Travel Extra October 2016

R U CLUB MED ALL INCLUSIVE AND STYLISH O Y DE VAL d’ISERE CHALET STYLE A R R T PE BULGARIA BACK ON THE MAP PA Bedbanks: what next

Irish airports record year

Newark with Aer LIngus

IRELAND'S PREMIER SOURCE OF TRAVEL INFORMATION Free

OCTOBER 2016

VOLUME 21 NUMBER 9

A sneak peak up the mountain

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC HAS IT ALL

Email: uk@godominicanrepublic.com Visit: www.godominicanrepublic.com Study: go-dominicanrepublic.eu

OCTOBER 2016 PAGE 3

www.travelextra.ie

Simpler skiing

Topflight moves to simplify resort pricing systems

B

oth of Ireland’s lead ski tour operators have upgraded their agents selling packs in advance of the 2016-7 ski season and boosted capacity by 20pc as they anticipate numbers to return to pre-recession levels.

Christmas falls awkwardly for ski operators this winter, on a Sunday so the changeover day has been moved to Tuesday. That means a five night ski package is on offer to skiers on January 3 before the Sunday changeover returns. Crystal are offering buy one get one free ski packs on December 31st.

Crystal operate their own charters from Dublin to Salzburg and Dublin to Verona, the only flight from Dublin to Innsbruck, a weekly charter with 98 seats to Chambery and from Belfast to Geneva and Salzburg.

Topflight operate charters using Aer Lingus to Salzburg and Toulouse and use Aer Lingus services to Geneva, Lyon and Milan.

The two operators are sharing flights from Cork to Salzburg. Peter McMinn’s Travel Solutions plans a programme from Dublin to Bulgaria, reviving a weekly charter operated

IRISH FAVOURITES

1 Westendorf Soll 2 StJohann 3 Mayrhofen 4 Saalbach 5 Zell am Zee 6 Arinsal 7 Livigno 8. Val d’Isere 9 Pas de la Casa 10 Val Thorens

NEWS SRI LANKA declared itself malaria-free after meeting the criterion of going three years without an infection. By the end of the decade, another 21 countries, including China, Malaysia and Iran, could be free of the disease, which kills 400,000 people, mostly babies and pregnant women, every year. The countries on the list of 21 that could eliminate malaria within the next four years, published by the WHO in April, are: Algeria, Be-lize, Bhutan, Botswana, Cape Verde, China, Comoros, Costa Rica, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador, El Salvador, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, Paraguay, Saudi Arabia, South Africa Suriname, Swaziland and Timor-Leste,

EUROPE Travel to Europe is down 0.9pc in the summer season, new data from ForwardKeys has revealed. Ireland has bucked this trend with travel up 18pc for the same period.

Anthony Collins. Michelle Anderson and Maurice Shiels of Topflight

by Radka Lynn’s Balkan Tours from 1978 to 2011.

Topflight are resuming or starting four French resorts, Tignes, Aimes 200, Arc 1800, and Arc 1950. The Irish owned operator has 13 resorts in Austria for sale this winter, 13 in France, Livigno in Italy, and three in Andorra. They are also selling tailor made and ski for schools programmes in Lillehammer and New Hampshire.

Crystal has access to the TUI inventory of 113 resorts including new resorts Sunpeaks in Canada and Hochsolden in Austria, with its exclusive ski in ski out product.

They say they are working on Ski packet ancillaries which had become more and more complex and difficult for both for agents and consumers to understand.

Anthony Collins of Topflight says “We set out to have everything clearly named, with the same name in

a single resort. Our aim was to create a ski pack where everything is clearly named and it has the same name in every resort in every country. Some were pricing on the age or standard of the equipment and some were going on the standard of the skier.”

“Travel agents selling beginners ski will know that this will be the same in every resort that we feature.

It took more work than you can imagine to get to it, to get the pricing simplified, to get the naming right and to make sure the suppliers accept it but now it is in there with the descriptions in place which will appear our own website and the agents’ booking tool set.”

“So when they have a customer on front of them or on the phone they know what equipment is suitable for whom and if they want to follow up they will know with confidence.”

CSO statistics showed trips by Irish residents overseas from May to July 2016 were up 3.7pc.

ISTANBUL’s third bridge over the Bosphorous opened, the $3bn 1,408m Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge. It features 10 lanes, including two rail lines. Officials say the bridge’s 322m high towers are the tallest in the world.

CANADA From September 30, Canadian citizens with dual citizenships will only be allowed to fly into the country if they have a valid Canadian passport.

LONDON’s mayor Sadiq Khan

launched the night services on the Central and Victoria tube lines.

NIAGARA A zipline opened at Niag-

ara Falls. The Mistrider runs along four lines facing the American and Canadian Horseshoe Falls. For $50, riders zip from a 200 ft height along a 2,200 ft line, reaching a top speed of 70 kph.

DUBAI Parks and Resorts have announced ticket prices for their upcom-ing theme park destination (Bollywood Parks Dubai, Motiongate Dubai, and Legoland Dubai).

DISCOVER THE MAGIC OF LAPLAND Direct flights from Dublin International Airport 10th, 16th, 17th December 2016 Online

Call

In Store Prices are subject to change and availability. Terms and conditions apply. Thomson is fully bonded and licensed by CAR (TO 021).

OCTOBER 2016 PAGE 4

THE KNOWLEDGE Travel Extra Advertising & Subscriptions 59 Rathfarnham Road Terenure Dublin D6WAK70 t+3531 2957418 Editorial Office Clownings Straffan Co Kildare W23 C6X9 Managing Editor: Gerry O’Hare gerry@travelextra.ie Editor: Eoghan Corry eoghan.corry@ travelextra.ie Publisher: Edmund Hourican edmund@bizex.ie Sales Director: Maureen Ledwith maureen@bizex.ie

t: +3531 291 3700 Sales Manager Paulette Moran paulette@bizex.ie t: +353 (0)1 291 3702 Accounts and Advertising: Maria Sinnot maria@bizex.ie T: +3531 291 3707 Distribution Manager Shane Hourican shane@bizex.ie t: +3531 291 3706 Pictures: pix@travelextra.ie Sunday Supplement & Online: Conor McMahon conor@travelextra.ie Chief Features Writer: Anne Cadwallader anne@travelextra.ie Contributors : Eanna Brophy Marie Carberry marie@travelextra.ie Siobhan Coakley Louise Coughlan Carmel Higgins carmel@travelextra.ie Cauvery Madhavan Sean Mannion Catherine Murphy cathmurph@yahoo.com Cathy Wilson

Travel Extra takes no responsibility for errors and omissions.

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CONTENTS

www.travelextra.ie

3 News Where to go, how much to pay 6 Hotels: News 8 Postcards: News from the trade 10 Ski: Catherine Murphy’s Top 6 11 Tenerife: Sporty winter ahead

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14 Destinations: The season ahead 16 Ski: Club Med Val Thorens 18 Ski: Val d’Isere with Skibeat 20 Destination: Germany 22 Destination: Spain 24 Destination: Australia 26-27 Afloat: Cruise and ferry news

28-32 Flying: Airline and airport news 36 Afloat: News from cruise and ferry 38 Ireland: Home holiday news 42 Global Village Inside the travel industry 44 Window seat: Our columnists 45 Pictures: Out and about

Selling a ski holiday

xpectations of a skiing holiday are high at the best of times. Choosing the right package is down to identifying needs. If you get it right, your clients will book ski with you for winters to come. Get it wrong, and they won’t come back.

advantages, particularly on a short break. The efficient public transport systems in Norway and Switzerland mean that clients can take control of their own transfers and travel by rail. Don’t forget you have to haul bags in and out of carriages, a factor for families. Short transfers offered in Austria from Salzburg are a bonus.

BUDGET It is all

about budget. This needs to be established at the very beginning of the conversation along with finding out their expectations of the resort, ski area or accommodation.

KNOW your piste:

do as much as you can to familiarise yourself (and therefore the client) with the product before they leave. Study piste maps for major resorts all available online, that way you can both start planning their first morning’s skiing before they leave. Attend the training courses offered by tour operators.

VALUE If you are

not tied to dates, travelling with a family, or in a job like teaching, look out for low season dates such as mid January or St Patrick’s week, where you can get really good value and ONLY from the tour operators.

GROUPS If people want to travel in a group, and stay in the same hotel, you need to plan and get your booking in early. Remind the customer that only agents and tour operators offer these group deals.

GEAR Skiing needs gear, and gear weighs a lot. Remind clients they need a proper luggage allowance if they are bringing their own, as ski boots can weigh up to 7kg.

BUYING GEAR

If it is their first ski holiday, borrow from friends. Clients don’t need to buy skis. With changing technologies every year, it is much better to rent your skis in resort. BUT, if you find a comfortable pair of

Know the snow before you go

boots, buy them! Great Outdoors in Dublin have a great boot fitter called Neil. In resort, check out great deals in Livigno, Andorra, and end of season in Austria, especially in the Hervis chain. At home, check out TK Maxx in season, watch for deals in LIDL and ALDI but if you need serious kit head for places like Great Outdoors who know what they are talking about.

Tour operator clients can get discounts there on production of their invoice.

MANAGE expectations. Some of the destinations come with well groomed reputations that are outdated or have been endangered by complacency. What is

the skiing ability of the family members? Does the resort match their requirements?

WHEN you tell people exactly what is included it removes all the hassle. What is included in the package – flight, hotel, transfer, meals, lift pass, ski hire, childcare? What can be pre-booked from home to save time on arrival?

AREAS The days

when resorts operated their own slice of mountain ended two decades ago with the linking of huge ski areas with cable cars and funiculars, the Four Valleys, Les Trois Vallées, Espace Killy Skiwelt, Ski amadé, Kitzbüheler Alpen, Paradiski, Grandvalira, (there are more). That

means you don’t have to stay in the flagship resort to enjoy all the skiing.

Look out for cheaper and less crowded options or niche resorts that link into large ski areas.

TRANSFERS

Remember transfers can be long and awkward, even if you reach the resort, which can be a three hour experience, on a slow bus navigating narrow winding mountain roads, the drop off at the hotel can add to the journey and occasionally there can be an unexpected stop when the driver is out of hours. Clients should be prepared for all eventualities. Some resorts have short transfers of an hour or less which can make it worth sacrificing other

EXTRAS Get them ready for the prices they might encounter, which might do them an injury not unlike the one they might encounter on the slopes. You can pay €100 for four drinks in the nightclub in Verbier. Drink is cheap in Andorra or Livigno, but everything up the mountain is three times what you pay down in the valley. The trip down from Les Arcs to Bourg St Maurice can be worthwhile and enhance the holiday experience.

MEALS Most resorts have a good reputation for cuisine and lively, if expensive, nightlife. The pattern is breakfast in the hotel, lunch up the mountain and dinner back in the town. Half board limits the options of the clients.

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OCTOBER 2016 PAGE 6

HOTELS

www.travelextra.ie

OCCUPANCY UP The Hotel Industry in Ireland has increased occupancy levels by 3.3pc, according to Aiden Murphy’s The Crowe Horwath Ireland Hotel Industry report.

HOTELBEDS Cinven and Canada

Pension Plan Investment Board has completed the acquisition of Hotelbeds Group, the global provider of B2B hotel room distribution to the travel industry through its brands Hotelbeds and Bedsonline. Hotelbeds is the largest independent B2B bedbank globally, offering hotel rooms to the travel industry from its inventory of 75,000 hotels in 180 countries to its customer base across more than 120 source markets

TETRARCH Capital got the go-ahead from An Bord Pleanála for a 158-bedroom seven storey €16m boutique hotel behind the former Clerys department store, converting Sackville House into the new hotel. Tetrarch Capital owns the Marker hotel in Dublin and the Powerscourt Hotel in Co Wicklow.

TRIVAGO reports that London hotel prices are at their lowest since March, at €168 per night, down 16pc from July and 15pc on August 2015. Edinburgh hotel prices are 41pc more expensive than London.

CURRAN HOTEL The

Curran Court Hotel in Co Antrim was put on the market by the receiver.

VENICE TravelMag.com claimed Venice has Europe’s most exensive city hotel.

BLACKSTONE The imminent €180m sale of 399 room DoubleTree by Hilton (formerly Burlington) hotel to German asset manager DekaBank will mean owners Blackstone will double their money, they paid €67m for the hotel in 2012 and spent €20m on refurbishment.

PIPELINE The July 2016 Pipeline Re-

port from STR Global shows 148,483 rooms in 966 projects under contract in Europe, up 13pc on July 2015. Europe reported 63,353 rooms in 424 projects in construction for the month, up 18.4pc. Greater London reported the most rooms in construction with 5,400 rooms in 32 hotels.

IHG

has signed an agreement with developer UBM Development AG to bring a Holiday Inn to Gdansk, Poland, which will open in 2019 with 236 rooms. It will be the sixth property in Poland for IHG, and there are anoth-er six Polish assets in its pipeline.

AIRBNB now has a disruptor of its own:

The Wall Street Journal reports that a new San Francisco-based startup could simplify the process of regulating Airbnb for cities and municipalities. The startup, named Host Compliance, helps cities “crack down on Airbnb abuses by rooting out rental listings that violate local laws” by compiling data on listings and providing reports on those that might violate law regulations.

HOTELSPRO Nevgul Bilsel Safkan was appointed MD of technology and reservation solutions HotelsPro

North Infirmary to €8.1m hotel: The Maldron in Cork

Dalata’s 4 more

Hotel purchase in Cork start of further expansion

D

alata group have completed the purchased the Maldron Hotel Cork for €8.1m.

The hotel group exchanged contracts to purchase three buildings adjacent to Maldron Hotel Parnell Square for €5m with a view to extending that hotel.

In August the group entered into exclusive discussions to acquire the operating interest and commit to a leasehold interest in Doubletree by Hilton Hotel on Burlington Road.

The hotel is being sold by private-equity group Blackstone in a deal expected to achieve €180m.

Dalata is Ireland’s largest hotel business and says it invested €13.2m in hotel development and refurbishment in the first half of 2016 and was

progressing plans to develop new hotels in Dublin, Cork and Galway and obtain planning permission for extensions to four of its hotels in Dublin and Galway, to add 400 full time roles to current employee base of 3,610 people RevPar rose 11.2pc to €74.90, while noting prospects remained “very strong” for the hotel market in Dublin and the regional cities.

The group reported a 33pc jump in revenue to €130.1m for the six months to the end of June. The company, which runs a string of hotels under the Clayton and Maldron brands, made a pretax profit of €18.2m, up from €2.7m for same period last year. Diluted earnings per share for the period increased from

0.429 cent to 8.429 cent.

The reduction in the value of sterling continues to have a significant negative impact on “euro-translated” earnings from Dalata’s English hotels, it said.

The publicly quoted company also said a significant reduction in the value of sterling would make Ireland a more expensive destination for English visitors, which could impact on the number of English residents staying in Irish hotels.

Chief executive Pat McCann said. “we have not seen any impact on trading at our hotels but we are monitoring booking levels closely to ensure that we react quickly to any impact, overall trade remained above expectations.”

REGULATORS MOVE ON OTA’s

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ost favoured nation‘ clauses negotiated between large online travel businesses and hotels are coming under fire.

The clauses are those in which it is agreed that the business which the agreement is with is offered the lowest price and the hotel does not sell rooms for less on their own website or to competitors.

France has recently introduced a law that bans these terms as being anti-competitive, following Germany’s Federal Cartel

Office’s action against the Hotel Reservations Service.

Other countries are following suit. Criticism from large online travel businesses has followed: Booking.com’s regional director for France, Spain, and Portugal, Carlo Olejniczak, claimed that this could lead to price wars, which could in turn affect hotel margins and the quality of what is offered.

Australia’s competition authority has negotiated with OTAs in a move against the parity clauses

that OTAs force on hotel clients.

Goodbody equity analyst Mark Simpson said: “This opens up the platform for hotels to be more in charge of their own prices. It is likely these measures will be taken in other countries.

This will aid hotels who are seeking to increase their own direct sales, but have agreed upon terms with online retailers preventing them from offering a lower price on their own websites.”

This is good news for Ryanair, which is moving into the area of offering accommodation this Autumn. Removing the ‘parity clause’ or ‘most favoured nation’ clause will allow it to compete for business. Ryanair’s chief marketing officer, Kenny Jacobs: “In our view it will be an advantage. It is better for consumers. You will get more competition and it will pay to shop around… Other countries are likely to follow suit.”

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OCTOBER 2016 PAGE 8

POSTCARDS FROM THE TRAVEL SCENE

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tihad hosted 196 guests at the All Ireland hurling final between Tipperary and Kilkenny.

They included Nick Cottage the Abu Dhabi based sponsorship manager who gave the go ahead to the hurling sponsorship nine years ago.

Etihad hosted travel trade and travel media at the event as well as 70 top tier fliers and guests from as far away as Melbourne and guests of the Kuala

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icture shows Amanda Middler of Silversea with agents and guests on board the 382-passenger Silver Whisper during its visit to Dublin.

