Travel Extra February 2014 Holiday World edition by Travel Extra

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K C I PRICES AND OPTIONS FOR 2014 P I’M AMERICA CANYONS AND DESERTS E UP M SHARK CAGE DIVING IN S AFRICA

Australia’s Secret Island

Wild Westport

Lanzarote

e e r F

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FEBRUARY 2014

VOLUME 18 NUMBER 2

A world to explore Where to go and how much to pay for this year’s holiday

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Cheaper to dial

Airlines to stop using premium rate phone lines in June

irlines and other travel operators will be banned from using premium rate numbers for customer helplines from this summer. Ryanair charges €0.95 per minute for callers to its 1550 92 70 30 number. The Aer Lingus number 0818 365044 is also a premium line. Air France, Aer Lingus, Ryanair and others have been charging extra for premium rate calls to their help desks. From next June 13, these calls will be charged at the same rate as dialling a standard-rate number following the introduction of a new EU consumer rights directive. Until now they have been charging customers up to 50c a minute for calls from mobiles and up to 20c a minute from a landline. Banks, finance companies and government departments will be exempt from the new regulations.

FEBRUARY 2014 PAGE 3

NEWS

UNIVERSAL Orlando CityWalk

shopping area will undergo an expansion during 2014 during a season that will include the opening of the destination's largest hotel – Universal’s Cabana Bay Beach Resort and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Diagon Alley.

TURKEY Irish holidaymakers heading

to Turkey will need to apply for an electronic visa in advance next summer when the existing visa-on-arrival system is dropped entirely from April 10, 2014. The cost of the e-visa for Irish passport holders is $20.

CAPITALS

of culture for 2014, Riga and Umeå, are planning contrasting festivities. Umeå in northern Sweden is known as the city of birches.

ONHOLIDAY group, headed by Brendan Mallon secured a new batch of directly contracted properties in Austria & Italy specifically for the ski programme. FRANKFURT Airport introduced a winter coat storage service. Passengers can leave their jackets at the airport to avoid having to carry heavy winter coats overseas for 50c a day.

BRITISH Airways is to reduce the seat

In November Google, Bing and Yahoo search engines seem to have banned the use of premium rate numbers in directory enquiries type websites that use pay per click marketing.

Website owners saw their domain names disabled over and were told by customer service representatives at the advertising platforms that the business model will no longer be allowed to run on the respec-

tive pay per click networks. It follows representations that a ban on premium rate calls would have no effect if they continued to appear on the internet.

PASSPORT OFFICE TO RELOCATE

he passport office in Molesworth Street in Dublin is to move at the end of this year and relocate in a State-owned property. Speaking at the launch of the newlook Irish passport at its current of-

oments Holiday M rth Sharing Wo

fices yesterday, Eamon Gilmore said that the Passport Office would be “moving on” at the end of 2014. There are no firm plans or a moving date yet established. The cost of the new passport would

remain the same despite the overall cost of production coming down by around €7 per passport. The new passport’s use of imagery will help ensure it cannot be replicated easily with security significantly enhanced.

pitch in Club Europe on its A320 short-haul aircraft from 34 inches to 30 inches, the same legroom as in economy.

EIRCOM

Business has scrapped roaming charges for business customers travelling within the EU and the USA from New Year’s Day. Free roaming for customers in Britain was introduced earlier this year. Existing customers will be automatically upgraded to avail of the free roaming.

VERTIGO

The Step into the Void attraction opened at 3,842m in the Mont Blanc Massif mountain range, a kilometre above the Chamonix Valley.

MOOMIN

Plans for a new Moomin theme park were announced in Japan.

INSPECTOR In a bid to appeal to a wider family audience, the Premier Inn hotel appointed a 10-year-old "hotel inspector."

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CONTENTS

THE KNOWLEDGE Travel Extra Advertising & Subscriptions 6 Sandyford Office Park Dublin 18 (+3531) 2913708 Fax (+3531) 2957417 Editorial Office Clownings Straffan Co Kildare Managing Editor: Gerry O’Hare gerry@travelextra.ie Editor: Eoghan Corry eoghan.corry@ travelextra.ie Publisher: Edmund Hourican Sales Director: Maureen Ledwith maureen@bizex.ie Accounts and Advertising: Maria Sinnott maria@bizex.ie Picture Editor: Charlie Collins pix@travelextra.ie Chief Subeditor: Ida Milne ida@travelextra.ie Chief Features Writer: Anne Cadwallader anne@travelextra.ie Contributors : Eanna Brophy eanna@travelextra.ie Marie Carberry marie@travelextra.ie Carmel Higgins carmel@travelextra.ie Cauvery Madhavan cauvery@travelextra.ie Sean Mannion sean@grafacai.ie Ida Milne ida@travelextra.ie Catherine Murphy cathmurph@yahoo.com Cleo Murphy cleo@travelextra.ie

Travel Extra takes no responsibility for errors and omissions. Distribution Manager: Shane Hourican shane@bizex.ie Origination: Typeform

Printer: WG Baird Limited Caulside Drive Greystone Rd Antrim BT41 2RS Contact 01-2957418 if you have difficulty getting Travel Extra.

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6 Hotels: News 8 Brochures: Reviews 12 Trends: Newcomers to the scene 14 Destinations: Lanzarote, 16 Shark dive in South Africa, 18 Iceland, 20 Air

combat in Nevada, 22 Taiwan, 24 Oregon, 26 Utah, 28 Estoril, 30 Virginia, 46 Serbia, 47 Nevada, 49 Thailand, 49 Austria, 50 Andorra, 52 Dominican Republic, 65 Bulgaria. 34 Holiday World: The 2014 show 58 Flying: Airline and airport news

28 Britain: Our nearest neighbour 64 Fashion: Chic and Powerscourt 68 Camping: Loire and other options 70 Ireland: Home holiday news 72 Global Village Inside the travel industry 76 Window seat: Our columnists 77 Pictures: Out and about

First, pass the airport

t has been a whole six months since you last went on holidays? That is sooooh last year. Believe us, everything has changed in the meantime..

TERMINAL

Like the city itself Dublin airport has a north side and south side. The south terminal T2 has all the trendy destinations, Emirates and Etihad alternating on gate 407 the first on the right after you have descended Ireland’s longest escalator. Gates 401-6 are downstairs blocked off for much of the day by US pre-clearance. Heathrow and Gatwick flights are always on the next nearest gates. If you are flying to the Canary Islands prepare for a long walk to the last of the 400 gates. Even this is preferable to the bizarre walk from T2 back to the 300 gates at T1 for some Aer Lingus flights. Ryanair, Cityjet, and the charters are to be found at the 200 gates, and everyone else at the 100 gates, after a walkway that circumnavigates the original 1941 Desmond FitzGerald terminal building.

MOBILE Ryanair

and the charter operators are the only ones still using paper for boarding passes, something we are told will change before summer. As Ryanair are responsible for 40pc of the traffic form Dublin, this will save a lot of paper. Aer Lingus boarding pass links are still a bit tricky when you are abroad – sometimes the text giving you the link

Old airport new dynamic

only arrives when you land home.

APPS Dublin Air-

port is gone all apphappy, app includes gate numbers, check in numbers, baggage belt and an estimated time to clear security. Passbook allows passengers to store any number of mobile boarding passes directly into the app, meaning that they do not need to have actual printed copies of their tickets: Air China, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Lufthansa, Qantas and United are among those signed up.

FAST TRACK

DAA has a tiered membership system allowing parking in the short term car park and fast-track, available on their website.

SELF-TAG The next revolution is on its way. Aer Lingus tried self-tagging in the basement are of Terminal 1, Area 14, back in 2007 but was quickly abandoned. Technology has improved so they are planning to roll out a self-tagging trial in the coming months. The success or otherwise of the trial will depend on

customer feedback.

CHECK-IN It hasn’t gone away, you know. Aer Lingus have the most, 29 checkin/bag-drop desks at T2. The number of desks dedicated to check-in versus bag-drop vary on a daily basis depending on passenger loads however we tend to have more bag-drop than check-in. In addition Aer Lingus have 22 self service check-in or bag drop kiosks in all. SHOPPING

The Loop shopping area on the approach to the 300 gates has been scaled down and moved elsewhere (now that trans-Atlantic flights no longer leave from here). Extensive relocations elsewhere in T1 include Boots and Wrights.

LOUNGE The Terminal 1 Anna Livia lounge has been extended to bring together the former Anna Livia lounge and the BMI executive lounge into one large unit. The extended lounge has seating for 110 customers, includes a business area with computers and wi-fi and a family room with children’s play facilities,

bringing it into line with the south side lounges in T2. Economy passengers to use the facility for a walk-in price of €20 for three hours. Etihad have the best lounge in the airport off the walkway form T2 to T1, Aer Lingus have a two storey lounge next door while the Anna Livia lounge in T2 is accessible to Priority Pass holders.

BAGGAGE

BUSES Another revolution is the number of bus services to all parts of Ireland leaving from outside Terminal 1 each day: getting there and back has never been easier: Aircoach, Airport Hopper, Ardcavan, Bus Eireann, Citylink, Gobe, Goldline, John McGinley, Kavanagh, Dublin Coach N7, and Wexford Bus. and the trusty Dublin bus routes. The bus stops have been moved around in the past year including the car park buses (Quickpark moved from a left-hand to a right-hand turn exiting the car park building early last year) but most of them still leave from outside Terminal 1. There are notices in the terminal giving the locations by zone.

PASSPORTS

US CBP All of

Aer Lingus’s US-bound flights now pre-clear in Ireland. Until this autumn EI125, EI137 and EI139 do not preclear in Dublin. The number of pre-clearance officers was increased dramatically in September 2012 after complaints about delays. They will be needed. There are 21 flights to the USA and Canada each day in summer 2014.

Carry on limits for holiday charter flights are still catching people out. While Aer Lingus and Ryanair both allow 10kg (55x40x24 with Aer Lingus with Ryanair 4cm narrower 55x40x20), they are among the most generous allowances in aviation so be prepared for a 5kg or even 4kg limit when you are boarding. Aer Lingus Regional’s new ATRs also have a bigger cabin bag space but the allowance is still 6kg (48x33x20). Both major airlines out of Dublin chance changed their excess baggage charge policies. Aer Lingus have a three tier system with checked baggage and Ryanair a two-tier system before you hit the penal extra charges, five euro a kilo. The next step in passport technology is biometric but the bad news is that it is not going to happen for many years until all 28 EU countries can agree a standard.

SECURITY All the security in terminal one is concentrated on the left hand side for some time now with self scan machines admitting passengers. Anything with a barcode will be read by the scanners. Even the Ryanair pdf of your boarding pass will scan if you email it to your mobile phone. A pity they won’t let you board at the gate with it. Between 6am and 9am is rush hour at the airport with a growing mini wave in the afternoon.

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NEWS

SELF CATERING There are fears that new restrictions on self-catering accommodation could push up the cost of holidays to dozens of European destinations

EAST AFRICA Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda have signed a deal to implement a single regional currency within the next 10 years. DISNEY Disneyland Paris will have a

new Ratatouille-themed attraction in 2014 in Walt Disney Studios Park. Walt Disney World in Orlando will have a new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in spring 2014.

CHIC outlets have launched VIP Lounges,

now open at Maasmechelen Village near Brussels, Kildare Village near Dublin and Ingolstadt Village near Munich.

400,000 Irish go to the Canary Islands each year

Travelling still

Irish holiday makers 3rd travelled country in Europe

esidents of Ireland took 7.8m trips abroad in 2012 from a population base of 6.4m. Although outbound holidays remained flat in 2012 the Irish are spending more when on holiday. A survey of attitudes of Europeans towards tourism published by the EU showed that 85pc of Irish travelled abroad in

previous 12 months, third highest, marginally behind Sweden and Norway. The survey also showed that 39pc of people will be continuing to holiday and spending less in recession. Sporting events are big motivators for travel, while 44pc are sun and beach hollidays. The numbers travelling for sporting events, festivals, clubbing and shopping are

WHERE WE WENT 2012

Spain 1,407,000 England 1.437,000 France 602,000 North America 370,000 Portugal 358,000 Wales 358,000 Italy 345,000 Germany 164,000 Scotland 149,000 Greece 135,000

Turkey 114,000 Netherlands 116.000 Poland 65,000 Austria 58,000 Belgium 55,000 Scandinavia 53,000 Australia 61,300 Thailand: 59,894 Dubai 41,237 Croatia 30,463

all over the European average. We have the highest rate of booking through internet The number booking through the internet totals 73pc in comparison with 53pc average in EU. Despite this the number booking their main holiday through travel agents and tour operators for the family holiday remained steadfastly high at 52pc. Irish outbound travel is very HIGH relative to population. According to the EU Household Travel survey it is four times the European average. Airport usage statistics used by Aer Lingus CEO Christoph Mueller at IATA conference suggested that it could be six time the average.

A BARGAIN ALGARVE

rices in Portugal's Algarve have dipped 18pc in the past year making it the cheapest holiday spot in Europe. The latest holiday

money report from the English Post Office claims Bali is the best destination when it comes to value for money. A 'basket of holiday items, including sun lo-

tion and a meal out with wine, costs as little as €37.88 in Bali and €42.10 in the Algarve, but soars to €138,46 in Auckland, the most expensive destination.

RUDE A French café said it was going to charge rude customers more. If customers at La Petite Syrah in Nice bluntly ask for “un café” it’s €7, then €4.25 for “un café, s’il vous plait” and it’s knocked down to a bargain €1.40 if you add a “bonjour”. The owner explained his decision by saying that customers can be “just as rude as staff”. UNDERWATER The Barrier Reef off Queensland in Australia hosted the first underwater gallery.

WE’VE ALWAYS OFFERED THE LIGHTS... NOW WE GIVE YOU THE FLIGHTS! VISIT U S ON S TAND H12

DUBLI AT THE N CRUIS E SHO W

EXCLUSIVE CHARTER FROM DUBLIN 15 FEB 2015 This winter promises to be the 12-year peak for Northern Lights activity. Offer your customers a Norwegian coastal voyage with Hurtigruten. With prebookable excursions including dog-sledging, the North Cape and snowmobiling, and direct flight to Tromsø from Dublin, it really is the trip of a lifetime.

Call us on 01 607 4420 or visit www.hurtigruten.co.uk A different kind of cruise

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HOTELS

FÁILTE Ireland had 811 hotels registered

at the start of 2014 compared with 836 in 2013 and 856 in 2012. Of the 811, 34 were graded five star (unchanged), 272 four star up from 271), 353 three star (down from 366), 124 two star (down from 131) and 28 one star (down from 33). The number of hotels registered with Fáilte Ireland peaked at 917 in January 2009.

NAMA Patrick Ryan told the Hotel Prop-

erty Conference in the Doubletree (Burlington) Dublin that NAMA will bring “several prime Dublin hotels” to the market shortly after Christmas. Nama controls 10,900 hotel rooms, which is close to a fifth of the country’s entire stock.

WIFI SECURITY based IT security

company Smart-tech said that they were able to exploit security flaws on the wifi networks to access guests' web traffic and sensitive information in visits to ten hotels.

FITZWILLIAM Ampleforth Limited,

which owns the Fitzwilliam hotel on St Stephen's Green in Dublin, saw operating profits jump by 81pc to €3.06m in 2012.

MARRIOTT International have ex-

tended mobile check-in services to an additional 20 hotels in 19 countries, including the England, Mexico, UAE and India.

GREAT NATIONAL David

Byrne told the Hotel Property Conference in the Doubletree Dublin that Great National group hopes to have 50 hotels by the end of 2014, and double that number by end of 2015.

BREHON Killarney has appointed Brian Bowler as General Manager.

JURYS Inn is to rebrand three of its London hotels as Hiltons.

CLARION Pat McCann’s Dalata group will take over the operation of the Clarion Hotel at Dublin Airport after it was bought by the DAA for more than €10m.

VICEROY have appointed former Morrison Hotel GM Gerard Denneny as manager of its new 240-bed, 29-storey hotel in New York. Viceroy’s chain of 13 hotels in the US, Middle East and Europe is managed by Bill Walshe, the former chief executive of Doyle Collection hotels.

LMT says just 4pc cite a hotel's brand as their main deciding factor when booking.

FOTA Island Resort will host the 2014 Irish Open after a 12 year gap.

CITYWEST Hugh Taylor said he plans

to assemble Ireland’s biggest group of hotels out of Ulster Banks’ indebted hotel stock, starting with Citywest.

OKKO new mini-chain of four-star hotels

launches in Nantes January followed by Lyon and Grenoble in 2014, and six more in 2017.

Making its mark

Success of Marker shows demand back in Dublin

otel occupancy in Dublin is back to the levels of the height of the boom, according to Fáilte Ireland CEO Shaun Quinn. Speaking at Fáilte Ireland’s annual end of year survey he said that Dublin would soon return to a position where new hotel beds would be needed. Charlie Sheil GM of the Marker Hotel, the only major hotel opening in the capital in 2013, told the Hotel Property Conference in Dublin in December that the hotel had come out of cold storage to become an instant hit. A number of major extensions have started the planning process for Dublin hotels, while come of the most famous south Dublin hotels have rebranded, the Burlington as the Doubletree by Hilton, Jurys as the Ballsbridge Hotel and the Berkeley Court hotel as the Clyde Court Hotel. The ETAP Hotel Belfast opened at the end of summer, a 146-room budget hotel at 35-39 Dublin Road while the Malone Lodge Hotel reopened after a considerable redevel-

EUROPEAN HOTEL PRICES DROP

rivago reported the average price of a hotel room in Ireland in January on their price comparison site was €86, down 7pc month on month): Donegal cost €109 (down 2pc month on month), Killarney €93 (down 4pc), Kilkenny €91 (down 3pc), Dublin €90 (down 9pc), Belfast €89 (down 7pc), Sligo €83 (down 5pc), Cork €82 (down 28pc), Waterford €81 (flat), Derry €79 (down Paris

€165 London

€163 Oslo

€145 Milan Stockholm

€141 Cologne

€134

NEW Hotel software could allow hoteliers €133 Frankfurt to link their reviews to their room rates. €132 STARWOOD is integrating content

from photo-sharing site Instagram on all of its websites for 1,500 properties worldwide.

Charlie Shiel of the Marker Hotel: Success story opment and extension at the start of Enniskillen Hotel opened in December 2012. A new 60 bedroom Premier 2013. Hotels in planning in Belfast in- Inn opened at Crescent Link in Derry clude a new hotel by the Hill Brothers at end of November 2012 and had its (who own Galgorm Manor and used official launch in January 2013. Planto own Ten Sq) on the corner of ning permission has been passed for Donegall Square South. a new hotel in Omagh. Not quite a 2013 opening but the

Copenhagen

4pc), Galway €79 (down 12pc), Tralee €78 (down 7pc) and Limerick €73 (down 6pc). Warsaw which showed the biggest month-on-month increase in hotel prices in December is now showing one of the biggest month on month drops in the history of the index. One night cost an average of €90, which was an 18pc increase from €76 per night the previous month. In January prices returned to €60.

Hotel prices have decreased dramatically in Venice, Rome and Florence and there are significant decreases in Barcelona (down 28pc to €107 in December and 14pc further to €92 per night in January) and Prague (down 25pc to €81). The most significant decrease can be found in Venice (down 46pc in December to an average of €136 per night and 30pc further in January to €105 per night.

EUROPEAN HOTEL PRICE INDEX Lisbon €131 €107 €93 €86 €78 Venice Manchester Bristol Berlin Istanbul Tralee €128 €105 €85 Killarney €77 Munich Vienna Madrid Marseilles Dresden €121 €103 €84 €92 Leipzig Florence Venice

Salzburg

€114 Cork

€112 Amsterdam

€110 Donegal

€109

Brussels Edinburgh Hamburg Lyon

€101 Rome

€99

Cannes

€97

Barcelona Kilkenny Liverpool Prague

€91

Brighton Dublin Leeds

€90

Belfast

€89

Nice

Limerick

Glasgow Sligo

€73

Birmingham Waterford

€70

€83 Cork

€82 €81

Derry Galway

€79

Granada Nottingham

€72

Bucharest Bilbao

€69

Athens Budapest Seville

€68

Malaga

€67

Valencia

€64

Saragossa

€63

Warsaw

€60 Sofia

€57

Source: Trivago.ie

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FEBRUARY 2014 PAGE 8

OFF THE RACK

Anne Cadwallader’s Brochure Reviews

CLASSIC RESORTS

INSIGHT EUROPE

Far & Away

Bringing home the wine in Lanzarote

THOS COOK WINTER SUN

inter sun a n d cruise holidays are what most people long for at this time of year. The Thomas Cook winter-sun/cruise brochure is now out there to tempt travellers outside Ireland, not that much tempting is necessary at this time of year as the wind howls and the rain drums down. People are right now inevitably gazing in travel agents’ windows and wondering how – and when – to escape it all. Thomas Cook has the answers with adult-only holidays and others perfect for those on the edge of retirement who want to celebrate. There are the tried-and-trusted hotels – where people return year after year – such as the Los Fariones Hotel on Lanzarote, and the Sentido range of luxury resorts such as the Sentido Reef Oasis Senses (all-inclusive) in Hadaba, Egypt. The Canary Islands are Ireland’s favourite destination in winter-time and

I hear great reports of the Lopesan Costa Meloneras Resort on Gran Canaria where a spa atmosphere on the edge of a nature reserve promises peace – if you want it – or water-sports by the bucket-load if you don’t. Then there is the cruise alternative. Thomas Cook’s cruise partners include Royal Caribbean, Costa Cruise Lines, MSC, Cunard and a host of others including the six-star Silverseas line and the Norwegian Hurtigruten. We really should stop speaking about “cruise” holidays as though they were all the same! These days they can be so different – from huge behemoths to much smaller vessels that offer a more intimate, less hurried, ambiance. And on the subject of ambiance, Thomas Cook also offer holidays to Las Vegas – flying daily from Dublin. That’s just got to be better than the driving rain and cold winds outside.

SUNWAY RIVER CRUISE

f you say “river cruising” to me, I think “Danube, Rhine, Seine” but I really shouldn’t as – these days – you can also river cruise in Russia, Vietnam, Africa and Cambodia. Who would have thought it? I am of a generation where “Mekong” conjures up images of war and deprivation – not luxury cruising – but I will have to mind my ways. Sunway River Cruising’s brochure offers a holiday beginning in Hanoi, taking in Angkor Wat before cruising on the Mekong River visiting Buddhist temples and floating markets. The Russian Waterways Cruise takes you from Moscow to St. Petersburg along the Volga-Baltic waterway system and through Europe’s two largest lakes

( a n d y o u thought Lough Neagh was the biggest). The African Cruise option includes cruising near Victoria Falls (most certainly not over the Falls!) and includes a safari in Kruger National Park and city visits to Cape Town and Johannesburg. Talk about different styles of holiday … The more traditional European river cruise-style holidays, of course, are not overlooked in the brochure with holidays gently travelling up and down the Danube from Budapest to Nuremburg and on the Rhine/Mosel (my favourite) visiting Rudesheim, Cologne and Koblenz

h e Caribbean and Indian oceans, the Gulf of Arabia, Africa, Asia and the USA. All the loveliest and most exotic places you can imagine and the finest resorts feature in the Classic Resorts brochure this year – out now. “Tailor-made” and “personalised” are the two descriptions that Classic offer their customers. This is not a mass-market operation and you can even choose to upgrade to helicopter or limo transfers if the “shared” option doesn’t sound quite the think, my dear. On page five of the brochure there is even a list of airlines Classic use with precise details given of leg-room on board for economy, business and first class with the degree given allowing you to lean back on long flights. Having given you an idea of the precision of the product on offer, what about the places? In the Caribbean, Classic offer the usual (Antigua, Jamaica, Aruba) and the less obvious (St. Lucia, Cuba). Having heard so much about Cuba, it’s definitely on my bucket-list. The Seychelles I have visited and the beauty of the islands cannot be matched in even the most glamorous photographs. The islands are exquisite. There is nowhere like Mauritius for great serv-

s the winter drags on, thousands of people are at home now wondering, “Why wait until summer?” and the Insight Vacations brochure focussing on Europe (including the Mid-East and Morocco) answers that question in the most delightful way. “No reason to wait at all” the brochure beckons would-be holidaymakers, with its many options of premium escorted journeys by road, rail and cruise-line. With prices up to a quarter less than in summer, with key attractions less crowded, the luxury escorted-holiday option can appeal to many of us with the time to spend on that holiday we always promised we would take. Upgraded hotels in cities such as Venice, Munich, Lisbon, Rome and Budapest with airport transfers thrown in and sightseeing tours with priority admission in many places – what’s to wait for? For example, if you have always wanted to visit the main Greek archaeo-

ice and gorgeous hotels and the Maldives is another destination on the bucket-list. That’s the feeling you get from reading the Classic brochure: “I must go there. Now!”. Mauritius I have visited and the Constance Belle Mare Plage is a wonderfully typical hotel on the island. Stunning beaches, fabulous rooms, unbeatable food and, I am reliably informed, great golf courses (although wild horses wouldn’t get me onto a golf course). Safari holidays in Africa can be twinned with breaks along the unspoilt coasts of Tanzania or Zanzibar while Cape Town’s bustling streets and the rocky coast of the Cape of Good Hope and the Winelands of the Western Cape lie ready to be explored on a fly-drive. Thailand’s resorts are growing in number each year with Pattaya, Phuket and Koh Samui now joined by places like Hua Hin and Cha-am (traditional resorts now popular with non-Thais and only two hours by road from Bangkok). All the most glam resorts and upmarket hotels seem to be crammed into the Classic Resorts brochure. “Luxury Worldwide Holidays” it says on the cover and it isn’t one word of a lie.

logical sites, there is a tour taking in Delphi, the Corinth Canal, Olympia, Epidaurus and, of course, Athens. But if you want to island-hop, there are no two islands more different than Mykonos and Santorini. Always wanted to visit the great cities of Italy? Fasten your seat belts for a tour of Venice, Florence, Rome, Naples and Sorrento. Or if the great northern Italian lakes of Garda and Como take your fancy, there’s the “Italian Intermezzo” tour. You can visit both Spain (Madrid, Salamanca, Grenada), Portugal (Lisbon) and Morocco (Tangier, Casablanca, Marrakesh) on another and, if you want to head to north instead of south, you can go to Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo and the fjords including the unmissable Geiranger on one two-week tour. The Alps, Eastern Europe, Israel, Jordan and Egypt also feature so – as someone once said – the world is your lobster.

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OFF THE RACK

Anne Cadwallader’s Brochure Reviews

TOPFLIGHT

here’s a winning combination in being 100pc Irish owned and yet offering holidays in places as far-flung as the Far East, South Africa and the States. And that’s being able to offer stability and familiarity and the exotic, all in the same bundle. Topflight pushes all those buttons and has just launched its “Worldwide” and “USA and Canada” brochures so customers can be reassured of the quality of the service (and that their holidays won’t disappear in a puff of jet-engine smoke). Yet the whole world is on offer for those who want to break the boundaries of the standard “fly and flop” European holiday - from the Rocky Mountains to a safari in South Africa to the romanticism of a break in Bali or The Seychelles. Honeymooners on the look-out for a post-marital holiday will find the many options irresistibly attractive. In the “Worldwide” brochure are all the deepblue pools, the luxury, the white-sand beaches and the candle-lit dining rooms you could possibly imagine. Those who yearn for a bit of explor:

ing and adventure will find the “USA and Canada” brochure likewise packed with options for city-breaks in exciting places such as Boston and New York or, for people with kids, holidays in Florida that take in the inevitably theme parks of Orlando. As one would expect from an Irish company, the Fitzpatrick hotels of Manhattan come first in the brochure for visitors to New York but there are plenty of others on offer, summing up the attraction of this brochure. It’s Irish but not just Irish! There are luxury escorted tours on offer too, like one that takes in the main cities of the east coast of the USA including NYC, Newport, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington and the country in-between. There’s another tour, of Hawaii, and even – in the USA – the option of an aircruise where you hop from one destination to another in minutes in private planes via private airports, giving you more time to enjoy your holiday highlights.

SUMMER SUN50

FREE ROOM

UPGRADES _______

NO SINGLE SUPPLEMENT _______

Sunsoak UNIWORLD EUROPE/ASIA

outique river cruisi n g ” . Doesn’t that sound just so comfortable and relaxing, combined with interesting and scenic? Page 3 of the Uniworld “Boutique River Cruise Collection” is irresistible, promising culinary “experiences” (not just meals!) and cultural enrichment. Average ship guest numbers are just 130 with riverview staterooms, all transfers, English-speaking guides and unlimited drinks on board. An array of different pillow options, marble bathrooms and hand-made beds just finishes the dream. And then, of course, there are the rivers! The Danube and Rhine feature largely, of course, but also the Po in Italy

and the Venetian lagoon, the Seine ( f o r Paris), the Swiss lakes, the Moselle, the Main and the Douro through Portugal. Instead of shlepping down highways and autobahns, you gently glide past the great cities of Europe, all built on rivers for obvious reasons, alighting where you want to explore and enjoying lots of pampering and free time on board to read your book and enjoy the food and company of your companion. It seems, judging by details of what’s in every bathroom, that every whim is catered for, from plush towels, backlit mirrors, cosy bathrobes and even slippers. Bring it on, says I, for one.

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399 2* Villa Florida Apts Turkey €349 4* Sea Pearl Hotel Sorrento €399 2* Tourist Hotel

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Page 012 trends r 10/01/2014 15:57 Page 1

FEBRUARY 2014 PAGE 12

TRENDS FOR 2014

Places to watch in 2014 T

Sydney was Ireland’s favourite indirect holiday destination in 2013

here is no doubt what is the big news in international travel will be in 2014. Canada has emerged from the margins of outbound tourism from Ireland with a huge boost in air capacity, with 27 flights per week, up from ten last summer. Air Canada Rouge’s daily Dublin-Toronto commences 1 May and stays year-round daily. Aer Lingus DublinToronto commences 21 April daily and runs to October when it goes to four weekly Air Transat will fly five

times per week DublinToronto from April 22 to October. Westjet will fly an exciting new route daily, Dublin-St John's commencing June 15. Air Transat’s weekly DublinMontreal flight will run July to September. Air capacity to the USA will grow for the third successive year, up by about 10pc. This will be led by a new Aer Lingus route to San Francisco, larger aircraft on Dublin-Philadelphia from US Airways, and United will have 90 extra flights to Chicago and 26,000 extra seats

Dublin Airport’s top long haul connecting destinations (not including direct flights) are: 1 Sydney 2 New York 3 Orlando 4 San Francisco 5 Los Angeles 6 Melbourne 7 Johannesburg 8 Singapore 9 Toronto 10 Perth.

Dublin Airport’s top short-haul connecting destinations (not including direct flights) are: 1 Helsinki 2 Moscow 3 Luxembourg 4 Gothenburg 5 Hamburg 6 Hanover 7 Nuremberg 8 Oslo 9 Bucharest 10 Stockholm

DUBLIN CONNECTIONS

from Dublin thanks to a second Dublin-Newark flight in the summer. While prices look high on San Francisco, there is an impact on indirect flights, through New York or London, which are currently selling at about €200 less than the direct service.

astbound there is big news as well. Emirates are to go double daily from Dublin to Dubai in September bringing the number of weekly flights to the Gulf region from 17 to 24. It is terrific news for tourism to the region and also to the onward connecting destinations such as Bangkok, Phuket, Kuala Lumpur, the Indian and Chinese destinations and the Australian cities we love to visit so much. Turkish Airlines have extra flights to Istanbul with its connections onwards to honey pot sun destinations such as Bangkok, while Emirates and Etihad have one stop services to an ever increasing number of Asian and Australian destina-

tions. Etihad who have ten weekly services on Dublin-Abu Dhabi recently added Perth to their expanding mix and both airlines have onestop connections to Phuket. Brazil, which stages the world cup, has lots of new hotel rooms to sell especially when the tournament is over and prices stabilize, more than half the new hotel rooms in South America are being built in Brazil, 369 projects due to deliver 62,849 rooms. This is likely too many rooms even during the world cup. During the 2010 World Cup South Africa had 68,000 daily rooms available, a level of supply that totally overwhelmed demand even during the tournament. The result of this is that we will see discounted hotel rooms in the aftermath of the World Cup, but unfortunately access fares to Brazil will remain high leaving them out of the reach of most holiday markers.

he cruise industry is also planning a big year, with four major launches of 4,000passenger cruise ships from Royal Caribbean, Princess, Norwegian and Costa and a 2,500 passenger cruise ship from TUI. The most prominent of these, Quantum of the Seas is expected to be delivered in November 2014 with game changing features such as screens in inside cabins to give ocean and port views. Other “firsts at sea” include a skydiving experience and the North Star, a jewel like capsule that extends 300 feet above the ocean and over the sides of the ship to deliver 360degree views for guests, the largest indoor sports and entertainment complex at sea with bumper cars, roller skating and the cruise line’s largest and most advanced staterooms ever. Cruise business has increased by 10-20pc a year over the past forty years with new bigger ships being launched and a rise in repeat business.

t all adds up to glad travel tidings: we have a buoyant travel industry again after four years of relative stagnation. Overall air capacity will increase again by about 10pc in 2014. So far 36 new air routes and two new ferry routes have been announced from Irish airports and there are capacity increases on dozens of existing routes. About a third of these are to sun routes and some of them, while aimed at the inbound market (the two west of Ireland airports have four new routes to Germany between them) will be significant for those seeking a bargain weekend away. We learned during the recession that less money to spend does not mean that air fares come down: airlines cancel routes, leaving us with less choice and consequently higher fares. Nearly eight million people will travel abroad from the island of Ireland next year. Make sure you are amongst them.

