Travel extra october 2017

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OCTOBER 2017

VOLUME 22 NUMBER 8

Ski 2018

What your client should know about winter sports

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OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 3

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5th most valuable

Sweden has most valuable passport with Ireland fifth

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reland has the fifth most valuable passport in the world, according to the Nomad International index.

Ireland finished behind Sweden (first), Belgium (second), Italy and Spain (joint third), and ahead of Finland and Germany (joint sixth), Denmark, Switzerland and Luxembourg (joint eighth).

Ireland has visa-free travel to 172 countries, four fewer than leaders Sweden, and Nomad says: “Irish citizens are some of the best received around the world, being ranked among the most well-liked citizens.”

An Irish passport allows for travel to some 172 countries as well as freedom of movement around the EU. Nomad ranks 199 countries on visa-free travel (50pc of ranking)nd other factors.

received 598m international tourists in the first six months of 2017 – up 6pc in the strongest half-year since 2010, according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer.

AUSTRALIA Tourism Research Australia says tourism revenue is up 7pc year-onyear in the first six months of 2017. Spending is being driven by record numbers of international tourists who are staying longer and spending more while visiting Australia.

Ranked fifth in the world

Dublin. Iceland tourism has trebled from this country.

AMSTERDAM Ryanair and KLM (5 daily) competing with Aer Lingus.

resuming after brief hiatus.

tion for 2017 now visa-free.

HARTFORD Daily from

Aer Lingus since September 2016.

HONG KONG to be

served direct from Dublin for the first time by Cathay Pacific.

ICELAND New flights from Belfast and increased service form

TRUMP SLUMP The US revised

UNWTO Destinations around the world

AGADIR Air Arabia are to commence 2w in winter

DOHA Marquee new destina-

PASSPORTS The Thin Green Line, a documentary about Irish embassies around the world, said 40 Irish passports that have fallen out of back pockets in pubs and clubs are handed in every weekend and the figure climbs to hundreds after a major event. its travel trends to indicate a slowing down of inbound tourism, the so-called Trump slump – with international visitor numbers down 700,000 during the first three months of the year compared to last year. The steepest drops were from the Middle East and Africa, arrivals from Europe fell 10.6pc and Mexico 7pc.

DESTINATIONS LINING UP FOR 2018

CYPRUS Year round access from Cobalt for the first time.

NEWS

MARRAKECH Ryanair MIAMI Aer Lingus’s marquee

route started September and opened up Florida and cruise opportunities.

MONTREAL Air Canada are joining Air Transat on the Montreal run, first explored in 1977 by Aer Lingus.

MUNICH Ryanair and Transavia now compete on a route dominated by Aer Lingus and Lufthansa.

PHUKET New one-stop option via Istanbul from July

EXPERIENCE THE MAGIC OF LAPLAND. Falcon is fully bonded and licensed by CAR (TO 021).

DAY TR IP FROM S DUBLIN

NAPLES New Ryanair service commenced 2w in winter and continued through summer 2018.

PAPHOS New from Ryanair for summer 2018.

INTERNATIONS networking organisation found that Bahrain is the number one place to go. It jumped from 19th place because of the friendliness of locals and the ease of lifestyle. Ireland came 45th, with our weather the biggest turn-off.

PASSPORTS Irish passport appli-

cants will need a public service card from the fourth quarter of 2018.

CLAIM An English tourist PITTSBURG About to get FALSE who claimed she was struck down by food

a direct route from Dublin.

PROVIDENCE Norwe-

gian flights from four Irish airports.

SPLIT New Aer Lingus service

to Croatia.

poisoning in the Sol Y Mar hotel, Shark’s Bay, Sharm el-Sheikh, had her case against Thomas Cook thrown out after a Worcester judge saw social media posts about pool parties and downing rum and cokes.

SCANNERS Officials in Los Angeles STUTTGART Daily from are testing out airport-style body scanners that

Ryanair, joining Aer Lingus.

NEWBURGH Norwegian

flights from four Irish airports will be increased in 2018.

screen subway passengers for firearms and explosives.

OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 4

THE KNOWLEDGE Travel Extra Clownings, Straffan, Co Kildare (+3531) 2913707 Fax (+3531) 2957417 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 Sales Manager Paulette Moran paulette@bizex.ie t: +353 (0)1 291 3702 Accounts and Advertising: Maria Sinnott maria@bizex.ie Sunday Supplement & Online: Mark Evans markevanspro@gmail.com Chief Features Writer: Anne Cadwallader anne@travelextra.ie Contributors : Damian Allen damianjamesallen@ gmail.com Marie Carberry marie@travelextra.ie Carmel Higgins carmel@travelextra.ie Cauvery Madhavan cauvery@travelextra.ie Sean Mannion sean@grafacai.ie Ciaran Molloy ciarancmolloy@ gmail.com Catherine Murphy cathmurph@yahoo.com Aileen O’Reilly aileencoreilly@gmail.com

Travel Extra takes no responsibility for errors and omissions.

CONTENTS

3 News Where to go,h ow much to pay 6 Hotels: News 8 Postcards: News from the trade

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34 Global Village Inside the travel industry 36 Window seat: Our columnists 37 Pictures: Out and about

it worth sacrificing other 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.

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.

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

Distribution Manager: Shane Hourican shane@bizex.ie Origination: Typeform

BUYING GEAR

Contact +353872551675 if you have difficulty getting Travel Extra.

12 Ski 2018: The season ahead 22 New England: NAI destinations 24 Asiat: Guide to 2018 26 Afloat: MSC’s float out 28-32 Flying: Airline and airport news

Selling a ski holiday

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.

Printer: WG Baird Limited Caulside Drive Greystone Rd Antrim BT41 2RS

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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 boots, buy them! Great Outdoors in Dublin

Tell customers if lessons are included 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

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 u100 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 – do they really want

OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 5

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Car hire chaos Consumer complaints reach record levels

he European Consumer Centre in Dublin said disputes around car hire charges are the second-biggest issue they have to deal with every year.

They said the difficulty in proving there was no damage is compounded by the fact that rental companies often do not provide a check-out report confirming the vehicle was returned in good condition.

Hard-selling techniques used by car rental firms to get people to take out insurance have also been complained about.

Rory Boland of Consumer group Which? found a variety of catches when he analysed 40 car hire contracts from 18 providers.

Prime among them were a €5,000 deposit charged by Spanish firm Del Paso, a €2,500 deposit charged by Goldcar in Malta, an admin fee of €150 on top of the charge applied to repair any damage to a vehicle by

NEWS GERMANY’s National Tourist Board

will be pushing the country as a foodie destination in its Irish marketing campaign next year.

CHE Jim Fitzpatrick’s iconic image of Che Guevara was controversially included in an exhibition at Miami International Airport. The poster was part of the Irish in Latin America exhibition, sponsored by the Irish embassy in the US, to highlight the connection between Latin America and Ireland, and coincide with the opening of Aer Lingus’ direct route between Dublin and Miami. Che Guevara was proud of his Irish Lynch heritage but Miami is violently opposed to Cuba’s communist heritage.

EASYJET’s flight from Paris to Glasgow was delayed after a passenger spotted a scorpion on board. EasyJet said the aircraft, which was grounded at Charles de Gaulle airport, was fumigated as a precaution before it took off again.

GOLDFISH The Hotel Charleroi Airport, in Belgium, is offering guests a goldfish to make them feel loved during their stay, but animal rights activists aren’t happy.

Beware the small print Goldcar in Greece, a refilling fee of €50 (Goldcar again), and terms and conditions that are 31,000 words long.

Avis and Budget both charge €15 plus a whole extra day’s hire if drivers return a car more than 29 minutes late.

COUNCILS in England are removing

cat’s eyes signs because tourists are worried that poor domestic animals were being so horribly mistreated.

OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 6

HOTELS DALATA Ireland’s biggest hotel group sounded a warning about the danger of Brexit to Dublin hotels.

BELFAST’s 119-room Titanic Hotel

has officially opened. The luxury hotel incorporates the former Harland & Wolff Drawing Offices and Headquarters in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter.

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Wanted: 5k beds

Crowe Horwath says room rates are up 14pc in Dublin

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rowe Horwath’s annual report on Irish hotel rates said DubCLONTARF Castle hotel in Dublin lin requires 5,000 new rooms split another €1m dividend last year, as pre-tax to cope with increasing demand and profits there remained steady at €2.5m. rates will continue to rise for the next years.

DALATA received clearance from the fiveRoom rates are up 14pc to €128 Competition and Consumer Protection Comand up 5.7pc on the record €121 on mission to acquire the Clayton Hotel, Cardiff 2006. Occupancy rates are 82pc in Lane, Dublin 2, and the Clarion Hotel, Liffey Dublin and 69pc elsewhere.

Valley, Dublin 22.

The finding are contained in the DROMQUINNA Manor, Co Kerry, 22nd Annual Ireland Hotel Survey plans a new luxury tent experience at its ‘glam- conducted by Crowe Horwath, adping’ site next year for €450 per night. visors to the Irish hotel industry.

The report, which is compiled STAR CATEGORY Rule chan- from Irish hotels’ 2016 accounts, ges in how hotels are categorised in Ireland shows that Dublin continues to included a 25pc reduction in the minimum bedout-perform other regions with averroom size in basic hotels. age room rates increasing by almost ANNER Austrian investor Thomas Roe- twice the level of Western Seaboard hotels which saw a growth in average ggla bought the 95-bedroom, four-star Anner nightly room rates of 7.5pc.

Hotel in Thurles from the Maher family While Crowe Horwath said “the GIBSON Hotel in Dublin’s Docklands outlook for the sector remains strong, has a €87m price tag. significant capacity issues in the

Mairead Doyle-Balfe and Aiden Murphy of Crowe Horwarh. capital could cause competitiveness challenges with double digit average room rate increases now in a third

year potentially eroding a value-formoney proposition which Dublin has enjoyed for a number of years”.

BREXIT DESCRIBED AS IRISH OPPORTUNITY

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rish Hotels Federation President Joe Walsh had a note of Padraig Pearse in his speech at Fáilte Ireland, telling the crowd that “Dublin’s difficulty is Ireland’s opportunity”.

Walsh, a hotelier in The Bush Hotel in Co Leitrim, said there’s a huge gulf in the country – Dublin is too crowded

VOYAGES-SNCF: YOUR EUROPEAN RAIL EXPERTS! www.voyages-sncf.eu 076 604 2739

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of the Irish Self-Catering Federation, told Travel Extra that the plummeting pound has had a devastating effect already. “You go outside the big cities and areas are devastated,” said Mr Downey, who has properties in the Midlands.

“Tourists are slower to make bookings and faster to make cancellations.”

ADARE TO REOPEN

P McManus’s Adare Manor is to reopen on November 2 following an 18-month transformation.

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and needs capacity, while many rural areas have the capacity, just not the visitors.

He talked about thinking outside the box, including using less-visited Midlands towns as hubs for coach tourists, etc who want to visit the eastern and western seaboards.

Peter Downey, head

The newly designed resort now boasts a new 42-bedroom wing, bringing the total number of bedrooms to 104. There’s

a new ballroom with capacity for 350, along with a new La Mer spa, pool and relaxation area, boardroom and cinema.

G IN RECEIVERSHIP

erry Barrett’s assets in his G Hotel battle with Deutsche were estimated at €60m.

An interim examiner was appointed to the

five-star G Hotel in Galway city, following a bid

by Deutsche Bank to appoint a receiver.

A group of seven Galway firms, involving business debts of almost

€700m, have appealed and cross-appealed High Court orders on the future of the companies. An examiner was appointed to the city’s four-star Meyrick Hotel.

OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 8

POSTCARDS FROM THE TRAVEL SCENE

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iara Mooney of Freedom Travel relocated her office to the Lucan Road in Celbridge.

The office is situated near the local Supervalue and completed a move form a smaller office on the Main Street in Celbridge where Ciara operated her business and where she started in travel in the local branch of Toolin travel.

She opened offices in Leixlip and in Naas and now operates from Celbridge

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artin Dempsey of Dempsey Travel and Fionnuala MacCurtain of Munster Sports Travel were winners at the Travel Industry Golf Society captain’s day, hosted

by Martin Skelly at his local Headfort Golf Club near Trim on the new course.

This was the first time Fionnuala had played with TIGS and she used the occasion to appeal to Dublin based travel industry golfers to play in the annual

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olly Best and the Virgin Atlantic crew celebrated 25 years of the airline flying to Orlando in

Florida.

Prizes on the night at the event in Dublin’s Morrison Hotel included round-trip flights to the theme park capital of the world, car hire for a fortnight in America, courtesy of Hertz Ireland, stays in Universal properties and in neighbouring Kissimmee.

and from a booth in the Tesco supermarket in Naas.

Travel Extra editor Eoghan Corry performed the opening ceremony attended by local business representatives and Dominic and Bernie Burke of Travel Centres. Picture shows Ciara Mooney outside her new offices with, Michelle Mooney, Isabel McGarry, Fiona Lily, Mary Downes and Mel Whelan.

Munster event, the STAGS golf outing which was held in Douglas Golf Club this year.

The day was hosted at the local club of TIGS President Martin Skelly, Headfort which he had first played as a young boy with his father and was sponsored

by Travelport The next TIGS outing will be sponsored by Travel Extra on November 23 at The Castle Golf Club in Rathfarnham.

Picture shows Joy McLoughlin, Jennifer Moen, Holly Best and Liam Donaghy, all of Virgin Atlantic.

Separately, Tour America and Virgin Atlantic teamed up to give a prize winner the chance to win a holiday to the USA. Listeners of Dublin Q102 had to text to enter and the lucky winner Niall Blackwell got two choose two destinations for his forthcoming holiday.

