Travel Extra February 2019 by Travel Extra

R U HOLIDAY WORLD THE 2019 SHOW O Y EE 200 DESTINATIONS DIRECT FROM DUBLIN R R F E JAPAN WORLD CUP 2019 P A P Beijing: direct from Dublin

Irish airports record year

Ryanair 2nd in Europe

IRELAND'S PREMIER SOURCE OF TRAVEL INFORMATION Free

FEBRUARY 2019

VOLUME 24 NUMBER 2

DUBLIN-FRANCE DIRECT

Make the most of your next summer holiday. Sail in style from Dublin and bring your car on our brand new W.B. Yeats. Pay €100 deposit and get 10% off your fare. Book now at our stand in the Main Hall – P8 #SAILINSTYLE

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FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 4

THE KNOWLEDGE

Travel Extra Clownings, Straffan, Co Kildare (+3531) 2913707 Fax (+3531) 2957417 Editor: Eoghan Corry eoghan.corry@ travelextra.ie Publisher: Edmund Hourican edmund@bizex.ie Sales Director: Maureen Ledwith maureen@bizex.ie Sales Manager Paulette Moran paulette@bizex.ie t: +353 (0)1 291 3702 Accounts and Advertising: Maria Sinnott maria@bizex.ie Sunday Supplement & Online: Mark Evans markevanspro@gmail.com Chief Features Writer: Anne Cadwallader anne@travelextra.ie Contributors : Marie Carberry marie@travelextra.ie Carmel Higgins carmel@travelextra.ie Cauvery Madhavan cauvery@travelextra.ie Catherine Murphy cathmurph@yahoo.com Aileen O’Reilly aileencoreilly@gmail.com

Editor Emeritus: Gerry O’Hare Travel Extra takes no responsibility for errors and omissions. Distribution Manager: Shane Hourican shane@bizex.ie Origination: Typeform

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Contact +353872551675 if you have difficulty getting Travel Extra.

CONTENTS

3 News Desinations of the year 8 Destinations: Japan world cup 10 Destinations: Kangaroo Island, Colorado, Austria, Seville, North Da-

www.travelextra.ie

kota, Eyre Peninsula, Borovets, Skiwelt, Beijing 30 Holiday World: Guide to the show 34 Destinations: Pattaya, Val Thornes, Providence, South Africa, Romania, North Cyprus, Philadelphia

50-53 Flying: Dublin’s plans 54 Afloat: Ferry exciting times 56 Global Village Inside the travel industry 59 Window seat: Our columnists 60 Pictures: Out and about

Know before you board

special occasions such as honeymoon.

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

SELF-TAG

SECURITY At

Dublin, 4am has become the new 5am with security shift times star8ing early to beat the burgeoning early morning gridlock at the airport with the 15 machines in Terminal 1 under particular pressure. Queues at T2, which is used by Aer Lingus and long haul operators, run about three minutes shorter but have also intensified. Queue times for security at Dublin airport are regulated and penalties kick in if they extend beyond 30 minutes, so they do their best to move you along. If you are running late, present staff with your boarding pass and they will fast track you. For speediest throughput, use the queues to the right of the security area. Auto return trays for security check are installed in T1 so keep an eye on the one of four berths that come available.

T2 Emirates on gate 407 the first on the right after you have descended Ireland’s longest escalator. Gates 401-6 downstairs are blocked off for much of the day by US pre-clearance. Heathrow and Gatwick flights are always on the next nearest gates. Aer Lingus walk some customers from T2 back to the 300 gates at T1 for and most confusingly of all, the former Cityjet flights depart from the 200 gates.

Self check in is the new normal at Dublin airport

T1 It is not just a short haul terminal. long haul flights using T1 include Air Canada, Cathay, Etihad, Hainan, Norwegian, Qatar, Transat and Westjet. Lufthansa, BA, SAS, Turkish and some Aer Lingus flights are to be found at the 300 gates. Aer Lingus/Cityjet and the charters are to be found at the 200 gates.

NEW GATES

Dublin Airport opened €22m South Gates area is used by Aer Lingus for flights to England and mainland Europe. It accommodates 1,000 passenger area has five boarding gates serving nine aircraft parking stands. Passengers travel from an existing lounge at Gate 335 by shuttle bus service which operates every two minutes includes a café, toilets, baby changing facilities and a workstation area with plugs and charging points.

PASSPORTS

Automated passport gates became operational at Dublin Airport last year, providing automated passport and security checks “by using advanced facial recognition technology and integration with na-

tional and international watch lists,” There are currently 10 in T1 and T2 plus five more due to go into the dedicated transfer facility opened last year for connecting passengers

APPS Dublin

Airport app shows gate numbers, check in numbers, baggage belt and an estimated time to clear security. Airline pass have become more sophisticated but be wary of sticky fingers when being offered ancillaries such as paying for seats. It can be difficult to add a check in bag after purchase, so do it when buying the flight if possible. Apple wallet allows passengers, including Ryanair and Aer Lingus, to store mobile boarding passes directly into the app.

FAST TRACK

DAA has a membership system allowing parking in the short term car park and fast-track. Book on the website. Fastrack does get crowded at peak times 5am-8am and DAA are adding capacity to fast track in T2 from January and T1 from July. There is also a separate VIP service which can be bought by commuters to celebrate a

Most short haul airlines now self tag. Ryanair baggage policy allows non priority passengers just a laptop size bag. Their threatened gate fee of €25 has not been enforced to date. Aer Lingus rolled out self tag machines in T2 in 2017.

CHECK-IN Aer Lingus have the most desks, 29 check-in/bagdrop 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 bagdrop than check-in. SHOPPING

The Loop shopping area on the approach to the 400 is currently undergoing an upgrade with a sleek new curved aisle. A new Irish Whiskey store is open and work is taking place on perfume and cosmetic area, Avoca opened in March. One of the most innovative ideas of last year is working, the cashless Honest Eats fridge at Marquette’s air side in T1 where passengers picked their sandwiches and pay for them with a card or mobile.

LOUNGE 51st and Green is the lounge of choice for trans-Atlantic customers, air side of US CBP with free snacks and a charge for a selection of meals. The Terminal 1 Anna Livia lounge has seating for 110 customers. Economy passengers to use the facility for a walk-in price of u20 for three

hours. Etihad have the best lounge in the airport off the walkway from T2 to T1, Aer Lingus have a two storey lounge next door. Anna Livia lounge in T2 is accessible to Priority Pass holders.

US CBP The T-pac facial recognition system implemented since June 6 has reduced queues at peak times when there are trans-Atlantic between 1020 to 1130 and 10 flights between 1020and 1230, 14 flights before midday and the quieter 14 afternoon flight wave with four between 1520 and 1600. Four more officers are deployed at peak. Passengers travelling on an ESTA and US Citizens can use 18 self-service Automatic Passport Control kiosks reducing time. The time spent with a US Officer has been reduced to less than 30 seconds. CAR PARK

Dublin airport has introduced car tagging luggage tags in the car park for passenegrs who forget where they parked

WATER Dublin Airport has upgraded its water fountains and retrofitted them with new taps to make it easier to refill water bottles. FUEL FARM

Dublin airport’s new fuel farm was finished this year. speeding up the process of refuelling.

T1 REFURB

Floor tiling in T1 departures floor has finished. If you have not been there recently go look at the amount of light flooding the terminal.

FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 5

www.travelextra.ie

NEWS

29 new routes

New services to put Ireland at the centre of the world

kraine is the latest country to get a direct service from Ireland. The Ryanair route to Kyiv is one of 29 new routes form Irish airport in 2019, not counting winter services that have been extended into summer. The real total should be 28 and a half new routes, as the Westjet service to St John’s is being transferred to Halifax. Other routes that have been lost include the Flybe service to Southend which is being replaced by Ryanair. Canada gets new services to Calgary and a Norwegian route to Hamilton, Toronto’s second airport last served from Ireland by Flyglobespan. The China services to Hong Kong and Beijing commenced last year are not being joined as yet, by an antici-

sonal with Ryanair next summer.

CALGARY Dublin from Westjet

CARLISLE Dublin 7w from Loganair scheduled for spring 2019. COLOGNE:

weekly from Ryanair,

Shannon

DALAMAN Dublin 1w from Ryanair, new for 2018.

DALLAS American will link Dublin daily to Texas next year. DUBROVNIK

from Cork

Aer Lingus

HALIFAX Westjet move their

DISNEY developments for 2019 include Riviera Resort, an all new Disney resort opening in Autumn, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge due to open at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in late autumn and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway to replace The Great Movie Ride at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. GUINNESS STOREHOUSE

was again Ireland’s leading attraction in 2018 with 1.74m visitors, followed by Cliffs of Moher with 1.6m and Dublin Zoo with 1.23m. In fourth and fifth place were National Aquatic centre and Giant’s Causeway.

AQUATICA Orlando became the first

waterpark in the world to be an autism certified centre.

SEAWORLD Customers who book a SeaWorld Discovery Cove Ultimate Swim package with Attraction Tickets Direct up until February 28, can save up to 20pc off previously published prices. Ryanair’s Kyiv route commences May 2

DESTINATIONS TO WATCH

BODRUM Dublin 2w sea-

WASHINGTON DC cancelled St Patrick’s day parade due to security costs.

St John’s service April 20

KEFLAVIK: Dublin service from Icelandair went daily from October, competing with Wow. KIEV Dublin 2w seasonal with

Ryanair next summer.

LISBON TAP launches Dublin

double daily, opening S America.

MARRAKESH: Dublin 2w resumed Ryanair route after short interruption.

MINNEAPOLIS Aer

new 2019 Aer Lingus destinations.

MOSCOW: Pobedoa are listing a Sheremetyevo service. NICE: Aer Lingus from Cork resumes May 1

SPLIT: Ryanair June 1 from

Dublin

TALLINN Dublin 1w from Air Baltic starts March 31

TEL AVIV: Dublin 1w from

Arkia Israel

Lingus 2019 destination.

TORONTO:

June 13

VIENNA: Dublin 2w from Lauda, competing with Aer Lingus.

MONASTIR: Tunisair from MONTREAL: One of two

Norwegian commence Hamilton on March 31.

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SKI An Irish ski instructor team will com-

pete in the world ski instructor championships in Pamporovo on March 17.

CHINA will overtake the US and Germany, with the most outbound tourists in the world by 2030, according to a Euromonitor report. GALAPAGOS Land iguana - last

seen by Charles Darwin in 1835 before they were wiped out are to return to the Galapagos. Sections of the Berlin Wall are expected to fetch up to €20,000 at auction in England as the 30th anniversary of its fall approaches.

VENICE Day-trippers will soon be charged up to €10 for entering Venice.

CHINA is to introduce the world’s first driverless high-speed trains to run at up to 350kph on the Beijing-Zhangjiakou line. LOUVRE The Louvre is now the

world’s most popular museum of fine arts - attracting a record 10.2m visitors last year.

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FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 08

DESTINATION JAPAN

n the Hoshinoya hotel in Tokyo, you take off your shoes on arrival. Somehow, the concierge gets to sort them all and identify them and give them back again on leaving. After that you have entered an otherworld, a parallel existence of chopsticks and polished wood, soft tone corridors and Tatami floors on the elevator. You feel like you are tiptoeing through a museum with “do not disturb” signs on ever side, and in a sense you are. If a holiday maker ever despairs that the world is becoming homogenised, take a trip to Japan. Daria Slattery of Unique Japan Tours has taken us there. Darina studied Japanese in college and came out to learn the language. In 2002, the soccer world cup brought several thousand Irish fans to the country. They spent the entire duration lost. It convinced Darina that Ireland could do with a Japanese specialist tour

Land of rice And rugby Eoghan Corry visits Japan in advance of the 2019 rugby world cup Kobe beef experience with chef Hidenobu Tanaka at Kobe Meriken Park Oriental Hotel and (below) Yokohoma Stadium , operator. Now there is another world cup, this time for egg chasers. The rugby fans of Ireland need not be lost. Local knowledge counts. Many signs and

announcements (as on the bullet train) are in English, but an awful lot is not, or is so convoluted that it cannot be negotiated. The culture is deceptively complex behind a

THINGS TO DO PLACES TO SEE

n Kobe is justly famous for its highly regarded beef. It has many other culinary delights including fresh fish such as sea bream and octopus from the nearby Akashi Kaikyo Channel (which is spanned by the world’s largest suspension bridge called Akashi Kaikyo Bridge). Mt Rokko behind Kobe is the setting for one of Japan’s first “onsen” spa resorts, namely Arima Dnsen which has been used as far back as the 8th Century and is still providing restorative soaks today’ Mt Rokko also provides a breath-taking view of the city and sea beyond. n Hamamatsu was once a castle town, and later flourished as a post station for travelers. located in the western part of Shizuoka Prefecture and situated about midway between Tokyo and Osaka, it sits near the center of Honshu. The city’s total area is quite large. The city has Lake Hamana-ko to the west, in the area extending from Hamamatsu Station along the Pacific Ocean. To the south is the Enshu-nada Sea, which hugs the Nakatajima Sakyu (sand dunes). To the north are mountains covered with lush greenery. and the Tenryu-gawa River. With the sea, lakes, mountains and rivers, the area displays a var-

iety of expressions,Gyoza, a type of Japanese dumpling, are a popular dish in this city. n Yokohoma offers the landmark Tower which is the tallest building in Japan and on a good day you can see not only Yokohama and Tokyo, but Mt Fuji rising up In the distance. There are some lovely parks and walking routes around the city as well as great shopping. The Ramen noodle museum is not to be missed and in the basement there is a recreation of old Japan where you can sample a variety of noodles from all over the country. It also has the largest China Town in Japan.rooms offer views of the lake and are decorated with traditional local weave items. Meals feature eels from the lake, a local delicacy. while activities include regional tea tastings. Some rooms have their out outdoor hot spring. Free shuttle bus departs to and from Hamamatsu station at set times throughout the day. n Hoshinoya Tokyo - Tokyo Deluxe Ryokan, From the moment guests arrive and slip off their shoes to step onto fragrant tatami mats, HQSHINOYA Tokyo, in the prestigious Otemachi district (the political and financial districts of the city),

simple, insanely polite front, and a bit of help can save a lot of time and anxiety. Call Darina.

here is a standard itinerary that first timers to Japan generally follow, the Golden route of three nights in Tokyo, a trip to Mount Fuji out of Tokyo, a night in a traditional Ryokan in Hakone, three nights in Kyoto 3 nights

and onwards to Hiroshima and Miyajima island UNESCO site, back to Tokyo or Osaka and the flight home. Travelling vast distances is easy, and is what Japan does. The bullet trains are sleek and modernistic and comfortable. Trains keep to stereotype and run not just to the minute but to the second. Ireland’s world cup itinerary follows it surprisingly closely, but in

reverse. We face Scotland in Yokohama in the south of the island, Japan in Fukuroi, Russia in Kobe, Samoa in Fukuoka and then (here’s hoping), a quarter final in Chōfu, semi-final and final in Yokohama.

here’s the beef? Kobe, of course. Hidenobu Tanaka, sous chef at Kobe Meriken Park Oriental Hotel,, showed

n Eoghan Corry travelled to Japan with Finnair and Unique Japan Tours. UJT’s Founder, Darina Slattery, began her research 20 years ago at Meiji Gakuiin University in Tokyo. Today, she leads a team of Japan travel experts, working with various local suppliers in Japan directly, and selling tours to Japan globally. UJT prides itself on offering a personal service and welcomes face·to-face meetings in our Dublin city centre office (54 Dawson Street,

FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 09

us the birth certificate of the beast we were about to consume, in fact, the entire edible family tree. He flamed the tender pink beef theatrically before a tasting with a fabulous harbour backdrop behind, talked about marbling and presentation like a sommelier with a fine wine. There is more than beef to the city, but every fast food stall has a reminder of the food that brings tourists here. Haruka Toyoizumi of Kobe tourism brought us to the roof top to show us the city at night, twinkling around the seafront. This being Japan, there are gardens, and we walked them too, finishing with tea at Shinrin Shokubutsuen, the difficult bit having been overcome by a gondola ride to the top. We stopped in to the sake brewery, to learn about how rice alcohol brings you closer to heaven. Drinking sake at festivals allowed people get closer to the gods, our guide in Fukuroi, Craig Kingsley had told us. He brought us through the temples, ring the bell to let the Gods know you want a chat, then bow twice and put in your request for good luck in the state exams. At Kyushu National Museum we saw something remarkable, Buddhist images that looked like Christian art, from the hidden history of Christianity in Japan.

Darina Slattery of Unique Japan Tours purchases Ekl-Ben bento box,

e dined on something even more exotic, Fugu pufferfish at KAI Enshu. It came in sections, sitting at a low table in our dressing gowns, with silken tofu and umami-rich tangles of dried fish, plump, gossamer-skinned gyoza and fritters of sweetcorn interspersing our meal. Nobody got poisoned. Which does not make for as exciting a story. In Yokohoma they dedicated an entire museum to ramen, the standard Japanese dish that came, the storyboards point out, from China. All of Japan’s history

is here, and the reconstructed streets are of a wooden Tokyo that perished in a bombing raid that was one of the most horrifying war crimes of WW2.

e finished our trip in one of the world’s great social playgrounds, the ShinJuku district of Tokyo. It is one of those familiar cityscapes, like Manhatttan or San Francisco, pushed into our imagination by years of cascading popular culture references that help to prepare you for the images, the

Clockwise: memorabilia form 2002 in Yokohoma stadium, the Ramen museum, Eoghan Corry eats Fugu, Darina Slattery with Andrew Fish of Finnair.

DESTINATION JAPAN

neon, the colours and the strobe-explosion. It is still not enough. This is an amazing place, tasking western neon but keeping it Japanese on its own terms. It is a joy to breathe in the air, hear the sounds, inhale the smells. Where to? A karaoke booth of curse. An hour with a microphone and beer supplied.

Our music choice was western but like so much of this country, it stopped being western once the door closed and became a truly Japanese experience. Even the rugby bar owned by an expat with the Guinness coasters is Japanese, an izakaya of oval, with yakitori – meat grilled on sticks over hot

coals and served with beer, sake or shochu. Businessmen and tourists sit shoulder to shoulder in a tiny underground alcove with the frenetic energy of Tokyo somewhere outside. We ate fish and toasted our host and told them to prepare. There are more Irish fans on the way. Ramen to that.

PLACES TO STAY

n Hakata Excel Hotel Tokyu - Fukuoka. Offering classically decorated rooms with a 37-inch LCD satellite TV, a Tempurpedic pillow and a private bath, Excel Hotel is 100 metres from NakasuKawabara Train Station. Guests can enjoy meals at the 2 restaurants and at a tea lounge. Free Wi·Fi is available in all rooms. Tenjin Subway Station is about a 7-minute walk from the hotel. Hakataza Kabuki Theatre is just as-minute walk, while Kushida Shrine is a IO-minute walk. n Kobe Meriken Park Oriental HotelKobe, ship-like hotel is surrounded by the ocean on three sides with Kobe’s harbor, Port Tower, and Maritime Museum stretching out beneath your eyes. Each guest room has a balcony so that you can enjoy the glittering ocean and urban nightscape, which change with each passing hour. With a passenger ship terminal on its second floor, the hotel invites guests to enjoy Kobe’s unique ambience as a port town as they watch luxurious passenger liners

and yachts arrive in port from voyages that have taken them around the world. n Kal Enshu - Hamamatsu, from a selection of Japan’s top five star ryokans. KAI Enshu is a hot spring ryokan situated by lake Hamana in the historic city of Hamamatsu, just 1 hour from Nagoya or 2 hours from Tokyo (by train). All rooms offer views of the lake and are decorated with traditional local weave items. Meals feature eels from the lake, a local delicacy. while activities include regional tea tastings. Some rooms have their out outdoor hot spring. Free shuttle bus departs to and from Hamamatsu station at set times throughout the day. n Hoshinoya Tokyo - Tokyo Deluxe Ryokan, From the moment guests arrive and slip off their shoes to step onto fragrant tatami mats, HQSHINOYA Tokyo, in the prestigious Otemachi district (the political and financial districts of the city), promises sublime and authentic Japanese ryokan hospitality..

FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 10

DESTINATION AUSTRALIA

hen James and Hayley Bailey opened Southern Ocean Lodge in March 2008, it could have been seen as a remote and out of the way place. Getting there requires a flight to Adelaide, then another (very short) flight to Kangaroo Island. The Kangaroo Island flight is so short the aircraft begins to descend as soon as ascent is finished. But Bailey had the cream and they knew it. At that year’s Australian Tourism Exchange in Perth visiting media, including Travel Extra, were told this was a hotel that would serve as a game changer for Australian tourism. Access was complicated, but Australia is a big country, and the views when you got there would make up for the hassle of the journey, arriving being as good as travelling hopefully, to paraphrase Stephenson. Not only that, but Kangaroo island (it sounds smaller than it is, it is slightly larger than Co Tipperary) would now be placed on the tourism map as a wilderness and eco-friendly destination, for the discerning and wealthy. Ten years later, part of that has come true.

Lodge luxury

Eoghan Corry on Kangaroo Island

Pathway to Remarkable Rocks on Kangaroo island nd (below) Seal Bay

hey were right about Southern Ocean Lodge. This may be the most stunning g hotel in the world. It seems to sit on the shrubbery, on a cliff top. The tropical beach resorts with the azure sea are all very well for the destination magazine covers (SOL’s beach is a distant hike, and the first beach is too rocky to swim, although the second is fine). But this is more natural and all about customer care.

