Travel Extra October 2019

PARK CITY THAT OLYMPIC FEELING BOROVETS SMALL TOWN SKI ABU DHABI NOT JUST A STOPOVER ITAA Conference agenda

Travel insurance impasse

Asia Guide 2020

R

U YO DE A R R T PE PA

IRELAND'S PREMIER SOURCE OF TRAVEL INFORMATION Free

OCTOBER 2019

VOLUME 24 NUMBER 8

Pow Dare What your client should know about winter sports 2019-20

HOSPITALITY MORE THAN JUST A WORD True hospitality comes from the hea .

From a genuine desire to make sure our guests always feel totally at home.

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OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 3

www.travelextra.ie

T

NEWS

The Kiwi ESTA

Visitors to New Zealand will require NZeTA from Oct 1

ravellers are required to hold an NZeTA, a new border security measure, the New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority before they leave for New Zealand from Tuesday, 1 October 2019. An NZeTA request costs NZD $9 on our free app, or NZD $12 if completed online. Visitors pay $35 for an International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy at the same time as the NZeTA. The NZeTA does not replace a visa if required (Ireland is a visa waiver country).

Travellers must still meet all existing entry requirements. It can take up to 72 hours for an NZeTA request to be processed. Travellers from visa waiver countries who are in transit are required to hold an NZeTA

.BODRUM Dublin 2w seasonal with Ryanair this summer.

New Zealand joins the electronic authorisation game

HALIFAX Westjet move their MARSEILLES: Ryanair St John’s service April 20.

3w for summer 2020 form Dublin

MINNEAPOLIS Aer

BORDEAUX Dublin 2w seasonal with Ryanair this summer.

KIEV Dublin 2w seasonal with Ryanair this summer.

MONTREAL:

Westjet.

lin double daily, opening S America.

ing a Sheremetyevo service.

see prices plunge on route.

resumed May 1.

CARLISLE Dublin 7w from Loganair scheduled for spring 2019.

COLOGNE:

weekly from Ryanair.

Shannon

DALLAS

American will link Dublin daily to Texas next year.

DUBROVNIK from Cork.

Aer Lingus

CUBA A former guest filed a class action lawsuit in federal court in Miami on Tuesday against Sandals Resorts, claiming the vacation company charged a ‘local government tax ‘to guests, which were not paid to Caribbean governments. The suit alleges that Sandals pocketed the fees instead.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC’s

IBIZA Shannon’s signature new

CALGARY Dublin from

2018 in the seven months to July, to 1,278,167.

Visits in July were up 6.7pc to 286,334. This is helping making up for the decline in English visitors of 1.6pc in anticipation of Brexit.

Spain is Ireland’s most popular outbound destination and will pass 2.1m visits in 2019.

SRI LANKA has announced it will give a one-month free visa on arrival to visitors from nearly 50 countries in its latest effort to revive the island nation’s lucrative tourism industry that was badly hit by the Easter bomb attacks that killed 263 people.

DESTINATIONS TO WATCH

AALBORG one of two new Danish destinations from Dublin.

SPAIN Irish visits to Spain are up 5pc on

sun route this summer.

LISBON TAP launched Dub-

LOURDES Ryanair 2w will

MALTA Ryanair service form Cork to Europe’s wedding capital.

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

Lingus 2019 destination.

Aer Lingus destination postponed from 2019.

MOSCOW: Pobedoa are listNICE: Aer Lingus from Cork SPLIT: Ryanair June 1 from

Dublin.

TALLINN Dublin 1w from Air Baltic started March 31.

TEL AVIV: Dublin 3w from

El Al from next April.

tourism ministry has unveiled new measures aimed at easing fears after a spate of mysterious deaths in the past few months, these include a multilingual tourist emergency centre in Punta Cana. All hotels must share details of their food handling procedures and their food and beverage suppliers with inspectors, and all hotel pools will be checked to ensure certified lifeguard duty cover is sufficient.

MALAYSIA unveiled the new Visit Malaysia 2020 campaign logo, a year after a previous logo launched to widespread derision featuring an orangutan, a proboscis monkey and turtle wearing sunglasses.

LEGOLAND Merlin Entertainment is

blaming poor weather and ‘limited momentum’ from its second Lego movie for a 0.7pc fall in sales at Legoland theme parks during the first half of the year.

HIDDEN BABY An American

woman who attempted to carry a 6-day-old baby out of the Philippines hidden inside a sling bag was arrested at Manila’s airport

PLASTIC The issue of single use plastic is also hitting airport security, Stansted and Luton charge £1 for a plastic bag.

WINTER YOUR WAY Skier, snowboarder or sit-back-and-socialiser, find the ski holiday that’s right for you.

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OCTOBER 2019 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 Catherine Murphy cathmurph@yahoo.com Aileen O’Reilly aileencoreilly@gmail.com

Travel Extra takes no responsibility for errors and omissions.

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Contact +353872551675 if you have difficulty getting Travel Extra.

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CONTENTS

3 News Where to go,h ow much to pay 6 Hotels: News 8 Postcards: News from the trade 10 Park City: The Olympic feeling

E

14 Top Four: Catherine Murphy 16 Ski: Austria’s sporty welt 18 Ski: Bulgaria 19 Ski: Val Thorens 20 Asiat: Direct flights and more 22 Phukett: Thailane oddyssey

24 Abu Dhabi: Mot just a stopover 26 Afloat: A quantum leap 27 Flying: Airline and airport news 34 Global Village Inside the travel industry 36 Window seat: Our columnists 37 Pictures: Out and about

Selling a ski holiday

children included? Does the operator have an early tea for kids to give parents a bit of peace?

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.

FAMILY Some re-

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.

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.

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

BUYING GEAR

If it is their first ski holiday, borrow from friends. Clients don’t need to buy skis. With changing technologies every year, it is much better to rent your skis in resort. BUT, if you find a comfortable pair of boots, buy them! Great Outdoors in Dublin have a great boot fitter called Neil. In resort, check out great deals in Livigno, Andorra, and end of season in Austria, especially in the Hervis chain. At home, check

teach the fist time skier how to read a piste map

out TK Maxx in season, watch for deals in LIDL and ALDI but if you need serious kit head for places like Great Outdoors who know what they are talking about.

