World Travel Market 2014

From the 3rd – 6th November BAC Sport exhibited at the World Travel Market at London Excel. For all those not familiar with WTM it is one of the largest Travel Trade shows in the world. A place that brings together all aspects of the travel industry from large tourist boards representing a country to the smaller independent businesses like ourselves. A chance to see how new advances in technology can influence your business while at the same time getting back to the roots of face to face customer and supplier meetings. So where to start…. Well that all comes from the decision to not just be one of the 52,000 delegates that attended the 4 day show this year, but to try our hand at being an exhibitor. After weeks of designing our stand and choosing the correct wine to supply we are finally ready to showcase BAC Sport. The opening 2 days feel like the infamous shopping day Black Friday with a stampede of people making their way through as the gates open. We found ourselves located in the UK and Ireland category, surrounded by other travel and tourism providers and attractions such as our new friends opposite, The London Shard. WTM is a fantastic environment to market your company and as we found the best way to talk business was in these sociable surroundings. As late afternoon set in the larger stands and Tourist Boards kicked off with their parties. Some of which even had open bars (dangerous) and if you were headed to the Holland stand well you could expect to get some quality Edam...

2014 Autumn Rugby Internationals

Sunday 1st November saw the Barbarians and Australia kick off the 2014 Autumn rugby internationals, with Australia securing a 40-36 victory. This was Michael Cheika’s first game as the Australian coach. Later that evening the United States went up against New Zealand. USA suffered an embarrassing loss but gained the chance to participate in the Autumn International on home soil, something that hasn’t happened for quite a while. The match sold out at Soldier Field in Chicago. Last Saturday, Wales suffered their 10th consecutive loss against Australia. Many people speculate that their inability to win against Australia is a psychological block. But Gwyn Jones, from Wales Online, suggests that the Australian Rugby team is just slightly better than the Welsh team. Jones says, “…Australia are able to lift their performance. They play with more composure; they raise their intensity and manage to get the whole team to focus on a single goal. Their skills are slightly better; they make better decisions and ultimately manage to win the match.” He goes on to say, “By contrast, Wales regularly concede possession and penalties; they make a few bad decisions and invariably lose out in a seemingly painful and cruel ending. To me this isn’t psychological, this demonstrates that when the pressure is really on and the game is in the balance Australia do things a little better than Wales.” England also went up a against New Zealand that day. Their score was close but New Zealand dominated the second half of the match resulting in a win by 3 points. This was New Zealand’s 4th consecutive win over England. Scotland also...

Six In A Row For England

Friendly? Is that even a word when it comes to England and Scotland football games? There were a lot of questions to be answered in the run up to this game, which took place a year after their last encounter at Wembley, which England won 3:2. Would Wayne Rooney break Sir Bobby Charltons 49 international goal scoring record? Would an inexperienced Scotland beat England for the first time since 1999? Would the crowds riot?! As it happens, none of the above questions were answered with a ‘yes’, and we were given a great show of entertaining rivalry. The atmosphere, as to be expected was intense, and started with a highly respectful minutes silence for Nathan McSeveney, who tragically died after the Scotland vs Ireland game less than a week prior to the game. Then it was down to business, and both teams played out a competitive friendly with both endeavour and passion. Scotland struggled to get out of second gear in the first half, perhaps due to their efforts in their victory over Ireland, and England made them pay in the 32nd minute. Oxlade-Chamberlain rounded off a beautiful through ball from Jack Wilshere to open the scoring. Rooney had a relatively quiet half in terms of chances, and it was evident that he was chomping at the bit to create more opportunities to write himself into the history books. And it didn’t take the England captain long, 2 minutes in fact, to open his account. A well saved shot from Wilshere found itself in front of Rooney, and without hesitation, he nodded home his first of the night, and...

US F1 Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton Achieves Fifth Straight Win

One of the final races of the 2014 F1 season took place this weekend in the city of Austin, Texas. With cooler weather rolling in, sunshine, and a light breeze, the atmosphere was perfect.   Hamilton and Rosberg have been  neck and neck all season but Hamilton, having won the four previous races, had  managed to stretch out a 17 point lead over his Mercedes teammate going into this weekend.  At the beginning of the US Grand Prix, it seemed that Rosberg might have the edge as he placed first in qualifying on Saturday.  However, once again Hamilton came out the winner by taking the lead from Rosberg on lap 24. Hamilton’s fifth victory in a row has enabled him to beat Nigel Mansell’s records for most victories by a British driver in a season – ten – while the Mercedes driver also beat the 1992 World Champion’s overall career total with his 32nd win. And in terms of the title battle, Hamilton now holds a 24-point lead over Rosberg with just two races left to run.  According to CNN, Hamilton said that, “Nico wasn’t defending really and I almost caught him unaware,”later adding that “there wasn’t a moment in the race when I didn’t think I could get him.”  A sentiment which is echoed on the scoreboard as Hamilton seems to be pulling away with only two races left to go. However with double points available in the final Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi (50 points on offer for a win), Hamilton’s current 24 point lead ahead of the penultimate race in Brazil means there is still a chance for Rosberg to pull back into the lead. The Abu...