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thiopian Airlines celebrated two major occasions as it hosted trade and media at the Clayton Hotel, Dublin Airport.

September 11 marked the country’s new year and also the passing of the baton from Ireland head Michael Yohannes to Meseret Tekalign.

The team from the airline in Dublin and the Ethiopian Embassy in Dublin celebrated the secular and religious

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elebrity Cruises has just launched a massive sales and training blitz across Ireland as the clock counts down to the arrival of Celebrity Eclipse for her homeporting stint out of Dublin Port.

Agent incentives include a competition to win a place on board Celebrity Silhouette for a two-night cruise to Paris in April 2018 when making a booking between 5 September 2017 and 30 Sep-

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he Dubai Duty Free Irish Open move to Ballyliffen next year was well leaked in advance of this year’s competition in Portstewart Golf Club..

It offers another opportunity for Emirates to host agents and corporate customers from Belfast as well as Dublin, form where agents were bussed to watch the action on the stunning course amidst the sand dunes.

celebration Enkutatash, meaning “gift of jewels”. dating back to the time of the Queen of Sheba.

Incoming Area Manager Ireland Meseret Tekalign gives a speech looking forward to her now role, at the Ethiopian new year event organised by Ethiopian Airlines, Clayton Hotel, Dublin Airport. Incoming Area Manager Ireland Meseret Tekalign gave speech looking forward to her now role.

tember 2017 for any of the Celebrity Eclipse sailings departing April to June 2018; social media competition to win up to 10,000 Celebrity Rewards points to agents who posed a picture by early September designed to support agents including new sales guides, pricing guides, and in-store marketing material featuring posters and flyers.

Ten members of the Celebrity team are visiting 200 agents around Ireland,

Picture shows some of the agents who were hosted by Emirates and their hosts at the Irish Open in Portstewart, John Spollen of Cassidy Travel, Anita Thomas, Enda Corneille and Jane Masterson of Emirates and Cormac Meehan of Meehan Travel Bundoran, President of the Irish Travel Agents Association.

Emirates say seat sales are 20pc ahead of last year for flights up to December

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OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 10

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

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

OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 11

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 2017 PAGE 12

IRELAND'S PREMIER SOURCE OF TRAVEL INFORMATION

SKI & SNOWBOARD 2017-18

6

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

Six of the piste

CONSIDERATIONS

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ccording to new research by the Ski Club of Great Britain, skiing is still central to winter mountain holidays and snow is still king.

European resorts are investing heavily in snow-making techniques to guarantee snow cover but most of us still prefer the real stuff. Choose a resort known for its snow-sureness and aim high – resorts like Tignes, Val Thorens, Cervinia, Obergurgl and Pas de la Casa come to mind.

Resort size. Particularly relevant if you have young children and don’t want to drag their ski equipment around large resorts or on buses.

Choose a compact ski village with short distance from your accommodation to the nearest ski lift. If you prefer to be in a larger resort, pick a hotel or self-catering accommodation that’s really close to the lifts like Planibel in La Thuile or the Hotel Post in Westendorf.

How busy a resort is.

You don’t want to spend a lot of time queuing for lifts or worse still, queuing for lunch, but that’s often what happens in popular, big name resorts. Opt for a less well known destination and you’ll be amazed to find quiet slopes, no lift queues and cheaper prices. Bear in mind though that better-known resorts often have better lift systems to minimize queues and a better buzz to maximize fun!

Accommodation quality. Researchers were slightly surprised that this one wasn’t higher up the list but

Heading uphill for the season ahead still, no-one really wants to spend their week in the Alps in a poky little apartment. The good news is that you now find high quality accommodation throughout the Alps, whether you opt for a hotel, chalet or self-catering apartment.

It’s just a matter of deciding whether you want a small family run pension in Mayrhofen or Sauze d’Oulx, self-catering ease in Arc 1950 or five star bling in Val Thorens.

Prices. We hardly need to say it – Italy, Austria and Eastern Europe perform well on price. Switzerland and Sweden don’t. France can be equally expensive but as with every country, there are exceptions such as Val Cenis or French Pyrenean resorts like Luz Ardiden and Cauterets.

If you’re a first timer, look to Slovakia or Bulgaria.

Childcare. Choose a resort with childcare facilities for younger children, reputable ski kindergarten, hotel with kids club or a chalet where your children can be minded by a nanny while you ski. Les Arcs in France now has an app (Yuge) which allows you to see where your children are skiing at any given time and more resorts are developing family-friendly apps.

6 INITIATIVES

Val d’Isere investment. Val has always been fab but is now in the process of getting even better. The resort has already invested millions in new lifts offering better access to the Solaise ski area and beginner slopes, and will continue to invest over the next five years. Let’s hope some of that investment goes towards upgrading après bars.

Magic Pass, Valais, Switzerland. Yes, Switzerland is generally pricey and with so many resorts to choose from in the Alps, competition is tough but the Swiss ski industry is fighting to win skiers back.

Last winter Saas Fee offered a season lift pass for the incredible price of just €200 with three year and 15 year offers also available. The offer was part of a crowd funding approach where 99,999 lift passes had to be reserved for the special price to come into play.

Either way, it was great publicity for the resort.

This year the idea has spread with the Valais region offering a season pass, the Magic Pass, which allows skiers to ski in 25 different resorts for around €300 (less than the cost of a week’s lift pass in many Swiss resorts). Resorts include Crans Montana, Villars and Zinal and while the pass has to be bought before the end of September, it looks like this is just the beginning for similar ideas.

Snow farming.

Whether we think it’s sustainable or not, we salute resorts for adapting cleverly to changing weather and snow patterns. Kitzbuhel now stores snow during the summer to ensure that it can open slopes at the start of the season.

The resort, like many others, has also been busy constructing water cooling towers so that snow can be made during winter regardless of the temperature outside. Although not a high resort, glitzy Kitz wants to be the first resort in its region to open and the last to close each winter.

Flexible ski holidays.

New figures show that people want more flexibility when it comes to booking ski holidays with a partial move away

from the one or two week model. Increasingly, skiers want to travel during quieter mid-week periods and customize their holiday to suit work commitments.

While a growing number of companies operating from England (Pierre & Vacances, FlexiSki, Ski Weekends) offer this flexibility, Irish skiers can find it with chalet operator Highlife which offers short breaks on a number of dates during the season.

Free trains and buses in the Tirol. We love it when resorts and ski regions are proactive so hats off to Austria’s Ski Welt, Wilder Kaiser and Kitzbuheler Alpen. This winter guests who have a lift pass and are staying in St Johann, the Ski Welt, Kirchberg or Kitzbuhel can avail of free rail and bus services between all resorts.

We love this initiative because it’s really easy to hop on a train, for example, in St Johann to ski in Kitzbuhel for a day. You can now enjoy

a ski safari style holiday where you ski a different resort every day, adding to the fun and experience of your trip.

Buy the Kitzbuheler Alpen All Star Card for access to all of the regions mentioned above and clock up some serious kilometres on those skis!

Snow cannons at 3,000 metres for allyear-round skiers.

For resorts with glaciers, skiing is usually a year-round activity. This summer was a flop for some European glacier resorts as high temperatures led to slushy snow and people found themselves doing something closer to water-skiing on the mountain!

Les Deux Alpes in France has decided to deal with the issue by placing snow cannons at 3,000 metres on the glacier and while this points worryingly to declining snow levels in Europe, it will hopefully guarantee better conditions on the glacier next summer.

Be charmed by the Dolomites this Winter

Trentino

South Tyrol

Credit: IDM Südtirol / Clemens Zahn

Credit: IDM Südtirol /Alex Filz

Credit: Archivio Fotografico Regione Veneto-Promozione Turistica

Credit: Pentaphoto

Veneto

Friuli Venezia Giulia

Credit: Fototeca Trentino Sviluppo S.p.A. Foto / Alessandro Penso

Whether you enjoy the challenges of a black piste or prefer to cross-country ski through peaceful woods or you’d rather wait for the après-ski in a warm café while watching the mountains turn pink at dusk, there’s something for everyone in the Dolomites this Winter.

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8/17/17 3:40 PM

OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 14

SKI & SNOWBOARD 2017-18

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. Best attempted when snow conditions are good as it can be dangerous when icy.

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 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 en Oisans.

It’s officially a black run but in good conditions, can seem like an easier red. Much more interesting for advanced skiers is the long off-piste route to the right of the run.

Highland bowls, Aspen, Colorado. Okay so it’s at least a 30 minute hike to the top or longer if you’re unfit but there are various drop-in points and a variety of excellent powder bowls to ski.

You’re more than likely to hear Chris Davenport, famous for skiing all of Colorado’s 14,000 ft peaks in a year, hollering with enjoyment on this fantastic off-piste run.

Vallee Blanche, Aiguille du Midi, Chamonix, France.

The Vallee Blanche is an off-piste route (22km long) which can be completed by decent intermediate skiers with a guide. The scariest part for many people is the walk down a roped track to reach the slope but from then on, the main route is a great intro to off-piste skiing for those who want to give it a go. More expert skiers can hire a guide to take them down one of many other routes. The VB can also be done on full moon nights with a guide from the Compagnie des Guides in Chamonix.

The Swiss Wall, Avoriaz, Portes du Soleil, France.

Moguls always seem to come into the equation when we talk about challenging slopes and the Swiss Wall is no different. Not as challenging 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 years of skiing, racing down the Ventina at the end of the day (when everyone else was gone) remains a favourite memory.

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NORTH AMERICAN North America, particularly the west coast, had incredible snow conditions last season. Also, US resorts are keener than ever to attract Irish skiers. A word of advice – make sure your bank balance is healthy before visiting as lift passes, ski lessons and eating out can be expensive.

Aspen, Colorado.

There are different Aspens depending on what you’re looking for.

High end, glamorous and stylish for those who want to promenade, visit

art galleries and indulge in fine dining. Tough and sporty for those who want to hike for powder, go skinning up the mountain or compete in the Power of Four mountain race. It’s also possible to do Aspen on a budget with many restaurants offering the same menu at cheaper rates if you eat at the bar.

Park City, Utah.

Home to the Sundance Film Festival in January, we love Park City’s laidback vibe, its restaurants, bars and shops (you must have a drink in the No Name Saloon) and its proximity to Deer Valley, which has just been sold to a private conglomerate. Both resorts are high end so book through a tour operator for best condo and ski package deals. PC also has a great main street museum de-

tailing its mining history and the Irish contribution to it.

Mammoth, California.

This resort certainly lived up to its name last year with such massive snow falls that resort bosses had to start measuring in feet rather than inches, and both cars and ski lifts were entirely buried. We like the idea of a ‘city, ski, sip’ holiday which includes skiing, a stop-over in San Fran and a wine tour to top it all off.

Breckenridge, Colorado.

Breck is one of our old favourites and it seems most visitors feel the same way. The old mining town resort is one of the resorts that skiers say they would most like to return to. The resort is high, the vibe is laid back

and the live music is excellent.

New Hampshire.

School groups and road-trippers love New Hampshire for its mix of resorts. Follow the snow and ski around Loon, Waterville, North Conway and a range of other ski areas. Oh and did we mention the outlet shopping!

Catskills, New York State.

Wild and unspoilt but close enough to New York for a short ski break, the Catskills offer a number of ski areas and accommodation ranging from secluded cabins to five star hotels. We fancy the Hotel Dylan in Woodstock where we can sample hippie nostalgia (Woodstock fescelebrates its 50th anniversary in 2019) with easy access to the slopes.

OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 15

SKI & SNOWBOARD 2017-18

6 HOTELS & EATS

Salzburgerhof hotel, Bad Gastein. Popular with Scandinavian guests and situated near the main lift, we visited last winter and loved the style, classic ambience, wellness area, friendly staff, family rooms and full board option.

The Jerome, Aspen, Colorado, USA. For a slice of Aspen history or simply to witness how the other half holiday, stop off at the Jerome.

The hotel features on Aspen’s historical tour

and serves a memorable cocktail, Aspen Crud, in the bar.

Fahrenheit Seven, Val Thorens, France.

We’re not kidding you; the ski locker room in this hotel has a bar!

With a nod to Seventies style, Fahrenheit Seven offers five different bars including Le Zinc which is popular for wine and après live music. We like this new generation of

Val Tho après offerings.

Lion d’Or, Cauterets, French Pyrenees.

There are some hotels that you just want to move into on a long lease basis. The Lion d’Or is one of them.

Tucked away down a narrow street and run by a mother and son team, it’s quintessentially French.

Snuggle up under massive duvets in old-fashioned rooms, breathe in

the divine smell of fresh croissants wafting up the stairs each morning, devour home-made jams and conserves and enjoy a very short walk to the nearest spa.

Explorer hotel, St Johann. With new Swedish owners, St Johann in Tirol (a firm favourite with Irish skiers) is undergoing something of a re-awakening with new hotel and après

offerings. We like the Explorer because it will appeal to younger, sporty visitors looking for a different style of accommodation. Our favourite new bar in the resort is the rooftop terrace at Cubo hotel.

Trofana Royal, Ischgl, Austria.

The stunning foyer tells you that you are in a historical building. The tasting menu at dinner

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confirms that you are in a five star hotel with food by celebrated chef Martin Sieberer. Think lobster with marinated vegetables, roasted turbot, carpaccio of braised veal cheek and the best lamb you will ever taste. For a special occasion or just to enjoy a culinary delight in party-mad Ischgl, this is the place to be.

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OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 16

SKI & SNOWBOARD 2017-18

6 FOR GROUPS

*Arinsal, Vallnord, Andorra.