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

MANAGE expectations. Some of the destinations come with well groomed reputations that are outdated or have been endangered by complacency. What is the skiing ability of the family members? Does the resort match their requirements?

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

AREAS The days

when resorts operated their own slice of mountain ended two decades ago with the linking of huge ski areas with cable cars and funiculars, the

Four Valleys, Les Trois Vallées, Espace Killy Skiwelt, Ski amadé, Kitzbüheler Alpen, Paradiski, Grandvalira, (there are more). That means you don’t have to stay in the flagship resort to enjoy all the skiing.

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

TRANSFERS

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

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 to eat in the same hotel every night? Is lunch for

sorts offer the non skier lots of facilities; if they have a mixed family, mention the towns that are natural spa towns for those who want the best of both worlds. Find out about childcare. Is it on site? Are staff qualified?

What is the staff-to-child ratio? Are staff local or employed by the tour operator? Is there an evening club, babysitting or baby listening service so parents don’t have to turn in at the same time as their kids? How close is the ski school?

NON SKIERS

If there are non-skiers in the party, make sure to tell them to pick a resort which is close to a major city such as Innsbruck, Salzburg of Annecy near Chamonix. Pick a spa resort such as Bad Hofgastein or head for duty free Andorra where you can indulge in shopping, as well as spa in the capital Andorra la Vella.

LESSONS Are lessons exclusive to the tour operator or organised locally? Are there less expensive options? Most resorts are dominated by one or two large ski schools which may not offer best value.

MAKE them laugh

with this piece of (useful) advice: Ditch those high heels and leather soles. You land in resort at midnight. You get off the bus, and the legs go from underneath you in the ice.

AANN IRIR

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12/09/2019 13:09

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OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 6

HOTELS

www.travelextra.ie

IHF hoteliers survey found the continental Europe market is showing signs of softening while business levels from England are falling.

TRIVAGO’s monthly price index shows Dublin hotel prices at €163 for September, down 1pc on last year and up 11pc month on month. Dublin is fourth most expensive of 17 European cities surveyed. September is traditionally the third most expensive month for Dublin hotel prices. Trivago’s price index so far in 2019: Jan €149, Feb €138, March €161, June €166, July €164, August €148, September €163.

GLASON Paddy McKillen jnr purchased Westmeath’s four-star Glasson Country House for €9m.

WESTIN

Hotel on Dublin’s Westmoreland Street added 19 new double rooms above the AIB bank next door.

ADDRESS Brian and Ciara McGettig an’s M Collection is to double to 80 the number of bedrooms at The Address at Dublin 1.

HAYFIELD Manor owners are to convert St Mary’s College in Donnybrook into a 195-bedroom, five-star hotel and spa at a cost of €50m in addition to the €16m that the Scally family paid for the site.

QUEEN ST Approval is pending for 184 self-catering apartments in a 14-storey building on Queen St and College St in Belfast after planning officials stated that the company’s original proposal was “far too tall and fundamentally inappropriate” for the area.

HASLEM Construction began Beann-

chor’s £4m Haslem Hotel in Lisburn Square.

ADARE MANOR Paul Heery, GM at Adare Manor has appointed Gavin Couper new F&B directo, Patrick Collins chef de cuisine for banqueting and Liam Simpson F&B manager of The Oak Room.

CLERY’s owners of the former Clery’s department site are seeking permission to build two additional floors for a planned hotel on the site. The former department store was acquired last year for €63m by Europa Capital, part of the Rockefeller Group.

EMERALD Investment Partners is

seeking potential operators for its planned acquisition of Copper Face Jacks.

RADISSON Hotel Group opened two hotels in Manhattan, Radisson Hotel New York Midtown-Fifth Avenue at 25 West 51st Street and Radisson Hotel New York Wall Street at 52 William Street.

SLIEVE DONARD in Newcastle switched to natural gas as part of a £60m extension project by Phoenix Natural Gas to extend its network to 13 towns across Co Down.

DUBLIN St Patrick’s Festival has an-

nounced the Dublin Branch of the IHF as Official Accommodation Partner for the festival.

DALATA says its pipeline of 2,400 rooms will open at various stages from 2020 to 2022.

Travelodge in Wembley: investigated

Fake reviews

Tripadvisor under fire from English watchdog

E

nglish watchdog Which?

Travel has suggested that some of the highest-ranked hotels on TripAdvisor reached the top by using fake reviews.

The group said it analysed almost 250,000 hotel reviews on the site, looking at the top tens for tourist destinations around the world.

The group said it reported 15 cases to TripAdvisor, who admitted that 93pc of the reported hotels had been caught with dodgy reviews in the past year.

TripAdvisor has been penalising hotels for breaking its guidelines, revoking five-star reviews and giving warnings, mown as ‘red badge’ warnings for suspicious activity.

The group contacted TripAdvisor, which revealed that Travelodge Wembley was such an example, with the badge’s purpose being to warn travellers that it was investigating possible manipulation of reviews by ‘individuals or entities associated with this property’.

Which? Travel claimed that when it looked at the hotels in question, none had any warning, and both red badges had been removed.

‘Potential guests would have had no idea that anybody had been trying to cheat the system,” Which? Travel suggested.

One of the hotels we looked at, the then ‘best hotel in Jordan’, had 730 five-star reviews removed by Trip-

Advisor shortly after we contacted it to point out that they looked suspicious.’

TripAdvisor defended its method, adding that the analysis presented by Which? ‘is based on a flawed understanding of fake review patterns and is reliant on too many assumptions, and too little data’.

‘We have an industry-leading team of fraud investigators who work tirelessly to protect the site from fake reviews. We are confident our approach works, and is one of the reasons we continue to retain the trust of millions of consumers worldwide,’ TripAdvisor said.