Whisper headed on to Belfast before her repositioning cruise to Montreal, having checked first if any of the Irish travel trade had not gotten off the allsuite luxury cruise ship.

Whisper folows the visit of Silver Cloud to Dublin and the plan is to bring

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reland won Europe’s best attraction for the second year in a row at the World Travel Awards European leg with the success of the Titanic Centre in Belfast at Forte Village in Sardinia.

Titanic now represents Europe at the world final in the Maldives on December 2. The Powerscourt Hotel won the Irish national award for hotel of the year. Boutique Hotel was won by Dromoland Castle, Business Hotel by the

Lumpur office where Dave Walsh is based.

Beatrice Cosgrove spoke passionately at the event about the airline’s comitment to the GAA and how Etihad had been involved in the world games in August when many non Irish players from round the world participated, some of them visiting Ireland for the first time.

the flagship Silver Muse, to launch next April, to Dublin next summer as part of its summer tour. Silver Muse will have eight restaurants, a record for a ship of her size. Silversea were the first cruise line to stop at Bangladesh and will move last year’s visitor, Silver Cloud to the expedition fleet next summer to install an ice reinforced hull and extras such as the mud room where excursionists can change their boots.

Shelbourne, suite was won by Presidential Suite @ The Westbury Hotel, luxury hotel by Conrad Dublin and spa resort

by Inchydoney. The north’s best hotel was the Hilton Belfast, Business Hotel was won by Hilton Templepatrick, Serviced Apartments by Stable Court and Spa Resort by Lough Erne Resort.

Portugal topped the award list with 24 awards, Italy had 12, Turkey nine, England and France seven each.

T

he ever-ebullient Michael O’Leary had some good news for those who turned up at the Creative Minds event at the US ambassador’s residence.

He said Ryanair’s average fare will drop €28 to 30pc by 2020, thanks to Boeing’s new 737-MAX, and some maybe news, passengers will all have to sign up for MyRyanair to book flights by mid 2017.

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eutsche Bahn hosted a group of Irish travel trade and media in Bavaria and then sampled the DB lounge in Munich and the journey to Frankfurt in the panoramic carriage.

The group was hosted at the Dorint Hotel in 1936 Winter Olympic venue Garmisch and the new Star Inn Premium in Munich. Bavarian food and beer was sampled along the way and Travel Extra’s editor made the climb to

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om Maher (affectionately known as Tom Cruise because of his affinity with the cruise industry) and James McGinley of JMG travel in Gortahork hosted 15 trade on board CMV Magellan in Dublin.

Magellan joined the CMV fleet in 2015 and operates as an adult only ship.

She carries about 1,250 passengers accommodated in 726 cabins spanning nine passenger decks.

Other takeaways from the event: how lower air fares remains the core of the airline’s philosophy against the consensus of most MBA programmes, about the importance of Boeing technology for the low cost airline model.

He said that one of the biggest challenges facing the industry nowadays was keeping pilots from getting bored without putting them on playstations.

the top of Germany’s highest mountain, the Zugspitze, cheered on by the group who travelled as far as the viewing platform just below. Picture shows Barbara Rowley and Catherine Grennell Whyte of ATTS/Deutsch Bahn, Mary Kane of Kane’s Trave, Sabrina Vonsowski of Club Travel, Michael Flood of ITTN, Stephanie Ronge of Zugspitze tourism, Eoghan Corry of Travel Extra and Shane Cullen of Killiney Travel.

Her previous life as a Carnival cruise ship was evident in the number of entertainment stages throughout the ship.

Magellan is known for her wide corridors and stairways, and expansive deck areas with traditional wood type decking in many areas.

The ship will depart on five sailings from Dublin next year marking a return of CMV to the direct pick-up market out of Ireland. See page 26.

OCTOBER 2016 PAGE 9

www.webtenerife.co.uk

Tenerife:H No Limits

K

nown as an Island of Contrasts, Tenerife boasts the most fascinating natural heritage, generated following a succession of volcanic eruptions.

Formed over 10 million years ago in the north of the Atlantic Ocean, Tenerife features prehistoric rainforests, Spainʼs highest peak, rocky plains of lava, dramatic cliffs, volcanic sand beaches, deep ravines, underground caves,an endless list of natural wonders surrounded by a rich marine environment. The islandʼs stunning scenery, which has hosted the filming of blockbuster movies of the likes of “Clash of the Titans”, has been hailed as “heavenly”. drenalin junkies can enjoy many exciting activities including hiking, diving, mountain biking and paragliding. Soft adventure is also possible in Tenerife, with a vast

A

network of footpaths and enjoyable outings such as caving.

Year round spring temperatures averaging 22 degrees combined with a low level of rainfall provide an ideal climate for outdoor ventures.

Whether on land, at sea or in the skies, Tenerife provides outdoor adventure for all types of travellers.

One of Tenerifeʼs most rewarding experiences is the Mount Teide climb. Perched in the centre of the island stands the majestic 3,718m high peak, surrounded by a rugged lunar landscape which combined, form a National Park declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007.

The ascent or descent can be shortened with the help of a cable car, which reaches 3,555 metres above sea level. The remaining metres to the summit are limited to fit hikers and a

permit is required to ensure its conservation. iking/Walking – Tenerife has a great number of tracks and footpaths in a variety of settings and microclimates, offering different levels of difficulty.

Around 1,500 km of nature trails have been approved or are in the process of receiving official status, many of which feature standardised signage, in line with the European Ramblers Association.

Places of interest include footpaths in the Teide National Park, the Anaga Rural Park, of great ecological value in Tenerife and offering an extensive network of footpaths, the Teno Rural Park and the Chasna Footpath, set in the Corona Forest Nature Park, bordering an impressive moonscape.

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aving – The volcanicstructures and formations are without doubt Tenerifeʼs most splendid natural features.

Tenerifeʼs wealth of underground heritage is made up of over a hundred volcanic tubes, which can reach 16 Km long.

There are many caving sites, the most significant being the famous “Cueva del Viento” (Cave of the

SPECIAL FEATURE

Wind) in the district of Icod, in the north of the island. ountain biking. The islandʼs variety of forest tracks makes Tenerife a paradise for mountain biking enthusiasts.

Fans of this sport can find around 200 kilometres of trails that criss-cross the whole island. In most cases, these itineraries run through the uplands of Tenerife, and particularly the Corona Forestal, which surrounds the Teide National Park. A comprehensive network of tracks – in many cases with car parks at the start and finish – attract a multitude of biking enthusiasts every year.

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aragliding – Tenerife has more than 40 different launch sites and is increasingly attracting paragliders to its shores.

With a great variety of flying areas located near one another and an exceptional climate, the island is suited to flying almost every day of the year. A recommended launch site is Izaña in the Teide National Park, at 2,000 metres high, from where you can choose to land in the north or in the south of the island.

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ater sports – Surfing is a deeply rooted sport on the island of Tenerife thanks to the quality of the waves that continuously break against its shores, as well as the pleasant climate and its clean waters.

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iving/Scuba diving – Tenerife is a paradise for diving enthusiasts with its great climate, mainly calm waters, temperatures between 18 and 24 degrees centigrade and a variety of great diving sites, many of which boast a rich marine life with sunken ships.

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ction packed events for 2017 include Tenerife Walking Festival www.tenerifewalkingfestival.com, featuring 20 walking routes; Tenerife Bluetrail www.tenerifebluetrail.com, Spainʼs highest mountain race; and PWA World Championships, www.tenerife-pwa.com, a windsurfing competition featuring the worldʼs best windsurfers.

OCTOBER 2016 PAGE 10

SKI & SNOWBOARD 2016-17

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Catherine Murphy’s annual pick of the best places to ski, stay and play on the slopes this winter

Six of the piste

HOTTIES

rom resorts to gadgets, activities to restaurants, we bring you this season’s hot stuff.

Food on the Slopes at Alta Badia, Italian Dolomites. Each season, Michelin star chef Norbert Niederkofler gathers a group of similarly ranked chefs in Alta Badia to create a range of signature dishes which can then be enjoyed by skiers throughout the winter.

The idea is to indulge in a kind of safari, skiing from hut to hut to sample different dishes.

Our favourite creation last winter was a lemon and mussel linguine from Belgian chef Alois Vanlangenaeker, who heads up the Zass restaurant team in the gorgeous 5 star San Pietro hotel in Positano.

Gadget heaven. If there’s one gadget skiers will be talking about this winter it’s the Hexo Plus, a flying camera or drone that’s simply controlled by an app on your smart phone. The Hexo + is most useful for adventurous off-piste skiers who want to capture footage in inaccessible places.

Snowboarding legend Xavier de la Rue used the Hexo + to capture some of his most adventurous moments in the mountains last winter.

Shopping Salzburg.

We can’t stop telling people about the shopping opportunities at McArthur Glen outlet next to Salzburg airport.

Whatever Austrian resort you’re based at, if you’re flying in and out of Salzburg, give yourself a couple of hours to wander around this outlet centre – it’s an easy ten

Heading uphill for the season ahead

minute walk to the airport terminal so drop your bags in left luggage and hit the shops. If you’re staying in Bad Gastein, give yourself a day off skiing and take a train to explore the city and the outlet centre.

St Anton, Austria.

Already one of the most highly-regarded ski areas in the world, St Anton will get even better this season with the opening of a long awaited lift link to Lech. A 45 million euro investment in four new lifts means that skiers can easily reach all Arlberg resorts – St Anton, Lech, St Christoph, Stuben, Zurs, Oberlech,Warth and Schrocken - on skis (no more bus journeys) and will make the area the largest linked ski area in Austria with over 300km of pistes. The area also plans a new 65km ski circuit called ‘The Run of Fame’ which will pay tribute to the region’s ski pioneers.

Saalbach-Fieberbrunn, Austria. Last winter, the TirolS project linked the Ski Circus – Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang – with Fieberbrunn, creating not only one of the largest ski areas in Austria (270km)

but one that caters for all levels, including off-piste fans who can test their powder skills at Fieberbrunn. It also linked the states of Tirol and Salzburg in the process.

Mille 8, Les Arcs, Paradiski, France.

Mille 8 is a new area or mini resort that opened just above Arc 1800 last season with a restaurant, Le Lodge, aquatic centre with whirlpool baths, bubble massage beds and swimming pool; a freestyle area, new beginner area called le Cube and most importantly for funlovers, a Luge course that provides much hilarity and lots of falling off.

There’s a choice of different toboggans – opt for the ‘Speedy’ if you’re not afraid of a rapid 900m descent.

6 OFF PISTE

La Clusaz, Lake Annecy ski resorts, France.

Around an hour from Geneva and known for its stylish restaurants and bars, La Clusaz is increasingly talked about among off-piste/freeride skiers and boarders. It’s no wonder that La Clusaz has produced record numbers of champion skiers – Freeride World Tour champion Loic Collomb-Patton hails from this neck of the woods.

La Grave, France.

This ski village represents the pinnacle of offpiste skiing with routes on La Meije that turn even the hardest Nordic skiers into whimpering babies.

The Skier’s Lodge can cater for less experienced off-piste groups but to get the most from this unique mountain, you need to be at the top of your game.

Expect steep couloirs, big vertical drops and don’t forget to bring crampons, harness and ski mountaineering skills.

Zermatt, Switzerland.

Zermatt may have glitz, gastronomy and more expensive watch shops than any one place could possibly need but it also has some seriously good off-piste skiing.

Head for the Stockhorn area, take in the Findgletscher or ski the Schwarz-

tor, a glacier route that experienced off-piste and touring fans will adore.

If you can take your eyes off the Matterhorn, you will also get to admire the numerous 4,000 metre peaks in the area.

One possible downside is the pricey six day lift pass but in this instance, we think you get what you pay for.

La Thuile, Aosta Valley, Italy.

Scary drop-ins and steep icy couloirs are all very well but there are also plenty of areas that are suitable for novice or intermediate off-piste skiers.

La Thuile, which is linked with the French resort of La Rosiere, is a good option as it offers moderately pitched routes which will bring confidence to those coming to grips with off-piste technique and safety.

Many of the area’s slopes are north-facing which means they hold onto that lovely powder for longer. And lest we forget, la Thuile is in Italy so you can go heli-skiing for reasonable prices – get dropped by chopper at Monte Miravidi (3,058m) and ski the majestic Rutor glacier for around €250.

Chamonix, France.

So legendary that we sometimes forget to say it; Chamonix is an absolute off-piste mecca.

Following a big dump of snow, the magic of the Mont Blanc massif reveals itself – there are off-piste opportunities all around and for a variety of levels.

Be clever; skip Cham’s equally legendary aprèsski and get up early for the first lift of the day – queues for Grand Montets/Argentiere/Aiguille du Midi can become frustratingly long when powder hounds smell fresh snow or when lifts are slowed down due to windy conditions.

Andermatt, Switzerland. So Switzerland isn’t cheap but sometimes you’ve just to chase that pow. This little mountain village is famous for the Gemsstock couloir, Castlehorn, Giraffe and Guspis (all expert level) as well as Pazola and Rossbodenstock (advanced level) and beginner routes like Russi and Natschen powder. If you’re an off-piste fan and haven’t been, think about getting there soon.

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OCTOBER 2016 PAGE 12

SKI & SNOWBOARD 2016-17

6 FOR GROUPS

Arinsal, Vallnord, Andorra. The fact that Topflight are bringing their popular Copperface Jack’s tour back this season tells you all you need to know – Arinsal is a good spot for groups.

Beginners and easy intermediates will enjoy skiing Pal while more advanced intermediates can take on the slopes at Arinsal. Off-piste fans in the group can drive or take a bus to Arcalis, a little gem of a place that offers up Alpine-style freeride terrain along with easy blue runs. *Mayrhofen, Austria.

Not only does it have the Van Penkens snow park - one of the best in the world with six different areas for different levels - it also hosts two major festivals, the Altitude comedy festival and the Snowbombing music festival. With its traditional rustic Tyrolean ambience, Mayrhofen also attracts families.

One downside is that you have to take a cable car to reach the ski areas. *Sauze D’Oulx, Italy.

Part of the Milky Way ski area that takes in Sestriere and Claviere, we rate Sauze as a group destination because its runs meet up at the Sportinia area – perfect for lunch meetings among groups of different abilities.

Prices are reasonable and the resort is also known for its lively nightlife. *Livigno, Italy.

Lovely Livigno has been regaining popularity with Irish skiers in the last few years. Yes, the transfer is lengthy – over four hours – but you quickly forget that once you arrive in the resort. Livigno mixes ancient old buildings

with duty free shops and when we visited last season, we were pleasantly surprised by its combination of charm and very reasonable prices. If you’re organizing your own trip, watch out for free lift pass offers at the start and finish of each season. *Alpe d’Huez, France.

We think Alpe d’Huez has something for everyone – plenty of beginner slopes at the base of the mountain, glorious offpiste routes on the glacier and a good mix of intermediate runs. Alpe D also offers lots of other activities that are perfect for groups of friends – ski-joering, snowmobiling and paragliding are all on the menu. Look out for Crystal Ski chalets that can cater for groups of up to 30 people. *Kirchberg, Austria.

Just 6km from glitzy Kitzbuhel, Kirchberg is set in the heart of the Kitzuhelerhorn and offers skiers access to Kitzbuhel’s 170km of slopes on one side and the Ski Welt’s 280km on the other. Nightlife is young and lively and the resort is popular with Dutch skiers who like to party.

6 EVENTS

The Freeride World Tour – January-April 2017.

The FWT – where the world’s most talented and courageous young skiers compete on some of the toughest terrain in Europe and America – begins in Chamonix on January 28th and finishes with the iconic Xtreme Verbier on April 1st, taking in Andorra, Fieberbrunn and Alaska along the way.

Expect to be wowed by a combination of free-style

Danger: Inviting mountain terrain

and free-ride feats.

Live in Tignes/Les Francopholies.

Each April, to finish the season with a lively bang, Tignes in the Espace Killy hosts a three or four day series of free live concerts, some of which are held on the slopes during the days. Expect lots of French and Euro pop/rock and enjoy the relaxed end-of-season vibes in one of Europe’s highest and coolest resorts.

Snowbombing festival, Mayrhofen, Austria. They say it’s the best holiday you could ‘treat your ears to’. From April 3 to 8th, this lively resort in the Zillertal valley plays host to a dance festival which has previously featured Mark Ronson, The Prodigy, Dizzee, Calvin Harris and Groove Armada. 2017’s line-up has yet to be announced so keep an eye on snowbombing.com for details.

Altitude comedy festival, Mayrhofen, Austria. Mayrhofen pulls off a double whammy with the popular high altitude comedy festival, which was co-founded by Irish comedian Andrew Maxwell. This year’s festival takes place from 11th-

16th of December and along with Maxwell, features performances from Marcus Brigstocke and Craig Campbell. What a fun way to start the season! Altitudefestival.com Ischgl in Austria is renowned for its start and end of season parties which take place in late November and mid April.

The resort’s ‘Top of the Mountain’ concerts have previously featured massive names like Robbie Williams, Supertramp and Muse. This year’s start of season party looks like being more of a European rock affair but the atmosphere is electric with up to 20,000 people attending.