Skiers are fiercely loyal about their favourite resorts and in new research from the Ski Club of Britain, Andorra topped the table in terms of visitor loyalty with many planning to return.

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.

What we love most are the reasonable prices and excellent ski schools. *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 the Snowbombing music festival (see our best festivals section) each April. With its traditional rustic Tyrolean ambience, Mayrhofen also attracts families who can opt to stay in family-run pensions slightly outside the village or in a central hotel. *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 is firmly back on the Irish ski map

this winter asabove Topflight Espace Killy Val d’Isere takes its Copper Face Jacks trip there from March 3-10th.

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 you’ll be pleasantly surprised by its combination FESTIVALS of charm and very reasonable prices. If you’re organizing your own trip, watch out for free lift Live in Tignes by pass offers at the start and Francofolies.

Each finish of each season.

April, to finish the sea*Alpe d’Huez, son with a lively bang, France. We think Alpe Tignes in l’Espace Killy d’Huez has something for hosts a three or four day everyone – plenty of be- series of free live conginner slopes at the base certs, some of which are of the mountain, glorious held on the slopes. Exoff-piste routes on the pect lots of French and glacier and a good mix of Euro pop/rock and enjoy intermediate runs. Alpe the relaxed end-of-season D also offers lots of other vibes in one of Europe’s activities that are perfect highest and coolest refor groups of friends – sorts. April 16-19, 2018. ski-joering, snowmobilSnowbombing fesing and paragliding are tival, Mayrhofen, Ausall on the menu. Look out tria. They say it’s the for Crystal Ski chalets best holiday you can that can cater for larger ‘treat your ears to’. From groups.

April 9-14, 2018, this *Kirchberg, Austria. lively resort in the ZillerJust 6km from glitzy tal valley plays host to a Kitzbuhel, Kirchberg dance festival which has is set in the heart of the previously featured Mark Kitzuheler Alpen area Ronson, The Prodigy and and offers skiers access Groove Armada. Keep to Kitzbuhel’s 170km of an eye on snowbombing. slopes on one side and com for line-up and other the Ski Welt’s 280km details. on the other. Nightlife Snowboxx, Avoriaz, is young and lively so France. it’s no surprise that TopThink late night igloo flight are returning there parties, a festival village in January with the Ian and lively après. Around Dempsey Today FM trip. 5,000 electro and techno

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music fans will gather in Avoriaz for Snowboxx between 17-24th of March, 2018. Last winter the festival partially merged with Rock the Pistes and fans were treated to shows from Rag n Bone Man and Basement Jaxx, as well as lots of fun après events.

Snowboxx.com The Six Stations rugby tournament, Haute Savoie, France.

We love the name of this seven-a-side rugby tournament which takes place while the Six Nations is on For the sixth year running, rugby sevens teams comprised of former international stars and amateurs will get

together to play rugby on snow, with all the slipping and sliding that entails. Between Februrary 12-18, the teams play three games a day (sometimes with third halves!) in six Savoie/ Haute Savoie resorts Les Menuires, Val Thorens, Valmorel, Megeve, La Clusaz and Chatel.

The focus is firmly on fun and friendliness, and to add to the excitement, players ski around the resorts and coach youngsters during their stay. tournoides6stations.com Polaris, Verbier, Switzerland.

From December 7-10th, 2017, electronic music fans will descend

on fashionable Verbier to open the season with an electro bang. Fast forward to April when the final of the Freeride World Tour ends the season there with one of the best parties in the Alps. verbier.com Snow Jazz, Gastein Valley, Austria.

If jazz is more your style, then Bad Gastein and nearby Bad Hofgastein are the place to be from 9-18th of March, 2018. Just imagine skiing through the morning or going for a snow shoe hike then sitting outdoors with lunch and a glass of wine while enjoying a jazz ensemble. We’ve done it and we liked it!

OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 17

SKI & SNOWBOARD 2017-18

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 – former 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. La Grave’s future has just been saved with a take-over of the lift company but it remains to be seen how or whether it develops/changes.

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 Schwarztor, 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 ad-

Hands, feet and bumps a daisy mire 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 per person.

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.

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. Brothers Simon

and Laurence Edwards ski fabulously and offer wise, encouraging 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. 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.

WINTER

2017/18

NOW ON SALE

6 SKI SCHOOLS

Oxygene ski school in La Plagne, France.

They offer lots of different courses and activities and have counted freeride champion Syliva Moser among their instructors.

Evolution 2, la Clusaz, France – We like Evo 2 ski schools in all French resorts to be honest but

Andorra • Austria • France • Italy

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topflight.ie · Call 01 240 1772 · Visit your local Travel Agent

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OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 18

DESTINATION SKI

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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.

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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

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

Sking the heights on winter nights Eoghan Corry skies Club Med Val Thorens

in Val Thorens. The major worry each year 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.

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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

n 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. n Some Club Med Resorts also offer cross-country skiing and all Club Med Ski Resorts have a Ski Service® where you can rent your equipment quickly and easily. Club Med Ski holidays start from u1569pp per adult on an all-inclusive basis in Val Thorens Sensations departing December 11th or from u1249 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. n Call 01-2366800 or visit www.sunway.ie

OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 19

DESTINATION SKI the mountainous Club Med breakfast.

Central to the Club Med philosophy is that well fed holidaymakers are happy holiday makers. 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

Light and shadow on Europe’s highest ski resort 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.

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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’Connell’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 everything 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 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

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

OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 20

DESTINATION AUSTRIA

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t is a measure of how things have changed in the mountains that resorts compete nowadays on the scale and versatility of their snowmaking facilities.

Making snow has become a skill and an industry on its own.

The construction and maintenance of the white stuff has become a conversation point in the Tyrolean villages when we called in December. They talk about how early the resort can open. They talk about places where the snow is covered and preserved to keep through the summer. On October 22 Passduhrm opened with saved snow left over from the previous winter and saved by tarpaulin from the summer sun.

It was not always like this. At a time in the not so distant past nobody fretted if there was no snow in December. The winter of 1985 was particularly snow shy.

Older ski school instructors like Hans ‘Sam’ Steinkasserer can remember teaching people to ski on frost. “Nobody made much of a fuss about it then, when there was no snow there was nothing anybody can do.”

Hans is known as Sam because 13 Hanses started on same day, but that is another story).

But today’s generation of skiers need a lot of snow and they want now.

Pre Christmas ski follows a pattern. Green Mountains with tracks of white like teardrops streaking down them, where the machines have kicked into action.

As you ski you are

Ski runs for when the snow is shy Eoghan Corry on how ski resorts are finding new ways to tackle an old problem

Cannons roar on the Tyrolean mountains ike they did in Napoleon’s time likely to make eye contact with a farm animal in the adjoining field, a cow with a bell around her neck.

When it is about to snow the sheep move up the mountain because they know something.

And the deer move down because they know something too, It is quite surreal, but then again, what aspect of ski is not surreal.

W

e sampled three resorts to see how the snow making can change life on the mountain, St Johann and Kirchberg in Tirol and Westendorf in Ski Welt.

The slopes of Kirchberg now have 800 snow making machines and 100km of water pipes.

All the machines need is a spell of minus three to minus six degrees, de-

pending on humidity and, like magic, a white carpet will be cast on the mountain side.

The skiing is easy herearound. St Johann is a busy valley town with a wide range of mountain

LOW-DOWN ON THE HIGH SLOPES n St.Johann is an excellent choice for beginners and Families, with gentle blues and intermediate red slopes. n Kirchberg, with 170 kms of piste has a great choice of blue, black and red slopes and is a perfect choice for intermediate to advanced skiers.

Kirchberg also has access to the Ski Welt area – which gives another 280 kms of piste.

n Westendorf is part of the Ski Welt, one of the biggest interconnected ski areas in Austria with 180 kms of piste. n The Kitzbuehler Alpen All Star Card gives skiers the flexibility of skiing in another area close by, regardless of which resort you choose in the area.

Beginners can use local ski passes. ere

A lift passes over grass and trees,

huts. It gets more snow than neighbouring Kitzbühel and the SkiWelt, and also has substantial

OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 21

DESTINATION AUSTRIA snowmaking.

Large, spread-out, and lively, Kirchberg shares its slopes with Kitzbühel.

There are three ways into the slopes, all a bus-ride from the village.

Westendorf is a quiet, attractive village with good local slopes for confident intermediates; it is slightly off the main SkiWelt circuit, but has easy access to Kitzbühel’s area - so it is an appealing base if you plan to spend time on both.

It is a particular favourite of the Irish, a friendly family resort with gentle skiing, good local slopes for confident intermediates. igh mountain ski is one of the most pleasant of all activities because the amounts of scenery at your elbow clears the clutter and dust out of even the most stressed out head. Low mountain skiing has a subtly different but equally stunning impact.

Somewhere beyond the pole that lifts the snow making machine aloft, is the normal world to which we all we must return, but not quite yet.

There is a graceful long red to navigate first.

H

welcome break from the day skiing

A

rtificial snow is crunchier and heavier and has a duller sound than mother nature’s version. It is not necessarily less pleasant to ski on, although purists might disagree.

Colorado fine powder, or salty Whistler cake-icing it is not ours. But in the

era of global warming it does the trick.

It can get icy and ice plays games with the man made stuff a little differently than it does on the natural. Late afternoon is always going to be ice time when the sun comes out and we get their blue ski skiing the

Clockwise: How green is my valley, travel writers in Kirchberg, Eoghan Corry samples the air and a ski station view. n Eoghan Corry travelled on the Austrian Tirolean Ski Odyssey courtesy of Aer Lingus, to Munich from Dublin. www.aerlingus.com Aer Lingus flies twice daily from Dublin to Munich and operates a weekly service from Cork. One-way fares including taxes and charges start from €54.99. During the winter season Aer Lingus also operates a charter to Salzburg with partners Crystal and Topflight.

of the documentary channel. It is a small price to pay. he Irish are popular here, says the head of Kirch-

berg for the Tirol Tourist Board. Christoph Stockl.

It is not just the statistics, it is the attitude.

Germans stay 3.5 nights the Irish stay seven, “The Irish business is

small but the local hospitality community love it. Irish people don’t just go to ski, they go on a ski holiday.”

n One night in the Hotel Adler costs €70,00 with breakfast per person. n Free guides or tours from Tourist board office such as a town tour. during the season n The Tourist board of the region Brixental offers many tours, for example we offer a free town tour every Monday in summer and hiking tours in summer. In winter we also have a lot of offers for our guests: For example snow-shoe hiking for beginners and for those at an advanced level. Moreover, we offer winter hiking and a romantic horse-drawn carriage ride to a traditional inn, where the guests could enjoy a hearty portion of cheese dumplings (costs €26,00 per person). Also ice-climbing for beginners and those at an advanced level is offered in Kirchberg.

There are also other activities offered, like curling, torch-lit hikes and cross-country skiing.

The most of these activities are free, guests only have to pay the hire fees for snow shoes, transport costs, etc. n For tobogganing you have to pay the lift card and the hire fees. The hire fee for each toboggan is €8,00. The lift card for one day costs €29,00 per person, for the night run it costs €20,00 per adults. A single ticket for the Gaisberg lift costs €13,50. n Lift pass area Kitzbuehel-Kirchberg for 6 days: Super Savers Season (until 11.12.2016 and from 18.04.2017): €205.00 Saver Season (12.23.12.2016 and 12.03.17.04.2017): €230.50 Peak Season (24.12.2016 – 11.03.2017): €256.00

Lift pass area SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser-Brixental (Westendorf) for 6 days: Low Season (08.12.22.12.2016 & 11.03.02.04.2017): €200.00 High Season ( 2 3 . 1 2 . 2 0 1 6 10.03.2017): €235.00 Kitzbueheler Alpen All Star Card for 6 days: Low Season (until 23.12.2016): €246.00 High Season (from 24.12.2016): €265.00 n ski school for one week, Group lessons adults, 4 hours per day: 1 day: €65,00 3 days: €165.00 extension for 1 day (after 3 days): €30.00, total costs for one week: €285.00 Private lessons: half day 2 hours: €155.00 3 hours: €210.00 4 hours: €226.00 5 hours: €239.00

T

OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 22

IRELAND'S PREMIER SOURCE OF TRAVEL INFORMATION

DESTINATION SKI

W

hen the snow came, it made up for lost time. The warmest early winter in the memory of Europe’s ski resorts came to an abrupt end just before new year.

Most resorts across the Alps now have all lifts open. In Kirchberg thy say that when it is about to snow the sheep move up the mountain because they know something.

And the deer move down because they know something too, When I visited the sheep were still in the valley. Like sheep fleece or layers of cotton wool the fog, too, sat in the valley in the morning, luxuriant deep-carpetted mountain beauty that was as surprising as the under-performance of the snow conditions.

Two worlds, one below and one above.

Austria’s advantage is that skiers stay in real villages before they take to the mountain, not 1960s concrete tourism constructions.

It explains why Austrians still win two out of every three world cup races. Grow up in one of these villages and the snow becomes your schoolmate. Gastein has 11,000 full time residents and 30,000 beds for those who come to play.

Then the sun erupted, glorious and bright. The jetstream of an aircraft has put a spray foam on the sky, like the pilot was attempting to spell

Cloud in the vally

Horn sound

Evening in Kitzbuhel out the name of someone they loved high over the ski lift.

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

from Hoefgarten.”

K

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

blown art deco Stakhanov snow heroes feature on posters throughout the town.

As you rise the Hahnenkammbahn lift, the names of the downhill champions name of the famous race are affixed to each gondola car.

The shops, bars and accommodation are more chic and expensive than Kirchberg and a small casino brings a James Bond air to the place.