DALATA SAYS VAT HIT REVPAR

D

alata Hotel Group said RevPAR, fell in Dublin by 1.4pc last year, driven by a combination of the 4.5pc VAT increase and a reduction in the number of events in the city.

RevPAR in regional Ireland hotels was also down, due to the more significant impact of the VAT increase on domestic leisure demand than anticipated.

Revenue increased by 12pc in the first six months of 2019, driven by 22pc increases across Britain.

Dalata, which owns the Maldron and Clayton hotel chains, reported revenues of €201.9m for the sixmonth period ending 30 June, and profit before tax of €37.8m, up 6.7pc .

Revenue growth was greatly in the

Pat McCann

UK, which saw a 22pc increase in revenue.

Regional Ireland was up 7.5pc and Dublin up 9.8pc.

It added, however, that the number of new hotels and extensions in Dub-

lin are ‘performing very well’, and that its outlook for the rest of the year remains positive.

Pat McCann, Dalata Group CEO, said that the group has demonstrated its excellent operating performance and ability to control costs despite opening six new hotels and four hotel extensions in the past 18 months.

“This is an example of the intensity and commitment I often speak of in Dalata where we continue to drive performance of our existing portfolio while building our future pipeline of hotels,” McCann said.

“Our hotels in all regions are performing well and I am particularly happy with the performance of our English hotels given our exciting growth plans for the region.”.

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OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 8

POSTCARDS FROM THE TRAVEL SCENE

T

eresa Gancedo departed as director of the Spanish Tourist Board in Dublin this summer and has been replaced by Rubén Lopez (see page 35).

Her final event was, fittingly, the opening of Sorolla exhibition at the National Gallery, Ireland’s first major exhibition dedicated to the Spanish painter Teresa felt special attachment to Joaquín Sorolla (1863-1923) and his paint-

E

tihad were highlighting their quiet-and-calm daily Dreamliner service to Abu Dhabi at the anything but quiet and calm ploughing championship in Fenagh last month.

As sponsors of the best dressed competition, Etihad offered the prize winner; n 2 return flights Dublin to Abu Dhabi n 2 night’s accommodation in the famous Yas Hotel, custom built over

B

ig surprise of the half-year briefing by tourism Ireland on all matters inbound was the ambitious growth target for British tourism, no matter what happens with the Brexit shambles.

Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, shown speaking to an audience that included tourism minister Shane Ross, said that Ireland intended to grow tourism revenue by 25pc to €705m by

ings of beaches, playing with light and the figures in the foreground, would do justice to modern day Instagram posts from Spain. The exhibition remains at the National Gallery until November 3.

Picture shows ldefonso Castro ambassador of Spain to Ireland, Teresa Gancedo Director of the Spanish Tourist Board in Dublin, Carlos Lucini, consul of the Embassy of Spain.

the F1 Grand Prix track on Yas Island n 2 night’s accommodation in the luxury 5 Star Fairmont Bab Al Bahr hotel with views of the Grand Mosque n 2 3-park passes for Ferrari World, Waterworld and Warner Bros. World on Yas Island Picture shows Karen Maloney and Shannon O’Dowd of Etihad with the NPA managing director Anna May McHugh.

2022. A very ambitious strategy has already been launched, base don data by Oxford Economics.

Winter seats were up 8pc to 464k and summer seats up 3pc to 605k, growth which is unlikely to be continued in the current climate.

The 2018 figures were not yet complete but revenue was anticipated to be up 10opc to €6.1bn and visitor numbers up 6pc to 11.2m visitors.

U

niworld hosted nine Worldchoice travel agents on an 8-day river cruise through Bordeaux and the surrounding regions aboard the newly renovated SS Bon Voyage.

Agents who ant to experience a Uniworld Boutique River Cruise for yourself have a chance to win an all-inclusive luxury river cruise for two in 2020, if they make a Uniworld River Cruises booking with a deposit dur-

T

ravel Counsellors Cork-based mountaineer Niamh Quinlan led a group of 13 of her colleagues, who raised €5,000 to date for its partner charity Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind following a climb of Ireland’s highest inland peak, Galtymore.

The travel specialists were joined by family members in scaling the 918 metre mountain that borders Tipperary and Limerick.

J

amie Airey was overall winner at the Travel Industry Golf Society captain’s day sponsored by Irish Ferries at KIlleen Castle, Winners and places on the day included 1st Gents - Gordon Penney 34 pts, 1st Ladies - Yvonne Lennox 28 pts, 2nd Gents - Martin Penrose 34 pts 2nd Ladies - Tanya Airey 26 pts, 3rd Gents - Aaron Bolt 34 pts, 3rd Ladies - Marion Benton 26 pts.

ing September and you will be automatically entered into a draw to win.

The group included Lisa Warren (Killiney Travel), Linda Byrne (Killiney Travel), Caroline O Toole (Fahy Travel), Christine Fenton (King Travel, Angela Hayden (Naas Travel), Emma McHugh (Atlantic Travel), Shane Coburn (Donabate Travel), Michael & Maria Doorley (Shandon Travel) and Pat and Cynthia Dawson (ITAA).

Travel Counsellors Ireland, are sponsoring Reuben, now 18 weeks-old, who is in his first year of training Cathy Burke, General Manager said the sponsorship is part of Travel Counsellors’ commitment to making travel more widely accessible, including accessibility raining for Travel Counsellors. Travel Counsellors Ireland now has 80 members in the 26 counties and 38 members in the six counties.

Category winers were Cat - Audrey Headon 25 pts and Philip Airey 32 pts, Cat 2 Pam Fogarty 23 pts and Derek Keogh 33 pts and Cat 3 Gents Peter O’Hanlon 32 pts. Ladies Guest prize -was won by Maria Callinan and Men’s Guest Prize by Brendan O’Leary.

Jamie is pictured with Dermot Merrigan of Irish Ferries, captain of TIGS and Marie McCarthy and Ann Pye of Irish Ferries.

OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 9

POSTCARDS FROM THE TRAVEL SCENE

T

he Association of Women Travel Executives hosted 36 women travel professionals at a development session with James Sweetman.