Snowboxx, Avoriaz, France. 18-25th march 2017.

Think late night igloo parties, a festival village and lively après.

This winter’s festival is almost doubling its capacity due to demand.

The 2017 line-up will be announced shortly but previous artistes have included 2manyDJs, Blonde, Sigma and a whole host of other people we’re too old to have heard of. Snowboxx.com

6 SKI SCHOOLS

Oxygene ski school in La Plagne, France. They offer lots of different courses and activities and count FWT competitor Syliva Moser among their instructors. Sylvia may be one of the top Freeriders in the world but she teaches with modesty and ease.

Evolution 2, la Clusaz, France – We like Evo 2 ski schools in all French resorts to be honest but have a particular soft spot for their La Clusaz school which runs a Freeride group for children – how cool is that?

Wilder Kaiser, St Johann – George, Hannes and their team are wellknown to Irish skiers who return again and again to the slopes of St Johann in the Austrian Tirol. One of the things they return for is friendly instruction from these guys.

European Ski & Snowboard School, Les Deux Alpes, France. We were mightily impressed by the standard of instruction at this English-owned ski school in party town Les Deux Alpes. Instructor Simon Edwards skied fabulously and offered wise instruction with video footage at the end of classes.

Scuola sci Livigno, Italy. Ski instructor Devid Bormolini laughed happily in the face of challenges (namely our ski technique) then introduced us to both the Italian ski team and the local beer. What can we say, the guy is a legend.

Soldeu Ski & Snowboard School, Andorra.

Both the El Tartar and Soldeu ski schools are known for their excellent level of tuition, from absolute beginner right through to advanced. All instructors speak good English but in addition, lots of instructors hail from England, which makes lessons easier for Irish visitors. They’re also careful to remember that you’re on holidays and would like to have lots of fun.

OCTOBER 2016 PAGE 13

SKI & SNOWBOARD 2016-17

6 FOR FAMILIES

Murren, Jungfrau region, Switzerland.

You reach Murren by taking a series of trains from Geneva and a cablecar, a pleasure in itself.

Once there, you quickly fall for the charms of this cosy little mountain village, which lies at the foot of the Schilthorn.

There are obviously no cars so it’s quite common to see young children being pulled around on sledges, a mark of how safe the village is for young families.

Murren is tiny but has a big name, scenes from the 1969 James Bond movie ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ were filmed at the Piz Gloria revolving restaurant at the top of the Schilthorn summit; it has an impressive sports centre complete with ice skating rink and also boasts up-close views of the stunning Eiger mountain.

Stay at the Hotel Eiger, right across from the little train station, where the owners encourage personal, friendly service.

It’s a short walk to the nearest ski lift.

Arc 1950, Paradiski, France.

If ski-in ski-out convenience is the most important thing for you and your young family on holidays, look no further than Arc 1950. Purpose-built but with more of a north American feel, this is a tiny little resort with just a few car-free streets, a very lovely Deep Nature spa and just enough bars, shops and restaurants to satisfy parents after a day on the mountain. Step outside your ski locker room, put your skis on and ski

Hands, feet and bumps a daisy

straight to the lift – perfect accessibility.

All Arc 1950 residences are rated five Star and operated either by Pierre & Vacances Premium or Radisson Blu. We stayed at the Auberge Jerome which is due to a make-over in time for this winter.

Arc 1950 is popular with British and Irish visitors so you can expect fun on St Patrick’s Day. Otherwise, take the family for an evening snowshoe hike to the igloo village for fondue and during the day, ski to Arc 1800 to visit the new Mille 8 (see above) entertainment area.

Levi and Yllas, Finland.

Norway has long been a family favourite for Irish skiers but Finland is also worth a look. Crystal Ski offer packages to Levi and Yllas (from the UK only) or you could organize your own trip .

Along with staggeringly beautiful scenery and a mix of activities including husky safaris and ice fishing, Levi and Yllas are among the northernmost ski resorts in the world, guaranteeing good snow conditions.

Their high latitude also brings a substantially higher chance of seeing the Northern Lights, a dream addition to any family ski trip. Both resorts are family-friendly and within a 45 minute transfer from the nearest airport.

Stay in a cosy log cabin complete with private sauna; go cross country skiing; cosy up in an ice hotel or just enjoy family time on the mountain.

Flaine, Grand Massif, France.

While the ‘60s Bauhaus-inspired architecture of Flaine central might not appeal to lovers of traditional family resorts, Pierre et Vacance’s Les Terrasses d’Helios is an ideal spot for families to stay.

Set above the main resort, this P&V property offers contemporary apartments with dining, bar options, a shop and ski hire within the complex. It’s extremely convenient for families – walk out of the ski room straight onto snow. The complex is also very easy to find on the way home after a day’s skiing.

For a more traditional French resort feel, opt for nearby Les Carroz, also part of the Grand Massif ski area. Samoens is also a popular family resort.

Scheffau, Ski Welt, Austria. This little village is linked to the 279km Ski Welt. Scheffau´s ski school director has invented a unique ski boot that allows toddlers as young as 14 months to get onto skis and find their balance. If that´s not family friendly, we don´t know what is! A good bet for families with far more reasonable prices than countries like Switzerland and France. The Ski Welt also offers great

snow-making facilities so you are guaranteed time on the snow. Other nearby resorts suitable for families include Soll and Westendorf, both part of the Ski Welt.

Pal/Arinsal, Vallnord, Andorra.

Our top bet for family group holidays. Check into the Magic Ski hotel

in La Massana which boasts a great buffet dinner, is just 50 metres from the lift station and bustles with the noise of Spanish families.

La Massana is the base for Vallnord’s ski areas – Pal which is idealfor beginners and early intermediates, Arinsal which has more to offer

intermediate skiers and Arcalis which has a mix of easy pistes for intermediates and off-piste for experienced skiers.

Prices are reasonable – around €1.50 for a beer in local La Massana bars – while on the mountain, Vallnord’s restaurants and bars are becoming much more fashionable.

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OCTOBER 2016 PAGE 14

SKI & SNOWBOARD 2016-17

6 ALPINE RUNS

Chassoure-Tortin, Verbier, Valais region, Switzerland. You need a parachute to get off the steep moguls at the top of this marvellously long field of bumps. Definitely not for the faint-hearted but Tortin is a great run for practising mogul technique and improving your ski fitness. If you’re into off-piste, head for the back side of Mont Fort.

The Tunnel, Alpe d’Huez, France.

You hear them in the cable car queue, groups of skiers discussing whether they’ll attempt to ski the infamous Tunnel run. Many opt out and do the easier Sarenne run but for those who decide to go for it, the reward is a tricky entry into steep moguls. Like most of these runs, the level of difficulty depends on whether conditions are icy or not.

The Sarenne is a 16km run that starts from the top of the Pic Blanc cable car and has a long flat run

out to Auris Oisans.

Espace Killy en above Val d’Isere It’s officially a black run pleted by decent interbut in good conditions, mediate skiers with a can seem like an easier guide. The scariest part red. Much more interest- for many people is the ing for advanced skiers is walk down a roped track the long off-piste route to to reach the slope but the right of the run. from then on, the main Highland bowls, route is a great intro to Aspen, Colorado. Okay off-piste skiing for those so it’s at least a 30 minute who want to give it a hike to the top or longer go. More expert skiers if you’re unfit but there can hire a guide to take are various drop-in points them down one of many and a variety of excellent other routes. The VB powder bowls to ski. can also be done on full You’re more than likely moon nights with a guide to hear Chris Davenport, from the Compagnie des famous for skiing all of Guides in Chamonix.

Colorado’s 14,000 ft The Swiss Wall, peaks in a year, hollering Avoriaz, Portes du with enjoyment on this Soleil, France. long off-piste run.

Moguls always seem Vallee Blanche, Aigu- to come into the equaille du Midi, Chamonix, tion when we talk about France. challenging slopes and The Vallee Blanche is the Swiss Wall is no difan off-piste route (22km ferent. Not as challenging long) which can be com as Verbier’s Tortin in our

experience but definitely enough to land you on your derriere at least once or twice and definitely worth telling your friends about afterwards.

Ventina, Cervinia, Italy.

The 8km long Ventina is a slope of joy for progressing intermediates and experts alike. For less experienced skiers, it’s a slope to aspire to mastering by the end of a week-long holiday.

Equally, it allows boy and girl racers to blast rapidly down the mountain (vertical drop 1430m). Even after 25 years of skiing, racing down the Ventina at the end of the day (when everyone else was gone) is still a favourite memory.

6 EATS

Hotel Alpin in Chamonix may be jaded in other ways but breakfast in its top floor restaurant is worth it for the rooftop views alone.

Las Vegas hut, Alta Badia, Italy. Excellent breakfast, a motorbike over the front door, lovely Dolomiti views and first tracks if you’re up there early enough.

Pepitas, La Thuile, Italy. For Italian food cooked with pride and passion, Pepitas is our fa

vourite. Strong on flavor and interest.

Table de Lys, Arc 1950, Paradiski, France.

Style and substance combine here. We liked the food and the ambience.

Refugio Comici, Selva, Italian Dolomites.

Sample the mouth-watering antipasti di pesce (seafood antipasti), delicious seafood pastas and schnapps from your own personal dispenser.

Mario’s, Livigno, Italy. The food is good, the waiter service is excellent and above all, you can find pizza on the menu here for €5.

Mario’s does a €7 pizza, beer and coffee offer – what’s not to love?!

Straight after a day’s skiing, head to La Latteria to drink local beer and enjoy lovely views.

OCTOBER 2016 PAGE 15

SKI & SNOWBOARD 2016-17

6 FOR SCENERY

Dolomites, Italy. The jagged rock formations set this area apart from the Alps. You simply cannot beat the amazing scenery that you’ll soak in as you ski the Sella Ronda circuit. Stay in Selva/Val Gardena or San Cassiano.

Wengen/Grindelwald, Jungfrau, Switzerland.

Home to the imposing Eiger and conversely, some of the prettiest chocolate box Swiss scenery imaginable. It’ also home to Europe’s highest railway.

Verbier, Switzerland.

The panoramic view from the top of the jumbo cable car at 3,300 metres is unbeatable, taking in Mont Blanc and many other impressive peaks.

Even if you’re not going to ski down the challenging runs from here, take the cable car up to soak up the views.

Courmayeur, Italy.

Bella, bella. Even strolling along the pretty cobblestoned streets of classy Courmayeur, you can admire the imposing mountain scenery. Go in

March for sunny days, al fresco dining on the mountain and deep sun tans.

Chamonix, France.

Nothing can compare to the incredible formations of the Glace du Mer as you ski the glacier from the top of the Grand Montets cable car. If your skiing isn’t quite at that level, another way to be stunned by the wonder of Mont Blanc is to base yourself in Megeve and take a flight in a light aircraft, it’s absolutely worthwhile.

Alpe d´Huez, France.

Watch out for the ´mer du nuage´or sea of cloud that´s visible on certain days and seems to stretch all the way to Geneva.

Bonus for scenery; Val d’Isere, France.

6 FOR FOOD

Chez Marie, Le Miroir, France. Huge chunks of meat straight from the grill in a gorgeous rustic setting.

Confins des Sens, Le Grand Bornand, France.

Sublime dining and accessible to all with children welcome.

The Casino, Kitzbuhel, Austria. The food was so good that we didn’t bother gambling. Also boasts a lovely cellar that’s perfect for private groups.

Angerer Alm, St Jo-

hann, Austria. Great traditional food with a modern twist, sommelier, private cellar for special occasions, one of our favourites in the Alps.

Les Ecureuils, La Clusaz, France. Truffle pizza, trout smoked at the table, tasting menu with specially chosen wines, magnifique!

Chez Pepe, Les Menuires, France. You have to drive or ski offpiste to reach this gem.

Never mind the good food, this place has serious rustic style – hayfilled cushions, hanging milk bottles for lighting, art made from cow dung.

Bonus eateries; La Fruitiere, Alpe d’Huez; excellent food in a gorgeous setting. Adler Hitta, Zermatt; incredible Matterhorn views and

whole roast chickens for lunch. For budget eats on the mountain our favourites are Clotze bar in La Thuile and l’Hermine in Auris (Alpe d’huez) France.

6 FOR SPAS

Caldea spa, Andorra la Vella, Andorra. Check out the new adult-only Inuu spa with rooftop lagoon, we loved it.

Alpentherme, Bad Hofgastein, Austria; in-

door and outdoor swimming pools; family area with water slides; outdoor saunas. One of the best things about the Alpentherme in sleepy Bad Hofgastein is that it’s linked by corridors to a number of hotels including the four star Norica.

Schloss Lebenberg, Kitzbuhel, Austria. Rooftop swimming pools with views over the valley, say no more.

Riffleberg resort, Zermatt, Switzerland; The sauna has some of the best views we’ve ever seen.

Hermitage, Soldeu, Andorra. We said it before, we’ll say it again.

We dream about those jacuzzis lined up in a spectacular row and those views of the mountain.

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OCTOBER 2016 PAGE 16

DESTINATION SKI

I

f you are looking for a December ski destination, don’t fret about resort ambience, happy hour prices or the efficiency of lift systems.

In the end it comes down to that four letter word: snow.

You must go somewhere with reliable snow.

So where better than Europe’s highest resort, Val Thorens, and its Péclet glacier recently provided with a prophylactic covering to protect it from the melting summer sun.

T

here is something ineffably sad about snow-denuded ski hills in winter.

The ground vegetation turns to a morbid brown against the scree of the moraines, and pistes stand out like scars against the landscape.

That’s what you see in the windy drive up to Val Thorens, round the hairpin bends, past the sign warning you about verglas frequents and telling you that a deer named Rappel lives here, avoiding the boy racers, and past the lower resorts in the Trois Vallées complex.

Places like Meunières that, snowless, appear like an empty pint glass left outside a pub on a Sunday morning, a reminder of someone else’s fun.

IN the weeks before Christmas, and the start of the high season, resorts can get worried.

But they never worry in Val Thorens. The major worry each year

Sunway MD Tanya Airey photographing the Val Thorens landscape. Sunway represent Club Med

At the top of a med, med world Eoghan Corry skies Club Med Val Thorens

is whether the volume of skiers being bussed in from nearby snowless resorts would overload it. Skiable slopes can become crowded, especially on the beginners and intermediate runs, At 2,300 metres at base level and 3,230 metres at its highest point, it always has mountains full of snow. There are two other peaks above 3,000m, plus an extra one if the fourth valley is operational.

True, it can get icy and a little rocky on south facing slopes early in the season (our ski guide made us laugh with his cry of: “avante les poulets”), but the powder is ALWAYS somewhere out there if you look.

C Climbing Club Med

reature comforts.

They follow altitude like early snow. For a skier ski-in ski-out is the only creature comfort that counts.

Val Thorens is a resort that genuinely lives up to its boast that you can ski from your door.

It is designed in an S-shape with the ski lifts passing over the village, where the majority of the accommodation loops around a central gentle piste that takes you down to where the lifts and cable cars begin.

From the Club Med resort where we stayed, we needed only to step outside the ski room and into the skis. In the evening we sloped back down to the resort, three tiers of wooden hoarding and a net between us and the resort to our left, The rental hall is at the bottom floor, and there is coffee and croissants for anyone still peckish after the mountainous Club Med breakfast.

Central to the Club Med philosophy is that well fed holidaymakers are happy holiday mak-

ers. Club Med guests will not eat on the mountain.

They will barrel back down to pick up their lunch in their all inclusive restaurant.

We were greeted by Emma DuPont, a first generation Irish hostess from Chambery who looked after us like long lost cousins and came skiing with us for a delightful day in the early snow.

The 384-room resort has all the Club Med

signatures, sporty culture, nectarious cuisine, an easy access charge card culture. And parties. Then more parties.

Returning for lunch or in the evening the courtyard outside the resort is a playground of gluhwein, free hugs and pounding music. It can take an hour to make it back to the boot room and another to get to the dining room, with costumed characters, dancers, food and canapes to welcome

the prodigal skiers home.

It’s all about the cheese in these situations, a skier quickly learns as essential in the skill set as how to tie their boots properly.

Every skier who takes the Cascades lift passes over the Club Med forecourt and must wonder what sort of place this is.

Part of the joy of being in a French all inclusive is that food is worshipped here, and the daily meals bear every indication of how deep is the reverence for culinary art. Everyone skies down the mountain for lunch before taking the lift back. It is too good to miss.

A bird never skied on one wing, as one of our group put it.

T

he S-shape provides a second advantage, everything is closer than you think. A covered shopping mall provides short cuts to the important spots, within a short walking distance in a resort where cars are hidden in underground car parks and forbidden to holidaymakers while they are there. Most of the accommodation loops around a central gentle piste that takes you down to where the lifts and cable cars begin.

Val Thorens has a good choice of low-price and mid-price restaurants and restaurant bars. The S-band of streets will eventually deliver you to the self-claimed highest bar in Europe (the Frog) and the highest Irish bar next door (O’Con-

■ Eoghan Corry travelled with Sunway to the 4 trident Club Med Val Thorens Sensations in France. Club Med offer 64 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.