Page 013 09/01/2014 11:22 Page 1

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Page 014 Lanzarote by Marie r 13/01/2014 12:51 Page 1

FEBRUARY 2014 PAGE 14

DESTINATION LANZAROTE

ou could be forgiven for thinking that the food plan in Lanzarote consists of an all-day breakfast and pints of San Miguel beer. I was standing outside one of the many Irish bars where four middle aged couples were having the craic. They were also watching TV. Every so often one of them gave a roar when a GAA player scored. That’s right, a GAA match in downtown Puerto Del Carmen. In fact, they were watching Down versus Donegal live, eating an Irish breakfast in the afternoon and enjoying a few pints. The sun was beating down and they were wearing their county jerseys as sun protection. They were all, as one of them said, ‘having a great time’. Everywhere I looked in Puerto Del Carmen there were Irish people having a great time. In May this year a total of 17,974 Irish tourists visited the island (26% more than in May 2012). The occupancy of our hotel, the four star Seaside Los Jameos Playa, was 20% Irish. It felt more. The atmosphere was lively yet laid back, filled with the sound of families and couples laughing and talking. Irish people, however, can stay in the one place

Having a Lava Marie “Lanza” Carberry sings the praises of Lanzarote

Playa Blanca in Lanzarote

for only so long (we are the biggest hirer of rental cars on the island) and soon it was time to explore our environs.

anzarote is the easternmost island of the Canaries, lying just 125km off the coast of Africa. For six years during the 1700s the island was hit by a series of volcanic eruptions that covered almost a quarter of the island in lava and ash.

PLACES TO SEE

■ Down at Puerto Calero take a trip on a catamaran. Sail time is four hours and ticket includes drinks, refreshments and a light lunch plus a chance to jet ski, snorkel and swim. Great family fun. ■ If you think because you have seen one cactus then you’ve seen the all then think again. The Jardin de Cactus in Teguise is a spectacular botanical garden which was the last work of Cesar Manrique. It shelters over 7,000 types of cactus. ■ Cueva de los Verdes, or Green Cave, is one of the longest volcanic tunnels in the world. It also houses a secret which is well worth the entrance fee. ■ Taro de Tahiche is where you will

The landscape was forever changed but out of the destruction came, what is today, Lanzarote’s biggest attraction – Timanfaya National Park. On entering the park the visitor is struck by the lunar landscape and eerie quiet. At the visitor centre our guide, Jorge, explained how the ground retains a temperature of .up to 600 degrees. This was evident when one of the park rangers threw a bush into a hole and it immediately caught

find Cesar Manrique’s house, a beautiful subterranean structure that probably best shows his artistic ideals. ■ High up on the Risco de Famara on the most northerly part of the island is the Mirador del Rio where you can enjoy Lanzarote’s most spectacular panorama. ■ Papagayo is a popular beach located in the area collectively also known as Playas del Papagayo, in a national park at the South-Eastern tip of the island. It is known for its fine white sand and crystal clear, calm waters. ■ Yaiza is a beautiful and tranquil village in the south of Lanzarote that has twice won the prize for being the loveliest village in Spain.

fire with a whoosh, almost singeing our eyebrows. You can also cook your own lunch over a small volcano and eat it in the restaurant attached. In this way no blame can be attached to the chef. Back on the bus we climbed higher into the mountains, on a series of hairpin bends, with Jorge doing his own sound effects which involved humming the air of 2001 – A Space Odyssey. You can do this trip on your own or with a bus tour. I recommend that you do it with Jorge of Jumpy Tours.

short distance away is the Monumento al Campesino in the geographical centre of the island. The monument is dedicated to fertility and designed by the islands’ most famous resident, the renowned artist, Cesar

Manrique. Manrique, who was killed in a car crash in 1992, had an involvement or influence on most of the development on the island, from the Cactus Garden to ensuring that few of the buildings are higher than a palm tree to the fact that all of the houses are painted the one colour – white. You can seek planning permission to paint your house another shade but, as Jorge advised us, permission is always refused so it’s a waste of time. The island is all the better for its planning laws as it gives it a timeless, easy going feel reflected in the friendliness and hospitality of its citizens. From the monument you can visit the house museum and enjoy tapas in the restaurant attached. Specialities include tiny potatoes boiled in sea water, Serrano ham, deep

fried fish and black pudding all washed down with the most delicious wines. Speaking of wines a visit to the Bodega Stratvs should be on everyone’s itinerary. Only opened since 2007, this sympathetic development sits among the rock as if it has been there forever. Inside, burnished wood brings warmth to the stone and check out the ceiling as it comprises of free hanging lava rock that somehow defies gravity. Outside you can enjoy tapas and taste their gorgeous wines under the shade of olive trees. It can be booked for weddings and, I have to admit, after visiting there, I am contemplating renewing my wedding vows.

anzarote is also famous for its series of connecting caves, underground grottoes and jameos. A jameos is formed when a tunnel ceiling collapses, most often occurring when its width exceeds twenty metres, or when gases accumulate and explode. One of its most famous, the Los Jameos del Agua is located inside a volcanic tunnel which also houses an internal lake. The visitor is allowed down into the cave via a spiral staircase. The Jameos opens into a concert hall and, once again, you can see Cesar Manrique’s influence in its environmentally friendly development. Lanzarote has something for everyone from its superb beaches to its landscape to its food and its architectural delights and the numbers prove this. After all, 17,974 of us can’t be wrong!

■ Marie Carberry travelled to Lanzarote courtesy of the Spanish Tourist Board and Aer Lingus. ■ Aer Lingus operates return flights from Dublin to Lanzarote daily except Sundays on their summer schedule. For more information on fares and schedules and to book log on to www.aerlingus.com

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Page 016-017 Shark Dive r 13/01/2014 10:23 Page 1

FEBRUARY 2014 PAGE 16

DESTINATION SOUTH AFRICA

ou know that uneasy feeling when you first see a wild animal in a cage on a childhood trip to the zoo? This was that feeling in reverse. I was in the cage, and the sharks had come to look at me. It is the eyes, not the teeth that impress you. The sound that can never be captured on photograph or video, and the adrenaline that can not be conveyed by any medium except putting on the suit and mask and taking the plunge yourself. Our fascination with the much misunderstood shark means that tourist shark diving has become an industry in itself. "Swim towards the guys that smell like deodorant and stress and you'll get food," said the captain, John Miller. He was joking, I think. Part of a world-wide plot to classically condition sharks to eat travel writers? Shark cage diving is a growing and thriving industry, tourists cannot get enough of it in the new age of experiential tourism. It works the same way all around the world: the boat owners put a big cage on board the boat and head out to sea; eight kilometres in this case, and then drop the cage in the water. They put people inside the cage, so the animals can come and look, a bit like the monkey cages in

Caged bait

Getting cagey with sharks

Eoghan Corry dives for a closer look

Eoghan Corry is on the left as the sharks converge

the zoo except in reverse. They then charge the sharks twelve euro to come and look at the humans. Or so it should be. Instead they chum the sharks with fish oil, liquid anchovy oil to bring them near to the boat. They then feed them bits of chopped up fish so that they stay around while each of the divers gets in the water. It is a bit like those safari people who feed lions to bring them close to the

vehicle. The boat skippers say that fishermen have been doing it for generations but really that is not a defence. The people from Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa (FTTSA) say they have finally certified one shark dive for good practice, something which surprised me as the entire concept is problematic.

ur shark diving guide at Park Rynie near Dur-

ban chummed and fed merrily. Our host John Miller and the deck hands Muzi Zikhali and Lindani Mathjwa are not doing anything different from everyone else on the other corner of the country around Cape Town. The upshot is that when they put me and two of my travel writing colleagues into a cage and the sharks came and swirled around us. Okay, the ethical considerations are not what comes to mind when you are down there. First the sound, the bubble of your air and the dull boom of the underwater ocean, then the clink, chink of the cage. Then the animals themselves, they look like Mo from the Simpsons except with more teeth showing twenty odd shiny pearlies on the lower jaw all exposed at once. But the feature that strikes you

most is their eyes, round and glassy. Most of the western cape dive experiences the ones out of Gansbaai and Kleinbaai, are Great White Shark encounters, much more glamorous and Charlie Boorman. Our encounter was with tiger sharks. There was a menageries around them, little ones eating parasites off their backs, big round ones, repeating a cyclical and frenzied tennis-match over and back manoeuvre.

e had a good look, then a research vessel came by noisily and the sharks all left. So the skipper moved the boat. We went down for a second look, fewer sharks but again that amazing sound and amazing view of the animals. Then an embarrass-

ment. Motion sickness. In a shark cage. I felt queasy every time I returned to the surface. I went down underwater again hoping that it would go away. My stomach was now filled with salt water as well as everything else. I had worked on my laptop on the drive to rocky bay beach. This has my stomach a little upset before we even put to sea. The oysters starter, two types, and the vindaloo curry from the night before also has my stomach upset. Maybe the nervousness of being so close the shark has also played its part. The heavy weighted diving belt, tight on my middle-age spreaded midriff, played its part too. The great question of the moment in those extremely shark infested waters was: do I get sick over one of my fellow writers in the shark cage and have the ignominy of

Eoghan Corry travelled to South Africa as a guest of the South African Tourist Board. www.southafrica.net

Page 016-017 Shark Dive r 13/01/2014 10:23 Page 2

FEBRUARY 2014 PAGE 17

DESTINATION SOUTH AFRICA this mishap forever ringing through print, airwaves and web. I surface and go back to the boat. There are few feelings of uncertainty like the nausea that suggests the food supply of the previous 24 hours is all about to come up the way it went down. Another colleague is now getting sick over the edge. I didn’t barf, but it was close. Feeding the sharks never had a clearer meaning.

hey are beautiful and unthreatening animals, graceful, agile and muscular. They only appear menacing because we have seen one Jaws sequel too many. They moved gracefully and they came right up close, which considering my hands and feet were both hanging on to the

cage, was a little disconcerting. These dives are designed to demystify the shark, maligned for being more aggressive than actuality. You can’t overdo the rehabilitation of the much-mis unders tood beautiful animals, and chumming might be a small price to pay. You

got to recognize some of them, with their scars, mementoes of past battles, what a life story they could tell. As well as eating the bait thrown overboard I saw one swallowing a live fish. Life snuffed out in a bite. To quote Monty Python’s Meaning of Life, makes you think.

he shark cage dive was one of the coolest things I did, but I had another of the coolest things I am going to do all year before lunch that day. A cross between zip lining and bungee jumping is the bungee swing. You jump from a height of 108 metres over

the green grass, bounce on the rope and swing out into the middle of the new soccer stadium in Durban. Comfort zone is not even in the same galaxy as this experience. I am not afraid of heights but standing on the platform I was terrified. It took them three goes to get me the

edge, I then jumped like a coward, screaming and clutching the rope, persuading myself it was more a zip line than a bungee. The drop was sudden and nit too long before I was left floating in the air, arms outstretched like an angel. It was peaceful, exhilarating and most importantly, over. Coming back was painful. They hoisted me up, bobbing like an orange in a bath-tub, and I spun outrageously backwards and crashed into the viewing platform. But I was so filled with adrenaline and fear I did not mind. What about it? The drop is so quick you could not really appreciate it. The time bobbing around over ground is like an eternity. A great experience? Perhaps. Glad that it was over? Definitely.

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Page 018 Iceland r 10/01/2014 15:58 Page 1

FEBRUARY 2014 PAGE 18

DESTINATION ICELAND

t is a combination you will never forget, no matter how far and how often your travel: steamy thermal water and snowflakes. Despite what the geysers and waterfalls might claim, Iceland’s signature attraction is the Blue Lagoon, a giant steam bath that is so close to the airport (13 kilometres) you could pop in after checkin. The pool is a newcomer even in a landscape as fragile as Iceland’s. It emerged during the construction of a geothermal power station in 1976. Modern changing rooms were built at the entrance in 1992 and have been upgraded since to cope with the growing Lagoon squad. You can see why they come. When you plod your piggies into the silicon in waste-deep water it is impressive a bath as you will have anywhere. No self-respecting world traveller nowadays can return on the two and a quarter hour charter flight to Dublin without the photograph of themselves immersed in the warm water with the steam rising and, if you want the full effect, a few icicles as a distant backdrop.

Iceland’s niceties

Eoghan Corry finds Iceland has become a cooler place since the crash

War experience in a cool place: the Blue Lagoon in Iceland

he other star attraction of Icelandic tourism does not always tog out for visitors. When I visited in November the Northern Lights had not been seen since October 16. Not that they told us that when they bussed us out to the countryside. The standard meatand-two-Brennivín three-day Iceland tour is built around a cluster of waterfalls (Gullfoss, Sel-

jalandsfoss the narrow one and wider Skogarfoss), a folk museum, and the ancient assembly site Thingvellir (beside the eerie drowning lake, Drekkingarhylur), where they brought us to see the Northern Lights, presumably because they have ample parking space for the coaches there. They just said they could not be guaranteed. The noisy schoolgirls from Surrey had given up after an hour (“I could have seen the stars at home”). The three busloads sent from Ireland by Travel Department were made of stronger stuff. Our guide, Orn Gudmundsson told us the key was the faint arc that traced the skyline. Once you see that, you have a good chance. All you need is patience. We struck lucky. When the lights came they performed and danced. The Northern Lights have moods, like all good meteorological phenomena. The Gods knew we were here, said Orn.

aybe they favoured us Irish. Our islands are bound up in each others imagination and even DNA. Iceland is a two hour 15 minute flight away but as close culturally as you might wish. The first settlers, the Papas, where Culdee missionaries. The female DNA traces back to Ireland. St Patrick (Patrek) and Brian Boru (Brjan) have starring roles in their famous medieval sagas as do Örlygur Hrappsson and Esja, who spread the word of Columbanus in the 9th century. Neither of them feature in Irish literature, but St Buo, missionary to Iceland does, and is unknown in Iceland. A case of a deft name change, perhaps? Icelandic children are as familiar with the story of Irish queen Melkorka daughter of Myrkjartan (Macartan/Muircertach) as they are with any Disney Princess. Donna Jo Napoli won a prize with her retelling in a 2007 young adult novel Hush: An Irish Princess' Tale.

hen the unpronounceable volcano Eyjafjallajökull shut down European airspace in April 2010, only one western European airport remained open. It was Keflavik, the main airport in Iceland. All the ash blew off the island. They have built a visitor centre in a cowshed beside Eyjafjallajökull to tell the story of the eruption that had newsreaders everywhere stuttering over their Is and Fs. Talk to Icelanders about the fiasco, and they give you withering “a welcome to our world” look. Olafur Eggertsson and his wife Gudny Valberg narrate the video at Þorvaldseyri (Thorvaldseyri) farm, explaining that’s what happens when you live with fire and ice as close companions. These people are ninth in the world happiness league. It must be down to the neighbours. Since the year AD 1500 about one-third of the Earth's total lava flow has poured out of the volcanoes of

Eoghan Corry travelled to Iceland with Travel Department, who organise direct charters to Keflavik as part of a series of two and three day tours, including an Easter tour and combinations with Norway. www.traveldepartment.ie. 01-6371600

Iceland. When it came to building a tourist industry, it helped to have such volatile companions.

ostcard Iceland is rural, the place that fills the tales of their greatest writer and Nobel laureate Halldór Kiljan Gudjónsson (Laxness). His farmstead is another country museum. Urban Iceland has a lot to offer too. Iceland is two thirds the size of Ireland with a population of just 300,000, the equivalent of counties Limerick and Tipperary put together, and most of those live in the capital. Reykjavik city had lots of room to spread eastwards and used it. ”We like single apartment houses” said our guide, Orn Gudmundsson. The old centre, if anything from about 250 years old can be considered old, is surprisingly intact. The main shipping and dining streets veer off, two sides of a triangle from the old harbour and the penitentiary that now serves as the prime minister’s office (surprise). The prices are down from the cracked 1990s, Irish soccer supporters wallets still break into goosepimples when they remember the £6 a pint they paid in the 1998 world cup. It is still €7 a pint, €5 for happy hour promotions, and most main courses come in at around €30. The action in fish restaurants, and they are wonderful, can be found at the pointy end of a triangular neighbourhood: a place where fish used to be landed in open boats right up to a generation ago. One advantage: you can survive without local currency. Even the fish and chip shop, Drekinn, took plastic.The fish was fresh and the price affordable. Iceland is a cooler place since the recession.

Page 019 09/01/2014 11:24 Page 1

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Page 020 air combat r 10/01/2014 15:59 Page 1

FEBRUARY 2014 PAGE 20

DESTINATION USA

Travel Extra editor Eoghan Corry straps in for the flight of his life

hose that talk of a rush of blood to the head have never flown a fighter jet upside down over the Nevada desert. When I signed up for the sky combat experience in Henderson, just outside Las Vegas, I was not sure what to expect. The www.skycombatace.com publicity said that you would actually get to fly an aircraft, the equivalent of a fighter jet, an extreme roller coaster ride, with you in charge. It turned out to be true. You are shown a short training video and told how to steer this amazing beast, a German built

uclid never made it to Las Vegas. The straight line is never the shortest distance between two points. The city is built for cars, not for walkers. A good starting suggestion for getting from A to B is to head off in the opposite direction. It is an unusual city in other ways. Almost all the promotional photographs you see of Las Vegas are taken at night. The city does exist by day (they assure you) but it is an ordinary place, good for airport transfers and a limited range of other activities. It was June, and was too hot to step outside even if you wanted to. Leave the air condi-

Another flying mess M

Eoghan Corry flies a fighter jet over the Nevada Desert

Extra 330LCm two-seat, tandem aerobatic craft, $8m worth of hardware ready to fly at 8Gs over the red sand. That sounded more complicated than it was. It involved putting your hand between your legs and pulling a handle. Sounds good so far. The pilot can override me if I do anything silly (he may have heard of the tioned comfort and you burn. Some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world lie just outside Las Vegas, which should be a major selling point of the city, more even than the gambling that has made the city famous. Most people see these landscapes by Perspex tourism, looking at red boulders or layered canyons from a bus trip or helicopter ride, stop at the top, then at the bottom and fly back in the evening with Journey blasting in the ear phones. Back to Vegas of the 12,000 entertainers, eight Cirque du Soleil shows, fine dining restaurants and throbbing night clubs.

incident involving the cruiser at Meelick Lough in 2007). Jeremy Dieringer’s instructions are direct and persuasive. “Don’t pull this handle because the canopy will eject and we may have to bail out,” presumably leaving us at the mercy of your parachute over the Nevada desert. I want to say “why did

This year sees the arrival of 600-foot-tall observation wheel, the world’s largest standing 107 feet higher than the London Eye. It will be the first really distinctive addition to the skyline since the construction of New York New York’s faux Manhattan skyscraper in 1997 (when Aria’s 10,000 bed new mega-resort opened in 2009 it was a lower more spread-out affair, and had no real impact on the cityscape). Vegas intends renewing and transforming the strip over the coming years. Lots of new rooms meant lower prices. Average room rates were $123 in 2008. They are now at $106. Vegas is great value just now.

you tell me about that handle, I didn’t even know it was there.” He warns me not to hit the differential toebrake during takeoff or landing as you will flip the aircraft (why do they do that, once you hear you instantly want to do so). Otherwise he reassures me I am safe: “whatever flight condition you inadvertently get into, we have plenty of altitude to recover from.”

e take off. The heat is intense (43 in the shade this year) and the adrenaline is already being injected as fast as jet fuel. Now, said my pilot, you are in charge. So soon? How do I know how high I am. He rotates the jet over and tells me to look down. That’s how. Then he takes control and does a loop. He invited me to do it, and I do it. He then takes control and does a roll. I do the

same. There is a whole menu to go through: cuban eights, hammerheads, tail slides and spins. The real heavy duty tumble is called a lomcevak. Apparently it is Polish for hangover. We watch one of my travel writing colleagues do similar manoeuvres, spaced between mine. One of his drops heartstoppingly low. Look left, said my instructor, so I did. THAT, he said, is the sight of Las Vegas upside-down. It is a sight I will never forget.

y pilot takes over and brings me home, showing me through some contour flying, cruising at 230mph and then brings me through 4G in one manoeuvre. People have tolerance for 6Gs and women have higher tolerance. When the speed picks up the corners of your eyes begin to darken. I now know what tunnel vision means. T h e skycombatace.com experience allows people participate in an aerial dogfight. Apparently it is a big hit with stag parties.

Air combat clients get to fly a German built Extra 330LCm two-seat, tandem aerobatic craft

www.skycombatace.com offer a variety of flight packages where visitors get to fly the aircraft. No previous flying experience is necessary Eoghan Corry flew to Las Vegas with Aer Lingus and Jetblue transferring through their shared terminal at New York JFK, Terminal 5. www.aerlingus.com.

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he ghosts in Taiwan have a better sense of timing than ours. They return to our world in August, not as the Celtic ones do in November. I especially wanted to find the festival of the dead, on the lunar eighth month, “ghost month” when the dead come back to visit at night. They still celebrate it with Confucian enthusiasm, young people springing straight out of mythology to take over one of the most developed countries on the planet and pay their homage to the wandering spirits who emerge when the gates of the underworld open and roam free, causing havoc among the living. Offerings are made to appease the dead and events such as the Cianggu pole climbing competitions are staged, where muscular youths hope to win the respect of the young maidens of the town as much as their ancestral spirits. I feel quite at home at this Samhain of the east with Chang-e, lonely as a Lir swan, watching the merriment from her lunar exile. The ghost festival at Keelung is the highlight of the month, and the rain has mercifully cleared to allow us sit by the sea shore and watch the spectacle of boats be set alight and pushed by young men to sail out into the waves. One or two are toppled and doused by the winds. Others are scattering big squares of yellow joss paper, ghost money, into the waves. They are sent out each August to pay homage to spirits of all nations, there as a gesture for those who died at sea, Spaniards, Dutch, Japanese, French, all fighting over the prime water harbour in northern Taiwan. “If you successfully push the lantern into the deep water it will calm the tide” local teacher Lu

China’s mini-me Eoghan Corry in Taiwan

Crowds gather on the shore for the ghost festival in Keelung, one of the world’s great festivals

Jan Lin tells me. Her friend, hearing I am from Ireland, greets me with “Dia dhuit.” I want to say “samhain fé shona is fé mhaise” back. Their August is our November. Mar an gcéinne.

t the Quingan temple monks are chanting sutras. There are many temples to see, and this is the jangliest with prayerful noise, The temples come alive too for ghost month, little quartets of musicians bang drums and play pipes to appease the wandering spirits. There are prayers to be made, for good luck, for salvation, for enlightenment, for a blessing that would prevent me being dumplinged to death. One of the temples they bring us to is made of glass. Is the glass temple half empty or half full? The Canadian writer asks. There is always one.

aiwan had its best bib and hanfu on for my first ever visit to this beautiful island, a circuit of Taipei,

Tamsui and Keelung. It even organised a typhoon for my visit. There is one big reason to travel half way round the world to visit Taiwan: the national treasury from the Imperial court, for civil war reasons, ended up in Taipei. There is another, so tall you cannot miss, the first tall building in the world to reach more than 500m. Taipei 101 has since been passed, in the manner of these things, by the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, but once you have been tallest in the world, you have a visitor queue and an exit through the gift shop for ever, as the Empire State Building in New York and Willis Tower in Chicago know. We were on a folk and culinary tour, not the usual tourist trip which takes in Taroko Gorge or other sights from the usual tourist itineraries, the eight national parks. Instead we had a lot of lunches and dinners that go on forever. They eat snake semen here but it wasn’t on any of the menus. Our group was 23 strong, travel writers from 23 different countries. Some of the coun-

tries are places I have never met anybody from before, Nauru and Sao Tome and Principe. Or never will again. And everywhere as we travel, typhoon Trami dowses us with shoemelting downpours. The sea on the north coast of Taiwan is dark and there are forks of lightning in the black clouded horizon beyond. The water cascades on to the street and is swept along by the wind as soon as it lands. They dispense umbrellas at every stop, but we can barely move from bus to the restaurant where we are supposed to be eating through the solid bars of falling rain. It is NOT a cause for any precipitation related dismay. Seeing Taiwan in a typhoon is as good as it gets in the world of travel. They can get a dozen of these blowing through each summer, so, in a way, it is seeing the place in its natural habitat without the discomfort of getting really wet.

was not prepared for how crowded it is. The island is two third the size of Ireland and home to 23m people, so you expect some urban congestion. I thought that the traffic did not move (I was wrong, it does). I thought that the infrastructure would be Japanese standard rather than what you expect from the north east Asian neighbours (it was). Their fast trains emulate those in Japan, their motorways those in Germany. A day trip to Taroko Gorge, once unthinkable, is on any Taipei itinerary. I thought it would be heavily regulated and ordered, a flip side of what you find in the other China run by Beijing. I hoped that somewhere in the countryside I might encounter the China of the childhood books, rickshaws and conical Asian hats, because Taiwanese have

long told me that after 1949 the real China moved to Taiwan, brining the diversity, great culinary traditions and richest piece of their diversity with them. People come to shop, and each town has its day and night markets. Getting around is easy. The metro is close to our hotel and fares are cheap. Prices in the markets are about 20pc above Bangkok prices.

he Taipei 101 building once the tallest in the world when they opened it in 2003, and the first to break 500 metres, still knows some tricks. The elevator takes just 37 seconds to ascend, the fastest in the world. Since then the Burj Khalifa in Dubai has taken its crown but Taipei 101 still claims other accolades, the world’s highest outdoor gallery and the world’s fastest lift/elevator.

■ Eoghan Corry flew with China Airlines and Aer Lingus through Frankfurt, connections are in the same terminal 2, with Aer Lingus in Hall E and CIA in Hall D, a 2 hour connection outbound and 4-hour connection inbound. ■ For more information http://eng.taiwan.net.tw 0800-011765 ■ Taipei representative office in Ireland www.taiwanembassy.org Tel 353-1-678-5413

Page 022-023 taiwan r 13/01/2014 12:51 Page 2

FEBRUARY 2014 PAGE 23 The slogan on the ground floor declares, without any pretence of modesty, that this is the greatest engineering feat in world history. They have a point, it sounds like a daft idea to build a 508m beanpole in an earthquake zone. The storyboards tell us that there are seven pillars to protect the structure in the event of earthquake. The skyscraper is alone in that celebrates its wind damper, allowing visitors to walk around this great space age dumbbell ball and admire its roundness. What does one do with a tall building other than offer a view of the hazy landscape around? Not a lot. I have climbed seven of the world’s ten tallest buildings, including the New York twin towers before they were attacked, and have long concluded that they all do the same thing: all of them have a viewing gallery and all of them, at this stage, have so many grids to prevent jumpers that you cannot see the views from the outdoor gallery.

urs is a culinary trip and after a few days I fear I may get dumplinged to death. The beautiful restaurants we are visiting are feeding us amazing dumplings, one bite and hot soup explodes all over your mouth. You don’t have to travel far in Taiwan to

DESTINATION TAIWAN TAIW served as the former British consul residence. He has a lot to answer for, he was the one that had us pronouncing Beijing with a P and a K for 100 years.

B Viewing the ancient caligraphy at the National Palace museum in Taipei and (top right) the jade cabbage, the Mona Lisa of the museum. find the regional styles of every province on the mainland, as the chefs came with the soldiers and others who fled Mao’s armies when the civil war ended. Meals come with endless courses of pork and prawns, and a bottle of beer that is opened and used to fill the glasses of the diners. Many of the menus are indecipherable as they are delicious. (The Canadian again): The meaning of the last character is nuggets and chicken without bones. The highlight, hard to select when the lights never dimmed as far as the culinary experience went, was Shin Yeh restaurant in the capital (www.shinyeh.com.sg): ■ Roasted mullet fish roe with turnip and leek, ■ Slow cooked baby

abalones, ■ deep fried shrimp rolled in tofu skin, double boiled pork with chicken and taru in casserole, ■ sautéed spicy king prawns, ■ braised scallops with loofah, ■ sautéed green crab on rice-noodles, ■ clear chicken soup with bamboo shoots, pan-fried turnip cake, ■ braised squid, bamboo shoots and mushrooms in thick soup, ■ pan fried fragrant turnip omelets. Omelets? Our hostess, Lee Xiu Ying, says it omelet not just for breakfast, it is to be celebrated. She is right.

he accommodation in Taipei, the five star Palais de Chine hotel, is among the

Eoghan Corry at Taipei 101, praying in the glass temple and Tsou head hunters at the indigenous people’s museum

finest in which I have ever stayed. The lobby is on the sixth floor, disconcerting when a large number of people have to be transported by elevator to meet a bus outside, but giving an otherworldly effect to the whole experience. My room, 1008, is as big as the caravan I shared the previous week on holiday in France with my mother-in-law and two teenage and 20something daughters. My American travel writer friend James Ruggia has a phrase: “as complicated as an Asian hotel room.” This is luxury, but you need an engineering degree to work the switches. I cannot switch off the lights to sleep.

e stopped in to a neat edifice in Tamsui to see the legacy of the Opium war, the ports where British imperial civil servants were sent to live and tried to reconstruct their Atlantic lifestyles in Pacific ports. The war was one of those famous moral binds that still makes English uncomfortable when you bring it up, the equivalent of Colombia invading the USA today to get the locals to buy more cocaine. We saw the office of Herbert Giles was one of the British consuls who lived in what is now pre-

ack in the capital there are two must-see museums. One is world renowned, the other not so well known. The Chinese National Palace Museum is rightfully regarded as one of the world’s greatest collections. Our museum guide is Lin Yin Hsin tells the story: 655,888 pieces shipped to the island in December 1949, most of which have never been put on display, but there are 6,000 permanent items to astonish every passing tourist. They were collected by millennia of emperors and the fact so much survived intact is amazing, having been shipped to Keelung to escape the Japanese and to Taipei to escape Mao. There are amazing 7,000 year old bells and stunning 12th century calligraphy, So Guo's four poems written after the 12th century Chinese version of the Leaving Cert, Yang Wujiu’s steady handed script, the strokes flowing with evaluation from the age when the our oldest castles still had not been. But the piece everyone comes to see is an odd piece of flawed jade, the cabbage. Teems of school children jostle for a squint at the celebrity exhibit, the Mona Lisa Chinese museum heritage.

he aboriginal museum in Taipei is not as well known and equally fascinating. The 14 indigenous tribes of Taiwan have fought to keep their identity and language alive, and here they have a celebration of their culture. History did not begin in 1949. Taiwan is a bus stop in the Asian ocean, to the south east of the continent, in the arc of East Asian islands by the

western shore of the Pacific Ocean. To the north it faces Japan and the Ryukyu archipelago, and close to the south are the islands of the Philippines, so it serves as a hub for everyone going to and from the islands of the east. And when the party started, the original people got pushed further and deeper into the forest. The best bit, however, is in a room in the basement with Chinese-only signage: pictures of Tsou head hunters from 1900. My guide Szu-Yu Huang explained how it works: you cut off the head of someone admirable, a strong person, and bring it back to your thatched hut. You feed it by sticking food in its mouth to prevent its spirit going back to its own village (and crucially, coming for revenge with his friends), Over time, the spirit will integrate with your ancestors and make your family homestead stronger. Sounds like a plan.

he duty free in Taipei’s modern airport is overpriced. A bar at the bottom of the airport information screen tells passengers it is forbidden to breed pigeons or to release any flying objects in the vicinity of the airport. The wandering spirits would understand. The memory of the head-hunters recedes into the distance. I long to eat a potato, to eat anything with a knife and fork.

