Stress-testing of travel expert Simon Calder is absolutely essential to maintain a regular supply of quotes, quick TV interviews, and responses to any travel-related news story in the future, media outlets have confirmed today.
Following near continuous appearances on TV, social media and in newspapers talking about the National Air Traffic Control systems failures, there have been calls for regular checks on Calder to ensure that his capacity for providing quotable content and exhibiting genuine enthusiasm at the opportunities afforded by travel remain at their peak.
'Calder's systems appear to have remained robust in the face of an unprecedented amount of requests for interviews over the last couple of weeks ', said one media insider.
'His segue on Sky News this morning moving from talking about the NATS problems to a 30 second soliloquy on how nice the Croatian coastline is at this time of year for families truly was the work of a pro at the top of his game'.
'And then to appear just 15 minutes later on The Today Programme, skilfully avoiding Nick Robinson's clumsy attempt to get him to blame the government for the NATS breakdowns by moving things on to talk about the ongoing value of annual travel insurance - genius'.
'But there's only 24 hours in a day, we just need to test him regularly to guarantee that supplies of travel comments keep coming through', continued the insider.
Stress-testing would require Calder to subject himself to a series of gruelling mental and physical challenges, including answering 20 quick-fire questions on topics such as currency exchange rates, the best regional airports outside London, and the optimum route for a motorhome trip through the Dordogne in October. This would be followed by a two-minute critique of a randomly selected holiday itinerary, such as a two-week trip to Orlando theme parks for a family of 4 at Easter, or a south-med cruise-and-stay trip for 2 recent retirees. Finally, Calder would be subjected to a one-minute interview from Kay Burley.
'I do need to look after myself, certainly', said Calder animatedly to camera. 'There's always a danger of spreading yourself too thin, like you might do when you use just one little sachet of butter on your toast at a lovely all-inclusive breakfast at a 4 star hotel in Rhodes. Lovely place, I'd really recommend it in late Summer, and don't forget to leave yourself enough time to visit the Old Town, it really is a gem...'
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