■ 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. Club Med Ski holidays start from €1569pp per adult on an all-inclusive basis in Val Thorens Sensations departing December 11th or from €1249 in Club Med Avoriaz, France departing April 9th for 7 nights including flights from Dublin, transfers, lift pass and ski/snowboard lessons, superb accommodation, gourmet food, endless snacks and drinks from the bar, fantastic children’s clubs and a multitude of sports and activities.

■ Call 01-2366800 or visit www.sunway.ie

OCTOBER 2016 PAGE 17

nell’s, owned by two Frenchmen and manned by an Englishman, Tom Angielettin).

There is a multi storey shopping and commercial area indoors and a lively night club, Majorca, with a labyrinthine series of rooms to seek out handsome ski instructors.

The S-shape of the town means that every-

thing is closer than you think, with walking distances shortened further by the heated indoor central area.

As befits a place that strives to appear smaller than it is, the atmosphere in Val Thorens is distinctly laid back in comparison to the more frenetic Val d’Isère or Tignes or Chamonix.

Probably alone among those 1960s purpose-built resorts that scar the French Alps, it has built up quite a reputation as a gourmet haven in the heights, with grreat food at famous restaurants such as the Fitzroy and renowned L’ Oxalys with its two Michelin stars, quite an achievement at this altitude

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DESTINATION SKI

he area is vast and beautiful, 600 km of ski slopes (controversially verified at 493 km), and 18.5 square kilometres of groomed runs, linking the resorts of Val Thorens, Les Menuires, Meribel & Courchevel.

There are no buses to take, no cable cars linking the valleys. The three

valleys ski area is accessible only on skis. If you miss a last lift or get injured, you can end up taking a 100km taxi ride home from Italy Getting there can be a drama when the snow does come. In the 1930s this was seen as a gloomy place, prone to heavy snow and avalanches.

The weather remembers.

The road can be cut for days at a time and opened, on occasion, only by tunnelling through the snow. Famously on New Year’s Eve 2014 the place was isolated as if it was the 1930s again, before the new road and global warming.

But if you were in Club Med, that would not be a problem.

Clockwise: Folie Douce, free hugs at Club Med, Val Thorens compact resort, breezy blus slope, Rebecca Lee samples the chocolate fountain

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At last the time has come.

Make it your own at agent.crystalski.ie

Specialist Holiday Group Ireland Limited. Registered in Ireland No 45287. Crystal Holidays is a trading name of Specialist Holiday Group Ireland Limited a member of the TUI Travel PLC Group of Companies.

OCTOBER 2016 PAGE 18

DESTINATION SKI

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o sample the chalet experience, sharpen the edges and head for Val d’Isère.

An ancient village situated at the head of the Tarentaise Valley, it is regarded by its devotees like a favourite sports team, its bad days can all be washed away by the happy memories it brings to its loyal followers and the pleasure of being a fan club devoted to something spiritual.

The rugged, boundary-free, snow-sure playground above is marketed as L’Espace Killy, named for a fifth generation Tipperary man who was proud of his Irish heritage and who brought gold medals to this valley in the 1960s. The terrain suits the hardcore skeirs, the guys who know their won DIN setting and who long to escape the tame, piste-only skiing foundi n major resorts. Its offpiste terrain is some of the most enjoyable, demanding and easily lift-accessed of any in Europe.

And for those of us who are happiest on a groomed slope, its altitude and micro-climate ensure that skiing is possible from the beginning of December until early May. The first trip over the Lessieres Express, the scarey chair over the ribbed heights to reach the gentle slopes of to La Fornet, is a thrill that every skier will carry forever through the slopes of the mountain ranges of the world.

Here the emphasis is on chalets and hotels rather than self-catering apartments, something that has given Val a reputation for being snooty in relation to mass-market younger and sportier Tignes.

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rance’s most famous ski resort used to hide its jewellery like a jealous prince.

Nico Lecomte ski instructor from Evolution 2000 on the new magic carpet at the top of Solaise in Val d’Isere,

White flakes on the chalet scene Eoghan Corry tries Topflight chalet collection

Only insiders got to admire the view at Val d’Isere, beginners had to slip slide around in the valley, and in a country where few people get to ski for more than seven days a year, that seemed unfair.

Nico Lecomte, ski instructor from Evolution 2000, joined me to take me to see something exciting: a ski school in the high terrain.

Normally beginners are at the bottom of the view chain, with a few exceptions: at Morzine at the top of the Pleney mountain you find the nursery slope with the best view in the Alps., and Deux Alpes and Squaw Valley treat their beginners to some stunning scenery.

Val D’Isere is doing something similar. Three

magic carpets have been installed at the top of the Solaise, Pim, Pam and Pum, and beginners can now start their journey surrounded by the beauty of the western Alps, looking down the valley to the dam and the lake.

Beginners have had to mope around in the slopes under the mountain and have had great difficulty coping with the icy and crowded return routes to the village itself (“what were they snorting when they designated santons as a blue run?”)

Now instead of being stuck on the valley floor on day one, they can take the Solaise Express up the mountain and get to enjoy the views.

It is part of a €16m redevelopment of Val d’isere’s iconic oldest ski lift, the Solaise Express,

moving people since 1938. It moves 1.1m a year, and the new lift will carry 40pc more.

A funny thing about visiting a ski resort twice or three times in quick succession is how everything is familiar and nothing remains the same.

Resorts are forever reorienting their slopes, moving the poles as it were. What was your favourite way down the mountain last April could be redundant in December.

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ico instructs to correct my slouch-shouldered attempts to ski with patience and enlightenment: “the slope is as steep as you make it,” “make yourself heavy.” “look at the scenery.”

I just see gradient not scenery.

The infrastructure is amazing. The lift company can carry 78,541 per hour on these mountains. Their snow factory is largest in Europe and can make 40pc of the piste skiable when the

powdery stuff goes all shy.

It is like someone waved a magic wand over a familiar playground and made it better. Val d’Isere’s former problem is that descent to the village was a frightening process, so beginners did not feel welcome there.

Not any more.

High end chalets are the ideal way to experience Val d’Isere. The key to the chalet experience is if there is more than one seasonaire looking after the guests. Topflight chalets are a new option for Irish skiers

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f you don’t make it to chalet status, do not fret. Val d’Isere has 14,645 commercial beds on offer. Outside of Parisian half term there are lots of options for the tourists. Britain supplies more skiers than France to the town, 40pc against 36pc.

Geneva is the quickest

■ Eoghan Corry travelled to Chalet Cristal in Val D’Isere with the Topflight Chalet collection, staying seven nights on a full board basis (breakfast, afternoon tea & evening meal). Topflight offer over 50 chalets in the French Alps ■ Prices for Chalet Cristal are from €1035 per person sharing (based on travelling in January) and include return flights from Dublin, return transfers, accommodation for 7 nights on a full board basis, 20kg baggage allowance, taxes and the services of the chalet host in resort.

■ 01 240 1700 www.topflight.ie/ or see Topflight agent toolkit.

OCTOBER 2016 PAGE 19

DESTINATION SKI way in, an hour and a half by mountainy road with some spectacular hair pin bends on the way uphill.

Chambery is two and a half hours and Lyon three and a half hours.

The legendary après ski has moved to mid afternoon, most obviously and noisily in the Folies Douce, whose pounding beat echoes over the mountain as far as the turn for Tignes.

Coco Rico is the latest rage with its complementary pop rock live music. Doudoune, the Bunker (open 3 to 9), Dick’s Tea Bar (opens at 11pm), Graal and Baraque keep the action going through the night. There are 92 restaurants and brasseries to keep you fed and watered, four nightclubs, 13 delis and food stores and 50 sports shops and boutiques.

“You don’t find any other villages at 1,850m,” Kerstin Grandclaudon of Val d’Isere tourism says. “We have 60pc of our slopes higher than 2,200m.”

In an era of global warming and disappearing glaciers, that counts. Val d’Isere is promoting the April weeks as its “three weeks to be discovered” when the snow lingers late.

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he resort, as opposed to the town of Val d’Isère, meanders for a couple of kilometres from the purpose-built hamlet of La Daille to the old

the storm.”

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Aerial view of Val d’Isere houses of Le Fornet, but its commercial heart is sandwiched between two roundabouts in the middle, with Val Village, a cluster of ‘oldstyle’ stone buildings housing smart boutiques, surrounding the eleventh-century church.

There is a museum here too, situated in the town’s oldest house (1664) where Christéle Bonnevie showed us around a collection of ski artefacts and photographs, including the astonishing photograph of the parish priest on skis ascending the mountain to persuade the young lads to come back downhill to school, Jean Claude Killy amongst them.

The resort’s free bus service, known as the

train rouge, goes every few minutes from one end to the other, linking the different bed bases.

Buses between Val d’Isère and Tignes are another story.

We brought the car from Lyon which opened up lots of other options, day-trips to Les Arcs, La Plagne, La Rosière, Sainte-Foy and even Val Thorens amongst them.

Our chalet was situated at the bottom of the red, blue and black confluence to La Daille.

A women’s world cup race was set up on the weekend we were there, completing the journey to the bottom in the time it would normally take us to get the courage up to start.

“I take seven times as much pleasure out of ski-

ing as anyone else,” my daughter told me, “because it takes me seven times as long to get to the bottom.”

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o what was that spat over ski guides? I went to ESF to find out.

Benjamin Dubois and Nikki Pitts explained the politics to me. There are 600 instructors in Val d’Isere. About 350 are ESF, the dominant school. ESF took their eye off the ball. They took their dominance for granted. Some English tour operators took their business elsewhere.

“Skiing is the only sport in the world you can spend the whole day without too much effort with your family and

friends,” Benjamin says.

“People in Val d’Isere, that is why they are always smiling.”

“It is a quiet place” he says. “Out of season there are only 1,000 residents.

You quickly get to know everyone.”

There are 100 ski patrol personnel on duty. At peak, with 50,000 people on the mountain, four people an hour can get injured. It happens.

“Too many people go off piste before they are ready,” Benjamin says.

“It is like going out to sea by boat. Even if I am not qualified I am fine if the sea is flat. When it gets stormy I get into trouble.

The mountain is exactly the same. When they are watching another group they think this is fantastic. They are not ready for

The new magic carpet, Pim Pam, Eoghan Corry and Benjamin Dubois, Val d’Isere church and the end of the slopes

he rhythm of the chalet seduces the skier, becomes part of the experience.

We shared our Skibeat chalet with a Welshman and his teenage son, a Scottish woman and three English of varying levels of ski ability. The seasonaires cook and clean and mind their guests, except for Wednesday when they get the night off and the town floods with the chalet guests. We revisited an old haunt, Crepe Vals, in search of the melted cheese racklettes that Savoiardes introduced to the world.

The English are everywhere through the town, 40pc of the market followed closely enough by France (36pc) to ensure that there is a mix, then Scandinavians, Australians and Americans with growing numbers from Mexico and China.

At night the conversation is of the snow and the conditions and how they changed. Two people on opposite sides of the same valley can experience completely different ski conditions, and as the wine is followed by a glass of port the conversation turns to great ski runs past.

In the morning the slopes are pisted and ready. Few ski resorts wear so much history on their piste.

La Solaise is gone, viva La nouvelle Solaise

OCTOBER 2016 PAGE 20

GERMANY TRAVEL MARKET 2016 SAXONY Sandra Yvonne Stieger, Managing director of Magdeburg Marketing and Dr Carlhans Uhle, Managing director of Saxony tourism gave a presentation on the of Saxony-Anhalt region. The region has four world heritage sites, Quedlinburg, the Garden kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz, the Bauhaus in Dessau, and Wittenberg and Eisleben’s Luther memorials and two areas of natural beauty Harz National Park and the UNESCO Middle Elbe biosphere reserve.

SAXONY Martin Luther is the major theme of tourism to the Saxony Region next year, the 500th anniversary of his nailing of the theses to the door in Wittemberg.

GERMANY is Europe’s fifth most

popular destination for international travelers with a record 79.7m overnight stays in 2015, up 5.4pc and growth from every continent, with half of this generated by Europe and half by the overseas markets. The tourism industry directly employs 2.9m people in Germany.

Germany is the second most popular destination for Europeans after Spain ahead of France.

GNTB ended the Scenic routes of Ger-

many campaign with an award ceremony for its international photo competition. The winner, Dapeng He from China, who works as a journalist for the magazine Photographic Travel had travelled along the Castle road.

Social events at Germany Travel market included a spectacular floodlit re-enactment of the Magdeburg physicist Otto von Guericke’s experiment in 1654 when two teams of horses tried to pull apart a globe with a vacuum.

USA was Germany’s highest-revenue

source markets in 2015 with revenues of €4.7bn, followed by Switzerland (€3.6bn) and China (€3.4bn). Total tourism revenue generated by foreign visitors is €34.1bn.

DEUTSCHE BAHN Dr Tobias Heussler, business Partner Sales/ head of International Sales at Deitsch Bahn, announced a new campaign for long-distance rail travel, improvements to the international timetable, a new ICE generation of InterCityExpress trains and new integrated travel solutions

CHALLENGES Petra Hedorfer listed four challenges facing Germany tourism, changes in the security situation globally and in Europe, Germany’s ongoing refugee situation and the global economy. Because of these factors, Germany tourism forecast a slower rate of growth for 2016 of between 1 and 3pc.

GERMANY Tourism’s marketing campaigns for 2016 will focus on two products: towns, cities and culture and a nature and recreation campaign with an international holidays in the heart of nature campaign.

PETRA Hedorfer said the disabled mar-

ket in Europe is about 6m people and Germany would lead this field as it is ins “not just persons with disabilities but also the elderly.”

GERMANY The 42nd Germany Travel market was covered by 130 journalists from 45 countries.

Floodlit re-enactment at GTM 2016 of the Magdeburg physicist Otto von Guericke’s experiment in 1654 when two teams of horses tried to pull apart a globe with a vacuum.

Regions the key

Germany tourism wants more flights to local airports

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he importance of point-topoint aviation was stressed by the CEO of Gemany Tourism Petra Hedorfer at Germany Toruism’s annual event for inbound tour operators in Magdeburg.

Replying to questions from Travel Extra at the international press conference, she said that point to point travel by low cost airlines rather than big trunk routes has driven much of the recent growth enjoyed by German tourism. Germany is now the second most popular destination for Europeans after Spain ahead of France.

The statement is of more than passing interest to Rynair who intend to grow their market share in Germany form 5pc to 15-20pc over the coming years. Kenny Jacobs of Ryanair said eaarlier this year “we want to grow everywhere. Germany stands out as a market where we have just under 5pc market share. We have set out plans to get to 15-20pc market share in Germany in the next five years.”

“Germany has a population of 90m and, most interesting from our point of view, it has the lowest penetration of low cost carriers in Europe. That is something that we want to change.

We are adding a lot of capacity. We have big growth plans for growth in Germany. That has actually started and will be a big focus for us.”

Michael O’Leary said Germany could be Ryanair’s top perfomring market in coming years as he sees both Air Berlin and Germanwings as vulnerable on domestic routes.

Ryanair recently announced 13 routes from Berlin-Schönefeld, making it its biggest base in Germany. It currently trails a distant third in the market behind Lufthansa and Air Berlin.

Germany is a large and attractive market, although with a more regional, federal structure than other European countries.

English low cost operator EasyJet is focused on its two bases at Berlin Schoenefeld, where it is the number one airline, and Hamburg, which opened in 2014.

On the issue of Shenghen she said that keeping Germany’s borders open was an issue for the tourism authorities as “Europe is a bigger concept” than the short-term refugee crisis.

She said Germany would handle border controls in a different manner

this year and that she expects things to get back to normal quickly.

Ms Hedorfer said the staging of the 2006 World Cup was a turning point in Germany’s image as a destination.

“The soccer world cup in 2006 and the fall of the Berlin Wall changed the image of Germany. It stabilised the brand image and moved Germany from 17th to the top ten in world tourism.”

Among the markets where this happened was Ireland. Even though Ireland did not qualify in 2006, the number of Irish who travelled to Germany in June-July 2006 was up by 44.9pc from June-July 2005 starting a growth trajectory that has never abated. Remarkably the only countries to outperform Ireland’s 2006 tourism growth were semi-finalists Portugal and World Cup favouites Brazil, of a low base.

The growth has continued and in 2015 Ireland sent 190,133 visitors to Germany. Germany reported an 8.9pc increase for visitors from Ireland in the early months of 2016.

NUREMBERG TO HOST GTM 2017

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uremberg will host for the 43rd Germany Travel Market on May 7-9 2017.

Jens Huwald, Managing director of Bavaria Toruism and Yvonne Coulin of Nuremberg tourism said 2017 GTM would con-

vey a vibrant and modern image and raise the profile of tradition, history and highlights of the area.