We stayed late and ate mouth-melting tenderloin with Claudia Waldbrun-

ner of the tourist board.

Kitzbühel has 6,000 beds (Kirchberg has 7,000), a population of 8,200 and a further 3,000 beds in the valley: offering a mix of local and invader at peak season.

That sense of being in somebody’s home prevails in many of the hotels. At Aegidius “Gidi” Koiel’s family run Hotel Bräuwirt, the dining room with an austere grand father and officious looking grand mother peer on the diners from a brown wood frame, still

very much part of the family.

At a nearby schnapps distiller Tonni De Man popped open the bottles of Obst schnapps, made from two flavours, straightening out the digestive tracts like a snow-making cannon.

Back in Kirchberg we sleigh-rode through the snowy streets in the hands of a pleasant charioteer Maria hochkogler and horses are called Cissi and Cora.

Someone called for a Ballyfermot gallop.

Eoghan Corry travelled to Austria courtesy of Topflight, who offer charter flights to Salzburg. +3531 2401000 www.topflight.ie or your local travel agent.

He stayed in Kirchberg, a resort with access to both the Kitzbüheler Alps and Pass Thurn ( 170kms of piste) as well as access to the Ski Welt, Austria’s largest interconnected Ski Area.

Topflight have direct charter flights from Dublin, Cork and Belfast to Salzburg every Saturday for the Winter Season.

Kirchberg and Kitzbühel, its snazzier ski neighbouring resort have an array of après ski activity from sports centres to sleigh rides, to toboganning, to shopping, to whet your appetite, as well as Kitzbuehel’s famed Casino where 27.50 gets you 30 worth of chips.

If you are a good intermediate skier, we recommend purchasing the Kitzbüheler Alpin All Star Card which gives access to both these ski areas. If you are a beginner – you can use the Kitzbühel Kirchberg Lift Pass at u241 (the other lift pass is €249 you must decide which card before you purchase) You can also try snowshoeing, winter hiking, cross-country skiing, and ski touring – it could be the year to try a new snowsport.

Prices including Topflight charter flights direct from Dublin, Cork and Belfast and full luggage allowances, transfers to resort and accommodation:

OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 23

DESTINATION SKI

U

nlike other nations, the eastern Alps are the favourite playground of the Irish snow-goers. We tend to cluster in half a dozen Austrian resorts, the local hostelries as familiar as any in Bishopstown or Balbriggan.

So it seemed like a good idea to kick off the 2013 ski season with three resorts in three days. Even in the peepand-flee world of travel journalism, its seemed a lot to ask.

Saalbach, Zell an Zee and Bad Gastein are the Riviera of the Irish ski market,Saalbach and Zell Am Zee are an hour apart and Bad Gastein a further 40 minutes further.

The warm winter of 2007-8 led to Saalbach investing u1.8m in snow machines. “No matter what happens we can now guarantee good skiing,” skischule director Hans Hinterholzer says.

You get the impression that Saalbach is in control of its own destiny. The investment is provided by 12 local investors from the town’s hotels. Over by the Spielberghaus they offer tobogganing down the slopes.

Karin Pasterer from the tourist board accompanied us around Saalbach, and ski instructor Kostadinovic Nemanja brought us into the icingcake Kohlmaiskopf, the most spectacular of the 180 km on offer, served by 60 lifts.

At Christmas and mid-term they can bring

Ice place for a beer

Those Bad people

Skiing Bad Gastein 70,000 people on to this mountain with new fast lifts bringing them from 3,000 to 6,000 feet. Notably the dreaded drag lift on the lower slopes has been replaced by a proper gondola two years ago.

Soon the t-bar will be as extinct as T-Rex here around.

The region offers summer skiing at the Kaprun glacier but as Kostadinovic says, “it is not fun in winter.”

At Bobbie’s pub there is an Irish rugby jersey on the wall. They like the Irish skiers who come in large numbers to the town.

Z

ell am Zee is a smaller resort, with just 8,000 beds but comes with a star attraction, a lake that freezes from mid January

to the end of February.

It is also accessible by railway, with the Salzburg to Innsbruck line running through the heart of the town. The rail journey form Salzburg takes and hour and 15 minutes.

The slopes here offer 138km of good skiing served by 53 lifts but this will be dwarfed by the prospect of a direct link to Saalbach planned for three years time, putting this up with the big linked ski areas such as Four Valleys, Les Trois Vallées, Espace Killy, Skiwelt, Paradiski, and Grandvalira.

The nightlife is lively.

The town has an Irish pub, O’Flanagans is the Irish pub and terrific evening dining at the famed Crazy Daisy restaurant. We adjourned

afterwards for beers and bop in the Dillie, floods of dry ice spewing form the walls to interrupt the talk of the white stuff.

To discover one of three real treasures of the Eastern Alps you have to head uphill. Christian Schatzer runs Pinzgauer Hutte on a mountain spur, looking down on the valley. After lunch he will arrange to have you brought up by skidoo, a reindeer sleigh in reverse with the cart dragging skiers stopping each time a snowboarder comes undone. It is fun.

The dining on the mountain is proudly local, offering the delicacies such as Tiroler Grostl and Kaiser Schmarm alongside Anglophone imports.

On the ski down I met an amazing 72-year-old, Joaquim Temmel from Linz, who spends a week here each year.

He doesn’t do wimpish tings like use the lift. He walks up the mountain and skies back down, often off piste.

This year he is mourning for his dog who used to accompany him on these adventures. Sometimes he would ski waist deep as the dog pranced up and down through the powder “like a dolphin.”

B

ad Gastein, as indicated by the name, was a spa town long before ski became popular and carries all the bow-tie grandeur that its status can bestow.

It has a tuxedo casino (bring your passport or you won’t get in), a signature midtown waterfall whose sound thunders down the main street, and a famously lively bar, the Silver Bullet, well known to Irish repeat Gasteiners.

It fits the brochures neatly because it has more accommodation when you count the three towns, 7,000 beds in Bad Hofgastein, 5,000 in Bad Gastein and 2,500 in Dorfgastein.

Both Bad Hofgastein (Alpentherme Gastein) and Bad Gastein (the Felsemtherme) have large communal spas with fitness centres, massage treatment rooms and multiple pools, including unisex saunas where nudity is mandatory.

The best restaurant in the valley is a short drive out of town. At Bertahof restaurant we tasted the local delicacies, trout, chicken stuffed with reindeer, and a delicately prepared heifer thyroid.

If the slopes have chilled you, you can warm up among the thigh slappers at the Hirschenhutte where Astrid

Schafflinger the waitress promised our vegetarian colleague a surprise.

The dinner show is pricey but the communal dance afterwards gets everyone on their feet, amid much ringing of cowbells and toasts in Swedish.

It was going to be all uphill after that. It was windy when we reached the Stubnerkogel joint ski area, gondolas swinging in the breeze as we ascended 2200m to the top in seven and a half minutes.

Bad Gastein and Bad Hofgastein offer access to 200kms of ski slope.

Hans Naglmayr, who plays the long wooden Alpine horn in his spare time, was our guide and lunched in Schlossam restaurant on the mountain where we ate noodle soup, Kaiser Schnitzel and baked potato, a signed photo of racer Johann Grugger on the wall.

Hans is a park ranger by summer who has seen the snowline rise in his short lifetime. When the talk turns to global warming he declares, “it is twelve, not a minute before twelve, the time has come.”

After three of these resorts you understand why these things matter.

OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 24

IRELAND'S PREMIER SOURCE OF TRAVEL INFORMATION

DESTINATION ASIA

N

ever has Ireland enjoyed so many one stop connections to so many Asian destinations, through Istanbul, Dubai. Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

Qatar arrived on the scene in July and immediately said they intend to incease the service to double daily.

They are joining Emirates, Etihad and Turkish Airlines who already have double daily services. Further good news came with the arrival of a dict service from Dublin to hong kong with cathay Pacific with Hainan also in discussions about openig a route form Dublin to Beijing.

Over 200,000 seats each were filled by Emirates and Etihad out of Dublin last year with a big increase coming this summer with the move to double daily.

Qatar also removed visa requirements for Irish citizens to boost direct tourism to the indepnendent emirate.

There was further good news on visas from India, which now can be applied for electronically boosting Irish touirsm to unprecedented numbers.

Here is a brief guide to some of the riches on offer:

CAMBODIA

The great Khmer temple complex at Angkor is the country’s biggest

Singapore

The visa for Vietnam is now easier than ever to acquire

Bright stars that are shining in the east Asia one stop options becoming ever more accessible

tourist attraction with 2m visitors each year. Tonle Sap is the largest freshwater lake in south-east Asia, passing bird-filled wetlands, rickety fishing boats and villagers wav-

ing excitedly from the shore. Phnom Penh sights include the Royal Palace, whose gilded pagodas are similar to those in Bangkok. The Tuol Sleng Museum and collection

of bones at the Killing Fields recall the horrors endured under Pol Pot’s regime.

CHINA

The Great Wall is a short trip from Beijing, other signatures include Xian where the terracotta army as located, the Yangtse river and the soaring skyscrapers of Guangzhou.

Wedny Wu has made inroads into Ireland as a high end tour operators selling luxury tours through the country. Direct flights to Hong Kong with Cathay pacific wil commence in 2018.

INDIA Indian Ambassador Radhika Lokesh revealed the inbound tourism had increased by 40pc since the launch of the e-visa facilitywhich has now been extended to irish customerss. The

Golden triangle of Delhi, Agra, Jaipur and Fatehpur Sikri is where the first taste tourists go. An easier introduction to India is Kerala, with its Arabic charm. Once past those you can spend a lifetime discovering the different palaces, landscapes and cultures. What may be the most beautiful landscapes on the entire planet can be found high in the Himalayas at Ladakh. Teeming Mumbai, the deserts of Rajastan, and the rich cultures of the Ganges and Indus rivers are worth a look.

Incredible India say first time visitors favour their 6 night group tour Classical India from u649 and their 12 night group tour ‘Classical Rajasthan covers the majority of the North in one trip. Martin Penrose of If Only has

organised a major fam to India from the Irish trade.

INDONESIA

Bali is the tourist hub but you can escape the crowds out on the tiny island of Nusa Lembongan. Ubud is the Bali’s cultural heart there are great art galleries and countryside to wander in. Lombok has a scaleable volcano, Mount Rinjani, and is growing in popularity. The most obvious resort is Senggigi, flanked by white-sand bays. Gili Trawangan is a hot spot for divers.

On Java you can find the Buddhist and Hindu temples of Borobudur and Prambana.

JAPAN Urban and

rural culture in equal measure, stunning landscapes, crowded cities and amazing food.

IRELAND'S PREMIER SOURCE OF TRAVEL INFORMATION

OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 25

DESTINATION ASIA Visitors cngregate at Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area, Himeji-jo, Shirakami-Sanchi, Yakushima, Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities), Shirakawa-go and Gokayama, Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome), Itsukushima Shinto Shrine, Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara, Shrines and Temples of Nikko, Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu, Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range, Shiretoko and Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine and its Cultural Landscape.

LAOS

Star attractions in landlocked Laos are the Mekong islands of Si Phan Don, home to fishing villages, waterfalls and rare Irrawaddy dolphins. Boutique hotels can be found in the country’s capital, Vientiane, alongside colonial villas, pleasant boulevards and Laos’s most important golden stupa, the 150fttall Pha That Luang.

Luang Prabang is one of the most beguiling cities in Asia, with Unesco World Heritage status and faded French charm.

MALAYSIA

Beach-lovers can choose between islands off both the east and west coast, Pulau Langkawi, and Palau Tiomen. The Perhentian Islands are the least developed. Malaysian Borneo attracts

Phuket beach wildlife fanatics to the lush states of Sabah and Sarawak. At Sabah you can view orang-utans, dive at Pulau Sipadan and climb Mount Kinabalu (4,095m). Sarawak is famous for river trips to see indigenous tribes living in communal longhouses. Cities such as Kuala Lumpur and Malacca have a rich heritage and well-preserved colonial architecture.

PHILLIPINES

A new slogan: More Fun In The Philippines and increased air lift through Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Istanbul, this archipelago has a mixture of pastry beaches and heritage sites, the baroque

Churches, Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, the Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras, the historic Town of Vigan and Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park.

SINGAPORE

is clean and respectable in its modernity, with ageing colonial relics, vibrant nightlife at Clarke Quay and even urban rainforest, at Bukit Timah.

TAIWAN

Three key attractions in its armoury, the beautiful Taroko Gorge, the first tall building in the world to reach more than 500m, Taipei 101 and the an-

cient imperial treasury of China, now housed in the Palace Museum. Travel Extra’s Eoghan Corry was suitably impressed on a recent visit there.

THAILAND

Famous beaches can be found on two separated coastlines of what is easily the most popular Asian destination with the Irish. who travel in numbers (an anticipated 70,000 visitors in 2017) and base themselves in Phuket, now accessible with just one stop by all four airlines serving Ireland through the middle east. They can also fly to Bangkok and go overland to Pattaya or by short flight to Koh

Petronas touwers Kuala Lumpur, Bali, festival of the dead in Taipei, monks in Laos

Samui,, Krabi or Chiang Mai. Huge investment has kept hotel standards high and opened new possibilities. You can spend a lifetime exploring all 77 provinces so don’t stop there, especially attractive are the highlands and rich cultures of the Mekong.The resilience of Thiland as a destinatoin has eearned the nickname TeflonThiailand.