This is the second year that the motivational speaker (“you are better than you think you are and wiser than you know”) has been engaged by AWTE, a professional development group dedicated to improving gender ratio at managerial level in the travel industry.

AWTE is in the middle of renewals and now has 100 members with approximately 10 new members in the past month Picture shows AWTE committee members with James Sweetman, Clare Dunne of The Travel Broker, Lorraine Quinn of Celebrity Cruises ,James Sweetman, Yvonne Muldoon of Aer Lingus, Fiona Foster of Cassidy Travel, Dympna Crowley of Lee Travel and Maura Maloney of Dublin Airport,

to Britain

Hotel

T

he annual Emirates briefing has become an aviation event in its own right, and this year’s installment at 25 Fitzwilliam Square acquired extra significance with the news of the A380 production run coming to an end and also that Hainan and later Cathay were withdrawing (see page 28).

Enda Corneille said that the decision to increase capacity at Dublin would be made by the operations team in Dubai.

It is unlikely the A380 will come to Dublin. Two Emirates A380s have been withdrawn from service at Dubai World Central airport and will be used as a spares source for the operational fleet. The A380 will remain part of the Emirates fleet for many years, although the fleet is expected to gradually start to decline. Picture shows Megan Virgo of Grayling PR, Enda Corneille, Rachel Sherry of Grayling PR,

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he travel industry turned out to hear what the new US ambassador to Ireland Edward Crawford, had to say at an Independence Day event in Dublin.

They also paid tribute to Reece Smyth Charge d’affaires at the US Embassy, who had been an immense friend of the Visit USA Committee and the Irish travel industry during his time in Dublin.

Drive off on a city adventure or a countryside escape and get busy making new memories! You can choose from hundreds of hotels and B&Bs all over England, Wales and Scotland.

The new ambassador Edward Crawford, and Leo Varadkar both complimented Reece on his memorable time in Dublin, during which he took time out to learn Irish.

Picture shows Adrienne Keogh of American Holidays, Frank McCaffrey of AF/Delta/KLM and Kristin Skinner of American Holidays who were among the large travel delegation at the annual event.

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OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 10

DESTINATION USA

P

ark is the word, the city, the terrain. There are more parks in Park City, in Utah’s pink mountains than anywhere I have ever been.

Take a stroll to the outskirts of town and you find one. The further you go the trail begins to empty of snow shoers, cross country skiers, hikers and flat tyre cyclists along the trail.

We have more dog parks than parks for children. Every second passer by has a dog.

“We call it bark city,” the human owned by a fabulous coated Siberian husky called Sky yelled back over her shoulder on the off leash dog park.

And she was over the crest of the hill and into the great beyond.

T

he journey is long but the landing is happy. Within half an hour of landing in Park City airport (transition to gate B33 in JFK would not be possible in 18 minutes without pre clearance) our ski boots are under the desk in our resort.

The are two resorts and, cunningly and confusing, one has the same name as the city. Both resorts are high end so book through a tour operator for best condo and ski package deals.

Park City Resort and Park city overlap glori-

Signage at Deer Valley resort,

Faster and higher

Eoghan Corry finds the Olympic feeling in Park City, Utah

ously. You can sit at a coffee house on the main street and watch skiers pass overhead on the chair lift. Urban planning, as well as urban planning.

The second is called Deer Valley, which also conjured up competing images. The $180 a day lift pass is reduced to $100 a day if you buy in advance.

The Steiner Residences, our plush-luxury hotel, cost $2,000 a night, plush comfortable beds, big rooms, a pool with the best view west of the Mississippi, and a labyrinthine course back to the lobby that meant everyone was five minutes late. But, hey, this is Utah, on holidays, mountain time.

W

e have come to see what the fuss is about, or perhaps the Fuzz, because that is who has come to show us around six resorts: Deer Valley, Park City on to Solitude, Brighton, Alta and Snowbird.

“The snow here is the best in the Rockies, but don’t tell the good people of Colorado. First of all

they will have to change all those license plates,” said Fuzz. .

The snow was great, not crusty on top and got very heavy over the brow of the hill. We tucked around a double black with steep moguls and finished in a buoy half pipe.

I found I was not making any turns and then, on Erica’s Gold, came the

Clockwise: Eoghan Corry at Stein’s Run, Top of the ski jump, Deer Valley resort, Snowmobile expedition,

crash, the upside down fall and 400 meters down the mountain upside down. It was thankfully a soft landing. I remounted and made it to the lift station, brushing off concerned paramedics.

“After the gold rash,” was a colleague’s comment on my snow burn.

The best run? “Stein’s way, first thing in the morning, “ said Kris

New Dates and New Venue

OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 12

DESTINATION USA Fuzz Fedderson. Fuzz is an Olympian, part of the ski with a champion programme, and he should know.

Stein’s, named for Stein Eriksen, a Norwegian champion who made Park City his home (“it was your pleasure to meet me<’ is one of his many famous quotes, is steep and dog-legged, pitched into the rising sun, classic Rockies terrain. Two turns and another kilometer you are into the housing estate of Mansion, where there are triple garages and signs for a private ski track.

The nearby road is undersoil heated.

Yup. Houses. This being western USA, with its wild west layer-cake property investment model, the real estate quick-marches up the mountain like a million dollar a step glossy brochure reinterpretation of the grand old duke of York.

As you ski back to

Fat tyre biking with White Pine Touring, lodgings, the signs on the off-tracks tell you the addresses for the private residences, 1-10 Elder crescent and that

residents and their guests only are welcome.