The view across the Antarctic Ocean from the glass walled walkway between the public areas of Southern Ocean Lodge and your room are spectacular and everchanged, in that west of Ireland sense. “We are a product but also a destination,” said hotel general manager John Hird.

ell fed customers are happy customers. Lamb, Bremerton Baton-

THINGS TO DO PLACES TO SEE

n Southern Ocean Lodge world-class retreat offers an unforgettable blend of contemporary luxury and pure nature, 21 suites with ocean views, all-inclusive rates, first name service and personalised itinerary: Price includes gourmet breakfast, light lunch, four-course dinner with daily-inspired menu, selected alcoholic and all non-alcoholic beverages, exceptional guided adventures and experiences and island airport transfers. n Kangas & Kanapes’ tour. history of the early island settlers at Edward’s Cottage, kangaroos in their natural environment, champagne and canapé whilst the sun goes down. n Seal Bay, third largest colony of Australian Sea-Lions, unique insight into endangered animals and how they hunt, surf, rest, interact with their pups and defend their territory.

n Wonders of KI’ half-day experience, Cape du Couedic Lighthouse, Remarkable Rocks, Admirals Arch and a fur seal colony. n Lodge to Hanson Bay Loop, KI Wilderness Trail through native forest with wildlife including wallabies, echidnas and birds. Cross the South West River via the boat and crest the dune to reach the white beaches of Hanson Bay. n Raptor Domain Birds of Prey freeflight demonstration, also meet the world’s most venomous snakes. n Sunset Food & Wine, modern bistro with a focus on seafood and South Australian produce with ocean views. n Kangaroo Island Ocean Safari, wildlife journey from Penneshaw with dolphins, seals, birdlife, eagles, whales and magnificent coastline.

age Chardonnay, marron and barramundi, much of it from Kangaroo Island itself (try the delicious flagship wine, The Islander) is the trademark of the hotel. Excursions from the lodge took us on a cliff walk over the thrashing ocean with the wind in our hair and to a sundowner with roving kangaroo fewer than one might expect.. We drove to the coastline where Cape du Coedik and its cave protrude form one headland, a group of oversized stone

billiard balls known unimaginatively as the Remarkable Rocks, balanced atop a granite outcrop. . Food and drink has grown with the Lodge’s island renaissance. Jon Lark, whose brother Bill started Lark’s distillery in Tasmania, set up a distillery here. There are fine dining experiences and locavore centric chefs such as Jack Ingram. Food and drink have become Kangaroo Island’s calling card as much as its animals.

angaroo Island’s signature is not, as one might expect, the kangaroo, but its 800 sea lions. The trip to see them is relaxed and reassuring across boarded paths with plenty of do not disturb signs for sleeping seals. Every stroll and drive takes you past kangaroos, goannas and echidnas. The more hard nosed animal parks that featured on 1990s island itineraries are less prominent nowadays, although a lot are still there. At Raptor experience Kyle Wiggins and Chantelle Lehmann demonstrated the speed and accuracy of some of the world’s most devastating aerial predators, visitors got to handle some of the birds, and the world’s most venomous snakes were lifted out of a barrel to snake around behind a glass wall. And the omnipresent koalas, 18 koalas were introduced in 1923, as part of an attempt to create a disease free refuge. Now there are 50,000 and they are working out ways of culling them. “They tag the right ear because the female is always right ,” tour guide Ben Mitchell said. Same problem, different species.

n Eoghan Corry travelled on Emirates business class service to Adelaide via Dubai. Economy Class passengers are allocated a baggage allowance of up to 35kg. Passengers flying Business Class enjoy an allowance of 40kg as well as Emirates’ Chauffeur-drive service. n All Emirates passengers enjoy the award-winning inflight entertainment system, ice Digital Wide-screen, offering more than 3,500 channels of entertainment and films. n Emirates connects Ireland to a network of more than 160 destinations across six continents, operating a twice daily service between Dublin and Dubai, onboard one of the most modern fleet of aircraft in the world. n visit www.emirates.ie

South-Africa-TA-Holiday-World-AD.pdf 1 21/12/2018 14:53:24

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FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 12

DESTINATION USA

hen it gets warm, it can get very warm. And, when it gets cold, the landscape turns chilly as an eagle’s eye. Our instructions for the trip over Independence Pass from Vail to the Sand Dunes national Park warned us to expect anything from 21° Celsius to -6 Celsius. Hot sun or snow. Colorado is a lottery as far as the weather is concerned. The Western landscape is also is as varied as any mountain weather forecast. With each turn comes a scenery change. Mostly, but not solely, it is about mountains. Colorado people will tell the rest of us, which they joking call flatlanders, that they have 53 fourteeners, over 14,000 feet, ranging from Mount Elbert to Sunshine Peak. People collect fourteeners.(Bierstadt is the baby slopes), described to us by Andrea Blankenship of Colorado Tourism as “a relatively painful experience, but fun.” Most of us are happy to look, as the scenery changes around every corner.

rom the state capital, Denver, you can see 200 mountains over 12,000 feet. It is enough to tempt the most cautious out of the city, en route to the famous ski towns where Olympic champions are bred, leaving the Leaving high desert climate to join an Alpine climate,

Breathless Beauty Eoghan Corry finds himself high and dry in Colorado Sunset at Garden of gthe Gods, Colorado a bit like the Burren on stilts. In Vail the Betty Ford garden showcases the Alpine plants, the pikas that hid in the rocks and the Golden eagle who thrives in the climate, looking down, literally on the Bald Eagle of presidential fame: “where the sky is the size of forever and the plants the size of a millisecond,” as botanist Ann Zwinger once said. Colorado has more ghost towns that real towns, 1,500, and its famous towns go back to the q9th century. Vail was invented, a wilderness used for military practice in 1942 opened as a ski resort twenty

years later and propelled on a snow rush to its current status as the most famous ski resort of all and a valley of 22,000 hotel beds. This is chic and cheerful, rather than cheap and cheerful. olorado is also the craft beer state, partly because of its status as a clearing house of malting barley, and partly because of the foresight of its legislators. It has 230 established breweries.,dominated by products like New Belgium Brewing Company, Odell Brewing Co., Great Divide Brewing, Avery Brewing Company and Left Hand

Brewing which may already have outgrown the concept of artisan brewing. There are now 80 distilleries as well, poured into life by the mash-recycling moonshiners at Stranahan’s who forged Colorado’s first microdistillery: Stranahan’s . The founder Jess Graber used the name of his brewing friend George Stranahan because it sounded more Irish: they started with the left over mash when Graber’s barn burned down. Since then Rocky Mountain Whiskey (note the E) has become am movement. We tried the Diamond Peak and Sherry Cask: attitude with altitude. ur adrenaline hunt took us further to the Pikes Peak Ziplines. Our young instructors Katie Sheahan and Brian Ruminski guided us across a trail of five ziplines, warning us where the bum might hit the track, causing the pants to rip and an honoured place in the money’s club. Adventure activities in the USA are increas-

ingly a comedy routine, as Brian passes out the helmets he was: “here are the brain buckets, we supply the bucket, you supply the brain, brains are optional.” “If you cause a beer truck to crash on the hghways,” says Katie, “ you can have free zip lining for life.” The thrill of the zip is the first fall, step, or waltz over the cliff and the onrush into the unknown with the bee-buzz of the wire in your ears, and the anticipation of a tricky landing. ‘Did you see the teddy bear that was dropped in the valley?” Brian asked. Nobody did. At Peaks Pike biplane they allow you hang upside down in mid flight. Not many zip lines do, so we all did it in turn and went home tossed and tumbled and assimilated with the Colorado way.

he real goal of our expedition was Sand Dunes national park. They span 30 square miles in the San Luis Valley, south of Denver, heaped sand

dropped like hot pepper by the winds when they meet the mountain range. The sand arrives by river, the tallest down the Medano Creek, dumped to the southwest and then picked up and blown back on the dunes, a recycled adventure spot. They hire out sandbars at to locations, carried our board like beached surfers, waxed the knotty bits at the bottom and careered down the slopes look kids. Children of all ages were to be seen along the ridges of the dunes, the heat seekers venturing furthest to the highest slope. “Half the Park is in the dark,” Kale Mortensen of Alamosa tourism says, “at night you feel you can put your hand up and pluck the stars out of the sky.” The crashing sand down as dune face makes the sand hum like a didgeridoo. In the 1940s, one of Bing Crosby’s musical hits was “The Singing Sands of Alamosa” a love song based on the sounds of Great Sand Dunes. It is a sound you will never forget.

n Eoghan Corry travelled to Clorado as a guest of Colorado Tourism Office via Newasrk to Denver with Aer Lingus and United

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FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 16

DESTINATION SKI

hen the snow came, it made up for lost time. The warmest early winter in the memory of Europe’s ski resorts came to an abrupt end just before new year. Most resorts across the Alps now have all lifts open. In Kirchberg thy say that when it is about to snow the sheep move up the mountain because they know something. And the deer move down because they know something too, When I visited the sheep were still in the valley. Like sheep fleece or layers of cotton wool the fog, too, sat in the valley in the morning, luxuriant deep-carpetted mountain beauty that was as surprising as the under-performance of the snow conditions. Two worlds, one below and one above. Austria’s advantage is that skiers stay in real villages before they take to the mountain, not 1960s concrete tourism constructions. It explains why Austrians still win two out of every three world cup races. Grow up in one of these villages and the snow becomes your schoolmate. Gastein has 11,000 full time residents and 30,000 beds for those who come to play. Then the sun erupted, glorious and bright. The jetstream of an aircraft has put a spray foam on the sky, like the pilot was attempting to spell

Cloud in the vally

White magic

Evening in Kitzbuhel

out the name of someone they loved high over the ski lift. Snow conditions turned bright again, and then, as we skied downhill we encountered a line across the piste like a micro-climate, than back into ice again, with the grating grizzling sound that conjured up out nothing so much as a broken leg. The ski instructor is Hans Steinkasserer but goes by the name Sem: “of 180 ski instructors on the first day, 13 had the name Hans, so I was Sem from Hoefgarten.”

itzbühel is the plush cousin, often compared with Cortina. It got its artsy reputation early, from the opening of the fin de siècle Grand Hotel just before World War 1 and as the homestead of legendary ski champion Tony Sailer (the “Blitz from Kitz”) and painter Alfons Walde, the first artist to successfully bring skiing as a subject into painting. His windblown art deco Stakhanov snow heroes feature on posters throughout the town.

As you rise the Hahnenkammbahn lift, the names of the downhill champions name of the famous race are affixed to each gondola car. The shops, bars and accommodation are more chic and expensive than Kirchberg and a small casino brings a James Bond air to the place. We stayed late and ate mouth-melting tenderloin with Claudia Waldbrunner of the tourist board. Kitzbühel has 6,000 beds (Kirchberg has

7,000), a population of 8,200 and a further 3,000 beds in the valley: offering a mix of local and invader at peak season. That sense of being in somebody’s home prevails in many of the hotels. At Aegidius “Gidi” Koiel’s family run Hotel Bräuwirt, the dining room with an austere grand father and officious looking grand mother peer on the diners from a brown wood frame, still very much part of the family.

At a nearby schnapps distiller Tonni De Man popped open the bottles of Obst schnapps, made from two flavours, straightening out the digestive tracts like a snow-making cannon. Back in Kirchberg we sleigh-rode through the snowy streets in the hands of a pleasant charioteer Maria hochkogler and horses are called Cissi and Cora. Someone called for a Ballyfermot gallop.

Eoghan Corry travelled to Austria courtesy of Topflight, who offer charter flights to Salzburg. +3531 2401000 www.topflight.ie or your local travel agent. He stayed in Kirchberg, a resort with access to both the Kitzbüheler Alps and Pass Thurn ( 170kms of piste) as well as access to the Ski Welt, Austria’s largest interconnected Ski Area. Topflight have direct charter flights from Dublin, Cork and Belfast to Salzburg every Saturday for the Winter Season. Kirchberg and Kitzbühel, its snazzier ski neighbouring resort have an array of après ski activity from sports centres to sleigh rides, to toboganning, to shopping, to whet your appetite, as well as Kitzbuehel’s famed Casino where 27.50 gets you 30 worth of chips. If you are a good intermediate skier, we recommend purchasing the Kitzbüheler Alpin All Star Card which gives access to both these ski areas. If you are a beginner – you can use the Kitzbühel Kirchberg Lift Pass at u241 (the other lift pass is €249 you must decide which card before you purchase) You can also try snowshoeing, winter hiking, cross-country skiing, and ski touring – it could be the year to try a new snowsport. Prices including Topflight charter flights direct from Dublin, Cork and Belfast and full luggage allowances, transfers to resort and accommodation:

FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 18

DESTINATION SPAIN

or an old city with a star studded past, Seville can reinvent itself with alacrity. The latest addition to its repertoire is an aged palace, which remained hidden form the street for centuries. Now the 15th century Palacio de las Dueñas is open to the public. The Duchess María of Alba, who died in 2014, held it as a private residence, and the tour of the house is illuminated with references to her life and relationships with Europe’s royal families. An ancestor James FitzJames fought at the Boyne and Aughrim and was present at the Siege of Limerick, before dispersing with his faded claims on the English throne. The private chapel, collection of 1,425 artefacts including One of the best tapestries in the world, Willem Pannemaker , open courtyards, furnishing, and cloistered opulence are a reminder that life in this history-saturated city is not all Mudéjar memories. In its day it was home to the poet Antonio

Tapas Dance Eoghan Corry finds food for thought in Seville

Seville cathedral, relic of a golden age

Machado, the man who advised us not to try to rush things: “for the cup to run over, it must first be filled.”

he cup in Seville filled for centuries and for two hundred hears it over floweth. Between January 20th, 1503 , three years before the death of Christopher Columbus, and 1717, it was the monopoly port for Spanish gold. When the mouth of the Guadalquivir silted,

THINGS TO DO

n Cathedral with the special exhibition on the Year of Murillo www.murilloysevilla.org n Cycling tours of Seville seebybike.com n Museo y Flamenco show, Calle. Manuel Rojas Marcos, 3. 41004 +34 954 34 03 11 www.museoflamenco.com

the monopoly moved to Cadiz. Twice a year, in April and September the convoy of ships with gold from America arrived and departed to ringing church bells and cheering crowds. “Christopher Columbus did not discover America. He created a motorway and here in Seville was the toll,” historian Ana María Calderón says. For a picture of what the glory days of Seville

STAY AND EAT

n Restaurant Antigua Abacería de San Lorenzo. Teodosio, +34 954 38 00 67 n El Rinconcillo, the oldest restaurant in town. +34 954 22 31 83 n Taberna del Alabardero, Calle Zaragoza, n Carniborrea, Alameda de Hércules, +34 954 90 43 14 carniborea.com n Origen, Hotel One Shot Conde de Torrejón 09, Calle Conde de Torrejón, 9 Tel: +34 854 56 58 54

may have been like, we stopped in to the Torre del Oro. The tower looks out at the river and a naval exhibition evokes memories of the empire on which the sun never set, Magellan and Vespucci and other celebrity seamen of their era. by 1600 the city was the largest in Spain and wealthiest in Europe. We watched one of the 45 brotherhoods of the city pass in procession, and got a sense of what it must have been like.

owadays new riches are to be found spread on the tables of the city, salads, hams, cheese, beef and wine. Seville tourists are

duty bound to call to the Alcazar, with its layer cake of architectural history, in brick, marble, tile, wood and iron (“the Gothic palace is actually baroque” Ana points out), and the cathedral, with its iconic tomb of Columbus, but real treasures are the restaurants of the backstreet bars balconied with legs of ham or the modern culinary chapels on the broad squares. Even in November the tables hummed with outdoor conversation, the clink of endless plates of tapas and glasses filled with wine, parrilla de verdure, salmojero (tomato sout), mojama (the ham of the sea), papatatero. Restaurateur Ramón López de Tejada de-

clared: “uva y queso saben a beso,” (grapes and cheese taste like a kiss).

he best way to see Seville of all may be by bicycle. We cannot be sure, because it rained so heavily on the day that Justo Lora came to accompany us that we wondered whether there was any truth in that old ditty about the rain in Spain. “Seville without sun is like dinner without salt,” Justo commented. Instead we moved indoors to see the expansive Plaza de España where Spain celebrated its former American empire with a major exhibition in 1929. Now the area is a park and botanical garden, with a museum showcasing the artistic history of the city back to its days when nearby Italica was the birthplace of Hadrian and Trajan. The 1992 Expo transformed Seville’s modern history, bringing five new bridges and a surge of artistic and commercial energy that can still be felt today. In the evening we climbed on Jüggen Mayer’s wooden structure, the largest in the world, the mushroom to look back on the city. The gold convoy ain’t coming back soon. Something more amazing calls by instead.

n Eoghan Corry travelled to Seville as a guest of the Spanish Tourist Board. Ryanair fly to Seville 3w year round

Clockwise: Grave of Columbus, Plaza de España, Las Setas, Espacio Metropol Parasol, , Ramon Lopez de Tejada owner of Restaurant Antigua Abacería de San Lorenzo, Saida Segura of Seville Tourism and Sara Rivero of the Spanish Tourist Board,

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FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 20

DESTINATION USA

here is a selfie spot in Fargo, North Dakota’s economic hub. It says, without explanation: “best till last,” and tourists love it. It means that those who have visited 49 states can finally tick the box, as boxes are ticked nowadays, on Instagram. North Dakota is the last visited and least visited of the States of the USA. Travel Extra went there largely for that reason. And while the best till last is a bit of a marketing trumpet, it obscured the reality that is one of the most interesting states of all. If, as the boys in the braces tell us, experiential is the new alternative to box-tick tourism, North Dakota is on a winner. It is a place to be travelled, embraced and digested, not viewed through a window.

argo is a movie town. The name (accidental, the Coen brothers wanted to pick somewhere in Minnesota), the scenery (none of the film was

Not so badland

Eoghan Corry in North Dakota

The badlands is what the natives and the invaders alike called the plains of North Dakota shot here), the accent (NOBODY says “yah, you betcha”) are all inventions. Instead there is a woodchipper prop for more selfies, and a town that regained its heart because businessman, Doug Burgum, and a

local university decided that downtown needed a lift. That barometer of American resurgence, craft breweries followed. There are 5,600 tourist beds in Fargo. Tourist tee shirts say ‘north of normal.”

THINGS TO DO PLACES TO SEE

n Plains Art Museum Fargo: unconventional museum of fine arts is a brilliantly renovated, turn-of-the-century warehouse in historic downtown Fargo. The Plains Art Museum hosts regional and national exhibits, large permanent collections, special events, performances and art classes. Admission fee associated. n National Buffalo Museum Jamestown: art works, artifacts, and Native American items. Frontier Village Jamestown. Original buildings from the frontier villages of North Dakota have removed to the site and filled with antiques and artifacts, lawmakers and breakers and the most authentic wold west stagecoach you will find anywhere. n Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park Bismarck: military post, including the Custer House, have been restored as is an indigenous village. n Lewis And Clark Riverboat: Rivercruise boat journey on the Missouri River where Lewis and Clark wintered n Medora Musical: musical show in spectacular Burning Hills Amphitheatre, flouncy dresses, cowboy hats and clogs.

n State Heritage Centre Bismarck: Lively introduction to native American life and fascinating fossil life, check out the Labrador-sized ancestor of the horse. n Buckstop Junction Historic Town: Step inside our historic buildings and hear the stories of the people who moved here, built our towns and homesteaded the prairies of North Dakota. You will view actual buildings dating from 1875 to 1935 with traceable histories in our area. n Pitchfork Steak Fondue Medora: Unique western steak meal served at the Tjaden Center on the bluffs overlooking Medora right before the musical! n Cowboy Hall Of Fame Medora: Trail drivers, homesteaders and the sport of rodeo and the impact of the horse on the development of life on the plains of North Dakota. n Theodore Roosevelt National Park loop drive could provide a view of buffalo, deer, elk, big-horn sheep, wild horses, mule deer and prairie dog towns. Trails to explore include Ridgeline, Maltese Cross Cabin, Wind Canyon, Buck Hill

e pointed the car west and started the drive along the flatness. This is where tourism gets complicated. To sit and drive for a long way on a highway is part of the experience. Not one you can instagram, or even described in a travel article, but it has to be done. You integrate with the life around you, the blue coated cavalry on horseback, the railway builders from Roscommon and Donegal, the ranchers and rough riders, the modern lorry drivers and families who think nothing of a 14 hour road trip., motels with polystyrene cups, fast food joints with heaped fries and extra meat. Real America. Disney is not going to do this anytime soon.

Dakota’s Black Hills are a long way away. These are the flatlands. The plains are mostly semi-arid lands, covered with short or tall grass. The early Europeans avoided them, because they lack both water and trees. It counts that they were untouched for so long. The joke goes you can watch your dog run away here for two days.

he best was indeed saved for last. Roosevelt National park is, justifiably, North Dakota’s celebrity attraction. As you approach Menora a road stop gives a taster of what is to come, the painted canyon. An amuse-bouche. Maybe the flatness prepared the appetite. This

where the contours enter play, not as painted as the intense parks of Utah, more subtle, greys and greens and forty shades of other colours. The park itself is a series of looped drives, in two constellations, winding roads through oscillating territory carved lovingly by centuries of wind. Everyone described them as the Badlands natives and European invaders, cowboys, ranchers and farmers, and the huge cavalry expeditions led by General Custer (his house at Fort McKeen has been restored) and others who rode through here, 2,000 in a roving party, destroying the thousands of years of civilisation that went before. In Medora they have a musical experience where the venue, the Burning Hills Amphitheatre, outperforms the actors, with their clog dances and covers of country songs echoing away into the contoured landscape. Joe Wiegend brings tourist indoors for a largely improvised oneman performance as Medora’s most famous rancher, Teddy Roosevelt. Roosevelt came her to recover from the bereavements and political setbacks that scarred his early life. You have to travel the distance here to learn how at one with America that really made him. And makes all of us get it, when we have done our best for last visit.

n Eoghan Corry travelled to North Dakota as part of the Brand USA megafam 50 writers in 50 states. He travelled on AA’s business class product via Chicago

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FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 22

DESTINATION AUSTRALIA

couple of hours outside Port Lincoln there is one of those dilapidated pointy road signs designed to show the weary traveller (is there any other kind) where the Australian outback really begins. The sign points to the “District Council of Le Hunte” in one direction and to “out of districts” in the other. This is George Goyder’s Line, the border between the lands that had an average annual rainfall of 10 inches and, therefore, could be farmed and those that could not, and the origin of the outback. Out of districts became the literal outback, arid and unproductive, forbidding and semi-arid lands, low shrubs, sedges, sugar gum, saltbush and grass, lacking both water and trees. Nawu, Banggarla and Wirangu people roamed wide to eke their living here. The earliest European explorers were warned not to settle here, with good reason.

here farmers feared to thread, tourists have come bouncing in. Four wheeled vehicles are getting better at negotiating the bush tracks,

Cracking outback

legendary, and they are unhappy we have strayed into their territory. The American travel writer borrows my fly net. When I ask for it back he says he is going to keep it, “you see mine is missing.” The outback brings out the worst in some people.

B Eoghan Corry in S Australia’s Gawler Range Sundowner on the original Australian outback

and we are being driven to Geoff Scholz ‘s Kangaluna Camp on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, a 40 minute air trip form Adelaide and just a one hour drive beyond where districts stop. Our guide is straight from the Crocodile Dundee school of Aussie frontiers people. Jodi Cox and her Suzuki Sierra love a challenging drive, and you get the impression she could have made up Mad Max’s vehicle list for one of those movies. One drawback, the vehicle is uncomfortable

for five people. One of the travel writers, from USA, makes his protestations known. This is going to be a long drive. She has worked with snakes, spiders, the benign, the venomous and the poisonous (which, apparently, is not the same thing). She has been bitten by 22 species of animal. We are in safe hands.

ignature attraction here is the salt lake, one of three massive relics to a more humid time here. Salt flats are naturally white

THINGS TO DO PLACES TO SEE

n Gawler Ranges Wilderness Safaris four wheel drive vehicle outback tours visiting South Australia’s west coast, Gawler Ranges, Lake Gairdner, outback landscapes and wildlife, colours of the salt lakes and volcanic rock beds, sunsets over the ranges, three species of kangaroos, emus and birds and other wildlife including swimming with sea-lions and staying in Luxury Kangaluna safari camp om the mallee wilderness region of the Gawler Ranges. www.gawlerrangessafaris. com n Mikkira Station colony of wild koalas near Port Lincoln is first stop before a journey through farming land to Wudinna, population 600, past Wudinna Rocks n Kolay Mirica Rocks organ pipe formations, ochre pit, once used by indigenous people of this area,

n Lake Gairdner white salt pan set in the red landscape, walk on the surface of the lake and look north to see the white plain with striking red surrounds and vibrant colours and reflections. Red dunes along the lake are covered with flowers in spring, unique vegetation and bird life and animal tracks. Swim with the Sea Lions experience n Baird Bay, 5 kilometre journey to a lagoon at Jones Island near Cape Radstock, bottlenose dolphins, face to face with a resident colony of rare Australian sea lions, visiting Venus Bay and Elliston on return journey. n Kangaluna Camp safari tents are 5-star, each 7 x 5 metres with two rooms, private shower and toilet, a queen double bed and two single standard beds. Tents are set a good distance apart for privacy, with your own view.

and blinding. But the subtlety of the shoreline draws down the colours around, the red earth and green vegetation. Lake Gairdner gets up to a metre of water in Winter, Jodi says, “it is like watching the tide coming in.” Sunrise, sunset, the scenery changes around the playground, which seems to look uncannily the same. “There is a lot of life here,” Jodi says, “but you have to look for it.” On another lakeshore she gives us a history lesson where the eras are in billions of year. Life, never mind human life, is an eyeblink at the end. Australia is an ancient place. Jodi brought us to a sacred ochre pit, with the permission of the elders in Wanilla conservation park Everything imported is an enemy. “In summer

goats displace kangaroos from cool places,” Jodi Cox says.

he arrival at Mount Ive station is as Outback an experience as one could imagine. It is a private ranch with a shop and tourism face due to the fact that there are few places to go to make up the itinerary of a day trip. Our group met some rescue kangaroos and took selfies beside the agricultural curios, a stump jump plough developed for the peculiar soil obstacles here, a Furphy steel water vat. “Did you know the Dolphin torch was invented by Bruce Cock-burn,” Jodi interjects. Jodi gives us nets to wear on our heads, and there is an immediate sense of fore-boding. Australian flies are

ack at Kangaluna camp the smell of cooking has mixed in with the aroma of the shrubbery and the sounds of the nigh, birds and cicadas. “I was born in the year of the Ox, so I get to pull the cart,” English born artist Rosie Woodford Ganf says. as she brings the luggage. She spends time doing line drawings of the animals and moved out her to be closer to them. One could see why.

lan Payne brought his boat into the beach at Baird Bay to bring us on an adventure. The sea is churnyblue,and the water comes alive with the dolphins and sea lions we have come to sea. Our passengers don their scubas and dismount to join the playground. “Observe, don’t interact” is the watchword of these trips, except nobody told the sea lions. Diving with sea lions but I cannot chase them deep, I am swallowing gargantuan amounts of water, apparently opening my mouth is getting me in trouble, and not for the first time.

