weighing in at 152,000 tons, dwarfed Classic International Cruises liner Athena (16,000 tons) when the two were tied up in Fremantle last weekend. Queen Mary 2 was on its way to Africa. Athena was heading to the UK and will return to Australia in November.

More than 1300 people registered interest in the voyage within three days of the announcement late last week - 1000 of them in the first 24 hours.

As most of these are likely to represent couples, the response equates to more than 2500 passengers.

Fares and the opening date for bookings will be announced shortly.

Cunard says it is still taking expressions of interest at website queenmary2.com.au/register, as are travel agents.

The superliner will call at eight Australian ports and Bali during the voyage, with departures from Sydney, Adelaide and Fremantle.

Security has been tightened at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport after journalists smuggled bottles of liquid on to flights bound for London and Washington.

The Delta plane a Nigerian student planned to bomb during a Christmas Day journey which began at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport.

Schiphol was the departure point of the Nigerian student who tried to blow up a transatlantic Delta flight on Christmas Day.

In an operation broadcast on TV on last Sunday night, the reporters re-filled bottles bought at a duty-free story, re-sealed them and smuggled them back into the store.

They then took the bottles through check-out again, where they were placed in plastic bags not checked by security staff.

The manoeuvre was possible because handbag security at Schiphol is conducted at boarding gates rather than before entering the departure lounge, where duty-free shops are located.

An airport official said it was aware of the possible weak link in security, but had considered it acceptable.

Now, however, it is taking extra measures.

Wellington is making headlines today with the news of plans to erect a giant sign similar in concept to greater LA’s landmark Hollywood sign.

An artist’s impression of how the sign will look.

The Wellywood banner, 28 metres wide and with lettering 3.5 metres high, will sit on the Miramar peninsula opposite the New Zealand capital’s main airport, which is helping to fund the project.

Due in place by June, the sign aims to draw attention to the region’s significant role in movie production.

Around 10 film companies are based on the peninsula, including the award-winning special effects crew behind ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘Avatar’.

NZ film director Sir Peter Jackson told the Dominion Post that the sign is a bit of "cheeky fun", but reflecting "genuine pride" in what the local film industry has achieved.

"Several of the most popular films ever made were born in Miramar", he said.

"Within a mile of the sign is the birthplace of Middle-earth and Pandora".

Some landowners mightn’t see it at this stage, but tourism officials say there’s a silver lining to the flooding rains which have inundated southwestern Queensland in recent days.

The unexpected big wet is going to bring teeming birdlife and wildflowers, creating ideal conditions for a bumper tourist season.

The famous Birdsville pub expects tourists to come flooding in.

Visitors to Diamantina Shire, which incorporates the remote townships of Birdsville and Bedourie, topped 120,000 last year.

But the region, which is twice the size of Denmark, is now expecting a lot more this winter.

Tourism manager Brian Mooney told ABC News Online: "With all this rain and floods comes teeming bird life and wildflowers - yellow, pink and blue - and that proves a blessing for all the visitors.

"It changes the landscape completely.

"We also get all the other bird life which comes with it. They’re nesting in all the trees. It’s marvellous to see.

"We also have one of the biggest pelican-breeding areas in the world once big rains come."

Mr Mooney predicts the rains will delay the tourism season opening by two or three weeks, but by Easter visitors "will start flowing through".

The normally desert-like Birdsville area is being transformed and hotel manager Kate McDonald says she expects the "fields of colours" to lure tourists in big numbers.

"We’re hoping to see a lot more tourists come through", she told the ABC.

She said the return of water to Lake Eyre is going to add to the region’s appeal.

"It really is a big drawcard. Last year we had many visitors who called in at Lake Eyre for lunch or to stay the night. We’re getting lots of inquiries".

It’s being billed as the world’s smallest hotel.

And it’s almost certainly the most mobile property on the planet, as well.

The pop-up hotel is pictured, with all of its trimmings, near the Houses of Parliament last week for a publicity shoot.

London tourism promoters have teamed up with hotel chain Radisson Edwardian to transform a top-of-the-range caravan into a boutique ‘hotel’ with private facilities, a concierge, check-in desk, dining area, flat-screen TV, refrigerator and a range of luxury products and special touches you’d expect to find in a top hotel.

Visit London is using the van as part of an ‘Only in London’ campaign highlighting unique attractions around the UK capital.

And it’s running a competition offering a free one-night stay for each of five winners at a different location each night between 15 and 19 March.

Winners will get to spend the night either at London Zoo, Alexandra Palace, the London Eye, Covent Garden or the Old Royal Navy College at Greenwich, as well as enjoying free admission to the particular attraction.

The Accor hotels group is going to offer cut-price rates for one million hotel and resort rooms during a three-day Asia Pacific sale starting 7 March.

