Some well-priced millennium packages are coming up for Australia with Royal Brunei Airlines. Four nights in Perth and three nights in Brunei Darussalam, with daily breakfast, costs from $5,820. Five nights in Brisbane and two nights in Brunei is from $6,130. There are also packages available for two nights in Kota Kinabalu in Sabah and two nights in Brunei from $3,460, three nights in Brunei from $2,830 and a three-night golf package in Brunei from $3,320. All are on a twin-share basis. The packages are available from January 1 until late March. Contact Golden Touch Holidays for more information, tel 2869 8608, fax 2845 9560. UK millennium deals Packages for flights to London with British Airways are being offered by P & O. The 'Millennium Package' offers return tickets plus two nights' hotel accommodation in London with continental breakfast or air tickets plus four days' car hire. Prices are from $6,899 on a twin-sharing/vehicle basis. The offer is available now and ends on March 3. If you are staying in London, then P & O also has an extra package priced at $600, which covers a half-day sightseeing tour including Thames Cruise, a Millennium Dome ticket and a ride on the London Eye, the world's highest observation wheel at 135 metres. Contact P & O at 2956 6810 or fax 2956 2826. Prophets of doom Some sobering thoughts as we prepare to celebrate the new millennium this week. The Pacific Asia Travel Association's Issues Trends newsletter for December is doom-laden as it looks into its crystal ball. It points out that global emissions of carbon dioxide have quadrupled over the past 50 years; 25 per cent of the world's approximately 4,630 species of mammals and 11 per cent of the 9,675 bird species are in significant risk of extinction; if present consumption patterns continue, two of every three people on Earth will be short of water by 2025; more than 1.3 billion still live on less than US$1 (HK$7.80) per day; natural resources will be under immense pressure over the next 50 years as the world's population is expected to expand by a further three billion. Do we really have anything to celebrate as we enter the new millennium? Higher taxes in Hawaii Hotel room taxes in Hawaii, whose millennium hopes have been dashed as high prices keep tourists away, will increase on January 1, up to 7.25 per cent from six per cent. The number of rooms occupied over the millennium are likely to be 20 per cent down on the average new year. Free vegetarian guide The British Tourist Authority office in Hong Kong is offering free copies of a Vegetarian Visitor Guide that lists guesthouses, hotels and private homes in Britain that cater for vegetarians. Cafes, restaurants and pubs are also listed. Phone 2882 9967, or call in at their office, Room 1504, Eton Tower, 8 Hysan Avenue, Causeway Bay. For a free copy by post, send name, address and stamps to the value of $3.50, stating 'request for Vegetarian Guide'. The lion roars Tourist arrivals in Singapore for the first 11 months of this year were up 11.9 per cent compared with the same period in 1998, according to the Singapore Tourism Board. There were 6.3 million tourist arrivals in the first 11 months of 1999. Most (1.07 million) were from Indonesia. Singapore launched a major tourism drive early this year.