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DESTINATION BULGARIA

he ski slopes are not high octane. For this is Borovets, home to about 5,000 tourist beds, second largest and second smallest of Bulgaria’s three internationally known ski resorts. The thrills, and there are many, are more likely to be found in the night spots. Bulgaria does a lot of things really well. Ski schools are, arguably, the most important. By positioning itself as a reputable place to learn to ski, it has already carved out its niche, to excuse the pun. That it has, with seven competing ski schools in Borovets alone and an avoidance of the monopoly position that ski schools hold down in bigger countries

he second is price. If Bulgaria’s rates are beatable, the competition will come from resorts with very poor infrastructure or higher air access fares. There is a how-low surprise on every price card, through hotel prices, restaurant menus, cocktail lists, ski hire, ski passes and lessons. Private lessons, should you require them, do not come with the same value for quality ratio anywhere else. The third we did not understand until we went

Small town ski Eoghan Corry in Borovets in Bulgaria

View form Yastrebets piste in Borovets there. The night life is uproarious. A tiny village with an effective triangle of small bars, restaurants and atmospheric hang out joint behaves like it is a large French Alpine or Colorado Rockies town, because maybe it thinks it is. The charm is greater, not just because it is small, but because of its trees and its snow dusted tundra atop the Gondola ride. The resort’s beautiful woodland setting gives a degree of Alpine-style charm. Borovets is developing a reputation for those looking for a party on the slopes, without losing its appeal to families

he Hotel Rila, where we stayed, was one such family haven. There is a large blockish (and cool) swimming pool, where wannabe Hasselhoff’s can practice lengths, glass wall surrounds keeping them I touch with the snowy mountain outside, and a spa with suitably under priced treatments. A large wooden fire serves as the centre piece for the bar area where guests gather before scattering into the streets around. Stepping out of the hotel is magical. The floodlit slopes are like a five month-long Christmas decoration and the trudge through the

snow is punctuated by the greetings of the restaurant men. After two night, in Borovets, you are on first names with everyone. Which means that every bar has to get a visit. In such a place, the moderate karaoke singer’s work is never done. Krassy Bonchev, a musician who plays Irish music, was doing a terrific Shane McGowan when we arrived in one hostelry. Peter Miltov opened the Green King restaurant in 1991, in the first throes of the downfall of communism, and has seen the resort grow

from brutalist government monopoly to one of the most diverse on the slopes. Reps Nevy Petkova and Ivaylo “Romeo“ Valnarov lead clients of the Irish tour operator Travel Solutions on a Monday pub crawl through Funky’s., Gum Linn, BJs, Frankos, Black Tiger and the Buzz Bar. There are more than 20 others and another 20 restaurants for those who wish to explore. Travel Solutions use seven hotels in the town and fly their customers from Dublin to Sofia, an hour and 15 minute transfer away.

his being Bulgaria, the lifts are slow, and prone to queues. A chairlift is where the beginners are, taking the blue or the red here can be risky in the early part of the week where many skiers do not know enough of what they are doing. Escape, thankfully, is easy. A long, slow gondola rises over 1000m in 25 minutes to reach both the short, easy slopes of Markoudjik and the longer, steepish Yastrebets pistes. The runs are best for good intermediates, and include some longish reds. There are two terrain parks, with lines for all levels. There is also 35km of cross-country, for those with enough energy and clear enough heads to suggest they were not bar-crawling the night before. Artificial snow machines more than doubled from 75 to 160 last season and now cover over 60pc of the slopes. Night skiing is also available, typically from 6-9pm.

ulgaria’s fourth advantage is least obvious of all. The people. It is one the flight home that you get to think about the welcome that a resort like Borovets can give.

Eoghan Corry travelled to Borovets with Travel Solutions who operate a programme from Dublin via Sofia. Hotel Rila from €92. Other hotels from €599. www.travel-solutions.co.uk Telephone 048 9045 5030

Clockwise: floodlit skiing, Markoudjik, Ivaylo “Romeo“ Valnarov, sunlight on Yastrebets and view through the window of White Magic

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For more information:

T Taiwan T Tourism Bureau(https://eng.taiwan.net.tw/) T Taipei Representative Office in Ireland (https://www.taiwanembassy.org/ie)

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DESTINATION CRUISE

he magic carpet, when we saw it, was smaller and narrower than we expected. Celebrity Edge’s entire reputation for being cutting, er , edge, was based on the fact that this moveable platform was going to be like nothing ever before seen at sea. It started, Royal Caribbean’s group CEO likes to tell us (and how he likes to tell us), as an idea for loading the tenders when passengers, 4,000 of them, want to leave the ship to go ashore where the deepwater ports are not big enough to take today’s monster cruise ships. We tried it out on our sailing, proving the Magic Carpet removes some of the issues that can make getting on tender boats more difficult, especially for those with mobility concerns. Then they decided to make it moveable, up and down the side of the ship, 90 tons of portable platform that could be turned into a restaurant or bar or music venue in those long Caribbean summer evenings. They released video of their plans to move it up and down. Magic carpet rolled off the tongue easier than any other description. And the signature feature of Celebrity Edge became as famous as the ship itself. When it came to launch it, the magic carpet was like an old friend.

Eoghan Corry joins Celebrity Edge inaugural

Edge hammer Tendering from the magic carpet off Nassau “Ninety tons, did it interfere with the balance of the ship?” I asked the man who put it there, Tom Wright. “It is, surprisingly, not a lot on a ship this size,” he explained. “And causes less ergonomic disruption than even I thought it would.” Truly magic.

here are quite a few features about Celebrity Edge, the first new Celebrity Cruises ship since 2012, which we found surprising. There is a lot more headroom and even more

natural light in the cabins/staterooms and public areas than we expected. The balconies are a part of the inside of the cabin. By pressing a button, passengers can drop down windows to create the actual balcony and get fresh sea breezes. Balcony furniture sits in the sunlight, and you can close two folding glass doors behind you to get the true balcony effect. Infinite verandahs, as they are called, are supposed to make the room feel much more spacious and provide 30 square feet of additional

space that would have been there anyway, except outside your door.. They also allow in more natural light, helped by the floor-to-ceiling glass. This is a concept that originated on river cruise ships, and Celebrity has usurped it for Edge. Richard Fain has an elaborate explanation about how adding just two inches to the height of a stateroom gives false perspective to the person of average height to make it feel like it is bigger than it is, like we should all hunker down

and try to test the physics of a ship designer. We didn’t, intentionally at least.

he cabins come with a nifty bathroom design, which cruise ship designers going back to Norwegian Epic say is the result of getting in female designers rather than mere men. In this case the high-powered designer brought on board is Kelly Hoppen, who had never been on a cruise when she joined us for our little sail-around out of Fort Lauderdale.

Clockwise: Night lighting, Jo Rzymowska of Celebrity, the longest pool at sea, avolon, magic carpet from below.

While the females are admiring all the extra mirror s and bathroom armoury, men can gaze longingly at the extra power sockets, compact and ready at he work station, in three international languages, calling on laptops and phones and to be recharged. The public spaces are more airy, a consequence on the tiny little pieces of extra space that were squeezed out of the design. The pool is longer than anything else at sea, instead of four tubs, with ramp designs extending the pool deck to two cohesive levels. There is also a deft use of light and colour changes in the public spaces which create a magical effect at night time. The Grand Plaza features an enormous LED chandelier that puts on a series of light shows at night.

nd, everywhere, there is stunning artwork. A favourite was Avolon, the faux-forest through which passengers pass en route to the healthy area they call Eden, the fashion accessory public area and four signature restaurants. Richard Fain says the cruise line went way over its art budget, but he usually says that too. The most instagrammed restaurant on the ship is The Petite Chef makes its onboard

FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 27

DESTINATION CRUISE

Clockwise: Magic carpet hoisted, power sockets, state room with virtual balcony, view over Fort Lauderdale, dock space debut at one of the restaurants for a fun, animated meal. Irish agents first saw it on board on Celebrity Eclipse in Dublin port last August.

ther ships have more eateries and bars, but, with 29 restaurants, bars and lounges and an enor-

mous selection of cabins (from single-occupancy balcony staterooms to the two 1,892-square-foot Iconic Suites), the ship is a crowd-pleaser. It does not feature many of the standard features of cruise ship design. There is no large, open main dining room. Well-worked creative

spaces, natural light and technological gadgetry and with statement furniture and art pieces Eden too has a ramp to make two levels merge into one. The Oceanview Cafe buffet features twostory high windows. The flow onboard works well, and passengers can move from pre-dinner drink

to dinner to a show to a late-night party without getting lost.

astly, it is greener than anything we have seen at sea. Celebrity Cruises’ parent company has partnered with the World Wildlife Fund. There are very few sin-

gle-use plastics onboard; drinking straws are paper, and water-for-purchase is served in glass or aluminum bottles. At the fitness center, cups for water are paper, rather than plastic. Additionally, cabins are designed to be energy efficient, and air conditioning will not run if

your balcony window is open. They do not require you to put a key card in the slot. Richard Fain says people were not suing the keycard slot (it remains on other ships) and technology has largely made it redundant.

THE WORLD IS OPEN. THE SALE IS ON.

Have you heard about our new Celebrity Moments campaign, featuring some of the stars of Celebs Go Dating? 100 top-selling agents will each win €600-worth of Celebrity Rewards points*, with an invite to an exclusive party to join the stars for cocktails, canapés and colourful conversation. PLUS five lucky agents from the UK and Ireland will be chosen to join the stars from the show for an intimate dinner *. All you have to do is sell as many Celebrity Cruises® holidays as you can before 4 March 2019, and claim your bookings on Celebrity Rewards. Spread the word and get booking! The Celebs Go Dating stars can’t wait to meet you...

If your customers book an eligible Ocean View stateroom or above before 4 March 2019 – on selected sailings departing January 2019 to May 2020 – they can make the most of: • 50% off their 2nd guest’s cruise fare† • A free Classic Drinks Package for two (worth over €840)† • 50% off the cruise fare and a free Soft Drinks Package for additional guests in the stateroom†

TO FIND OUT MORE, VISIT CELEBRITYCENTRAL.IE *Terms and conditions apply. †This promotion applies to new bookings of an eligible Ocean View stateroom and above on selected sailings departing 9 Dec 2018–11 May 2020 (“Eligible Bookings”) and booked 15 Nov 2018–4 Mar 2019 (“Promotion Period”). For general booking conditions including advice on ATOL/ABTA protection, full promotion terms and conditions, applicable ships and sail dates, full promotion combinability restrictions, cancellation charges & other information, please refer to the Celebrity Cruises 2019–2020 brochure or visit celebritycentral.ie. RCL Cruises Ltd t/a Celebrity Cruises (company number 07366612) with registered office address at Building 3, The Heights, Brooklands, Weybridge, Surrey KT13 0NY.

FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 28

DESTINATION CHINA

eijing has become excited about alleys. And about time. The narrow hutongs are more exciting than the neon, gleaming mega city buildings. They each seem to have found their own identity, according to width, history, architecture and traffic (traffic is the back story of modern Beijing, as bicycles gave way to the internal combustion engine with all its trappings and pomps). They can be defined by how many times you need to jump out of the way to make way for gleaming in-your-face vehicles. Or by the architecture of old houses in the traditional courtyard home style of siheyuan, keeping their splendour for the inside but quietly declaring status by num-

40 shades of Beij

Eoghan Corry on the complexity that is modern Beijing Great Wall of China at Mutianyu,

TALKING TO THE WALL

n Great Wall at Badaling, Most famous stretch of wall, where the celebrities and visiting heads of state are brought. Although it was once thought to have been built entirely during the Qin Dynasty between 221 and 238 BC, it is now believed to have been started earlier.Stretching more than 6,400k in length. n Mutianyu Great Wall. In 1368 AD, Mutianyu Great Wall was built by Xu Da who is the main general for Zhuyuanzhang in the Great Wall ruins of Northern Qi Dynasty. Linked to Gubeikou in the east and Juyongguan in the west,the section of the Great Wall is the military hub with famous watchtowers such as Zhengguantai, Dajiaolou, Yingfeidaoyang,Jiankou and Beijingjie, which has profound historical and cultural values. Surrounded by the mountains, the greening rate of the Great Wall here reaches 98pc. Mutianyuhas epitomises the fresh air, sided embrasure, peculiar guards, intensive watchtowers, the strong feeling of three-dimensios of the wall. The tourism service area, having service functions including a visitor center, the Great Wall Culture Exhibition Center, and catering and tourism souvenirs street,covers an area of 20 acres. n Simatai Great Wall, Simatai, a section of the Great Wall of China located in the north of Miyun County, 120 km northeast of Beijing, holds the access to Gubeikou, a strategic pass in the eastern part of the Great Wall. It is one of the most untouched section

of the Great Wall which will surely become the highlight of your trip to China. n The Great Wall of Gubeikou, Gubeikou is one of the most challenging sections of the Great Wall, as it is a completely wild Great Wall, which is very popular to photographers and advanced hikers. n Juyong Pass of Great Wall, 12 miles north of Changping and 37 miles north of Beijing. Apparently closest portion of Great Wall to Beijing. n The Great wall of Jiankou Due to its unique style, steep mountains and beautiful scenery, Jiankou Great Wall has become a hot travel destination and also a photographic hot spot these days. Jiankou is a “wild” (unrepaired) section of the Great Wall. It was built on ridges with steep cliffs on each side, which makes it one of the most dangerous sections. Only recommended for experienced and sure-footed mountain hikers. n Great Wall at Huanghuacheng, A wild section located near a lake and a reservoir, this part of the Wall is called Yellow Flower Fortress and is a good place for hiking. Huanghuacheng Section of the Great Wall is a resort with mountains, lakes and the ancient Great Wall. There are very few people to be found here, but it is becoming popular with hikers.There is a lake and a crescent shaped reservoir nearby. And the lake breaks this section of the Great Wall into three segments naturally. Part of the wall is

erology or step adornments, in the same way that the passing automobiles do nowadays. Or the visitors, in one street a small coven of white-attired brides and their husbands were lined up to be photographed. Or noise. It is always noisy. It is not just the ever increasing circular roads cutting across the fabric of the city that mean that the sound of cars is a constant in the capital. There are enough people to make it noisy, at 26m, but Chinese conversations are boisterous and filled with laughter and aggression in equal

doses. That 18th century myth about the Great Wall of China being visible from outer space has long been laid to rest. But even if that proved untrue, I am sure the conversations of Beijing could be heard up there, the thick Beijing accent unmistakable for astronauts as anyone else.

he perambulating capital city of China with a population the size of Australia’s has found something impressive since our last visit, confidence.

You see it in the neon of the shopping districts and the architecture of the city skyscrapers (Rem Koolhaas’s controversial CCTV tower, is known as the “big underpants” due to its shape). But most of all you see it in the faces of the young people, in the glamorous billboards, the buses crammed with cosmopolitan faces where once it was mono cultural, the spotless metro and the chains of restaurants thronged with people coming to celebrate the famed hot pot table cookeries, barbecued chicken or Peking Duck (one of the few

Clockwise: Temple of Confusius, crowds on Great Wall,modern cuisine

cultural reference points where the old Latinised name was kept when the Wade Giles system was ditched in 1957. They have brought technology to levels that astonishes. The street bicycles and metro tickets are bought with wepay, people scan their way from A to B. It is like technology came from decades behind to decades ahead of the rest of the world. Getting around is difficult because of traffic. Going underground is cheap and rewarding. The metro is surprisingly navigable for non mandarin speakers. We went to watch a kung fu show, all dramatic and broken blocks, and a message of mind over matter over violence. We also sampled some classic Beijing Opera, the battle against Ch’in the despotic emperor and Bawangbieji, farewell to concubine, with a Romeo and Juliet ending. The falsetto singing was straining, but the mime dance entrancing, each movement calculated to carry the balance of mass and emotion. We went for a feng shui lesson from the youthful masterly Deifu Kong in the gardens of the temple of heaven, birds singing as we tried to move like the Chinese, without success.

FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 29

DESTINATION CHINA

Deifu Kong gives Feng shui lesson to Claire Doherty of Travel Department, Robbie Farrell, Eoghan Corry, Jane Doran, Michael Flood and Ros Dee

t is two hours away, but the Great Wall has always been the city’s signature attraction. That experience has evolved, too. When we first visited thirty years ago it was common to be told that it had just been built, not the original of course, but the tourist peep show of Badaling where Richard Nixon was among the celebrities that have been brought. It is still the stadium point on the wall, alongside equally accessible Juyongguan, which is being renovated, 30 minutes from each other. Badaling now has a cable car for visitors to ascend the wall. Our vantage point at Mutianyu was hillier and more pockmarked with towers, and also had a cable car. It does not feel or look like Badaling

with its granite watch towers. This wall might be on a different frontier. There are other places which are even further and more exotic: Jinshanling and Sumatai, quieter and harder to climb and four hours away. The experts say Jinshanling is the most beautiful of all, and best climbed in winter when temperatures plunge.

hey have a limit of 80,000 visitors a day in the Forbidden city, a vastly spreads collection of temples with extraordinarily long and exotic names, that takes several hours to view. My smartphone told me I had walked 11,000 steps, and it did not feel it. But tens of thousands of others are taking the course, and like all great world attractions, some-

n Eoghan Corry flew to Beijing with Hianain Airways whose service peaks at 4w in summer, two flights via Edinburgh

Clockwise: wedding shoot, Frank Wang of Hainain showcases Hainan business class, Cunfucius temple, Drum Tower Chinese Medicine centre

thing will have to give. There are more peaceful and beautiful temples. We stopped to hear what Confucius might say at his temple, tiptoeing over the threshold. “You do not step on that, it is like a shoulder to the owner of a home,’ said Laura Liao our guide.

The temple of heaven is more beautiful again, extensive gardens dissipating the crowds who shuffle in to see. They say it takes six hours to drive from the top of Beijing to bottom of Beijing. You need somewhere to find peace of mind after that.

THINGS TO DO

n Tiananmen Square (Tiananmen Guangchang) Located in the heart of modern China and the site for massive parades and rallies, this was the site when in 1949, from a rostrum on the Gate of Heavenly Peace, Chairman Mao announced the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. n Forbidden City-The Palace Museum Consisting of more than 9,000 rooms and spread over 250 acres, this huge palace complex was built in the 15th century and later extensively renovated and restored during the Qing Dynasty in the 18th century. n Summer Palace (Yiheyuan) Once a summer retreat for emperors, this 290-acre park is still a retreat for the crowd-weary tourist, who can relax here or stroll around ancient pavilions, mansions, temples, bridges and huge lake, stopping occasionally at a shop or tea-house. n Temple of Heaven Built in 1420 with a total area of 270 acres, this is the largest building for religious worship in China, which was originally used by the Ming and Qing emperors to pay homage to Heaven and to pray for a year of rich harvest. n Jingshan Park (Jingshan Gongyuan) Located on the highest point in Beijing City, this park was built in 1179 during the Jin Dynasty and today provides visitors with sweeping views of the Forbidden City located below. n Lama Temple (Yonghegong) A series of beautiful pavilions comprise this Mongolian-Tibetan yellow-sect

n Yandaixiejie (Pipe street) you might be in Temple Bar, with live music and iconoclastic lyrics. The past is another country, even if the regime stays the same. Elsewhere, respect for the elderly, or perhaps the elders, extends into the unexpected. Li Jing showed us through a traditional medicine hospital. The entrance had a display with the statues of the venerable doctors from ancient times. Does acupuncture work, or bring incense on your back? Apparently so. The doctors give massages and prescribe shamanic cures, which combines with scientific medicine that works. Place and placebo in one. So very, very Beijing.

temple, which features an impressive fifty-four-foot high Buddha carved from one piece of Tibetan sandalwood. n 798 Art Zone This bustling area is a hub for contemporary Chinese art with a wide array of different styles. This old factory compound has been perfectly converted to house numerous galleries and bookshops & cafes. n Sanlitun bar street American and european style bars, restaurants and coffee shops, crowded with live music and popular with the local people too, where the customers average age is in the middle-late 20s. n Wudaoying Hutong There are few more classic Beijing activities than strolling the city’s signature low-rise hutong streets—and having a translator/guide on hand hugely enriches the experience. Explore Wudaoying Hutong, one of the city’s most famous hutong, and the 17th-century Lama Temple n Yandaixiejie Beijing’s oldest commercial street, just a block off pretty lake Houhai, is lined in traditional-style stone buildings that house charming souvenir and handicraft shops. n Temple of Confucius and Guozijian Museum Originally built in 1302 and used as a place for sacrifices to Confucius during the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, this former temple lost its religious function during the “bourgeois revolution” in 1912 and currently houses the Capital Museum.

FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 34

Holiday World Show

Jan 25-27 2019

WELCOME FROM THE IRISH TRAVEL AGENTS ASSOCIATION

O The Low Down

When:

Friday 25 January 1.00pm – 6.00pm Saturday 26 January 11.00am – 5.30pm Sunday 27 January 11.00am – 5.30pm Trade Only: Friday 25 January 10.00am – 1.00pm How Much: Adults €7 OAPs €4 Students €3 Children Free Family Price: Family €14 2 Adults & ALL their children DART: Don’t forget that the DART has great family rates on Saturday and Sunday. How Many: 40,000 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: n Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland n Europe and the Mediterranean n The Caribbean n The Americas n Africa and the Middle East n Asia and the Pacific n Caravans and motorhomes n Wedding and honeymoon destinations n Adventure Holidays n Tour operators Official Opening: Friday 25 January at 2pm Official opening by Shane Ross TD, Minister for Tourism Saturday 26 January 11.30 opening Home Holiday pavilion by Minister Brendan Griffin 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 luxury holidays Cruise bargains, including over 55s only cruises Extras Trekking & walking activity holidays City Breaks Taiko drummers sponsored by Japan National Tourist Organisation, Failte Ireland Virtual Reality bringing the Wild Atlantic Way to Life, Free Yoga Classes from Kathryn Thomas Bootcamp. Next Year: Belfast 18-19 January 2020 Dublin 24-26 January 2020

n behalf of the Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) I would like to welcome you to Holiday World Show Dublin 2019. This year we have over 200 exhibitors representing both national and international travel opportunities. Travel professionals from across the globe have all come together in the RDS this weekend to give you first hand and first class information on nearly every destination on the planet. Travel agents, tour operators, resorts, hotels, airlines, ferry companies, railway companies, cruise lines, and national and regional tourist organisations are all here, under one roof, to help you book your dream holiday. Our research has found that adventure tour sales are increasing, so at this year’s show, in addition to the more traditional holiday options, there is a large selection of activity and adventure-based holidays. As an island state, we are born adventurers. Travel is

an integral part of our history and development as a nation. It is also very important to our economy in terms of employment and income generation. Last year saw an increase in Irish travel. That was in part due to the fact that Ireland is exceptionally well serviced with airports, and partly because travel has become less expensive and more accessible. There are no excuses any more not to travel. Just your desire to do so! The key to a great travel experience is planning ahead, and you can start that process right here at this years’ Holiday World Show- with access to 1,000 travel industry experts who have travelled here to make their information available to you. Remember, all the destinations and holidays featured over this weekend are available to book with your ITAA Travel Agent. All ITAA Agents are fully licensed by the Commission for Aviation Regulation and bonded for

your protection. If you need assistance before, during or after your holiday, your Agent is ready, willing and able to help. The personal touch of an expert travel agent can help to create the ideal customer experience, bringing together in-depth knowledge of the industry with an understanding of your wants. It is no secret that the travel industry faced a number of challenges last summer, between airline strikes and ferry cancellations, but we found that those who booked with bonded ITAA travel agents felt the benefits of its protection. I hope you enjoy your visit to Holiday World. Relax, explore and ask plenty of questions. You can look forward to a wonderful holiday in 2019. We are looking forward to working with you. !