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t was one of those invitations that could not be ignored. Somebody in Oregon wanted to launch an Irish whiskey. It didn’t have an Alice in Wonderland label on the email (“drink me”) but I am sure they meant to attach one. Tad Seestedt of Ransom Distillery was launching his virtual Irish whiskey in Sheridan Oregon, put together from an 1865 mash bill that he uncovered. He has mixed in oats for the occasion. Oregon is the Ireland of USA, I tell him. It rains on cue. “May your climate never change,” is the toast. Oregon, famous for its wine, its volcanos and caldera lake, is now becoming famous for its craft distilling. Cue the Myles na gCopaleen joke about a drop of the crater. Tad is an enthusiast, who believes when it comes to distilling that cooperage and proofing are not talked about enough. He makes terrific grappa, but the Americans don’t drink much grappa either. Oregonians, in contrast to the commonly held perception of Americans in general, have a great sense of irony. Andrew Volstead, the congressman who managed to get prohibition on to the statue books in 1919, has had a vodka named here

A drop of the Crater

Oregon is already a major wine brand, will whiskey follow? Eoghan Corry investigates

Night sky over Portland with Munt Hood in the background

in his honour.

his news deserved further investigation so I head to Portland to do some imbibeful research. A pedaltaxi comes to the wonderfully eccentric crystal hotel, owned by the McMenamin Brothers. “We are the Clydesdales of the cycling community,” my guide Matthew Cruz tells me. His job is to bring me

to distiller Stephen McCarthy, a fifth generation Corkman who has spent his life trying to introduce Americans to the pleasures his Eau de Vie. Americans don’t like Eau de Vie much, but Stephan doesn’t mind. He distills lots of other things as well. From a standing start, the still Stephen bought in Germany in 1985, the Oregon whiskey movement has gained pace and now there are 35 craft dis-

tilleries in the state and 15 more on the way, many within Portland itself. Stephen has a unique Douglas Fir liquor, but I found it an acquired taste. A visit to Ireland inspired Stephen to make a single malt whiskey called McCarthy’s, rated by whiskey writer Jim Murray as one of the best

in the world, of which he has a limited edition. He finds a bottle for us to taste. His is the first of four distilleries I visit, Patrick Bernards’ Bull Run Distilling (one of their rums is known as Temperance), Andrew Tice’s House Spirits of the betterknown Aviation vodka

(where they named a vodka named after Temperance pioneer Andrew Volstead), and Eastside Distilling, best known for Marionberry Whiskey, with lunch in between at the lunch at Michael and Sasha Cyril’s at Clay Pigeon, a sanctuary of wine and cheese.

Eoghan Corry flew to Portland with Aer Lingus and their partners Jetblue through their shared terminal at New York JFK airport, Terminal 5. See aerlingus.com.

Clockwise: Eoghan Corry (centre) sampling the new irish mash bill Emerald 1865 Special Blend whiskey with Art Tierce and Tad Seestedt, a brewer’s festival in Portland, Portland waterfront with signature bicycle, Steve McCarthy explains how a visit to Ireland prompted him to become a distiller, Eoghan Corry with the carefully manicured vineyards at Sokol-Blosser Winery in Dayton, Oregon.

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FEBRUARY 2014 PAGE 25

randon Wise, the president of the Oregon Bartender’s Guild no less, (“my name is a bit of an oxymoron” is his opening line) serves me a selection of his best in the Imperial, an impressive new bar with chandeliers made from bicycle chains. He sees his role as a cultural one (hic), to “help people engage history of drinking.” He says prohibition created the cocktail, because the alcohol available was of such mixed quality, and that prohibition cocktails are being resurrected al the time. He says Oregon produces great Pacific rum for mixing. The cocktails have creative names as well: “A radish walks into a bar,” “Sleight of Hand,” “East of Eden,” “Exit through the gift shop.” He also has two cocktails on draught, Vieux Carre (based on rye, brandy, vermouth, Benedictine, angostura and Peychaud’s bitters from Kentucky), and another called Attention c1930 based on gin, vermouth, crème de violette and whiskey. Brandon creates new rhythms like a DJ mixes music. “It is a lot more like baking than it is like cooking. The better the ingredients the better the product. That flavour arc can absolutely affect your mood.” At 2am it is difficult to argue with that.

here the Pacific rolls into the USA, bringing its vapours and rain, it has created Ore-

DESTINATION USA

Portland street band

gon. Great collisions like that affect both landscape and people. The mountains were covered with rich forest, promulgating both the logging boom on which the state was founded and the rich farmlands on which it now sustains itself, but also affecting the people who settled here. Only those who have never been to Portland can say San Francisco is the most European of cities. The joke goes that when the trekkers reached the fork in the road, one sign read “California” and the other “Oregon.” The ones that could read went to Oregon. Portland is the heart of counter-culture. Two people behind me at the baggage carousel in Portland airport were talking about

Chef plating at Beaker and Flask

Shakespeare The sign for the light rail system also says directed newly arrived passengers to “bicycle assembly.” When I checked in to McMenamin’s Crystal Hotel the backing track was Shane McGowan singing: Whiskey You’re the Devil, you’re leading me astray. Over the hills and mountains, and to Amerikay. Art imitating real life, or is it the other way round?

fter my whiskey day, what better to clear the head than a wine day? So I head up to Beverly Cleary country in McMinnville. Wine tasting has moved on from the days of a pokey cellar door smelling of stale yeast. Today’s American wine Taste-Mahals are like automobile showrooms, all trendy architecture and glass fronts, a regulated cover charge of $15 or $20 a flight of six tastes and an exit through the gift shop. Where Napa and Sonoma have gone, Oregon is following. Seven of the Oregon

wineries have new tasting or show rooms and I stop by at five of them. Laurel Dent welcomes me to a pioneer vineyard, Ponzi Vineyards near

Sherwood, where they started growing vines before Oregon earned its reputation. The family developed their own pinot noir

clones with the help of the University and ushered the Oregon wine industry into life in the 1970s. The trail leads on a well-lubricated path, to a lunch in the five star spa resort Allison Inn, to other new tasting room showrooms at SokolBlosser and Stoller, and a chance meeting with Brian O’Donnell, first generation from Scarrif, whose Belle Pente pinot noir is among the best in the state, and Trish Rogers from Louth who markets Stuart’s wines. The night is punctuated with a terrific steak in McMinnville’s best restaurant, Thistle, drinks in the rooftop bar in McMenamin’s Oregon hotel and a big finish with beers and a session on the pool table in the De Luxe Bar. If Ireland had a wineland, it would be like McMinnville.

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ive national parks in five days. It sounded like experience overload even before I had collected the rental Elantra, my trusty desert companion. It was. I drove, open mouthed, mile after mile of big sky, clear, clear air, and red earth and endless rock piles, traversing long bridges over desert-dribble rivers awaiting the next snowfall, petrified forest and canyons with long branched Cottonwood trees, baked earth and escalopes of thirsty buttes cascading away in every direction. When you come from somewhere green and lush like Ireland the desert really ties your boot laces. Or butte-laces, perhaps? My tour of Utah covered five national parks: Arches, Bryce, Canyonlands, Monument Valley and Zion. Only Alaska with seven and California with six have more. I stuck in Lake Powell, a famous artificial water resort, and the Bonneville salt flats, the state park on the Wyoming/Idaho border at Bear Lake and a stop at the famous Salt Lake for the delicious aftertaste. Dry and salty, as it should be.

t is surprising how familiar these landscapes seem. I have been to Monument Valley hundreds of times in my

Canyon fodder

Eoghan Corry samples 5 of Utah’s National Parks

The last secton of the climb to Angel’s Landing at Zion National Park requires a chain

imagination and my memory, much of it black and white, thanks to John Ford and all those John Wayne movies. The arid climate created the famous stagecoach-backdrop monuments, ribbons of Ulurus going off in different directions. Heavy rain and all those grandiose buttes would be just a few stumps. It is also the most commercial. At John Ford point you can get your picture taken on a horse for $2. A Navajo guide, Don,

recites the names of the rocks into a microphone: man on a chair, stagecoach, sleeping bear, rooster, big Indian chief, Snoopy, the thumb, elephant, another elephant, John Wayne's boots, the big wagon wheel. It is surreal and sad. The Navajo people were here for 400 years and their predecessors for 3,000 before that: nobody called a rock Snoopy then. Don gives me one name: Sabindesku They still have 300 families living out here

with no electricity and no running water. Don won’t tell me his Navajo name, only his white man name. You see his point. The white men stole their rocks and their landscape. Tourism should bring it back, but it hasn’t. Bryce Canyon, second most famous on the continent after the Grand Canyon, is the star attraction. It Is the one with most vegetation, the park-

land course of canyons, with yellow soil and bright lime trees, taller than I had seen elsewhere. The viewstops are crowded and the sense of stadium tourism (it was barometer-high June) detracted a little from the experience. The Navajo loop trail is the most crowded. There you can view the must-see at Bryce, a rock called Thor’s hammer. There are

buses and cars at each stop, a case of the Californication of Utah. Even there you can get a sense of the beauty of the landscape. A tip: Red Canyon nearby looks just like Bryce and hiking in it is subject to less restrictions. I dined on a bloody steak in the Bryce Canyon Pines with my charming hostesses, Joneal Barton and Falyn Owens, who tell me of

Eoghan Corry flew to Salt Lake City with Aer Lingus and Jetblue through their shared terminal, terminal 5 at New York JFK. See aerlingus.com for fares.

Ty Markham at Torrey schoolhouse, Eoghan Corry at Angel’s Landing and Monument Valley and high anxiety at Zion National Park

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their idyllic childhoods on a desert farmland. They named the rodeo stars like fans elsewhere would name baseball heroes.

scenery changes than a Gaiety pantomime.

hese buttes were made for walking. So I park the car and take to the stoney mountain paths. At Zion, I strode purposefully into the short but strenuous hike to Angel’s Landing, standing a sheer and vertigoinducing1,400 feet over the canyon floor. Angel’s has a precarious finale, involving a climb along the top rocks clutching a chain that they inserted in the rock to prevent tumbles. It is also very crowded, considering the sheer drop to each side. Six people have been killed in falls here since 2004, a sign says near the top. Not having wings, I am determined not to make this seven. Do roads have personalities? After so many miles in 6 days I think they do. UT12 certainly does –so does UT261. There is an unpaved section that brings you along the contours of a Navajo Sandstone cliff face, like you have decided to drive up a hill from a quarry floor. Even the broad highways have their surprises. I spotted tumble weed on the I15. There was a dead deer 100m on the wrong side of the “beware deer” sign. Should have learned to read.

ver the Fremont river, left turn and then a road sign: Scenic road next 14 miles. It begged the question: what had I been driving through for the past five days? Turn another corner and the red turns into yellow, like you are driving through half dug quarries. I enter Capitol Reef, the

Monument Valley is one of the world’s greatest self drive experiences

quietest of the five National parks in Utah. The air is as clear as I have found anywhere in the lower 48 states. You can see forever. The energetic Ty Markham hosted me in the restored schoolhouse at Torrie, and regaled me with tales of Butch Cassidy’s local connections. She runs a world class guesthouse in one of the most isolated country towns in the USA. Drive over a hill and everything changes. You still get the red scrub bushes, Utah juniper, rabbit bush, snake weed, black rush pinyon pine, single leaf mountain ash, but it is flat and simple now, rather than the sculpted tall cakes and bread rolls of rocks, and there are blue mountains dancing in the hot sun far away on the horizon. And then it all turned pink, trees sticking like porcupines through the pink rock. Uphill and it went green and pasturey again.

wo of the big parks are adjacent to Moab, a thriving town with 3846 tourist beds and a big repeat business of sporty visitors. “When you come you need to stay at least two to three nights,” my host-

ess Marian DeLay says, “if you stay less it is just like any place else on the world.” It has lots of activities to keep the family happy. This season they opened 40 new miles of mountain bike trails. You can bike into the parks and have easy access to some of the best walks, upheaval hike is four miles, the Moab river trail and Hidden Valley is seven and a half miles and if you have time on your hands, you can trek to Mount Peale in the Lasal Mountains climbing to 10000 feet. It takes seven hours. Someday someone will do a survey on the average weight of tourists in Moab versus those in Vegas. I reckon it is about three stone lighter.

rches national park does what it says on the road sign, slender arches, broad arches and a delicately balanced rock, thirsty desert hills extending off in every direction, tall buttes and flat mesas, surrounded by slivers as if a master sculptor had left his shavings behind, all implausibly beautiful. In the changing colour red hues as the evening shadows fall. Canyonlands is big, so big I can only stick the

nuzzle of my Elantra into one of its four quarters, take a picture and continue down the desert road. At the park boundary you can see the native grasses begin to choke and become overtaken by

invaders. In the desert wind the grasses move and churn like an ocean. The scenery is now slightly different from the other side of the valley, and the bushes seem familiar – but are they? This state has more

t was a lot of driving, over and back and around and back, occasionally retracing my steps. My drive back to Salt Lake City takes six hours. I have the energy to go further, up to Idaho and Wyoming and to see the clear blue waters of Bear Lake. On my last day in Utah, I drove to Antelope Island to take a ride on the back of a horse called Kevin. Apparently he is a movie star, having featured in many Hollywood westerns. Some of the older horses on Ron Browne’s stable feature in the Tom Cruise movie Far and Away. In this landscape you forgive them anything.

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ooking back on it, if you asked me, my trip to Estoril was more like my road to Damascus. I had jumped at the chance of a visit to the Lisbon coast, that was until I received the itinerary. I baulked when I realised it was a learn how to golf and sail weekend after all I was sure swinging clubs was for women with plenty of time on hand and the ones that had sea legs went sailing as well. This is the story of my conversion... We flew into Lisbon and drove the short 30 kms to Cascais, a small fishing town with several beaches tucked idyllically into the nooks and crannies of a beautiful bay. Who would want to leave this town for even a minute, I wondered? But Cascais, with its glamourous history as a wartime royal retreat, was to merely whet our appetite, a taster of the extraordinary possibilities offered by the Estoril coast.

he next morning, at the beautiful modern marina, the million dollar yachts tethered to their berths couldn't distract me - I was so sure I was going to be sea sick. We were di-

Cascais if you can

place, I discovered a game that I just knew I was going to love. I went to sleep thinking of my golf swing and wondering what a set of clubs would cost and where could I start playing once I got back and would I be able to find a golf pro who would contain his laughter as I flailed around with the clubs?

T The lure of the waves

Cauvery Madhavan sees the light on Lisbon’s coast vided into teams and stepped on board our boats. Life jackets fastened, we listened to the instructor - we were going to learn a few manoeuvres, do a couple of practice runs up and down the coast and then we'd be racing the other teams. I wasn't quite sure how it happened, but half an hour later we were head-

BEACHES

■ Carcavelos An impressive beach with plenty of bars, restaurants and nightly entertainment. Popular meeting point for surfers and body-boarders. Parede A small beach, waters rich in iodine, with therapeutic qualities. ■ Tamariz This wonderful beach at the end of the Estoril Casino's main avenue has been famous since the 1920s. ■ Cascais Several tiny, idyllic beaches set in coves around a wonderful bay. Guincho Home of the World Surfing Championships, famous for it's big waves. Also known for delicious food served at seafood restaurants that ring the beach. ■ Ribeira d'Ilhas One of the world's best surfing beaches. Breathtaking views and amazing sunsets as well. ■ Praia Das Macas Beach Large, sandy beach set at the mouth of the Colares river. Take the little red tram through a very scenic valley from Sintra to Colares - unforgettable.

ing out of the marina, everyone in position with me designated as helmsman. Heading out towards a distant buoy, the beauty of Cascais revealed itself - the imposing 16th century citadel standing guard over the clean unpolluted bay, Seixas Palace, the Santa Marta lighthouse and the extraordinarily beautiful

GOLF

■ Estoril's wonderfully mild climate offers perfect golfing conditions. There are several courses, the majority designed by the world's best, catering for players of all abilities and ages. Penha Longa Golf Resort Ten minutes from Estoril and Cascais, designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr and considered one of the finest in Europe. www.penhalonga.com ■ Quinta da Marinha Situated between Cascais and Cabo da Roca, with hills on one side and the ocean on the other, this spectacular course is arguably Robert Trent Jones' finest creation. www.quintadamarinha.com ■ Oitavos Dunes One of Europe's most unique golfing experiences, ranked 68th in the Top 100 Golf Courses in the world. www.oitavosdunes.pt For inspiration and ideas on golf holidays, accommodation and tour operators see www.estorilgolfcoast.com

House of St. Maria frame a view that just made us all sigh. Then, it was all action, the sails to be raise and lowered, the boom to be avoided and a steady course to be kept. Two hours later, it didn't matter that we had only come third in the race, we were on a giddy high as we continued to sail, parallel to the coast and all the while I marvelled at the fact that sailing was such fun - I wasn't sea sick for a moment.

kay, I loved the sailing but the golf? Let me take you further down the Damascene road - it was day two and we were at the famous Oitavos Dunes golf course. The seasoned golfers in the group had headed off earlier, delighted at the opportunity to play on the course ranked 68th amongst the top 100 in the world. I payed polite attention to the golf pro as he took us through the ba-

sics of the golf swing. Ho-hum, I'll give this a go, I thought as I picked up the club and tried to replicate the pro's swing. To my shock, the club connected with the ball which soared overhead, landing about 80 yards away. I looked around...had anyone seen that shot I wondered, or were they all selfishly concentrating on their own swing? Just have to do it again, I said to myself as I teed up again and again and again, smacking the ball a respectable distance each time till finally, the pro walked up to where I was. Of course, things had to go pear-shaped when everyone was looking...divots flew thick and fast but the ball remained where it was. But I had hit the sweet spot once and believe me that's all it takes to get you hooked. We moved on to the putting greens and finally the practice bunker and even though the sand and expletives were flying all over the

he next day, I was still dreaming of a perfect round of golf when we left the coast and wound our way up the Serra de Sintra mountains that flank the Estoril Coast to Sintra, high up in the clouds. The extraordinary natural beauty of the SintraCascais Natural Park is so truly exceptional that it is the only cultural landscape in the world to be classified as a World Heritage Site. The Palace of Pena, which blends seamlessly into the mountain that looms over Sintra, is a fantastical architectural jewel and its allegorical gateway, many towers, turrets, minarets, domes, chapels and all of its quirky, whimsical details will leave you smiling in wonder. Together the Palace and Park of Pena are the finest example of nineteenth century Portugese Romanticism. The integration of the built and natural heritage is remarkable - barren when the Palace was restored, the Park is an eighty-five hectare arboretum containing several historic gardens. Sintra is an unforgettable day out if you can bear to tear yourself away from the golf. You know what they say about the fervour of the converted and you may just have noticed - I have been born again, on a golf course in Estoril!

Fly into Lisbon and then head for Cascais by car( 30 to 40 minutes, depending on traffic) Cascais is also well connected to Lisbon by bus and train with services running several times an hour. www.aerlingus.com

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DESTINATION USA

ometimes big wars are about the little things. A hill in Pamplin, a park about 100 miles south of Richmond, Virginia, on the 95, for instance. This is where the American Civil War ended, the battle of the Breakthrough, 1 April 1865. The park (www.pamplinpark.org) was filled with school children when I was there. If it were not for re-enactors and confederate flags it resembles one of the pleasant leafy forest parks you get all over the USA. There are walking trails among the overgrown banks and ancient ditches, dug by soldiers and still carrying their civil war contours. The little museum nearby has been focused on life of the ordinary soldiers. Some of the earthworks have been reconstructed to look as they did on that murdering spring day. At one small gap in the undistinguished bank they tell this is where the Union soldiers, from Massachusetts, broke through to bring four years of furore to an end. The blood of Irish fertilised the rich undergrowth in each direction. That evening, after his lines were broken, Robert E Lee told Confederate President Jefferson Davis to evacuate Richmond. The industrial engineroom of the south had fallen. Game over.

Uncivil memories Eoghan Corry takes a shortcut through American Civil War history Reconstructed battlements at Pamplin Lincoln came to visit the white house of the confederacy, a week before he himself was shot. Lee surrendered eight days later. Some soldiers fought on for eight weeks, but at that little spot with the embankments still standing, you know you are at the exact place where it ended. Or so we thought. Maybe it did not end at all.

t is one of the few from-life statues of George Washington that greets you when you enter the Capitol building

THINGS TO DO

■ White House of the Confederacy www.moc.org +1804.649.1861 SamCraghead@moc.org ■ American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar +1804.780.7865 Church Hill Sit St. John’s Church, Libby Hill Overlook, Chimborazo, Eric Schindler Gallery. ■ Pamplin Park/Museum of the Civil War Soldier 1-804-861-2408 http://www.pamplinpark.org ■ Historic Jefferson Hotel, even if you are not staying there is worth a visit to get a feel for the grandeur of former days. 101 West Franklin St, Richmond, Virginia 23220 www.jefferson-

where the parliamentary sessions of the Confederacy were held. This is the statue that greeted Robert E Lee, great grandson-in-law of Washington’s, when he was asked to take the fight against his former comrades of the north using the same eulogy that Washington was accorded by Lee’s father: “first in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of the people.” Mark Greenough is the tour guide who illuminates these storied corridors with his deft turn of phrase. When he shows us the

hotel.com ■ Lincoln Tour at Richmond Capitol with Mark Greenough +18046981788 mgreenough@captourguides.virginia.gov ■ Belle Isle, which housed the Confederacy’s largest military prison during the civil war. ■ Richmond Canal Cruises offer an informative, 40-minute, historically narrated tour or private charter of the James River and Kanawha Canal along Richmond’s historic Canal Walk. Our covered boats, which accommodate up to 35 passengers, +1(804) 649-2800

secession document he says: ‘it has about as much poetry as a divorce settlement, which is what it was, an unwilling divorce settlement.” “Stonewall Jackson was a military genius, Robert E Lee was not too bad,” Mark says “The Union command was much more politicised, people were given command for political reasons. It is an advantage to be on the defensive. The two times they went on the attack they were punished.” “It is also a polite thing to do for the vanquished, to say they had the best generals.” The statue of Stonewall Jackson outside was sculpted by John Foley, Ireland’s most important 19th century sculptor, born in humble circumstances in Montgomery Street (the original “Monto”). The White House of the Confederacy is a small and modest town-

house, a bit like you would find at any crossroads in Leinster, with period furniture. At the nearby archive store Sam Craghead and Theresa Roane showed me some of the documents in their collection.

ichmond was festooned with cherry blossom when I visited. Until recent years it still had the feel of a fallen city. Not every American city in decline in the 1980s had a 130-year-old war to blame but Richmond used to be a capital. At the Historic Jefferson Hotel polished back to its old glory, get a feel for the grandeur of former days. Even if you are not staying there it is worth a visit for breakfast. The hotel started serving French cuisine in 2009 but realised quickly (and thankfully) that southern regional cuisine was what the market wanted. So we

got Kings banana Beignets for $9, pigs and eggs, chicken and waffles, scrapple and low country bene wafers. “We like to be cutesy,” my breakfast companion Jennifer Crisp says. Nearby Tredegar on the river was the industrial heartland of the confederacy. A re-enactor told the story of Mary Ryan, an Irish girl blamed for causing the explosion at an armaments factory in Brown’s island on a Friday the 13th in 1863. Did she cause it? Nobody is sure. I detect a pattern here, Catherine O’Leary’s cow, Typhoid Mary Mallon: if in doubt, blame the Irish. “You can’t swing a dead cat in Richmond without hitting something historical,” Randy Klemm, Curator of the American Civil War Center at Tredegar says. “What is most striking about Richmond is its authenticity. The history is all around you.” I had lunch in the Church Hill Café with Sarah Whiting of St John’s church, where Patrick Henry gave his “give me liberty or give me death” speech in 1775 to an audience that included Washington and Jefferson. I stop by to see a young Donegal man’s grave, John McDermott, is among the artefacts in the pleasant sun-filled graveyard. He died in Richmond at the age of 22 in 1811. I also had to stop for a peek at the small house dedicated to the life and times of Edgar Allan Poe, the great writer that Richmond used to own until Baltimore named their gridiron football tam after him. Absinthe made the heart grow fonder, indeed.

■ United Airlines nonstop service from Dublin to its Washington Dulles hub From €667.35 per person including taxes (Saturday night stay is required). Operated by Boeing 757-200 aircraft featuring 169 seats, 16 flat-bed seats in United BusinessFirst, 45 in economy plus seats with added legroom and 92 in economy. www.united.com or call 1890 925 252.

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FEBRUARY 2014 PAGE 34

HOLIDAY WORLD SHOW

The Low Down

When:

Friday 24 January 1.00pm – 7.00pm Saturday 25 January 11.00am – 5.30pm Sunday 26 January 11.00am – 5.30pm Trade Only: Friday 24 January 10.00am – 1.00pm How Much: Adults €7 OAPs €4 Students €3 Children Free Family Price: €14 2 Adults & up to 4 children DART: Don't forget that the DART has great family rates on Saturday and Sunday. How Many: 50,000 visitors Who's there: 2,000 travel experts from 55 countries, tour operators, travel agents, hotels, national and global tourist organisations, airports, airlines, theme parks, bus, coach, car, rail, camping, travel services, adventure holidays, ferry and cruise companies, caravans and motorhomes, Where From: ■ Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland ■ Europe and the Mediterranean ■ The Caribbean ■ The Americas ■ Africa and the Middle East ■ Asia and the Pacific ■ Caravans and motorhomes ■ Wedding and honeymoon destinations ■ Adventure Holidays Official Opening: ■ Tour operators Friday 24 January at 2pm Official opening by Lord Mayor of Dublin Oisín Quinn Website: www.holidayworldshow.com Over 55s Show: Explore the ENDLESS OPTIONS for Over 55s Hotel-based holidays in Ireland Sun holidays at special senior rates Cruise bargains, including over 55s only cruises Trekking & walking activity holidays City Breaks Next Year: Belfast 16-18 January 2015 Dublin 23-25 January 2015

JAN 24-26 2014

WELCOME FROM TRAVEL AGENTS ASSOCIATION

elcome to Holiday World 2014 here at the RDS. What better way to spend some time in these cold and grey January days than dreaming about... and planning your Summer 2014 holiday? Having something to look forward to really shortens the Winter and here at Holiday World is the ideal opportunity to check out all those exotic destinations you have been dreaming of. And while you are waiting for Summer Hols to come around why not think about a short break to explore a new destination, perhaps experience a different culture or a new cuisine or some music you love? Holiday World brings together the best and most appealing destinations right here to your doorstep for you to consider, investigate and then go discover for yourself! Whether you fancy a cruise in the Med, a trip to see the Northern Lights, a visit to exotic Asia or to the good ol’ USA - Holiday World is the ideal place to gather all of the information you need ... then why not make life easy for yourself and grab one of the many fantastic value ‘Exclusive Holiday World’ offers available right here at the

RDS? We are delighted also to extend a very warm welcome to all of our industry partners who join us this weekend from all over the globe. They have travelled here in order to share their intimate knowledge and love for their destination with You, our Holiday World visitor. We do hope you take advantage of their presence to glean as much inside information as you can from these experts we have gathered together here for you. And don’t forget all of the destinations and holidays showcased this weekend are available to book with your ITAA Travel Agents all of whom are fully licensed and bonded for your protection. ITAA Agents represent a wealth of knowledge and experience which combined with their extensive online resources offer you the very best of both worlds; in-depth knowledge combined with real, honest to goodness personal service. Travel Agents offer you the opportunity to book your holiday secure in the knowledge that you are getting sound professional advice, your money is safe and should you need assistance before, during or after your holiday

your agent is ready, willing and able to help you. Home holidays are of course also an integral part of Holiday World and our entire island is represented here with a great selection of attractions, holiday ideas and destinations for you to discover. So go on, chat to our exhibitors and open up a whole new world of holiday possibilities for you and your friends and relatives abroad. Just because our year of The Gathering has come to a close, it doesn’t mean we can’t encourage our friends and relations abroad to visit us and experience some of our legendary Irish hospitality! Wherever your heart’s desire may take you this year, be assured you have begun in exactly the right place. I do hope you enjoy your time at Holiday World and your 2014 holiday wherever it takes you and if one of our ITAA Travel Professionals can assist you along the way we will be delighted, after all that’s what we’re here for! With all good wishes for a happy and enjoyable 2014 holiday.

Clare Dunne President ITAA

Turkish Airlines exhibiting at Belfast Holiday World, Onur Gul, Deniz Laiho and Adman Cetinkaya.

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HOLIDAY WORLD SHOW

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Passport to 2014

The world under one roof

he annual Holiday World Show Dublin, returns with incredible holiday offers from 24th to 26th January in RDS Simmonscourt. Celebrating its 25th year of making holidaymakers dreams come true, the Show is a onestop shop of inspiration, advice and spectacular offers to broaden the horizons of those seeking their ideal break in 2014. Almost 1,000 travel experts from 50 different countries will arrive at the RDS Simmonscourt with amazing offers available only in person at the show and the best holiday advice and tips to make sure that the perfect holiday is tailor-made for all holidaymakers. With almost eight million people expected to travel abroad from Ireland in 2014, the Holiday World Show expects to herald the start of a strong year for Irish travel and tourism. The motto ‘Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer’ is sure to be on many people’s minds with ‘travel more’ always being one of the most popular New Year’s Resolutions.

he annual Holiday World Show is a must-see event for anyone who is suffering from wanderlust or January blues. From romantic trips in Rome, to a ‘staycation’ in Kerry, a family adventure in Africa to surfing in Bali, the experts will be on hand to match holidaymakers with self-designed holidays at unbeatable prices. Remove the stress of juggling multiple impersonal online bookings for flights, accommodation, insurance and transport by booking your holiday face- to-face with a reallife travel professional with experience and accountability.

Barcelona, Lisbon, Venice, Rome, Paris, Madrid and Istanbul - not to mention the romantic luxury cruise deals on offer from Royal Caribbean Cruises, MSC Cruises, Silversea Cruises, Uniworld Cruises and Hurtigruten Cruises. Cruise holidays have increased in popularity by 10-20% every year for the last ten years due to a high level of increased business and newer, bigger cruise ships constantly sailing the open seas.

s well as holidays to dream destinations around the

World, there will be a host of Irish exhibitors with tantalising home holidays and cultural experiences on offer. For the over 55s there will be a multitude of travel offers specifically tailored to the more seasoned traveller with over 55s’ discounts and exclusive packages. For those who like to travel the open road in comfort, or relax in a home away from home the Caravan and Motorhome Show 2014 is a must-see, with many models available to explore at the exhibition itself. Anyone considering a wedding abroad or looking for a luxurious

honeymoon with a personalised feel and a bargain price will find inspiration and unbeatable value at the Holiday World Show Dublin. The professionals will be on hand to personally design tailor made honeymoons to ensure that ‘Happily Ever After’ gets off to the perfect start. There is no better way to ensure your perfect honeymoon than to talk faceto-face with an expert who has detailed experience of specific locations, hotels and all offerings that your chosen destination can provide.

ome of the biggest attractions at the show every year are the vivacious Spanish exhibitors, with fourteen of the Spanish regions represented at the show this year. Spain is consistently the number one destination for Irish tourists due to its beautiful, varied landscapes and culture. In 2013, more than 1.2m Irish tourists holidayed in Spain. As a destination Spain has something for everyone with beach holidays, energetic city breaks, country hideaways and spiritual retreats.

or three days The Holiday World Show will transform the RDS Simmonscourt into a hub of exotic, vibrant, multi-cultural activity; from the Americas to Asia, Europe to Africa, visitors can literally experience the locations on offer in a way that is not possible on the internet. With Valentine’s Day around the corner there will be exceptional deals on weekend breaks to

The escape-it-all spirit at the 2014 Holiday World Show this weekend in the RDS

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HOLIDAY WORLD SHOW

JAN 26-28 2014

Travel Trends 2014 T

he new fixation with the instant and virtual means that every aspect of the travel experience has changed. Even as it was announced that selfie was the buzz word for 2013, it was announced that braggie had become the travel equivalent: a photo you post of yourself or where you are to make your friends jealous. Citybreaks are all the rage and are no longer a spring or autumn experience. We will have 36 new routes from the island in 2014, about one third of those to sun routes and the rest opening up new citybreak opportunities. Travel is becoming more social. People increasingly rely on friends to make good travel decisions and are using technology and social networks to do so. Mobile is changing both the travel planning period and the in-trip experience. Particularly during the in-trip experience travellers are using mobile devices to find the right restaurants and attractions tailored to their interests and time, and seek out special location-

based features that can only be delivered via mobile. Roaming fees for international trips are the biggest deterrent to progress in this area. All inclusive. Given a boost by the recession, the march of the all inclusive experience seems unstoppable. The experience was once a Caribbean speciality, some of the top all inclusive resorts can now be found in Egypt and Turkey and a growing number are available in Europe. They are becoming more luxurious, brining to an end the old image of all-inclusive as bed and buffet. The demand for holidays where families and couples by the beach are fed easy meals three times a day has changed the product. You can now do all inclusive everything, all inclusive weddings are a trend for 2014. Zero kilometres. The local food/ locavore movement which emerged eight years ago has gone as far, or as near as it is possible. Eating and drinking on the farm where the food is produced is new ultimate foodie experience. It

means trips to rural Italy, France and Spain and hundreds of options in agricultural areas not normally associated with tourism. Adventure activities are in, as young active people scale back the number of holidays to see more of the world. Saving for the one big activity trip has become a trend, Everest Base camp, diving with sharks and rock climbing are the new beach holidays. Limited service hotels are the most profitable in the industry at present and a growing number are trying to emulate Ryanair, imposing extra charges and resort fees (especially in the USA), extending charges beyond internet facilities to pool use and even a $4 charge for consuming the coffee supplied in the room. In some American hotels there is an incentive of $8 not to service rooms, indicating room cleaning will soon incur an extra charge. PANKs are the new target tourist in the USA: 'Professional Aunt, No Kids' - who collectively spend billions on travelling with nieces and

nephews. As of 2010, just over 42pc of women in the US aged 15 to 44 were childless, as women have children later in life or choose not to have children at all. Comfort in the clouds: It is not just Ryanair. Airlines are working hard to move away from air travel being a commoditised, price and scheduleonly decision. It is to be seen if other transportation modes, as well as hotels and travel retail players, will follow this model in future. Peer-to-Peer Travel is growing. Peer reviews changed travel advice, now Europeans are seeking cheaper travel options with brands such as Airbnb, HouseTrip and HomeAway. TripAdvisor has embraced the concept by acquiring Flipkey, as well as listing HouseTrip and Airbnb as trusted partners for rentals. Tours, guiding and unique travel experiences are offered by sites such as Touristlink and Vayable. Car sharing services are also growing in Europe, where Avis bought car-sharing company Zipcar for US$500 million in 2013, while

Blablacar.com had more than three million members in 10 European countries. The future of peer-to-peer holiday rentals depends on legislation, but is proving successful and is expected to grow. Child-friendly safaris in Africa are becoming more popular, as more grandparents and children join in with family holidays. Hollywood hits such as Madagascar and the Lion King mean that kids around the world now want to see the 'big five' for real. Previously, safaris have been considered unsuitable for youngsters but safaris in Africa now avoid long game drives - which suits kids' shorter attention spans. Multi-generational holidays in Africa could expand beyond safaris to volunteerism and more sustainable holidays, as well as cruises. Mobile devices are booming as a sales and customer service channel and have developed mobile concierge services. Travellers now expect real-time answers and greater customisation, wherever they are and at any time, before, during

and after the trip. Online travel sales are growing by 8.4pc globally. Green travel is still growing. Travellers want to know more about the green practices and environmental reputation of the hotels, and travellers seek to understand whether the hotel is part of the problem or the solution in promoting better environment practices. And a growing set of travellers want to see how their tourism euro are benefiting the local community in certain destinations. TripAdvisor still rules the web with 45m visitors a month reading 50m reviews and opinions but there are alternatives: review sites like LonelyPlanet, Gogobot.com, IgoUgo.com, TripWolf, Yelp!, HolidayTruths. Hotel chains are displaying reviews on their supplier-direct sites, and even Google has begun to collect reviews. But be skeptical, TripAdvisor, Expedia and Hotels.com are in fact all part of the same company, Expedia, Inc

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HOLIDAY WORLD SHOW

JAN 24-26 2014

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Are the Irish the most-travelled people of all?