Signature attractions include the Nuremberg Convention Center, the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg

Castle, Albrecht Durer House, St Lorenz Church, the German Railway Museum, Lochgefangnis Prison, Zeppelinfeld, the Ship of Fools sculpture, St Sebaldus Church, Frauenkirche, Elisabethkirche, Weissgerbergasse, Nur-

emberg Palace of Justice, and on the dark side, the Dokumentationszentrum Reichsparteitagsgelaende museum built on the side of the unfinished Nazi congress hall, Reichsparteigelande and Nuremburg Trial Courthouse.

OCTOBER 2016 PAGE 21

DESTINATION GERMANY

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he locomotive does not exactly fly, as it would in one of Michael Ende’s stories, but it might as well do.

Deutsche Bahn invited us to see the Zugspitze, Germany’s high-est mountain. It seemed quite an odd invitation from Germany’s rail operator but they weren’t joking. The train is part of a round trip that brings over 1m tourists to the top of Germany and, a little bridge journey and pose for a photograph later, into Austria as well.

There is also a cable car which will bring you back down the mountain much more quickly, so the preferred round trip, accord-ing to Stephanie Ronge of Zugspitze tourism is up by train and back by cable car cable car to the Eibsee station, €53 in summer, €39 in win-ter, and allow eight hours if you want to hike up instead.

“The best bit is definitely the clouds,” Stephanie says, “the mountains and surroundings, you can see 400 peaks from here, it is just the greatest view imaginable.”

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oing that bit further, all the way to the 2,962 metres up summit, is not that difficult.

The notices say that you have to be trained and you have to have some Alpine experience.

Yodeling, drinking Jägermeister and eating melted cheese apparently does not count. But not much.

The climb is assisted by iron holds grappled into the crumbling yellow limestone, and a fixed rope that you can pull and swing if there isn’t an Australian hanging on

Ende of the line Eoghan Corry takes a train with a never-ending story

Tourist facilities atop the Zugspitze viewed from the top of Germany’s highest mountain too near behind. This is to prevent people falling to their doom, a good idea because it is a long way down and there is nothing stopping you should you start to tumble. They tell me very few people die on the summit of the Zugspitze but it is very hard to believe that.

Your esteemed editor made it to the top in a queue of sporty types with long blue knee socks, shorts and backpacks, stadium tourism in summer.

The rock is edgy and jagged and when you turn around you can wave back at the viewing gallery outside the restaurant below at those who have come to see if you make it to the top or tumble.

On the other side of the edge is a big drop into fluffy clouds down below, with spider-leg valleys looping in each direction. On a clear day, and it was a clear day, you can far see as far as

GETTING THERE

■ On Saturdays you can go from Hamburg or from Dortmund - Ruhr - Cologne directly to Garmisch-Partenkirchen by the fast Intercity Express (ICE). The ticket price for a journey from Dusseldorf via Munich to Garmisch-Partenkirchen starts at €29.

Italy, where the first of the early snow was glistering on the mountain peaks.

There is a cross on the top where you stop for the cheesy photo-graph for the Facebook profile.

I made it to the top, har, har.

And then you have to take your turn on the way back down with the next batch of climbers trying to make it up against you, swim-ming against the tide like a Salmon in a particularly lofty place.

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pringboard for the experience is the historic town of Garmisch Partenkirchen.

This was the venue for the 1936 Olympics, and the landscape is dominated by a large ski jump which hosts the New year’s ski jumping event at Four Hils Tournament and part of the World Cup programme.

We were accommodated here in the very

THINGS TO DO

■ Alpspitz-Wellenbad Swimming Pool) health and spa centres in selected hotels badminton/tennis (Indoor Sports Grainau) ice skating/”Eisstockschieften” (similar to curling) ■ See new online tour planner www.gapa.de

sporty Dorint Sporthotel, a hotel so sporty (Boris Becker’s instructor Edgar Euling counts among its fans) that you feel fitter by just entering the lobby or stopping by the bar for a Helles.

It is a labyrinthine resort where the corridors are built for a cold winter nights, escape tunnels from the frost, and the easiest way from A to B is to find the nearest exit door.

It comes with tennis courts, indoor pool and spa facilities and everywhere you look there is a call to action: get out and embrace the countryside around.

Garmisch Partenkirchen is one of those tourist towns that managed to save its reputation without any of the big international chains getting their stranglehold on their facilities.

You find the smalltown feel, that authenticity that corporate tourism can never recreate, is intact every-

where you look, the pictur-esque Ludwigstraße, where artisans ply their wares like Franz and Linus Kässer in Amelie Chocolaterie, the bespoke ski manufacturer Axel Forelle of Build2ride (“carving technology is the biggest innovation of past 15 years”), in the restaurants where classic Bavarian food is served and even if the thigh slapping dancers come to your table you feel that this is more like community activity than typical tourist voyeurism.

It reminds one so much of a trip to the West of Ireland, where you know the guy in the pub playing the fiddle is not doing it for anything other than their own pleasure.

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s well as the Olympics, the town is birthplace of Michael Ende, author of The Neverending Story.

They could not resist

calling his commemorative exhibition “Der Anfang vom Ende” (“The be-ginning of Ende”) celebrating the life of the man who taught locomotives how to fly and whose signature story became a joke in the Simpsons (Lionel Hutz wanted to sue).

The area has 300 kilometres of hiking paths, 110 of them cleared in the winter, a cycling route network of 450km, 60km of ski runs, 28km of cross-country skiing trails and 19 golf courses less than an hour away and excursion such as the Kainzenbad natural swimming pool or the casino, the torchlight walk through Partnachklamm gorge.

Tour guide Birgit Neuner told us that Garmisch Partenkirchen gets 1.4m overnights, 3,000 of them from Ireland, down 5pc this year.

There is a cure for that.

Take the flying lcomotive.

■ Eoghan Corry flew to Munish with Aer Lingus and was hosted by Deutsche Bahn and Bavaria Tourism.

■ Aer Lingus operate a twice daily service from Dublin to Munich and a twice weekly service from Cork. One-way fares including taxes and charges start from €49.99. For further information visit aerlingus.com ■ ATTS represent Deutsche Bahn in Ireland www.railshop.ie. +3531 8828679 railshop@atts.ie

OCTOBER 2016 PAGE 22

DESTINATION SPAIN

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or over 20 years now, the Spanish Tourist Board has been trying to lure tourists away from the “Costas” and into the relatively unexplored inland. With varied success.

In the central plateau of Castille/Leon you’ll find some cities with so much to explore and hardly an English, French or German voice to be heard in the streets that are refreshingly devoid of tourist buses and hired-cars.

Take the northern motorway from Madrid over the mountains of Guararrama, snowypeaked even n late May sometimes, and the plain lies before you - green in winter and spring - baked to a taupe crisp in summer and autumn You will quickly come to the city of Segovia, arguably, the best-known of the cities of the high plain of Castille. With its massive Roman aqueduct, alcázar, winding streets and cathedral - it’s an ideal city to visit, even when the weather is unendurably hot in southern Spain.

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he place to eat in Segovia is Méson Candido at the base of the aqueduct. The speciality of the house is suckling pig, slow braised in a clay oven and cut with - a plate (knife not needed because of its tenderness).

You might have to overlook the presence of

Over arching

Anne Cadwallader explores Madrid’s hinterland Segovia’s signature arch a stiff little tail poking out of the dead animal’s rear - but, hey, you’re in Spain and animals are bred to eat, not cluck over - and it’s sweetly delicious washed down with some of the local red wine.

From Méson Candido, it’s a gentle walk uphill for the 200 yards or so to the centre of the old town andthe Barrio Judio (Jewish Quarter) - taking in a rest to view the city beneath you. On the way, there are plenty of shops selling traditional Spanish pottery (vases, plates, jugs) but best to wait until your return journey.

The Seville alcázar (many towns have one, basically palaces, some

WHAT’S HOT

■ When the coastline is baking in unbearable heat, the central plateau of Spain can be refreshingly cool, although you are practically guaranteed sunshine all year round.

■ Madrid is now barely two hours flying time from Dublin and is served by three airlines 34 times a week - so no problem about catching a flight - alternatives are available to Bilbao, Santiago, San Sebastian and Santander.

■ The Spanish city has nott been invented yet that hasn’t got enough churches and palaces to wear out your eyes.

fortified) is the oldest royal palace still in use in Europe and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. Its upper floors are still where Spanish monarchs stay while in the city.

It houses a splendid, if spine-chilling, collection of armoury and you can wander from room to room gazing on the wonderful decorations, half-Spanish/half-Moorish, denoting the city’s mongrel history down the centuries.

The central courtyard, “Patio de las Doncellas”, is named - in English “Courtyard of the Maidens”, after the legend that the Moors demanded 100 virgins every year as trib-

WHAT’S NOT

■ Hotel beds in Spain can be a trifle hard, and pillows not as large and soft as we are used to at home. Check your hotel room will have extra blankets, soft mattresses and spare pillows.

■ Because you are staying in cities that are not as used to Irish visitors, don’t expect menus to be in English.

■ Bring a phrase book and experiment.

■ You will want to wander. Bring comfortable shoes - not stilettos.

Spanish streets can be cobbled.

ute from Christian kingdoms in Iberia - but we’ll pass quickly over that.

We stayed in Segovia in Hotel San Antonio El Real ( http://www. sanantonioelreal.es/en/) - outside looking like a bunker but inside pure Spain (dark ceilings, tiled floors, white walls, a delightful courtyard).

From Segovia, a 2.5 hour journey along excellent roads with wonderful views of the open landscape, pine forests and small “pueblos” brings you to the ancient city of Burgos, or as I like to call it “El Cid City”.

Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (1043 – 1099) popularly known as El Cid was a prodigious warrior who changed sides between Spanish kings and the Moors with dizzying speed but later set up a pluralist principality near Valencia. Buried in the cathedral in Burgos, he remains a Spanish popular folk-hero and national icon. Naturally enough, we stayed in the Méson del Cid in Burgos, im-

mediately overlooking the cathedral and directly on the Camino, so we could watch hapless Americans set off in flipflops to walk the 538 kilometres to Santiago.

Some chance.

The food we ate in Burgos was wonderful.

Nine courses one night in the La Favorita (http:// www.lafavoritaburgos. com/ - featuring in the 2016 Michelin guide with tapas from €6-€10) was belly-busting. The food in Méson del Cid itself was similarly excellent nice surprise for a hotel restaurant.

Burgos, like so many Spanish towns, is a joy to wander through. While we were there they were erecting stages everywhere for the local fiesta and people gently danced in the plazas as the bands warmed up for the evening festivities.

Outside the city, we visited the Cartuja de Miraflores, the home of an enclosed order of Carthusian monks, with a characteristic golden,

highly-decorated altarpiece, cloisters and yet another cool courtyard.

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nother two hours took us to the city of Léon, named not after a lion but a Roman legion which encamped there for a while in 74AD. Although the cathedral in Burgos is bigger, the one in Léon is lovelier with rose windows to rival Chartres.

A day could hardly be spent happier than wandering through its ancient squares and courtyards, taking in lunch at the Racimo de Oro (“Bunch of Golden Grapes”). All possible styles of architecture are around every corner - from Romanesque, to Gothic, to Renaissance and modern.

Dinner in the Léon Parador is just what you would expect. Silver service, white linen, excellent wines, great view over the gardens - and the food (as everywhere we went) simple, wellcooked and presented, delicious.

On our way back to Madrid airport, we stopped off at the El Yllera winery in the village of Rueda. It’s just off the main motorway and well worth a visit.

The owner, Marcos Yllera, has diversified and, while wine remains the main family business, he has transformed the cavernous cellars beneath his land.

How often can you descend into the depths of the earth, leaving temperatures of 35C above ground, to walk through a chilly interpretation of the myth of Theseus, the Minotaur and Ariadne’s thread? I’m guessing, never.

Spain. It never ceases to amaze.

■ Anne Cadwallader travelled to Spain courtesy of the Spanish Tourist Board.

Ryaanir fly18 times a week to to Madrid, Aer LIngus 11 times and Iberia Express 5 times. Iberia Express also have a service from Cork

OCTOBER 2016 PAGE 23

Student city A

DESTINATION SPAIN

Salamanca rediscovered

30,000 students populate the ancient ecclesiastical and academic city of Salamanca

s befits the scho- is among the oldest in And while other insti- eign students Nowadays lastic capital Europe, acknowledged tutions have taken over foreign students still of Spain, Sala- in 1254 as one of the four Salamanca’s reputation, flood the city to learn manca looks the part. great universities of the that heritage means it will Spanish. It is a particular When you look across world alongside Oxford, always be the scholastic favourite for us. You canthe city it seems like a Paris and Bologna. capital. not escape an Irish accent tapestry of churches and You can still visit the 1n 1929 University of as you wander the streets.

I came to attend a lancloisters, a roman bridge, ancient classrooms, with Salamanca was the first its old and ([SHGLDB$776 7UDYHO 5HSUHVHQWDWLRQ 6ROXWLRQVB [ B,( SGI new cathedrals the softer seats reserved Spanish college to offer guage tourism conferThe famed university for the aristocracy. language courses to for- ence and start learning

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Spanish at the Tia Tula school. I had forgotten how quickly we revert to junior infants when we are in a classroom without a clue how we are going to survive the first hour, never mind a week of this.

I was one of four, a Dutch woman and two Chinese who were dealing with a strange alphabet as well as a strange language. Bless the Eurovision Song Contest. I sang Eres Tu for them to prove my commitment.

Nobody was fooled.

I

t is easy to contemplate how far away from home and far out of their depth were the generations of Irish who passed through here.

I stopped to pay tribute to them at the Colegio de Los Irlandeses.

This was the most important third level institu-

tion of all for Irish people over more than two centuries, when Catholic students were prevented from studying in Ireland by colonial penal laws from 1592 until 1812.

During the 1700s Salamanca was the degree to have for those outside colonial circles.

Originally built in 1525 by Diego de Siloe and Gil de Hontanon, the Irish college remained open until 1952 and was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1988.

There are enough cloisters to wander on every evening of even the longest stay. In the Santa Clara convent the most ancient paintings have recently been revealed by renovation. Some of the saints pictured have so fallen out of fashion they cannot be identified from their 14th century motifs.

OCTOBER 2016 PAGE 24

DESTINATION AUSTRALIA

S

and. Lots of it was deposited it, thickly and small like an hour glass with lots of time, off the eastern seaboard of Australia when it had piled grain upon grain upon grain, slowly at first, then a little faster, it became an island.

You won’t find any rocks on Fraser Island.

Well, of course there is just one large rock which kept the first grains of sand in place.

If the rock wasn’t here, no sand, no island.

If the sand wasn’t here.

No Great Barrier Reef.

It is a reminder of the scene in The Castle where the father decides that the only thing better than the serenity of nature is the sound of a six stroke engine at full speed.

T

N

owadays Fraser Island carries the unexpected accolade of largest sand island in the world.

It has a surprising amalgam of vegetation, deciduous and coniferous, mangroves and trees, rain forest and all sorts of accumulated wildlife.

Most of them arrived by bird or by swimming.

Animals with stories. Aussie stories. Eurong (answer: “oh I’m wrong”). The antechinus marsupial mouse which copulates for 12 hours and dies.

There is a similar process with humans. It is called marriage

T

our guide Colin Anderson compares his chosen subject with a giant compost heap, like on your garden.

He makes it sound simple, everything just landed on top of the sand and started to grow.

Humpback trail Backpacker pyramid at Lake McKenzie on Fraser Island

Eoghan Corry on the traditional backpacker route

The glistening jewel of the crown, visible from the air as you fly in from Harvey Bay full, is Lake McKenzie. Perched lakes are a treasure peculiar to Fraser and McKenzie is the treasure of the treasury. It sits 100 m above sea level like breakfast bowl of pure fresh water on the picnic table.

Most of the freshwater perched lakes in the world are found on Fraser Island. So it has come to pass that McKenzie is the

WHAT’S HOT

■ The weather is noticeably warmer than beaches even a couple of hours down the coast ■ Following the backpackers means great nightlife ■ Following the whales means great wildlife ■ Lady Elliot island is only accessible by air which restricts the numbers

one whether backpackers come to play along the lakeshore, pure pure water cooling in the autumn sun.

Sand purifies. There are 4.2m litres an hour going through Ely Creek.

Bogimbah Creek is even faster 5.3m litres

T

he best way to see the island is on foot. Get dropped off at one point and collectors as another and wander freely through the

forest. The island is 123 km end to end and there are 150km of walking trails so it is big enough lo lose yourself, if you are allowed. There are scarey dinosaur sounding placenames, like Valley of the Giants `(the approach from Cornwall’s break road is worth the trouble), and sharp climbs through steep vegetation. There are 32 different types of snakes of which only two are non-venomous so be careful where you put

your foot.

Most people come to play on a beach called a 75 mile beach. It is only 58 miles long but the name was rounded up somehow. For an environmentally protected island this is a bit of a quandary. Four by fours and beach buggies, buses and pedestrians trundle back and forth like an urban highway. Two private air tour companies use it as a landing and take off strip.

here are 42 perched lakes Frazer Island a bit like a bird on a perch. It is a lake that sits on top of sound. There a shipwreck of the Moreno is one of the sites where people congregate. A freshwater Creek with 4,000,000 L an hour of pure water is also.