John Spollen President ITAA

Lothar Muschketat of Eaglesflying, Alaska the American bald headed eagle, Minister Michael Ring and Maureen Ledwith of Buisness exhiibitions

WHERE WE GO: IRELAND OUTBOUND England 1,800,000 Spain 2,047,379 France 611,000 USA 441,890 Italy 345,000 Portugal 318,200 Germany 216,502 Wales 132,000 Netherlands 116,000

Scotland 107,000 Thailand 68,982 Greece 72,654 Poland 65,000 Australia 63,000 Austria 58,000 Turkey 56,000 Belgium 55,000 Malta 36,177 South Africa 31,510

FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 31

Holiday World Show

oliday World would not be THE Holiday World Show without International award winning travel journalist Eoghan Corry taking to the stage with the ever popular Talk Travel with Eoghan Corry in association with Travel Extra Visitors can enjoy insider tips and advice on all aspects of travel and tourism at home and abroad from a panel of industry experts. The Talk Travel sessions, running every 45 minutes, will see Eoghan leading international and Irish travel professionals in an ‘on the couch’ discussion before opening up the floor for questions. This is your chance to pick the brains of an industry expert before booking your next big trip. Planning on visiting Japan for the 2020 Rugby World Cup? Look no further. Official IRFU agents Paddy Baird of Killester Travel and David Slattery of Stein Travel will be on-site to give the low down on ticketing, travel options and what to expect on the ground. And Darina Slattery of Unique Japan Tours will provide advice on enjoying the finer aspects of Japan. Eoghan has a special guest Thoko Jili from KwaZulu Natal in South Africa. Thoko will provide guests with her first hand experience of travelling through the

Jan 25-27 2019

Round the world in 80 chats

Panel discussions at Holiday World 2019 Special guest Thoko Jili from KwazZulu Natal more rural areas of South Africa where there are traditional Zulu villages, allowing visitors to enjoy an authentic Zulu experience. On Sunday the focus will be on flying. Enda

Corneille of Emirates and Bláithín O’Donnell of Air Canada will be discussing flights from Ireland, with more routes announced in the coming year. Kenny Jacobs of Ryanair will be on stage

Clockwise: Kenny jacobs, Paul Kelly, Darina Slatery and Enda Corneille

later that afternoon to chat about updates in one of Europe’s leading airlines and to swap his top travel stories with Eoghan. Other sessions over the weekend include What’s new in the USA where experts from American Holidays, Visit USA, Las Vegas, New York and the Wild American West will discuss the hotspots for 2019, from the top theme parks in Orlando, to the new airline routes and city break destinations. Thinking of booking a cruise this year? Do not miss How to get the best cruise deals where you can get recommendations on the best offerings from the experts at Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, MSC, Princess

Cruises, Cruisescapes and Hurtigruten. Experts from Irish holidaymakers top favourite destinations, Spain, Portugal and Italy, will be on hand for the Europe Calling session alongside experts from Sunway Travel and TUI. In Holiday Trends Eoghan and his panel of experts will look at the new trends in the travel market such as luxury holidays, adventure experiences, multi-centre trips and ecotourism. Other Talk Travel sessions over the weekend will cover Africa, Solo Holidays, Visas and Passports, Europe, Irish Attractions and Adventure Holidays. Eoghan Corry commented, Talk Travel

gives visitors the opportunity to get a sneak peek into some of the hottest trends, learn about new travel destinations, and put their questions to the most influential people in the industry. This year’s sessions will see a huge range of travel topics being covered across the three days of the show, with contributions from travel’s top gurus. The FREE to attend Talk Travel with Eoghan Corry in Association with Travel Extra takes place at Holiday World Show, RDS Simmonscourt, Dublin for three days 25-27 January, 2019. For further information, see www.holidayworldshow. com

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RDS Simmonscourt, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 Fri 25 Jan 1.00pm - 6.00pm • Sat 26 Jan 11.00am - 5.30pm • Sun 27 Jan 11.00am - 5.30pm

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RESTAURANT AND KIDS ZONE

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ORGANISER’S OFFICE

INTERNATIONAL HOLIDAYS HOME HOLIDAYS CARAVAN, CAMPING & MOTORHOME

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DISCOVER: EUROPE AND THE MEDITERREAN HOME HOLIDAYS ADVENTURE HOLIDAYS THE AMERICAS CARIBBEAN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST CRUISING CARAVAN, CAMPING AND MOTORHOMES OVER 55’s HOLIDAYS WEDDINGS AND HONEYMOON DESTINATIONS EE

N7 N6

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S15b S15a S15 T13

N10 P12 N9 P10 P9 N8

U14 U13 U12

S16 T14

Q16 R15

N12 P15 P14 N11

H4 G3

A9 A8 A7 A6 A5 A4 A3

A10

U15

P21

H10 H9 H8

U16 Q18 R17

P22

J15

CM9

CM8

P23a P23 N19a

Q17 R16

M14

J17 J18

H13

L10

CM37 CM36

U17 S17 T15

RV10 M15

U19 U18

N22 N23 N20 N21

RV11

RV8 RV9

B11

CM11

S19 T17 S18 T16

RV7

RV1

CM20

RV4

SEATING AREA

RV3

P24

CAFÉ

PAVILION RESTAURANT

ENTRANCE

Holiday World Show

A R Brassington & Company P18 Abbey Travel Adventures B7 Acorn Insurance J18 Actons Hotel Kinsale Q18/R17 Advantage Austria N18 Aer Lingus K1 Aherlow House Hotel S3 Aillwee Cave S15 Air Canada P9 Airfield Estate V4 Alabama Tourism K4 Albufeira Promotion Bureau L12/M14 Alentejo Promotion Office L6/M9 Algarve Manta Properties B9 Algarve Tourism Bureau L5/M8 Aluna Vacances - Ardeche (Sunelia) N6 AMA Waterways E1/F1 American Holidays J4/K3 AMResorts Cara L1a

OUR EXHIBITOR LIST An Post ANA - All Nippon Airways Andalucia Tourist Board Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council Aqua Suites Lanzarote Armagh City Arnolds Hotel Ashling Caravan Park Athlone - At the Heart of it Atlantic City & Pennslyvania Attraction Tickets Direct Bahamas Tourist Office Ballyhoura Luxury Hostel Ballyliffin and Clonmany Tourism Ballyrobert Gardens Ballyshannon Tourism Balmoral Resort Florida Barcelo Hotel Group Gran Canaria Be Cordial Hotels & Resorts Beatriz Costa Spa Beauty Glow Belleek Pottery Visitors Centre

J2 B3 L9/M11 Q11 P17 Q1 T9/U7 R6 T5 H6 L4 F8 S3 T9/U7 Q11 T9/U7 D10 L9/M11 L9/M11 P17 S14 Q1

Benidorm Tourism Board L9/M11 Berrua Sunelia N6 BFTK Budapest Festival and Tourism Centre P23 Birr Castle Gardens and Science Centre P24 Blackwater Eco Tours S3 Blue & Green Servicos de Gestao SA L5/M8 Blue Insurance V1 Bradley International Airport J8 Breakaway Explore C5 Breffni Arms Hotel Q15/R14 Brian McEniff Hotels Q8 Budapest City Tourism Board P23 Buddha Bar Hotel Budapest P23 Budget Travel A9 C'est Si Bon Ardwche Camping N7/P7 C'est Si Bon Bocage Du Lac N7/P7 C'est Si Bon Cap Soleil N7/P7 C'est Si Bon Champ La Chevre N7/P7 C'est Si Bon Chateau Des Tilleuls N7/P7 C'est Si Bon Domaine Des Messires N7/P7

C'est Si bon Eurosol N7/P7 C'est Si Bon France N7/P7 C'est Si Bon Guyonniere N7/P7 C'est Si Bon L'isle Verte N7/P7 C'est Si Bon La Belle Etoile N7/P7 C'est Si Bon Le Coin Tranquille N7/P7 C'est Si Bon Les Gents N7/P7 C'est Si Bon Point De Bourgogne N7/P7 C'est Si Bon Pyrnee Natura N7/P7 Cambrils Tourism Board L9/M11 Camino Groups L8 CaminoWays.com N4/P4 Campasun L'aigle N7/P7 Campasun Les Hautes Prairies N7/P7 Campasun Mas De Pierredon N7/P7 Campasun Parc Mogador N7/P7 Camping & Resort Sanguli Salou/Cambrils Park Resort L9/M11 Camping A La Rencontre Du Soleil N7/P7 Camping Chateau De L'Eperviere N7/P7 Camping Cros De Mouton N7/P7 Camping Domaine De La Bergerie 83 N7/P7

Camping Domaine La Bergerie 06 N7/P7 Camping Dowmaine Des Chenes N7/P7 Camping Holiday Green N7/P7 Camping Ker Helen N7/P7 Camping La Baume La Palmeraie N7/P7 Camping La Bretonniere***** Q4 Camping Le Bois de Valmarie Camping P5 Camping Le Bosc**** M5 Camping Le Domaine De Gil N7/P7 Camping Le DomaineDu Logis N7/P7 Camping Le Rochelongue N7/P7 Camping Le Ventoulou N7/P7 Camping Turiscampo P3 Camping Village de la Guyonniere***** Q4 Camping-napoleon.fr N7/P7 Campings Alpes Maritimes N7/P7 Campissimo / ESE Communication N7/P7 Campsites of Costa Brava & Pyrenees G10 Canary Islands L9/M11 Cantabria - Green Spain L9/M11 Carlingford & Cooley Peninsula R5 Carlow Tourism T6 Carrickcraft U2 Casada M15 Cascais Tourist Board L6/M9 Cashel Folk Village S3 Cassidy Travel G1 Castel La Garangeoire Camping***** N5 Castellon Tourist Board L9/M11 Castle Dargan Golf Hotel & Wellness Resort S17/T15 Castlemartyr Resort Q18/R17 Castlerosse Park Resort T12 Castletroy Park Hotel/So Hotels Q7 Castro Marim Golfe L5/M8 Catalonia - Catalan Tourist Board L9/M11 Causeway Coastal Route S9 Cavan County Museum Q15/R14 Cavan Geo-Park Q15/R14 Celebrity Cruises F3/F4 Celestyal Cruises F3/F4 Celtic Ross Hotel / Farm Tours Q18/R17 Charles Taylor Trading B8 China Airlines B1 China National Tourist Office E3 Christ Church Cathedral Q1 City Break USA H7 Clare Tourism S15/S15a/S15b Clayotic Workshop RV4 Clayton Hotel Sligo S17/T15 Clayton Hotels S2 Click&Go.com J15 Clonakilty Park Hotel Q18/R17 Clonmacnoise Monastic Site P24 Coker Travels International C4 Col D'Ibardin - Cote Basque N6 Colina Verde Golf Resort L5/M8 Costa Blanca L9/M11 Costa Calida - Region De Murcia L9/M11 Costa Sal Villas and Suites P17 Cottage Pride V5 County Arms Hotel & Leisure Club P24 Craft Granary, Cahir S3 Croatia - Vodice Tourist Board P20 Cruise & Maritime Voyages H13 Cruise USA H7 Cuba Tourist Board G7 Cyprus Tourism Organisation J9/K7 Czech Tourism P21 Dawson Travel.ie A2 Deep South USA K4

Derg Isle Diamond Dine In H Discover Discover Discover Discover Domaine Domaine Domaine Domaine Dominica Donegal Donegal Donegal Donegal Donegal Donegal Doolin C Down Co Dublin's The Stor Dubrovn Dunadry Dundrum E-magin e-Travel. Eagles F Research Eccles H Echlinvil Elit Dent Embassy Embassy Embassy Embassy England' Heritage ENIT - It Enjoyirel Enniskill EPIC Irel Escolas d Escorted Etang de Ethiopian EUROHIK Exodus T Experien Explore G Explore M Explore! Fermana Fethard Fitzpatric Fly Drive Follow T Forever Fosters C Fota Gro Fota Hou Four Sea Frank Ke Fuerteve GAA Mus & Skylin Gaeltach Galicia T Galway C Garryvoe Garvetur Glasnevi Gloria Th Golfbrea Gran Can Great La Great Lig Greek Na Green Im Grimmin Hankyu T Hawaii T Hayes & Heritage Premier Hertz Ca HIDDEN Hilton Vi Golf Res Himalaya

N7/P7 N7/P7 N7/P7 N7/P7 N7/P7 Q4 ing P5 M5 N7/P7 N7/P7 N7/P7 N7/P7 P3 **** Q4 N7/P7 N7/P7 N7/P7 es G10 L9/M11 L9/M11 R5 T6 U2 M15 L6/M9 S3 G1 * N5 L9/M11

S17/T15 Q18/R17 T12 Q7 L5/M8 L9/M11 S9 Q15/R14 Q15/R14 F3/F4 F3/F4 Q18/R17 B8 B1 E3 Q1 H7 15a/S15b RV4 S17/T15 S2 J15 Q18/R17 P24 C4 N6 L5/M8 L9/M11 L9/M11 P17 V5 P24 S3 P20 H13 H7 G7 J9/K7 P21 A2 K4

Derg Isle S15a Diamond Coast Hotel Enniscrone S17/T15 Dine In Hotels T10 Discover Boyne Valley Q3 Discover Bundoran T9/U7 Discover New England J7/K5 Discover Newport Rhode Island J7/K5 Domaine De Champe Sunelia N6 Domaine De La Dragonniere Sunelia N6 Domaine Du Logis N7/P7 Domaine Les Ranchisses Sunelia N6 Dominican Republic Tourist Office G9 Donegal East Tourism T9/U7 Donegal Gaeltacht T9/U7 Donegal International Airport T9/U7 Donegal Self Catering Association T9/U7 Donegal Tourism T9/U7 Donegal Town T9/U7 Doolin Cave Q1 Down County Museum Q1 Dublin's City Hall The Story of the Capital Q1 Dubrovnik and Neretva Tourist Board P19 Dunadry Hotel Q11 Dundrum House Golf & Leisure Resort S3 E-magine Travel Services P23 e-Travel.ie - Cruise Specialist N2/P2 Eagles Flying/Irish Raptor Research Centre U15 Eccles Hotel Glengariff R16 Echlinville Distilley S11 Elit Dental Clinic M3 Embassy of Brazil F2 Embassy of Ethiopia D6 Embassy of Slovakia P22 Embassy of South Africa E7 England's Northern World Heritage Collecton U8 ENIT - Italian State Tourist Board L10/M12 Enjoyireland.ie U14 Enniskillen Motel R12 EPIC Ireland Q1 Escolas do Turismo de Portugal L6/M9 Escorted Tours USA H7 Etang de la Breche N5 Ethiopian Airlines D6 EUROHIKE N18 Exodus Travel B7 Experience Kissimmee Florida L1 Explore Georgia H7 Explore Minnesota H8 Explore! C5 Fermanagh Lakeland Tourism R12 Fethard Horse Country Experience S3 Fitzpatrick Hotel Group J3 Fly Drive USA H7 Follow The Camino J12 Forever Lifestyle U18 Fosters Chocolates RV1 Fota Group Q18/R17 Fota House & Gardens Q2 Four Seasons Fairways L5/M8 Frank Keane Group A10 Fuerteventura Tourism Board L9/M11 GAA Museum & Croke Park Stadium & Skyline Tours Q1 Gaeltacht na hEireann U16/U17 Galicia Tourism Board L9/M11 Galway Coast Cottages U12 Garryvoe Hotel Shanagarry Q18/R17 Garvetur S.A. L5/M8 Glasnevin Cemetery Museum Q1 Gloria Thalasso & Hotels L9/M11 Golfbreaks.ie A4 Gran Canaria Tourist Board L9/M11 Great Lakes North America H8 Great Lighthouses Of Ireland Q1 Greek National Tourism Organisation H10 Green Impact Travel & Tour E8 Grimming/Donnersbachtal Tourist Board N18 Hankyu Travel International B3 Hawaii Tourism Authority G4 Hayes & Jarvis K2 Heritage Island - Ireland's Premier Attraction Q1 Hertz Car Hire Outside HIDDEN IN SPAIN N13 Hilton Vilamoura As Cascatas Golf Resort & Spa L5/M8 Himalaya Seekers E6

Hogan Estates C9/C10 Holiday Green Sunelia N6 Holiday Inn Algarve L5/M8 Hotel & Apartments Fariones Lanzarote P17 Hotel Ambassador N18 Hotel Jardin Tecina - Fred.Olsen La Gomera L9/M11 Hotel Quinta do Lago & Ria Park Hotel L5/M8 Hotel Westport R4 Hotels Olympia & Olympia Sky Croatia P20 House of Waterford Crystal R3 Hurtigruten J14 Ibiza Tourist Board K6 ICELANDAIR G5 ICELANDAIR Hotels G5 Imperial Park Hotel Croatia P20 Independent News & Media C4 India Tourist Office B5/B6 Insight Vacations N9/N10 Interlude - Ile de Re (Sunelia) N6 Ireland West Airport P14 Irish Ferries P8 Irish Golf Review Q9 Irish Heritage Trust Q2 Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) A3 Irish Whiskey Museum Q1 Island Marketing (Maldives) G2 Israel Government Tourist Office G6 J Barter Travel E4 Jamaica Tourist Board F7 Japan Airlines B3 Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) B3 Jetline Cruise G3 JMG Travel H13 Joe Walsh Tours/Concorde Travel A5 Johnstown Castle Estate and Gardens Q2 Kansas/Oklahoma Travel & Tourism H4 KelAir Campotel N8 Keller Travel N8 Killarney Tourism S13 Kilmallock Heritage Town Q1 Kilmallock Medieval Tours S3 Kinnitty Castle Hotel P24 Kinsale Hotel and Spa Q17 Knockmealdown Active S3 Kompas Touristik International Budspest P23 Kuramathi Island Resort G2 L'Atlantique Sunelia N6 L'escale St.Giles Sunelia N6 L'Hippocampe - Haute Provence (Sunelia) N6 L'Hipppocampe Camping P5 La Gomera Tourism Board L9/M11 La Manga Club F10 La Palma Tourism Board L9/M11 La Pointe Du Medoc - Medoc (Sunelia) N6 La Ribeyre Sunelia N6 La Sirene Camping Clubs P5 Lanzarote Tourist Board P17 Laois Tourism N23 Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority H1 Laura Lynn Foundation U13 Le Clos Du Rhone Sunelia N6 Le Fief - Loire Atlantique (Sunelia) N6 Le Malazeou -Ariege (Sunelia) N6 Le Pin Parasol Camping***** Q4 Le Ranc Davaine Sunelia N6 Leitrim Tourism N20 Les Campings C'est SI Bon N7/P7 Les Campings Campasun N7/P7 Les Oyats N6 Les Pins Sunelia N6 Les Rives DU Lac Sunelia N6 Les Trois Vallees - Pyrenees (Sunelia) N6 Les Trois Vallees Sunelia N6 Letterkenny Tourism T9/U7 Liosmacue House S3 Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council Q12 Lismore Heritage S3 Lismore Heritage Town Q1 Lithuania N19a Little Windsor D12 Longford Tourism T3 Longueville House S3 Lough Boora Discovery Park P24 Louisiana Office of Tourism K4

Lusty Beg Island R12 Luxury Gold N9/N10 Madeira Promotion Bureau L6/M9 Magic Hill Holidays P15 Magic Vacations F5 Maine Office of Tourism J7/K5 Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board C1/D1 Maldron Hotels & Partners R2 Mallorca Balleraics Islands L9/M11 Mallorca Tourist Board L9/M11 Malta Tourism Authority N17 Marina Club Lagos Resort L5/M8 Mariner International Travel J17 Maryland Office of Tourism H7 Mas Des Lavandes Sunelia N6 Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism J7/K5 Mayo The Adventure Capital S16/T14 McKeever Hotels Q11 Medieval Mile Museum Kilkenny Q1 Mellow Mood Hotels Budapest P23 Michael Collins House Q18/R17 Mid & East Antrim Borough Council S10 Mid Ulster District Council R10 Midleton Park Hotel & Spa U1 Minister of Tourism Development Sri Lanka E1a Montana Tourism H7 Monte da Quinta Resort L5/M8 Monte Santo Resort L5/M8 Montenotte Hotel Q18/R17 Moroccan National Tourist Office H11 Mount Steward House S11 Mount Wolseley Hotel Spa & Golf Resort T8 Mourne Mountains & Ring of Gullion S12 MSC Cruises J15 Multitrip.com V1 Munster Vales S3 Murcia Golf Services F10 Murcia Property Services F10 Mysteries of India B4 Naked Penguin A17 Namibia With Kanes Travel A7 NAR UK H5 Navan Centre & Fort - Emain Macha Q1 New Hampshire's White Mountains J7/K5 New Nation Travel & Tours C8 New York State Division of Tourism H2 Newbridge Silverware Visitor Centre Q1 Newry Mourne and Down District Council S12 Nire Valley County Waterford U3 Nire Valley Glamping S3 Nombre Seaside Los Jameos Playa P17 North Dakota Department of Tourism H7 North Wales Tourism S6/S7 Norwegian Cruise Line H12 Nuevo Mundo - Latin America D3 Nuts In Bulk C11 NYC & Company J1 O'Leary Travel Worldchoice A8 Old Butter Roads S3 Omagh & Sperrins Region R11 Oman Tourism Board D2 Oriel House Hotel Cork U1 Orlando Attractions.com H5 Paintonce.ie RV2 Parisi Udvar Hotel Budapest P23 Passport Services & Consular Directorate Q13/R13 Pearl Afric Tour and Travel D7 Pearse Lyons Distillery Q1 Perla Di Mare Sunelia N6 PhoneWatch B11 Planet Cruise J16 Platinum Travel H7 PortAventura World M11a Princesa Yaiza & Fariones Hotels N15 Princess Cruises E4 Program Centrum KFT P23 Project Travel J14 Pure Cork Q18/R17 Purely Pyrenees C7 Quickcover.ie P18 Radisson Blu Hotel & Spa Sligo S17/T15 Rathlin Island Ferry S10 Richmond Barracks Q1 Riu Hotels & Resorts P16 Riverside Park Hotel U6 Riviera Travel N3

Road Safety Authority U19 Rocky Mountaineer P12 Roscommon Tourism N22 Royal Caribbean International N2/P2 Rubina Resort Sunelia N6 Saint-Cyprien Tourism Board M5 Salou Tourism Board L9/M11 Salthill Hotel Galway U11 Salzburg Tourism N18 SalzburgerLand Tourismus GmbH N18 Sands Beach Resort Lanzarote & Lanzarote International Marathon P17 Scattery Island Tours S15b Seafarer Cruising & Sailing Holidays E5 Seaside Hotels Gran Canaria L9/M11 SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment L4 Secure Financial F12 Select Hotels of Ireland U9 Shelbourne Park Greyhound Stadium GD7 Shop4choice RV10 Siblu 2016 Head Office Q6 Silver Line Cruises U10 Silversea Cruises K10 Sirene Holidays P5 Slieve Bloom Mountains P24 Sligo Park Hotel & Leisure Club S17/T15 Smilebright S18/T16 Smithwick's Experience Kilkenny Q1 South African Tourism E7 South Dakota Department of Tourism H7 South Dublin County Council GD8 Spanish Tourism Office L9/M11 Sparkle Bright RV5 Spike Island Q18/R17 Spring Hotels N12 Stena Line K9 Stormhall F13 Strokestown Park House Gardens & Famine Museum Q2 Suite Hotel Fariones & Apartment fariones P17 Sundowners Overland C6 Sunelia Domaine de la Breche N6 Sunsail J17 Sunway Travel E1/F1 Taipei Representative Office in Ireland B1 Talbot Hotel Carlow U1 Talbot Hotel Stillorgan U1 Talbot Hotel Wexford U1 Talbot Suites at Stonebridge Wexford U1 Taylormade Tour & Event Management R5 Tenerife Tourism Corporation L9/M11 Tennessee Tourism K4 Texas Tourism H7 The Booley House S3 The Bridge House Hotel & Leisure Club P24 The Central Hotel Tullamore P24 The Earth Trip F6 The Enniskillen Hotel R12 The Glasshouse Hotel Sligo S17/T15 The Great American West H7 The Inn At Dromoland T13 The Lake Hotel Killarney R7 The Library of Trinity College Dublin Q1 The Magnolia Hotels L5/M8 The Port Authority Of New York and New Jersey H2 The Talbot Collection U1 The Titanic Experience Q1 The Travel Broker A6 The Travel Department V2 THIS IS CAVAN Q15/R14 Tipperary Excel Centre S3 Tirol Tourist Board N18 Topflight N18 Tour America F3/F4 Tourism Authority of Thailand C2 Tourism Northern Ireland S8 Tourism Nova Scotia P13 Trabolgan Holiday Village T4 Trailfinders L2/M4 Tralee Chamber Alliance T11 Travel House of America H5 Travel Oregon H7 Travel Trade Tickets and Tours H5 Travelcheaper.ie A2 Travelnet.ie E4 Trident Hotel Kinsale Q18/R17 Trigon Hotel Group Q18/R17