Proud tradition Las Vegas is Ireland’s third fastest growing outbound destination despite having no direct flights

oliday World 2014 once again highlights the fact that we are a nation with one of the highest propensities to travel in Europe. Every Irish person travels six times a year, three and a half times higher than the European average.. That travel broadens the mind is as true today as in Mark Twain’s time, people who travel extensively cannot be prejudiced Tourism spreads economic largesse unevenly and in contrast to the industrial sector, to the rural and coastal areas most likely to be affected by peripherality and depopulation and where agricultural conditions are often

poorest. Tourism impacts disproportionately on less developed countries. Outside Europe, tourism is the most sustainable form of aid you can give a developing country, bringing propensity to everyone from the porter to the taxi driver to the hotel manager to the government. Africa, the world’s poorest continent gets just 2pc of world tourism. Bringing that up half a percentage point would mean more than a year’s aid allocations. Within Europe some of the biggest tourist numbers are attracted to the poorest countries and the ones most affected by economic downturn, such as the Mediterranean sunbelt.

ir traffic works both ways, as the home holiday industry has found. Outbound air routes are crucial for inbound tourism, aircraft are filled in both directions (tourism ministers sometimes forget this, their focus is often on inbound tourism). Ireland can offer one of the most educated audiences on the planet when it comes to international travel. We have one of the most developed markets for travel services, appropriately for a nation that is the headquarters of the world aviation business. half of the world’s fleet of leased aircraft is managed from Ireland, the very concept was invented

here by Tony Ryan and his colleagues. Ireland’s international success in airport management has been celebrated by a plethora of recent awards. Most of the traffic on the world’s busiest intercontinental routes pass through Irish air traffic control and they have a track record of rising to various challenges down the years, such as 9-11. Much of the modern airport and aircraft experience was invented in Ireland. Duty Free shopping was invented in Ireland by Brendan O’Regan. His other contributions, and the contributions of his contemporaries to the evolution of the tourism product are not so well known: from his hotel management school came

an Irish association with the hospitality industry worldwide, from Bunratty the inspiration for what is now termed cultural tourism.

ur travel agents and tour operators have set the highest standards with regard to customer care, the consumer legislation is only catching up with these standards and attempting to impose them on the aviation industry. The travel business is one of the most regulated consumer retail sectors. But even in advance of regulation the travel industry had set up a standards regime of its own to make sure customers got compensated in the event of a business failure.

The business of selling holidays was among the first to embrace technology and be transformed by it. Many of the developments being embraced by other service and retail sectors are old hat in the travel business. They are good at supplying all the information that the customer needs in an easily accessible format. Airlines, hotels and holiday companies are all vying to be at the cutting edge of information technology. This attention to detail has meant that the traditional holiday package and the charter flights that carry the package holiday makers are very much alive and well. Come along and see for yourself.

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HOLIDAY WORLD SHOW

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Fare Play ‘14

Holiday World 2014 opens in the RDS Simmonscourt

Maureen Ledwith of Business Exhibitions, Lord Mayor Naoise Ó Muirí, Clare Dunne President of the ITAA and Pat Dawson CEO of the ITAA opening Holiday World 2013

s the holiday business changes rapidly, so does Ireland’s premier travel and holiday fair. This year people are looking at the various new options and value for money propositions being presented to the Irish holiday maker, and there are 1,500 experts all assembled under one roof to tell them how to get it. In recent years the show has a new dimension. The Over-55s Show gives those with more time on their hands the opportunity to check out hotelbased holidays in Ireland, sun holidays at special senior rates, cruise bargains, including over 55s’ only cruises, trekking and walking activity holi-

days and city breaks. The visitors to the Dublin Holiday World at the RDS this month are more savvy and better prepared customers than previous years. The hunger for information about the 70-odd destinations where Irish people now travel for their holidays has grown with each of the show’s 20 years. “They have access to a great deal of information not just from guide books and the internet but from word of mouth of their friends and family who have also travelled. They come to the show looking for first hand knowledge,” says Maureen Ledwith, sales director of Holiday World. Three times as many people take a longhaul

holiday compared to ten years ago and the cruise sector has grown even faster. Adventure and experience are the themes of this year’s Holiday World Show with a new dedicated adventure travel section. The show is also offering impressive good value. The average holiday is cheaper now than they were twenty years ago, even before you consider inflation. In recent years over 50,000 visitors have attended the exhibition annually; market research indicates that most people go to the Holiday World Show to look for ideas and expert advice from assembled travel professionals.

oliday World Show is divided into zones to help information gathering and to help you find experts who answer questions face to face. Exhibitors include tourist boards, tour operators, travel agents, airlines, hotels and their marketing groups, ferries and the fast growing cruise sector. All 32 counties are among home holiday exhibitors. The show is organised on behalf of the Irish Travel Agents Association by Business Exhibitions Ltd.

oliday World provides a unique opportunity for the consumer to meet, network, negotiate, conduct business and stay abreast with the latest developments in the travel

industry. If you have a passion for adventure, culture, cruises, city breaks, ecofriendly, beach or safari holidays, or are considering a career break Holiday World 2014 is the ultimate show to get information from some 1,500 travel and tourism professionals who will be ready to give one-to-one advice and information. Over 700 exhibitors representing 70 countries will be available at the show to provide you with face-to-face information on how best to access your dream holiday. The Holiday World Show, now in its 24th year, has become the biggest single event in travel and tourism in Ireland, providing an anticipated 50,000 visitors with the unique opportunity of meeting with over 1,500 industry professionals for personal advice and information.

taged annually in Dublin under one roof, Holiday World is a must attend travel exhibition for both business and consumer. The show brings together hundreds of exhibitors from all around the world with tour operators, travel agents, hotels, airports, national and international tourism organisations, as well as theme parks, adventure travel, airlines, bus, coach, ferry and cruise companies and more besides. Those seeking the independence of a camping or caravan holiday are also particularly well catered for, with this burgeoning sector very well represented at this year’s event. “Hundreds of special low price deals are available for show visitors for holidays and short breaks. In addition there are also hundreds of free to enter

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holiday prize draws throughout the show.” Maureen Ledwith says: “After the economic stresses and strains of the past few years, it’s time everyone turned their attention to planning a well-earned break for 2014. “The Holidayworld Show packs expert advice, special offers, notto-be-missed promotions, entertainment and exclusive competitions all under the one roof for a great value-for-money, family day out.”

dmund Hourican, managing director, Business Exhibitions Ltd., organisers of Holiday World Show said “Our professional market research taken at Holiday World Show indicates that most people go along to the show looking for expert personal advice, and for ideas. They also

attend for the opportunity to win one of the many fantastic trips, while at the same time having a good family day out”. “The number and diversity of exhibitors means that visitors are able to gain first hand information to enable them to better plan holidays. In short, visitors to the show

will get advice that is not available from any other source,” he concluded. “It is the only place in Ireland that you can meet, and take advice from over 1,500 travel and tourism industry professionals to assist you in planning the perfect holiday for you and your family.

“As fast as the indus-

try changes, the more the benefit of the show,” Edmund Hourican says. “Many more visitors are now using the internet for research before they visit the show. That means they can make better use of their time when they are here.”

at Dawson, CEO of the Irish Travel Agents Association said, “The Holiday World Show is a fantastic event for travel agents and consumers alike. The economic downturn has made it difficult for many to afford holidays the last couple of years but our members

are planning on showcasing unbeatable holiday offers at the Holiday World Show Dublin. Irish travel agents at the show will be focusing on quality and affordability as well as dispensing invaluable destination advice. Recent market research has indicated that one in two Irish adults will take a foreign holiday in 2014.” Holiday World Show 2014 will provide the excitement of new places to visit, and others to dream about. Visitors will receive a free catalogue, children have free admission, and there are hundred of chances to win free holidays and short breaks in free to enter prize draws on exhibitors’ stands. All you have to do is visit, and you could win the holiday of your dreams.

Page 041 09/01/2014 11:29 Page 1

11-,6.5+0%$(*##4/ 1.2 3+501.71.33 )

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page 041 Turkish advertorial 13/01/2014 10:44 Page 1

www.turkishairlines.com

FEBRUARY 2014 PAGE 41

COMMERCIAL FEATURE

Turkish Airlines was named Europe’s best airline in 2011, 2012 and 2013 at the prestigious Skytrax awards and currently flies to more countries than anyone else. Ireland Chief Executive Murat Balandi explains just why his company is so successful.

The Biggest Global Network in Aviation – Widen your World with Turkish Airlines

HESE are exciting times for Turkish Airlines in Ireland. Up to April the carrier which has been named Europe’ s best airline in 2011, 2012 and 2013 – flew from Dublin to Istanbul just seven times a week. This year that increased to 10 flights a week and in 2014 will rise to two flights per day. These numbers are important for Irish fliers, because it means there are now even more reasons to fly Turkish Airlines, which operates the biggest global network in the aviation world. It flies to 245 cities in 105 countries around the world, more countries than ANY other airline. The vast network into Africa and the Far East is developing fast, and a new route has just opened up to the magical city of Kathmandu. Lahore in Pakistan, Kano in Nigeria and Ndjamena in Chad will also be added soon. A huge fleet purchase is coming on stream which will reduce the average age of the 233 strong fleet already the youngest in Europe, from six years to four. The average for other European airlines is 16-20 years. But Murat Balandi, visionary chief executive of Turkish Airlines (Ireland) is not resting. He is a huge enthusiast for his airline, and for the many delights of his native land. A native of Ankara, he first worked for Turkish Airlines in 1997 and returned there after a spell away pursuing an MBA, among other things. He has been in Dublin for two years and is keen to encourage Irish people to sample Istanbul and the many sights Turkey has to offer beyond the Mediterranean resorts.

ven those just passing through the city known during its history as Constantinople and Byzantium will not miss out. A tremendous service is offered to all transit passengers who have more than a ten hour wait in Istanbul (seven in Business class). “ They will be collected from the airport, given breakfast, brought on a sight¬seeing tour of the city, with all the entrance fees

covered because they are our guests”, explains Mr Balandi. Passengers who prefer can stay at a hotel, and layovers over five hours are given a meal voucher in all classes. He has his own favourite way of spending time in the ancient city. “If I only had one hour to spend there, I would go to a nice restaurant on the Bosphorus. Turkish food is incredible, and you can relax with your family and friends and enjoy a beautiful view. But there is so much more to see in Istanbul too, such as the unique Hagia Sophia, or the Grand Bazaar.”

urkish tourism to Ireland, too, has great potential, but the main thing holding this back is the lack of a visa waiver. “The Turkish economy is doing very well, and people with money want to travel. Ire¬land is losing out by not opening that door”, says Mr Balandi. “In London, it has been proved that Turkish visitors spend more there than any other nation. We have a great tradition of buying gifts and everyone who goes away brings back a present.” In Dublin, too, Turkish Airlines passengers are top spenders in the airport duty free shops. Since the airline was founded in 1933, it has built up a reputation for quality, and the service is undeniably superior. “We offer First¬class service in Business, and Business class in Comfort class, which is what we call Premium Economy because it is superior to the standard in comfort, service, catering and in¬flight entertainment,” explains Mr Balandi.

urkish Airlines employs more than 200 flying chefs to oversee its superior catering on longhaul flights, when two hot meals are served and flatbeds offered in Business class.

One target area for the airline is the recession-proof one of Irish golfers. “We have hosted a lot of events” , says Mr Balandi, “ although to change Irish traditions and habits isn’t easy. ‘We haven’t a golf culture, like Ireland has, but the Turkish courses are high quality, as you will see with Turkish Airlines Open next week.” He points to Belek as an example of where golfers flock to its 14 international standard golf resorts, most of which have beach access and are popular with families and spouses.

port has become an important vehicle for the airline, which has used the biggest stars and clubs to reinforce the highest quality of its brand. In recent years it has been associated with Barcelona and Manchester United, while Borussia Dortmund flew to their Champions League final last May in a plane specially painted in the club’ s colours. “Our brand ambassadors include the top names,” explains Mr Balandi, “such as the no.1 American basketball player Kobe Bryant, the footballer Lionel Messi , golfer Tiger Woods and tennis player Caroline Wozniacki” . Associating with the very best is just another part of that commitment to being the best themselves, a commitment that makes Turkish Airlines one of the top three airlines in Europe, and closing in fast on the No.2 spot. Turkish Airlines can not only open up the delights of Turkey to you, but with Istanbul less than 4h30 away, it means the world beyond is a lot closer too.

www.turkishairlines.com

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Holiday World SHoW

Jan 24-26 2014

FEBRUARY 2014 PAGE 42

Find the bargains The world under one roof

ondering where to find the bargains? There is no shortage of places to look.

FliGHTS: Airlines are doing ‘core free goods’ off-peak promotions for flexible passengers who are then charged for all ancillary services. Ryanair have started running two types of offers, one in which you pay the taxes and one in which they pay the taxes. The ways in which they calculate this are complex, but relate to the number of unfilled seats they have and the mechanics of collecting departure tax. It means that a savvy traveller can travel without paying anything at all. HoTElS: There is one network

which claims to offer a network of completely free hotels, for an annual €40 membership fee. This strategy fills planes and ships. The idea is that it offers 320 hotels where accommodation is free, but guests are required to pay for breakfast and dinner. It involves relatively few restrictions on when and how long you stay. Soon clients will be naming their own price or expecting to have a major slice of the product or service for gratis.

aUCTionS: New pricing

models in the travel industry include ‘pay what you want,’ auctions and ‘core free goods.’ Some of the more innovative holiday companies see this as the way forward. It makes sense because these offers give brands the chance to engage with consumers and build loyalty, and occasionally give them an opportunity to shake off some of their competition as well.

CrUiSE: Some cruise lines have

worked out that getting a passenger on board means they can make money on onboard spend in the bars and casinos, so they are doing everything they can to sell cruise holidays cheap without destabilising their market. Virtually nobody pays full brochure prices for cruises nowadays, even at peak period. One cruise company has not sold a single cruise at full brochure price for many years. They are offering ‘second passenger travels free deals.’

SUPErSaVEr:Anonymous

hotels invite people to ‘name your own price’ via blind auctions. It is done with flights and car rental, too, and this idea is likely to expand because it allows operators to move stock that would remain unsold if left to traditional booking methods.

SoCial networking sites such

as couchsurfing.com offer a showcases for ‘no-cost, full-service’ offer. They sometimes even provide free guided tours, leisure activities with their friends and tips on experiencing local life.

UPGradES:. Business class

seat sales depend on the economy being strong. When they lie empty it costs the airline unearned revenue. Some airlines are offering business class upgrades for a few hundred euro. Best of all this tends to happens when business traffic is lightest, the summer, which happens to coincide with the pe-

ToUrS: City tours are geared to riod when leisure traffic is highest.

generate business for the paid ones and there can be nearly fifty per cent referral rates.

HaGGlinG Haggling with the hotel for a better price is as old as the hills but is enjoying a revival. Savvy consumers can now use the internet to do their comparative research while watching the pennies, and are more likely to be confident and make a ‘hard sell.’ Pricing flexibility has made life easier.

FrEE is the new cheap. Customers are in the driving seat during these squeezed market times and looking to be given something for nothing as they weigh up their getaway options.

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oliday World 2014 will be an exciting show for the Middle East with new stands from Jordan, the stunning home of Petra (Indiana Jones missed the best bits of the dramatic stone ruins), the Dead Sea, the Wadi Rum of Lawrence of Arabia fame and Aqaba’s beaches. Oman will be there too, a short journey form the direct destinations of Abu Dhabi and Dubai and the nearest part of the Gulf that offers real history. The capital of Oman was named the Second Best City to visit in the world in 2012 by the travel guide publisher Lonely Planet. Korea is another newcomer as are Unique Japan Tours. New camping exhibitors include Camping Chantepie in the Loire Valley, Camping le Pin Parasol in the Vendee and Camping Sunelia France which offers 33 destinations from Brittany round the coast to Corsica, Rovos Rail in South Africa is offering what it calls the most luxurious train in the world with cuisine Meals served in one sitting only in the Victorian atmosphere of the dining cars, while Via Rail Canada is offering trips across the entire continent, Atlantic Canada, the Rockies and Pacific, the Prairie and northern Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec. New American exhibitors include Travel Oregon, Visit California, Florida’s Beaches, Florida Keys & Key West, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlantic City, San Francisco, Kansas and Oklahoma (check out the Flint Hills). The EU’s newest member is well represented by Dalmatia and Lika and the Istrian Tourist Board – in 2014 we will have direct flights to Pula and its hinterland of Venetian red-tile resort towns and island archipelago. For those who think that Czech tourism stops

What’s new 2014

you feel like you have been around the world at Prague the Czech Tourist Authority are another newcomer: ask about the spa facilities in Karlovy Vady, a round robin of spring waters of varying temperatures. The seven Ionian Islands off the Western coast of Greece are also newcomers. Zakynthos, Corfu, Paxos, Lefkas, Cythera, Kefalonia and Ithaca, the home of Odysseus.

t is changing times at Crumlin Road Gaol in Belfast, which hosted its first wedding the day after St Valentine’s Day last year. The jail has hosted 250 functions so far and more weddings have been booked. Crumlin Road Gaol is among the new exhibitors at Holiday World show in the RDS Simmonscourt next weekend, where Joanna Quinn will tell you more about the jail tour, of which the highlight is a visit to the condemned cell and reconstructed gallows.

More than 100,000 people tramped through the newly opened gaol to sample its ghoulish atmosphere. At night time people come to find if there are spirits around, to find the paranormal hotspots, or cold spots as they might be more aptly described. If anywhere is haunted, a jailhouse is. Canada’s Westjet are new exhibitors, offering a 16-week season with some of the best trans-Atlantic fares seen for a while. They are a low cost airline and the route from Dublin to St john’s in Newfoundland which they are launching next June is shorter than Ryanair’s longest routes to the Canaries. The air craft will continue on to Toronto after refueling, but the airline is offering the chance to stop over in Newfoundland at no extra charge. They will be joined by Air Canada, whose Toronto service will be year-round form next April. They operate the only wide-bodied aircraft

flying to Canada this year, with 75,000 extra seats to sell.

oghan Corry’s expert travel clinics at Holiday World 2014 will feature more than 40 industry experts and professionals who will answer questions from consumers on a wide variety of subjects. Everything is up for grabs, prices, itineraries, and tips as to how to get the best deals and the allimportant upgrade, on subjects such as aviation (separate forums for Flying East in 2014 and Flying West in 2014), hotel prices, holidays in Spain, holidays in the USA, solo travel, ski and snowboard, cruise holidays, walking holidays, luxury for less, visas and vaccinations, and home holiday deals. No booking is required and the advice clinics will take place at 45-minute intervals over the three days of the show

TRAVEL ADVICE PROGRAMME FRIDAY: 3.0 Forum Travel in 2014: Home and Abroad. 3.30 Dance routine 4.0 Spain 2014 with Kathryn McDonnell 5.0 Cruising with Rebecca Kelly of MSC cruises & Lorraine Quinn of RCL 5.30 Going to India with Raj Sunani SATURDAY 12: Get active in 2014, expert panel. 12.30 Go to Turkey, Discussion with Turkish Airlines and Turkish tourism. 1 Ski and snow with Rosemary Mayruhber 1.30 USA in 2014 expert panel 2.0 Dance performance 2.30pm Safari with Andre Migliarina 3.0 Luxury cruising with Sonia Limbrick od Azamara 3.30 Dance performance 4.0 Weddings & Honeymoons with Rosie Meleady, the wedding planner 4.45 Meet the experts, Helen Caron & John Kinane on the Irish holiday industry. SUNDAY 12.30 Dance performance 1.0 Meet the experts: Australia, Thailand, Action holidays. 1,45 Meet the experts: Travel and health 2.30 Michael Harrington of Nuevo Mundo 3 o’clock dance performance 3.30 Home Holdiay options with Orla Carroll 4.0 Safari with Andre Migliarina 4.45 Meet the experts, open forum on cruise

Page 045 Lord Howe r 13/01/2014 09:28 Page 1

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o mobile phone? Remote? Half way between Australia and New Zealand? Fine dining and the best of wine in a luxury lodge beneath and extinct volcano? It sounded like it was worth travelling half way around the world for.. Lord Howe Island is among the most beautiful islands on the planet, an isolated volcano cap 800 km off the New South Wales coast on the route to Norfolk Island. Lord Howe island was named for an 18th century English admiral, a relative of the Browne family of Westport. The name suggests something grandiose, and indeed its volcanic peaks soar high over the swirling ocean around. It is improbably beautiful and impossibly isolated the island with no cats and no mobile phones, as close to “stop the world I want to get off” as you will find. Nowadays you take a two hour flight from Sydney; in former times it was a temperamental boat journey. You could get from Sydney to New York for the same money. The two-hour flight costs $500 each way and my hotel, the four-star Arajilla lodge costs $670 a night. The baggage allowance on the Qantas regional dash-8

DESTINATION AUSTRALIA

Eoghan Corry checks out an island with no mobile phones

Howe’s that? L

The multi-colour`````` coral on Lord Howe is among the best on earth (below) friendly fish on Ned’s beach

is just 12 kg.

ord Howe is the southernmost coral reef on the planet, a product of the warm currents herearound, and may have one of the healthiest hunks of coral. When I join Dean Wiscox’s Environmental Tour for a snorkelling and glass bottom boat trip, it is like we are passing over a newly mown lawn, the greenest coral I have ever seen. It is easily accessible from the beach, compared with the lengthy journeys to see decaying coral in Queensland. This being the age of the young migrant to Aus, when I land there are two Irish here, Rebecca Harvey from Hillsborough and Lorraine Boyle from Donegal, both living up the island life. The island is famous for its friendly fish, and the kingfish and a glorious technicolour parrot fish surround me when I take an early morning swim on Ned’s beach, nibbling my dead skin like those controversial garra rufa fish you get in trendy ictiotherapy spas around the world.

he snorkel was as spectacular as any big-ticket snorkel elsewhere. Green. I have never seen coral so green. It is like fresh mown grass. “It is healthy,” Ken Wiscox, the seventh day Adventist who is conducting our sea tour says. We are at Escott’s hole, just a few hundred metres off Lord Howe Island, the land with no cats and no mobile phones, itself in turn 700km off the coast of New South Wales, crescent-shaped roughly the size of Aranmore or Bere Island (17 square km) with a population of 347. You won’t get healthier says Ken Wiscox. He reckons here is the cleanest, greenest coral in the ocean, as well as the southernmost, washed by a warm current from Vanuatu. “There are 150m tons of nutrients being washed down into Barrier Reef each year, says Ken. “the Barrier Reef will lose half of its coral by 2030.”

he spectators and the spectated are hard to differentiate in the colourful canvas. The parrot fish is the

most spectacular, a Galapagos shark, a clown fish with its distinctive white chinstrap and white tail, Maori wrasse, the double headed wrasse not found anywhere else in the world, the stripey zebra fish, and the silver drummer. “We call it the stinky of the neighbour fish,” Ken Wiscox says, “if you catch one give it to your neighbour.” They have a fish called Fred. Every diving and snorkeling experience in Australia has a fish called Fred, or Wally or Wanda. I wonder what the fish call us when we don goggles and flippers and go afloat.

t the tunnel-like entrance to the rainforest near Ned’s beach there is a sign to watch out for mutton birds. When the rats landed the island lost 12 unique species of birds. The wood hen might have been amongst them, but its population has been restored from 30 back to

330. “That is one of the rarest creatures in the world in the wild,” tour guide Peter Phillips says. “People see them and say no wonder the silly birds almost got wiped out.” “We have some things we are proud of,” Peter says. “What we do with waste is a triumph, saving the woodhen is a triumph.”

he island is crescent shaped, a forty minute bicycle trip from one side to the other, dismounting and pushing for the steep uphills, spectacularly beautiful with two peaks, Mounts Gower and Lidgbird, each rising above 2,500 feet at its southern end, People who find the hustle and bustle of the northern end too stressful can live at the southern end. It is here that the island’s five star lodge can be found, the Capella, the plushest of the 18 lodges, ranging from 85 rooms to 4.That is if they get to

come to live here at all. To own property on the island you must live here for 10 years, an anti-holiday home device that helps keep it pristine.

hey don’t have crime on Lord Howe island. Wayne the policeman spends his day chasing those tourists who dare to ride bicycles on his island without wearing a helmet or motorists who stray beyond the 25kph speed limit. National parks cover some three-fourths of the land area, harbouring rare vegetation and birdlife; this parkland and several adjacent islands were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1982. There are four different types of palm on island, of which two grow only on Mount Gower. Head chef at the Arajilla is Denis Tierney Byron Bay. He tells us the kingfish he serves was sourced at 5pm. It is that sort of place.

See australia.com the Visit Australia site for further information. Eoghan Corry travelled to Australia with Emirates who fly daily from Dublin to Dubai and have 98 onwards connections to Australia each week. www.emirates.com. He flew from Sydney to Lord Howe island with qantaslink. www.qantas.com.au

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DESTINATION SERBIA

hey still have bomb damage in Belgrade. It is a shock to see it as you travel down an otherwise normal looking street in Kneza Milosa, concrete and glass beside the warped remains of warped steel like a Dali painting, and then more glass fronts, airy office lobbies and coffee shops. It is surreal. Belgrade is good at recovery. We spend the evening in the trendy Belgrade port area, with a line of teeming lively restaurants. There is emotion everywhere, emotion enough to party. Our tour guide Tanja Krkovic tells me Belgrade has been over run and destroyed 38 times in its history. It was bombed nine times in the 20th century alone. There is a sense of aggrievement at every turn. They used to be the good guys who stood alone against fascism. Then they became the bad guys, like somebody flipped a coin. Tanja is an interesting raconteur, the man who jumped into the bear pit beside the fortress to escape his enraged wife, the Royal mistress who killed a wife, Black George who led the revolution against the Ottomans, and the two squabbling Royal families that contested the Serb throne for a century. She tells us how Serbia was once bread basket to the European imperial powers, the birthplace of

Serbian nights

Kalemegdan Fortress in Belgrade where the Sava and Danube rivers converge

Eoghan Corry is seduced by Serbia

17 Roman emperors including Constantin. After viewing the signature Kalemegdan fortress we lunched in the magnificent restaurant Šaran looking out on the river Sava, drinking Dark Kiksicko beer from Montenegro. Russell Stenson of Serbian Tourism tells me the Hotel Bah has weekend packages for €49, including flights. Croatia has the beaches. Serbia has to work harder for its tourists.

he castle of Novi Sad was built to impress whoever had to sit at the other side of the river. Usually it was the Austrians, when Serbia was the frontier of an empire. But it does a good job on Danube river cruisers nowadays. Rivers matter in an inland state which Serbia has become in its latest life. Serbia fell, or was banished, from the tourism map by the tragic events

of the 1990s. Its second city turned to song to get it back there. Novi Sad now stages a music festival in one of the most spectacular entertainment venues imaginable, the huge labyrinthine Petrovaradin Fortress, a massive Aus-

tro-Hungarian creation dating back to the 18th century when this was the frontier where the Ottoman and Hapsburg empires collided and sparked off each other. The festival is called Exit, it offers 600 acts on 20 stages.

It started as a protest movement against Slobadon Milosevic. Now it is one of Europe’s best loved rock festivals.

fter the song it was time for wine. Serbian wine producers, under orders from the Tito regime, used to emphasise quantity over quality. Not any more. We headed off to Sremski Karlovic’s Vinarija Kis in the historic ecclesiastical centre of Sremski Karlovci where there are 20 wineries, and sample their most well known products. They include Bermet, the Vermouth of Serbia. At the rural household “Perkov salas” on Fruska Gora, the farmer Mr Nikola talks of his 80 years of loving life. Wars, dictators, political systems, he has seen them come and he has seen them go. Song, women and wine, he says, endures. The guide, Tanja Djurkic was a small girl when she had to flee her home in the dead It is a lot of emotion for a small place. Emotion everywhere, enough to party. That’s what survivors do.

■ Air Serbia, is the national airline of Serbia has recently seen a major investment by Etihad. There are good connections through Paris CDG with its partner Air France/Cityjet. ■ There are other ways to go – through Budapest with Aer Lingus or Ryanair is a favourite for the Irish, followed by a four hour Geatours bus journey €30) to Novi Sad, or five hours to Belgrade. A taxi to Budapest from Novi Sad costs €130, which can make sense when people are sharing. Beware of border delays.

Clockwise: concert in Novi Sad, Krusedol convent, the famous clock in Novi Sad (whose minute hand is shorter than its hour hand) with the Danube behind, Novi Sad street scene and Sremski Karlovci

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adeleine Pickens looks at home in this arid land, just as she did in the winners’ enclosure of the racecourses like the Curragh all those years ago. The woman who wants to save the Mustang looks like she belongs in the Utah desert, where she has set her stall. In the 1990s she could be found in the owners enclosure at the Curragh with Vincent O’Brien and John Magnier. She is best known as owner of Cigar and several other champions. Now she owns the most important stud book of wild horses in north America. As any conquistador could tell you, the horse is not native to America. They were first released after the Pueblo revolt of 1680 when native Americans got their hands on horses and began to trade directly with Shoshone Indians. The horse has been part of the Nevada landscape since. “This is an endangered species this is like going to Africa and seeing the zebra,” says Madeleine.

ack in her ranch (“NOT a dude ranch”) the silver tack shines in the sunlight. “I came to Nevada because of the amount of land available here,” she says. She has appoint. Visitnevada’s latest marketing campaign used the campaign song “don’t fence me in.” In Nevada 87pc of the

DESTINATION USA

Madeleine Pickens’ quest to save the wild horse

Mustang sally

Madeleine Pickens and friend: she keeps 600 mustangs on a ranch which she has fitted out as a tourism

land is owned by federal government. Madeleine has 900 square miles here which enabled her to rescue 600 horses. She has assembled a hospitality team to look after guests in her lodge. Robert Macbeth the chef is from Arizona. We ask him if he is good with the knife (he has only heard it 2,794 times before). The lodge offers American western cooking by Robert McGrath. Western dining? Surely some mistake? He says “dining is all about balance, we have nice beef and then some berries to balance it. Because of where they lived their food was not contrived: beef, bison, elk, all low on fat, fish are

indigenous, and the grains and corn are all very healthy., When you try too hard you lose track of your culture, butters and creams don't settle well.” Historian Brandon Ross talks tribal history: “Tonto in a loin cloth is more attractive than the Lone Ranger with a mask.” He describes the call of the landscape, “vast silence and breath taking stars.” Travis Jackson agrees: “we work in the white world we lose our culture so I left the white world.” He says “she had a cause and I believed her there is nothing greater than to feel a wild horse nibbling at your fingers.”