There is a plaque to Shirley Blackman, 19371998, the last of the blackfellahs from Fraser whose home was logged out of recognition.

The loggers came in 1880 and devastated the forests that used to sit here on the sand. Things have changed around so successfully that now it has UNESCO world heritage status, one of five in Queensland, due to the unique lake system and the forests, the only place in the world where rainforest grows completely on sand.

Part, perhaps the biggest part, of the attraction of Fraser Island is the ease of access. Fraser Island is two and a half hours north of Brisbane airport. Drive the road to Harvey Bay, jump on the barge, and 30 minutes later you end up in Kingfisher Bay resort, one of two on the island.

The reef is not far

WHAT’S NOT

■ Mosquitoes ■ Watch your step, of 32 types of snake on Fraser Island just two are non venomous ■ It can be crowded, this is a stadium stop-off on the backpacker trail north from Byron Bay ■ Lady Elliot island is only accessible by air which raises the price

■ Eoghan Corry travelled to Australia courtesy of Emirates who fly double daily to Dubai and onwards to Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney and of Tourism Australia www.australia.com

Eoghan Corry and Graham Howe jetski at Fraser Island

OCTOBER 2016 PAGE 25

DESTINATION AUSTRALIA away, and its sourthenmost island is the place where we ended out trip.

G

az the guide, Gary Pearce, tells jokes the whole way. Why donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t dingoes eat clowns? Because they taste funny.

Why do terns travel in pairs? Because one good tern deserves another.

The humpback trail of the whales is now the hump trail of the backpackers, and one of the meeting grounds of choice is the Dingo Bar on Fraser Island. To understand backpackerdom you should come here and drink the beer served from a hatch like a Cumberland Street dole dispenser, to the toilets

marked mutts, bitches and (the disabled toilet) brawlers only.

Dingoes are important to the neighbourhood.

Fraser has one of the purest strains of dingoes left. The dingo has been breeding with dogs for generations, only those of Fraser islands retain the original DNA of the wild invaders from cen-

turies before.

L

ady Elliot island is accessible only by air, to land on the shortest commercial runway in Australia, 680 metres and counting.

Here you find a unique border, between subtropical to tropical, where the coral reef begins and a new backpacker play-

ground presents itself.

Megan Jacob brings us snorkeling and then on a walk through the rock pools with a scientific explanation for each discovery and an eye for the oddity, the moonrass that turns into a male.

And, this being Queenland, a joke. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a brain or a heart. A bit like

my ex boyfriend.â&#x20AC;?

Later. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Octopuses have three hearts. Maybe I should date an octopus.â&#x20AC;?

They mined guano here too, in 1863, and removed feet of guano off the island.

Nature has lost the war all along the coast. The recovery is only beginning.

Clockwise: Fraser Island has the only rain forest that grows on sand, driving the 75 mile beach that is only 48 miles long, walking the rock pools at Lady Elliott island, jet skis at Hervey Bay and lounging in a fresh water creek on Fraser Island

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OCTOBER 2016 PAGE 26

AFLOAT CRUISESCAPES website

www.cruisefromireland.com/ is now live

ROYAL Caribbean has consolidated the

price of its drinks package from $39 to $55 a day with effect September 6, and says all gratui-ties are no longer included in the price.

CELEBRITY Cruises renewed its ongoing partnership with Bravo Media, creator of the US cooking competition show Top Chef. Celebrity Cruises will focus its 2017 programme on Europe with 40 itineraries and 61 overnight stays in 19 European cities. It will include the cruise line’s first overnight in Dublin on July 25.

STX Two bidders are vying for STX France which has an impressive order book stretching through 2026. The French government owns a minority interest in the shipyard and can veto a sale.

AZAMARA Club Cruises will offer its first loyalty club cruise, host-ed by cruise line president and CEO Larry Pimentel. The cruise will take place in the Arabian Gulf and United Arab Emirates from October 24 to November 3, 2016 onboard Azamara Journey.

HARPAG LLOYD Cruises ordered two expedition ships, one for German market & one for English speakers. Two identical 240-passenger vessels are to be built

by Vard in Norway for Hamburg-based HapagLloyd Cruises for launch in April and October 2019.

UNIWORLD Boutique River Cruise

Collection will name its next 128-passenger river ship SS Joie de Vivre, in March 2017, the line’s first “su-per ship” to sail on the Seine and will be able to dock in the heart of Paris.

Celebrity Cruises will have shorter four and five day sailings in the Caribbean, starting in early 2018. Celebrity Equinox will sail the Caribbean from Miami beginning s2017

IRISH FERRIES launched the France 2017 programme with a 10pc discount on early bookings. The ferry company’s parent ICG reported that car vol-umes were up 5.5pc in the first half of the year and passenger numbers were down 1.9pc to 686,600.. MV Kaitake is to remain on charter un-til June 2020.

CLIA Britain and Ireland conference for 2017 is set for May 24-26 in Southampton.

LE BOAT the TUI owned parent of Emerald Star river cruise hire compa-ny, has announced the launch of a new wave of Horizon models in 2017. Le Boat will expand its current fleet and launch three new high-end self-drive Horizon models to suit larger groups in 2017, following what the company describes as the sell-out success of the 2016 Horizon boat, de-signed with a focus on couples and small families.

MSC Drinks packages are on sale for €180

per week.

CRYSTAL Construction began on Crystal River Cruises’ new Rhine-class Crystal Bach and Crystal Mahler at Wismar.

CMV Magellan in Dublin port

5 Dublin departs

C

CMV plan direct sailings from Ireland in 2017

ruise Maritime Voyages and James McGinley Travel from Gortahork hosted the trade on board CMV Magellan to promote five direct departures from Dublin in 2017.

CMV Magellan wil cruise in different directions on its sailings to: The fjords 9 nights on June 5, Iceland 12 nights on June 14 Spain, Portugal and France 11 nights on June 26, the Seine 7 nights on July 7 Scotland and the Faroes 7 night on July 14.

Lead-in prices start from €719 for an inside cabin on the Seine trip.

JMG Travel’s Transport Division McGinley Coach Travel will be offering regional pick-ups from Donegal, Sligo, Galway, Limerick, Killamey, Cork, Waterford, Wexford, Derry and Bel-fast en route to Dublin. In addition to this, groups of 15 or more will get a pick-up from

M

their hometown. Value saver fares published in the brochure offer discounts of up to 45pc on full fares.

Magellan joined the CMV fleet in 2015 from Crnival and still has a Carinval feel to it with entertainment stage areas throughout the ship.

At 46,052grt she carries about 1,250 passengers (adults only) accommodated in 726 cabins spanning nine passenger decks.

Magellan is notable for her wide corridors and stairways, deck areas with traditional wood type decking, two dining rooms; the Waldorf and Kensington restaurants, and the more in-formal Raffles Bistro for casual dining.

Some twin cabins have been set aside for single occupancy priced with just 25pc single supplement on the equivalent category twin share prices. In addition, our special on board singles programme of events including a welcome cocktail party

and get-togethers will en-sure the opportunity to meet like-minded travellers.

Irish-themed entertainment has also been hired including Dana Rosemary Scanlon. “We could not afford Daniel O’Donnell,” James McGinley said.

CMV and Fred Olsen are the only two cruise lines currently offering direct pick-ups from Dublin.

The Fred Olsen line is offering two sailings from Belfast to Norwegian Fjords on April 30, to Scotland on May 8 and Killybegs to Canada July 30. Fred Olsen sales are 15pc ahead on this time last year. They offer some of the cheapest drinks packages at £14 per person including a lot of what would be considered Premium brands and if bought in advance entitle s passengers to 50pc premium wine list and itop brand brandiess, whiskies and champagne.

MSC NAMES 2nd MEGA-SHIP

SC Bellissima is to be the name of its second Meraviglia-class ship, the cruise line re-vealed at the float out of Meraviglia, at the STX France shipyard in Saint Nazaire.

The ceremony marked the start of the final

phase of construction of 5,714-passenger MSC Meraviglia. The ship will be the largest afloat when it launches in June 2017.

The MSC chairman made a short presentation, turned the wheel and the flooding of the dry dock began.

Antonio Paradiso of MSC and Celine Kenny of Cruisescapes at the MSC Mewraviglia float our in St Nazaire, September 2 2016 MSC hosted 100 agents from around the world at the event, including two from Ireland. Rebecca Kelly and Antonio

Paradiso, MD for Britain and Ireland led agents through what will be the Promenade complete with changing roof, basketball arena, waterpark and future theatre for Cirque du Soleil.

OCTOBER 2016 PAGE 27

AFLOAT

Poolbeg chimneys see from Silver Whisper

D

56 callers confirmed

Dublin Port looks forward to 2017

ublin port has lined up 56 cruise ship visits in 2016. They include the first ever overnight stop

by Celebrity Silhouette.

Silhouette returns to Amsterdam in May and operates cruises from there, Stockholm, Barcelona and Civitavecchia.

It will overnight in

Dublin on July 25 as part of Celebrity’s policy of increasing its overnight stays in European cities.

Celebrity eclipse, based out of South-ampton will also call to Dublin.

The cruise ship programme commences with Fred Olsen Boudicca on January 6 and the last confirmed arrival

is Amadea, under charter to the Germany-based Phoenix Reisen, on September 29. Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth will be a caller in July, Caribbean Princess has confirmed 13 calls and Crown Princess a further four.

CARNIVAL HITS 5,200 PAX

C

arnival has ordered two new cruise ships from Germany’s Meyer-Werft in Papenburg and Finland’s Meyer-Turku shipyards, to become the largest in the line’s fleet.

Carnival’s two 5,200-capacity ships, similar in size to Royal’s Oasis and MSC’s

Meraviglia class, will be built in Turku and will be delivered in 2020 and 2022. They will be the first in North America to be powered by liquefied natural gas which helps cut exhaust emissions.

It also ordered a third 5,200-passenger LNG-powered ship for P&O to be constructed in

Papenburg and launch in 2020.

The three orders are significantly larger than 3,936-passenger Carnival Vista, which was built

by Fincantieri in Trieste launched this year.

The similar size Carnival Horizon will launch in 2018.

HURTI GOES HYBRID

H

urtigruten says its two new 530-passenger expedition cruise ships will operate using envi-ronmentally-friendly hybrid technology.

This willo reduce fuel consumption by 20pc.

The as-yet-unnamed Hurtigruten ships, launching in July 2018 and July 2019, are designed for the Arctic and Antarctic. The new technology has been developed by Rolls Royce and Bellona, a non-profit

organisation that works to address climate challenges. Hurtigruten’s recent letter of intent for four new expedition ships in all the largest single investment in Hurtigruten’s 123-year history.

SCARILY GOOD MID-TERM BREAKS

Price includes: • Return Stena Line ferry travel from Dublin to Holyhead or Rosslare to Fishguard with your car • 2 nights 3/4* hotel accommodation near the park

Book now for mid-term breaks

• 1 day theme park entry ticket

FAMILY OF 4 FROM ONLY

565

€

Everyone deserves a break

Book online at

agent.stenaline.ie or call reservations on 01 907 5399

Price is per family based on 2 adults and up to 2 children (under 16) sharing a family room in selected hotels, dates and sailings during October/November 2016. Price shown is a ‘from’ price and subject to availability. Terms & Conditions apply.

OCTOBER 2016 PAGE 28

THE FLYING COLUMN

Aviation with Gerry O’Hare

AER LINGUS and Ryanair connec-

tion talks have restarted; “It is fair to say agreements have been reached in principle with Norwegian,” Michael O’Leary said. “The talks with Aer Lingus stopped because Aer Lingus decided to stop them and restarted because Aer Lingus decided to restart them. It is fair to say theya re oging at a leisurely pace.”

RYANAIR announced a summer 17 capacity cut at Dublin of 3pc. At Dublin, additional frequencies will be operated to Palma (2 daily), Reus (2 daily) & Tenerife (daily), 85 routes in total, 12m passen-gers a year (down 3pc). Cork capacity was up with more flights to Lanzarote (5w) and Malaga (5w), 17 routes in total, Shannon caapcity will be down with the loss of routes to Beavais and Memmingen although flights to Lanzarote wil increase. Manchester has lost another frequency and there are other reductions on some Ireland-London.

Knock will have 12 routes and Kerry 5.

Ryanair have had a record summer

Ryanair rides on

3 RUNWAYS Michael O’Leary

called on Westminster Prime Minister Theresa May to approve three new runways, one each at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, which will finally resolve the runway capacity issue for the next 50 years

ONEWORLD Rob Gurney joined

Oneworld in October as CEO from Emirates, where he was Senior Vice-President Commercial Operations The Americas.

LONDON Ryanair launched its London

summer 2017 schedule, with a revived routes to Strasbourg (2 pw from Stansted) and a new route to Faro (5 pw from Luton), and more flights to Sofia and Nuremberg, which will deliver 23.6m customers/ Stansted will have more flights to: Sofia (2 daily) & Nuremberg (2 daily), 132 routes and 19.9m passengers.

Gatwick will have 5 routes in total: Belfast (4 dai-ly), Cork (1 daily), Dublin (7 daily) & Shannon (1 daily), 1.7m passengers. Luton will have 18 routes in total, 2m passengers.

MORE BOEINGS Michael O’Leary said “if Boeing have more cancellations and all of a sudden instead of having oversold their order book they now have unplaced aircraft, I’m sure they’ll come back to us.” He said the additional planes would replace some of Ryanair’s older B737-800s.

Ryanair struck a deal for 15 surplus 800s earlier this decade, taking delivery in 2014 and 2015. Ryanair already has 115 current generation B737-800s due for delivery over the next few years followed by 100 updated B737MAX 200s arriving from 2019, and is also exploring a further MAX order.

SAA South African Airways chairperson

R

Record July puts airline on course for 112m

yanair reported July traffic statistics with passenger numbers up 12pc to 11.3m and August figures up 11pc to 11.5m.

Load factor for both months was up 1pc to 96pc and rolling annual traffic to August up 16pc to 112m.

This compares with 10.1m and load factor of 95pc in July 2015 when Ryanair became the seventh airline to join the 10m in one month club; a club which includes Delta, South-

west, China Southern, United, American Airlines, China Eastern and the original Aeroflot, which reached 10m passengers in one month in July 1970 and put in many more 10m months before the collapse of the Soviet Union, reaching 100m passengers a year in 1976.

July and August are the equivalent of hay making season for airlines so Ryanair’s 10m a month performance wil tail off before the end of the year.

Ryanair will take delivery of 50 aircraft from September through April and start taking deliveries the following April.

Ryanair recently reported that their average fare had fallen below €40 for the first time since 2004 and predicted that average fares will fall by 9pc in Septemebr between 10pc and 12pc in the six months to March 2017. “We are load factor active, price passive,” Michael O’Leary said.

ALAN JOYCE REPORTS ‘BEST EVER’ RESULTS

B

ookings for the first Qantas Dreamliner flights are to open before Christmas.

The airline says seats will initially be made available on existing services within the carrier’s network,and new international destinations will be added

J

shortly afterwards.

Qantas is set to take delivery of the first of eight B787-9 aircraft in late 2017 and says it is working with “a team of world-class designers” on the interiors for its forthcoming Boeing Dreamliner aircraft, with “best-in-class standards.”.

It comes as Qantas CE0, the Tallaght-born Alan Joyce claims: “the best result in the 95-year history of Qantas – and the best result in Australian aviation history, full stop”.

Qantas announced underlying profits before tax of $1.53bn for the 12 months to June 30.

Alan Joyce

DUBLIN’S BUSIEST AUGUST

Dudu Myeni has been officially recommended to remain in the hot seat by Cabinet, it has been ust under 2.9m pasannounced. The formation of the board means sengers went through Treasury will now release the embattled airDublin Airport in line’s R5bn guarantee. what has been the busiest August in the airport’s hisKNOCK Ireland West Airport has tory. teamed up with Flybe and Tourism Ireland Passengers travelling for a major overseas promotional campaign to and from continental Europromote flights from Manchester, Birmingham pean destinations increased and Edinburgh

by 8pc- over 1.5m were destined for Europe. 13pc more people were travelling to British destinations, at over 926,000. Travel to North America accounted for 339,000 but increased by only 6pc.

Travel to other inter-

national destinations, 83,000 people, actually declined by 4pc.

Passenger numbers on domestic routes were 10,000 for an increase in 18pc. 707,000 of those passengers were using Dublin Airport as a hub,

and this practise is up 14pc for the first eight months of the year. Overall traffic is up 12pc compared to the same period last year, at 18.8m passengers travelling through Dublin so far this year.

OCTOBER 2016 PAGE 29

THE FLYING COLUMN

Aviation with Gerry O’Hare

Newark takes off

T

Pax from 13 connecting cities join Aer Lingus inaugural

here were 161 connectors on board Aer Lingus’ inaugural flight EI101 to Newark, New Jersey, an Airbus A330-202, named St Caoimhe, which took off from Dublin Airport at 12.55pm on Friday September 1st.