TUI Tullamore Court Hotel Conference & Leisure Centre Tullamore D.E.W Visitors Centre Tunisian National Tourist Office Turkish Airlines Uganda Tourism Board Union Bretonne de l'Hotellerie de Plein-Air (UBHPA) Unique Japan Tours Universal Orlando Resort Uniworld Boutique River Cruises Utah Office of Tourism uWalk Vacances Sunelia Valencia Region Valerie Gallery Variety Cruises Viajes Olympia VIK Hotel San Antonio Lanzarote Vilanova Park Villaggio Dei Fiori - Italie (Sunelia) Virginia Visit Ards and North Down Visit Belfast Visit California Visit Derry Visit Florida Visit Idaho Visit Kentucky Tourism Visit Maldives Visit North Carolina Visit Offaly Visit Portugal Visit Santa - Lapland Visit Sligo Visit USA Visit Waterford Visit Westmeath Visit Wexford Vorarlberg Tourism Washington DC Capital Region Waterford Camino Tours Wendy Wu Tours West Cork Islands WestJet Wien Tourism Wirefree Cameras Wyoming Office of Tourism Yelloh Village L'ocean Breton & La Plage Youghal Tourism Your Dream Home Zagreb Tourist Board ZOOMARINE

M2 P24 P24 G3a D5 D8 N7/P7 A1 & B3 H3 N9/N10 H7 N18 N6 L9/M11 S3 E5 M11a P17 M10 N6 H7 S11 R8 L3 R9 J5 H7 K4 G2 H7 P24 L6/M9 C3 S17/T15 L1 U4 N21 T7 N18 H7 S3 B2 Q18/R17 P13 N18 E13 H7 N5a Q18/R17 E11/F11 P22 L5/M8

CARAVAN & MOTORHOME SHOW ACSI Publishing B V BBikes Beechgrove Camping & Caravan Park Brokers 4 Motorhomes Buccaner Touring Caravans Charles Camping Curraghchase Caravan & Camp Site & Forest Park Donegal Motorhomes Downshire Camping & Caravans Elddis Touring Caravans Happy Campers Hobby GBI Hobby Touring Caravans Irish Camping and Caravan Club Kampa Tents & Awnings Magnetic Balance O'Meara Camping Ireland Outwell Tents & Awnings Royal Awnings & Furniture Royal Tents & Awnings Rushin House Caravan Park Vango Tents & Awnings Weinsberg Touring Caravan Whiterocks

CM16 CM30 CM22 CM29 CM19 CM15 CM26 CM18 CM19 CM19 CM13 CM18 CM19 CM31 CM20 CM35 CM20 CM15 CM19 CM20 CM32 CM15 CM19 CM25

List correct at time of going to press

FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 34

DESTINATION THAILAND

Pattaya uncovered

umbo is what Buranakan Chatupornpaisan calls himself. The western nickname may refer to the elephantine task he has set himself. He wants to make village Thailand the star tourist attraction of his region, the coconut and banana plantations, the fisherman’s villages, to turn the small tracks through the lush tropical vegetation into walkways and cycle ways, the unsophisticated cooking of the countryside, spiced with the plants underfoot and the knowledge of generations. Considering the beach, the chain hotels, the franchise restaurants and the other, less wholesome things for which Pattaya is famous, he has a Jumbo-sized task, but Jumbo Devotees at the temple of King Taksin, is undeterred. He is chair of the Thai in the hot sun. Saroj Rotsakolphanit the Ecotourism & AdvenHe introduced us to a cycling tour leader, Jittin ture Travel Association, cast of laughing charac- Ritthirat project manager and he has brought us to ters, all enjoying the ad- of Greenovative Hidden Takientia village to cycle venture for new tourism, East Thailand and the

Eoghan Corry sees Thailand’s oldest resort get a new image

THINGS TO DO

n KAAN: 75 minute hybrid of live action and cinema, stage performance and world-class technology. inspired by classic Thai literature n Sanctuary of Truth. A gigantic wooden construction which covers the area of more than two rais. The top point of the building is about 105 meters high. It was constructed to withstand the wind and sunshine on the seashore at Rachvate Cape, Tumbon Naklea, Amphur Banglamung, Chon Buri Province. n Lanpho Nakluea Market situated just north of Pattaya. Many varieties

of fresh seafood to choose from such as fish, shellfish, shrimp, squid, crab, and lobster. You can also have what you buy cooked at the market any way you like at a price. n Pattaya Floating Market Established since 2008, riverside attraction in Pattaya displaying and showcasing the beautiful ancient Thai riverside living community and authentic ways of life, including has on display culture and local products from 4 major regions of Thailand on sales in absolutely affordable price.

endearing Auntie Cheun, the wisest coconut farmer on the peninsula. We toured the tiny roads, forded the silver rivers, stopped to pick fresh banana and dined on fish, garlic, sesame sauce and sweet potatoes. Jumbo’s organisation now has 60 members, with 500 farmer members and a network of 3,000 business associates, going green and clean in the slipstream of mainstream mass tourism. And the cycling? It was initially uncomfortable and then, as we drank in the smells and sounds and sights and other close-up encounters

with the environment, it was fine. And yes, a proliferation of perspiration was the result from the peregrination.

ood guys go to Heaven, bad guys go to Pattaya.” All of the things they say about the transformation of Pattaya should make sense. It is no longer the 1960s. The grunts on R&R from Vietnam who stalked the streets in search of gratification are grandfathers, four times the age of the Issan girls who still parade Walking Street in short skirts.

The region is full of lush exotic forest and white sand beaches, historical sites and spiced food. Close your eyes, feel the heat, and Pattaya can be Phuket. You do not even have to discard the sordid, ignore it and it will go away, and the transformation is complete. Pattaya has so many hotel beds that the family market inevitably followed the Vietnam grunts. There is a Nickelodeon theme park, water parks, miniature world parks, underwater parks, and an elaborate dinosaur themed walkway to one of the major hotels.

Clockwise: Buranakan Jumbo Chatupornpaisan of TEATA, infamous Walking Street, evening beach, Auntie Cheun coconut farmer. foot massage

FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 35

DESTINATION THAILAND

Families can come and stay for weeks without encountering anything untoward. Clean up Pattaya? Does that mean send the estimated 20,000 Issan girls home? The unspoken dilemma of Pattaya tourism is the employment it creates.

ut Walking Street is not the biggest scar on the landscape. The beaches of Pattaya were nearly unswimmable for decades. The shores are lined with plastic delivered by the tide. We walked through Naklua fishing village to witness the fight by local fishermen to get their sea back. This is a different hemisphere from tourist Pattaya, with colourful shop fronts and markets stocked with fresh vegetables and fruit, rows of motor scooters and dogs

The clourful boatyards of the Pattaya province with white topped tails sleeping in the streets, pink hued fisherman’s houses and, something Instagram will never convey, the ubiquitous slow, churning wave sound and the overpowering smell of fish. Udon Boonma of the fisherman’s group showed how disused nets could be untangled to create a habitat for fish.

he hinterland is top-heavy with history. Is there enough to entice the tourists from the town. In quest on an answer, we set off on a lively itinerary to see Sattahip, a small district situated on the Southernmost tip of Chonburi Province with stunning beaches and islands. This being Thai-

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land, they brought us to temples, Wat Yansangwararam, with its variety of architectural styles and military demeanour, toy commandoes for sale amidst the religious artefacts outside, and King Taksin Shrine at Wat Lum Mahachai Chumpon, built to commem-

orate the controversial King Taksin the Great, who defied a Burmese invasion and was assassinated for this trouble. It was the scene of some of the most intense religious devotions we have witnessed in Thailand. The Chinese Sala Viharnsien Pavilion contains hundreds of antiques donated to King Bhumibol by the Chinese Government. The nearby naval Sea Turtle Conservation Centre where hatchlings are placed into nursery pools for one to three months and then released into the sea at three to six months, a mangrove research centre and viewing tower, and (hold your nose) That Pisadan durian farm. There are, apparently, 500 types of durian, each

smellier than the last. There was a visit to the ancient shipyard where Taksin prepared his navy to fight the Burmese, and a terrific seafood lunch on Uncle Tom’s raft. And finally, Koh Chang, a long elevated island with 13 beaches, winding roads and spectacular sea views and one of the best massages in Thailand at Santhiya Tree resort. Walking street seemed a long way away at times. By night it gets closer as many of Thailand’s bars revert to the familiar themes of Pattaya of old. The past is, not yet, another resort. But Thailand is steadying the ship to make sure it will be one day. King Taksin would agree.

n Eoghan Corry travelled to Thailand as a guest of Thialand tourism n He flew with Etihad who operat a B777 service via Abu Dhabi to Bangkok

FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 36

DESTINATION SKI

elt. A skiing word. Welts on your shins where your boots were too tight. Welts on your shoulder. where you fell on that scary red, late in the evening, when the soft powder turned to sheet ice. Welts on your hand joints from carrying the skis too long when you took a wrong turning into the dead end and had to Sherpa up a steep slope. When those welts are not enough, head to Austria. The ski welt is the country’s most extensive snow area. Why do so many of us bypass the sportwelt en route there? Mainly because we have heard so little about the cluster of towns and resorts that constitute Sportwelt, Alpendorf, Eben, Flachauwinkl, Goldegg, Radstadt, Radstadt – Altenmarkt, Schwarzach im Pongau, St Johann im Pongau, St Veit im Pongau and Zauchensee, as unknown to the Irish market as if they were in Argentina. Astonishingly, they are just one hour from Salzburg airport, with its services from five airlines, three from Dublin and one each from two Belfast airports. The burning question after such high grade skiing is, how does a resort not have the same visibility as the better known resorts around it?

Far above the Welt

Eoghan Corry visits the sporty ski region of Salzburg

Look down to Flachau, Salzburgerland,

here are 35,000 guest beds in the valley in all, seven access points to the mountain with its integrated 750km of slopes on the ski pass (250km of slopes in Flachau region), and six competing ski schools offering a variety of prices and options.

The beating hearts of the valley are St Johann with its 11,000 inhabitants and 4,000 tourist beds and Flachau, with its 2,800 inhabitants and 10,000 beds. Flachau has a variety of intermediate and more challenging offerings, with lively apres in bars such as Dampfkes-

sel, which has its own booming base-boom anthem. We went to dinner to the deliciously named woodworm restaurant,

Holzwurm. Bernhard Klieber brought us to the little folk Museum In Atlmarkt, a converted barn

which is used to host people taking refuge from the Advent market nearby. The place gives a

n Eoghan Corry flew to Flachau via Munich with Aer Lingus. n He was hosted by Flachau Tourism at the Hotel Waidmannsheil n Ski Amadé region consists of 25 villages. Price of 6 day pass €266, Children half price. Prices come down at the beginning of March. n www.salzburgersportswelt.com

Clockwise: Burgstallhütte ski hut in Zauchensee, Aileen Eglington of AE Consulting and Gerhard Wolfsteiner of Salzburger Sportwelt in Hotel Waidmannsheil, night over Flachau, Zauchensee view and Herzerlalm restaurant

FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 37

DESTINATION SKI glimpse into mountain life, when skies were a commodity and used for transportation.

Peter Oberreiter of Flachau Tourism points the way to Flachau, Salzburgerland, 1999 at the behest of his 15 year old son, Josef “Seppi” Harml. It was the first true recreational snow park in

Austria, not designed for a specific snow event and dismantled afterwards. Now Seppi runs the resort. He recalls how

he and his father hand welded the rails and installed what has evolved into 100 features. Even if you cannot

manage the jumps, it is worthwhile taking a run through the park and stand and watch the adrenaliners at play.

Maybe in another life, one of the group commented. Which welt would you prefer? I know mine.

Sta

Vis

it u

sa tH

nd oliday D1 Wor 0 ld

lachauwinkl is a self contained area with the bars and ski rentals circling a snow ground where the pistes converge and from where the lifts depart. It could, for all the world, be a market town in Tipperary or the beginners gathering point in Westendorf. It is a safe place for parents at war with shrug shouldered teenagers and precocious princesses. The family slopes of Flachauwinkl have all the family slope accoutrement, over sized squirrels and rabbits gleaming in the sunshine and reflected white glare. The show park is the pride of the resort, introduced by the owner in

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FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 38

DESTINATION NORTH CYPRUS

orth Cyprus may be the most conflicted beach destination in the world. Part of Turkey that voted 16 years ago to rejoin Cyprus, it is stuck in limbo, unrecognised and unwanted by the EU states and wider world, with nowhere to turn except its Turkish mentors. You cannot fly there. Flights through Istanbul are convenient and reasonable, but not compared with the direct flights you can find to similar holiday destinations. The holiday group Cyprus Premier have set their task. Entry to North Cyprus from Cyprus proper has been valid and legal for over a decade, but that entry point has been complicated by the failure of Cobalt Air and our only direct route to Larnaca. Ryanair’s Paphos destination is a long way away from North Cyprus’s treasury. They hosted a group of Irish tour operators this week to showcase the high-end hotel product on offer. The group flew with Turkish airlines double daily 737 service to Istanbul as all flights to the region pass through Turkey.

irst, the size. North Cyprus would be a county in Ireland, somewhere between Tipperary and Tyrone in size. It means it can be criss crossed in a short

Kyrenia harbour,

Crusader castles, blue beaches Eoghan Corry in North Cyprus

drive. Second the quality of the hotels. They are large scale with large scale rooms, palatial receptions areas and small scale prices The group saw all inclusive and other luxury hotels in Kyrenia, Famagusta and Bafra, such

as the Palm Beach hotel where you can gaze, eerily at the deserted beach front hotels on the green line. They stayed at the Acapulco and the enormous Noah’s Ark and visiting monasteries, the region’s only winery, crossed the green line at Nicosia.

or such a small area, it has a portfolio of impressive beaches and archaeological treasures. The finest may be Saint Hilarion Castle, a former stronghold of the Kyrenia mountains. Originally a

hermitage site, the monastery and church were built in the 10th century and later fortified. We rambled through the site which consists of three main parts, linked by steep staircases; the lower section was for the

stables and men of arms, the middle section was home to the church and the upper section was for use by only royalty. The stunning views from the upper level are well worth the climb. From Kantara Castle you can see both coasts of the Karpaz Peninsula and the mountains of Turkey, At Famagusta we rambled the old walled city, where the St Nicholas Cathedral is located, its fabric intact and the focus of its prayer realigned slightly form Jerusalem to Mecca. There is also Kyrenia’s Crusader Castle from the third crusade, used by

n Eoghan Corry flew to North Cyprusviat Istnbul with Turkish Ailrines n He was hosted by Cyprus Premier at the Acapulco and Noah’s Ark hotels

Clockwise: Northern Nicosia, Acapulco Hotel, Lord’s Palace hotel, pier at the Palm Beach hotel, Etel wine tasting at Gillham Vineyard

FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 39

DESTINATION N CYPRUS

civilizations as diverse as the Ottomans, the Venetians and the English. As well as glorious views and fascinating architecture, the castle also houses the Shipwreck Museum, home to a 4th century Greek merchant vessel and its cargo. We took a boat trip from Kyrenia harbour along the coast, jumping overboard to swim and dive the clear blue water.

ur impression is that the region offers an exotic, slower paced and more Asian alternative to other countries in the region. Tourist traffic to the region is controversial as the territory is regarded as occupied and the self-declared Turkish speaking republic of North Cyprus is not recognised by the UN or

Palm Beach Hotel, Famagusta, looking to the demilitarised green line with its eerie belt of decaying concrete beleive then that 15 years reunification referendum any country other than 1974 Turkish invasion the 2018 season. would pass without any Turkey. remain unresolved. As a An application for dir- was rejected by Cyprus progress on the impasse. Issues such as repatri- result one tour operator ect charter flights from and passed by North CyTourists who have come ation and compensation dropped its plans to bro- Ireland was rejected in prus. and gone since then must It would be hard to for land seized during the chure North Cyprus for 2006, two years after a have wondered.

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DESTINATION USA

hode Island has the longest name for the smallest state. And it has to be believed how small it is. Exactly the size of County Clare, smaller than eight Irish counties. King Ranch in Texas is larger than Rhode island, 48 miles long and 37 miles wide. It has now become supremely relevant in the lives of everyone who aspires to trans-Atlantic travel. Providence became connected to five Irish cities as part of Norwegian’s grand trans-Atlantic plan last year. The theory is that low cost flyers will fly here, the gateway bro Boston as Newburgh is the gateway to New York. That did not happen on the scale and with the numbers that Norwegian or anyone else imagined. South Boston and the Cape is as accessible from Providence as it is from Logan. The airport is easier ton get through, the access much more amenable than Newburgh’s bus routes to Manhattan. And the hinterland has a whole story of its own to offer.

he city of Providence feels more like a real city than Rhode Island feels like a state, with its storied university and its capital building and a hill looking down on the sky scrapers below. It was founded by a group of refugees from the Manhattan puritan colony, led by Roger Williams, fighting and falling out over the minute of scripture until they came to found their own colony like the plot of a late night movie. Providence was, unlike many other breakaway colonies, profitable. In the 1820s it was wealthy and the first indoor mall in the United States opened here. And as traditional revenue streams declined, is turning to tourism. Five

Small state big dreams

Eoghan Corry flies to Providence with Norwegian The capital in Portland: a state the size of County Clare new hotels opened in three years, three more in 2018. “We will never be New York or Boston, but we can be the base for both,” Christina Robbio of Go Providence says. “People come there who want to find small town authenticity. What would be 50 dollar plates in New York are 20pc less expensive here.” “Providence was one of the wealthiest cities before the Great Depression and we never recovered from that, while other cities were tearing down the buildings and building high rise, we did not do that.” It is a welcoming city, when you come with ideas they are embraced. We don’t have a gaybourhood. We never felt the need for one.’

oday the population of Providence is that of Cork, 225,000 of which 45,000 are students. Little incongruities abound as the cultures of the big cities get welded and mixed together. There are 47 authentic Italian restaurants on Federal Hill. Nearby an authentic Lebanese cuisine restaurant comes complete with an Irish flag. The neighbourhood of the mafia dons who never got to play with the big boys. Rhode Island, inevitably given its location, ended up as a playground for both Boston and New York. In Newport the mansions of the wealthy line the shore front and some have been opened to the public, to reaffirm the old

joke about what happens when Americans have more dollars than sense. John F and Jackie Kennedy got married here, Father of the bride Black Jack Bovier was shepherded out of town because he was drunk. Of 100 mansions, 11 open to the public, constructed three generations later than the palladian mansions of Ireland and Europe with more creature comforts.

Period movies, where the cars are too shiny and the clothes too clean, are made here. Scott FitzGerald’s world is caught in a time warp. The writers that illuminate Providence are the Gothic masters of the 19th century, Poe and Lovecraft. Our group detoured for a pilgrimage to the grave of Lovecraft, where fans have left little mementos, to make sure he is dead.

“When you come to Providence you visit a city and get a state,, says Christina. There are 100 miles of beaches, 20 public beaches , many with salt ponds sitting dutifully behind them. Visitors can dog their own clams. Galilee is the tuna capital, and soft bodied crabs abound. The locals emerge from street eateries with legs sit cling out of the sides of their buns as they tuck

Norwegian launched flights from Cork, Shannon, Dublin and Belfast to two airports on the US east coast last year which offer good access into the Boston, New York and New England areas but carry significantly lower landing charges, allowing Norwegian to offer some truly affordable fares Flights are available to Providence-Boston from Cork (3w), Shannon (2w), and Dublin (5ww) Flights are also available to Stewart International Airport in New York from Dublin (daily), Shannon (2w) and Belfast International (3w) Fares start from €129 one-way, €230 return (for Belfast £125 one-way, £230 return) Flights are available to book at www.norwegian.com/ie

FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 41

DESTINATION USA in. Seafood heaven only a Puritan outcast could appreciate.

short trip away, across the Massachusetts border in Fall River, the house of Lizzie Borden has been turned into a bed and breakfast. Bowden is the classic American anti-hero, a real life nursery rhyme character that featured in the Simpsons, rhymed into taking an axe and giving her mother forty whacks, When she saw what she had done, She gave her father fortyone. Billy Mills, who guides us around the house says: “some of our ceilings are a little low and obviously we have had two fatal head injuries in this house.” The maid in the house was a Corkwoman, Bridget Sullivan. She

never told what she saw and ended ups in Anaconda, Montana married to John Sullivan. The secret of Lizzie Borden died with her.

n Falmouth there are monuments to the whaling industry that made the town wealthy. Bob Rocha, director of the education and science services guided us through the exhibition on the Catalpa rescue and on to the little church where the inspiration for Melville’s Moby Dick came from a tombstone. The Gregory Peck movie too, largely shot in Youghal. A ferry ride brings to an even more famous playground, Martha’s Vineyard. Its winter population of 15,000 swells to 120,000 in summer. It is an island with six towns, in fast it has six of everything. One, Cannonball park, was where the hippies behav-

Whaling museum, New Bedford

ing slept. Nowadays those hippies own houses here.

a r t h a ’ s Vineyard is beautiful, gingerbread house beautiful, “It has the right mix of weather and wealth,” said tour guide Doris Clark.

Clockwise: Lizzie Borden homestead, ice cream in Marha’s vineyard, whaling museum tour, and seafood ice cream

She brought us to the “what we affectionately call the jaws bridge, it used to have another name but I have forgotten what that name is. A rite of passage is to jump off it, brides and grooms in their wedding clothes ” She tells the story of widow’s walk, where the womenfolk would wait

to see if their husbands survived and returned on their hopelessly inadequate whaling ships. The streets here are collection of eateries, serving various versions of the bounty of the ocean. “There are people here who would not eat fish that are more than two hours old.”

he ferry continued to Falmouth, the Shoreway Acres Inn and the Kennedy homestead. A substantial flow of visitors call to see this shrine to the Wexford family who took on the establishment and produced two of the outstanding American politicians of the 1960s. A lost America, especially in the current political climate. The exhibits are understated, the lives of Jo and Rose much more accessible now that we have seen the background of unrestricted wealth, gaiety and promise in which they moved. The flight home to the ancestral home is just 45 minutes away, the airport small and friendly and the queues short. JFK would have loved it.