VIETRNAM

Signature attraction, a contender for natural wonder of the world, is the soaring limestone peaks of Halong Bay. At Mui Ne you can find sand dunes, watersports and luxury hotels. The

signature cities are historic Hue and Hoi An, where tailors cut silk to order in streets lined with Unesco-preserved houses. Tours generally begin and end in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, home to the moving War Remnants Museum and a jumping off point to try out the impossible narrow Cu Chi tunnels, and Hanoi where you can visit the simple cottage headquarters Ho Chi Minh and his embalmed tomb. Best hikes are in the misty hills of Sapa.

OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 26

AFLOAT BRITTANY Ferries is offering 20pc off accommodation and 15pc off sailings from Cork to Roscoff throughout 2018 when booked

by October 31.

P&O Cruises’ summer cruise programme

for 2019 offers nearly 180 itineraries on eight ships to popular destinations plus longer “Discovery Cruises” to lesser-known places. For the first time P&O will feature the Arabian Gulf. Four new extended repositioning cruises will be added to the programme, sailing from Dubai to Malta via the Suez Canal.

REGENT Seven Seas Cruises is looking to travel agents and past Regent cruisers for a name for its next new ship, debuting in early 2020. They are invited to submit name ideas between September 5 and 29, 2017. Names must be in English and fit in with Regent’s pre-existing naming conventions (start with “Seven Seas” and end with “er” or “or”).

CUNARD has revealed itineraries for

2019 including a return to Alaska for the first time in 20 years on Queen Elizabeth. The ship, expected to undergo a refurbishment in 2018, will offer a one-off sailing featuring Alaska as part of a 17 or 27-night Japan and Alaska voyage and head south to offer a Panama Canal transit in July 2019 – a first for the line.

THOMSON Cruises has revealed

plans for a special ‘80s-themed music voyage called “Electric Sunsets” on TUI Discovery, departing Newcastle in England on September 1, 2018. Former DJ Sara Cox headline, with a guest appearance from Carol Decker of T’Pau, while Trevor Nelson will also headline.

PRINCESS “Official” construction has begun on Princess Cruises’ fourth Royal Class ship with a steel-cutting ceremony at Fincantieri’s Monfalcone shipyard in Italy.

Actual work began last November in Naples with the construction of a bow section. The as-yet-unnamed ship is scheduled for launch at the end of 2019.

IRISH FERRIES saw a 1.7pc increase in ferry passenger numbers in the six months to June 30 over the same period last year. Meanwhile, the number of cars rose by 2.3pc to 174,500 on its 2,500-plus sailings in the period, despite sterling weakness and Brexit worries. Total ICG revenue for the period was up 3.7pc to €156.1m, and €93.7m for Irish Ferries alone.

GALWAY Revenue at Galway Port rose 12pc in 2016 and profits were up 20pc to €820,000 but CEO Eamon Bradshaw said long-delayed redevelopment proposals remain in limbo three years after planning documents were first filed.

CRYSTAL’s new river cruise ship Crystal Bach was named by soprano Anna-Maria Kaufmann at Rudesheim-am-Rhein.

LABADEE Maintenance and restoration got under way at Royal Caribbean’s private island Labadee.

UNIWORLD are to refurb its 2009 River Beatrice into a luxurious super ship.

Seaside with a view

MSC showcases its signature project to trade partners

T

he world’s largest privately-owned cruise line brought trade partners to see the ongoing work to get MSC Seaside shipshape in time for service this winter.

Hundreds of international visitors also got to see MSC Seaview, in a float-out ceremony. Both ships are truly enormous – with the exta deck width designed to keep passengers in touch with the sea and surroundings.

Seaside will sail in December from Trieste in Italy across to Miami and ply her trade in the Caribbean.

And sister ship Seaview touched water for the first time at the gigantic Fincantieri company’s shipyard outside Trieste, and she will operate initially in the Western Med from summer 2018.

Antonio Paradiso, Managing Director for Britain and Ireland, told Travel Extra that the two ships are “game-changers for the cruise industry”. He said that while many new ships focus on interior activities, these new ships will be “following the sun” and the emphasis is on the outdoors experience in sunny climes.

They will feature buffet restaurants with al fresco dining in the sun, 360-degree promenade and outdoor panoramic elevators plus a pool area with sunbeds at the aft of the ship.

MSC Seaside on show at float out Warm nights in the Caribbean or Med will be enjoyed on deck – with another first at sea as the forward pool will be covered over in the evenings and the area will be transformed into an outdoor nightclub venue.

“They will have the highest ratio of outdoor space of any cruise ship,” Mr Paradiso added. The 154,000- ton Seaview will be almost identical to Seaside “more twin than sister”, Mr Paradiso told Travel Extra large.

Both will feature aft balcony suites with outdoor tubs, an expanded Yacht Club, nine restaurants, a seafood restaurant with a chef’s table, a restaurant exclusively for families and a steakhouse, plus 20 bars.

The two ships – each with a maximum capacity of around 5,200 passengers – are the biggest ever built in Italy, with up 6,000 shipyard workers involved in constructing them on any given day at the docks in Monfalcone

IRISH FERRIES LAY KEEL ON NEW FERRY

S

enior Irish Ferries officials attended the keel-laying ceremony for its new ferry being built on behalf of the company in Flensberg, Germany.

The ship is due to be delivered next July. The state-of-the-art, €144m passenger vessel will operate on the Dub-

lin-Holyhead route on weekdays and be used for weekend sailings from Dublin to Cherbourg.

The new ship being built in Germany will accommodate 1,885 passengers and crew, have 435 cabins and space for 165 freight vehicles as well as 300 cars.

During September Irish Ferries launched a naming competition offering free travel for life on Irish Ferries for the winner. “We want a big, Irish, literary sized name to go on the biggest ferry ever on the Irish Sea.” Dermot Merrigan of Irish Ferries said.

Dermot Merrigan

ROYAL CUTS NEXT QUANTUM STEEL

R

oyal Caribbean cut the first piece of steel for its Quantum Ultra ship, destined for the Chinese market,.

The cruise line revealed the name will be Spectrum of the Seas. The 4,180-passenger ship will be the

fourth in the line’s Quantum class of ships and will debut in 2019.

Royal says that Spectrum will be the next evolution of the line’s Quantum class of ships, and will be specifically be designed for guests in China and the

Asia-Pacific region.

During a cermony in at Meyer Werft’s yard, Royal Carribean CEO Michael Bayley said . “We are now one step closer to delighting our guests in Asia Pacific with this remarkable ship.

Spectrum will be a leap forward in vessel design and guest experiences that will provide travellers with ample opportunities to create unforgettable memories.”

Enjoy fun in the French sun for less!

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What’s the deal?

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OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 28

THE FLYING COLUMN SOUTHEND “If Michael O’Leary could design Dublin Airport - and I know that’s what he’d want - he’d have it like London Southend,” said Stobart Air’s Ronan Whitty as he and airline Managing Director Graeme Buchanan held an event in Dublin’s Merrion Hotel for the new Flybe Dublin-London Southend route, operated by Stobart, which launches on October 29.

GRANT Thornton initiated an advertising campaign targeting business travellers at Dublin Airport’s T2.

DATALEX Travel software company Datalex reported revenue up 24pc to $30.3m with platform revenue up 9pc to $12.8m.

SKY Aviation Leasing issued $780.8m

to help acquire a portfolio of 21 Airbus and Boeing aircraft worth approximately $1bn. The portfolio includes eight different aircraft models and 18 of the 21 aircraft are narrow bodies.

FINNAIR announced extra frequency to

Dublin and a new seasonal service to Nanjing.

BA is to restore Gatwick-Las Vegas and add Gatwick-Toronto for summer 3w with B777-200ER. AIRBERLIN’s frequent flier program, topbonus, filed for insolvency.

AIRBERLIN closed bookings for

many of its Berlin long-haul routes. Higher-fare categories only are available on longhaul routes from Dusseldorf.

QATAR Airways Group CEO Akbar alBaker has been elected chairman of the board of governors of IATA.

QANTAS plans to extend its partnership with Emirates for a further five years, switching its daily Sydney-London flight to transit through Singapore rather than Emirates’ Dubai hub. The daily Melbourne-Singapore flight will be upgraded from an A330 to an A380. Qantas will no longer fly to Dubai.

LOGANAIR

said those flying without luggage will no longer need to show photo ID prior to boarding.

NORWEGIAN plan to hire 40 pilots.

QATAR Ireland Manager Jonathan Keenan is leaving the position for personal reasons.

UNITED

has extended its summer 2018 season from Dublin Airport to Chicago.

NORWEGIAN Air International lost $205m in 2016, almost four times the loss recorded in 2015.

SHANNON A Ryanair route to Barcelona Reus was announced from Shannon.

CORK Airport got ahead of the pack in

welcoming the ultra-new Boeing 737 Max 8 to these shores. The Norwegian aircraft will operate on the route to Boston Providence..

NORWEGIAN is looking for pilots

after announcing it’s to open a base in Dublin to help expand its Irish transatlantic operations

Aviation with Gerry O’Hare

Meltdown Michael Ryanair cancellations will affect 315,000 passengers

R

yanair have cancelled 2pc of flights, the equivalent of two based aircraft, to cover a shortage of pilots to cover schedule disruptions over a six week period.

While BA had a similar problem with cabin crew holidays and solved it by going to One World partners Qatar, Ryanair have placed an absolute ban on transferring passengers to other airlines.

Traditionally, operations side is what Ryanair has been very good at.

Ryanair deny that there is a shortage of pilots or captains, with Jet2 expansion at Stansted and Birmingham as well as reported Norwegian poaching of Ryanair pilots.

Commentators instance low cost airlines credibility problem in markets such Ryanair’s target market of Germany.

Ryanair will honour EU 261 commitments without quibble or question, according to Michael O’Leary in a press briefing.

He explained the background to the decision to cancel flights, how cancellations raised alarm about rosters, and when punctuality fell from 90pc to 70pc Ryanair was forced to act.

Ryanair expect to re-accommodate 80pc of flight cancellation in flights on the same day. He said Ryanair will honour EU 261 commitments “without quibble or question”, flight cancellation customers will receive email, and most flight cancellations

Michael O’Leary in the spotlight at fllight cancelllation conference will be on trunk routes.

Michael O’Leary delivered an apology to customers who were unnecessarily worried, and said the airline may have to increase crewing levels and was seeking to allocate leave in blocks of two weeks instead of four weeks.

“We need 150 pilots on standby, they had 30 to 40”. He said the flight cancellations unlikely to happen ever again, and the flight cancellation crisis is not the biggest cock up in Ryanair history, He is not calling for heads to roll over flight cancellations.

There would be average of 48 cancellations per day.

He said they needed to move at weekend to avoid more flights being

cancelled and answered criticism about delays in taking the flights taken off sale and the delay in publishing a full list of cancellations.

He argued that Ryanair has 4,200 pilots and does NOT have a pilot shortage, Ryanair incentives for direct entry captains includes a u10,000 signing on fee, Ryanair has recruited pilots from Norwegian as well as losing them and Ryanair is not concerned about share price.

He did not expect the mess-up to affect the progress of the so called Always Getting Better campaign, declaring without a hint of irony “in Ryanair we hold up our hands when we mess up”.

FARO PASSES MALAGA AS CHOICE

C

SO statistics for 2017 Q2 show Kerry as the fastest growing main airport in passenger numbers up 8.2pc, but it was still less than half the volume of Knock.

Shannon was the only main airport showing a passenger decline. Overall

growth was 6.2pc.

The statistics show that Faro has now overtaken Malaga as route of choice from three Irish airports Dublin, Shannon and Cork.

In the second quarter 94,902 departed from Dublin for Faro in the three month period as opposed to 92,908 who departed

for Malaga. Kerry is to look to German carriers to boost its traffic in coming years, in common with Irish airports which are overly dependent on the British market.Five British airports feature in Dublin Airport’s top ten airport pairs for April-June 2017: 1 Heathrow, 2 Gatwick, 3

Schiphol, 4 Manchester, 5 Birmingham, 6 Stansted 7 Paris Charles De Gaulle, 8 Faro, 9 Malaga and 10 Edinburgh.

Shannon has four British airports in the top ten and Cork has three. All five of Knock’s top routes are to English airports and three of Kerry’s.

SATURDAY NIGHT STOPOVER BACK

T

he exclusion of a Saturday night stopover, that relive of aviation in decades past, made a quiet return this week with Aer Lingus new low saver fare for trans-

atlantic flights, announced last month.

It is available on a round-trip basis only with extra charges for checked baggage, seat selection, blanket, headphones, at

additional cost but meals are free, as are 10kg cabin baggage and in-flight entertainment.

Passengers can then choose from a range of added on Available now

for flights from 1 Oct. with a Saturday night stay required.

Fares are from €199 x 2, but the bag will then cost €39 extra.

OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 29

THE FLYING COLUMN

Aviation with Gerry O’Hare

Longest route

I

Dublin to Hong Kong to start by Cathay Pacific

t started last month with a competition to name “three beer-related destinations” on Cathay Pacific’s Facebook page.

This proved prophetic, Cathay Pacific are to fly Hong Kong-Dublin non-stop 4w from June 2, using a three-class A350-900, overnight in both directions.

Cathay is also adding Brussels 4w, Copenhagen 3w also with A350 and ending Dusseldorf.

Dublin-Hong Kong is 1,000 miles longer than Dublin-Los Angeles and very slightly shorter than David Slattery’s Dublin-Cape Town weekly charter operated by Air Berlin’s predecessor LTU in winter 2004-05, which stopped in Tenerife on the outbound leg.

Currently, 40,000 people a year travel between Dublin and Hong Kong. The Asian city has 4,500 resi-

NORWEGIAN are to increase Dublin

to Stewart International Newburgh airport from 5w to 7w in summer 2018, and Shannon to Stewart International from 2w to 3w, Edinburgh to Providence increase from 4w to 6w.