Madeleine’s mustangs against the backdrop of the arid Nevada hills

he landscape performs in every direction. “Rattle snake country,” says Tom Lester as he brought us high into the Lemoille canyon. There is snow in the mountains around us and that spectacular clear desert air means you can see for miles. “Just look,” he says. “In Tennessee an overpass is a mountain.” We stop at a crossroads church in Lamoille with a congregation of 12 and little hat holders under the pews. “There is no room for cowboy hats we can always tell when the pastor is going on too long. Everyone starts flapping their hats” says Sandy Wilmot. In Wendover they

moved the time line three miles so they could operate on mountain time. Another community called jackpot also operates on mountain time without being federally sanctioned.

t the California Trails centre Mike Blunk tells me about the wagon trails that headed west from the 1840s on. His visitor centre tries to recreate the sights, sounds, even the smell that greeted the tens of thousands of hopefuls who crossed here en route to the gold fields. “That,” says Mike, “is the stench of death.” Surprisingly, the wagon trail was a middle class migration. The poorest could not afford to go. About 10pc of them never made it, dying of disease, drowning and (the third biggest killer)

accidental gunshot wounds. “Rivers took them. Nobody knew how to swim.” It took us 40 minutes to cross the arid 40 mile stretch of desert, it took the California bound wagon trails three days. “It was impossible to get lost,” Mike says, “all you had to do was walk on all the bones.” The terrain was hostile, and empty. Nevada had no rural towns until the mid 1950s. When they reached a plain that looked like snow it turned out to be alkali salt. We travelled out into Bonneville salt flats, most famous for its land speed record attempts, to be blinded by the white light. “The women made more money than the men,” says tour guide Joan Stratton. “All they had to do was smile. A pretty smile will get you a lot of gold.”

■ Eoghan Corry was hosted by travelnevada.com.com. He flew to Las Vegas with Aer Lingus and Jetblue transferring through their shared terminal at New York JFK Terminal 5.

Page 048 Sukhothei r 10/01/2014 16:09 Page 1

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DESTINATION THAILAND

y water buffalo was called Sam. Sitting astride a water buffalo is not on many bucket lists but this is part of a farm visit to Dr Prasert’s Organic Agriculture Project. It comes straight from the menu of experiential tourism that everyone is promoting nowadays. The farm visit by a group of tour operators and myself is more of a hindrance than a help to the productivity of Thailand, but tourists love it and keep coming back for more. A paddy abroad, as a 1970s English comedian might put it, my merciless taskmasters set me to planting rice in the paddy fields. I lasted all of, maybe, twelve minutes. My rice planting was disastrous. South East Asia would starve if they were relying on my rice.

he temples of south East Asia always give the impression they are built on borrowed ground. The dense rain forest is about to take them all back. Sukhothei was heart of an empire from 1238 until 1438, the time of Thomas Aquinas and the building of Trim Castle. It is not as famous as Angkor Wat but equally beautiful. It lies on the edge of the tropical bush, the vegetation lurking like a predator waiting to gobble it all up.

Buff-hello

cities I have seen, ahead of Angkor Thom, Angkor Wat or even Fatehpur Sikri, doomed by their popularity in the tourist charts. Sumptuous meets simplicity in the temples here, the type constructed by ard-nósach emperors everywhere, but so close to the forest so as not get carried away with delusions of grandeur.

Eoghan Corry sees temples and plants rice in Sukhothei Sam and friend

It was hot and sticky when we mount our bicycles to tour the Thai medieval capital of Sukhothei. Even more beautiful than the utterly incredible

Sukhothei is Si Satchanalai. It is quieter, calmer and goes on for miles. The ancient temples are surrounded by forest, redolent of more famous ruins in adjoining

countries. It may be the most impressive of the deserted

n a recent poll by one of the Bangkok newspapers, the people of Thailand were asked to select their own favourite heritage attraction. A similar poll in Ireland picked Newgrange. They picked Si Satchanalai. It says a lot. Our guide Kanarat Nettip says that she prefers it to Sukothei which is “like a woman with too much makeup.” Kanarat Nettip and Ekkorn Suwannetr tell us the story of the fall from glory that is Si Satchanalai.

ack in Bangkok Juthaporn Rerngronasa Deputy Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand had told us about the change of image that Thailand tourism is seeking, they are sending out the mes-

sage that they are a “a holiday destination for families. It is a lot of challenge for our government.” She outlined the country’s emphasis on green, golf, wedding and honeymoon and health and wellness to grow further its market share from Ireland. Green is good. It is astonishing how green the country is as you flight north from to Suvarnabhumi, airport to the picture postcard airport that serves the region. The ruins are an hour’s flight north of Bangkok and offer an intriguing glimpse into South East Asia’s grandeur before the Europeans came. The perspiration rolls off us as we cycle. Humidity hangs heavy in the air. The pool in the Sukhothei Heritage Hotel is tepid, like a warm bath, even early in the morning. The rooms are villa like, built around a succession of courtyard pools. The architecture borrows heavily from the local traditions as well as western hospitality convention. We swim in that enclosed pool a thunderstorm, lightning flashing like a laser show around us. That swim was an experience not easily forgotten.

Eoghan Corry flew to Bangkok with Etihad who fly ten times weekly from Dublin to Abu Dhabi with onward connections to Bangkok and Phuket as well as 88 other destinations worldwide. See www.etihad.com/en-ie or your travel agent.

Planting rice, the famous Wat Chang Lom and Si Sathcnalai even more beautiful than Sukhothei

Page 049 Austria r 13/01/2014 09:37 Page 1

espite the technology, the emperor of the winds rules over everything. The Wilder Kaiser, emperor of the winds has seen everything around him change. Most spectacularly (an importantly in a season such as this when the snow came early and then stopped) machines making technical snow have been installed by the hundred, legacy of a largely snowless winter in 20078. Like this season. After a big dump of snow in October it was dry for the weeks before Christmas. Having the machines saved the day. Instructress Jeanette Lichwa showed me how you can tell the difference between technical snow and real snow by the sound of the skis as you travel downhill. Anita Baumgartner of Skiwelt Tourism said. “We had the best ever start to a season and then it dried up.” The absence of snow was a problem. The tiny sprinkling we got was called a mausefalla, up to the knee of a mouse. The Skiwelt invested €11.5m in snowmaking and it paid off. When I visited in December parts of the region looked like a tin of white paint that had been tossed from side to side, with white spills of slope down the green mountain. Ski instructor herearound for the past 29 seasons Hubert Treffer says it has opened up new options for skiers. “All we need is minus three and we can make snow. It gives us a wide range of skiable piste even at the start of the season.” The emperor is also snowcapped, looking down on all, granity eyebrows raised in astonishment.

here are surprises in the hills. Up at the Alpeniglu Igloo Village near Brix-

FEBRUARY 2014 PAGE 49

DESTINATION AUSTRIA

A white bite Elisabeth Chapel at the Schmittenhoehe above Zell am Zee

Eoghan Corry tastes the early snow

ental, they reconstruct a village of igloos every year skiers can stay (Thursday to Sunday), sup and get married. At the nearby ski school Christoph Stoeckl, whose youngest student is 14 months, showed us his no-boots-needed skis for children under the age of two. At 1,300 metres in the mountain above St Johann is a real treat, Ann Marie Foidl, president of the Austrian Sommelier federation, runs a restaurant Angerer Alm in Obergurgl where her daughter Katharina Foidl serves up Tyrolean home cooking, with 3 to 5 course menus in the evening, utilizing their own dairy farm produce, the herb garden and the produce of surrounding farms. Even the toilets are a work of art, the taps simulating water that pours onto your hands from a tin jug. The wine cellar beneath would not be out of place in a posh Parish eatery. But don’t go to the wine without tasting her elderflower cordial. Our lunch there took four hours and we were reluctant to leave. The director of the tourism office, Gernot Riedel, delayed a meeting to sing an old folk song about a lover’s tryst in a

mountain hayloft. There is a toilet with a better view, the Sonnenalm in Skiwelt, where skiers do number one looking at the breath-taking mountains beyond. Piste takes on another meaning there.

ell am Zee is one of the most popular resorts for the Irish with 8,000 beds and a star attraction, a lake that freezes from mid January to the end of February. It is also accessible by railway, with the Salzburg to Innsbruck line running through the heart of the town. The rail journey from Salzburg takes an hour and 15 minutes. This year saw the opening of a new eight man lift to start the season. The slopes here offer 138km of good skiing served by 53 lifts but this will be dwarfed by the prospect of a direct link to Saalbach planned for three years time, putting this up with the big linked ski areas such as Four Valleys, Les Trois Vallées, Espace Killy, Skiwelt, Paradiski, and Grandvalira. The nightlife is lively particularly at Pinzgauer Diele where Matthias Nilsson plays host, floods of dry ice spewing from

the walls to interrupt the talk of the white stuff, and terrific evening dining at the famed Crazy Daisy restaurant. Beware of Flanningan’s, purportedly an Irish bar but the only place in town where Irish are definitely NOT welcome. We adjourned afterwards for beers and bop in the Diele. To discover one of three real treasures of the Eastern Alps you have to head uphill. Christian Schatzer runs Pinzgauer Hutte on a mountain spur, looking down on the valley. After lunch he will arrange to have you brought up by skidoo, a reindeer sleigh in reverse

with the cart dragging skiers stopping each time a snowboarder comes undone. It is fun.

ine core resorts in Austria have been serving the Irish skier for decades. While the favourite destination of English skiers is France, Ireland prefers Austria and we keep going back for more. The resorts of the Skiwelt, Westendorf, Ellmau, Going, Scheffau, Söll have been favourites for three generations of skiers. The two big ski operators who serve the Irish market have tried to sell us other night options, but they didn’t work. Tour operators say that even those new resorts which have access to the same slopes don’t work. It is a habit thing. We like going back to our favourite bars, and we like the prices there, €10.20 for a schnitzel in Westendorf and €19 in St Anton. All across Europe the days when resorts operated their own slice of mountain ended two decades ago with the linking of huge ski areas with cable cars and funiculars, the Four Valleys, Les Trois Vallées, EspaceKilly Skiwelt, Par-

adiski, Grandvalira (there are more). Skiwelt, accessible from Westnendorf, Soll and other places, claimed to be the biggest in Austria. They commissioned research to prove it and found they had 279kkm of slope. Other resorts were exaggerating their numbers by claiming more than one run down the same slope. A one kilometre bus ride brings you to Kirchberg to access more slope. They also have 10km of floodlit piste for the night skier. It means a wide range of accommodation choices for the skier including €22 a night pensions and €70 hotel options. At night when we tested the floodlight experience, we found the mountains more enchanting than ever. The slopes were empty and crisp with the clear night air, the stars cavalcading around us from horizon to horizon. I try to remember the instructions to be a better skier. Big toe, little toe, tilting lateral movements, always facing down the fall line. The emperor of the winds was still there, black and laughing at our lack of grace.

■ Topflight www.topflight.ie 01 2401700 is a wholly Irish owned and has been voted Ireland’s leading ski tour operator at the Irish Travel Industry Awards. ■ Eoghan flew via Munich with Aer Lingus. www.aerlingus.com ■ He stayed at the newly refurbished SeeVilla Freiburg, a stunning location by the shores of Lake Zell. ■ Zell am See-Kaprun is Austria’s province of Salzburgerland, and just 1.5 hours from Salzburg Airport where Topflight will have weekly ski charters from Dublin, Cork and Belfast, for the full ski season. Zell am See-Kaprun has 138 kms of piste, and is an excellent resort for all levels of skier and snowboarder. The nearby Kitzsteinhorn Glacier, means you can ski up to 10 months of the year, while enjoying a summer break as well by the Shores of Lake Zell. The ski pass costs from €196 for low season for 6 days. Zell am See has great nightlife and a super pedestrian shopping area including and cool bars including The Diele, and Crazy Daisy. ■ Offers for March from Topflight including 2 star B&B deals from only €411, or the 4 Star Grand Hotel for just €879. Prices include Topflight charter, transfers, accommodation and rep services. ■ The ski season continues until March 31st this year. ■ Topflight uses Salzburg Airport as its gateway to all its ski resorts in Austria including the resorts of the Skiwelt, Zell am See-Kaprun and Gastein Valley. ■ The best value for ski holidays is always in mid January, but the longer days of spring – with sunny days on the slopes – are a great alternative in March when many resorts run St Patrick’s Day promotions.

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SKI & SNOWBOARD 2013-14

he trip came with a surprise beginning, more likely with ski holidays than with any other type of holiday. The road from Toulouse to Andorra has been snowbound, so we are flying to El Prat in Barcelona instead. Barcelona to Andorra is a more scenic drive, Craig our Topflight rep told us, but I don’t think there is much difference. We check in T2, and using the strange logic that is Dublin airport, head back to T1 to Gate 303. The flight boards early, which is a bit of a heart stopper because my daughter Síofra has disappeared to Burgerland in T1 for breakfast. Thankfully we retrieve her in time. The bus takes four and a half hours instead of the normal three. The stop in Canvails is like half time at the Aviva, a mill involving the contents of 16 coaches in quest of Sprite and soggy chips. A handwritten sign at the corner says tour guides only where the young reps cluster. Pasta and cheese and a coke costs €8.50, a high price for a captive audience.

Adoring Andorra T

Children under 11 get free lift passes in selected Andorran resorts

Eoghan Corry skis like a prince in the principality

here was so much snow that they could not keep the pistes clear. The road to Toulouse is under an avalanche. They were still trying to dig out the ticket office at Arcalis. Here in Arinsal the footpath is now five feet higher than the road, which makes the walk from the St Gothard hotel to the lift a precarious

perambulation. We got a reminder of the delight of Andorra: the snow here is fluffy and powdery and a little salty, straight from the Bay of Biscay and not like the heavier wet stuff you get in the Alps. The terrain in Arinsal will be familiar to many readers: a big walk up the hill by the roadside form the hotel, well-nigh im-

LOW-DOWN ABOUT THE HIGH-UP PLACES

■ Soldeu has over 200kms of piste is an excellent resort for all levels of skiers with some challenging red and black runs, as well as cruising reds. Topflight would recommend the Sports Village complex ski in and gondola within the complex, or the Piolets Park Hotel, as well as other budget price accommodation. Après ski activities include husky dog rides, skidooing etc. as well as the usual après ski for singles. Lift Pass for Grandvalira costs €189, children under 11 get FREE lift pass when one adult pre books. First Time Ski pack €275 ■ Arinsal has 63kms of piste in the VallNord sector of Arinsal. The lift pass for the area can be used for Arcalis as well, reachable by free ski bus. Arinsal is a very good value resort, great for families as well as singles, and better for beginners and lower intermediates.

■ Lift Pass €152 children under 11 get FREE lift pass when one adult pre books. ■ First time ski pack €239 to include 6 days ski and boot hire, 5 days ski school and 6 day lift pass ■ Prices at the 4 Star St Gothard Hotel from €539pps price includes flights, accommodation and transfers and half board and live entertainment 6 days per week ■ Entry to Caldea is €39. entry to wellness extra facilities is €59 and watch out for special offer packages including massage etc. ■ A big plus for Andorra is its capital Andorra la Vella and its 3kms of shopping including well known shops such as Mango, Bershka and Zara all offering low prices, as well as ski gear, electrics, and low low drinks prices, especially for quality brands.

possible when the pavement is about three feet higher than the road with compressed snow, then the gondola ride through awesome beauty to the ski area, where a big complex of buildings await including the lockers where we keep our skies, then a beginners area with a magic carpet, a shortish four man chairlift to the right and a six man to the left that brings you up to a sprawling magnificent white playground surrounded by low hills. Beyond that is a scarey drag lift and a four man that both bring you to an exposed peak, from which the steepest blue slope in the resort descends back to the playground once more. Off to the left as you look uphill is my favourite red on the resort, short and steep but wide, how I love it, love it, love it.

he six man chairlift from the bottom is the place where we nearly perished on the first day of our visit in the frontal breeze, cutting into our faces, so

that you could not longer feel cheek, nose or face. On the following morning we could not believe the improvement. The ride up was a little cold but not so bad, then we got off the lift and tried to ski down, we discovered that the wind had merely turned, not died, to pay a trick on us. We could barely ski into the headwind. The snow is still falling, the wind is up and it is very, very cold. Myself and Síofra are trying to ski downhill in zero visibility. The fog was so thick you could barely see beyond your out-

stretched arm. We travelled whenever there was a break in the driving blinding snow and fog and proceed with caution because along the slope there were little groups of huddled figures in the driving, cutting, icy snow, waiting for the ten yards visibility to get them a little further downhill. Down in the beginners area, kindergartners are being blown off the magic carpet like skittles. After one descent we upped sticks, literally, and took the gondola to the bottom. “That was fun, but I wouldn’t want to do it again,” said Síofra in her classically understated way. We found that the bus to the neighbouring resort Pal had gone out that morning and never come back, stranded on some snowy mountain by-road. So we take the public bus, €1.45, to La Masana where there is a gondola up to Pal, which is south facing and has lots of trees. When we arrive there, it is sunny and fresh, with blue skies and glorious pistes extending in each direction, with Síofra still pulling big blocks of ice off my eyebrows from our morning misadventure even as we ascended the mountain. It was like another world, big white pistes with sunshine and hardly a wind. Síofra found a long blue one she got to like, El Gall, and we did

Spend a day-ah at the Caldea

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SKI & SNOWBOARD 2013-14 that over and over. We then tried another and, getting brave, we separated, I did a red and she did a blue. She, of course, failed to make one of the corners and stuck her skies into the orange netting that some foresightful fellows have erected to prevent a wayward skier going over the edge. The other side of the mountain, different planet.

nd then, the wind died and the sun came out. All the slopes opened again. Even north facing Arcalis had 12 of its 17 pistes open. Andorra made its name as a playground for beginners after the first ski lifts opened in 1957, became all trendy when the Grandvalira was created in 2004 opening up 193km of piste, and then became a tad too expensive for the Irish who looked east to Austria, Italy and Bulgaria instead. In recent years Andorra has grown up, which is an achievement considering the top of Croagh Patrick is lower than the lowest point in the little principality. Last year Andorra enjoyed a big leap in capacity and a 8pc jump in bookings form Ireland. This year capacity is up again, with 6,000 Irish expected to ski the principality. Prices have been reined in and the season is looking good. Better hotels and spas have been thrown alongside shopping into Andorra’s box of tricks.

Perez brought us on an amazing tour of Arinsal, taking the James Bond cable car over to Pal and throwing another snowball at the Spanish border.

A A

Pal offers a very different terrain and different ski experience from Arinsal

ndorra la Vella, the capital, is an unusually urban setting for a ski experience. The town got its name from the numerous hot springs and we are here to sample the Caldea, a space age wellness centre near the little river with Icelandic pools, hammams, saunas and an outdoor pool where you swim in heated luxury while the snow dusts your hair. One nearby sixkilometre gondola run can get you up the mountains in 14 minutes. Entry to Caldea is €39 to use the pools, €59 including treatments, offering five storeys of pools, treatment rooms, and saunas. There is a free bus from Arinsal for people staying on that side of the mountain and shops stay open until 8 o’clock at night, with great duty

free prices. It comes complete with a bizarre grapefruit pool, a small swimming pool with grapefruits bobbing around in the dark, something to help your skin, apparently. It doesn’t work. I tried. We also shop for the cheap electronics and booze that makes Andorra famous. The Hiper Andorra shop is now a Le Clerc, sign of changing times, but it still has the cheapest bottles in town.

oldeu is a good place to measure how far Andorra has come from the ‘bargains and beginners’ place it used to be. I spent the day skiing non stop under the blue sky, about 40 kilometres with Mike Wilson, an Anglo-Italian guide living in Andorra who used

■ Eoghan Corry travelled to Andorra with Topflight, Ireland’s leading ski tour operator, supported by Ski Andorra and Aer Lingus. ■ Topflight operates an Aer Lingus Charter programme to Andorra for the full ski season, from Dublin to Toulouse and from Cork to Barcelona on Aer Lingus scheduled flights. All flights operate on a Sunday to Sunday basis. ■ See www.topflight.ie (telephone 01 2401700) ■ Aer Lingus schedule is on www.aerlingus.com ■ Topflight continue to support the trade with training days as well as in-house training which can be scheduled by Graham Hennessy, Group Sales and Agency Sales Manager, Topflight. Contact him on 01 2401744. Training is key to selling ski. Clients know ski, so agency staff need to know too. Topflight will also be organising ski fam trips during the season, like other years

to be a racer. He took off like the clappers and I tried to follow, blues, red, and black. He brought me down the world cup slope and despite several heart attacks, I made it. Getting there was a three bus journey and I gashed my hand off my skis taking them out of the hold of one of the buses, but once there all the drama was forgotten. They opened a new tunnel through the mountain just before Christmas which has taken half an hour off the journey back to Arinsal. A morning on the slopes shows what a good job they have done. As we lap up the kilometres around the resort there are some challenges and a few icy wobbly bits (Sol-

deu ain’t drowning in snow like Ischgl is this week) but the scenery makes it all worthwhile. A line of Andorran kindergartners parade by in little suits with magnets on their back, to hold them on the ski lift. One day a week they get up the mountain to ski. What an education. An Irish ski instructress, Lesley Boyd from Dundrum spends her winter here, and is one of the best tutors in the resort. You can ski down to the little village of Pas de la Casa, throw a snowball into France and take the lift back up again, rattling along at the regulation 2.4 metres per second as the scenery unfolds around. Not to be outdone, Noemi Roguera and Aina

Sunshine straight from the bay of Biscay

ndorra’s big drawback used to be the transfer time, but the French have shaved an hour off the transfer time to Toulouse with the grandiosely named European Route E09. Barcelona has three direct flights a day from Dublin but Toulouse is a better transfer option. Unless something gets lodged in the bridge at Prat de la Plau. But you don’t get to visit a mountain principality without having to go up the mountain.

travel insurance glitch was solved last season. Andorra is outside the EU, so travel insurance claims used to take time while to get processed. The ski resorts have decided to offer their own, at 3.20 a day, or 45 for the season. It means no paperwork when you present with that sprained wrist, and they will have you strapped and back on the slopes straightaway. Andorra won’t ever be Espace Killy but it has infinitely cheaper wine and better shopping.

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DESTINATION REPUBLICA DOMINICANA

a n g r o v e swamps are among the most beautiful places on the planet. The name conjures up a tropical treasure trove of fabulous fauna and flora. The mangroves themselves are special, magnificent animals or plants (they might be either), with great stork feet, standing tall, the bits we see below the murky water line even more enticing than that which stands above. And all the life around them is brimful of fantasy, landscape of the imagination, Hollywood movie fantasy, animation fantasy, darkest an brightest life forms, camouflaged and colourful in turn, a bright red crab stalking in the tentacles, the big long saplings hanging like hanging baskets and the red mangrove stretched like a carpet everywhere. If an artist or a furniture designer did it they would be lining up the awards. Except you don’t have the sound of the Quervos in your ears at a furniture awards. The swamps are the backdrop to the human gallery, rock art left by the Taino people in the caves of San Gabriel and La Linea, animals, dancing children and arm-outstretched shamans, birds, manatees (no longer indigenous, they are important to the art form, the figures are painted with dye from the black grass of the manatee), and bats (the God of the dead) in caves pockmarking the carboniferous rocks hollowed and drummed by humidity and salty water, streaked in blackness from the humidity and salt water, a fruit bat huddling in a hole barely larger than himself , the shiny white rock contrasted with his sleek black skin like he was auditioning for Hollywood, outside the caves pelicans perched on disused pier heads and a shrieking

Beyond the Buffet

Eoghan Corry renounces his wristband to find the real Dominican Republic Eoghan Corry and Palmarito in the Parc Nationale Les Haitises , just one of the many treasures of Dominican Republic

frigata chasing a pelican. Now I know I am in the tropics. And best of all, everything was dripping, because it was rainy season in the Republica Dominicana. Drip, drip, drip.

t is rainy season. So we get a spectacular thunderstorm at dusk every day. It is the destiny of a travel writer to see everywhere off season. We go skiing when the snow is melting, we go to the sun resort in spring and the golf course in winter. It could be worse. Hurricane seasons starts July 1st. That makes most places MORE interesting rather than less. It starts with a conversation in Spanish with the guard at the checkpoint, they drive me to the front door and accompany me

to check-in. They tell me how they individualise the experiences of all 3,000 guests. They tell me about their restaurants and standards of care. They tell me it is not Cancun, for Cancun is the byword in the worst excesses of holiday factorydom. When you arrive they don’t delouse you, or put you in an orange jumpsuit, they give you the wristband at the check-in desk. It is part passport, part handcuff, the currency of planet all-inclusive. It delivers unqueried access to a wonderland of multiple bars, entertainment spots and pools. It is worth taking time to practice the half raised arm salute, the sort of semi-wave you use to get a small dog to sit. Use it casually, as if you are not quite aware the wristband is there. But you know it is, and the 1,500 or so

employees in your resort can spot it at 300 metres. It gets you past the security man through the wicket on the sandy route back from the beach. It gets the barman to open the generic red wine canister and pour a refill. It works at the buffet line for the prawns. As you trek the kilometre and a half from the pool to your bedroom, (and the bedrooms are enormous by European standards) you pass like minded internees from all nations, Americans, Spanish, lots of Russians (there are eight charters a week). This is stadium tourism, all wristbands and cheap generic rum: 3,000 beds in the Riu Palace hotel Bavaro, 2,000 in the Barcelo, 4,000 in the Bavaro Hotel, 2,000 in the Hard Rock in Macao (Madonna’s limo in one of the lobbies).

They all have 4-6 pools, 6-8 restaurants, 34 bars, evening entertainment of lip-synching dancers in glittery costumes on a stage and a slice of palm fringed beach to call their own. I collect my room key and having worked out where I belong in the labyrinth (when your room number is 16206 you know you are in trouble), and arrive in some of the largest hotel rooms in the industry.

t works. Dominican Republic played the numbers game, and won big. The rapid growth has been driven by giant all-inclusive resorts that sprawl along a coastline of narrow white sand beaches and ubiquitous palm trees. Over the years I said that it is very pleasant place, it has the palm trees and the white sand,

but is filled with holiday factories, portly Americans, wrist-banded to indicate they are handcuffed to their accommodation provider. The travel trade say that focusing on the big resorts misses the point about the Dominican Republic. There is lots beyond the wristband, a swim with the turtles in a fresh water reserve, hikes and horse rides through a nature reserve. They brought me to Tortuga Bay, a chic beachside hotel with rooms designed by Oscor de La Reata that is so close to the airport they have a VIP service from the steps of the plane. They feed me in La Palapa restaurant on the seashore. Then they brought me back to an all inclusive. This is stadium tourism. These places a model in crowd management,

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FEBRUARY 2014 PAGE 53 filled with portly Americans in the queue for the camorones counter. I still love it, every naff bit of it. They put a towel heart with flowers on my bed and rose petals around the bath, drink dispensers over the coffee maker, awful bourbon and worse gin. I arrived untroubled, with no mobile number for whoever was collecting me and no hotel name, so just as well they showed up (late). I wrote “Beaches Punta Cano” on the immigration form so as not to arouse suspicion. I feel like I am the Jason Segel character in a scene from forgetting Sarah Marshall. “Are you on your own? Are you with a magazine?” Being on your own means more conversations. I spent two nights immersed in the company of Argentineans and befriended many Americans and Canadians, swapping Clancy Brothers songs with a retired Ontarian.

herever holiday factories go, a parallel excursion industry will follow. A small army of local tour operators are installed in the lobby attempting to sell their wares to the wrist-banded internees. The standard stampede excursion here around is Saona Island, a bounty-bar destination to which 500,000 excursionists travel by boat annually. My day trip is led by a

DESTINATION REPUBLICA DOMINICANA

Magnificent mangroves

highly entertaining tour guide, A Bit Of A Character. ABOAC: My name is Franklin, and I am your daddy today. Who’s your daddy? TOURISTS: Franklin. ABOAC: Okay in America, who is the boss, the mans or the womans. (The men look at their shoes and the women all shout) WOMEN TOURISTS: The Women. ABOAC: Good, because if the bus breaks down we need the woman’s to push Our bus bounces over unpaved roads to convey us to local farmsteads and plantations, sugar cane, rum and cigars in produc-

tion by bemused looking elderly men and women, Leonardo Pena Duran and Griselda Santos rolling the cigars and the farm owner Maria Guerrero presiding over an emporium of fruit and sales of the medicine drink, Mamajuana. Maria smiles patiently at the same joke every American makes about how Mamajuana sounds like marijuana. Maria can afford a smile or two. This being holiday factory/herding excursion land Sales are in dollars and three times the local market price. They feed us plantain, chicken and the bounty of the lush hillsides. Franklin Vasquez

/Daddy then brought us to the renowned Macao beach just in time for the thunderstorm. ABOAC (after lunch): How was the chicken? BOB RICKARD (from Harrisburg Pennsylvania, who is obviously A Bit Of A Character himself): It tasted of iguana.

he original tourist playgrounds of the Dominican Republic were constructed at Cabrera, Samana and Puerto Plata. These are now the ones most likely to leave the resorts. More than half of the wristbanded ones are venturing out to see the countryside around. I sample a boat trip to one of the Caribbean’s best

beaches at Playa Rincon, The drive north brought me through the rain forests and red clay carved canyons of Parque Nacional Los Haitises. My first sight of the Atlantic is stunning – between the trunks of the palm trees that fringe the near-white (very pale yellow but you can see why they describe it as white in the brochures) ribbon of beach-front all along this coast. There was lots of fun on the rum. Even the drive is an adventure. The roads are filled with Michael Schumacher types who show no fear when the road goes from three to two lanes and there are four lanes of trucks, cars and moped

Clockwise: The waterfall at Cascada Del Limon , Pueblo Des Pescadores in Santana, musicians and an aquarium view

riders (no helmets, NOBODY wears a helmet) scrambling for the re-rationed roadspace,

here is an important axiom that travel writers would be wise to follow: never use the world turquoise in an article. But then, it is rainy season. Drip drip drip rather than azure, azure, azure. A friend emailed me to say it is rainy season in Ireland as well, the fifth this year. I need to come back to see the south west, especially the fascinating Enriquillo Lake, three times the salinity of the ocean. The republic of the wristband has so much more to offer.

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ike any standard tourism menu (beef, salmon or chicken), there are three main choices on offer on the loop drive from Westport to Leenaune. For a starter walk the town’s little streets and cross the bridges over the rushing river. The saddle the auto for the main course, just to put a little perspective on the visit ahead. My choice, and I feel smugly if mistakenly knowledgeable because I have taken other options on this road before, is to take the main road on way out and come back through Delphi and Sheefry Pass on the way back, the evening sunlight at play on the heathery mountain slopes. Sheefry Pass? Mam Shiofra, the gap into the world of fairies, lives up to its name. The road is narrow and the sheenwhite sheep give us the casual, slightly affronted glance of locals whose domain has not been much interrupted as the tourism season is about to begin. Mayo gets 267,000 tourists from overseas every year. More than half end up in Westport and a smaller proportion again navigating these narrow roads into the redheathered mountains in each direction. It should be more. Galway gets 933,000. International tourists, more than three times as

West winged

Eoghan Corry hits the target on the Mayo coast

Joy of hitting the target: Westport House counts archery among its range of activities

many.

he light is clear and crisp in the early morning (our visit was on a chilly Easter weekend), and the breakfast buffet in the Hotel Westport is offering a choice of whiting or kippers for breakfast? That is why we stay in hotels. A cooked breakfast is a luxury, a cooked fish breakfast a step closer to Valhalla or whatever the Westport version might be, one of those alleged islands for every day of the year in Clew Bay perhaps. Breakfast is a place to study how a hotel works and who its best customers are.

The Hotel Westport has been working on attracting families: and the queue at the coco pops stall is a testimony to their success. The children and their parents are the first of the shifts, surly teenagers come next, and groggy adults that overindulged in Matt Molloy’s or the other temples of tradition in the town later again. The good news is that most of them are heading just a couple of hundred metres down the green walkway accessed by a gate in the car park, for Westport House has rides and activities and culture aplenty for the most curious families.

And very curious people are known to come here.

ew towns have as strong a connection with the big house as Westport town has with Westport House. Many of Ireland’s tourist-focused big houses are uneasy with their hinterland, exploitative history and delusions of grandeur imprinted on their frayed, leaking rooves. Not this one. The success story is due to one man, to the forceful PR of Jeremy Browne, Lord Altamont. Somebody once offered £7,000 to buy the house – about a thousand pounds more than the marble staircase

had cost to construct in 1858. Jeremy said no. What happened next impacted every community in Ireland and its environment. He was a breadth of fresh air when he tackled the problem that his inheritance was losing £1,500 a year and placed Westport House at the heart of the fledgling world of Irish cultural tourism in 1960. It attracted 4,500 visitors in its first year and 65,000 a year by the outbreak of the troubles in 1969. It sounds modest, but his energy was to inspire tourism projects everywhere, up and down the country. It helped that Jeremy

was an unashamed self publicist soundbyte central in the 1960s and 1970s (else (“not all the money, nor all the architects, nor all the governments in the world, could ever build another Westport House”). Westport is the Eden of big house tourism. The archery and combat games, the clay pigeon shooting and sawn boats in the lake are the culmination of Jeremy’s big ideas bursting out of a small town estate. Fossett’s circus supplied the animals for his zoo in 1972. The activities and the mini theme park followed in the noughties.