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FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 42

DESTINATION SOUTH AFRICA

t sounded like something from a Hollywood movie, John van Rooyen of The Tsogo Sun hotel says. Day Zero was the well-publicised threat to turn off Cape Town’s water supply. The idea was to scare the locals into conserving their water. It turned off something much more substantial: the inbound honeymoon and leisure tourist market right in the middle of the peak booking season in January. The scare worked. Water consumption in Cape Town has been cut from 1.2bn litres a day to 500m litres a day. Tourists were unaffected by the drive to conserve water among the local population, unless they wanted a bath. Swimming pools remain open, using salt water. Hotels removed bath plugs from baths and brought in shower regulators that slashed average consumption. Directives for the length of a shower were reduced to ninety seconds, they have since been increased to two minutes. Importantly, outside of Cape Town water remained in plentiful supply on the wine and garden routes. The water was never going to run dry, Rob Peters of Wesgro says. The local economy worries that the tourism taps were turned off. Bookings are down by

Fat tyre bicycle experience on De Kelders dunes in Gansbaai,

After day zero

Cape Town tourism flows again after water scare

6pc and had still not recovered at time of going to press.

t does not help that Ireland’s tourism to South Africa is so heavily dependent on the Western Cape. In all 85pc of our bookings are to the region, driven by word of mouth referrals, reasonably priced access through London, Am-

sterdam, Paris, Istanbul and Addis Adaba, and a favourable currency differential. It helps Cape Town that Mauritius has not recovered its share of the honeymoon market, meaning that the Cape is a tried and trusted honeymoon referral for Ireland’s travel trade. “The lesson we learned,” South African tourism CEO Sisa Nt-

shona, “is how difficult it is to manage a message in a globalised society. Day zero was news worldwide. Tourists consume a tiny proportion of the water, and they still cancelled bookings. ”

he sea is never far away. Dave Caravias and Al-

marie Leimecke loaded us on fat tyred bicycles to cycle over the dunes over De Kelders dunes in Gansbaa. The bikes prevented us sinking in the sand and we sailed over the dunes with all the grace of a Mister bean sketch. Dave found the route on Google Maps and treated

it like a ski terrain, a baby slope to train us in, a few hair raising ones to rest our mettle an d a big finish along the spectacular sculpted coastline, white elephant rock and cashing waves around us. South Africa’s south west corner has a character all of its own. The famed Cape doctor, the cooling south east breeze from Antarctica controls the temperature. The waves against the rocks release more ozone. The older vines are resistant to drought. Cape Town’s signa-

Eoghan Corry was hosted in Western cape by the South African Tourist Board. he flew to Cape Town with SAA via Heathrow same terminal transfer from Aer

Clockwise: water shortage notice at public toilets, Grootbos resort and game drive at Grootbos resort

FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 43

DESTINATION SOUTH AFRICA

ture attraction, the table Mountain and characteristic tablecloth of white mist, has seen a few droughts come and go in its time. Ten cable car to the top rotates as it climbs, giving the 64 passengers an equal view of the city and the crevices of the hill. Queues mount in the morning. A dassie jumped on to a sign about himself and posed for the tourists.

hatever about the water, the wine still flows. Beyond the city limits, water is not scarce, and the vineyard owners manage water supplies with the attentiveness of a sommelier’s stepmother. “We keep the older varieties alive, not as a museum project, but as a celebration of diversity,`” Andre Morgenthal of Old Vine Project says. “At tines of water shortage we find that the vines that have been through drought before are valuable in helping us to understand what is happening.” Kevin Arnold of Waterford Wine Estate is one of the participants in the programme. The name has nothing to do with the Irish county. Indeed, Waterford Glass prevented him marketing his wines in America for a number of years. South Africa’s wine

Dassies pose for tourists on Table Mountain reputation has soared over the past decade, light as a feather pinot noir, fruity Cabernets and the signature Pinotage. The intricacies of the wines became apparent on a wine safari conducted by Frieda Lloyd of Heramus wine safaris. They do the driving, guests do the tasting. “The region was not known for its wine,” Peter Finlayson hosted us at Bouchard Finlayson says. “We had to build it from scratch.” Philip Mostert brought us through 14 tastings at Creation wines. It was a long lunch, capped with a Syrah 80pc Grenache 20pc finish “our crowd pleaser, Grenache lifts up acidity in wine.” What can you do to make the wine taste even better? Carl van der Merwe of De Morgenzon vineyard has the answer. He plays classical music

to the grapes. He cited some European research to justify the expense of laying speakers and putting on loops of Mahler and Beethoven to his crops. He turns it off at night to give their ears a rest.

ichael Litzeyer was driving in the countryside when he first set eyes on the farm that was to become Grootbos. It started life as self-catering accommodation but since then has grown to become a five start luxury lodge with a ration of 150 staff to 50 keys with its own farm suppling nearly 20pc of its restaurant requirements off its own farm. The resort has 11 species on the red danger list in its care, 393 species in all or which six were discovered by Seán the

Clockwise: the dassie on a sign about himself on table Mountain, Carl Van der Merwe of De Morgenzon, view to Table Mountain,Kevin Arnold of

kayaking botanist when they surveyed the area. Michael spoke with pride of the connection with the local community as we consumed a 2011 Creation Pinot Noir. Jono Durham took us on a tour of the mountain terrain, showing us Heather banana shrimp Erica

and Succulent sour fig and watching the sun set as the warm breeze from the sea ruffled our hair This was a country drive with a difference, no lions or faux-wilderness as can be found in private reserves but a celebration of the landscape. Kader Asmal, the

adopted son of Dublin who returned to serve as a Government Minister in South Africa in 1994, opened a horticultural school here in 2003. “Conservation in isolation is not helping anything,” says Jono. The water diviners of the Cape would agree.

FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 44

DESTINATION SKI

al Thorens started a s a corner of the table project,” Stephane Spettel, our tour guide told us, when he had tired of trying to improve the Irish technique with constant pleases of “small goalkeeper position.” It was a corner of the mountain project, more like. Pierre Schnebelen, Joseph Fontanet, and friends went on a big offpiste freeride one day and picked the spot for their project. Schnebelen had taken over running the lifts at Tignes in the 1960s. He saw how Tignes’ financial situation depended on summer skiing on the Grande Motte glacier. Plans for the new les Menuires resort in the Belleville valley were struggling. His idea to build another head of the valley resort at an impossibly high altitude was regarded as foolhardy. He got his planning permission and funding and hiked up the hill of ambition. They built what was then the largest cable car in the world, the Cime Caron cable

High end, High Alps

Eoghan Corry in Club Med Val Thorens First tracks and sunrise over the mountains

car which ascended to an altitude of 3,200 metres. By 2004 Val Thorens had a Michelin Star as well. Gastronomy and altitude combined to change the package. Val Thorens nowadays has, in Bar 360 and the Folie Douce, two of the Alps’ best mountain slope bars (the ski down from 360 is much easier, down a

green), and in town one of the best resort night clubs, Malaysia, the highest Irish bar in the world and in the Frog, Roastbeef and Saloon the liveliest après on offer.

ith the pistes among the highest rated snow playgrounds in Eur-

n Eoghan Corry travelled with Sunway to the 4 trident Club Med Val Thorens Sensations in France. Club Med offer 80 all-inclusive sun and ski resorts worldwide. Their ski resorts in France, Italy, Switzerland, China and Japan offer a full range of snow sports on the All-Inclusive Club Med formula which includes ski lift passes and skiing or snowboarding lessons for all ages and abilities with highly qualified and enthusiastic instructors. n Some Club Med Resorts also offer cross-country skiing and all Club Med Ski Resorts have a Ski Service where you can rent your equipment quickly and easily. n Call 01-2366800 or visit www.sunway.ie

ope, how do you design a resort to match them? Club Med opened their Val Thorens resort three years ago. It is a classic split level building, the transfer arriving at the ground floor, the main restaurant and ski rooms, counter-intuitively on the second floor, the specialty restaurant on the third floor and the communal bar and night spot on the fourth floor. Life, during your Club Med stay, corkscrews up and down a spiral staircase as the snow flutters against the large windows. Club Med have a reputation for keeping the party going and that is

what happens each morning as the skiers venture out on to the slopes, thimble fulls of Génépi and a pounding techno beat to keep you moving. Ski in ski out creates a foundation for the week’s experience. The return at lunch time is an adventure, along the path through the tunnel to the courtyard of club med where there is mulled wine, dancers, and characters in furry costumes giving free hugs. Even Stephane is infected by the music. “Ski with the techno beat,” he says, and then, when conditions change “this is for motor music.”

al Thorens is a huge intermediate playground, one of the best intermediate resorts in Europe. Runs are manageably wide and snow sure thanks to their altitude. Those on the Cime Caron side of the face north.

VALFACTS

n Total Pistes: 150km (600km in Three Valleys) n Green: 12pc n Blue: 43pc n Red: 35pc n Black: 10pc n Lifts: 33 (186 in Three Valleys) n Altitude: 1450m – 3230m

Clockwise: Mark Clifford of O’Hanrahan Travel, avalanche warning, Irish group on the slopes: Des Manning of Manning Travel, Mark Clifford of O’Hanrahan Travel, Tanya Airey of Sunway, Philip Airey of Sunway, Clarisse Chapolard of Club Med, Martin Skelly of Navan Travel,, sunny ski conditions

FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 45

DESTINATION SKI The town has access to a varied 140km of local slopes, the Orelle Valley. considered the ‘fourth valley’ of the Three Valleys area, and via six passes to Méribel and the rest of the 600km of linked pistes that extend to the far end of Courchevel. Very little of the terrain is rated black, although there are some challenging blacks from the Pointe de la Masse and down into the Orelle Valley. A recently added blue run, the Orelle Valley is a great option if you’re looking to escape the busiest areas. For beginners the slopes in the heart of the resort are easily navigated, with magic carpet lifts and gentle green runs. Some greens bring you to in the Deux Lacs and Cascades sectors and some of the blues immediately above the

Val Thorens distinctive wooden architecture village are good for progression. A downside, this is way above the tree line. When it whites out, it is hard to find your way. Our week gave us a taste of good visibility and bad, like the weather wanted to let us know.

s it worth the extra cost to go all inclusive? Club Med’s Clarisse Chapolard has no doubt. When you count the cost of the extras in a resort like Val Thorens, Club Med starts looking like very good value for money, she says.

“Ski pass is included for the bigger area for four Trident resorts. Ski lessons are always included. For a basic Club Med resort the savings against a DIY holiday without the extras are €1,000 per person, and even more during peak periods”

until Thursday with fantastic routes.” Val Thorens is three hours form Geneva and Lyon, and an hour and a half from Chambery. There is a rail option of coming by train to Moûtiers and transfer up the mountain. A terrific way to get there.

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FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 46

DESTINATION USA

sk Brian Friel. Philadelphia was always a favourite amongst Irish visitors. It has just become more affordable and accessible. Two competing airlines on the direct route from Dublin (with Shannon also served), hotel and restaurant prices that sit below the median for the region, and the treasury of local attractions have created a new air of excitement about Philadelphia among the Irish travel trade. Irish history sits lightly over the birthplace of the United States: Wolfe Tone’s house, John Barry’s statue and William Penn, who grew up in Co Cork and had his moment of inspiration there, looking whimsically over it all from atop the city hall. Even the baptismal font of Christ Church, where seven of ASmerica’s founding fathers are buried, came from Co Cork. Apt then, that this is where the Irish Travel Agents Association chose to hold their first conference in the USA. .

he city has sometimes been sidelined on the tourist trail by its neighbours. It was long the least wealthy of the big five US cities. As luck would

Bells on it

Philadelphia, host of ITAA conference

City Hall at night, a once-Corkman sits atop the budiling have it, its most famous fictional character became a metaphor for an underdog or an everyman rising to a challenge. The theme music of the city, for the past few decades at least, comes from the 1976 Rocky film. Tour guides will tell you that Sly Stallone could not be b othered running up all of the 72 steps, he claimed he had an injury and a double did the rest for him. The statue of Rocky where tourists now pose is discreetly positioned away from the steps and the museum which once deprecated the artistic

merit of a statue of a fictional character blemishing its premises. With good reason. Philadelphia’s wealth meant that it could purchase an enormous amount of classic and impressionist European art. Each room of the museum is like a wave of grandeur, celebrity canvasses familiar from popular and academic culture. The numbers game is even more apparent in the modern building built specially to house the collection of the Barnes foundation, the most recent addition to the

treasury of Philadelphia attractions, the Picassos, Monets and Van Goghs are arranged without guide cards and explanations, decked on the walls at three levels, occasionally with counterpointing curios. We were told there are 4,000 objects, including 900 paintings, estimated to be worth about $25bn, 181 by Renoir, 69 by Cezanne, 59 by Matisse, 46 by Picasso and seven by van Gogh. The move to Downtown Philadelphia has been like lifting a veil off the treasury. Rocky would understand.

he most interesting bits of Philadelphia are probably the least known. The city is supposed to span out from the City Hall, equidistant from the river and the sea. But it is at the edges that you find the heart of the city, not the heart. The makes sense in Philadelphia. The Mutter Museum, with its vast collection of medical and anatomical oddities, may be the most interesting in all of North America. It is an eerie place, Einstein’s brain in a jar, 139 skulls (to disprove phrenolog) piled

on each other with notes of their diseases. Founded in 1787, it crosses scientific meidcal school collection with freak show, jars of preserved human kidneys and livers, and a man’s skull so eaten away by tertiary syphilis that it looks like pounded rock. There is an Irish laborer skeleton in the basement and a jar of genital warts. Its most recent curator, Evi Newman, has recently moved to Trinity College in Dublin. Maybe thier collection can be put on display?

Clockwise: Christ Church where seven of America’s founding fathers are buried, Mutter museum, the Eastern State cells and cell b locks appear like they have just been abandoned, Joan of Arc, affectionately known as Joanie and her pony, Marriott Downtown, venue for ITAA Conference,

FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 47

DESTINATION USA at peak, and clearly never served its purpose. Then guided tour with Damon McCool was stimulating and thought provoking about prison systems then and now. Even as a tourist, it is a good feeling to get out into the daylight.

s Philadelphia grew from shipping the Naval Museum and its floating exhibits are worth the journey from Ireland, let alone from New York. Washington or any of the other cities in the playground that is almost north-east United States. You can clamber through a submarine, first conceived by a Liscannor man, or the ship form which the attack on Havana was launched. The city sits between two rivers. The sea is closer than you think.

he Independence tourist centre is a blend of architectural contradictions, the ugly stomping wherever it can on the quaint. The president’s house is brick, with plans you can view through a glass wall

W Sme of the most famous paintings in the world are to be seen in Philadelphia art museum

as you queue to enter the buildings. The signage acknowledged, belatedly, African Americans and their role in the country’s history. The glass is faded a bit like the South County

GOING UP

n One Liberty Observation Deck, 1650 Market Street. Philadelphia’s first high rise attraction with 360 degree views! n Locatedonthe57thfloorofPhiladelphia’siconicOneLibertyPlace–the first skyscraper to surpass William Penn’s hat atop City Hall• n Total Floor Capacity of 300 people• Amazing 360° view n Engaging Philadelphia experience from first floor to 57th n Interactive technology in foreign languages n ConnectedtoTheShopsatLiberty-

Dublin had galloped its way over it. The little rolling hill between the Liberty Bell centre, all glass and red-bricked corners, to the national convention centre. Red brick, white win-

EAT AND SLEEP

n Hampton Inn Center City, 1301 Race Street, within walking distance of the city’s best restaurants, attractions and shopping n El Rey, 1311 Sansom St, n Reading Terminal Market, 51 North 12th Street, great place to graze and pick up the locally produced food n City Tap House2 Logan Square Yards Brewing Company 500 Spring Garden St. Great beer (Tour the brewery) and great food n Campo’s 214 Market Street, best to Go Cheesesteaks in town

dows, 12 panels on each window, wrought iron and heritage in brick, with horrible stuff behind in broad glass 1960s windows and Wells Fargo plastered. Even worse, someone planted a square block of a building right opposite the Liberty Bell Centre which looks like a car park. It is all a far cry from the splendid Second Empire architecture that you find around City Hall although there is a couple of buildings which lend themselves that way. On the whole, WC Fields allegedly said when he was

dying, I would rather be in Philadelphia.

astern State Penitentiary has been a long time in the renovation, to the extent that carefully signed walkways and restored rooms (Al Capone’s cell amongst them), stand side by side with abandoned cells that look like they have been untouched since the prison closed. The prison with its famous isolationist policy was built between 1822 to 1829, with capacity for 250 prisoners. It ended up housing 1800

here to go to cheer up? The laden table of course. Philadelphia prides itself as a pioneer of the culinary revolution in America, with celebrity chefs, celebrity restaurants and celebrity ale-houses. At Yards brewhouse, Mike Hans brought our group into the brewing area and declared: “This is what it looks like when you die and you have been good.” Mike conducts his tour like a comedian, through a boutique restaurant and brewhouse selling boutique beer. Beer is important in a city where the Declaration of Independence was discussed and drafted, appropriately, in a tavern. The city’s love affair with food can be explored at Reading Terminal Market. It is like a throwback to a previous age, with immigrant artisans, suited gentlemen and students queuing for crab, cheese steaks, and wholesome Amish grows from Lancaster county.

n Eoghan Corry travelled to Philadelphia as a guest of Visit USA n Aer Lingus fly daily to Philadelphia

Clockwise: Eastern State penitentiary, Anne Robinson conducts a tour of the Barnes Foundation, Ben’s head at the top of One Liberty Observation deck, fam trip at the Philadelphia art museum, Danielle O’Keeffe of Shandon Travel, Tara Povey of Where is Tara, Caroline Gallagher of Travel Department, Jenny Rafter of Aer Lingus, Laura Jean Tyrrell of Bookabed, Linda Collins of American Holidays, Wendy McCartney of Clickandgo, Cheryl Cleworth of Tropical Sky, Tony Lane of Visit USA front Eoghan Corry and Jacinta McGlyn

FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 48

DESTINATION ROMANIA

et and starstoried, the Danube slows to a swamp-still before it enters the Black Sea. The delta is a hidden treasure of Europe, and one that Romania will be sure to showcase in the coming months. This is Romania’s six months in the sun. As joint presidents of the EU it faces some labyrinthine political challenges. How well are they prepared? They called some political writers to Bucharest to explain that Romania’s EU Presidency until June 2019 will feature a summit meeting in picturesque Sibiu, 17 summit meetings (the average is 12), and 300 separate events they hope will boost tourism to all five of their historic provinces, boosting them beyond the current intake of 2.7m. European affairs minister Victor Negrescu called for funding for key EU regions and said Romania is to use the EU presidency to relaunch concept of Human Dignity. Unsurprisingly, the Danube delta is to be one of these.

he transfer from to Murighiol and on to Tulcea, where the Danube ends its 1,777 mile journey across 11 countries before flowing into the Black sea, was long and arduous. Tours of the region

Blue Danube green delta

Flamingos on the Danube Delta nowadays include boat rides, kayaking, bird watching, fishing, a visit to a rare subtropical forest, a tour of Sulina city and even an afternoon at the beach. This is the youngest land of Europe complex web of Danube delta channels with a labyrinth of reed, marshes, lakes, canals covered with water lilies, sand dunes and willow forests. This is the best-preserved delta of the continent and a UNESCO World Heritage Site where 300 bird species live, besides

the species also found in Western Europe. It is one of the greatest places to observe colonies of cormorants and pelicans who nest here in large numbers, and in autumn and spring countless birds that stop in the Danube Delta during their migratory routes. Millions of the world’s birds find their way here to nest or use this crossroad of five migratory routes for travelling south in winter. The synagogues, mosques and churches standing on the river

banks are a measure of the harmony that exists among the region’s ethnic Turks, Tartars, Greeks, Italians, Russians (Lipovans), Ukrainians, Bulgarians and Macedonians, who arrived on the Danube’s banks over the centuries. They were brought together here to one of the most sparsely populated parts of Europe by war, shipwrecks or commerce. It is tourism that will sustain their livelihoods.

e are lucky it is still there. Under Nicolae Ceausescu, Europe’s richest wetland was destined for a “total exploitation” programme of the delta’s natural resources , He destroyed the southern village of Uzlina to build holiday homes for the party elite. He then dammed parts of it, attempted to turn swamp areas into arable land, and planted forests of poplars whose roots are nowadays tellingly exposed at the water’s edge.

He tried to turn an Italian reed, the arundo, similar to sugar cane, into alcohol to fuel the nation’s cars, during the oil crisis of the 1970s. The reeds, like most of his ideas, failed. Thirty years after his demise, the delta’s future looks brighter. A biosphere has been established involving Bulgaria, Moldova, Ukraine and Romania, where 82pc of the 418,000-hectare delta lies. The countries create a green corridor of natural wetlands in an attempt to undo the damage caused by Ceausescu and others. The delta suffers from a large sediment deficit, caused by dams on the Danube and its tributaries. The network of shallow channels constructed over the same period blunted the damage to the delta plain but increased erosion along the coast. The land that was turned into agricultural terrain is being reclaimed under a Biosphere project. They have recorded 5,140 species of flora and fauna in the delta, including 300 species of birds and 30 of fish. The key to sustainable development is seen as tourism. Scotland’s Loch Lomond ,which attracts 1m visitors a year, is viewed as the role model for the delta. There is a long way to go. This is one of Europe’s undiscovered wonders.

Clockwise: Fisherman and reeds, old windmill, briefing for international press by Minister Victor Negrescu, old lighthouse at Sulina

UL Arena SATURDAY 16th & SUNDAY 17th FEBRUARY 2019 EXHIBITOR PROFILE • Adventure Travel

• Hotels

• Airlines

• National and Regional Tourist Organisations

• Airports • Caravans & Motorhomes

• Overseas Property

• International Camping Sites

• Weddings & Honeymoons

• Car Rental Companies

• Over 55’s Holidays

• Coach Tours

• Rail Holidays

• Cruise Companies

• Theme & Leisure Parks

• Ferries

• Travel Agents / Tour Operators

• Golf • Escorted Tours

• Travel Related Services

• Health Tourism

• Tourist Attractions

• Home Holidays

• Travel Accessories

BOOK YOUR STAND NOW! VENUE

2019 DATE AND TIMES

ORGANISERS

CONTACTS

UL Arena University of Limerick

Saturday February 16 11.00am - 5.00pm

Maureen Ledwith - Sales Director t: +353 (0)1 291 3700 • e: maureen@bizex.ie

t: +353 (0)61 213 582 www.ulsport.ie

Sunday February 17th 11.00am - 5.00pm

Business Exhibitions 59 Rathfarnham Road Dublin, D6W AK70 t: +353 (0)1 295 7418

Paulette Moran - Sales Manager t: +353 (0)1 291 3702 • e: paulette@bizex.ie Angela O’Rourke - Business Development Manager t: +353 (0)1 291 3705 • e: angela@bizex.ie

www.holidayshow.ie 120813 THE HOLIDAY SHOW FP_V1.indd 1

10/12/18 4:12 PM

FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 50

THE FLYING COLUMN SUKHOI Civil Aircraft president Alexander Rubtsov said CityJet may cancel their cooperation in 2019, due a change in its business model. Russia’s Superjet 100is no longer part of the Sukhoi product line after parent company United Aircraft Corp rearranged its structure to separate its commercial and military aircraft manufacturing assets.

NORWEGIAN Air has agreed to sell five Airbus 320neo aircraft as a part of its plan to ease capital commitments and strengthen its balance sheet. AER LINGUS deal with CityJet for the London City airport to Dublin route was cleared after a CMA probe.

AIRBALTIC will operate Dublin-Riga seasonal 4w from March 31.

CAR The Commission of Aviation regulation ruled that Ryanair passengers are entitled to compensation after their flights were cancelled or delayed due to strikes. RUNWAY Minister Shane Ross pub-

lished theAircraft Noise (Dublin Airport) Regulation Bill, 2018 appointing Fingal County Council as the new independent noise regulator clearing the last hurdle before construction of Dublin airport’s parallel runway

SKYSCANNER named their most

searched destinations among Irish users as 1 Agadir, 2 Paphos, 3 Split, 4 Dalaman, 6 Istanbul, 7 Dalaman, 8 Mykonos. Highest indirect were 11 Nashville and 14 San Diego.

MILAN Bergamo opened eight new aircraft stands, bringing the total to 47.

AER LINGUS are to increase Belfast City to Heathrow from 21w to 25w, switched from Cork, during June-August.

RYANAIR received its 531st B737-800, of which 460 are in service with Ryanair or its Polish subsidiary Ryanair Sun. WOW now connects Irish passengers from Dublin to Orlando, via Iceland.

CSO Aviation Statistics showed overall growth rate of 5.8pc to September 2018. Dublin’s top three routes were to Heathrow, Gatwick and Schiphol, Cork’s top three routes were Heathrow, Stansted and Malaga, Shannon’s top was Heathrow, Knock’s Stansted and Kerry’s was London-Luton. AER LINGUS is one of the first three airlines to agree to sharing information on turbulence for the platform.

REGIONAL The Department of

Transport announced operational grants of €3.7m to regional airports - Donegal €657,060, Ireland West Airport Knock €1,916,562 and Kerry €1,198,846, the highest level of funding since the Programme began in 2015.

AIR FRANCE Anne Rigail was appointed the first ever female CEO of Air France to replace acting CEO Ben Smith, who is CEO of the group Air France-KLM.

The Dublin airport masterplan

Dublin plans

Fast track arrivals and rapid exit from T1 considered

ublin airport proposes a move for Terminal 1 security to prepare for 10m extra passengers from 2020. The move, new fast-track services and an enhanced food and retail offering are among the 100 projects outlined in Dublin’s draft capital investment programme, published by the Commission for Aviation Regulation All of the changes would cost €1.68bn if implemented, which includes a previously announced investment in new boarding gate areas, aircraft parking stands and other such infrastructure. Users of the airport have been invited to provide feedback on the 620page consultation document, which will inform the CAR’s draft airport charges for 2020 to 2024, to be published in April of next year and set in stone by September. Airport charges are levied on the airlines that use a hub based on fees for aircraft parking and runway movements, however higher costs are generally passed onto passengers. A total of 30m passengers use Dublin Airport each year, and its rapid growth has increased pressure on facilities.. Forecasting that it will attract 40m travellers by the year 2020, the airport outlined dozens of projects to help ensure its services keep up with the growth.