Aer Lingus used their newest Airbus 330-300, EI FNG, which had arrived in Dublin from Toulouse two days earlier and flew to Boston.

Connecting passengers joined the flight from Abu Dhabi, Barcelona, Birmingham, Brussels, Edinburgh, Hamburg, Isle of Man, Liverpool, London Heathrow and Gatwick, Manchester, Newcastle and Paris.

The airline now offers a yearround, daily service from Dublin direct to Newark, New Jersey, to service the New York market.

Newark is the second of three new transatlantic routes to commence this summer, marking the single largest expansion of Aer Lingus’ transatlan-

IAG CEO Willie Walsh said that airlines, including airlines within IAG, are reassessing their requirements for new aircraft, as the outlook for growth has softened. “I don’t think we’re going to see growth rates that were anticipated.”

RYANAIR launched its most extensive summer schedule yet from Berlin-Schönefeld for 2017. With 19 new connections to Belfast (3 pw), Budapest (daily), Bucharest (2 daily), Catania (6 pw), Fuerte-ventura (2 pw), Gran Canaria (2 pw), Lanzarote (2 pw), Lisbon (daily), Manchester (daily), Niš (2 pw), Podgorica (2 pw), Rzeszów (2 pw), Santander (3 pw), Seville (3 pw), Sofia (daily), Thessaloniki (daily), Timişoara (2 pw), Toulouse (4 pw) and Vilnius (3 pw) as well as an expansion of routes to Glasgow (6 pw), Malaga (4 pw) and Venice Treviso (daily), 46 routes in all. 300 flights per week, approx 5.4m passengers annually up 15pc.

DERRY-Palma will be operated by Eur-

Aer Lingus crew on the inaugural

tic network since the airline commenced transatlantic flying in 1958.

A direct new service to Los Angeles, California, began in May and in late September a new four-times

ope Airpost next summer (1 pw, 8 week charter series).

pw service will commence from Dublin to Hartford, Connecticut.

Three new transatlantic aircraft have joined the Aer Lingus fleet this year .

SCOTLAND Act 2016 transfers to the Scottish Parliament legislative power over taxing transport of air passengers, allowing a replacement tax for Air Passenger Duty to be introduced. The replacement tax is planned to come into effect in April 2018.

Dublin to Toronto Year-round flights increasing to 9 SERVICES WEEKLY in peak summer season

Flights conveniently timed to connect with Air Canada’s extensive network serving 60 Canadian and 52 US destinations.

For more information please contact us at 01 6793958 or aircanada@premair.ie

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02/03/2016 21:46

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OCTOBER 2016 PAGE 30

THE FLYING COLUMN

Aviation with Gerry O’Hare

DERRY City and Strabane Council are

providing an annual subsidy of £3.5m to Derry airport. Isle of Man virtual airline Citywing dropped its plans for Derry-Dublin route. It was to start the link using money from the Westminster regional air connectivity fund.

51st & GREEN The post-pre-in-

spection 51st & Green Lounge at Dublin is now open to all Dublin-US passengers, priced at €39 per person payable on the door. Passengers holding business class tickets will have complimentary access.

KUWAITAirways is dropping its Shannon stopover on its JFK services after September 30 and Heathrow stops after October 29. Frequency is to increase from 6w to daily from December 18. The stopover will continue if security concerns at Kuwait are not sorted to the satisfaction of the FAA. ETIHAD is to reduce Dublin to Abu

Dhabi back to single daily from September 15.

BA has deferred introducing an A380 on Heathrow-Boston beyond the end of the coming winter.

AUSTRIAN Airlines is increasing its flight offering to Iran in 2016. It flies to Tehran up to twice each day and is to add Isfahan on 4 Sep 16, initially 3w to Iran’s commercial hub, and 4w from summer 2017.

EU Passenger growth at EU airports was 6.2pc in the first months of 2016.

UNITED are to get a £9m subsidy over three years for their Belfast-Newark service,

EU said that CityJet, Ryanair, Wizz Air and Air Malta have the biggest percentage exposure of their capacity to Brexit.

DUBLIN AIRPORT commenced

the tender process for Dublin north runway and related work, including the control tower.

EMIRATES to Manchester has gone

all-A380.

DUBLIN transatlantic passengers are now more than half London-New York.

IALPA lodged an appeal against the planning approvals for apron bus gates and transfer facility at Dublin Airport.

BA is reducing London City-JFK to one daily westbound via Shannon.

CITYJET on-line store has opened at www.cityjetshop.com

DATALEX grew revenue by 17pc and platform revenue by 11pc to US$11.8m for the six months ended June 30.

RYANAIR reported 300m website contacts in six months, more than any US airline website.

WESTJET will end its codeshare relationship with British Airways on Oct 16.

CO DOWN firm Datum Tool Design

is creating 13 skilled engineering jobs on the back of a million-dollar deal with X’ian Aircraft Corporation

Self-tagging of baggage has reduced waiting times for Aer Lingus passengers

The 7-minute itch

A

Aer Lingus cuts boarding times by 7 minutes

er Lingus says it has shaved seven minutes off average boarding times by “simplifying” boarding procedures.

Aer Lingus says it now takes an average of three minutes to check in luggage on the express bag drop installation at Dublin Airport in contrast with the previous 15-20 queuing time.

The investment has also allowed the airline to increase check-in capacity without requiring extra terminal space.

Aer Lingus has been the most punctual airline in Dublin for each of the first eight months of 2016 in what the airline says is a complete reversal of its earlier record.

Air passengers who flew with Aer Lingus this summer may have noticed new practices at check-in and boarding. The airline has been cracking down on lateness, changing how it invites passengers to board and encouraging flyers from Dublin Airport to use new self-service stations to weigh and tag their luggage. Another change is to call priority boarders before everybody else.

Mike Rutter, of Aer Lingus said: “Like many large organisations, over the years we had become too complex. We weren’t paying enough attention to making sure that our ontime punctuality was at the level it should be.

“What we let slip was an under-

standing of one of the main reasons people travel, which is that they basically want to get somewhere on time.”

“We know if we don’t close the gate with at least 15 minutes to go before departure we’re not going to be able to close the aircraft up and get it away.”

“Aer Lingus has always had a strong reputation for going that last mile to get the last person on board the aircraft, even if they took a delay for it. There’s a lot of good equity in the brand as a result of our helpfulness in some strange places where we have rescued our good Irish guests.”

MYRYANAIR WILL BE MANDATORY

A

ll passengers flying with Ryanair could soon have to sign up for the airline’s ‘myRyanair’ programme before being able to book tickets, from mid 2017, according to chief executive Michael O’Leary.

The move would be a major shift in how the airline sells its tickets, and would help Ryanair further develop its plan to offer more personalised offers for flyers. Over 11m people have already voluntarily signed up for the service.

O’Leary was speaking

at an event at the US Ambassador’s residence in Phoenix Park, Dublin, Airline Innovation Flying into the Future with Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair, alongside Sheila Remes, Vice Presi-dent of Strategy, Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

“MyRyanair is going to be central to everything we are going to do in the next four or five years.”

“We started Ryanair labs about two years ago because we consciously wanted to do all this inhouse.We will be with you as a customer of Ryanair

every step of the journey.

If you want car parking it is all done. If you want coffee on board, click on MyRyanair. no payments on board it will all be done on your MyRyanair account.

If you fly two times with us this year we will give you an incentive to fly three times with us next year. if you fly 55 times with us we will give you an even bigger incentive to fly 56 times go fly with us next year.

We won’t be sending you out points and credit cards. It will all be done on

your mobile.”

“We will tailor the services to whatever you need. We will know the six routes you fly, what hotels you like to stay, if you don’t stay in a hotel, you stay in an apartment, you won’t be shown a hotel at all, but you do use transfer from the airport, you will be shown transfer.

Everything you want we can negotiate at a discount for your and deliver it to you.

This is going to be a bigger business than Ryanair in the next eight to ten years.”

€

OCTOBER 2016 PAGE 31

THE FLYING COLUMN

Aviation with Gerry O’Hare

Double quick time Security screening times could be halved in Shannon

S

hannon Airport says that the new high tech security system they have installed could halve security screening time at airports by combining EU and US into one check-point The new pre-clearance checkpoint concept, which is on trial at Shannon Airport for a ten week period, was developed as part of the EU funded XP-DITE project.

The new approach being pioneered at Shannon which was Europe’s first US pre-clearance airport. It combines the European and US Pre-clearance checkpoints, replacing the two separate checkpoints which are used at present with just one. The Shannon trial will show how a checkpoint can be designed to comply with two different sets of regulations (EU and the US TSA systems).

This combined checkpoint is the first of its kind in the world and has been designed to improve customer

LUFTHANSA is poised to take over 40 of Airberlin’s aircraft at the same time it takes over approximately one-third of Airberlin’s routes.

BERLIN Lufthansa has asked to reschedule the date for opening Berlin’s brand new airport to summer 2018. The airport is already five years late. Airport stakeholders plan to start operations in winter 2017.

CHRISTOPHE MUELLER ex Aer Lingus CEO is to join Emirates as Digital Manager. “Christoph and his digital transformation team are coming at the right time,” Emirates Airline president Tim Clark told the Aviation Festival in London.

Niall Maloney, Operations manager Shannon Airport, John Francis, Chief Security Officer Shannon Airport and Dr Mike Kemp, ICONAL Technology Ltd

experience. Passengers flying to the US will no longer have to queue up twice for separate security checks.

Ten major airports across Europe

and around the world are looking to adopt the pre-clearance approach, which could benefit 20m US-bound passengers per year.

AERCAPCEO Aengus Kelly said during an earnings call: “We don’t see any credit issues with Turkish Airlines.” Following July’s attempted military coup, two downgrades by Moody’s and the carrier’s recent poor Q1 and Q2 results, many banks are unwilling to take the credit risk on Turkish.

MALAYSIA Airlines where Meath man Peter Bellew is CEO, reported steady progress on its turnaround plan in 2016 Q2.

The carrier aims to be sustainably profitable by 2018. Growth over the next five years will be mainly within Asia: North Asia, China, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.

€€

OCTOBER 2016 PAGE 32

THE FLYING COLUMN

Aviation with Gerry O’Hare

DALLAS-Fort Worth airport wants more service to Europe, where it only currently has four nonstop routes. Dublin, Munich, Helsinki and Berlin are on the airport’s target list, as well as Nagoya, Melbourne, Addis Ababa and Nairobi in other parts of the globe. Nonstop flights to Rome, Auckland and Johannesburg are also on the wish list.

CAR The Commission for Aviation Regu-

lation is holding a consultation on a process for considering a supplementary capital expenditure (capex) allowance within the five year period to which its maximum charges determination applies.

DONCASTER

Flybe is to add Dublin to Donacaster likely with an ERJ-195 jet aircraft with 122 seats, when the route is dropped by Stobard at end October. It will operate daily except Tue with late pm flights Sat/Sun and morning flights on weekdays. Aer Lingus Regional Doncaster service with an ATR42/72 mix is currently due to end Nov 3.

FINNAIR

is to expand Dublin-Helsinki. to 9w for summer 2017, operating a mix of A319 and ERJ-190 aircraft.

RYANAIR is offering a hot Irish breakfast pre-order (at least 48 hours ahead) service on flights departing Dublin (only, for now) before 7am, from 1 Oct. Sausages, Bacon, tomato, white pudding, brown bread, butter, orange juice and a Lavazza coffee for €10.

EAST MIDLANDS

airport will be closed for runway resurfacing and refurbishing to traffic for 48 hr each weekend Nov 5- Dec 19 from 20:00 each Saturday to 20:00 each Monday, except the final weekend, when the closure will end at 13:00.

SUKHOI SSJ100, Cityjet’s latest acquisition, has been certificated for narrow runways. London City is one of the European airports are have narrower than the normal 45m wide runways. A320 and B737 aircraft operate from 30m runways, generally under special approvals.

ASL’s French subsidiary has been given

approval by US DoT. ASL Airlines France said it planned to operate between Paris CDG and Providence RI via Shannon between May and Sep 2016 with B737-700 aircraft. The application was filed in January but arrived too late for summer 2016.

NORWEGIAN Air Shuttle has put US$90m into its Irish unit so far this year.

AER LINGUS August RPK was up 3.9pc, passenger load factor 88.5pc, down 1.9 points, cargo down 30pc.

OSLO Ryanair is switching its 4w Stansted Norwegian service to Torp from Rygge at the end of October 2016.

RYANAIR announced a big investment in an IT centre in Wroclaw with 120 jobs, Travel Labs Poland.

GARUDA Indonesia is in talks to re-

structure its costs, including renegotiation with 27 lessors and aircraft manufacturers.

Hasan Mutlu and Onur Gul of Turkish Airlines

TA look to Ireland Airline counts on Ireland to lead revival of interest

T

urkish Airlines is to lead a marketing campaign in Ireland to rekindle interest in the troubled destination.

Irish tourism to Turkey fell 45pc during 2016 but Hasan Mutlu, new director of the Dublin office of Turkish airlines, thinks this can be turned around.

Turkish are reducing their Dublin service from double daily to 10w for winter, largely because the airline will not be getting deliveries, but Mr Mutlu says that this will not detract from the target of four daily flights to Dublin over the next six years.

Turkish have 180 aircraft on order to bring their fleet to 450 by 2023. Mr Mutlu said “if we have a successful winter for 2017 we can talk about increasing. But in 2017 very few aircraft will be added to our fleet. A higher level of deliveries will resume in 2018-19 and 2020.”

Similarly he says that flights from Belfast to Istanbul are possible towards the end of 2017 should the conditions be right when aircraft deliveries resume.

“I think it is better to wait at least until the end of this year to see what will happen. Stability comes first.

When we see a stable few months and then we can sit and talk about this with the head office.”

“We need to see how winter is affecting our operations. Maybe for 2018 we can wait for some things because due to capacity problems in the existing Istanbul airport.”

Istanbul’s new 150m capacity air-

port under construction in Arnavutköy district on the European side of Istanbul is on schedule to open on October 29 2017.

“Irish people are the ones who are most supportive, they are very, very supportive and that’s why we do appreciate this. They understand us due to what they have experienced in the past, not exactly the similar things but at least people can perceive what kind of things have been happening in Turkey.”

“We appreciate for what the agencies, the travel sector has said after those events that happened in Turkey, they showed their support in every way and said that no matter what happened we will keep on supporting you and we have seen this that our two flights are both full, and did not decrease. We will return to two flights in March.”

M

r Mutlu said low airline margins, an issue through the industry, were particularly acute in the low cost environment of Dublin. “Margin in the aviation sector is already very small and airlines are the ones whose share in this market is the smallest, as against handling companies, agencies, GDS and all the others.”

“Some are taking 2pc, some are taking 10pc, some are minus, but the average take for an airline is 2pc. A 2pc average airline profit margin is of course not enough for us. In Ireland this can be one of the problems but we have a big advantage.”

“If you are flying just to point to point, just Dublin to Istanbul and carrying passengers between these destinations it can be problematic.”

“We have the largest network in the world which is giving us huge advantage, switching destinations, picking the high yield ones and leaving the low yield ones, bringing the margin up a little bit which can make Irish operations profitable.”

“We have some other advantages in terms of cost,. The big cost for the airlines is oil. That is almost fixed for everyone. Number two is human beings, so labour is actually our big advantage which is making us a big cost saving, we have I think the lowest or one of the lowest costs among all European legacy carriers.

“People are eating while flying.

We have our own food. We have our own company DO&CO which has brought our catering to a different level globally. Skytrax selects our catering as the best in the world.

Our Business Lounge in Istanbul was also selected as the best in the world.

When we fly to Dublin we transport our food from Istanbul to Dublin for the return flight.”

“No airline is trying to cut the cost for catering. Some are not giving away food, some are charging but we went to the other way because when you compared with the other expenses catering is not the highest one and by increasing the quality in catering we have seen clearly that you can get some things that the others cannot.”

RDS Hall 3, Ballsbridge

Presented by

WEDNESDAY 22nd MARCH 2017 EXHIBITOR PROFILE

VISITOR PROFILE

• Airlines

• International Hotels/Resorts

• Airports

• Insurance

• Attraction Tickets

• Media

• Bed Banks

• National/Regional Tourist Organisations

• Car Rental • Cruise Companies • Ferries • Financial Services including Credit Cards

• Technology and Communications Companies • Theme & Leisure Parks • Ticketing Agents

• Golf Resorts and Related Services

• Trade Associations

• Ground Handling

• Tour Operators

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

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.

FREE EXHIBITOR & VISITOR CAR PARKING

• Travel Agents

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BOOK YOUR STAND NOW! VENUE

2017 DATE AND TIME

ORGANISERS

CONTACTS

RDS Hall 3 Anglesea Road Ballsbridge Dublin DO4 AK83 Ireland t. +353 (0)1 668 0866 w. www.rds.ie

Wednesday 22nd March 2017 2.00pm – 7.00pm

The Irish Travel Industry 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

www.irishtravelindustrytradeshow.com 107838 TRADE SHOW 2017_V3.indd 1

9/1/16 4:15 PM

OCTOBER 2016 PAGE 34

GLOBAL VILLAGE

Inside the Travel Business

TIGS Gillian Lowry and Gordon Penney

were the prize winners at TIGS captain’s day outing to Killeen Castle, hosted by Tanya Aiurey and sponsored by Travelport.