Rooms at some 300 properties in 16 countries will be available at "amazing" rates, the group says.

Deals will include $49 for a room in Melbourne, $16 vin Bangkok, $53 in Singapore, $60 in Bali and $19 in Jakarta.

Bargains will be available across all grades, from the cheapest to the most expensive.

Accor says members of its global loyalty program will get two days’ advance access to sale rates. Membership of the program is free.

Accor previews the big sale on its website

Melbourne Aquarium was named Australia’s best major tourist attraction for 2009 at the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards announced at the weekend.

A total 27 awards were made in as many categories - for attractions, tourism services, transportation and accommodation.

The bulk of the honours went to Queensland, NSW and Victoria. Tasmania gained three awards and tourism operators in South Australia, the ACT and the Northern Territory were also recognised.

Here is a complete list.

Major Tourist Attractions
Melbourne Aquarium VIC

Tourist Attractions
Questacon - The National Science & Technology Centre ACT

Major Festivals and Events
2009 Tour Down Under SA

Festivals and Events
National Folk Festival ACT

Ecotourism
Bruny Island Cruises TAS

Heritage and Cultural Tourism
Old Melbourne Gaol Crime and Justice Experience VIC

Indigenous Tourism
Booderee National Park NSW

Specialised Tourism Services
Mornington Peninsula Tourism VIC

Visitor Information Services
Brisbane Visitor Information and Booking Centre QLD

Meetings and Business Tourism
Adelaide Convention Centre SA

Major Tour and/or Transport Operator
Connections Safaris NT

Tour and/or Transport Operator
Sydney Seaplanes NSW

Adventure Tourism
Passions of Paradise QLD

Tourism Marketing
Pure Tasmania TAS

Tourism Education and Training
Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School NSW

Tourism Restaurants & Catering Services
Bent on Food NSW

Tourism Wineries, Distilleries and Boutique Breweries
De Bortoli Winery and Restaurant VIC

Tourist and Caravan Parks
BIG4 Beacon Resort VIC

Backpackers Accommodation
Sydney Central YHA NSW

Hosted Accommodation
Hidden Valley Cabins QLD

Unique Accommodation
Longitude 131 NT

Standard Accommodation
Noorla Heritage Resort QLD

Deluxe Accommodation
Avalon Coastal Retreat TAS

Luxury Accommodation
SKYCITY Darwin NT

New Tourism Development
Sugarloaf Point Lighthouse Holiday Accommodation NSW

Qantas Award for Sustainable Tourism

Skyrail Rainforest Cableway QLD and Crystal Creek Meadows Luxury
Cottages & Spa Retreat NSW

Outstanding Contribution by an individual
Stephen Gregg QLD

It’s being described as the world’s most expensive inflight snack.

A passenger on European low-fare airline Ryanair got so angry when told he couldn’t immediately claim a scratchcard prize worth $15,000 that he ate the ticket.

Cabin crew and some passengers begged him not to, but he ignored them.

The Polish traveller, whom the airline wouldn’t identify, bought the ticket after boarding a flight from Poland to the UK’s East Midlands airport.

After finding he’d won the big prize, he demanded that cabin crew pay him his winnings immediately.

When they explained that they didn’t have that much money readily available, and that the win had to be verified by the scratchcard company, he stood up and ate the ticket.

Ryanair says the unclaimed prize will be donated to charity.

Europe’s first alcohol-free holiday resort will begin accepting guests in April.

Designed for recovering alcoholics, it’s based on a restored 19th-century villa in Portugal’s popular Algarve region.

The property is owned and operated by Andrew O’Loughlin, a recovering alcoholic who has been sober for four years.

"On any conventional holiday, alcohol is everywhere", he said.

"I could not find anywhere in Europe that offered an alcohol-free environment.

"I’ve spoken to recovering alcoholics who have not been on holiday for five years".

Mr O’Loughlin is calling his venture Sober Holidays.

The aim is to provide guests with a "safe, supportive einvironment" and counselling sessions for those addicted to alcohol, gambling and narcotics will be available, though not obligatory.

The property will also offer mountain biking, hiking and tennis, and there are 14 golf courses in the sourrounding countryside.

For more about Sober Holidays, click here

A replica Qantas A380

A Melbourne man is making headlines around the world with his scale model replica of a Qantas super-jumbo A380 made with Lego.

Ryan McNaught, 37, has spent eight months constructing the model in his garage, using 35,000 pieces of Lego.

It’s 2.2 metres long and 1.8 metres wide and has been built to a cutaway design to display in detail all the interior of the plane, including flight attendants and seated passengers.

Mr McNaught, who works in IT, reckons the project has cost about $7000 to date.

But there’s more expense ahead. He plans to display it at a big Lego show in Chicago in June.

He told London’s Telegraph newspaper that his next project will be a skyscraper, if his long-suffering wife can stand it.