One such proposal is to move Terminal 1’s central security from the ground floor to the mezzanine level, which would cost an estimated €49.8m to complete. This would allow the airport to add more seats and retail and food outlets at the terminal’s departure area, where passengers typically spend 45 minutes before heading to their gate, as part of a €42.9m overhaul. The waiting area in its current form reaches capacity during peak demand hours, Dublin Airport said in the consultation document. Other proposed changes include upgrades to the airport’s fast-track security services, including a “barista bar” at the end of the lane. It’s plotting “visual improvements” to make fast-track “look and feel different from (the) central search”. Dublin is considering a fast-track arrivals service at Terminals 1 and 2 to allow passengers to skip queues at passport control and immigration for a fixed fee charged through the airlines. “This service is available in many other international airports,. “Several of Dublin Airport’s newest four- and five-star airlines have requested an arrival fast-track type product with the intention to use it for their first class, business class and frequent flyer customers.” The fast-works are estimated to cost €1.7m.

The airport is considering a “rapid exit” at Terminal 1 to allow passengers with carry-on luggage only to avoid having to walk through the baggage hall. The proposal document features several planned upgrades – such as new decorations and “spa-like showers” at the executive lounges in Terminals 1. “With the addition of new longhaul Asian routes (Cathay Pacific and Hainan Airlines) passengers tend to have a longer dwell time in the lounge resulting in over-capacity at certain times throughout the day,” the consultation document said. “With passengers paying a premium to access lounge facilities, it is important that passenger comfort expectations are met.” It is planning similar upgrades in the lounges at Terminal 2 and US pre-clearance, which are “becoming capacity constrained” at busy times. It is planning a new fourth lounge, bringing the lounge improvements tally to €11.4m. Other major developments include the building of 5,960 long- and shortterm car parking spaces, four new bus parking spaces and a consolidated car rental centre. It is looking to spend €1.6m on building charging points for electric vehicles and €2.2m on new digital advertising displays.

FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 51

THE FLYING COLUMN DRONES Under new European

laws, Irish owners of drones that weigh more than 250g will have to register them. Previously it was only drones over 1kg that had to be registered. IAA say there are 11,000 drones registered in Ireland - up from more than 8,500 in December 2017.

KERRY Airport’s Gateway Bar and

Restaurant is close from January 12 for four weeks for a refurbishment. A Coffee Dock will be available within the Departures Area for the period.

GALWAY Airport stakeholders including Galway Chamber lobbied government representatives for a permanent Park and Ride service at Galway Airport that was “vital” to the future of the aerodrome. Sean Doyle, new CEO of Aer Lingus

214 codeshares Aer Link-us moves to expand US connections

n application to add Aer Lingus to 214 additional codeshare segments with 72 new unique codeshare destinations in America, and 47 additional codeshare segments has been made in the USA. It was made by American Airlines, British Airways, Openskies SAS, Iberia, Finnair and Aer Lingus. They say the application for approval and antitrust immunity will

generate $96m in consumer benefits each year, The application argues this will expand Aer Lingus’ value-carrier service by unlocking new connections and introducing new routes to North America and stimulate new demand by 16,800 passengers per year. Aer Lingus will play the lead role in developing pricing for services between North America and Ireland

and will remain free to set fares sold through its direct distribution channels. American Airways will get 12 new unique codeshare destinations beyond Dublin: Cork, Donegal, Birmingham, Bristol, Newquay, Isle of Man, Jersey, Pula, Nantes, Verona, and Faro. It does not provide for Aer Lingus to join Oneworld; this decision will be made at a future date.

FLYBE TAKEOVER TO FEED MANCHESTER

he €2.4m bargain-basement takeover proposal for Flybe,by a consortium of Virgin, Stobart and US financiers Cyrus, will retain Flybe as an independent operating carrier with a separate English AOC under the Virgin Atlantic brand.

Meanwhile Swordsbased Stobart Air will continue under a separate Irish AOC. The deal may be an attempt by Virgin Atlantic to replicate the Aer Lingus transatlantic hub at Manchester. Cyrus, Stobart Group and Virgin Atlantic have committed to make

available a £20m bridge loan facility to support Flybe’s ongoing working capital and operational requirements. They intend to provide £80m of further funding to the Combined Group to invest in its business and support its growth, as well as a contribution of Stobart

proved by Government allow reimbursement by the airport authorities of the costs of additional and enhanced Preclearance services in Irish airports with US authorities continuing to fund a baseline level of service on a par with that

BELFAST International Airport pas-

sengers complained of continued long queues despite changing security firm from ICTS to Wilson James in November. Twitter posters said security queues on January 3 reached 80 minutes.

SHANNON CEO Matthew Thomas

told Clare County Council that a million people from Galway fly out of Dublin instead of Shannon Airport each year because that is their habit and there are 25 daily buses Galway-Dublin.

STATE papers show that during 1988, Taoiseach Charles Haughey tried without success to persuade Francois Mitterand to allow Ryanair fly to Paris Orly after Ryanair had been refused permission to use Beauvais airport because it was not in the Ireland/France air agreement. State papers also show Government officials and Farranfore airport’s board of directors lobbied to use the name Killarney International Airport. AER LINGUS is reducing Dub-

lin-Miami to 2w from June 9 until October 16.

SHANNON’s Helvetic service to Zurich will be discontinued in 2019.

IAA The Irish Aviation Authority handled 1.15m flights in 2018, unchanged on 2017.

Christine Ourmieres

US PRE CLEARANCE ENLARGED

errion St approved proposals for changes to the Ireland/US Preclearance Agreement to allow for enhanced services at Dublin and Shannon Airports. The amendments ap-

CLEGGAN Four years after the Government said it was disposing of airstrips at Cleggan and Inishbofin, it continues to pay private company, Bainistíocht Aerfort Teoranta to manage the facilities, along with three aerodromes on the Aran Islands.

which is offered at present. This is a good deal for airports and airlines and for the travelling public with whom Preclearance has been enormously popular. The additional costs will be borne by those benefitting from the enhanced

services and will not be a charge on the Exchequer. A number of other issues, including merchandise compliance agreements, the designation of preclearance areas and new signage to be placed in preclearance areas.

WOW has sold its Gatwick slots and moving full London operation to Stansted, as part of its operation to restructure and simplify its operations to return to its roots, reducing the fleet from 20 to 11 aircraft, all single-aisle Airbus. after the collapse of the Icelandair deal. GATWICK A 50.1pc stake in Gatwick Airport is to be sold to French operator Vinci Airports for £2.9bn. SOFIA City Court has asked the ECJ to rule if the airline forcing claimants to take their cases over EU rules for compensating passengers for delayed or cancelled cases to Ireland is valid.

FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 52

THE FLYING COLUMN DELIVERIES Boeing delivered 806

aircraft during 2018 while Airbus delivered 800. Both manufacturers missed their 2018 targets, Boeing by 10 aircraft and Airbus by 20, as the A220 was not included in the original guidance of 800 deliveries for 2018. Both struggled with engine deliveries to their best-selling B737 MAX and A320neo. Airbus added A330neo Trent 7000 delivery problems to the mix.

CAPA (Australia) was purchased by Informa, parent of ATW and Aviation Week. CAPA and all staff will remain and business will continue as usual under the CAPA brand.

SAFETY Aviation Safety Network recorded 15 fatal airliner accidents in 2018, resulting in 556 fatalities. This makes 2018 the third safest year ever by the number of fatal accidents and the ninth safest in terms of fatalities. The safest year in aviation history was 2017 with 10 accidents and 44 lives lost. Compared to the five-year average of 14 accidents and 480 fatalities, last year was worse on both accounts SECURITY Dublin Airport was fined

after passengers had to queue for 55 minutes at security last May and broke the 30 minute cap on security queues on three other occasions.

PRICE CAP A new Passenger Advisory Group will have a say in price caps at Dublin Airport. QATAR Amid its decision to increase

its summer frequency from seven to 11 flights, Qatar Airways told Travel Extra that it is pushing hard to increase Irish market share in both corporate and leisure, with free seat selection proving popular in economy.

MYTAXI Airport was the most popular destination for mytaxi passengers across Europe last year, with 1m passenger trips. ARAN Pádraig Ó Céidigh’s offer to sell

the Aer Arann Islands airline to the island CoOps for €1 has been withdrawn.

RYANAIR The London CAA granted

Ryanair an operating certificate for London-Scotland flights in advance of the Breat-imeacht/Brexit debacle.

CROATIA Airlines is to turn its A319

seasonal service Zagreb-Dublin into a yearround operation, effective April 9.

KNOCK airport reported passenger numbers up 3pc to a record 771,619 in 2018.

ICOA said air travel grew 6.1pc ins 2018 with low cost carriers handling 1.3bn passengers, 31pc world-wide, 36pc in Europe, 35pc in Latin America/ Caribbean, 30pc in N America and 29pc in Asia Pacific. BRUSSELS airlines has modified

operation for its tech-prone SuperJet SSJ100 aircraft leased from CityJet, with the last flight accelerated to the first week of January 19, instead of late March 19. Brussels -Billund. Brussels Airlines says it is looking for a new wet lease partner from Mar19.

Cathy mannion speaking at the ITAA conference in Philadelphia

EU airlines only

Tour ops told not to use British airlines after Brexit

he Commission for Aviation Regulation warned agents and operators that British airlines will no longer have the right to pick up passengers in Ireland and fly them to another member state in the event of a no deal Brexit. CAR wrote to tour operators, warning of potential dangers following the European Commission’s notice to stakeholders regarding the rules that will come into play if Britain leaves

the EU in a hard Brexit scenario. This document can be viewed in full here. Under a no-deal divorce by Britain at the end of March, British licensed air carriers would no longer be the holders of a European Union air carrier licence, and would no longer have free access to routes within the EU. They will no longer enjoy the right to pick up passengers in Ireland and fly them to another member state

such as Spain, Portugal, France or Italy. The Commission said it “has contacted all Irish travel agent and tour operator licence holders to remind them that it is important that they ensure that the air carrier with which they contract for the performance of flights on their behalf is the holder of an air carrier licence that entitles it to fly the routes set out in the contract”

20 OF 29 NEW ROUTES IN 2019 ARE FROM DUBLIN AIRPORT

ublin have the largest shares of new routes from Ireland in 2019, including Kyiv in Ukraine under the Ireland-Ukraine bilateral agreement. It follows the opening of an Aeroflot route in the autumn to Moscow– Sheremetyevo. Ryanair are also moving into Turkey with a new route to Bodrum under the Irish-Turkish bilateral, and wil operate a seasonal seervice to Dalaman for the second year. Long haul routes wil be commenced by Aer LinNgus to minneapolois St Paul and Montreal, American to Dallas, Norwegian to Hamilton and Westet to Cagliari and Halifax, Tunisia returns to the spider map with a Tunisair flight to Monastir from June 13. TUI Fly are also commencing a seasonal charter to Salzburg on May 29. Cork sees it biggest expansion in ten years with five new routes, three

from Rynair and two from Aer Lingus. Knock has a new Ryanair route to Cologone and Shannon has new routes to Ibiza and East Midlands.

Jet2 wil commence a route form Belfast International to Bourgas.

NEW ROUTES 2019 Halifax Westjet April 20 BELFAST INTERNL Hamilton Norwegian March 31 Bourgas Jet2 May 29

CORK

Dubrovnik Aer Lingus May 4 Malta Ryanair April 4 Poznan Ryanair April 2 Naples Ryanair June 2 Nice Aer Lingus May 1

DUBLIN

Bodrum Ryanair May 4 Bordeaux Ryanair April 4 Bournemouth Ryanair April 2 Caligari Ryanair July 2 Calgary Westjet June 1 Dallas American June 6 Dubrovnik Ryanair June 2, Gothenburg Ryanair May 4

Kyiv Ryanair May 2 Lisbon TAP March 31 Lourdes Ryanair June 2 Minneapolis Aer Lingus July 8 Monastir Tunisair June 13 Montreal Aer Lingus August 8 Riga Air Baltic March 31 Southend Ryanair April 2 Split Ryanair June 1 Thessaloniki Ryanair May 3

KNOCK

Cologne Ryanair June 1

SHANNON

Ibiza Ryanair April 3 East Midlands Ryanair April 5

FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 53

THE FLYING COLUMN SAFEST In terms of the number of pas-

sengers flown without a fatal accident, Ryanair is the safest airline in the world, followed by EasyJet.

CORK Brian Gallagher, Dublin Airport

is now head of aviation business development at Cork Airport

JOON (France) is to be absorbed into Air

France as the management and unions have now signed off on the deal. Displaced staff will enter the level of remuneration of those hired by Air France and will benefit from working conditions in force in the parent company.

Janine Brown, Liz Conlan, Fiona Noonan, Caitriona Toner and Tom Lattig who hosted an American Airlines travel trade event in the Shelbourne Hotel,

Dallas bound

June 6 Dreamilner route opens 35 new connections

CARLYLE Aviation Partners announced that Edward (Ted) O’Byrne has joined the team as a Managing Director and Co-Head of Aviation, where he will play a senior role in the firm’s aircraft leasing and financing activities.

KUWAIT Stopovers at Shannon between Kuwait and the US are set to end as Kuwait and the US are set to resume direct air flights after being required to stop en route for three years.

EMIRATES Dublin service flew 442,000 on the Dubai route in 2018, up 2pc, of om Latticg of American Air- day next summer. We are getting new that we can sell, the better we will be which 50.5pc connected to onwards destinalines came to Dublin to pro- gates in dallas next summer which able to meet the needs of the travel- tions in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Thailand, Vietnam and Japan. mote the new Dublin-Dallas will allow us to expand even more. It ling public. American Airlines do not use a daily route to commence on June 6 opens up Mexico a bit more. Dublin Airlines Ltd has an is a vibrant market and we think there handling agent in Dublin any more. HIBERNIAN 2019. Operating Licence from the Commission for They will be using the 787-900 is a great local market as well. We “Everything above the wing we do Aviation Regulation and has obtained its AOC on the route, which opens up 35 new think we are able to connect to more ourselves in Dublin,”Caitriona Toner from Irish regulators, with a planned initial unique one stop connections for Irish places. Austin for example, is a huge says. Since March American have fleet of three CRJ1000s for the European wet had 57 staff in Dublin and are handpassengers. The route replaces the technology centre in the USA. lease market. The airline is part of the Air NosDublin-JFK service. All international arrivals and de- ling their own check-in. trum Group (Spain) American extended the Shannon he said he expected a large Amer- partures in Dallas go to terminal D ican take-up for the services which so the Dublin arrival point, despite season last year. it did not work as EXPEDIA failed in its efforts to secure offers onward connections to Cer- pre-clearance in Dublin, is likely to wells they had hoped. The route is leave to appeal a decision in the US courts that back to the shorter season and is still will see a screen-scraping case taken against it tainly there will be a significant be Terminal D. by Ryanair proceed there. amount of US point of sale to Ireland He looked forward to working very strong inbound, 85-15. Concierge Key American Airways and the American love coming to more closely with Aer Lingus: “As has added two the head of sales I would love to elite level and British Airways are LAUDAMOTION Ireland. additional weekly Dublin to Vienna flights on Why Dallas? “First and foremost have Aer Lingus in my portfolio of working on a way to recognise inviMondays and Fridays from February 1 is our biggest hub, with 900 flights a products to be able to sell. The more tation only gold cards. AER LINGUS passenger traffic in the year 2018 was 9.8pc up on 2017 with passenger load factor 81.0pc, down 0.1 points. The Group passenger load factor was 83.3pc, up yanair carried a In Europe, Lufthansa EasyJet are in 5th place, place behind Finnair. record 139.2m pas- group finished 3.1m pas- with Turkish 6th, Aeroflot Worldwide, American 0.7 points, with International Europe at 83.2pc, sengers in 2018, up sengers ahead of Ryanair: 7th, Norwegian 8th, Wizz Airlines are the first airline up 1.2 points, and North America 83.3pc, un8pc on 2017, and achieved Lufthansa 142.3m, 2 9th and Pegasus 10th. If to pass 200, ahead of Delta changed. an industry leading aver- Ryanair 139.2m, 3 IAG still independent, Aer Lin- (192.5m) and Southwest DUBLIN Ralph Anker of Anna Aero age load factor of 96pc for 112.92m, 4 Air France/ guswith 13.1m passengers (163.6m). Ryanair are the reports Dublin growth at about 4.6pc in 2019 the first time. KLM 101.45m. would be in a notional 17th world’s 6h largest airline. Q2. Based on schedule data, seat capacity at They achieved the highEuropean airports is set to grow by 3.0pc while est annualised load factor RYANAIR PASSENGERS aircraft movements are up 2pc. Wizz Air is by in the history of aviation far the fastest growing with capacity up 20pc, 1985 5k  1994 1.7m  2003 23.1m  2012 79.8m  with 96pc. followed by easyJet up 8pc, and Ryanair and December load factor 1986 82k  1995 2.3m   2004 27.6m  2013 81.4m  Aer Lingus both up 4pc. was 95pc and passengers 1987 322k  1996 2.9m  2005 33.4m  2014 85.4m numbers with 10.0m (95%) ETIHAD had 10 A320neos and 26 1988 592k  1997 3.7m  2006 40.5m  2015 101.4m A321neos on order, but the commitment to on Ryanair and 0.3m 1989 644k  1998 4.6m  2007 49m 2016 116.8m the smaller variant has been cancelled, Airbus (93pc) on Laudamotion, 1990 745k   1999 5.3m  2008 57.5m  2017 128.77m confirms. which it acquired in August. Ryanair’s Decem1991 651k  2000 7.0m  2009 65.3m  2018 139.2m DAA put the concessions for its electronics ber 2017 growth rate had 1992 945k  2001 9.4m  2010 72.7m  stores at T1 And T2 at Dublin Airport back out fallen to 3pc as the airline to tender. 1993 1.1m  2002 15.8m  2011 76.5m  coped with pilot rostering.

RYANAIR CARRY 139.2m PAX

FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 54

AFLOAT FRED OLSEN Cruise Lines appointed Keith Norman as its first-ever dedicated river sales manager, with effect from January 1.

CARNIVAL Cruise Line dropped controversial plans to charge for most room service before 10pm. CUNARD

is to roll out its extra-fee Steakhouse at the Verandah, first trialled on the QM2, across its fleet.

OCEANIA Cruises is to build two new 1,200-passenger ships, the first in its Allura Class, at Fincantieri Shipyard in 2022 and 2025.

10 OUTBREAKS America’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded just 10 outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness on cruise ships in 2018 – the second lowest level since 2001.

Brendan Keating Chief Executive Port of Cork , Declan O’Connell MD Lee Travel and Capt Michael McCarthy Commercial Manager Port of Cork

Terminal call

PRINCESS Cruises announced a new wine list across its fleet of 17 ships.

FRED OLSEN says an arrangement allowing hauliers to carry freight by road into the EU for a nine-month period without having to apply for permits will be strictly time-limited, and will be ended without any consultation

CMV Cruise & Maritime Voyages said it will replace most of its scheduled Amsterdam calls following the introduction of a new tourist tax that will apply to all cruisers stopping over in the city. HURTIGRUTEN CEO Dan-

iel Skjeldam unveiled the 530-passenger ship Roald Amundsen at Kleven shipyard near Alesund in Norway last month, the first in the world to harness electrical propulsion to help it cruise silently in sensitive seas.

ROYAL CARIBBEAN is to end

its partnership with DreamWorks from April 1.

CARNIVAL Cruise Line promised the world’s first on board roller coaster on Carnival Mardi Gras,s scheduled to launch in 2020.

P&O sailings to the Norwegian Fjords from 2019 will feature shore excursions led by Chef Marco Pierre White, patissier Eric Lanlard and wine expert Olly Smith

SILVERSEA introduced new accessible shore excursions in nine destinations.

BRITTANY Ferries Cork to Santander route will continue through winter. MARELLA Former Irish girl band

B*witched are to join other 1990s acts, including Five and S Club Party, on Marella Cruises’ Electric Sunsets sailings next year.

MSC Cruises is to feature two new Cirque du Soleil shows on MSC Bellissima, which launches next March. CUNARD

has launched a spa brand in partnership with Canyon Ranch, called Mareel Wellness & Beauty. It debuted on the recently refurbished QE this month, to be followed by sister ships next year and in 2020.

Pot of Cork seeks terminal after 92 visits in 2018

he Port of Cork is looking to further develop its cruise ship facilities after what it called its “most significant cruise season ever”. In 2018 92 ships called to Cork. In October, the port visited all the major cruise lines calling to Cork and said the feedback from the companies “was very positive in terms of their

passenger experiences when visiting Cork”. Currently all cruise operations are handled in Cobh, Ireland’s only dedicated cruise berth, however the port of Cork is now keen to explore the option of a second cruise berth in Cobh. Brendan Keating, Port of Cork Chief Executive, said: ‘Even though

our cruise business has grown 30pc in the last year, the biggest beneficiary is the region with up to €12m injected into the local economy over the summer cruise season. This is a significant boost which we are delighted to facilitate. In 2019 we anticipate over 100 cruise calls to Cork and realistically this is how we expect the cruise business pace to continue.”

STENA STARTS BUILD FOR IRISH SEA SHIP

onstruction has begun in China on the third new Stena Line ship to be deployed on Irish Sea routes. The steel cutting phase has begun on the third E-Flexer RoPax ship at the Avic Weihai Shipyard in China, with the vessels due to enter

service in 2020 and 2021. Construction is halfway through on the first E-Flexer vessel which is planned to start service the Dublin-Holyhead route in early 2020, with four daily sailings and an estimated crossing time of 3.5 hours. Ian Davies, Stena

Line Trade Director Irish Sea South, said: “Construction is going to plan on our new generation E-Flexer vessel which is set to increase our freight capacity significantly on the Dublin to Holyhead route and raise the service standards for our travel and freight customers.

Ian Davies

IRISH FERRIES OPTIONS OPEN

rish Ferries say they continue to keep the situation under review after issuing a statement saying they are unlikely to operate a service between Rosslare Europort and France next year. The inventory released got the travel trade last

week did not include any Rosslare to Cherbourg sailings. Irish Ferries said a majority of its customers have a clear preference for the more central location and easy access of Dublin They said the WB Yeats ship will continue to sail

to operate between Cherbourg and Dublin. Irish Ferries said they wish to inform their customers that they are unlikely to operate a service between Rosslare and France in 2019. We continue to keep this situation under review. A

majority of our customers have a clear preference for the more central location and easy access of Dublin. Our new WB Yeats ship will operate from Dublin to Cherbourg, with 20pc greater passenger capacity up to 4 days per week.

FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 55

AFLOAT

Yeats arrives

CARNIVAL Legend will visit Belfast and Cork as part of its European cruises itinerary next year. RITZ CARLTON Yacht Collection’s is naming its first ship Azora, featuring 149 cabins, five dining venues and a spa.

Irish Ferries prepares to deploy new ferry from Dublin

rish Ferries finally managed to breathe a sigh of relief as its new WB Yeats ship finally arrived in Dublin Port before Christmas. The newly-arrived ship, built for service between Ireland, France and Britain, is a 51,388-tonne vessel measures 195 metres in length. It will offer up to four sailings a week directly from Dublin to France. Sailing from mid-March to the end of September, Irish Ferries said it will be “the only operator providing customers with a direct crossing from the convenient Dublin Port to the perennially popular holiday destination”. The ship had been due to enter service in July, but this was postponed to September initially, before a further delay. Irish Ferries said during the summer that it had “no option but to cancel all the planned sailings to France for WB Yeats this summer, with the ship now likely to com-

HURTIGRUTEN said it will power a fleet of ships partly through environmentally friendlier liquefied biogas - which is produced as dead fish and other organic waste decompose.

LONDON Plans for a cruise ship terminal in south-east London have been withdrawn by developers. LOUGH SWILLY

Ferry service connecting Rathmullan and Buncrana carried 26,000 foot passengers and 6,000 vehicles to date this year.