Belfast is losing a rotation to Stewart and Edinburgh is losing 2 to Providence. Norwegian expects its first A321LR to enter its fleet in 2019.

POWDAIR Ireland which is still not

listed by CAR as holding a license, is to launch new service from Sion to London City and Zurich in winter 2017/18,

KLM are to hire two more CityJet Avro RJ-85 aircraft, additional to the two that have been rented for a long time.

RYANAIR say ALL of their incidents on aircraft relating to drunkenness are by English passengers, despite having a larger market share in Poland, Italy, Spain and Ireland.

LEASING The University of Limerick

will host the second annual Shannon International Leasing Conference on November 10.

Cathay Pacific is coming t Dublin dent Irish citizens.

In addition to Irish residents there, the primary market for the new service will be local people.

land rose by 20pc to €40.8m.

Currently, 250 Hong Kong people A Roadmap for Emerging Space are studying at schools and universi- SPACE States was produced by the 110 participants of ties in Ireland, up from 50 in 2014. the nine week International Space University’s Space Studies Program 2017 in Cork

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LUFTHANSA Pre-tax profits in Ire-

OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 30

THE FLYING COLUMN

Aviation with Gerry O’Hare

KLM increased its Amsterdam-Dublin

summer 2017 schedule for the second time with 6 daily on Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri. KLM has become the world’s first airline with a verified WhatsApp business account. Passengers can now get around the world booking confirmation, check-in notification, boarding pass, flight status updates and ask questions in 10 different languages on WhatsApp via the official WhatsApp Business application.

SHANNON Minister Pat Breen says the Gort-Galway section of the M17/M18 motorway, due to open ahead of schedule on September 27, has the potential to bring “more potential passengers” to Shannon Airport.

DELTA Air Lines, Air France-KLM and Virgin Atlantic announced plans for a 15-year partnership on routes between Europe and the US and deals which will see them take stakes in each other. The joint venture will see the carriers share profits on transatlantic routes.

BA British Airways is giving travel agencies

an option to avoid the airline’s $10 GDS booking surcharge, to be put in place November 1

AIR TAX The European Commission, in

response to a complaint from Ryanair, found that the exemption for transfer and transit passengers from the defunct Irish air travel tax was in line with EU state aid rules. The exemption was in line with the underlying logic of the Irish air travel tax which was to tax journeys by air originating from Ireland.

POWDAIR virtual airline, based in Ireland, which plans flights from Sion to eight destinations from December, will now partner with the Danish Backbone Aviation to which Powdair will provide 2 Bombardier CRJ200 regional jets. The airline plans to secure an Irish AOC to be able to operate with its own aircraft as from the winter of 2018/2019.

KNOCK Ireland West Airport and

Stewart International Airport NY established the first Sister Airport Relationship, forming a strategic alliance to facilitate the exchange of information and promote and develop air access between the airports.

AWAS chief executive David Siegel is

stepping down and will not join the lessor’s acquirer Dubai Aerospace Enterprise when the transaction is completed in August

US Court of Appeals in Washington has ordered aviation regulators to consider setting minimum standards for the space airlines give passengers. “This is the Case of the Incredible Shrinking Airline Seat,” Judge Patricia Ann Millett wrote on behalf of the three-judge panel. “Aircraft seats and space between them have been getting smaller, while American passengers have been growing in size.”

WATERFORD Trade union Unite

said it will fight a temporary lay-off of four staff at Waterford Airport, a move blamed on the delayed launch of Air Southeast services.

IAG is converting three Airbus A330-200 longhaul aircraft options into firm orders for new long-haul low-cost brand Level.

Ryanair will base a record 27 aircraft in Dublin next summer

27 in Dublin base Ryanair to grow by 4pc in Dublin summer 2018

R

yanair say their summer 2018 programme from Dublin will deliver 12.9m annual passengers (+450,000, up 4pc).

They will have 27-based aircraft on 90 routes, more than there are short-haul routes at Heathrow. Three new routes were announced (Munich twice daily from Oct 29, Paphos 2w, Stuttgart daily from Nov 23), one resumed (Marrakech) and Naples in-

creased from 2w in winter to 5w.

Hamburg was increased from 4w to daily, Munich route 2 daily, Stuttgart daily, Memmingen is reduced from 4w to 1w.

Ryanair said that Spain overwhelmed by displaced holidays from Tunisia and Turkey driving prices up and making Morocco much more attractive with incentives.

While only one of the destinations

is strictly new to the airport, Ryanair made the point at a media briefing announcing the route that with its arrival on Dublin-Amsterdam, the number of carriers has increased from one to three and of daily flights from five to 13. The map used in the presentation of the routes also included Nuremberg, suggesting they know something in Swords they are not telling?

RETAIL GURU TO HEAD UP DUBLIN AIRPORT

T

he Board of Dublin Airport Authority appointed Dalton Philips as the company’s new Chief Executive.

He will take up the role on October 2, succeeding Kevin Toland, whose departure was announced in May. The W8cklow man has a track record in the retail sector, which would

be seen as an asset given the importance of The Loop shopping area and the entry of drinks giants to the terminals at Dublin Airport.

He was CEO of the Brown Thomas Group from 2005 to 2007, and from 2007 to 2010 he was the Chief Operating Officer of Canadian retailer Loblaw Companies.

From 2010-2015, where he ran Britain’s giant Morrisons supermarket group.

Dalton (49), who grew up on the family poultry farm in Co. Wicklow, has a BA from University College Dublin, an MBA from Harvard Business School and an honorary Doctorate of Management from Bradford University.

Dalton Philips

DUBLIN AIRPORT BUSIEST MONTH

D

ublin airport had the busiest August in the airport’s 77year history, up 7pc and on course for 29.8m in the calendar year.

Europe is up 7pc, trans-

atlantic up 21pc, Middle East up 14pc domestic down 1pc. Connecting passengers are up 42pc in the first eight months of the year/ On time performance has improved by 2pc so far

this year.

Dublin Airport Managing Director Vincent Harrison said Dublin Airport is ‘continuing a significant investment programme to upgrade and expand the

airport to cope with growing passenger numbers.

We are investing about €100m per year in new facilities for our airline customers and passengers.”

OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 31

THE FLYING COLUMN

Aviation with Gerry O’Hare ETIHAD

is overhauling its Etihad Guest programme from October 8 and January 15.

The number of miles needed for upgrades will increase and Guest Members who gain Silver, Gold or Platinum Tier status will now retain their status for only one year.

RYANAIR SHARES Shareholder advisory group Pirc urged Ryanair investors to oppose a number of key resolutions at the airline’s upcoming annual general meeting, including the re-election of most of its non-executive directors claiming that there is “insufficient independent representation on the board”.

CITYJET is to discontinue flights from

Antwerp to London City at end October 2017, leaving Dublin-London City as the only scheduled route operated in its own name.

DUBLIN AIRPORT The Dublin

Ryanair’s annual passenegrs number are likely to surpass Southwest in 2018

Ryanair record

Closing in on Southwest annual passenger count

R

yanair passenger numbers in August were up 10pc to 12.7m passengers and load factor up 1 to a record equalling 97pc, Rolling traffic to end August was 126.2m passengers. It represents a new record for the airline which is likely to surpass Lufthansa as Europe’s largest airline for the second year in succession.

Ryanair is now close to the annual

passenger count of Southwest Airlines, its original template when it adopted the low cost business model back in the 1990s.

Rolling annual numbers to July are within three million of Southwest and although these will take a hit of 400,000 in September, the pupil seems certain to overtake the master at some point in the next year or two.

Ryanair has a smaller fleet 350

aircraft as against 735 for Southwest, but a bigger network.

Southwest’s network and schedule are denser, with only half as many destinations, higher frequencies and an important component of connecting traffic, whereas Ryanair focuses on point-to-point.

Ryanair’s significantly lower unit cost and its higher margins make it the more successful.

RYANAIR MOVE ON CABIN BAGS

T

here is no more softly softly from Ryanair after months of moaning from their leading executives, including Michael O’Leary, that passengers have ‘abused’ their Always Getting Better programme

by trying to squeeze two big bags onboard planes.

With space at a premium, a number of bags have been put in holds up to now, slowing down the departure process, and fuelling a source of angst for the airline. The new

move means that only passengers with priority boarding, including Plus, Flexi Plus & Family Plus, will be allowed to bring two carry-on bags on to the plane.

Non-priority customers will only be allowed to

bring one smaller carry-on bag on board the aircraft, while their second (wheelie bag must be placed in the hold (free of charge) at the boarding gate. It is one of a set of complex new bag policy changes on all flights from November 1.

RYANAIR PLANS FOR ITALY, SPAIN

R

yanair plans to grow to 37m passengers at Italian airports next year. .

They are adding add 4 new routes at Bologna to Bratislava (2w), Cologne (2w), Naples (daily) and Prague (3w), 9 new routes at Naples to Bologna (daily), Budapest (3w), Charleroi (4w), Dublin (5w), Krakow (2w), Malta (2w), Porto (2w), Thessaloniki (2w) and Wroclaw

(2w), in all 28 routes, 2m annual passengers.

Ryanair opened its new base at Memmingen, its 10th base in Germany (No 85 in Europe), and launched its Memmingen summer 2018 schedule with 6 new routes to Fez, Oradea, Seville, Stockholm, Thessaloniki (all 2w) and Warsaw (3w), and extra flights to Alicante Ryanair London summer 2018 schedule offers

168 routes, five new routes Stansted to Aalborg, Dusseldorf (Weeze), Frankfurt, Oradea and Pardubice, and a Luton route to Bydgoszcz, which will help deliver 24.8m customers through Ryanair’s three London airports.

Michael O’Leary said Theresa May should be doing the Brexit deal, not drinking sake..

Ryanair received permission to start service in

Ukraine in 2018, principally from Kyiv Borispol and Lviv.

Ralph Anker’s Anna aero reported Ryanair had 17pc of the Spanish market in 2016, up in numbers but down in market share from 18pc in 2012. Ryanair is now within 2pc of the annual passenger count of Southwest Airlines, its original template when it adopted the LCC business model.

Airport Community Fund launched in June this year and is open to applications until 5pm, Friday, October 13.

TERMINAL 3 Ulick and Des McEvaddy are aiming to exit Nama by the end of the year after securing money from a US bank that specialises in the aerospace sector. Loans secured on a site adjacent to the airport were considered by Nama for inclusion in a sale but the brothers are expected to repay the loans in full by Christmas opening the way to develop a third terminal on the site.

CORK

Airport saw the biggest jump in traffic of all Irish airports in August, up 7.2pc, compared to 6pc in Dublin. Dublin then published its own figure of 7pc.

SHANNON Airport will be Munster Rugby’s ‘Official Airport Partner’ in a three year commitment. The partnership, which makes Shannon the exclusive airport partner to Munster rugby, will also see the Shannon logo positioned on the players’ shorts.

KNOCK winter schedule is up 3pc in seat

capacity with flights to eight different British airports. The airport will commence a €15m redevelopment over the next three years in passenger facilities and infrastructural and runway improvements, €4m worth of projects will be completed in 2017.

A330 NEO Portadown-based JW Kane

Precision Engineering has won a contract to supply Safran with large machined parts for the A330 Neo engine nacelle. It is hiring graduate engineers.

DUTY FREE The last of the US Big Three carriers has dropped on-board duty-free sales. United Airlines said “we are unable to compete with airport duty-free vendors that stock much more merchandise”.

BREXIT A position paper signed by

airlines including Air France, KLM and Lufthansa said there should be no access to the internal aviation market without “full regulatory convergence”, and London’s Royal Aeronautical Society issued a gloomy perspective on Brexit.

u

OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 32

THE FLYING COLUMN

Aviation with Gerry O’Hare

RYANAIR announced an additional three based aircraft at Frankfurt Main bringing the total to ten.

AERCAP is in the process of retrieving A330s leased to Air Berlin.

BELFAST International Airport turnover went from £31.1m to £34.8m last year..

AER LINGUS

passenger traffic (RPK) was 10.2pc in August, load factor was down 13 to 87.2pc and 1.2 points lower than July. Cargo carried was up 22pc. Of IAG group Aer Lingus did best in passenger volume growth. The Labour Court recommended Aer Lingus staff should be given a total pay rise of 8.75pc over 39 months, costing the airline just over €20m.

SHARES $10bn has been wiped off the market value of the five biggest US airlines.

The Standard & Poor’s index of the airlines fell around 7.5pc in August, as a price war that started between United and heavy discounters spread to more carriers and markets.

COBALT extended its service on Dub-

lin-Larnaca to year round, 2w in winter. Full report here.

WOW air has announced a new 3w route from Keflavik to Dallas from May 23, with connections from Dublin.

STOBART passenger numbers through London Southend airport to end May were up 22pc to 482,000. It said it was “reviewing alternative structures for our airline and leasing business that can play an important part in the consolidation of the regional airline sector”.

DUBLIN AIRPORT Four mem-

bers of Dublin Airport’s Fire Service brought home a total of seven medals from the World Police and Fire games in Los Angeles. Cian Delaney, Mick Gurley, Mick Bracken and Eric Flanagan represented Ireland at the games which saw over 10,000 firefighters and law enforcement officers from 65 countries compete in more than 60 separate events.

SCHIPHOL US budget airline Southwest is the best of a relatively bad lot of American carriers when it comes to delivering a high-quality experience to customers, according to a new User Testing report. Spirit finished in last place.

GARUDA Indonesia is to upgrade its Jakarta-London route to a nonstop service from October 31. The carrier currently flies to Heathrow via Singapore.