Archery at Westport House, climbing the rocks at the beach, swan boats, Eoghan Corry re-emerges from a wet zorbing experience, zorbing and combat games

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DESTINATION IRELAND

Keel strand in Achill

Jeremy’s entrepreneurship is well documented. His wife Jennifer put up with the zoo until the more exotic animals were brought in and uttered the fateful phrase: “Either the lions go or I go.” Today when any Irish community thinks tourism, it always starts by looking up what Westport got up to.

he house still resembles the yield of a magpie raid on an ancestors’ cupboard. Some of the artifacts are stunning national treasures, an example being the Republic of Connacht Banner car-

ried by Jean Humbert from France in 1798 by, Pro Rege Sapie, Pro Patria Semper (for my King seldom, for my country often). The Brownes have a collection to be proud of in the house, and most of their proud ancestors have been affixed some wall or other, with one exception they have a portrait of all of them. Howe Peter, the man who ended slavery in Jamaica and, in doing so, cost his own family a fortune, has a deserved slavery exhibit of his own. Another recent addition commemorates the 50th anniversary

of the house being opened to the public. Other artifacts include the silver slaver made in Cork by William Egan during the republican occupation in 1922, lots of four post beds and a championship collection of chamber pots (cue the jokes about an anal collection), and in a small stand of the entrance hall, something so unexpected that some of the guides do not know it is there: a toga pin from Pompeii. Westport House has another exciting year ahead. The Morpeth Scroll will be on display in the house from Apr 20

to May 12. The estate is to open a new gate in the middle of the town, physically as well as culturally placing Westport House back at the heart of the community.

homas Breen is our archery instructor at Westport House. He has the quiet air of a man who is used to drawing a bow, and it proves wellfounded. He features in the Guinness Book of Records for his stamina, a record 34 hours non-stop on the range shooting targets. While Adventure Is-

Connie and Siofra Corry walking the Greenway and Siofra Corry shooting at Westport House.

land run the combat and archery and are planning an aqua park in the bay this summer, another company Adventure West, has introduced zorbing, rolling guests down a hill in a big plastic ball and a zipline which, until a recent relocation of the starting point, was the longest in Ireland. Louise Moore of Adventure West tells us of their plans to offer a snorkeling experience off the Old Head in Louisburgh this summer. The group already offers an exciting sounding coast touring option.

It was late when we made it back to back to the dining room, tired and a little hungry we go. The set dinner menu has the scent of promise. Feta cheese and salsa, confit of duck, warm goat's cheese, monkfish, sticky toffee pudding, berry trifle and roasted hazel nuts. There is time for another drive before we return, over the single bridge to Achill, the deserted village and megalithic tomb, and the climb over the hill crest to Keem Strand that changes colour and mood as capriciously as the broad Atlantic beyond.

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DESTINATION MALTA

Malta plays match and win

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-St Johns Cathedral in Valletta

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t is Ireland’s second most popular wedding destination (afetr Italy) and growing fast. The bureaucracy of France, Italy and Spain has meant that the tiny island of Malta (you can fit two and half Maltas i n t o I r e l a n d ’s s m a l l e s t c o u n t y, L o u t h ) has been advancing rapidly up the aisle as the wedding destination of choice for hundreds of Irish couples each year. Malta has earned a steadily growing market share because of its easy bureaucracy residency stipulation of just three days, the close relationship between civil ceremony and church wedding, and the preponderance of churches and good

h o t e l s w h i c h o ff e r a dazzling array of wedding options. There are nearly 400 churches in Malta, one at every turn of the road, three times as many churches as pubs, the Irish eye will q u i c k l y g a t h e r. T h e most prominent building along the landscape is the parish church. It has close cultural, economic and religious connections with Ireland. One of the oldest traditional wedding venue hotels, the Phoenician, is Irish owned. M o r e i m p o r t a n t l y, a wedding in Malta will cost an average of € 4,500, compared with the average of €23,000 at home. Plates for the wed-

ding meal can come in at €15 with some good options at € 30. There are over 300 restaurants as well and everybody has decided to chase the wedding business. A c o u p l e c a n g e t m a rried in a vineyard ( Ta M e n a E s t a t e i n Gozo), a historic palace (Palazzo Parisio, Naxxar) or even underwater (a Chinese couple did i t a t t h e A z u r e Wi n dow in Dwejra, an impressive natural arch standing some twenty metres high). Keep a weather eye on those local church c h a rg e s , which can mount very q u i c k l y. In Malta the average “donation” required by the church is € 500.

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COMMERCIAL FEATURE

Magical Malta

xperience the magic of Malta this spring. A stunning destination with top Spring temperatures of up to 17ºC, no other group of islands offer as much natural beauty, art and architecture, entertainment and activity as the Maltese Islands. Just a short three and a half hour flight away direct from Dublin with Ryanair, getting to Malta couldn’t be easier. Spring is a beautiful season to visit the Maltese Islands. With cooler temperatures than the summer, it’s the perfect time to explore some of the islands’ top outdoor attractions and activities; it’s warm enough for swimming yet cool enough to discover its magnificent landscape, be in walking, hill-climbing or cycling. Malta and Gozo also boast some beautiful beaches, the most popular being Melleha Bay, Golden Bay and Għajn Tuffieħa, where you can sit back, relax and soak up some lovely, warm sunshine. There is no better time for nature lovers to witness the wonders of some of Malta’s nature reserves. The Ghadira Nature Reserve, located 100 meters from Mellieha Bay, covers an area of about six hectares. Here visitors can wander at their leisure and experience the beauty of the Maltese wildlife, where more than 200 species of birds have been recorded. Make sure to bring a picnic so that you can relax and truly take-in this picturesque reserve while observing

some of the forest’s resident animals in their natural habitat. Kids will love Sweethaven Village, where the musical Popeye was filmed in 1980, the Splash and Fun Water Park at White Rocks, the Playmobil Fun Park, the Mediterraneo Theme Park, the LWS Animal Park and the Bay Street Complex Family Entertainment Centre.

alta boasts a huge range of exhilarati n g watersports including water-skii n g , paragliding and windsurfing, while most beaches and lidos have canoes, jet-skis and paddleboats for hire. But if it’s serious thrills you’re after, then try kite-surfing, and prepare to be blown away. The Maltese islands are also a haven for divers and snorklers. Divers from all over the world come for the underwater caves, cliffs, and shelves, which are home to an abundance of flora and fauna. They also come for the challenge and intrigue of exploring the sunken wrecks which date back to the first and second world wars. The fact that visibility at most dive sites is over 25 metres, adds to the attraction.

For those looking to expand their knowledge of Mediterranean history, Malta offers the perfect destination. With a history expanding some 7,000 years, four Heritage Malta sites have received a Certificate of Excellence for 2013 by TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel site. The National War Museum, the National Museum of Archaeology, the Inquisitor’s Palace and the 16th century mas-

terpiece Grandmaster’s Palace, which includes both the state rooms and the Palace Armoury, have received the award, given only to establishments that consistently achieve outstanding traveller reviews on the site. On the 23rd February the Alarme, a military reenactment that portrays the historic and turbulent tenure of Malta by French troops, provides a fascinating portrayal of the French troops' arrival in Malta and the rebellion of the Maltese that led to the

blockade of the French troops inside the harbour towns. While holidaying in Malta, don’t miss a visit to its capital Valletta, otherwise known as “a city built by gentlemen for gentlemen”. It was unanimously named European Capital of Culture (ECoC) for 2018, by a jury of experts last year. This prestigious honour is given to cities which

are rich in heritage, but would also have a great potential of cultural and socio-economic regeneration. Just a 30-minute drive from the airport in Luqa, Valletta is the epitome of a noble Baroque City, encompassing within its highly cosmopolitan identity, the true meaning of a great European destination steeped in history, art and culture.

trip to St Julian’s is also a must. Once a fishing village it is now Malta’s playground the hottest spot for dining,

dancing and living it up into the early hours. Taking in Spinola Bay, Paceville and St George’s Bay, the 3km stretch is the pulsing heart of the island. The promenade is the place to go if you want to see and be seen, while the sheer number of bars, restaurants and clubs will leave you spoilt for choice. Nightlife centres around Paceville, which rocks like nowhere else. Not for the faint-hearted! If its colourful worldclass events you’re after, Malta is the place for you! Forget Rio, Malta does carnivals better t h a n anyone in the world. The annual carnival is celebrated at Valletta and is known for its vigorous dancing displays and a sword-fight to commemorate the Maltese victory over the Turks in 1565. While the Valletta event is something you’d be happy to take your mother to, the Gozo event is wild, anonymous and just a little risqué, with hundreds of Maltese, Gotzians, and tourists gathering for what many agree is the greatest carnival of all. In Gozo, revellers and drag queens roam the streets, dance on the pavements, and engage in what can only be described as a surreal festival of uninhibited fun.

(Carnival week: 28th February – 4th March 2014) Because Malta is predominantly Roman Catholic, it’s no surprise that village festas are a common, colourful occurrence. It has been said that every village has its own week long festa, to celebrate their patron saint. Local band clubs march through the streets at these events, providing a musical backdrop to the festivities. The processions are always followed by magnificent firework displays. This year, the 13th edition of the International Fireworks Festival takes place on the 25, 26th and 30th April, an event absolutely not to be missed!

obody should return from a trip to Malta without first having visited her sister island, Gozo, and experienced the absolute beauty of her countryside. Late spring brings carpets of red poppies and seas of yellow flowers, which grow to waist height in the Mistra region. Later on, pink and white oleanders and a myriad of wild herbs, line roadsides and streambeds, casting their heavenly scent. Pack a picnic and take a walk along the cliffs, to experience Gozo at its simplest and best.

For further information visit www.visitmalta.com

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AER ARANN/Aer Lingus Regional

Aviation with Gerry O’Hare

has taken delivery of the sixth of its eight new ATR-72-600 aircraft. EI-FAX was ferried from Toulouse to Dublin just in time to make the end of the year figures.

DUBLIN is Lanzarote’s fourth busiest airport pairing. The CSO said passenger figures from Dublin to Lanzarote were back to pre-recession levels. Spain’s airports reported their first year-on-year increase in passenger numbers in November (+3.2pc). The two fastestgrowing were Lanzarote (+21.2pc) and Fuerteventura (+14.8pc), with Gran Canaria (+13.4pc) and Tenerife Sur (+11.1pc) also reporting double-digit growth. ETIHAD took delivery of two A380s

TARTARSAN Airlines was grounded after a crash and an investigation which found its pilots and personnel were overworked and inadequately trained. bringing its A380 fleet to 44.

BOSTON Driving from Boston to

Logan International Airport became more complicated. Callahan Tunnel closed on Friday and will remain closed until March 12.

LUFTHANSA will allow the use of

small handheld devices from gate-to-gate after Wednesday, including during taxiing, take-off and landing. onboard its Boeing 747-8 aircraft and plans to extend the unrestricted use of electronic devices across its fleet in the first few weeks of 2014.

DELTA CEO Richard Anderson told

Delta's 80,000 employees saying the airline is "not in favour of voice calls onboard," even if a ban on mobile phone use is lifted.

TOPAZ opened its new €3m service station at Dublin Airport.

CATHAY Pacific ordered 21 B777-9Xs for delivery of the new aircraft from 2021 to 2024.

NORWEGIAN is to fly a B787 from ALDERGROVE John Doran of Bergen to JFK from May 9 next year.

Belfast International Airport told Radio Ulster there would be big announcements in 2014. Aldergrove has already announced four new routes.

CITYJET’s sale to Germany's Intro Aviation GmbH, has been confirmed by Air France. CityJet has a fleet of 38 aircraft and offers 480 weekly flights across Europe.

BRITISH AIRWAYS passengers from Heathrow to Barcelona, Istanbul and Madrid were the first to benefit from relaxed rules on gadgets in-flight in European airspace. EUROPE AIRPOST, a sub-

sidiary of ASL in Swords, have followed WestJet's Dublin-St John's narrowbody initiative and announced a Boeing 737-700 summer link from Glasgow to Halifax. Aer Lingus came very close to launching an A319 service from Dublin to Halifax before Westjet’s arrival on the scene.

Baggage fees at the gate are still a penal €50

Reining in Ryanair T

Allocated seating next big step in reinvention

he reinvention of Ryanair has gathered pace this year after a series of major changes to the culture of the airline. Ryanair say passengers can now book a flight within 40 seconds. From next April, customers will be able to find the airline's cheapest fares that it advertises on its website by clicking on the fare to see precisely when it's available on the booking system. So far, Ryanair has: ■ Reduced the fee for reissuing a boarding card at the airport to €15

from €70. ■ Halved its excess baggage fee. ■ Halved the cost of checking in a bag at the airport from €60 to €30. ■ Reduced the airport bag fee from €60 to €30 at the boarding gate ■ Allowed passengers to make ticket changes for free within 24 hours of booking. ■ Permitted passengers to have one additional carry-on bag large enough for a bottle of wine. ■ Introduced 'quiet flights' in the morning and evening, with dimmed

EUROPEAN AIRLINES TO ALLOW MOBILE DEVICES

urope’s Aviation Safety Agency has eased regulations allowing smartphones, tablets and e-readers to stay switched on. Each airline must seek permission from its na-

tional regulator before devices can be switched on. The relaxation will not extend to mobile phones. BA became the first airline in Europe to permit the use of electronic devices from boarding to

lights and in-flight safety announcements only. ■ Revamped its website to make it easier to book flights. ■ Promised fully allocated seating from February, More steps taking place in the reinvention of Ryanair include: ■ Business travellers who register on the website will be allowed to change flights up to the day of travel ■ The premium fare will cover fasttrack and baggage check-in included in the seat price

disembarkation after being given approval by England’s Civil Aviation Authority to allow the use of handheld devices during taxiing, take-off and landing, as long as their flight-mode is switched on.

AER LINGUS LONG HAUL GROWS

er Lingus long haul traffic in December was significantly stronger than other Association of European Airlines legacy carriers on the North Atlantic. Long haul traffic in 2013 was 1,098,000, up 12.2pc

on 2012 and is set to grow again in 2014. December long haul was an impressive 86,000 up 11.8pc, short haul was down 2.1pc to 583,000. Over the year Aer Lingus mainline flew 8,527,000 passengers in 2013, down

Ereaders now allowed

0.3pc, while Aer Lingus Regional flew 1,112,000, up 10.1pc, giving an overall group total of 10,737,000. December weather was reasonable in 2012 but there were quite few shorthaul cancellations in 2013,

especially just before Christmas. There were also major capacity increases by Ryanair on several crosschannel routes, probably accompanied by cheap fares.

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EMIRATES

services from Dublin to Dubai is to go double daily in September 2013 according to an announcement made by airline president Tim Clarke after a meeting with Taoiseach Enda Kenny in Abu Dhabi.

MY RYANAIR registration service Chicago:increased services from Aer Lingus in 2013 and now 90 extra flights from United this summer

Chicago-bound

United extends Shannon season by 90 fights

nited Airlines will expand its seasonal nonstop service between Chicago O'Hare and Ireland's Shannon Airport this year, the airline announced. United’s flights from Shannon, which were introduced last summer, will operate this year for a longer period, May 23 to September 15, and with higher frequency. Last year, flights ran from June to August. An 88pc increase in seat capacity on the route is being implemented because

of the route's success last year, United said. In addition, United Airlines are launching 15,000 extra seats on the Irish market when they introduce a second daily Dublin-Newark service for Summer 2014, UA131 at 12:30pm arriving Newark 4pm, return flight, UA130 10:25 pm arriving Dublin at 10:20 am the following day. Both the Dublin and Shannon slights will be operated by Boeing 757-200 aircraft, with a 169 seats in-

AER LINGUS OFFERS 4 BAGGAGE OPTIONS

er Lingus has changed its baggage charge policy for intra-European flights. Passengers can now opt to select how much weight they want to carry in their luggage and pay the appropriate charge 15kg, 20kg, 25kg or 40kg (two bags).

cluding 16 flat-bed seats in United BusinessFirst, 45 Economy Plus seats and 108 economy seats. Aer Lingus will relaunch Shannon to Chicago also using a 757 contracted from Hugh Flynn’s ASL on April 2nd. It is increasing frequencies from Shannon. to Boston and New York from mid-March. Aer Lingus increased their services from Dublin to Chicago to double daily last summer (EI123 at 11:25 and EI125 at 15:45),

Aer Lingus says that by adding your bag online, passengers will save at least 50pc on the price of airport baggage charges. The four options are: ■ small bag allowing passengers to carry one bag weighing up to 15kg. ■ allowing passengers

to carry a bag weighing up to a maximum of 20kg ■ allowing passengers to carry one bag weighing up to 25kg ■ allowing passengers to carry two bags with a combined weight 40kg, no individual piece can weigh more than 32kg.

will increase from twice daily to three times daily, Cork to Bristol will increase to twice daily, there will be extra flights from Cork to Rennes. Cork to Lisbon will be back for 2014 after all, following its consternation-causing absence off the Aer Lingus schedule last month. Changes in the management structure of Cork Airport were announced this week, as

plans to give Cork more autonomy under the DAA, as recently explained by Minister Leo Varadkar. Cork will get a new stakeholders’ forum and become more autonomous. Cork Airport management said they are in talks to secure a transatlantic service from 2015 and said passenger numbers would recover to 2.3m for 2013.

went live on the Ryanair.com website at the start of January. The airline says customers who sign up for “My Ryanair” will be able to access new business and family services when they are launched in spring 2014. Ryanair got some good publicity for bringing the mother of the sick Murnane twins home from Gatwick to Cork for Christmas

PARTNERPLUS Benefit has replaced the old Star Alliance loyalty scheme, Company Plus. The new programme offers members the opportunity to earn points on all revenue booking classes, including the lowest ones for the first time. Businesses in Ireland and Britain who are members of the programme can earn reward points through ten global airline brands including Lufthansa, SAS, Turkish, Austrian Airlines, Swiss, United Airlines and Air Canada who serve 500 destinations in 100 countries worldwide.

STAR ALLIANCE 1,600sq m lounge at Heathrow T2 will be Lufthansabranded, the largest outside Germany.

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NEWCASTLE ROUTE FUELS CORK RECOVERY

er Lingus Regional announced a new 4-a-week service from Cork to Newcastle to launch in April. Two 72seater ATR72 aircraft will be based in Cork and the airline will operate 174 flights between Cork and Britain every week next summer. Aer Arann plans to grow passenger numbers from Cork Airport by one fifth. Cork to Manchester

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Please see your travel agent or call 01 6793958

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BRITISHAirways removed the "same

Aviation with Gerry O’Hare

Canada calling

address spend rule" for Executive Club members with a Household Account. Members can now spend their household Avios on up to five relatives or friends that do not live at the same address.

HERTZ and Ryanair have signed a new partnership agreement, which will run until 2020.

KNOCK airport recorded a pre-tax loss

of €627,195, excluding a government subvention, a euro for every passenger.

AIR FRANCE is to launch Tokyo

Haneda on March 30, twice-daily in conjunction with the carrier's existing daily run to Tokyo Narita airport.

DELTA’s schedule for next year’s summer seasonal service between Shannon and New York-JFK which will feature the full flat-bed product for the first time.

BRITISH Airways has unveiled a new SHANNON-Bristol is to be revived amenity kit and refurbished T5 spa.

next April by Aer Lingus Regional, while Shannon-Birmingham is increased to double daily, and Shannon-Manchester to three daily.

EADS European aerospace company and maker of Airbus planes EADS is to cut 5,800 jobs and sell its Paris HQ.

CITYHOPPER is to take over KLM's European network, the move will be phased in over a five-year period and is intended to save KLM in operating expenses because Cityhopper staff are paid less. RYANAIR David O'Brien has been

named as one of the two people who will replace outgoing chief operating officer Michael Cawley at Ryanair.

BRITISH Airways is adding an extra

three flights per week to its Heathrow to Cape Town route from May. BA is currently operating a double-daily service between the two cities during the busy October to May southern hemisphere summer season. British Airways and Elemis have launched new-look travel spas at its terminals and amenity kits now available in Club World.

CTC Aviation said there was an impending

shortage of airline pilots due to growing demand for air travel and a generation of retiring pilots.

GERMANWINGS will commence new direct services from Knock to Cologne in Germany starting in March 2014. The new route is expected to boost Knock's annual passenger traffic to 750,000, from about 670,000. AER LINGUS new flights from

Dublin Airport starting April 2014 will include a new service to Hanover. Aer Lingus will increase frequency on some of its existing routes – in particular on services from Paris, Lyons, Munich and Copenhagen. Aer Lingus announced a new Shannon to Malaga service to its summer destinations.

Air lift goes from 7 flights a week to 27 this summer

Toronto has become much closer this year

our airlines will fly 27 times a week from Dublin to Canada this summer after an unprecedented increase in the number of seats on offer. The capacity increase includes the first scheduled trans-Atlantic service by a 737-800 craft. ■ Air Canada Rouge daily DublinToronto commences May 1st and stays year-round daily. They will operate the only wide bodied aircraft to Canada, a total of 75,000 extra seats. ■ Aer Lingus daily Dublin-Toronto

treal will operate July to September. Dublin Airport Authority are hoping Westjet will increase their 16week season. Aer Lingus were also interested in a Halifax service using an A319. Negotiations were under way when Westjet announced the St John’s route. Last year 112,000 Canadians visited Ireland. Tourism Ireland expects that number to nearly double as a result of the capacity increase.

TURKISH GOES TO 12 WEEKLY

urkish Airlines will increase their Dublin to Istanbul service from 10 weekly to 12 weekly from April 1st. The B737 service will be double daily except Tuesday and Wednesday, one in the morning 11:10 one in the afternoon 16:50. While passenger numbers have increased significantly on the Dublin route, yield is slightly down.

commences April 21 and runs to October when it goes to four weekly using a 757 contracted from ASL. ■ Air Transat fly five times per week Dublin-Toronto commencing April 22 to October ■ Westjet daily Dublin-St John's commences June 15. The aircraft continues to Toronto. There is no extra charge for stopping over in St John’s in either direction as part of a Toronto trip.

■ Air Transat weekly Dublin-Mon-

Murat Balandi of Turkish Airlines says that he hopes that Dublin will get an allocated craft this summer. At present the type and size of craft can vary between the 737900 and older 737-800 at short notice. Turkish Airlines plans to launch a direct service from Istanbul to Sydney, due to launch April 2014 according to some reports. Turkish have four weekly slots and most of

the necessary permissions are in place, but the service depends on the delivery of new craft. The 777ER service will become the world’s longest scheduled route to Sydney from Istanbul the distance of 14,956 kilometres is only 389 kilometres shorter than the 15,345 kilometres flown until recently from Singapore to New York.

TURKISH TOPS CAPA AWARDS

urkish Airlines was named the CAPA Airline of the Year at the 11th annual CAPA Aviation Awards, Low Cost Airline of the

Year was JetBlue, Regional Airline of the Year was Vueling, Executive of the Year was Bjørn Kjos of Norwegian, International Airport of the Year was In-

Murat Balandi

cheon Korea, the marketing awards for airport handling up to 15m India’s Hyderabad Airport, and for over 15m Dallas/Fort Worth, IT Innovation of the Year went

to flynas Social Media Journey and Tim Clark, President of Emirates, was inducted into the CAPA Hall of Fame.

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Not enough craft

FLYBE said it is to end its Belfast City

flights to Gatwick and Paris CDG as part of a further round of route-cutting. Shannon to Glasgow will end on January 5th and seasonal routes from Belfast City to Jersey and Knock to Edinburgh will not return in 2015. The airline will continue to operate 14 routes from Belfast City Airport in its summer schedule.

DUBLIN airport relaunched their app to include gate numbers, check in numbers, baggage belt and time to clear security. CARDIFF Airport unveiled plans to reCITYJET summer 2014 schedule will vamp its terminal building.

see Dublin to Londin City Airport weekday frequency increase from five to seven daily. The Dublin to Brest seasonal Saturday service will return for the summer.

Ryanair summer expansion faces unusual obstacle

Ryanair growth is at its lowest for years at 2pc yanair will require an addi- enters service in 2017. Ryanair’s annual traffic to Decemtional 22-23 aircraft for next ber rose 2pc to 81.4m customers (up summer. This coincides with a period of ex- 2pc) with a load factor of 83pc, sepansion which includes new services curing its position as Europe’s largest from the main Brussels and Rome air- single brand airline and second largest to the Lufthansa group, well ports. Avolon has been suggested as a ahead of the merged Air France/KLM lease partner for Ryanair who will re- and BA/Iberia. The December figure was 5m, up quire the additional aircraft to accommodate expansion plans 4pc, with a load factor of 81pc. Ryanair bought nearly €10m of its including two extra aircraft based in own shares as part of a €70m buyDublin and one in Shannon. In the absence of new orders, back announced before Christmas. The airline is also moving into Ryanair’s fleet will reduce slightly next summer to 300 aircraft, to grow mainstream airport. Last month saw the start of Ryanair to 308 by March 2015 as the first deliveries from a 175 aircraft mega- flights to Lisbon, and the airline announced plans to resume flights at order start to arrive. The first of these is due in Septem- Prague. Ryanair started flights at a ber 2014 and deliveries will continue new Rome Fiumicino base. Their new Brussels service looked until 2019. A Ryanair working group is con- like a direct attack on the Vueling (retinuing to evaluate the benefits of cently been taken over by IAG) and Boeing’s 737 MAX aircraft, which SN Brussels routes. No changes to the airline’s Brussels Charleroi base have

ETIHAD SAY THAT 32pc IRISH CHOOSE PERTH

tihad is adding a fourth Australian city to its network, Perth. The daily service to Perth will start July 15 and will initially be served by an Airbus A330-200 with 22 seats in business class and 240 in economy. Outward

flight EY486 will depart Abu Dhabi at 2210 and arrive in Perth at 1310 the following day, while return service EY487 will leave Perth at 1555 and land in Abu Dhabi at 2325. It brings to 35 the number of weekly flights run by Etihad and its Virgin Australia alliance

partner between Abu Dhabi and Australia. CEO James Hogan says 32pc of all Irish visitors are choosing Perth as their gateway to Australia. Etihad will also launch a three-times weekly service to Dallas next year.

been announced Ryanair have also made a big move on Italy with new bases ins Catania, Lamezia and Palermo. Normally new Ryanair routes face no direct competition, as one or both airports involved are usually secondary airports, whereas nine of the 10 routes from Brussels are directly competed. Of the eight Shannon routes to commence in April, Beauvais, Faro (a route restarted by Aer Lingus this summer), Fuerteventura and Warsaw were predictable, Berlin, Krakow, Munich and Nice less so. Michael O’Leary sees Shannon as an inbound destination (“the Germans love that hunting, fishing shooting stuff”) but the airline has tried 35 different routes from Shannon in the past. At the peak in 2008, Ryanair was flying 20 departures a day with 6 based aircraft, compared to only 5 daily departures and one aircraft now.

BRATISLAVA Ryanair is expected to open a base at Bratislava next year after Michael O’Leary met Slovak Ambassador to Ireland Dušan Matulay in Dublin. DELTA’s schedule for next year’s summer seasonal service between Shannon and New York-JFK which will feature the full flat-bed product for the first time.

LUFTHANSA are to launch premium economy next November. BRITISH Airways will fly an A380

service to Washington, DC and fly B787s to Hyderabad, Chengdu, Philadelphia and Calgary next year.

KLM has launched a new gifting service,

KLM Wannagives letting people surprise their friends and family with a gift on boar.

COLM McLOUGHLIN, the Ballinasloe-born Vice Chairman of Dubai Duty Free, was presented with the ‘Lifetime Achievement Editor’s Choice Award’ at the inaugural Condé Nast Traveller ME Awards in.

SCOTLAND said it would reduce air

RYANAIR has reapplied for the Irish rights to fly Dublin to Moscow and St Petersburg, the old Skynet routes. Ryanair are anxious to get to Moscow (since Easyjet started flying to Domodedovo in March) and St Petersburg but do not have all the necessary permissions. Michael O’Leary previously said that Russia is too bureaucratic for Ryanair. passenger duty after independence.

KUWAIT International Airport’s 7m annual passengers will have access new self-service check-in kiosks in a deal with SITA part of SITA’s AirportConnect Open passenger processing platform. SITA is headquartered in Geneva and has an operation in Letterkenny.

CIUDAD REAL the Spanish 'ghost airport’ has been put up for sale. FERROVIAL wants to purchase Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports.

James Hogan

DUBLIN

Airport has launched a new Twitter account for customer service queries, @askDUBairport.

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DOHA's Hamad International Airport will

Aviation with Gerry O’Hare

open in January when see ten carriers initially move to Hamad International, operating out of Concourse B.

AIR FRANCE launched a Panama City route deploying a B777-200 in a threeclass configuration with 309 seats.

AEROMEXICO is to fly Dreamliner to London deploying a B787 on its Mexico City to Heathrow route from April. QANTAS is to begin a cabin upgrade on its A330 fleet to be completed by mid-2016, with each aircraft upgrade taking a month.

BRITISH Airways to test onboard wifi

High Life Connect trial on a B747-400 aircraft over the next 12 months.

EASYJET announced Gatwick to Tel Aviv route the airline's third route between England and Tel Aviv.

QANTAS cut 1,000 jobs and warned of

challenges as it predicted a half-year loss of up to A$300m.

AIR CANADA revealed their B787

Dreamliner cabin design. The first of the 37 B787s that the carrier has on order are due for delivery in the spring.

IAA The Irish Aviation Authority says their

Point Merge air traffic management system provided savings of €5.5m to airlines flying into Dublin Airport during 2013.

PRIORITY Pass added 12 lounges to its network in China, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden and the UAE.

RYANAIR announced a new base in

Catania and seven new routes, also four new routes in Comiso.

LUFTHANSA will operate additional Dublin-Munich service in Summer 2014. It will operate 4 times a week May to Oct on a Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

IAA The Irish Aviation Authority said

flights between Europe and US were up 4.4pc in November 2013. For the full year 2013, air traffic growth in these areas will be largely flat against 2012. Dublin terminal movements were up 6pc year-on-year, Shannon up 1.8pc and Cork down 6.6pc.

AMERICAN The merged US Airways-AA overtook Delta as the world's biggest airline in December: The Chicago Tribune noted that four airlines, American, United, Delta and Southwest, now control 85pc of the US market. BRITISH Airways launched a revamped version of the Gate 365 shopping site offering Executive Club members Avios for purchases and 500 points for customer's first purchase.

ETIHAD has expanded Indian operations following the approval of an historic 24pc investment in Jet Airways, doubling the number of flights and tripled the number of seats on offer between Abu Dhabi and the Indian cities of Mumbai and New Delhi.

Service restored: As it was in 2007

San Frantastic

Aer Lingus return has boosted west coast tourism

an Francisco returns to the map on Wednesday April 2nd next when Aer Lingus commences flying direct from Dublin five times a week. Prices start at €587 on the route indicating strong demand for the new service. New developments in the city of Alcatraz, Haythe, Sonoma/NAPA and 9,000 restaurants include the new SFJAZZ Center in the Heart of the city, built specifically for jazz music and audiences, the Exploratorium move to the Embarcadero Pier 15, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Retrofit and the Fisherman’s Wharf makeover and upgrade. San Francisco was Dublin Airport’s fourth most popular connectisho-

eng destination from Dublin last year after Sydney, New York (de-

spite the number of direct services), and Orlando (despite a direct service). Los Angeles was in fifth place. Aer Lingus is considering offering flat beds in business class starting in 2015 due to the strength of bookings on the restarted San Francisco route. Aer Lingus CEO Christophe Mueller says that San Francisco is the moment of the turnaround of the Aer Lingus long haul policy because the airline is switching again to growth mode. “When I joined in 2009 long haul and short haul were not talking to each other regarding connecting passengers.” “With our partners Aer Arann we are now able to source some 100,000 passengers from the UK and feed them into our long haul network. That is a very important success story.” “If you want to build on the North

Atlantic you cannot do that overnight and the biggest mistake is to do that with long haul aircraft.” Aer Lingus flew a San Francisco service from 2007 to 2009. “Most people think that was attributable to the economic situation in Ireland and also the United States which is only half true. We did quite some work over the past three years to build a hub here in Dublin.” “San Francisco will not live on its own: we expect at least 50pc of that flight will be sourced in the UK or Europe or in the source markets in the USA around San Francisco.” “It was a very complex thing. We had a lot of loose ends to tie up. We had signed 19 customers from the high tech and pharmaceutical sectors to become anchor tenants. All the prominent names are there, Facebook would be an example.”