“Real estate run,” Fuzz tells us. “That’s what I call it. “

SAMPLE ITINERARY

n Day One: Ski Butlers – ski equipment fitting, Fat Tire Biking with White Pine Touring, Fly Fishing with All Seasons, Lunch at High West Distillery and Saloon, Tour and Activity at Utah Olympic Park, Dinner at tupelo n Day Two: Silver to Slopes tour with Park City Mountain , Lunch at Legends, Park City’s Historic Main Street. Montage Deer Valley, Deer Valley Grocery Café, Atticus, Ritual Chocolate and Windy Ridge, Dinner at Hearth and Hill

n Day Three: Snowmobile at Summit Meadows Adventures , Lunch at The Boneyard , Snowshoe with Wasatch Adventure Guides , Dinner at Silver Star Café n Day Four: Deer Valley Resort, Ski With a Champion, Lunch at Royal Street Café , Après at Champions Club, Dinner at Fireside dining, n Day Five: Lunch at The Farm Afternoon Escape Room, Waldorf Park City Spa , Dinner at Firewood

O

ccasionally you find an oddity in the odyssey: a door in the side of the mountain, like the seven dwarfs were due to heigh-ho home from work when we were not looking.

They do a mine head ski tour, invoking the days of the Silver King Coalition Mine which helped Thomas Kearns, second generation Corkman, to rise from penniless pilgrim to the state’s richest man.

The 1960s skiers were brought into the mountain on a mine cart for three and a half miles and 1800 feet up a min-

er’s elevator. To this day everything on the southern side of the mountain is named for mining terms.

For the pre-ski history, check out the Park City Museum at 528 Main Street in the heart of Park City’s historic Old Town district.

Here you meet a collection of “dreamers and schemers” who came in quest of silver included Patrick Connor, Black Jack Murphy and Patrick Coughlin, complete with cap and red hair.

The 1880 census recorded 155 from Ireland among the population of 1,500 (the highest total

after America’s 989).

When the bottom fell out of the silver market in the mid-1930s, Park City began to focus its attention on a new motherlode, skiing.

The Norwegian Engen brothers organised the first ski jumping events at Ecker Hill.

Snow Park, Park City’s first ski area opened with one T-bar lift in 1946.

Treasure Mountain, now Park City Mountain Resort, opened with the aid of a federal redevelopment grant in 1963. Park West, now Canyons, opened for business in 1968; and Deer Valley Resort, reclaiming many of the old Snow Park runs, opened in 1981.

Park City Mountain Resort was then purchased by the Badami family who started a period of expansion that culminated in the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.

The scenery performed during the Olympics, with craggy mountain peaks were blanketed in Utah powder, and 20,000 fans crammed in the valley watching drama such as Ireland’s best ever finish; Craig Wrottersley’s fourth place In the skeleton.

T

he snow fluffed the outdoors each night. “A little gift each night for the skiers,’ was how Victoria Ritzinger described it.

“U mountain was left as a parting gift by the

Clockwise: Deer Valley, Pool at Stein Residences, Kris Fuzz Feddersen ski with a champion programme, Snow shoe with William Robert ‘Bob’ Pazden,

OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 13

DESTINATION USA native Americans, the Mormons came and took the F away.”

The Mormon presence is less prevalent in park City, a boozy mining town, than elsewhere in the state. Wasatch brewery offering include polygamy stout and five wives vodka.

Billy Bob brought us snow showing through the hills. He warned us they had closed one of the trails because of an aggressive moose. “They are large and in charge.”

He assured us there was no moose loose around the route we choose.

“Anyone who wants to go to the toilet should use the facilitrees.”

“Utah aspens are the biggest living organism in the world,” he told us. Their roots spread through the soil like a safety net, ensuring the mountain climate it does not freeze everything in winter and dry it out in summer.

“People come here for the winter and stay here for the summer.”

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he ski chairlift passes over the main street in Park City, merging town and mountain in a unique fashion.

Without the chairlift reminder, Park City would be a culinary capital. We trailed from restaurant to bar to res-

Whiteout in park City taurant in the cause of research, the boommusic boisterous to the open-kitchen voyeuristic and a bookshop or coffee shop where everyone was reading real paper and not just screens.

The High West distillery is star hospitality spot among the hundreds in town. The Maitre’d doubled with a well rehearsed comic turn: “While you are waiting for entertainment, Floyd here is going to juggle, he doesn’t know how to juggle but he will learn.”

This, apparently, is the only ski-in distillery in the world. They served something called Dead Man’s Boots, with

n Eoghan Corry travelled with delta via JFK to Park City and strayed as a guest of Park City tourism.

Double eye Whiskey with spice, tequila, fresh lime juice and ginger beer. I remember the ginger beer.

At Fireside dining, Charles, the waiter offered “cheese, stew, leg

and fondue.” The smell of woodfire and the smell and crackle sounds of food being prepared filled the air, mountain dining at its best.

“Between a racklette and a hard place,” pon-

dered one of our party.

T

hey show 110 films in 10 days as part of the Sundance festival. The unbecoming Egyptian cinema, home to the

LARK IN THE PARK

n Park City is one of the world’s most accessible four season mountain recreation destinations, located 35 minutes from Salt Lake City International Airport. n Home to two world class ski resorts Deer Valley and Park City Mountain n 100 lodging properties including large multifamily private homes, bed and breakfast inns, condominiums, and full-service hotels. n The highest concentration of on mountain luxury lodging in North America, and 100 restaurants, two micro-breweries and during winter, the world’s only ski to the door whiskey distillery and saloon. n Daily flight with Delta Airlines from London Heathrow to Salt Lake City, getting there is easy.

Free public transport system

was built 1920s is one of hundreds built in that fashion after king Tut’s tomb was discovered when everything Egyptian was in vogue .At the Olympic park you can ponder the ski jump, heartstopping even when you are not about to try it. They will load you on the bobsled and send you crashing through the tunnel (fingers inside at all times), one of only a handful of winter Olympic venues to keep the facility. It is high adrenaline stuff, but locals say it used to be worse. “You did the bobsled run? They emasculated it,’ said the taxi driver en route back.

“You should have done it after the Olympics” AFTER the Olympics?

They are looking for the Olympics back in 2030.

They are front runners.