ScHIPHOL airport has completed the

renovations of its Holland Boulevard public area. The 24-hour space, located between departure lounges 2 and 3, features a renovated Rijksmuseum annex, serving as an introduction to 17th- century Dutch painting, and Nemo Science Museum.

AUSTRIAN Bookings can now be made for Austrian Airlines’ premium economy on its long-haul flights. The service starts on March 6 next year.

Ireland’s love affair with Canada just got more interesting

Montreal bound

Air Canada joins Transat on Dublin-Montreal route

A

ir Canada announced more services and two new routes - Dublin to Montreal and Shannon to Toronto each 4w with B737 MAX 8 .

Tourism Ireland have been pushing behind the scenes for even better links between the two countries, and the new announcements have been.

Air Canada mainline will replace Air Canada Rouge on Toronto-Dublin from October 30 with A330-300 replacing the B767-300ER and offer-

ing fully lie flat seats in business and premium economy.

The basic winter frequency of 4w will increase to 6w over the Christmas period, to 5w from March 3 and to daily from May 1.

There is no mention as yet of supplementary summer services. Vancouver-Dublin is to be increased from 3w to 5w, presumably using a B767-300ER and on Air Canada Rouge, although this has not been specified by the airline.

n AC819 leaves Dublin 12:00 and arrives Montreal 12:00. n AC818 leaves Montreal 21:15 and arrives Dublin 08:25 + 1 day n AC843 leaves Dublin 1005 and arrives at 1245 in Toronto. n AC842 leaves Toronto 20:55 and arrives Dublin 07.25 + 1 day n AC821 leaves Shannon 10:30 and arrives at 1245 in Toronto. n AC820 leaves Toronto 22:00 and arrives Shannon 09:30 + 1 day

Ryanair “as the airline may not be around for very long.”

Rivals EasyJet recently announced ‘Worldwide by easyJet’, a global airline connections service by a European low fares airline with launch partners WestJet (Canada) and Norwegian, connecting at London Gatwick, plus easyJet to easyJet at Gatwick, and supported by Gatwick Connects also at Gatwick Airport.

More partners are to follow, including Loganair. Minimum con-

nection time is two and a half hours.

Fares are sum of sectors plus £14 connection/insurance fee. Should a passenger miss a connecting flight they will be transferred to the next available flight.

EasyJet airports in Europe such as Milan Malpensa, Geneva, Amsterdam, Paris Charles De Gaulle and Barcelona may develop similar arrangements.

RYANAIR CALL OFF NORWEGIAN

M

ichael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair says that his airline are no longer negotiating with Norwegian to feed their long haul services.

He says that negotiations will continue to feed the services of Air Europa in Madrid and Aer LIngus in Dublin.

He also expr4essed fears for the future of Norwegian, saying that he expects pilots who have been recruited by Norwegian to return to

RYANAIR ‘SERIOUS’ ABOUT ALITALIA

R

yanair expects to be one of 10-12 parties making binding offers of Alitalia in December.

Michael O’Leary told a press conference in Swords: We have made two non-binding offers for Alitalia. There is a process of which we are in the foothills.

There is a third round of

offers due to be made by people who are interesting in investing or acquiring Alitalia. It will be the first round of binding offers, due to be submitted by the end of December. We are certainly interested in buying Alitalia.

We are one of ten to twelve parties who will be submitting offers for Alitalia.

We are not about to make an offer but it may take four to six months for those offers to be reviewed.

While Kenny Jacobs said that they are serious about bidding for the shorthaul operation and turning it into a separate division of Ryanair that might operate with a hybrid full-service, low-cost model. Michael

O’Leary said otherwise, maintaining that Ryanair is interested in taking over Alitalia’s long-haul operation as well.

Kenny said now and the airline’s communications team concur they are only interested in the short-haul and are interested in feeding the long-haul operation if someone else buys that.

RDS Hall 3, Ballsbridge

Presented by

THURSDAY 12th APRIL 2018

EXHIBITOR PROFILE

VISITOR PROFILE

• Airlines

• International Hotels/Resorts

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• Insurance

• Attraction Tickets

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• 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.

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

Thursday 12th April 2018 2.00pm – 7.00pm

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

Maureen Ledwith - Sales Director t: +353 (0)1 291 3700 e: maureen@bizex.ie Paulette Moran - Sales Manager t: +353 (0)1 291 3702 e: paulette@bizex.ie

www.irishtraveltradeshow.com 112200 TRADE SHOW APRIL 2018_V1.indd 1

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OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 34

GLOBAL VILLAGE

Inside the Travel Business

COSTSAVER operated by guided

holiday operator Trafalgar is Sunway’s newest brochure offering escorted tours to the USA, Canada and Latin America from €114 a day for Irish travellers in 2018.

CONTIKI launched its Europe Summer 2018/19 range, featuring 26 new and improved trips. It’s offering 10pc off early payments and a further 5pc off new mix and match deals.

TOPFLIGHT and Today FM’s ski trip is back for a 19th season, with Ian Dempsey and the crew hitting the slopes in Kirchberg in the Austrian Tirol on January 27 next.

TRAVEL DEPARTMENT

Is Romania the new Lake Garda? Travel Department has been surprised by just how popular the country is among Irish clients, and said the Eastern European country’s combination of scenery and value is proving a hit. Managing Director Sara Zimmerman watch here launched the 2018 programme at the Dean Hotel in Dublin and said confidence is back, and clients are booking ahead, with the company having to add more tours after the Vietnam explorer sold out.

SENSE OF AFRICA

Eva Adriaans of Sense of Africa, Marc Reading of Talking Stik Markeitng and Tony Flynn hosted travel trade and media a Namibia information evening in Dublin.

DATALEX said total revenue rose 24pc to $30.3m in the first-half.

PHOENIX TRAVEL

Lee Osborne is to take over the Phoenix Travel Agency in Greystones from Alan Perkins. He is to remain with Bookabed and Lee says it will be business as usual for Lee at Bookabed, where he was Travel Trade representative of the year 2013 and short listed every year at the ITIA awards. Travel Extra wishes Alan the best in his retirement.

TRAVEK CENTRES Dominic Burke launched a doppelganger competition in the lead up to this year’s Travel Centres conference, participants are invited to find a doppelganger for any member of staff working in a Travel Centres Agency. The winner will attend the conference free of charge with 200 spending money. Register on www.twinstrangers.net and upload a photograph to be matched against 1m other photos in the Twin Strangers database, with a fee of 2.

TRAVEL PARTNERS Group have added ferry operator, Irish Ferries to the group. The Travel Partners Group Facebook page now has 600 members and agents are encouraged to join to keep up to date with the Groups’ activities by joining the group page.

Dermot Merrigan joins Amadeus, ASM (representing SAS, ANA, OBEO Travel and Your Car Hire), Blue Insurance , Bookabed, Classic Collection Holidays, Cruisescapes. and MSC Cruises

Yvonne Muldoon, Director of Sales at Aer Lingus; Maria Sinnott, Business Exhibitions (organisers of the

Shamrock night

Aer Lingus steps in to sponsor travel industry awards

T

he Irish Travel Industry Awards, a mainstay of the industry’s calendar, have a new title sponsor, with Aer Lingus coming on board for the event, which will have a number of new categories when it returns in the new year.

Aer Lingus has become the title sponsor of the Irish Travel Industry Awards 2018, which take in the Round Room at the Mansion House Dublin on Thursday, January 25, when 500 travel professionals attend an event compered by broad-

caster Miriam O’Callaghan.

Entries for the 2018 Irish Travel Industry Awards will open on November 6 with the shortlist being announced in early January 2018 The industry awards, now in their eighth year, are an initiative of the Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) and supported by Travelsavers, Travel Centres and Worldchoice. The event is organised on behalf of the ITAA by Business Exhibitions.

Yvonne Muldoon, Director of

Sales at Aer Lingus, said: “Aer Lingus is delighted to sponsor the 2018 Irish Travel Industry Awards. This year has seen considerable growth for Aer Lingus, with fleet expansion, increased connecting traffic to and from Europe as well as new routes to North America, including our newly launched Miami route.

“As we continue to grow our business and expand our network for 2018, our partnership and commitment to the trade is as important as ever.”

Angela joins team in time for the Holiday World rush

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ngela O’Rourke has joined the team at Business Exhibitions as it expands for the upcoming Holiday World Show at the RDS. Angela has been appointed the Business Development Manager for the major consumer show.

R

Preparations are under way for Holiday World 2018 in Dublin on January 26-28 and the parallel series of interviews at Eoghan Corry’s Travel Summit.

The 2017 show recorded 35,000 visitors, 11pc up on last year, almost exactly the same increase as that enjoyed

in Belfast the previous week. The trade experienced strong bookings over the three days with crowded aisle on Friday and Saturday.

Exhibitors reported increases in business as people feel more confident when it comes to booking holidays for the year ahead.

Angela O’Rourke

TOPFLIGHT CAMERA WINNER

ue Ahmed from Co Kilkenny won the Topflight Travel Photographer of the Year 2017 with a photo taken in North East Bangladesh of Sadhu, a Hindu holy man.

Rue’s prize includes an

Escorted Tour Holiday for two to Madeira for seven nights with flights from Dublin, airport transfers, seven nights in Topflight’s flagship 5* Melia Madeira hotel with breakfasts and three excursions, a Canon

EOS M6 M15-45 Camera, a Canon book on photography and a Canon training course. Second place went to Adrian Megahey from Co Galway.

Adrian’s photograph was taken in Yosemite

Valley and features the Milky Way curves over Half Dome. Third place went to Paul Brady from Co Kildare with a photograph taken in Dublin of Bull Island bridge looking back towards Clontarf.

OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 35

Inside the Travel Business

GLOBAL VILLAGE TOUR AMERICA boss Mary McKenna cycled 600km in five days for charity.

Mary has raised €4650 so far for Crumlin Children’s Hospital in Dublin by cycling from Barcelona to Valencia in Spain. The fundraising move was to thank the staff at the hospital and in memory of Fiadh, who sadly passed away, and who was a daughter of Mary’s cousin.

CLASSIC COLLECTION

headed up in Ireland by Niall McDonnell are running a four-week promotion throughout September where agents can win one of four €100 M&S vouchers. Each week they will be emailing agents with four simple product-related questions. Agents can submit their answers via the link on the competition email.

The first winner is Michelle Cullen from Icon Travel in Waterford, pictured.

Porto venue for the Irish Travel Agents Association annual conference

Oporto in a storm

ITAA to discuss data legislation at annual conference

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he agenda for the ITAA con- Portugal to the Irish travel trade, to lin-Porto route.

Antonio Padeira and Ana Celina ference in Oporto on Friday, include some tours the winelands and the hinterland. Porto is also the third Tavares will host the event on behalf October 13, is hotting up.

There will be five or six crucial largest river cruise base in the Irish of the Portuguese Tourist Board. The 150 delegates have a choice of flights presentations, relevant to both agents market.

Planned Aer Lingus flights to Porto direct to Porto with Ryanair or a disand suppliers about changes in legislation coming down the tracks. From this year were cancelled after Ryanair counted Aer Lingus flight to Lisbon January the PCI will dramatically increased the frequency on the Dub- with a train journey to Porto. change the regulations on credit card details.

ITAA CONFERENCE VENUES Other changes will bring corporate travel bookings out- 1975 Burlington 1989 Killarney 2003 Killarney side the bonding system. Fines 1976 Killarney 1990 Killarney 2004 Citywest for data transgressions will be 1977 Killarney 1991 Limerick 2005 Citywest increased dramatically.

1978 Wexford 1992 Limerick 2006 Santry This will be the first confer- 1979 Tralee 1993 Killarney 2008 MSC Poesia ence to be hosted by Portugal 1980 Ennis 1994 Tralee 2009 Portlaoise since the 1999 conference in 1981 Limerick 1995 Killarney 2010 Malaga Cascais. The annual confer- 1982 Limerick 1996 Benalmadena 2011 Seville ence of the Irish Tour Oper- 1983 Limerick 1997 Ennis 2012 Istanbul ators Federation was hosted by 1984 Waterford 1998 Killarney 2013 Granada Portugal in 2006.

1985 Cork 1999 Estoril/Cascais 2014 Quantum of the Seas The tourist board for the 1986 Wexford 2015 Jerez 2000 Tralee region would be to showcase 1987 Limerick 2016 MS Antoinette 2001 Galway the area of Porto and Northern 1988 Killarney 2017 Oporto 2002 Newcastle

CAR EXTENDS REVIEW DEADLINE

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he Commission of Aviation Regulais to extend the deadline for submissions to Travel Trade Consumer the Protection Measures to Friday, October 20.

CAR noted that the average claim exceeds current bonding levels and most claims remain from just two collapses, those of Lowcostholidays.ie and Failte Travel.

Excluding these two

collapses from the data, the average collapse has generated claims of 3pc of projected licensable turnover for travel agents and 6pc for tour operators.

The commission’s consultation paper on bonding found most claims relate to refunds for upcoming holidays rather than repatriation, which was the intention of the original legislation in the 1980s.

The original legislation

dates back to 1982, and it is almost a decade since the last consultation.

CAR said the available evidence suggests that most firms provide reasonable projections of licensable turnover, although some appear to have underestimated (and thus had to post a lower bond than would have been the case had they correctly forecast licensable turnover). Firms that have both travel agent

and tour operator licences tend to project a greater share of turnover for their travel agency business, to which the lower 4pc bonding rate applies.

It says the current scheme cannot provide effective consumer protection without reform.

In thinking about reform, careful thought has to be given to the effect that it will have on costs to the industry.

CLICKANDGO launched its new website for Leaving Cert holidays - with the help of teenage entrepreneur Mikey Wylde.

RYANAIR extended their partnership with Cartrawler for two more years.