CARNIVAL Construction has begun in Turku on Carnival Cruise Line’s newest ship, which will be the largest in the fleet with 6,600 passenger capacity, and which launches in 2020.

Marie McCarthy and Ann Pye showcasing WB Yeats

mence sailing with Irish Ferries on Dublin / Holyhead as scheduled in September” It has capacity for 1,800 passengers, with 440 cabins, including luxury suites with private balcony

sea views and a dedicated butler seris to open two cruise terminals vice. The ship is styled in natural DUBAI in 2020 to accommodate up to three ships at tones, furnishings accented by mara time as it expects to attract 1m passengers a ble and steel, with creating It features year. Lady Gregory Restaurant and more casual Maud Gonne Bar.

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FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 56

GLOBAL VILLAGE

Inside the Travel Business

CELEBRITY in the margins of the Celebrity Edge launch conference, Lisa Lutoff-Perlo told Travel Extra she looked forward to extending the celebrity cruises season at Dublin port with the support of the Irish trade.

CORK AIRPORT Brian Gallagher, Dublin Airport is now head of aviation business development at Cork Airport

TRAVEL CENTRES s 2019 conference returns to Killashee House in Naas. BLUE INSURANCES Ciarán Mulligan was named Irish Business Man of the Year at this year’s Chambers Ireland/InBusiness awards, the seventh held, in Dublin’s Westin Hotel. ETIHAD Airways prize of two Business

Class tickets to Abu Dhabi was won by Corina Kenny from O’Learys Travel Wexford. She is pictured with Shannon O’Dowd of Etihad. Tourism Thailand roadshow will visit Thai Garden, Spanish Arch, Galway, on Thursday February 28th .

TRAVEL COUNSELLORS

Cork based Sarah McCarthy won top performer in Ireland for the ninth time at Travel Counsellors’ annual global conference, which took place in the SEC, Glasgow last month. Niall McDonnell’s Classic Collection released its Greece/Cyprus and Croatia 2019 brochures.

WILLIAM WALSH is moving

across the Liffey from Clickandgo to Gohop. He has been with Paul Hackett’s online agency since March 2014.

FCM Rhona McCann is to join Travelport from FCM on January 2

EXPEDIA Group CEO Mark Okerstrom told a media briefing at the company’s Explore ‘18 conference in Las Vegas that Google is his biggest competitor.

G ADVENTURES acquired small group youth travel specialist, TruTravels, which is based in Surrey. TRAVEL CORPORATION

Travel agents who book any Travel Corporation holiday between now and February 28 will be entered in a draw to win a €1,000 shopping spree .

BELFAST travel trade veteran Eamonn

Ferrin has been appointed head of sales Europe at NCL.

JOE TULLY is to close his Newbridge

branch and concentrate his business in Carlow. There were once seven travel agencies in Newbridge: Budget, Tully’s/Curragh, Toolin’s, Sundial, Brady Byrne, and the two survivors, Newbridge Travel and Cill Dara.

VISIT USA Committee Ireland Roadshow takes place in Hayfield Manor, Cork, April 9th and Dublin (Venue TBC) April 10.

THAILAND Agents who complete the eight modules on the Thailand Expert training course by December 31 can win a place on an agent fam trip to Phuket.

ITAA annual conference delegates outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Advisors or agents ITAA Conference in Philadelphia considers name

he Irish Travel Advisors Association? Genevive Strand, a speaker at the ITAA annual conference, held in Philadelphia for the first time, told how ASTA changes its name from Travel Agents to Travel Advisors after extensive consumer research. The business sessions of the conference tackled changes in technology with Simon Ferguson of Travelport, Mariana Fonseca of American Air-

lines and ITAA aviation representative Valerie Metcalfe, A discussing focussing on the American experience ensued with ASTA lobbyists Genevive Strand, Shaun Balani and ITAA member Paula Coughlan. It was followed by a robust questions and answers explanation session where Bill Byrne of Aer Lingus answered questions about his support for the travel trade.

Cathy Mannion of CAR fielded questions about the Commission and the upcoming package holiday directive (“clear as mud”was CEO Pat Dawson’s comment), with ITAA member Maureen Delmar. The conference was moderated by Travel Extra’s Eoghan Corry. Cordoba in Andalucia was named as the venue for the next ITAA conference in October 2019.

CLIA PLAN TRADE EVENT IN IRELAND

lIA’s London office said that CLIA intends holding an event for the Irish trade to boost cruise business out of Ireland in early 2019. Speaking to Travel Extra at the margins of the Celebrity Edge naming cruise, Andy Harmer of the nature of the

event has not yet been decided. Next years Rivercruise conference is likely to return to France, although it is not certain it will be Paris. Jo Rzymowska says Celebrity Edge will be taken out of revenue service upon arrival in Southampton for two days of onboard activ-

ities showcasing the ship’s features., May 1315, 2019 and will host the start of the CLIA conference on May 15, before repositioning to Barcelona for a 10-night cruise.

Andy Harmer

REBECCA KELLY JOINS PRINCESS

ebecca Kelly is to move to Princess Cruises. She has been Ireland country manager for MSC since 2008. Since establishing MSC Cruises in Ireland in 2011 she has grown the cruise line to rival Royal Carib-

bean as the largest cruise operator in Ireland. The company sold 17,000 cruise packages in 2017. “I’m really excited for the new challenge of opening up Princess Cruises further to the Irish Market. It’s a fantastic opportun-

ity,” Rebecca told Travel Extra.“Yes, the move is a huge surprise to many people in the industry - especially after I have been with MSC for 10 years but it is something. Rebecca is currently working out her notice

with MSC and will begin in her new role as Senior Sales Manager with Princess on March 18. Upcoming Princess launches include Sky Princess 2019, Enchanted Princess 2020 and three vessels from 2022, 2023 and 2025.

Presented by

RDS Hall 3, Ballsbridge THURSDAY 21st MARCH 2019

EXHIBITOR PROFILE

An initiative of the ITAA supported by Travel Centres, Worldchoice and Travelsavers

VISITOR PROFILE

• Airlines

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• Media

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• National/Regional Tourist Organisations

• Car Rental

• Technology and Communications Companies

• Cruise Companies • Ferries • Financial Services including Credit Cards

• Theme & Leisure Parks • Ticketing Agents

• Golf Resorts and Related Services

• Trade Associations

• Ground Handling

• Tour Operators

Travel Agent Proprietors, Managers and Frontline Travel Professionals.

PROMOTION OF THE SHOW A comprehensive promotional programme will ensure a high turnout of travel agent proprietors, managers and frontline travel professionals.

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Thursday 21st March 2019 2.00pm – 6.00pm

The Irish Travel Trade Show is organised on behalf of The Irish Travel Agents Association by Business Exhibitions Limited 59 Rathfarnham Road Terenure Dublin D6W AK70

Maureen Ledwith - Sales Director t: +353 (0)1 291 3700 • e: maureen@bizex.ie Paulette Moran - Sales Manager t: +353 (0)1 291 3702 • e: paulette@bizex.ie Angela O’Rourke - Business Development Manager t: +353 (0)1 291 3705 • e: angela@bizex.ie

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FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 58

GLOBAL VILLAGE

Inside the Travel Business FLEXIBLE Autos announcing a partnership with Bookabed in Ireland, Bookabed has also announced a strategic partnership with Best Western Hotels & Resorts to give Bookabed same-day availability for all room categories at preferred rates. Colleen Butler, Head of Product at Bookabed, said: Bookabed will be launching further products “in the coming weeks which will further enable agents to deliver better pricing, availability and options to their clients”. BARRHEAD Sharon Munro stepped

down as president of Barrhead Travel after 28 years with the company founded by her father, Bill Munro and will be succeeded by Jacqueline Dobson, completing the takeover by Travel Leaders Group.

TOPFLIGHT Dates and venues

for Topflight’s Italian roadshow have been confirmed, 6th February, The Strand Hotel, Limerick, 7th February, The Metropole Hotel, Cork, 13th February, The Crowne Plaza, Dundalk, 14th February, Newpark Hotel, Kilkenny, 20th February, Midlands Park Hotel, Portlaoise, 21st February, Salthill Hotel, Galway, 27th February, Mount Errigal Hotel, Letterkenny, 28th February, The Radisson Hotel, Belfast

TRAVELPORT Siris and Evergreen

will acquire all the outstanding common shares of Travelport for $15.75 per share in cash. The Board of Directors of Travelport unanimously approved the agreement and recommended that shareholders vote in favour of the transaction. Elliott and its affiliates have agreed to vote the common shares owned by them in favour of the transaction. .Ireland manager Riona McGrath said it is very much business as usual as we continue to focus on our commitment and dedication to the market. As we move into 2019, there will be no immediate change in terms of our approach and execution, and of course, our commitment to you, our customers.

INNSTANT Fiona Foster has joined Cassidy Travel from Innstant Travel.

CAR The Commission for Aviation Regulation sought permission to appoint a director of consumer protection in a workforce plan submitted to the department of transport.

TRAVEL CORPORATION

Sharon Jordan, Brian Hynes, Adam Goddard, Chris Townson and Adam Goddard and Daniel Budberry of the Travel Corporation hosted 32 key trade at the Ivy rooms, Dublin. Deirdre Sweeny of Sunway, Maura Fahy of Corrib Travel, Ciara Foley of Platinum travel and George Barter of J Barter Travel were presented with the inaugural TTC awards on behalf of the group’s four brands

FRED OLSEN Cruise Lines is seeking a new MD after Mike Rodwell announced he will retire next summer after 15 years in the role. CIARA FOLEY of Platinum Travel attended the Travel South USA International Showcase in Nashville, Tennessee

View from the podium, ITAA conference in Philadelphia

No clarity at all Ireland one of two countries waiting to sign

reland is one of just two countries which has not yet signed the statutory instrument to bring the Package Holiday directive into effect. The directive was supposed to have been signed on July 1. Transitional arrangement directive will apply from when the statutory instrument issues for new applicants and from the May 2019 round of licensed. Already, of the entities established

outside Ireland, 39 licenses were terminated or expired. Entities selling ex-Ireland must provide evidence of protection. Entities established in Ireland are given insolvency protection for any packages originating in other member states when they receive their license. Commissioner Cathy Mannion updated travel trade at the ITAA Conference in Philadelphia. At Worldchoice conference, Gavin

Lyons outlined common mistakes in the licensing procedure: Management Accounts received with the application must be from date of last annual accounts to four months prior to licence date, n management accounts Jan to June. n capital injection ‘What if’ scenario n Borrowings all details and copies of letters from providers, overdraft, n loans must be provided. n Incomplete declaration sheet.

MARCH 21 IS DATE FOR TRAVEL TRADE SHOW

he Irish Travel Trade Show is returning to the RDS Main Hall Complex on Thursday, March 21. Early exhibitor registration is encouraged as the show is set to attract a large number of exhibitors and trade visitors. Now in its fifth year,

the show, organised by Business Exhibitions Ltd, will feature over 100 of the world’s bestknown brands. The Spanish Tourism Office will host a lunch for invited guests in advance of the show, while the DAA will sponsor registration. The Portuguese Tourism Board will

sponsor the After-Show Party and Networking Event for Visitors and Exhibitors when the show ends at 6pm. The Trade Show is an opportunity for travel professionals to strengthen business relationships and stay up to date with the emerging trends in travel.

Maureen Ledwith

DAVID LAST TOYOTA FINALIST

avid Kinsella from eTravel is the December finalist in the Blue Insurance car competition. He is now in with a chance to win a Toyota Yaris hybrid from Toyota Sandyford. He follows previous

finalists Margaret Kilduff of Joe Walsh Tours, Toni Fennell of Abbey Travel, Karen Thornton of KT Travel Dundalk, Theresa Davey from Mackin Travel Wexford, Sharon Fleming from Thomson Travel Lurgan, Elaine Har-

ding of the Garda Holiday Club, Douglas Hastings of Travel Counsellors, Yvonne O’Donohue from O’Donohue Travel Gorey, Catherine O’Dwyer from Michael Bowe Travel, Lisa Sprake from Oasis Travel, Nicola Churchill

from Best4travel and Alice Carrick of Tour America The competition, which is running in association with Toyota Sandyford, The Home of Hybrid,started in November of last year.

Last month in numbers

139.2m Number of passengers carried by

Ryanair in 2018 up 8pc. Ryanair carried 592k in 1988, 4.6m in 1998 and 57.5m in 2008.

31.4m Number of passengers who travelled through Dublin airport in 2018.

13.1m Number of passengers carried by Aer

Lingus in 2018, also a record.

u6.9bn Irish earnings form overseas tourism in 2018 as calculated by ITIC

11,2m Number of overseas visitors to Ireland in 2018 according to Tourism Ireland, a new record

4,000 Number of beds needed to meet the accommodation shortfall in Dublin.

587 Number of fatalities in air crashes worldwide in 2018 making it 4th safest year on record

FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 59

WINDOW SEAT

ECHOES OF ROMANTIC PARIS

mall town girl, 19, and a north African boy, fall in love i Paris. A novel about the city. The two narrators, Hannah and Tariq, realise that the histories of war and empire cast long shadows on to presentday Paris. Tariq smuggles himself there from Morocco, searching for some trace of his dead mother and his French-Algerian heritage. He ends up crashing in Hannah’s spare room. Hannah is older Recently returned to Paris, she finds herself flooded by memories of a failed relationship when she lived in the city 10 years earlier.

Paris Echo by Sebastian Faulks is published by Cornerstone

Hannah spends her time in an archive, piecing together the Paris of the past, while Tariq hustles for a different future, hungry for new opportunities. The forgotten history of women in wartime that Hannah uncovers is paralleled by what Tariq discovers about the piedsnoirs (ethnically French Europeans, resident in Algeria between 1830 and 1962) and the Harkis (Muslim Algerians on the side of the French during the Algerian war of

independence, from 1954 to 1962). Hannah surveys the city and finds the iniquities of history everywhere – the Vélodrome d’Hiver where French Jews were confined; Drancy, the internment camp from which they were deported. Tariq, by contrast, ebulliently jumps the barriers to the Paris Métro, exploring lines and districts, mouthing the station names to himself: “Barbès-Rochechouart! I mean, what was that?”

Busman’s holiday: John Spollen Every month we ask a leading travel professional to write about their personal holiday experience. This month: John Spollen of Cassidy Travel, President of the ITAA

ith over 35 years in the travel business, you’d think I might be personally bored with travelling at this stage. Wrong. Travel gives me a buzz. A sense of purpose. And also an escape. I’m just back from my annual escape to the Algarve. It makes for a great destination for a family holiday, both for young children or teenagers. I have been visiting the Algarve with the children for many years. Apart from sea and sand, it is truly a sporting paradise. And it was just wonderful to indulge my twin passions for tennis and golf. Yes I know the weather has been wonderful in Ireland too this year, but in order to

get away, you need to get out of your own environment. I find it hard to truly switch off. But in fact, I get some of my best ideas about business when I am away and have time to think. That’s ok too. You can’t run a very personal business like Cassidy Travel and be totally remote from it. And that’s why Portugal and the Algarve are so great. It’s like putting your slippers on for a couple of weeks to just chill with the extended family. But I don’t always want that feeling of putting the slippers on. I love new places, and like everyone I have a long bucket list. For sure everyone needs something to look forward to. The new flights to China and Kong Hong from Dublin this year have really started me thinking seriously about getting to know China.

The ITAA president’s favourite destination, the Algarve

I want to “ do” South America. I want to head to Argentina. Maybe do that Steak Tour that John Torrode talked about on TV. And do some Malbec Wine Tasting. And I’d love a Gaucho Day. Mad. But true.. Then I’d head for Peru, experience Machu Picchu and see places like the floating islands at Lake Titicaca. What I am really fascinated with and want to see is the Nasca Lines. It’s only about 100 years since they were discovered yet they are reputed to be over 2000 years old.

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

t is the year of the airport, two new airport that will bring a sea-change in the struggle for aviation market share. The new Istanbul airport’s three runways will handle 3,000 flights a day, carrying 90m flyers a year; by 2028 there will be six runways carrying more than 200m passengers annually. Daxing airport in Beijing, due to open this autumn 2019, will have eight runways and initially handle

100m passengers a year. IATA predicts that China will overtake America as the world’s biggest aviation market by 2022, and will go on to hit a total of 1.5bn passengers a year by 2036. This affects not just the host country but the host carrier. The Gulf carriers, Emirates of Dubai, Etihad of Abu Dhabi, and Qatar Airways, have overtaken the European carriers as the airlines of choice on the trunk routes. Tech-

nology and geography combined to place them at the heart of the aviation world. The new giant hubs in Beijing and Istanbul will create turbulence for both the new and old world orders, locked in their old circular debate about state subsidies. Cheap connecting flights from Europe to Australia via Beijing are less the result of state subsidies than of efforts to sell spare seats on profitable flights. All change.

I’m also looking forward to Philadelphia later this year for the ITAA Conference, it’s the first time the Conference has been held outside of Europe... It’s not a city I know, so that is something to look forward to...see the Liberty Bell – maybe even run up the “ Rocky” steps if I get time. And have a Philly Steak. It’s all about the steak. And the bucket list. So for whatever the reason you decide to travel, I have no doubt you will have the most amazing time and like me catch the Buzz and never want to stop...

IN YOUR NEXT TRAVEL EXTRA: Available to Travel Agents or online February 8 2019

AWARDS ISSUE IRISH TRAVEL TRADE SALUTES CHAMPIONS SUMMER 19 TRENDS

FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 60

MEETING PLACE

el McAuliffe of Travel Joanna Gomez and No conference in Fota, es ntr Ce vel Focus, at Tra Cork

Graham Hennessy of DS and John Barrett of Ma D with Helen McCarthy gic Vacations at Travel Centres conference in Fota, Cork

Mcnon airport and Riona rDeclan Power of Shan nfe Co d lan Ire rldchoice Grath of Travelport, Wo ny ken Kil , ath Lyr at ce en

Lee Osborne of Booka be Irish Ferries, Worldcho d, Dermot Merrigan of ice Ireland Conference Lyrath, Kilkenny at

elyn McClafferty of AtEmma McHugh and Ev Ireland Conference at ice cho rld Wo , lantic Travel Lyrath, Kilkenny

James Moore and Ange Hire at Travel Centres la Day of Affordable Car conference in Fota, Co rk

Out and about with the Travel Trade

Danielle O’Keeffe and Anne O’Sullivan, Jaclyn Joyce and Lisa Howie Raya Sa of Travel Focus, at Travel Centres conference in don Travel, Worldchoice Irelan ntagati of Shand Conference at Lyr ath, Kilkenny Fota, Cork

Jeanette Taylor of Sunway, Shannon O’Dowd of Etihad and Valerie Murphy of Celebrity Cruises, Worldchoice Ireland Conference at Lyrath

ry Travel and Kate Mc Corina Kenny of O’Lea vel Killarney, Worldchoice Gillycuddy of Abbey Tra ath, Kilkenny Lyr Ireland Conference at

Rita Teresa Gancedo and Kathryn MacDonnell of The Ce and Siobhan Flynn of Gail Travel, at Travel ntres conference in Fo Spanish Tourist Board, Worldchoice Ireland Conta, Cork ference at Lyrath, Kilkenny

Sinead Sheehan, Yvonne Kirwan and Daniella Lenihan of Globe Hoptels, at Travel Centres conference in Fota, Cork

at ch of Travel Advisors, Cliona and Andrew Lyn ce in Fota en fer Travel Centres con

John Booty of Wendy Wu and Karen Whyte of Alanna Byrne of MS American Holidays. at Travel Centres conference Headon Represen C and Audrey Headon of tation at Travel Centres in Fota conference in Fota, Cork

deirdre Flynn, Marie Grenham, Pauline Grenham and Margaret Roper of Grenham Travel, Worldchoice Ireland Conference at Lyrath, Kilkenny

adeus, Paul Nolan of Olwen McKinney of Am d Conference at Lyrath, lan APG, Worldchoice Ire Kilkenny

FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 61

Out and about with the Travel Trade

MEETING PLACE

<Mmp Dy ultina pleCro intewle rseyctin angd link Mary Lee Johnston of Le Tfavel, at Travel Centr s> ine O’Toole of Fahy rol Ca d an Siobhan Geraghty of Cavan Travel and Elisha rty he Fla es conference in Fota, e , ath Fiona Lyr at ce ren nfe Co d Co rk lan Ire ice Bernie of Neenan Travel, at Travel Centres concho Travel, World ference in Fota, Cork Kilkenny

Riona McGrath and Ta ra Hynes of Travelport, Travel Centres confer at ence in Fota, Cork

Ruth Reilly, Paula Wods and Sandra Gough of Arrow Tours, Worldchoice Ireland Conference at Lyrath, Kilkenny

y/ ia Grealish of Breakawa Samantha Daly and Gina Smith of Best4Travel, Elisha Bernie and Patric Centres conference in at Travel Centres conference in Fota, Cork Neenan Travel at Travel Fota, Cork

Sharon Jordan and Bri an Corporation, Worldcho Hynes of The Travel ice Ireland Conference Lyrath, Kilkenny at

of bed, Jens Bachmann Lee Osborne of Booka Blaithin O’Donnell of Air s, Aviareps China Airline Conference Canada, Worldchoice

Michelle Ryan and Jen nife Caribbean at Travel Ce r Callister of Royal ntres conference in Fo Cork ta,

Tara Hynes and Riona McGrath of Travelport with Mary Denton of Sunway, at Travel Centres conference in Fota, Cork

Carol Hurley of the Travel Corporation and Michael Coffee, at Travel Centres conference in Fota, Cork

Marie McCarthy, Dermot Merrigsan and Anne Pye of Irish Ferries, Worldchoice Ireland Conference at Lyrath, Kilkenny

n Travel and John Spolle Martin Skelly of Navan ent of the ITAA, Worldof Cassidy Travel presidce at Lyrath, Kilkenny choice Ireland Conferen

Avril McGrath of Grog an Sweeney of Corrib Tra travel with Ciara vel Corrib Travel, Worldcho and Grainne Small of ice Ireland Conference Lyrath, Kilkenny at

ham of Grenham Travel Pauline and Marie Gren Manning `Travel, Worldof with Colette Desmond ce choice Ireland Conferen

Deirdra Healy of Neen an Jason Kearns of Qatar Travel/Breakaway, Airways, Elisha Bernie Neenan Travel, World choice Ireland Conferen of at Lyrath, Kilkenny ce

ey DSD and Celine Buckl ta, Graham Hennessy of in Fo ce en fer con es ntr Ce of E-travel, at Travel November 9 2018

FEBRUARY 2019 PAGE 62

MEETING PLACE

Out and about with the Travel Trade

art Dermot Merigan, Ann Pye and Marie McCarthy adeus and Robbie Sm Olwen McKinney of Am ice Ireland Conference at of Irish Ferries, at Travel Centres conference in cho rld of Bedsonline, Wo Fota, Cork Lyrath, Kilkenny

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Ailise Colfer of Mackin Travel, Adele Fortune of Mackin Travel, Sinead Casey of Mackin Travel, Linda Macken of ATTS, Worldchoice Conferenc

el and Paul Nolan of Celine Buckley of E-travconference in Fota es ntr APG, at Travel Ce

Jeff Collins and Danielle Lenihan of Best4Travel with Audrey Headon of Headon Representation, at Travel Centres conference in Fota, Cork

Aanna Byrne of MSC an Ifonly, Worldchoice Ire d Martin Penrose of land Conference at Lyr ath, Kilkenny

Padraic Keogh and Liz McGonagle of PK Travel and Robbie Smart of Bedsonline, at Travel Centres conference in Fota, Cork

Phelan of Strand Travel ice Ian Collins and Sophie eary Travel, Worldcho with Dawn Nolan of O’L ath, Kilkenny Lyr Ireland Conference at

Maura Maloney of Du blin ter of Aer Lingus at Tra Airport and Jenny Rafvel Centres conference Fota, Cork in

Jane Pinfold and Alexis with Kathryn MacDonne Bull of James Villas Board, at Travel Centr ll of The Spanish Tourist es conference in Fota,

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urs, Jane Nevin of Arrow To Audrey Grennan and Kil , ath Lyr at nference Worldchoice Ireland Co kenny

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