Hanover (4 pw) April 2, Aer Lingus Ibiza (1 pw) May 28, Falcon Lisbon (7 pw) April 1, Ryanair Luxemburg (4 pw) April, Luxair Marrakech (2 pw) April 2, Ryanair Prague (5 pw) April 1, Ryanair Pula (2 pw) April 2, Aer Lingus Rhodes (1 pw), May 28, Falcon San Francisco (5 pw) April 2, Aer Lingus St Johns (7 pw) June, Westjet Toronto (5 pw) April 2, Aer Lingus

Glasgow (3 pw) June 1, Ryanair Kaunas (1 pw) April 1, Ryanair

THE 36 NEW ROUTES FROM IRISH AIRPORTS IN 2014 Germanwings Emfidha (1 pw), June 7, BELFAST INT. Eindhoven (4 pw) April 3, Ryanair Justsunshine. Bordeaux (1 pw) June 24, Easyjet Jersey (2 pw) June 24, Easyjet Malaga (2 pw) Apr 2, Jet2 Corfu (1w) May 23, Thomsonfly

CORK

Newcastle (4 pw), Aer Lingus Regional

DUBLIN

Almeria (2 pw) April 1, Ryanair Bari (2 pw) April 4, Ryanair Basel (2 pw) April 1, Ryanair Bucharest (4 pw) April 2, Ryanair Chania (2 pw) April 1, Ryanair Comiso (2 pw) April 3, Ryanair

KNOCK

Cologne (1 pw) May 1,

SHANNON

Beauvais (1 pw) April 1, Ryanair Berlin (1 pw) April 4, Ryanair Bristol (7 pw), April 1, Aer Lingus Regional Faro (1 pw) April 1, Ryanair Fuerteventura (1 pw) April 5, Ryanair Krakow (1 pw) April 3, Ryanair Memmingen (1 pw) April 1, Ryanair Nice (1 pw) April 4, Ryanair Warsaw (1 pw) April 2, Ryanair

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Best bar in the sky Eoghan Corry samples the Emirates A380 service

REGIONAL AIRPORTS

Transport Minister Leo Varadkar said the Government will extend public funding for airports beyond 2014, when it was due to end.

AERCAP is to buy leasing company

ILFC from IAG and will vie with General Electric’s Gecas unit after the deal as the world’s largest aircraft-leasing company by fleet size . AerCap employs about 50 people in Dublin. Keith Helming CFO of AerCap said that the merged group will expand the Irish base and increase the organisation structure.

AIRASIA X the low-cost Malaysian

airline looks likely to return to Europe after announcing an order for 25 long-range aircraft.

DROPOFF CHARGES More airports are charging drivers to drop off and pick up passengers in front of the main terminal building.

VIRGIN Atlantic is to charge for seat

QATAR are to launch a Dallas/Fort Worth route, it already flies to Houston, as well as to New York, Washington DC and Chicago. Qatar CEO Akbar Al Baker met Taoiseach Enda Kenny during the recent Irish trade mission to the Middle East to discuss the feasibility of a Dublin-Doha route.

reservations.

Travel Extra editor Eoghan Corry finds a whole new meaning to the word bar-fly

mirates have swamped us with flight options to Australia. There are 98 flights a week to five cities, including Adelaide, but the best bit is the selection of craft that they have on offer. They offer the A380 to Melbourne and, from July, twice daily to Sydney. Irish people have got used to the high standards of service you get on the Boeing 777, which is luxurious but not really comparable to the A380 you take from Dubai to Sydney. The Emirates A380 has without doubt, the best bar in the sky. My journey to Sydney airport was a bit more stressful than it should be, as the tunnel was log jammed and I headed through the city centre instead. The gamble was worth it. I made my check in time with five minutes to

spare and have time for a celebratory glass of Chapel Hill McLaren Vale Shiraz in the Emirates lounge, a suite of rooms furnished in 1970s décor with a very classy food choice. Wogan Valley barramundi with zucchini flowers, chicken escalope with olive, shallot and tomato salsa, cous cous with pine nuts, onion and parsley and 12 other options (count them). Next to the aircraft. The A380 is configured with 14 open suites in first class with an 86-inch pitch, 76 flat bed seats in business with a 48-inch pitch, and 399 seats in Economy with a 32-inch pitch. The USP is their bar, located at the back of the business class seats. Qantas have a bar in their A380, also for business class customers, but it is spectacularly unlit by compari-

son with this one, a fluorescent semi circular counter with low seats on either side. It is a place to gather and meet fellow passengers, including an 86-yearold Carlow born doctor returning for his sister’s funeral. If you don’t make it to the bar when there are stewardesses to bring you glasses of Chateau Phelan Segur 2004 Cru Bourgeois St Estephe or 2010 Mendoza. And beside your seat on the A380 you have a mini bar of your own at your shoulder with coke 7up, Perrier, still water and cranberry. If you are in first class you can have a shower in mid flight. If you are in economy, it is still an exceptional experience. Emirates offer the biggest entertainment screens in the sky.

DUBLIN PASSES 20m PASSENGERS

ublin airport's 20 millionth passenger in 2013 passed through the airport two days before the new year. Roma Chang from Donaghmore, Co Tyrone landed on board United Airlines flight UA126 from Washington just before 10am on Sunday Dec 27th. This is the first time since 2009 and the fifth time in its history that 20m passengers have passed

through the airport in a single year. The year-round figure is

DUBLIN PAX

1996 9.1m 1997 10.3m 1998 11.6m 1999 12.8m 2000 13.8m 2001 14.3m 2002 15.0m 2003 15.8m 2004 17.0m

2005 18.4m 2006 21.4m 2007 23.2m 2008 23.4m 2009 20.5m 2010 18.4m 2011 18.7m 2012 19.1m 2013 20.1m

up 5.24pc from Dublin airport’s 19.1m passengers in 2012, when Belfast International had 4.3m, Belfast

City 2.4m, Cork 2.3m, Shannon 1.4m, Knock 0.7m and Derry 0.4m.

ETIHAD Airways has signed a codeshare

agreement with Aegean Airlines, Greece’s largest commercial airline. Etihad will expand its destination network in India with the launch of a daily service from Abu Dhabi to Jaipur.

EMIRATES launched its 24th A380

AMERICAN and US Airways say their

route to Mauritius from Dubai.

two airlines will remain separate for quite some time and very few changes will happen immediately. They will be announcing what they term "exciting benefits" in early January. US Airways has improved the process for submitting a refund request on usairways.com.

UNITED’s MileagePlus has been named

the Best Frequent-Flyer Programme by readers of Global Traveller for a 10th successsive year.

KERRY to Dublin passenger numbers in-

MOSCOW Domodedovo Airport became the first in Russia and the CIS to install self-service WorldTracer Kiosks provided by air transport IT and telecoms specialist SITA which has a presence in Letterkenny. creased 22pc in the 2nd half of 2013.

UNITED is to add flat-bed seats on pre-

mium service routes following the redesign of 15 Boeing 757-200 aircraft that fly from NY to LA and from NY to San Francisco.

RYANAIR‘s Michael O’Leary admitted he has been "getting in the way" of the airline's new softer image and has decided to remove himself from the public frontline. Roma Chang was number 20 million

QANTAS and China Southern signed a codeshare agreement expected to be available for booking and travel from early 2014.

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FASHION AND HEALTH

hic Shopping is celebrating its 10th year, with nine outlets throughout Europe including our own Kildare Village. It was the brainchild of a French lady who wondered what designers did with their fashions at the end of each season. Well like most French women when it comes to fashion they are so savvy that she opened the Chic Village Outlets. These outlets are situated a short journey outside cities in regions of cultural and historic renoun, the Villages have become international tourist destinations in their own right. So many people take short breaks as well as city breaks and this is a great way to visit cities, their culture, experience their food and take a day for shopping. Luxury coaches for approx fifteen euro return or take a chauffeur driven car which doesn’t cost much more as you get a fifty euro voucher to spend at the village, also when you shop you don’t have to carry around the purchases, they are sent to the office for collection on your way home. The savings are up to 60pc on the initial recommended price, for luxury quality garments.

here are Chic Villages in Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, London (Bicester Villagewell know for its very famous brands—shoes with red soles!!!!), Germany,

with Carmel Higgins

Now that we have exited Troika, we can indulge

ourday spa and of

selves with great clothes, a fabulous course hair and make up. with clever shopping and some useful ideas without breaking the bank. …read on

Chic turns ten Frankfurt and Munich, Milan, and Brussels and opening in Suzhou China about an hour outside Shanghai in 2014. These Villages, stock international labels and home designers, catering for clothes, shoes, handbags, jewellery and luggage. Ski clothes, beachwear as well as toilitries such as L'Occitane, Molton Brown, and Crabtree & Evelyn (try their newest Tarocco orange Eucalyptus & Sage range, tis divine). Fashions from Yves Saint laurent, Roberto Cavalli, Basler, Ted Baker, Louise Kennedy, Tommy Hilfiger, Thomas Pink, shoes by Bally, Bruno Magle, bags from Anya Hindmarch, Furla, LuLu Guiness and Mulberry are just some of the brands

you'll find at the Chic Outlets. They also have some POP-UP shops throughout the seasons. I enjoy shopping at these outlets as there is no pressure from the staff to sell, they are very helpful and courteous; you can also have the services of a personal shopper, and of course there are some good eateries at each Village where you can sit and rest the weary feet. Download the free Chic Outlet Shopping app for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch to explore all the villages and and plan your next visit from any location; also you can access booking service for the Shopping Express coach.

Complexexions As the cold weather plays havoc with our skins, Clarins have just launched a new cleanser containng mango , shea butter and moringa, Creme Douce Anti-Pollution, its divine, use it the way the Clarins team suggest, squeeze a small amount from the tube on your hands, warm it and using a cupping motion apply it onto the face, this

motion helps thicken the creme and creates a suction to help draw impurities from the skin, it may be washed off or removed using toner on cotton wool pads, your skin feels like silk. Follow using a toner. Clarins Spring makeup Opalescence is translucent, romantic, rosy cheeks, delicate luminous colours for

his year we should all look after our health, rejuvenate and unwind, eat sensibly and enjoy treats such as a day at The Powercourt Spa, a treat that again will not break the budget. The Spa at Powerscourt Hotel Resort (pictured) is in one of the worlds most beautiful settings, situated at the foot of The Sugar Loaf mountain in Co Wicklow with stunning views, and superb therapists. They are highly trained and use ESPA products which are the creme de la creme of treatments. Five star hotels guests are used to the highest quality products and treatments, and presently the Powerscourt Hotel is offering a Day Escape Package for Eu99 (Monday to Fri-

eyes soft pinks and pearly whites and for lips gentle sheer lipcolours in pink orchid, tropicall pink or coral tulip, the new blusher comes in a creme form but when applied it is like powder, again to give an opalesent look. This year Olay is over 60 years young-Olay Beauty Fluid was born in 1952, a revelation then, a non greasy light fluid that moisturised more effectly than the traditional creams of the time,

day), this is the most amazing value available. We couldn’t believe what the Escape Day offered, firstly there is a Swarovski Crystal studded lit pool, the water was warm and inviting, then into a jacuzzi, the rest beds were comfy with lots of fluffy white towels, then into the crystal lit Hamman Suite. Later lunch was served – three courses just perfectly balanced in a Bento style black unit complete with linen napkin and good cutlery, this alone was a treat. Treatments included in the Escape was a facial and neck and shoulder massage which takes about 50 minutes. If you want to upgrade your treatment this can be facilitated.

Also at Powerscourt they have a Cedar Club, with pilates, yoga and body blitzing boot camp circuits. Apart from the fitness suite with top of the range TechnoGym Equipmen, Cedar Club has membership which includes a healthy breakfast every morning. You can avail of deep tissue massages, thermal suites when you just want to relax, its pure heaven, also if you become a member there are 30pc discounts for treatments at the spa. Each month there is a beauty treatment of the month, presently its a facial which would cost Eu145 and if a member you would only pay Eu101. cedarclub@powerscourthotel.com

Hair Your Crowning Glory

'OREAL's newest range of Mythic Oil for shampooing, conditioning leaves your hair with the most glorious shine, L'Oreal also have a very innovative Hairchalk which is available in salons but it is also available to buy for Eu18 a pop. This is a temporary colourant that offers quick and vibrant colour that lasts for a minimum of 2 shampoos.

Colours of First Date Violet, Sweet Sixteen, Blue Ocean Cruise, Coral Sunset are just some of the Hairchalks. They are amazing and fun to use, two, three or more Hairchalks streaked throughout the hair look great on fringes, long hair or plaits.Hairchalk comes in eight colours. Have fun this year, we've wethered the storm!!!

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Preziosa times

Eoghan Corry at 2013’s most unusual cruise launch

n English blogger beat me to be the first on the longest water slide on the ocean. Such are the vicarisms of a travel writer. MSC had gathered key cruise agents and travel writers for the christening of their new MSC Preziosa in Genoa, a ship originally commissioned by Colonel Ghadaffi. Sophia Loren, looking amazing at 79, launched the ship at a spectacular opening ceremony in Genoa. My proud record on new cruise ships is to be first in the pool. Alas I lost this one to English blogger David Monk. The buildup included a

fabulous three-way foghorn and light show performance by three giant MSC cruise ships docked opposite each other, Opera, Splendida and the new Preziosa. Cruise line CEO Pierfrancisco Vago declared that, with the launch of Preziosa MSC, MSC is now the third biggest cruise line on the world. “Last year we were put under a lot of pressure,” Vago said, “but we weathered the storm. A storm happens but after the storm the glory of sailing returns.” The ship is as spectacular as the launch programme suggested: it

features the Doremi Castle Aqua Park and Vertigo, the longest water slide afloat, a truly psychedelic experience, as we found out. Features of the ship include the first two Eataly restaurants at sea, and a whole host of new features in the MSC Aurea Spa. MSC has repositioned itself as more luxurious offering with the launch of five new ships concentrating on fine dining, spa and onboard luxury. It was the most spectacular and best organised of MSC's ten launches to date (avoiding the drags and over-runs which

dogged some previous launches). It included a full orchestra performance of eight familiar cinema music sets by Ennio Morricone, conducted by the man himself. After that it was time to party The 80-year-old founder President & owner of MSC Gianluigi Aponte was seen leaving Graffiti's night club at 2.40am. Unlike Daniel O’Connell, we survived Genoa, but it was a close run thing. For the first time, MSC Cruises are offering yearround cruises to the Caribbean this winter with MSC Divina based

The longest waterslide at sea with Genoa serving as a backdrop

out of Miami. Like all new initiatives this offering has to be boosted by price, €879 for 14 nights (not including flights). Canary Island cruises

for €349 and cruises out of dubai for €839. Other initiatives from MSC this winter include under 18 cruise offers for just the taxes, €180.

The good ship Deja Vu

his year is shaping up to be another big one for the cruise industry, with five huge new ocean ships and 29 river ships scheduled to launch. The first big cruise ship launch of 2014 is already under way. Norwegian Getaway cruised out of Rotterdam on January 11th and will be formally named in Miami on February 7. Sister ship to Norwegian Cruise Line’s Breakaway launched last year, it will include a Grammy museum, an ‘Illuminatorium’ featuring magic, illusions and supernatural effects, and Hollywood musical Legally Blonde. Norwegian (with the launch of Epic) and Royal Caribbean, who launch Quantum of the Seas in October, are attempting to rework a model that has remained unchanged for decades. All cruise ships come from the same template, more or less decided by the previous generation of Americans for Americans, but now some afterthought is being shown to

the rest of the world. The essentials are: ■ a big crimson-upholstered theatre at the front over two floors, ■ a big crimson-upholstered dining room at the back over two floors, ■ a long casino in between on one level (Disney is the only cruise ship not to have a casino) ■ a shopping precinct between them on another level, usually the deck above the casino.

2014

The deck, where ship meets fresh air after 11 storeys in midsized ships and 16 decks in some of the bigger beasts, will have: ■ a spa and an indoor pool at the front, ■ an open air pool and poolside bars in midship deck with an upper deck area for beach beds, ■ a big informal buffet restaurant at the back. Once you have been on one, you will know your way around them all.

although most lines now call them staterooms for image reasons. They are standard design as well, but Norwegian Epic had a neat departure when they built their cabins/ staterooms with a curve, in the form of a wave. Each ship has a well kept secret cabin or two, one on a turn that can be bought for the same price as the one next door but it offers a little extra space. Knowing these secrets is the key to success as a travel agent. .

THE CRUISE LINE: BUILDS OVER NEXT FOUR YEARS

■ Regal Princess - 3,560  passengers, May 20 ■ Norwegian Getaway- 4.028  passengers, February ■ TUI Mein Schiff 3 - 2,500  passengers, June ■ Royal Caribbean Quantum of the Seas - 4,100  passengers, November ■ Costa Diadema- 4,800 passengers, October

2015

On top of that is an activity area (perhaps a rock climbing wall, a pitch and putt, and a soccer court) on the roof/deck. The decks in between shopping/casino and the pools have corridors of cabins that go on for ever. Big ships offer fewer inside cabins and more balconies. The premium brands now offer balconies with 90pc of their cabins. Cabins, no matter what the view, tend to be small and confined. There is no escaping this fact

■ P&O Brittannia- 3,611 passengers, March

■ Aida Prima- 3,250  passengers, March ■ Royal Caribbean Anthem of the Seas 4,100  passengers, May ■ Norwegian Escape- 4,200  passengers, October ■ Viking Star- 944  passengers,

2016

■ Third Quantum Class ship Royal Caribbean - 4,100  passengers ■ Third Oasis Class ship Royal Caribbean - 5,400  passengers ■ Blue Star Titanic II, 2,345 passengers ■ Carnical Vista, 4,000 passengers

■ Regent Explorer, 738 passengers ■ Unnamed Holland America - 2,660 passengers ■ Unnamed AIDA Cruises - 3,250  passengers ■ Unnamed Seabourn, TBA ■ Unnamed Star Cruises, 3,360 passengers ■ Two unnamed Viking Ocean cruise ships- 944  passengers

2017■ Unnamed Viking Ocean cruise- 944 passengers

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AZAMARA Solo travellers will be ac-

corded a new rate on 25 of Azamara's 2014 cruises. The single supplement will drop to 25pc for exclusive occupancy of a double accommodation on some trips in Europe, the Far East, and the West Indies.

PORTS The first comprehensive study of competition in the Irish ports sector found that the characteristics of the ports sector in Ireland mean that competition between ports is always going to be limited, and competition within the ports themselves for services was not as vibrant as it should be. STENA Adventurer on the Dublin Port to Holyhead route has completed a refit to increase capacity from 1200 to 1500 passengers. Deck 7 has been transformed to offer a brand new area for passengers to eat, drink and relax with a Metropolitan Bar and Grill restaurant, a new seating area, movie lounge and children’s play area.

ROYAL Caribbean is offering up to €600

savings, flights from Dublin for selected cruises from the UK from €119 and familyfriendly free unlimited soft drinks for kids (or 3rd and 4th person bookings). Book before February 28.

CARNIVAL Cruise Lines 25th ship, to

enter service 2016, will be named Carnival Vista. It will have a capacity of 4000 passengers. Carnival promises many new innovations to be announced later, and a wide variety of dining, drinking, and entertainment options. Its itineraries will also be announced later. The ship is being built in Italy.

CELEBRITY has developed a suite of

mobile vacation apps to allow travellers to dig deeply into their planned cruises. The apps contains videos of many of Celebrity's worldwide destinations, depictions of experiences found on Celebrity ships, profiles of shore excursions, detailed itineraries and maps, interactive ship deck plans with the capability to zoom in on specific accommodations and public areas, and pricing.

COSTA Diodena (the Italian word for "tiara") is the name chosen for Costa's new 3700-passenger ship scheduled to sail next October. There will be 1862 cabins, most with balconies, 64 suites, seven restaurants, 15 bars, a 7800 square foot spa on two levels with a gym, therapy pool, treatment rooms, sauna, steam room a solarium, and spa suites and cabins, eight hot tubs, three swimming pools, including one under a retractable roof, a jogging track, a cinema, a three-level theater, a casino, a disco, a country rock club, a two-level games area, an internet point, a library, a shops gallery, a baby pool, and more. CARNIVAL Cruise Lines have offered

a guarantee that any passengers who wish to leave their cruise within the first 24 hours of the voyage will receive a full refund of their cruise fare plus an additional 10pc and complimentary return air transportation from the next port of call along with a $100 shipboard credit to be used on a future cruise.

Louis Dreyfus vessels will stop at St Nazaire before proceeding to Asturias

Ferry to Spain

LD lines has three hour stopover en route to Gijon

D Lines have commenced a new ferry service from Rosslare to St Nazaire and onward to Gijon in Asturias in Spain, described by the ferry company as really a hassle free landbridge. Southbound there is a three hour stopover en route to Gijon. Northbound there is a 10 hour stopover and LD plans to make it possible for passengers to take a visit to La Baule.

The Rosslare to Gijón sailing departs Fridays 21:00 via St-Nazaire. Gijón to Rosslare departs Tuesdays 22:00 via St-Nazaire. St-Nazaire to Rosslare departs Wednesdays 23:59. The service will use LD vessels Norman Asturias and Scintu, built in 2008/2009 by the Visentini Italian shipyard, each have capacity for up to 500 passengers and 200 cars and on board facilities include 120 cabins,

bar and restaurant. LD say a range of passenger entertainment is being developed and introduced in the months ahead. Rosslare-Gijón fares start from €579 for a car and two passengers including cabin. Rosslare-St Nazaire fares start from €249 for a car and two passengers including cabin (€199 without cabin).

NEW SHIP GETS A MUSICAL THEME

hen Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas needed an anthem, they went to Dublin’s northside to fetch it. There was a hush around the room at the Royal Caribbean event on the 29th floor of London’s Heron Tower on Thursday night when the signature anthem for the new Quantum class ship Anthem of the Seas was selected. Five anthems in all were played by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Robbie Williams Angel, Edward Elgar’s Nimrod, the Beatle’s Hey Jude and William Blake’s Jerusalem. Music media analyst Stuart Maconie said U2 were architects of stadium or arena rock, with simple, socially conscious with huge anthemic choruses. Styled by the cruise line as a giant new musical-themed "mega ship", Anthem of the Seas, will be the second ship in the Quantum class of ships from Royal Caribbean and the most technologically advanced cruise ship ever to be based in Europe when it is has launched in spring 2015.

The Royal Philharmonic play U2’s Beautiful Day. The new London based Ireland & UK Director of Royal Caribbean Stuart Leven told Travel Extra the trade remained central to Royal Caribbean’s strategy in his mission statement: “We will never move away from an expert sitting on front of the customer.” At a cost of 170,000 per berth, Anthem of the Seas is one of the most architecturally and technologically advanced ships ever built.

Under construction at a shipyard in Germany, Anthem of the Seas is a sister to Royal Caribbean's soon-todebut Quantum of the Seas, which sets sail in November and will sail out of New York Harbour . Quantum class “firsts at sea” include a skydiving experience and the North Star, a jewel like capsule that extends 300 feet above the ocean and over the sides of the ship to deliver 360-degree views for guests

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Dublin-Cherbourg Irish Ferries launches Dublin-Cherbourg direct

The Epsilon is a sister ship to two other ferries operating Ireland to France routes

Dublin direct to Cherbourg service from Irish Ferries which started on January 18th will use the company’s latest acquisition, the Epsilon. Described as an economy service, it will depart at 3.30pm every Saturday from Dublin to Cherbourg arriving into Cherbourg next morning (11.30), returning to Dublin on Sunday (17.00) and arriving morning (11.00).

The sailing will take 19 hours as the ship is faster than the Oscar Wilde. Accommodation standards are not as high as the Oscar Wilde, so fares will be cheaper. Built in 2011, the Epsilon has capacity for 500 passengers. Economy style facilities on board include a bar, cafeteria, selfservice restaurant, two and four berth cabins, free wi-fi service and 2,860 lane metres of vehicle deck parking space.

The new Dublin to Cherbourg route provides a third Irish Ferries route option, augmenting the company’s long-established services from Rosslare to Cherbourg and Rosslare to Roscoff. The company’s head of passenger sales Dermot Merrigan says the new route “will bring the European motorways directly into the heart of our capital city”

CELEBRITY Cruises have introduced "Cruise Lingo", an interactive language and culture guide in a mobile application. By simply speaking a word or phrase, or typing it, the translated language of the local destination appears on the screen.

CRYSTAL

has published its 2015 and early 2016 itineraries. It will observe its 25th anniversary by making 64 voyages to 248 ports in 79 countries. Highlights include a 102-day world cruise, 22 maiden calls to lesser-known ports, overnight stays with most itineraries, round trips from popular destinations, new Holy Land cruises to Israel and Panama Canal cruises to San Francisco and Miami.

CUNARD Line have announced 2014

and 2015 schedules. Highlights include three around-the-world trips, 70 Med departures to 25 ports, 10 transatlantic crossings between Hamburg and New York, Caribbean and New England/Canada cruises, Northern Europe circuits, and an array of new land tours

DISNEY "Very Merrytime" cruises will mark the year-end aboard Disney vessels. Holiday-themed events, parties, entertainment, décor, sparkle, "snow flurries," and menu items will be part of the package. Christmas feasts and New Year's galas will also mark the respective holidays.

10% FRANCE THIS SUMMER USE THIS UNIQUE CODE: More sailings on more routes to France than anyone else. Choose our new economy class service direct from Dublin or sail from Rosslare on the family friendly Oscar Wilde. Whatever you choose get 10% OFF. Irish Ferries. Great choice.

I645

FRANCEC14

10% discount on sailings to France made by January 30th 2014 for travel from Feb 26th to December 20th 2014. Use discount code: FranceC14. Motorist bookings only, does not include mini-cruise fares. New bookings only.

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DESTINATION

on’t mind what they say about the castles, the river is the best bit.The castles, not the silent river, are what bring the tourists. So it is there we must start. Chambord is amongst the finest, built on a curve the Cosson which flows into the river Beuvron which flows into the Loire a kilometre later. The castle is a showpiece, even in the vanity competition of Loire chateaux. Francois 1 built it as a hunting lodge, adorning it with Salamanders and a signature double helix staircase and whatever could be gleaned form the creative fervour of the French master masons. They say Leonardo da Vinci was in the Loire valley to help it along the way in 1516. Despite all the loving work and the artistry, bits were left unfinished. As our guide said: “if we were to worry about completion we would never begin anything.”

or each of the stadium chateaux, filled with tourists listening to audio guides, like Chambord, there is somewhere smaller and equally intriguing nearby, like Talcy. We are the only tourists in Talcy’s Italianate Renaissance mansion. The Auberge du Chateau nearby has no English but one of the warmest wel-

Loireman

Eoghan Corry goes camping on the banks of a fabled river

The Loire at Beaugency: the river has served as the artery of French history and commerce comes in France. Our big trip was to Tours and its amazing cathedral. The small streets are full of amazing local shops, a bulwark against the homogenised shopping streets of Europe. I particularly like the gingerbread in the window of Hansel and Gretel patisserie. The ribbon of castles along its banks can be a distraction, but it is important not to miss the star of the show, perhaps the star of France itself. I swam the Loire at dusk. The level is low in August and the river full of racey whirlpools and

playful splashing. The logs and tree trunks of last winter have lodged along the shallow bits and there are sandbars that change shape and location according to the snowmelt of distant Alps. The Seine is a bigger celebrity, the Rhone wider, the Canal du Midi the package holiday icon, but the Loire remains central to understanding what France is about, its longest river (1,013 km, just made it to four figures) and still deliciously moody, despite the centuries of attempting to tame its intemperance.

ieux what a scorcher. We baked, in the sunsoaked, not the patisserie, sense. This heat was so intense there was only one solution, long drives in the air conditioned car with the temperature turned down as low as it can go. The little town of Beaugency combines everything that is great about the Loire region. One of Le Plus Beaux Detours de

France, its church has light streaming in sideways, much as it would have when they annulled the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine here and sparked off the hundred years war. My daughter Constance found an antique shop where she bought Bulletin de Theraputique from 1883, three euro and she is reading it from cover to cover. Each day starts with a odip in the Loire, surpris-

ingly fast flowing for a river that is so big and already so far from its source. This region of France is very different from where I have been before, big farms with the harvest in full flow. The key is to go off the main roads and drive the small country by-ways, along country path where cars have to stop and yield to each other, in and out of village after village with its markets square and its block-sized church. The hanging baskets of flowers and shutter-protected windows go on for ever. There is a statue of Joan of Arc in every market square. You can see a pattern here. Beaugency has the best Joan of Arc statue, with her banner and lance, positioned so red-faced tourists are almost forced to take their pictures up her skirt. The picture postcard village has a small stream running down the middle of tits main street, culverted and then opening like a porpoise coming up for air. In Chateaudun we found a delicious town of which few have ever heard and sat in the open street where the coffee and ice cream were more expensive. Passers by nodded knowledgeably, as if to think “those

■ Eoghan Corry travelled to France with Irish ferries on their direct service from Rosslare to Cherbourg (www.irishferries.com) and Roscoff. ■ He stayed with Canvas holidays on their campsite at Chateau des Marais, where Canvas Holidays has 30 pitches www.canvasholidays.ie

Clockwise: Canvas have 30 pitches at Château des Mairais, driving in Beauce, canoeing on the Loire, sunflowers and a Beaugency homestead

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DESTINATION

Generations of craftsmanship went into the creation of Chambord Castle tourists, so easily fooled.” We explored another ancient castle with another storied tributary of the Loire rippling by. There were also some self-indulgent diversions along the trail of South Leinster saints Fiachra/Fiacre, Irish saints who set up their stall along the Loire. Their fame spread across

ampsites are graded like hotels, four stars for the best facilities, more than one pool, slides, play areas and onsite dining. Note that sites in France are graded up to four stars: most bigger operators use three and four-star sites. If you prefer canvas, on-site tents normally have a kitchen, fridge and electric light.

LA GRANDE METAIRIE Set

among the amazing Celtic stones of Carnac with good local markets, a fine site for mixed age groups – ziplines for the adventurous, plenty of bar entertainment, frolicksome goats and calm ponies, and a decent restaurant. Charming.

DOMAINE DE LA FORET Very

France and still lingers, as much as at home. Fiachra is the patron saint of STDs which is a complicated tale in itself. La Vendosmois near Le Mans was named for Saint Osmana. Cerota was her servant, of an Irish royal family.

ach campsite in France has its rhythm, and the rhythm varies from site to site, region to region. There is a general pattern to affairs, common to them all. The early morning swim with the Germans and Parisians (there is never an English speaker in the deepest pool before 10, and the

modern pools ARE deeper (ours in Chateau des Marais in the Loire Valley was 2.5m deep). Then shortly afterwards the queues of daddies in at the breakfast baguette shop (85 cent, so fresh the yeast is humming), the comings and goings of cars en route to local markets and sights, the enthusiastic queues of cyclists,

each a veritable Nicholas Roche or Dan Martin and the troops of kids off to the Whoopi Club. This is followed by the heat-exhaustion of mid afternoon and the splosh of laughing children and sunburned parents in processions down the water slides. I love waterslides, the long and the windy ones, but they are put together for agile children travelling at speed, not the middle-aged and potbellied 90-kiloer who bumps along unevenly, feeling the rim between each section on their sunburned skin. Then the evening, pizzas from the camp takeaway, Liverpudlians laughing in the bar, the muffled microphone

PLACES TO EAT

■ The picture postcard town in Beaugency featured restaurants such as Le Martroi and Chez Henry. ■ Blois restaurants included Hôtel Restaurant Côté Loire, L’Orangerie du château, Au rendez-vous des pêcheurs, ■ Orleans restaurants included Chez Eugène, Restaurant Les Toqués, Restaurant La Dariole, and La Parenthèse.

FRANCE: THE CAMPSITE CHRONICLES

LE CHATELET

Good for small children and getaway adults, a little treasure on a clifftop with stunning views of the Breton coastline, as close to the ferry as one could wish, with a lovely cliff-bottom beach.

LA BOUQERIE.

Domaine de la Foret French campsite, complete from this year with its own petanque pitch. Lovely relaxed atmosphere; an hour’s drive to the magnificent Puy du Fou theme park.

LES MENHIRS

Breton favourite, close to the resort of Carnac Plage and a great site. One of the best pools in

BOIS DORMANT the camping business.

Big child friendly site in the heart of the Vendee, among a cluster of fine four-star resorts. Great entertainment and pool facilities, sandy beaches nearby and lots to see. Good day trips to safari park Parc Sauvage, and a visit to St Gilles Croix

Cool hillside location in the Dordogne, near Sarlat and the gourmet capital of Europe. Check out truffles, the foie gras, and a canoeing must-do down the river.

de Vie, a French take on Courtown, is a must.

LE RUISSEAU. Another teenage hit, one of the liveliest sites in south-west France. Ideal for exploring the Biarritz region and hopping across the Spanish border. Be sure to catch a game of Basque pelota.

sounds of a quiz or karaoke session, teenagers with bicycles flirting and admiring each other in whispered phrases that need no translation despite their multi-lingual nature, barbecues outside the caravans and tents, the voices raised a notch with every bottle of great value local wine that is emptied. Until the night when everything goes quiet, darkness descends and the last Liverpudlian is coaxed out of the bar: “I’ll put it in a plastic cup for you.” The crickets sing their love songs, the Loire goes pouring by and all in the world seems right.

CHLOROPHYLLE Lively and convenient Loire location ideal for wine and catching one of those "son et lumiere" (sound and light shows) at one of the magnificent Loire châteaux. It has one of the best water slides in the business.

DOMAINE DES ORMES

Big resort on the Border between Brittany and Normandy, 4,500 holiday makers on site at peak, which means lots of activities, archery for the kids, zip wires, and a option to spend a night in a treehouse, the next big thing in the French camping experience. Close to Mont St Michel so you can see that amazing tide-coming-in thing; police patrol the sands on horseback to warn the unexpecting to turn back before the crucial moment.

COURTILLES DES LIDO Near

Fontainebleu, and prized not so much for its excellent facilities as for its proximity to Paris and Disneyland.

