22 The STAMP on a Postcard

The STAMP on a Postcard

by Caroline-Artemis Laspas

This seems to be a holiday pastime that is in decline with all of us using mobile phone to send to friends and family instant phots within minutes of the event happening!

Sending a postcard has become a truly traditional activity and with that a series of activities were needed to complete the task!

With this rather wonderful pastime, you need to decide on the postcard to send, which thankfully, there are still many destinations with tourist shops offering picture postcards to buy.

After deciding to put ‘pen to paper’ you would venture to the local post office and use your best sign language and/or basic knowledge of the foreign language to buy a stamp to send your note of joy on its way.

What is also wonderful in this action is you are using a native stamp of the country you are visiting.

Stamps are in reality bits of social history documented on little pieces of paper. They often also tell the story of a time and place or person of a nation.

Since the issue of the first ever postage stamp in the UK in 1840, the ‘Penny Black’, today, across the globe stamp collecting has become a big hobby for many.

While recently looking through an inherited stamp collection from my Grandmother and father, so many stamps show the path of the British Empire in the early 1900’s from nations now celebrating many years of successful independence, as well as an extensive global collection of almost all nations of the world.

Amongst the huge collection, the old stamps show previous head of states of nations or state countries that no longer exist, or show national icons, artists, sportsmen, authors, scientists, leaders of political parties that are no longer in power, as well as stamps marking key celebrations and traditional festivals and national flowers and fauna, etc.

One example is the small European nation of Luxembourg. A series of stamps was issued highlighting rural holidays in Luxembourg. The stamps reflect the range of rural holidays like farm stays that offer new adventures and discoveries, especially for families.

The island of Jersey issued a series of stamps that used aerial photographs of some the Island’s most loved features, as well as some of her best kept secrets.

In 2014, the Bahamas Philatelic Bureau issued 4 stamps which celebrated 50 years of tourism in the Bahamas. Established in 1964, the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism begun promoting tourism on the islands. The stamps showed 4 of the best known hotels on the islands at that time.

The oldest of the hotels featured was the Peace & Plenty Hotel, which opened in 1958 as a 24-room colonial style hotel on the site of an old sponge factory.

In spite of the ever growing digital world we live in, we still require postage in one way or another! When was the last time you received an envelope with a real foreign stamp on it as opposed to a mechanical franked impression. Each stamp gives a unique perspective on so many different subjects.

There was a time when stamp collecting was seen as boring and not trendy, but when combined with social media, stamp collecting is again a hot hobby for old and new around the world with many international clubs and societies connecting likeminded collectors!

So, the question is…. To stamp or not to stamp!

Europe, Africa, Americas & Asia

For the second year running, many Europeans will not be able to take their spring or Easter holidays as continued restrictions remain in place due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the neverending variants striking many nations.

This is traditionally a busy time of year and the start of the tourism season. Airlines, hotels, restaurants and tourist destinations continue to struggle with little hope of the total return to ‘normal’ anytime soon.

For many this will be the second time they will have had to cancel or postpone travel plans, having already done so a year ago.

Many say the answer is to holiday in your own country, but with extremely high demand with no one able to leave the country, places are already fully booked and very expensive as companies try to recoup lost revenue from the last year.

China has just seen in the New Year of the Ox and witnessed limited travel at trains stations and bus terminals as citizens decided not to travel far. New Year travel is thought to be down 40% on 2019 figures.

The tightening of travel restrictions from destinations like the USA has also meant less travel for Europeans. While travel into the European Union is also restricted, with entry bans and quarantine requirements for returning citizens.

Europe is also looking at a very slow start to a vaccine rollout while addressing the spread of new variants. The best scenario will be a much shorter summer season than normal in destinations like Greece, Italy and Spain.

WHERE AMERICANS ARE LOOKING TO TRAVEL TO 2021

With tourists from America often a top target for many nations, many Americans are keen to get travelling again after the Covid pandemic and are now searching for their next vacation destination for 2021.

The top 5 destination are: -Italy -Greece -Mexico -Canada -Caribbean.

For Americans wishing to travel, they are now required to have a negative Covid-19 test result taken within the

previous 3 days to boarding a flight to the USA and the traveller must show proof of having recovered from the virus in the previous 3 months.

With restrictions and new regulation coming into effect across all countries, it still remains a big risk deciding to travel as you may be required to isolate on arrival and/or return.

Venezuela

VENEZUELA AND IRAN UPDATE BI-LATERAL RELATIONS

With 70 years of co-operation with bi-lateral relations, Venezuela and Iran have recently updated their co-operation plans to include tourism. The two sides have unveiled a strategic vision in terms of tourism and air transport.