They may be only runners. Good enough.

n 400 miles of summer hiking and biking trails, with chairlifts and gondolas up the mountain amid the spectacular scenery. n In summer it is hot and sunny by day, with very low humidity, and cool by night. n Summer visitors can play golf at Park City’s four eighteen hole golf courses, horse riding, fly fishing, paddle boarding, road cycling, zip lining or a thrilling ride on the Alpine slide. n Shopping in the Historic District, where many buildings date from the 19th century when Park City was a major silver mining town. n Many hotels have classy spas for indulgent relaxation or start the day with a morning yoga session in the glorious mountain sunshine. n www.visitparkcity.com

Clockwise: Firewood restaurant, Waldorf Park City spa at Waldorf hotel, Pool at Stein Residences, town centre,

OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 14

SKI & SNOWBOARD 2019-20

Snow4

TRENDS

D

uring the summer, Irish tour operators reported buoyant ski bookings for the 2019/20 season.

But overall – especially if we look to our neighbours in Britain – Brexit continues to cause great uncertainty for the snowsports industry.

Some operators are moving away from the chalet sector, partly because they fear seasonal staff will have difficulty getting visas to take up chalet jobs post-Brexit.

Others – such as VIP Ski – are holding firm with new chalets opening in Avoriaz this season.

Increasingly, British companies talk about hiring Irish workers post-Brexit. The Irish are already making their presence felt in the Alps – from BASS ski instructor Derek Tate in Chamonix to Aims ski school boss JP McCarthy in Les Arcs, chalet manager Tadhg Ryan in Montriond and a whole host of Irish working in Morzine.

A time of uncertainty and unprecedented change can also be a time of great opportunity. Figures show that the general global travel market is forecast to grow by 16pc while the adventure and health travel sector is expected to grow by up to 22pc by 2025 so it’s all to play for.

Once again, resorts and operators are being advised to look at opportunities beyond snowsports, using a ‘mountain business 365 model’ which will see them diversify as all-year-round destinations which include but aren’t limited to snowsports.

In terms of the winter holiday experience, there’s a trend to customise and individualise – from customising

Catherine Murphy’s annual pick of the best

Catherine Murphy is Ireland’s leading ski writer skis with solar panels and works of art (it’s true!) to the Boot Doc system which takes an image of your foot to give you every possible dimension and help you buy suitable ski boots.

Welcome to the world of ski in 2019/20

4 SKI SCHOOLS

Skicool, Val Thorens.

This small ski school offers a whole range of fun classes on the slopes including a 30 minute Quick Check class.

Gather a small group of friends on the first day of your holiday and take this class to focus on one or two techniques that will help get your ski legs back. www.ski-cool.com Soldeu ski school, Andorra. Soldeu has a great reputation for teaching children with instructors who inject fun into classes but never mind the children – last year I travelled with a group of adults who basically adored their English-speaking instructors. www.escolasoldeu.com European Ski & Snowboard School, Les Deux Alpes.

Brothers Simon and Lawrence Edwards, and

their dad Jeremy run a fantastic school in LDA. We’ve skied with Simon who not only skis beautifully but teaches with great clarity. Lawrence has coached internationally. www.europeanskischool.eu Schneesport Schule, Bad Hofgastein, Austria.

Or specifically, one of our favourite ski instructors of all time, Christian Zehentner. There’s a risk that you’ll be doubled up with laughter on the slopes as Christian regales you with his Alpine stories but don’t be fooled, Christy is a former powder ski champ with an incredible pedigree –his dad co-founded the first ski school in nearby Bad Gastein.

4 TO WATCH

Watch this resort; Zell Am See-Kaprun.

Firstly, there’s the new 3K K-onnection from the Kaprun valley up to the Kitzsteinhorn glacier.

Then there’s the new Zell Am See Xpress which will link Zell to Saalbach. The lift will take skiers from Zell Am See to Viehoffen which is the beginning of the Saalbach valley. The

Zell-Saalbach connection won’t be fully complete until Saalbach invests in a lift from its side. www. zellamsee-kaprun.com Watch this company.

Pierre & Vacances is expanding its operations, focusing on high end properties around the world. One of its newest ski properties is the Hotel Himalaia in Baqueira Beret in the Catalan Pyrenees. Situated just a few hundred metres from the nearest lift and 130km of slopes, the Himalaia is family friendly and contemporary. www.pierreetvacances.com Watch this trend.

Well-being in the mountains.

Mental well-being is a buzz phrase in the ski industry with top resorts like Val Thorens offering special programmes to help holidaymakers get their zen on.

It’s hardly surprising; the adventure and health travel sector is forecast to grow 22pc by 2025 so you can expect to see more yoga on the slopes and relaxation therapies on offer in resort hotels.

Watch this ski gear.

Colourful goggle covers, skis that split in two for easy transport and vintage designs are what you can expect to see on the slopes this winter.

Retro ski clothing is big news with companies like Oosc producing highly retro one-piece ski suits – all from recycled plastic bottles. Oosc-clothing.com

4 FOR SNOW

Mammoth Mountain, Sierra Nevadas, California, USA. Mammoth in name, mammoth in nature - this ski station gets bombed with snow, over 600 inches of the stuff each season.

A favourite of legendary skier Glenn Plake, Mammoth’s season runs for a whopping nine months of the year so you can include it in a Californian road trip right through to July. mammothmountain.com visitcalifornia.com Furano, Japan. Or Japow as we like to call it.

Forget rugby, show us the pow! Furano features un-crowded pistes, mellow off-piste and is a short drive from the active volcano of Asahidake with a vast amount of un-groomed slopes.

Japan also offers skiers a wonderful cultural experience. Go to www. jnto.go.jp for more info or book an off-piste trip with skisafari.com Val d’isere, Espace Killy, France.

Val is regarded as snow-safe because 60

per cent of its 300km of pistes are above 2,500 metres. Due to its position on the Italian border, snow can also come from the south east which is a bonus. On snowy white-out days, head to Le Fornet ski area for better visibility on treelined runs. valdisere.com Obergurgl, Austria.

Obergurgl is arguably the most snow sure non-glacial resort in the Alps. Its north and north-west facing slopes means it gets to enjoy a long season but just in case, it also offers 100pc artificial snow cover.

