The highly respected Skytrax 2011 World Airline Awards were announced on June 22, 2011 at the Paris Air Show. The awards are in several categories based on geographical region, cabin amenities and staff service. The coveted World's Best Airline title was awarded to Qatar Airways, with Singapore Airlines and Asiana Airlines coming up second and third respectively. AirAsia won the Best Low-Cost Airline award for both the Asian region and worldwide for the third consecutive year! Following are the winners from some of the other categories.

Best inflight entertainment: Emirates

Best cabin staff: Asiana Airlines

Best regional airline (Worldwide): Dragonair

Best regional airline (Asia): Dragonair

Best regional airline (Europe): Aegean Airlines

Best regional airline (North America): American Eagle

Best regional airline (South America): TRIP Linhas Aereas

Best low-cost airline (Worldwide): AirAsia

Best low-cost airline (Asia): AirAsia

Best low-cost airline (India/Central Asia): IndiGo Airlines

Best low-cost airline (Europe): easyJet

Best low-cost airline (North America): Virgin America

Best low-cost airline (South America): Azul Linhas Aereas Brasileiras

A report released last week by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI)  shows that airlines score the least in customer satisfaction among the 47 industries they evaluated. This may not come as a surprise to seasoned travelers who are familiar with the usual shortcomings of airlines when it comes to satisfying their customers. Delays and baggage handling issues are well known, but the ACSI report says that ever-increasing number of fees the airlines charge are also a cause for customer dissatisfaction.

Visitors to Singapore take note! The iconic Merlion will be closed for routine cleaning from January 11 to 18, 2011. The 8 meter tall structure that was built in 1972 stand as an iconic symbol of Singapore and most tourists to Singapore will consider their visit incomplete without a sight of the Merlion and some pictures with it.

The much awaited Dubai Shopping Festival starts January 20, 2011. The 32 day long shopping extravaganza is expected to feature around 6000 retail outlets with around 50 shopping malls participating. The well-known annual event is expected attract millions of visitors and shoppers can enjoy tax-free shopping and up to 75% in discounts in a wide range of items from perfumes to cars. Many travel agencies, tour operators and airlines are also offering discounts and promotions to coincide with the event.

The famous but extremely remote tourist destination of Easter Island is getting more accessible from January 5, 2011. The Chilean airline LAN is to start regular services between Lima, Peru and Hanga Roa, Easter Island. The flights from Lima will be twice a week on Wednesdays and Sundays and will take 5 hours to reach Easter Island. Lima is the main port of entry for tourists visiting Machu Pichu, one of south America's prime tourist attractions. Come 2011, LAN's new service will allow tourists to easily combine their tours with Easter Island, which is again a unique and very attractive destination famous for its Moai statues.

A recently conducted survey by VisitBritain, Britain's national tourism agency, concluded that eating out at restaurants and sampling great food was the top activity among foreign tourists visiting Britain.

The survey which only covered foreign tourists reveals that 79% of them considered indulging in Britain's culinary offerings as their top activity. Shopping for clothes and accessories, and sightseeing famous buildings and monuments were second and third at 67% and 64% respectively.

This may seem dubious to some as British cuisine has long been regarded as dull and uninteresting. Though that might have been true historically, British cuisine has evolved greatly with influences from all over the world, such as India. Fish and chips is no longer considered to be Britain's national dish. The title now goes to chicken tikka masala!

Chernobyl, the site of the world's worst nuclear accident will be opened to visitors in 2011 according to Ukraine's Emergency Ministry. After Chernobyl's No. 4 reactor exploded on April 26, 1986 a large exclusion zone was created around it which includes the city of Prypiat. Although Prypiat was later opened to tourists for guided day tours with tour operators, the power plant at Chernobyl has always been out of reach. However, in recent years radiation levels appear to have gone down enough to allow short visits without compromising safety.

Prypiat has always been a unique tourist attraction for the adventurous as it's one of the very few modern ghost towns, and the opening of Chernobyl should make it a better experience for those who dare to make a trip inside the exclusion zone.

Well, the title of this story may be a little misleading. You see, my fashion consciousness is nothing to write home about. So don't expect a shopping guide from me, even if it's just window shopping. Especially with Ginza, one of the best known high-fashion shopping areas in Tokyo. All the usual suspects of the high-fashion world are here - Armani, Bulgari, Gucci, Chanel, you name it!

Aerolineas Argentina, the national airline of Argentina will be joining the SkyTeam alliance in 2012. SkyTeam is the second largest airline alliance in the world and Aerolineas Argentina will be the first member airline from South America, although SkyTeam already has a good presence in the continent as various destinations are being served by European and North American member airlines.

German airline Lufhthansa is soon to become one fo the first airlines to offer wireless internet access on intercontinental flights. The service will be called FlyNet; a service with the same name was provided by Lufthansa between 2003 and 2006 in association with Connexion by Boeing. This time however, Lufthansa is partnering with Panasonic Avionics Corporation and Deutsche Telekom to provide much better coverage than before.