SOUTH AFRICAN Tourism will be hosting its first ever travel agent training roadshow in Ireland, in the Metropole Hotel Cork on November 13th at 9pm.

TOURISM AUSTRALIA is on the hunt to find one of the first people to have travelled to Australia on the Working Holiday Maker visa, to honour at a special event being held in Dublin later this month.

AMADEUS made Eurowings’ fares

and ancillaries available to travel agents for the first time. Joost Schuring is to lead Amadeus’ EMEA region

WENDY WU was awarded most influential women in travel and tourism at the Association of Women Travel Executives Chair Awards 2017.

EU The European Commission is investi-

gating whether Lufthansa’s charge for GDS bookings, imposed two years ago, breaches EU rules. The German airline imposed a €16 fee on all GDS bookings in September 2015. The airline group has since claimed its bookings were largely unaffected. IAG-owned British Airways and Iberia plan to impose a similar GDS booking fee. November 1. The charge of €9.50 will be added to all bookings through GDSs.

TRAVEL COUNSELLORS

Ireland’s 2018 Conference will take place on April 19 and 20 next year. The venue has yet to be confirmed, but it will be in Ireland.

UNIWORLD Boutique River Cruise

Collection’s managing director for Britain, Kathryn Beadle, pictured, is to retire in November after three years in the role. No strangers to these shores, Kathryn’s replacement has yet to be announced.

TRAVEL TRADE fun day raised €30,000 for charity.

u

OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 36

WINDOW SEAT Last month in numbers 126.2m Number of passengers carried by Ryanair in the year to August.

12.7m Number of passengers carried by Ryanair in August, a record for the airline. u25m Cost of Ryanair meltdown, u 5m in lost profitability, u20m in UE261 compensation payout

u20m Cost of damage to Irish tourism from Brexit according to Irish Tourism Confederation.

150 Number of standby pilots Ryanair needs to cover its bases

30 Number of standby pilots Ryanair actually had during the second week in September

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THE WILD ATLANTIC WESSON

he Skelligs have become Hollywood celebrities, through no fault of their own, and their photographs are stars of social media.

The man who has captured the spirit of the Skelligs is a local, of sorts. John Wesson is from Derbyshire, an adopted Valentia man, and his pictures of six Franciscan friars saying mass on this holy island are a reminder that they are more than a movie location or Instagram icon.

Kerry is vast, Ireland’s fifth largest in area, fourth largest by tourism numbers, and Wesson has mapped the county into its natural,

Kerry, the Beautiful Kingdom by John Wesson is published by O’Brien Press

but not always obvious, regions.

Kerry gets almost as many tourists as Mauritius each year, slightly more than Aruba and three times as many as the Seychelles. If it was a country it would be a world icon and the images on these pages reflect why. If Dingle peninsula or the Ring of Kerry were countries, they too would feature prominently in world travel.

It reflects times past, the old house in Ballinskelligs with no

chimney where someone lived until a generation or so ago, smoke billowing out the door. The Black Valley, the last place in Ireland to get a telephone service and still regarded as the most remote in the country.

Wesson photographs a sign for the Kerry way, one of the longest signposted trails in the country, as a sign of the future for the picturesque county. At Ballaghbearna he found a wild Irish goat. For that alone the reader should be grateful.

Busman’s holiday: Martina Coogan

A

s a child, foreign holidays were a foreign concept.

It was only the very well off that came back from the summer holidays with a suntan from the Med. Most of my summers were spent with my mother and cousin on the exotic shores of Tramore.

It was really only when I left college I had the means to travel and have been very lucky over the past 20 years.

I have some amazing memories which are not always about the destination but about a time in my life, food I ate, people I met or wildlife I encountered.

There are so many but here are a few that I hold close for different reasons.

India: It Is a love it or hate it destina-

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tion and the first country outside of the Western world I travelled to. I was completely overwhelmed, backpacking and on a budget it gave me another view of the world and shook me out of my middle class mould and made me grateful for everything I have.

On the same trip we spent three weeks in Vietnam.

I’m nearly afraid to go back as the people, food and scenery were equally incredible and it would be disheartened if any of these had changed.

The food is a wonderful fusion of French and Asian influences and remains a favourite of mine.

After nearly a year of travelling and working in Asia Pacific I didn’t get homesick until I travelling to New Zealand, where I often refer to its scenic landscape as “Ireland on steroids”.

New Zealand is up there with the most immensely beautiful places I have ever been to. A must see.

Someone recently asked me if I had

Spectators of all kinds at the Masai Mara wildlife show to pick only one continent in the world to travel to for the rest of my life what would it be?

I replied Africa. For the thought of not being able to see another sunset across the plains of the Masai Mara would be too much to bear.

It’s such a captivating, challenging and diverse continent I could spend the rest of my days travelling it.

It also holds some particularly special memories for me. I fell in love with my now husband in South Africa and our honeymoon was a three week road trip around Namibia where he showed me

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

he bonding system that regulates the travel industry in Ireland is as up to date as the Beta video cassette.

It has been superseded not just by better bonding and aviation options but by the technological developments, consumer access, insurance schemes and world view that superseded in turn those better options. In Irish travel agencies it is still 1983.

It was taken a while for the

Commission of Aviation Regulation to realise that. CAR found most claims relate to refunds for upcoming holidays rather than repatriation Their recent consultation paper on operation regulation transformation if you like, wants to RAISE the travel agents bond to 8pc and tour operator bond to 20pc. This effectively ignores the many submissions from the travel trade, such as Dominic Burke’s point that con-

sumers insure themselves in all their commercial activities except travel, and John Galligan’s point that the current regime penalises Irish based micro-enterprises (with less than 10 staff each), while ignoring much larger foreign online vendors, bed banks, airlines and other vendors.

This is the wrong option. A simple bond that covers consumers for loss of that booked holiday is needed.

“his” Africa. An experience money can’t buy. Travel for me is about discovery, cultures, food, people and wildlife.

In the end, it is ultimately one of self discovery an investment in travel is an investment in yourself.

I can justify any money I spend on travel, unlike that bag I bought in Rome last year.

But according to some economists investing in certain handbags result in a better return on investment than the stock market.

So, perhaps in a few years, I can trade it in for a trip away.

IN YOUR NEXT TRAVEL EXTRA: HES NC LAU AY IN SHIP THE W DUBL or online Available to Travel HE Agents N T M SO RO ER AFT R SHIP UPS F E K YAL October RO BIGG T PIC 16 2017 C EC Y T O PA RA UR PE DE R

Every month we ask a leading travel professional to write about their personal holiday experience. This month: Martin Coogan, Ireland director of United Airlines

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OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 37

Out and about with the Travel Trade

d at Josie Carrigy and Caitriona Doyle of Tully’s verleigh Fly of Bookabe Colleen Butler and Be Newbridge during the visit of Disney Magic on Hotel rris Mo g, etin me n atio the iAWTE found

Jackie Clynch of Booka be of Ifonly at the Irish Op d and Martin Penrose en

lly, Samantha Barnwall it Jeff Collins, Sarah Ke st4travel during the vis Be and Lisa Kearney of of Disney Magic

Diane Bowman of Tra vel President Phil Orr Duba Counsellors and IRFU i Duty free Irish Derby the Curragh, at

Elkie Bird and Priya Kuker of Disney during the visit of Disney Magic

MEETING PLACE

Leah Quinn and Ashlin g Holidays during the vis O’Hara of American it of Disney Magic to Dublin port,

, onohue Travel, Gorey Yvonne O’Donohue, O’D Cassidy Travel on the of and Ann Marie Durcan blin, Crystal Symphony in Du

Fiona Matthews, Mo Ryan, Pat Campbell and Pat Clare Stone of the Travel Department and Kearns of Disney during the visit of Disney Magic Amanda Wallace of Wallace Success coachi ng at the iAWTE foundation meeting

Brid O’Connell of Welcome Marketing and Sara Zimmermann of the Travel Department at the iAWTE foundation meeting in the Morrison Hotel

of Ballsbridge Travel, Fionnuala MacCurtain Travel, Helen Kelly of p Marian Benton of Ma d Audrey Headon of Travel Counsellors an ting the TIGS captain’s ou at g Headon Consultin

John Booty of Wendy rd Wu, Dave Richards Ciara Mooney of Freedom Travel with her parents nne and Carmel Aylwa Ann Mullins, Clare Du the Crystal Symphony in Anne and Brendan Mooney who opened her new Iain McCafferty of Jenkinson and and Ma and rk Clifford of O’Hanrahan of The Travel Broker on Travel offices on the Lucan Road at Celbridge, Dublin,

Clem Walshe of Local Ma of Navan Travel, Philip rketing.ie, Miriam Skelly Air Tanya Airey of Sunway ey of Sunway and at TIGS captain’s outing

Richard Carolan, John O’Neill and Rob Guckian of Disney during the visit of Disney Magic

eil mpsey Travel, Jack Sh Martin Dempsey of De Qatar Airways at the of y and Patrick McKinne TIGS captain’s outing

OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 38

MEETING PLACE

an sanne Moran of Neen Jennifer Reilly and Su Disney Magic of Travel during the visit

Eamonn Murray of Atl as Fleming of Sunway at Travel and James the Irish Open

Out and about with the Travel Trade

Eimear Martin and Alice Valerie Murphy of Etihad and Anita Thomas of Ca du ring the visit of Disney rrick of Tour America Emirates at the iAWTE foundation meeting in the Magic Morrison Hotel

Ann Mullins and Georgina Kelly of the Travel Broker during the visit of Disney Magic

sha Galligan Travel and Eli John Galligan of John during the visit of Disney Margaret Kelly and Jeanette Coughlan of Travel vel Counsellors with Lauren Arthurs of loverlauren.eu Bernie of Neenan Tra during the visit of Disney Magic Magic

Celine McGibney of Cru and Jeff Collins of Best4isescapes/Travelescapes Travel during the visit Disney Magic of

McCann, Pam Fogarty Audrey McCann, Oliver TIGS captain’s outing the and Denise Fogarty at

Declan Power of Shan no CEO of the ITAA, and n Airport, Pat Dawson, Cormac O’Connell of Dublin Airport at the TIGS captain’s outing

Ross Waters and Polly Bond of Tour America on the Crystal Symphony in Dublin

Des Abbott of Des Abbott Travel and Dave Hennessy of Tropical Sky at the Bookabed and A2B Transfers event in the Dean Hotel

Ken Masterson of Skytours, Ivan Beacom of Aer Lingus and John Spollen of Cassidy Travel at the Bookabed and A2B Transfers event

Strand Travel and Darren Hutchinson of hy Travel on board Fa Caroline O’Toole of blin, Du in ny ho mp Crystal Sy

Cormac O’Connell and Ba Airport at the Irish Open rry Barker of Dublin

ITAA, John Skelly of Pat Dawson CEO of the elly of Navan Travel and Sk rtin Navan Travel, Ma S captain’s outing Con Horgan at the TIG

Yvonne O’Donohue of O’Donohue Travel Go rey and Ciara Foley of Pla tinum Travel at Booka bed and A2B Transfers eve nt in the Dean Hotel

r Farrell at the Tom Coade and Eimea captain’s outing

TIGS

OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 39

MEETING PLACE

al Sky and Teresa Roisin Carbery of Tropic M at the iAWTE /KL Murphy of Air France the Morrison Hotel foundation meeting in

Mark Clifford of O’Han rahan Travel, Lisa Rabb of Emirates and John Booty of Wendy Wu at iite the Irish Open

n zel Fogarty and Sharo Ann Marie Durcan, Ha l sta Cry the on vel Tra Harney of Cassidy Symphony in Dublin,

Tony Tully of Swisspo rt Dublin Airport at the Iris and Cormac O’Connell of h Open

Strand Travel and Des Darren Hutchinson of vel on the Crystal SymTra tt bo Ab s Abbott of De phony in Dublin,

Filippo Rocchi of Emira tes Justsplit at the Bookabe and Jim Vaughan of event in the Dean Hotel d and A2B Transfers

Out and about with the Travel Trade

Eimear Martin and Alice Carrick of Tour America Ann Marie Durcan of Cassidy Travel and Fio na with Sharon Harney and Hazel Fogarty of Cas- Dobbyn of Classic Resorts at the Irish Open in Po rts tew art sidy Travel during the visit of Disney Magic

Karen Maloney and Shannon O’Dowd of Etihad

Centres and at the Dominic Burke of Travel ers an Dean theDe eventntininthe nsferseve Transf Bookabed and A2B tra 17 tel, Dublin, April 13 20 Hotel

Tara Hynes of Travelpo rt and Jim Tobin of FC Shannon Welby, Stephanie Burns and Trish Long at M the TIGS captain’s ou of Disney during the visit of Disney Magic Meath, hosted by Martin ting in Headfort, Co Sikelly

Gillian Young of American Holidays and Bernie Burke of Travel Centres at the iAWTE foundation meeting in the Morrison Hotel

Marie Troy and Joanna Coughlan of Abbey Travel during the visit of Disney Magic

Gordon Penney and John Spollen of Cassidy Travel at the TIGS captain’s outing

ay and Sarah Kelly of James Fleming of Sunw it of Disney Magic to vis the g Best4travel durin Dublin port

Martin Penrose of Ifonly , Airline Business and Ma Eileen Penrose of APG Travel at the TIGS cap rk Clifford of O’Hanrahan tain’s outing

adeus, Peter O’Hanlon Volker Lorenz, ex-Am rmot Merrigan of Irish De d an of Travelfinders tain’s outing Ferries at the TIGS cap

★★★★

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2018

★★★★★

BELFAST TITANIC EXHIBITION CENTRE JANUARY 19/21

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