LOWCOST BEDS The Commission of Aviation Regulation says 3,040 customers have submitted claims against Low-cost group which went into administration in July.

Customers have four more weeks to submit claims. Low-cost’s administrators shut down the ‘manage my booking’ facility last month.

WORLDCHOICE

Registration opened for Worldchoice Conference at Seafield near Gorey on Saturday November 19. See story here. Worldchoice last staged an Irish delegates conference and awards in Ashbourne in 2013, having previously staged conferences and awards ceremonies in Mount Wolse-ley, Tullow in 2011, Dunboyne in 2009, Lyrath in Kilkenny in 2007, Citywest in 2006 and 2002.

BLUE INSURANCES Rita Gaughan from Limerick Travel is the August winner in the competition for a Polo Magnifico run by Blue Insurances. She follows previous winners Helena Kilduff from Skytours, Rose Kane from Kanes Travel in Longford, Claire Mulligan from Clubworld Travel and Mandy Walsh of Travel Counsellors. Every five Blue Insurances policies sold each month automatically generates an entry.

PAUL WEIR of APG Ireland has won contracts from Royal Air Maroc, Flynas from Saudi Arabia and China’s Xiamen Airlines.

TURKISH Airlines and the Seychelles tourism will host a joint road show in Dublin on October 3 and Cork on October 4. Onur Gul of Turkish Air-lines will lead a tour operators’ fam trip to the Seychelles on December 4.

FUN DAY The Travel Trade Fun Day in Wanderer’s Rugby Club, raised €55,000 for Simon, Chernobyl Children and Jigsaw. Sunway defeated Topflight in the 5 a side final.

CASSIDY Travel appointed Ann Marie Durkin, formerly manager in the Cassidy Travel Tallaght office, to a new role looking after trade relations. Sharon Harney, formerly of Thomas Cook Ireland, has joined Cassidy Travel in a senior management role with responsibility for Product and Distribution.

CELEBRITY appointed Mandy Burrie as sales director for Britain and Ireland.

TOPFLIGHT Suzanne Reynolds from Cassidy Travel won Topflight’s Sorrento prize.

GERMANY Travel awards announced

Oct 28 as the deadline for entries for awards ro the trade in four categories, best tour operator, best coach tour operator, best OTA, and unique contribution to German tourism

ROYAL

Caribbean’s Club Royal is offering a five nighter in Cape Town & Port Elizabeth on which 15 Club Royal members will travel. Royal Caribbean’s Club Royal members are invited to win points with the top 15 scores overall winning a space on a five-day holiday to South Africa.

Sharon Jordan of Uniworld, who will host the 2016 ITAA conference and ITAA CEO Pat Dawson

Sign of the Rhine

Irish Travel Agents Association conference sells out

T

he 2016 ITAA conference on board Uniworld An- Caribbean Quantum of the Seas in 2014. toinette has sold out.

The two night trip will start in Amsterdam, where the The river cruise ship can hold 154 passengers agents will board the luxurious ship and stay docked in who wil be travelling to Amthis magical city throughout the day sterdam to board the ship and ITAA CONFERENCE VENUES embark on a river cruise. and night.

2008 MSC Poesia On the morning of The conference takes place 1998 Killarney 2009 Portlaoise the 27th the agents on November 26-28 2016, 1999 Algarve 2010 Malaga the week after the CLIA river 2000 Tralee will set sail toward 2011 Seville cruise conference in Amster- 2001 Galway the German City of 2012 Istanbul Cologne. The ITAA dam. This is the third time that 2002 Newcastle 2013 Granada an ITAA conference has been 2003 Killarney conference will take 2014 Quantum of the Seas place on Sunday held afloat, previous conferen- 2004 Citywest 2015 Jerez ces took place on MSC Poesia 2005 Citywest November 27th.

2016 Uniworld Antoinette in 2008 and on board Royal 2006 Santry

ROYAL APPOINTS IRISH MANAGER

J

ennifer Callister has been appointed Head of Ireland by Royal Caribbean. This is a newly created role

by Royal Caribbean, who previously designated their Irish chief as head of sales for Ireland. She will report to London-based Sales Director, Ben Bouldin,

and sit on his leadership team.

Royal Caribbean were the first cruise line to open an Irish office back in 1999. The Irish operation, headed up from the start by Lorraine Quinn, showed double digit growth for nine successive years.

Including an astonishing

34pc in the recessionary year 2008, but growth rates suffered a setback when Palma and Malaga were discontinued as home ports.

Jennifer has worked for Royal Caribbean as National Account Manager for four years and was previously with British Midland.

Jennifer Callister

ROYAL BOOKS MICHELIN EVENT

R

oyal Caribbean say that their agent loyalty scheme is now the largest in the industry. The scheme is planning a dedicated Irish event for Ardmore in October.

The first and 10,000th member were each awarded £500.

All Club Royal members benefit from a range of user experience enhancements Royal Caribbean says Club Royal has hit the 10,000 member milestone, making it one of the largest and most popular programmes in the travel trade. A dedicated Irish event has been organised

in Ardmore in Waterford to celebrate the scheme’s second birthday, with dinner at Martijn Kajuiten‘s Michelin-starred restaurant.

Club Royal members have access to benefits including a monetary reward for every Royal Caribbean booking made after join-

ing. To join the Club Royal programme agents need to become a Cruising for Excellence Captain by completing the online training courses. They will then receive an email within 48 hours, which they can use to register at myclubroy-al. co.uk.

page 039 12/05/2016 12:10 Page 1

UL Arena, Limerick SATURDAY 18th & SUNDAY 19th FEBRUARY 2017 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

2017 DATE AND TIMES

ORGANISERS

CONTACTS

UL Arena University of Limerick Limerick Ireland t: +353 (0)61 213 582 www.ulsport.ie

Saturday February 18th 12.00pm - 5.30pm

Business Exhibitions Limited 59 Rathfarnham Road Dublin, D6W AK70 Ireland t: +353 (0)1 295 7418 f: +353 (0)1 295 7417

Maureen Ledwith - Sales Director t: +353 (0)1 291 3700 f: +353 (0)1 295 7417 e: maureen@bizex.ie

Sunday February 19th 12.00pm - 5.30pm

Paulette Moran - Sales Manager t: +353 (0)1 291 3702 f: +353 (0)1 295 7417 e: paulette@bizex.ie

www.holidayshow.ie  

OCTOBER 2016 PAGE 36

€

WINDOW SEAT Last month in numbers

110.7m Number of passengers carried by Ryanair in the twelve months to July.

27.9m Number of passengers likely to pass through Dublin airport in 2016 if growth continues.

11.3m Number of passengers carried by Ryanair in July, its busiest month ever.

1.61m Number of visitors to Guinness Storehouse in 2016 if growth continues

€28 The average Ryanair fare in 2020 if Michael O’Leary is to be believed 8 Number of cruises available direct from Ireland

next year through CMV and Fred Olsen programmes.

T

THOMAS COOK’S LEGACY

he story of the package holiday habit is a fascinating one. David Richardson has gathered anecdotes and word-ofmouth accounts from the people who made it happen and archive images.

His book Let’s Go is a glide through decades of travel history as people’s holiday aspirations changed from Blackpool to Benidorm and from Benidorm to Bali.

Thomas Cook, which celebrated its 175th anniversary recently, fea-

Let’s Go: A history of the package tour business by Dave Richardson www.historyofpackagetours.co.uk

tures prominently. Thomas Cook organised his first excursion in 1841 and his first European tour in 1855.

He started organising trips from Ireland in 1867 and opened an office in Dublin in 1874, starting in the Irish market with pilgrimages.

Dave says tour operators’ record in protecting the public is second to

none.

Dave says “the story of how we got into the package tour habit is a fascinating one. It’s not just about places and people and how we got there but also about us, as the holidays we take reflect the people we are, or aspire to be.”

Orla Markey favourites: Soldeu and Soll

Busman’s holiday: Orla Markey

Every month we ask a leading travel professional to write about their personal holiday experience. This month: Ola Markey, of Crystal Ski

B

ags packed, passports in hand, early morning check in. Taxi is waiting and we are off on our annual family ski trip.

Every year we head off on a new adventure, new resort, new piste area, and new ski instructors, new everything.

The excitement of finding out what makes each resort special, exploring the unknown.

T

Picking my favourite resort now, that’s hard. Could it be Soldeu in An-

dorra after we got engaged drinking in the Sports Hotel bar until the early hours? Or Claviere in Italy where I meet the most interesting ski instructor, telling me all about growing up in Claviere, living there now for six months every year and the other six months working on a ranch in Australia (both his sons are skiers, one is member of the Australian ski team and the other for the Italian)? Or is it watching my daughter put on her first set of skis in Söll in Austria on a Sunday morning and see her come third in her race on the Friday? Or is it

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

here has been a lot of talk about the lost generation of skiers, the younger people who did not get the chance to learn when Ireland was in the slush of recession.

Ski operators say they rely on 40pc of the market being beginners. Nobody will admit how far below that 40pc the Irish ski market fell, but anecdotal evidence suggest it was down close to zero.

If you had not skied before, you

were not going to start during the recession.

Tony Collins of Topflight talked extensively about this at a brochure launch in late 2015. He said beginners were back. If you don’t have new blood and beginners coming in, he said, you are going downhill.

The question is whether the ski market can recover that lost generation. Beginners are good for the industry but can we make back six seasons of beginners quickly?

The answer is yes. By refocussing on the key resorts and the product that was working in the Irish market the ski operators have done the travel trade a service.

The big challenge now is not the lost generation of skiers; it is the lost generation of ski resorts. Up to 100 low level ski resorts are at risk, including such high profile favourites as Kitzbuhel.

Solving the recession looks like a green slope by comparison.

pushing my 2 year old in a snow sledge around the top of Arinsal in Andorra while people laughed at him asleep?

All our ski adventures are exciting, maybe a little bit competitive finding out who skied the fastest, how many kilometres did we ski in a day, or who fell first. One thing is for sure that I, a ‘Piste Princess’, am ready for bed at 10pm most nights. So far I have only skied 15 ski resort out of 117, can’t wait to explore them all. My biggest decision this year is what ski resort is going to be best for me and my family for our next adventures in the snow.

IN YOUR NEXT TRAVEL EXTRA: Available to Travel Agents or online October 19 2016

CRUISE ISSUE NEW SHIPS BIGGER SHIPS OCEAN TRENDS DRINKS PACKAGES

OCTOBER 2016 PAGE 37

Out and about with the Travel Trade

len Kelly of Travel Coun Bernie Whelan and He in a rin Ma line nia cruise sellors on board Ocea , Dublin

Lorraine Quinn, David O’Hagan and Deirdre Sweeny at the Sunway 50th celebrations on board Celebrity Silhoue tte in Dublin

City Travel and Paula Tom Britton of Marble Sunway 50th celebraLenihan of RSVP at the Silhouette in Dublin, tions on board Celebrity

Priti Mehta of Oceania cru Johnston of Lee Travel ise line and Marylee on board Marina in Du Ca ptio n lin, August 11 2016 b-

Dominic Burke of Travel Centres and Audrey Headon of Headon Representation on board Caption cruise line Marina in Dublin, August 11 Oceania

MEETING PLACE

Lorraine Quinn and Su e Dempsey at the Sunw ay 50th celebrations on bo ard Celebrity Silhouette in Dublin

nnette Taylor at the Su Fidelma Brady and Sinead Lonergan of Travel Ken Masterson and Jea uho Sil ard Counsellors on board Oceania cruise line Marina way & Celebrity Cruises event on bo in Dublin, ette,

Mary Denton, Mary Lyn Bernard Healy, Joe Tully and Des Abbott at the e and John Barrett at the Su nway 50th celebration Sunway 50th celebrations on board Celebrity Sils on board Celebrity Silhouette in Dublin, houette in Dublin

Carol Anne O’Neill and Jeff Collins at the Sunway 50th celebrations on board Celebrity Silhouette in Dublin

vis don travel and Ann Da Jackie Coakley of Shan s ion rat Sunway 50th celeb of Abbey Travel at the blin houette in Du on board Celebrity Sil

Deirdre Sw Ross Waters, Brenda Clarke and Polly Bond of Sunway eeny and Marie Claire Porter at the derson at the An le he Mic d an Caption 50th celebrations on board Celebrity rke Tour America on board Oceania cruise line Mar- Sil Dominic Bu - Caption houette s on board Celebrity Sil ina in Dublin, August 11 2016 ion rat eb cel th 50 ay Sunw , houette in Dublin

Philip Airey, Martin Sk elly, Paul Melinis and Peter Toni Birthwhistle and Eleanor Morton of O’Hanlon at the TIGS event in Luttrellstown Caption Cruisescapes on board CMV Magelllan in Dublin sponsored by The Tra vel Corporation,

Quinn at the Sunway Des Abbott and Lorraine Celebrity Silhouette ard 50th celebrations on bo in Dublin,

OCTOBER 2016 PAGE 38

MEETING PLACE

Out and about with the Travel Trade

and James McGinley and Tom Maher on board CMV Airey, Lorraine Quinn Caption in Dublin Jeanette Taylor, Philip s Magelllan ion rat eb cel th 50 ay nw Sue Dempsey at the Su , houette in Dublin on board Celebrity Sil

Anita Kelly and Deirdre Sweeny at the Sunway 50 celebrations on bo Cath ard Celebrity Silhouette ption Dublin in

el Bowe at the Sunway Kathy Cashe and Micha ard Celebrity Silhouette 50th celebrations on bo in Dublin,

Pat Dawson and Phlip Airey at the Sunway 50 Caption cel th ebrations on board Ce lebrity Silhouette in Dublin

Lorraine Quinn of Celeb rity Cru Le nn oxnof WTC at the Sunw ises and Yvonne Ca ptio ay 50th celebrations on board Celebrity Sil houette

Toni Birthwhistle of Cruisescapes, Clare Dunne Captionof Travel Broker and Eleanor Morton of Cruisescapes on board CMV Magelllan in Dublin

nne and Marie Claire John Barrett, Clare Du ard 50th celebrations on bo Porter at the Sunway Dublin Celebrity Silhouette in

Marie Claire Porter an d Phiip Richard Cullen and Dominic Burke at the Sun50 celnebrations on board Airey at the Sunway Cathptio Celebrity Silhouette in way 50th celebrations on board Celebrity Silhou- Dublin , August 10 2016 ette in Dublin

Georgina Kelly of the Travel Broker, Daniel McCluskey Caption and Ross Waters of Cruise Holidays and Arijana Bogdanovic, The Travel Broker on board CMV Magelllan in Dublin

ine Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Toole and Mary Frances Grogan, Carol 50th celebrations on hanm at the Sunway ptio Ca Gren tte in Dublin board Celebrity Silhoue

Catriona Wilson, Cora Munds and Jennifer Byrne rgaret Kelly of Travel iam elly of Navan Tra Melanie Cahilll and Ma of John Galligan travel on board CMV Magelllan Mir Marina Caption line ise cru CaptioSk vel and nia ea n Oc no x of WT C at the Sunway 50th Yvonne LenCounsellors on board in Dublin celebrations in Dublin,

Tanya Airey, Sharon Jor dan and Marian Bento n at the TIGS event in Lu ttrellstown sponsored by The Travel Corporation ,

John Cassidy and David Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Hagan at the Sunway 50th celebrations on board Celebrity Silhouette in Caption Dublin

th rlong at the Sunway 50 Pat Dawson and Jim Fu in tte ue ho Sil rity leb Ce celebrations on board Dublin,

Disc�ver a w��ld �ull of w�nders...

Featuring:

Wedding & Honeymoon Destinations at Home and Abroad

Date for your diary: YOUR TRADE DAY • Friday 27th January, 2017 REGISTRATION www.registrationdesk.ie/holidayworldtradeday

VENUE RDS Simmonscourt • Simmonscourt Road Ballsbridge • Dublin 4

EXHIBIT Please contact Maureen Ledwith, Sales Director t: + 353 (0)1 291 3700 e: maureen@bizex.ie or Paulette Moran t: + 353 (0)1 291 3702 e: paulette@bizex.ie

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Fri

Jan 20th

1pm - 6pm

Trade and Public

Fri

Jan 27th

1pm - 6pm

Trade and Public

Sat

Jan 21st

11am - 5.30pm

Trade and Public

Sat

Jan 28

11am - 5.30pm

Trade and Public

Sun

Jan 22

11am - 5.30pm

Trade and Public

Sun

Jan 29

11am - 5.30pm

Trade and Public

th th

106587 Holiday World Show 2016-TE_V3.indd 1

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6/14/16 8:38 PM

SEYSELLER 24x33cm ING.indd 1

27/07/16 13:59