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€

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DESTINATION IRELAND

Paul Carty of Guinness Storehouse and visitors to Dublin Zoo: both attractions exceeded a million visitors for the third successive year

Guinness top attraction MOST POPULAR VISTOR ATTRACTIONS

1. Guinness Storehouse 1,156,985 2. Dublin Zoo 1,026,611 3. Cliffs of Moher 960,134 4. Nat Aquatic Centre 858,231 5. Nat Gallery 640,000 6. Botanic Gardens Belfast 620,000 7. Titanic Centre 614,138 8. Book of Kells 588,447 9. Botanic Gardens G’nevin 550,000 10.Ulster Museum 545,000 11.Giant’s Causeway Centre 542,000 12.Tayto Park Ashbourne 490,000 13.Dundonald Ice Bowl 450,000 14.Nat Museum Kildare St 404,230 15.St Patrick’s Cathedral 385,000 16.Kilmainham Gaol Dublin 373,000 17.Fota Wildlife Park Cork 366,000 18.Blarney Castle 329,000 19.W5 Odyssey, Belfast 320,000 20.Farmleigh 310,000 21.Science Gallery Trinity C 300,000 22.Oxford I Reserve Antrim 290,000 23.Natural History Museum 284,323 24.Bunratty Castle 280,000 25.Derry Walls 280,000 26.Carrick-a-rede, Antrim 275,000 27.Belfast Zoo 259,359 28.Rock of Cashel Tipperary 252,426 29.Nat Museum Collins Bks 251,226 30.Chester Beatty Lib Dublin 250,000 31.Roe Valley Country Park 250,000 32.Pickie Fun Park 240,000 33.Holy Cross Abbey Tipp 240,000 34.Kilkenny Castle 235,000 35.Brú Na Bóinne Meath 230,000 36.Jameson Distillery Dublin 225,000 37.Connemara Nat Park 202,543 38.Powerscourt Wicklow 200,000 39.Ca Archdale Country Pk 200,000 40.Kylemore Abbey Galway 180,000 41.Waterford Crystal Centre 180,000 42.Ulster Folk Musm, Cultra 175,000 43.Galway city museum 170,000 44.Nat Library 170,000 45.Atlantic Edge, Moher 166,017

46.Belleek Potttery Centre 165,000 47.Belvedere H W’meath 164,211 48.Castle Ward 160,000 49.Mount Stewart 155,000 50.Christ Church Dublin 150,000 51.Dublinia Dublin 145,000 52.Ulster Am Folk Park 145,000 53.Hugh Lane Gallery140,000 54.Nat Wax Museum 140,000 55.Dublin Castle 155,000 56.Phoenix Pk Vis Centre 145,000 57.Crumlin Road Gaol 136,000 58.Clonmacnois Offaly 135,000 59.Aquadome Tralee 135,000 60.Newgrange Meath 133,600 61.Bushmills Distillery 130,000 62.IMMA Kilmainham 120,000 63.Nat Stud Kildare 114,363 64.Glenveagh Nat Park 117,000 65.Airfield, Dundrum 110,000 66.Dún Aonghasa Inis Mor 110,000 67.Skerries Mill 109,033 68.Jameson Midleton 108,298 69.JF Kennedy New Ross 105,651 70.Nicholas Mosse, Kilkenny 105,000 71.Culturlann O Fiaich 101,000 72.Belfast Castle 100,000 73.Cave Hill Visitor Centre 100,000 74.Ailwee Cave Clare 100,000 75.Nat Sealife Ctre Wicklow 100,000 76.Nat Museum Castlebar 99,358 77.St Patrick Ctre D’patrick 90,000 78.Imaginocity 90,000 79.Viking Splash tours 90,000 80.Muckross House, Kerry 90,000 81.Gallery of Photography 90,000 82.GAA Croke Park Museum 90,000 83.Cobh Queenstown centre 85,000 84.Kennedy Arboretum 85,000 85.Dingle Oceanworld 80,000 86.O’Briens Tower 80,000 87.Glendalough visitor centre 80,000 88.Curraghchase Limerick 80,000 89.Malone House 80,000

he Guinness Storehouse is Ireland’s leading attraction for the ninth time in the past ten years. It finished ahead of Dubin Zoo with new record visitor numbers of 1,156,985, a 7pc increase on the visitor numbers for 2012. If you disregard Kildare Village’s 2.2m, (which is not included in tourism statistics), and Lagan towpath (which the NITB lists as an attraction), these are the only two visitor attractions in Ireland to top a million visitors. Dublin Zoo came within 4,000 of last year’s all time record. Fota had a poor start to the year but recorded 266,000. The Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience won the race for third place when it confirmed a record 960,134 (up 9.86pc, the previous record was 940,455 in 2007). The National Aquatic Centre finished fourth with 858,231 (up 5.22pc) with the Botanic Gardens in Belfast likely to finish fifth. The National Gallery was sixth with an estimated 640,000 (one of the few attractions down on 2012, down 3pc). The Titanic Centre in Belfast was seventh with 614,138 in its first full calendar year, a figure that does not include visitors to conference or banqueting events, mid term festival or the Christmas experience. The Book of Kells had 588,447 visitors (up 6.8pc). The Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin had no exhibitions for the first six months of the year and while the figure for autumn was up, the annual figure likely to be up slightly from 544,685 to 550,000. Tayto Park in Ashbourne saw a big increase from 391,000 to 490,000 lifting it into the top twelve. Visitor numbers at the four national museums passed the one million mark for the second successive year, with

404,230 passing through Kildare Street and 284,323 through the Natural History Museum, although Collins Barracks visitor numbers were down 20,000 to 251,226 from 271,309. The visitor numbers for the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Kilmainham, normally a 360,000 visitor attraction, for 2013 was 121,221. The Museum's Main Building was closed for essential maintenance works until October 11. Once a perennial contender for a top ten place (when overall numbers were much lower), Brú na Bóinne’s 230,000 visitors to lift it back in the top 30. Earlier in the year many Irish attractions reported visitor numbers were up by as much as 19pc, By way of comparison the top ten for ten years ago was 1 Dublin Zoo 772,322, 2 National Gallery 754,636, 3 Guinness Storehouse 738,000, 4 Cliffs of Moher 650,000, 5 Giant’s Causeway 480,000, 6 Book of Kells 467,513, 7 Aquatic Centre 425,284, 8 IMMA 309,000, 9 Bunratty Castle 307,145 and 10 Waterford Crystal 303,000. Dublin Zoo narrowly beat the Book of Kells to top spot back in 1993, when 60,000 visitors would have guaranteed a top ten place. 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

BATTLE FOR NO 1

Guinness 485,939 640,720 738,000 764,118 780,851 858,504 948,577 1,038,910 1,019,166 930,000 1,025,677 1,087,209 1,156,985

Dublin Zoo 601,000 607,000 772,322 731,705 746,291 754,208 900,005 932,000 898,469 963,053 1,001,083 1,030,000 1,026,611

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DESTINATION IRELAND

Cats the cream

Kilkenny selected as national champion tourist town

ulranny (best small town) and Kilkenny (best large town) were declared the winning tourism towns of Ireland at a function hosted by Failte Ireland in the Gibson hotel with Kilkenny declared overall winner. During the official ceremonial Minister Ring paid tribute the volunteer spirit that sustained Irish tourism, said the industry now employed 192,000 people, and lauded (unsurprisingly) The Gathering saying it proved Ireland still has community spirit. Chair of the adjudicating panel Ann O’Leary described why Kilkenny had been chosen and Nora Darcy from Kilkenny talked through the progress of the city in its tourism quest, saying “there are no tricks, just hard work. Maureen Mulloy from best small town Mulranny vividly described her own town’s astonishing tourism portfolio. Master of ceremonies Kieran Mul-

COMMON VISA A common visa

area for Ireland and Britain is to be introduced in 2014 extending the visa waiver system beyond the 16 countries to which it applies.

MOSCOW, Tel Aviv and Texas featured on minister Leo Varadkar’s wish list of yearround direct air routes from Ireland He says Italy among several potential untapped markets for Irish tourism. Tourism Ireland CEO Niall Gibbons said there would be a 5-10pc increase in air capacity expected in 2014. VOYA the Irish Spa seaweed brand from

Strandhill, received the Halal stamp of approval from the Halal monitoring committee.

MY GOLF Society

Brian Tyrrell, Martin Brett, Nora Darcy, David Fitzgerald and Amanda Horan from Kilkenny receiving the overall award from Minister Michael Ring. llooley read out citations for the fi- and the cast of characters that you nalists Kilkenny, Mulranny, Let- find on an average Tidy Towns comterkenny, Murisk, Tralee and mittee. He paid tribute to the enorWestport. mous work Tidy Towns committees There was a touch of stand-up doing, saying Tidy Town committees comedy when Mullooley also deliv- “get it” about tourism. ered funny asides on the planting of daffodils by Tidy Towns committee

Back in growth

Irish visitor numbers up 7pc but still 1m short of peak

Tourism Ireland CEO ourism Ireland says Niall Gibbons said that inbound tourism to Ireland is expanding market share has increased with many markets enjoy- for Ireland within Europe from the USA. Our market ing record years. Australia, Canada, share of outbound tourism France, Germany, Spain from the US used to be and USA were among the 1.8pc, it is now close to 2pc markets that hit new of the US outbound market. records in 2013. He said “marketing Ireland overseas is no HIBERNOFILE one hit wonder” and stressed the importance 2013 overall 7,974,000 +7pc of improving Ireland’s Britain 3.890,000 +7pc market share out of GerN America 1.113,000 +12pc many which is less than USA 980,000 +12pc 1pc. Tourism Ireland Canada 134,000 +11pc will focus on trying to Europe 2.483,000 +5pc double that over the next Germany 477,000 +6pc three years. France 440,000 +9pc The all important Spain 270,000 +5pc British market returning Italy 243,000 -3pc to growth, a point noted Scandinavia 208,000 +11pc by three different Netherlands 162,000 +7pc tourism bodies in their Developing 488,000 +14.4pc forecasts for 2014. Australia 171,000 +12pc The Irish Tourism In-

dustry Confederation anticipated the creation 6,000 new jobs in the sector. Failte Ireland were even more optimistic, forecasting 8,000 new jobs. In his summary Eamonn McKeon of ITIC said it “was unusual that all the lights are green in our main markets.” He said the British economy is stronger than we think and the richest pickings are closest to home rather than small but important markets such as the Chinese market. ITIC chairman Paul Carty outlined the areas where capital expenditure is needed and said competitiveness has improved in Irish tourism while Eamonn McKeon said the industry is more cognisant now of the dangers of prices going up. He stressed the need to con-

centrate on delivering more outdoor activities. Trends include visitor surveys that show that value for money is now less an problem for Irish tourism than in the past and that length of stay continues to shorten, a trend which has a larger impact on rural Ireland. Ireland has largely recovered from the dramatic cuts in air capacity of 2009-2010 when air lift fell from 500,000 seats a week to 424,000 a week. Ireland lost 25pc of its air capacity to Germany. There were an extra 5,000 seats a week on the market this winter. Eamonn McKeon said the tourism industry has reached a stage where it needs new hotel rooms in Dublin.

won the Travel, Tourism & Hospitality sector award at the 2013 Eircom Spiders awards. City Hook, Celtic Link, Shannon Airport, Discover Ireland App, Castle Leslie, Temple Bar Hotel, and Cliffs of Moher Visitor centre were nominees.

FOOD CARD Leo Varadkar has

launched the Good Food Ireland Prepaid MasterCard, a multifunctional card offering connections with 600 food places, culinary experts and artisan food producers at the Good Food Ireland conference. Mount Juliet, Co Kilkenny swept the boards at the Good Food Ireland Awards winning supreme award, the Restaurant of the Year Award and the Outstanding Place to Stay Award. Other winners on the night included Inch House Traditional Black Pudding for Producer of the Year, URRU Culinary Store in Bandon for Local Food Shop of the Year, Newforge House, Co Armagh for Culinary Haven of the Year and Toscana Restaurant in Dublin for the Grow It Yourself Award. The Oarsman won the Food Lover’s Choice Award voted on by the public.

CORK is to get an artificial all-weather

public ski slope at the Glen Resource centre, 30m long and costing €20,000.

CARLINGFORD Adventure Aerial Park was granted €200,000 extra funding by Louth Leader Partnership.

VISA Spending on Visa cards – debit, credit and prepaid – by overseas visitors to Ireland has risen by 21pc to over €794m, up until the end of September 2013, compared to the same period in 2012.

JETPAC City guides declared Belfast was the happiest city, with the highest “smile score” based on the average size of the smiles in photos. Jetpac, a new iPhone app that curates more than 100m Instagram photos across more than 5,000 cities, used "geo-parsing" technology to analyse patterns in images on the photo-sharing app Instagram. AOIFE

the festival events organisation has published its annual review and changed its membership structure so that every fee now includes a free registration to the two day Annual Conference in November.

MERRION Square was chosen as one of twenty examples of innovation and best practice by the European Commission.

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GLOBAL VILLAGE

AIRPLUS and Amadeus have partnered

to offer travel agencies the Amadeus AirPlus Travel Agency Card.

THOMSON CRUISE Helen Caron, Ireland manager of Falcon Holidays/TUI Thomson was appointed new Managing Director of Cruise for Thomson Ireland & UK. She will continue to run Thomson’s Irish operation.

TAXES A survey by Global Business Travel Association showed taxes on hotel accommodation, car rental and restaurant meals amount to $41.04 per day for a traveller in Chicago, followed by New York ($38.65), Minneapolis ($36.70), Kansas City ($36.61) and Indianapolis ($36) with Cleveland, Boston, Seattle, Nashville and Houston all charging over $34. GBTA says the money generated is regularly used to fund local projects unrelated to tourism and business travel. The Florida cities of Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers and West Palm Beach had the lowest taxes. TOUR AMERICA have moved to a new bigger premises in the heart of Cork city on 31 Parnell Street. NASHVILLE

hosted 93 invited international representatives and 11 states at Travel South USA's second annual International Showcase at the Omni Hotel. Three days of marketplace, city tours and events included two full days of pre-scheduled appointments for International Buyers and Southern Travel Suppliers. Participating countries included Australia, Brazil, China, South Africa, UAE and Western Europe, and two Irish companies Tour America and Platinum Travel.

NORTH KOREA After a success-

ful tour of North Korea last August, Alan Lynch’s Citiescapes are planning further tours in May and September of next year. The tour operator is seeking an increased allocation of visas because of increased interest.

AMADEUS Ireland concluded 2013 with 14 customer renewals and 5 new client wins including Douglas Travel and Adventure Holidays. Amadeus has signed a three-year exclusive technology agreement with Advantage Focus Partnership. CWT Ireland and Britain became the first

TMC to use Travelport’s Smartpoint desktop technology. Carlson Wagonlit Travel recently released a board-game themed infographic video inviting travel managers to “tick all the boxes” to discover winning strategies and new ways of maximizing their travel programmes.

ETOF The European Tour Operators Association issued a report that Japan remains a vital market for Europe in the coming decade. TRAVELPORT launched an en-

hanced version of their point-of-sale application, Travelport Smartpoint.

IFONLY Martin Penrose’s If Only operation opened for business last month and copies of the Arabia & the Indian Ocean and Asia brochures, were delivered to agencies.

Fergal O’Brien, Charlotte Fenning and Bob Haugh

Bob’s group-coup Travel Department founder launches tour engine

ob Haugh, founder of Travel Department and Clickandgo, and Fergal O’Brien have launched a new project Groupleader which has already signed up a couple of hundred hotels and will be live for bookings in April. Groupleader wants to build a broad range of mainly urban hotels in the key European destinations. Bob Haugh explained he got idea for Groupleader while booking

groups for Travel Department and outlined the advantages of the product to group trip organisers and travel agents. He said “we have come from travel into technology while OTAs have moved from technology in to travel.” He said he had positive reaction to Groupleader from hoteliers largely because the product does not look for allocations or contracts and hotels have more control over their own

bookings than in other processes as default terms and conditions will kick in as soon as the request is answered. Haugh said he was watching for changes in license regimes across Europe, in the meantime flights are not included on the website because his license only applies to Ireland although he was building a multi-market multilingual site.

TRYPHAVANA TO HEAD UP NEW CELEBRITY

he reorganisation of Royal Caribbean’s three brands in the Ireland and UK market has been completed. Stuart Leven will be MD of Royal Caribbean Ireland and UK based in Addlestone and Jo Rzymowska has become MD of Celebrity Cruises. Celebrity Cruises 16-

strong sales team will be led by Nicki Tempest Mitchell as director of sales supported by Michael English. The newly-appointed Tryphavana Cross is providing dedicated sales support for Irish trade partners after taking up the role of Business Development Manager, Ireland. Kathy Barbrooke has

been appointed to the role of head of guest and trade and Toby Shaw the newly-created director of marketing and PR. Shaw will lead an 11strong marketing and PR team dedicated to the brand. Richard Twynam has been appointed managing director in Ireland and Britain for boutique cruise line Azamara.

Tryphavana Cross

WINGS ABROAD DOUBLE TRIUMPH

ings Abroad won best supplier and Lee Osborne the best supplier representative at the awards following the Worldchoice

conference in Ashbourne. Wings Abroad previously won best supplier at the Travel Centres conference in Naas at the beginning of November, and say they are going to step up

the Think Turkey campaign in 2014 “to get people to Think Turkey as a possible holiday choice and get people to think about Turkey in a different light.” The campaign is really to

say "Do you want a beach, a bar, a restaurant? - you got it" "Do you want something a little different?" you got that too.

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GLOBAL VILLAGE

TRAVEL COUNSELLORS

David Speakman said corporate travel now accounts for 28pc of the homeworking company business. Sales in its Travel Management division over the past 12 months are up 19pc and in 2013, 500 new corporate accounts were opened. Travel Counsellors Ireland 2014 conference will take place in the Lyragh Hotel in Kilkenny on March 27-29.

ETIHAD Airways has appointed Corpo-

Clare Dunne speaking with Boris Zgomba and general secretary of ECTAA Michel de Blost

Euro-move on NDC

ECTAA vows to protect travel agents against airlines

he 74 delegates from 30 Travel Agent Associations who are members of the European Travel Agents and Tour Operators Associations were hosted by the ITAA in Dublin for their two day biennial last month. ECTAA president Boris Zgomba and general secretary Michel de Blost conducted a discussion about NDC and passenger rights issues. Clare Dunne stressed the role of

travel agents in delivering experiences to their client base and the importance of speaking with one voice, how incoming and outgoing travel were intertwined and explained how a conversation with Ann Dolan had enabled the ITAA bring the meeting to Dublin. “Our industry is one of the most dynamic of all,” she said. ECTAA President Boris Zgomba spoke of the EU’s need to balance regulation with competition, said Eu-

NEW FED FOR SPANISH OUTBOUND OPERATORS

he Spanish Tourist Board launched a new group of specialist Spanish operators in the travel trade, to be known as ITOS, having originally been announced as FOST.

Gonzalo Ceballos of the Spanish Tourist Board said “Spain is the first destination for Irish holiday makers and is the bread and butter of a large number of irish tour operators and travel agents.”

The name may change again to IFOS (Irish Friends of Spain). Chairman Con Horgan of Abbey Travel, a former President of the ITAA has proposed IFOS, Irish Friends of Spain.

oyal Caribbean presented new Business Initiative Awards at a ceremony in London to Travel Broker and Lee Travel, who organised the first direct pickups from Ireland on a Royal Caribbean sailing last summer. Travel Centres won the top Performing Consortium in Ireland (Thomas Cook in the north), Tour America the top

ERAA Christine Ourmières, CEO of CityJet, has been appointed vice president of the European Regions Airline Association. Ourmières joins the prestigious ranks of the association’s two serving vice presidents Carlos Bertomeu, CEO Air Nostrum, and Martin Isler, executive vice president of airline, Luxair and ERA’s president Boet Kreiken, managing director, KLM Cityhopper. TUI Travel said winter 2013/14 is trading in line with its expectations, with 60pc of the programme sold across its European markets. The group which owns Falcon Holidays in Ireland reported pre-tax profits up 21pc to £493m for the year ended 30 September compared to £390m last year, crediting its 'unique' holidays, direct distribution and the economies of scale. Higher-margin 'unique' holidays now account for 69pc of mainstream holidays. VISIT USA

Ireland Committee AGM in the US Embassy Dublin reported astonishing growth in membership from 32 at the beginning of 2011 to 64 at start of 2012 and 80 at the end of 2013. A new Executive board was elected, Chair Ciara Foley of Platinum Travel, Executive Director Clodagh Oxley, Vice Chair Claire Doherty of Sunway, Kristin Skinner of American Holidays and Treasurer Patricia Purdue of Massachusetts.

NYC&CO George Fertitta, chief execuCon Horgan speaking at the launch of ITOS

RCCL CHAMPS

R Stuart Leven and Declan O’Connell

rope must remain the number one destination for tourists and said that travel agents had a strong future: “this is our future.” The association also hosted David McCaig of Canadian travel agents association ACTA. Aer Lingus revenue manager Neal O’Rourke hosted the group for dinner where Minister Leo Varadkar’s speech covered the EU passenger rights legislation.

rate Sales Manager, Alan Glover, as the airline’s new Manager Sales Victoria, in Australia. Alan relocates to Melbourne from Dublin and will replace Craig Thomas who will move to Bangkok to take the position of Vice President Asia Pacific North and Indian Subcontinent. Fiona Lawless has been appointed Sales Account Manager Queensland.

Performing Independent Travel Agent for Royal Caribbean (Oasis Travel in the north) and Trailfinders was awarded top Performing Independent Travel Agent for Celebrity and Azamara (Oasis and Orr’s in the north). A tribute to Lorraine Quinn who departed RCCL in December followed the ceremony.

tive and president of NYC & Company, has resigned effective January 1. Fred Dixon will step in as the interim chief executive. New York reported 54.3m tourists in 2013, a new all-time high. The figure is an increase of nearly 20m on 2002 figures. Since 2002, overall tourism here has grown more than 50pc, while international visitation has increased more than 100pc.

CLICKANDGO launched a new destination for 2014, the Istrian Riviera in Croatia. THOMAS COOK

reported its first profit since 2010 and raised its cost cutting target.

ROYAL CARIBBEAN

is offering agents the chance to win one of 16 places at the 2014 BRIT Awards.

€

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POSTCARDS FROM THE TRAVEL SCENE

tar Alliance hosted the trade at their annual event in the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin. Alan Sparling told the 41 guests that growth of Star Alliance’s six airlines in the Irish market in 2014 would be led by led by Air Canada (75,000 more seats), Turkish Airlines (10 to 12 weekly) and United (90 extra flights with extended season from Shannon to Chicago), the opening in June of Terminal 2 in

Heathrow, and the continuity of service from member airlines such as Lufthansa (42 years) and SAS (38 years). Clare Dunne told guests (listen here) that travel agents were anxious to be part of the value chain, and to sell ancillary aviation products as partners of the airlines. "Partnership is a two way street, and we need to survive as well. Travel agents will sell anything.”

lem Walshe told media guests of Lowcostbeds in Dobbin's restaurant in Dublin (listen here) that the tour operator/bedbank currently has 109,000 fans on their Irish Facebook page and 50,000 customers are currently signed up to receive the weekly enewsletter. Clem Walshe said that visits from tablets and mobile devices are on the rise, with traffic from iPads up 26pc and

an increase of 54pc in searches from tablets and mobile devices. Newly acquired commercial arrangements with leading major international airlines have seen an increase in both bookings and searches for a number of long haul markets such as Mexico, The Caribbean, Florida, Dubai and Thailand. Picture shows Claire Howson, Clem Walshe and Kat Pouer of Lowcostbeds at the event.

ithne Fitzpatrick and Skål club of Dublin President Denis Kane hosted guests at the president’s annual December event in Fitzpatrick’s Castle Hotel, Killiney. Skål is targeting prospective members in the various sectors of the travel industry to arrest a decline in membership, areas of concern include the Mayo Club’s survival and the possible regeneration of the Lakelands Club.

Skål Dublin club president Denis Kane hopes that initiatives such as evening networking events will reverse a decline in Skål membership. “We can attract new members provided we give them the opportunity to network and to experience the special Skål welcome that I enjoyed when I joined the club. I urge members of the club, particularly those who are working in the industry, to support the events.”

hree years after bringing the One Stop Touring Shop to Dublin, Sharon Jordan has commenced a rebrand of the group. It is to be known as The Travel Corporation because: “our product offering has expanded and subsequently 50pc of our product is no longer touring.” Outside of the name change there are no other changes to the group’s four brands Last year their 18-25 product

Contiki from being the least important of the company’s suite of products: Uniworld, Insight, Contiki and Red Carnation hotels, enabling 30pc growth of the portfolio in the process. Uniworld went completely all inclusive for 2014 (to include gratuities) and Red Carnation purchased a second hotel in Ireland. Picture shows Sharon Jordan updating a group of travel agents about developments in The Travel Corporation.

Chairman Michael Doorley says Worldchoice will move from a bi-ennial conference to an annual event in 2014 with the date and venue of the 2014 conference still to be chosen. Picture shows Don Shearer, Jennifer Callister, Garry Zancanaro, Michael Doorley, Michael English and Jenny Rafter with the Celebrity Cruises ice sculpture at the Worldchoice Ireland conference.

Brian said many agents don’t realise that credit cards can work out 37pc cheaper because organisations look only at merchant fees and airline charges, without considering the cost of manual processing. The event was jointly hosted by Sinead Reilly of Travelport part-owners of Enett (she added a fourth R, reconciliation). Pictured: Sinead Reilly of Travelport and Brian Staunton of Enett.

orldchoice Ireland hosted 160 agents and suppliers at their conference in Ashbourne last month. Garry Zancanaro said farewell to the organisation after eight years as parttime executive. Don Shearer has taken over as full time CEO and intends to announce new members in due course to complement developments in new technology for the group’s 62 members.

rian Staunton, formerly Ireland manager of Worldspan came to Dublin to explain the Enett payments system, a virtual mastercard that is used by the travel trade. Brian talked invited members of the travel trade through the Emett system’s three Rs, revenue, risk and reward. On the subject of risk he pointed out that 96 airlines in Europe have gone bankrupt in the last two years.

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POSTCARDS FROM THE TRAVEL SCENE

qT;L63= qCH:GD

astings Hotels hosted travel media in Dublin where chairman Howard Hastings said beds in the Hastings hotel group are apparently among the features showing up for most praise on visitor comments. Picture shows Howard Hastings, Helen Caters GM of the Culloden Hotel, Aileen Martin sales manager, Stephen Meldron GM of the Slieve Donard Hotel and Julie Maguire marketing manager of

he Spanish Tourist Board launched a new group of industry partners dedicated to the promotion of Spain. Picture shows Gonzalo Ceballos (on right nearest camera) making a presentation to members of the Irish trade at the launch of ITOS in Dublin, from left clockwise: John Kinane of Thomas Cook, George Barter of George Barter Travel, Paul Hackett of Clickandgo,

Hastings Group. He updated the media on developments such as the £3m refurbishment for the Ballygally Castle hotel, due to reopen this spring developments at the Slieve Donard, the legacy of the city of culture for Derry and the arrival in Down and Antrim of increased numbers of “thronies”, fans of the period TV series Game of Thrones which is partly filmed in Ireland.

Clare Dunne of Travelbroker President of the ITAA, Pat Dawson CEO of the ITAA, Marian Benton of Map Travel, Anita Kelly of Sunway, Mary Denton Of Sunway, Dominic Burke of Travel Centres, Brendan Breen of Travel Department, Jeff Collins of Globe Hotels, Con Horgan of Abbey Travel, Kathryn McDonnell of Spanish Tourist Board, and Michael Doorley of Shandon Travel.

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lobal economic stability and a direct air route linking Ireland with China remains top of the wish list for 2014 for Tourism Ireland CEO Niall Gibbons. He said direct flights to Beijing, under negotiation with Air China, would be a ground breaker for Irish tourism. Moscow, Tel Aviv and Texas featured on the minister Leo Varadkar’s wish list of year-round direct air routes from Ire-

land. Tourism Ireland reports visitor numbers up 7.2pc & spend up 6pc in 2013. As Tourism Ireland chairman Brian Ambrose said: “The reward for growth is a new baseline.” Tourism Minister Leo Varadkar set an ambitious target of 4pc growth in visitor numbers and 8pc in visitor spend next year. Niall Gibbons said the target was 8.9m visitor and €12.6bn in revenue by 2016 with more long-stay visitors.

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Page 076 window seat r 13/01/2014 12:55 Page 1

FEBRUARY 2014 PAGE 76

WINDOW SEAT

THIS MONTH IN TRAVEL: A LOOK BACK

1874 Thomas Cook started advertising their first Dublin package

holiday from Dublin, a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in Paray-le Monial.

1914 Irish travel `gents came under fire for selling tickets to New

York on board the Hamburg-Amerika Company in a wave of anti-German jingosim that was largely responsible for starting a war the following June that resulted in 8.5m deaths. To add to the controversy, the British Cunard Line had halted its liner stops at Queenstown (Cobh).

Busman’s holiday: Christoph Mueller

Île de Ré: A Mueller family favourite

Every month we ask a leading travel professional to write about their personal holiday experience. This month: Christoph Mueller, CEO of Aer Lingus

he whole family agrees that we love to go to France. We have the Île de Ré on the west coast. I think it is quite similar to Ireland so the kids say it is not so different from what we have here on our doorstep so we most probably go a little bit more to the south where the temperature is quite different to Ireland. “I personally prefer to take the car because I fly for a living and sometimes it is easier to load the car and open the trunk for the suitcase but we always fly when we have to cross

KLM. You will find most of your fellow-passengers have booked KLM on the unhesitating recommendation of both their friends and their Travel Agent Choose wherever you will among the Continental play centres — “by KLM it's a holiday all the way.”

1964 Aer Lingus hosted 60 travel agents at a two day conference in

Limerick chaired by JF Donovan, sales manager to discuss travel and accommodation arrangements for Irish people traveling to the forthcoming world fair in New York. Attendance included Frank Tully from Carlow, president of the Irish Provincial Travel Agents and Bob Kilkelly, Castlebar, secretary. Consumers were told: At 1.50 p.m. tomorrow (and every Saturday). an Aer Lingus Viscount leaves Dublin for the sun and warmth .of Malaga in the far south of Spain.

1974: Joe Walsh Tours presented a magnificent selection of full

colour films in the ballroom of the Hibernian Hotel, Dublin. Pick up a ticket from your local agent for Joe Walsh tours in Nassau Street.

1984

“The fast growing dependence of the American travel trade on computers has spurred Aer Lingus to complete a deal withairline computer reservation and information systems in the USA which is the equivalent of having 2200 salesmen. On the desk of every travel agent in America is a computer which can now tell a prospective client what it will cost to come to Ireland, what car hire rates are, hotel and even guest house charges. Travel agents are concerned about the advances being made in home computers. Already some home computer systems have the capacity to link up with airline computer systems to order anything from a seat on a plane, a rail ticket, hire a car and even indicate what meal he/she wants on the aircraft.”

1994 A World Cup task force made up of government officials,

the sea but it makes you lose two or three days of your vacation and my time is so precious.” “My wife plays the cello and the cello comes on holidays with us. That is another complication.’

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

e cannot be unimpressed by the pace of change in Ryanair. Less that a year ago Michael O’Leary went on the Late Late show to say “the customer is almost always wrong.” He said that Ryanair deliberately “tortures” its passengers when they check in bags; that the airline industry is populated by a bunch of “losers” and “lemmings”; and that Ryanair’s ideal customer is someone with “a pulse and a credit card”.

1954 Irish travellers were being invited to fly to the continent with

Then in summer Ryanair issued an unexpected profit warning, and O’Leary grudgingly told shareholders that he will stop “unnecessarily pissing people off”. What has happened since is astonishing. O'Leary had always insisted that a stiff-necked approach to customer service kept costs (and thus fares) down. Ryanair’s clunky, angst-inducing website is being replaced. And the airline would enter the world of social media by launching a Twitter page.

travel agents and football association chiefs is being set up following the disclosure that tickets for Ireland's World Cup games are being offered at vastly inflated prices in the US. Inquiries are flooding into the travel agents all around the country, but according to Jim Sharkey, president of the Irish Travel Agents Association, only a proportion of these will actually buy the packages on offer because of the cost.

2004

The euro rose to $1.30 against the US dollar. CanAmerica said bookings for the US had risen by up to 50pc over the past two months. "We have had to reduce the brochure prices several times as hotel accommodation, car hire and attraction tickets, keep falling in price," said managing director Frank Kelly

Remember this? “We don't pander to all the twats on Twitter, or the crap on Facebook. If you want to be a friend of somebody, go buy a dog.” Or this. “All of this crap you get from IT specialists–saying it should be a smooth and seamless process– bullshit it should be. Being a smooth and seamless process reduces your ability to deliver ancillary sales, and ancillary sales form a key part of us making air travel cheaper and cheaper.” Plus ca change.

IN YOUR NEXT TRAVEL EXTRA: Available to Travel Agents or online February 10 2014

AWARDS ISSUE Middle East options SHOULDER SEASON GOLF SPA & WELLNESS

page 002 13/08/2013 17:59 Page 1

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