Adrenalin fans will also enjoy the Motorbike Museum at Top Mountain, Europe’s highest. obergurgl.com

4 ALPINE RUNS

Grand Paradis, Champery, France.

This is one of our favourite slopes in the Alps. The longest run in the Portes du Soleil (10km), Ripaille-Grand Paradis offers up fantastic views of the Dents du Midi. Wide, groomed slopes at the start give way to rolling bumps

OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 15

SKI & SNOWBOARD 2019-20

44

Town and mountain

and a fast middle section before levelling out to a wonderful forest path and jagged peaks in the distance. www.regiondentsdumidi.ch Plateau Rosa to Valtournenche, Cervinia, Italy.

Stand-out ski runs don’t all have to be about big challenges and fear.

This 13km run is one of our all-time cruising favourites, offering a 2,000m descent. One of the best times to enjoy it is late in the day when most skiers have left the mountain. www.cervinia.it Sarenne, Alpe d’Huez, Isere region, France.

This 16km run starts at the top of the Pic Blanc but less advanced skiers can join it from lower down. It’s officially classed as a black run but can feel more like a red when conditions are good and a warning to snowboarders, the last few kilometres consist of a flat run-out. alpedhuez.com Streif, Kitzbuhel, Austria.

The legendary Hahnenkamm downhill race takes place on the Streif.

For most people, just standing at the top of this course is enough to produce sweaty palms and that’s without even seeing the 85 degree dropoff in the Mouse Trap section. It is possible to ski the course, leaving out the most technical and hair-raising sections. www.kitzbuehel.com

4 HIDEAWAYS

Castel di Sangro, Abruzzo, Italy.

Check into the wonderful Il Lavatoio hotel and explore the nearby family-friendly slopes of Roccaraso. The local food is excellent, Max’s bar in the town is a gem and you’re within driving distance of Naples for sightseeing or Rome for rugby matches. Il Lavatoio is a small familyrun hotel which features an 18th century restored wash house. www.skiabruzzo.com Arties, Val d’Aran, Catalan Pyrenees, Spain.

Seven kilometres from the ski resort of Baqueira Beret, this charming little village is home to the medieval Santa Maria church which boasts a 12th century baptismal font and other ancient artefacts. Hire a car or take the bus to ski Baqueira Beret each day and enjoy the restaurants and bars of Arties at night. www.visitarties.es Morgins, Switzerland.

Yes it’s linked to the massive Portes du Soleil ski area but Morgins is the epitome of village life so you have the best of both worlds. Take a taxi to nearby Chatel for

lively nightlife, live it up at the annual Rock the Pistes music festival in March or focus on village life with cannabis fondue (yes, we said cannabis) in Le Di.Vins restaurant and lovely accommodation at Chez Jan. www.portesdusoleil.com Maria Alm, Hochkonig, Austria.

Not only did it have some of the best snow in the Alps last winter, it’s home to one of our favourite new boltholes, Hotel Sepp, which we like for its rooftop swimming pool, Airstream sauna, living room vibe and balcony swings. Not too many Irish skiers know about Maria Alm which means you get to enjoy its slopes in peace. www.hochkonig.at

4 FOR FAMILIES

Drei Zinnen/Three Peaks Dolomites, Sud Tirol, Italy.

New to Crystal Ski’s programme this season, this family resort is on the Italian-Austrian border and consists of a handful of smaller villages. There’s 110km of slopes with another 100km at Kronplatz.

Children will love looking out for Italy’s only

reindeer herd on the slopes or feeding them at the Croda Rossa gondola lift. www.crystalski.ie www.dreizinnen.com Vallnord, Andorra.

Stay at the four star Princesa Park hotel which is very family-friendly and explore the blue and red slopes of Pal-Arinsal.

Prices are cheaper than many big-name Alpine resorts, there’s a new blue run to the mountain base and you’re a bus ride away from Caldea spa and shopping in Andorra La Vella. www.directski.com offers packages to the Princesa Park and Vallnord.

Les Gets, France.

Families will find lovely gentle skiing on the Chery slopes and lots more besides – husky dog sledge rides for kids age 2-12, Father Christmas visits during the festive season, pottery classes, electric snowmobile family rides and a new ‘La Bankids’ play area in the village complete with igloos, ice caves and mini north pole features. www.lesgets.com Murren, Jungfrau region, Switzerland.

Getting to this special mountain village is an adventure in itself involving trains and a cable car ride. Murren is a gorgeous car-free village which means it’s safe for your little ones (it’s common to see toddlers being pulled around in sleds).

Stay at the Eiger hotel and soak up snowy village life. www.murren.ch

FOR GROUPS

ACTIVITIES

Alpe d’Huez, Isere region, France.

Alpe D has terrain to suit all levels, live music in bars like The Underground, La Folie Douce après-ski on the mountain and for the big kids in your group, a brilliant alpine coaster in the Bergers sector which uses virtual reality to give you the roller coaster ride of your life. www.alpedhuez.com Pas de la Casa, Grandvalira, Andorra.

We recommend Pas de la Casa for younger groups in search of memorable night life, or should that be nightlife they won’t remember at all?! In Paddy’s Irish bar you can drink hanging upside down from a snowboard or skis – just as well they also serve a great comfort food menu. www.grandvalira.com Sauze d’Oulx, Milky Way, Italy.

Thankfully it’s nowhere near as boisterous as it was back in the ‘80s when it was nicknamed ‘Suzy Does It’ by English visitors but Sauze still offers a range of lively bars and restaurants with all-important affordable prices. On the mountain it’s easy for groups of varying ski ability to meet up for lunch. www.sauzedoulx.net Bad Hof Gastein, Gastein Valley, Austria.

The annual Today FM ski trip returned to Bad Hof last season, transforming this peaceful spa village into a week-long Irish festival. Around 700 people joined the trip and some of them even managed to survive the partying and ride the new Schlossalm Bahn lift. www.gastein.com

Fat e-biking on snow, Avoriaz, France.

