Educated at Edinburgh University, trained on local newspapers in Scotland and London. Reporter and editor at B2B title Travel Trade Gazette Europa 1979-89; later editor of consumer and travel industry titles including Classic Travel, Welcome to Yorkshire, ABTA Magazine, Ireland 2000, and Climate Change: Addressing the Challenge. Contributor to UK and international newspapers and magazines including The Scotsman, Scots Magazine, The National (Abu Dhabi), Gulf News (Dubai), Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Mirror. Author of more than 300 travel guidebooks to destions in Europe, Asia, North Africa, South America and Caribbean for publishing brands including Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness, Globetrotter, AA Media, Thomas Cook Publishing, and Frommer's. Hotel reviewer (Turkey, Greece, France and Scotland) for www.thehotelguru.com.