You could do what most skiers do and head to La Folie Douce for apres or you could get away from all that and spend an hour whizzing around dedicated slopes on a fat e-bike. It’s easy to do and means you get to admire great sunset views on the mountain. www.avoriaz.com Ski Touring. Arctic Circle, Sweden. Most ski resorts now offer dedicated ski touring (skiing uphill with skins on the base of your skis) practice slopes but you could go all out for an Arctic ski touring adventure in the Swedish resort of Riksgransen, one of the world’s most northerly resorts and a base for seeing the Northern Lights. www.skisafari.com Festival fun, So many alpine festivals, so little time. The Altitude Comedy Festival returns to Mayrhofen in Austria, which also hosts Snowbombing music festival.

Alpe d’Huez will host Tomorrowland in mid March, Verbier is home to Polaris electro music festival in early December and Soll in the Ski Welt will host a new music festival in mid January.

Tasting the Alps. Many ski resorts focus on fine dining and as often as not, you’ll talk as much about the meals you had as the runs you skied. Our favourite eateries include Chalet Fiat and Rifugio Comici in the Italian Dolomites, Cafe Pepita in La Thuile (also Italy), Chez Pepe Nicolas in Les Menuires, France and 5 Jotas in Baqueira Beret, Catalunya.

OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 16

DESTINATION SKI

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elt. A skiing word. Welts on your shins where your boots were too tight. Welts on your shoulder. where you fell on that scary red, late in the evening, when the soft powder turned to sheet ice. Welts on your hand joints from carrying the skis too long when you took a wrong turning into the dead end and had to Sherpa up a steep slope.

When those welts are not enough, head to Austria. The ski welt is the country’s most extensive snow area. Why do so many of us bypass the sportwelt en route there?

Mainly because we have heard so little about the cluster of towns and resorts that constitute Sportwelt, Alpendorf, Eben, Flachauwinkl, Goldegg, Radstadt, Radstadt – Altenmarkt, Schwarzach im Pongau, St Johann im Pongau, St Veit im Pongau and Zauchensee, as unknown to the Irish market as if they were in Argentina.

Astonishingly, they are just one hour from Salzburg airport, with its services from five airlines, three from Dublin and one each from two Belfast airports.

The burning question after such high grade skiing is, how does a resort not have the same visibility as the better known resorts around it?

Far above the Welt

Eoghan Corry visits the sporty ski region of Salzburg

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Look down to Flachau, Salzburgerland, here are 35,000 the valley are St Johann guest beds in with its 11,000 inhabitthe valley in all, ants and 4,000 tourist seven access points to beds and Flachau, with the mountain with its in- its 2,800 inhabitants and tegrated 750km of slopes 10,000 beds. Flachau has on the ski pass (250km of a variety of intermediate slopes in Flachau region), and more challenging ofand six competing ski ferings, with lively apres schools offering a variety in bars such as Dampfkesof prices and options. sel, which has its own The beating hearts of booming base-boom an-

them. We went to dinner to the deliciously named woodworm restaurant, Holzwurm.

Bernhard Klieber brought us to the little

folk Museum In Atlmarkt, a converted barn which is used to host people taking refuge from the Advent market nearby.

The place gives a glimpse into mountain life, when skies were a commodity and used for transportation.

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

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

OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 17

DESTINATION SKI

F

lachauwinkl is a self contained area with the bars and ski rentals circling a snow ground where the pistes converge and from where the lifts depart.

It could, for all the world, be a market town in Tipperary or the beginners gathering point in Westendorf. It is a safe place for parents at war with shrug shouldered teenagers and precocious princesses.

The family slopes of Flachauwinkl have all the family slope accoutrement, over sized squirrels and rabbits gleaming in the sunshine and reflected white glare.

The show park is the pride of the resort, introduced by the owner in 1999 at the behest of his 15 year old son, Josef â&#x20AC;&#x153;Seppiâ&#x20AC;? Harml.

It was the first true recreational snow park in Austria, not designed for a specific snow event and dismantled afterwards.

Now Seppi runs the resort. He recalls how he and his father hand welded the rails and installed what has evolved

Peter Oberreiter of Flachau Tourism points the way to Flachau, Salzburgerland, into 100 features. renaliners at play.

Even if you cannot Maybe in another life, manage the jumps, it is one of the group comworthwhile taking a run mented. through the park and Which welt would you stand and watch the ad- prefer? I know mine.

Snow making by night, and Rudi Mooslechner of Fun & Pro Ski Hire,

& SNOWBOARD Award Winning Holidays RETURN FLIGHTS WITH

20KG BAGGAGE INCLUDED AS STANDARD

Catherine Murphy, Blathnait Ni Murchu, Alan Shortt, Eoghan Corry, Aileen Eglington, Geoff Hill and Jim Gallagher, Visit by Irish travel media to Flachauwinkl, Salzburgerland,

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OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 18

DESTINATION BULGARIA

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he ski slopes are not high octane. For this is Borovets, home to about 5,000 tourist beds, second largest and second smallest of Bulgaria’s three internationally known ski resorts.

The thrills, and there are many, are more likely to be found in the night spots.

Bulgaria does a lot of things really well. Ski schools are, arguably, the most important. By positioning itself as a reputable place to learn to ski, it has already carved out its niche, to excuse the pun.

That it has, with seven competing ski schools in Borovets alone and an avoidance of the monopoly position that ski schools hold down in bigger countries

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he second is price.

If Bulgaria’s rates are beatable, the competition will come from resorts with very poor infrastructure or higher air access fares.

There is a how-low surprise on every price card, through hotel prices, restaurant menus, cocktail lists, ski hire, ski passes and lessons. Private lessons, should you require them, do not come with the same value for quality ratio anywhere else.

The third we did not understand until we went

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Small town ski Eoghan Corry in Borovets in Bulgaria

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View form Yastrebets piste in Borovets there. The night life is uproarious. A tiny village with an effective triangle of small bars, restaurants and atmospheric hang out joint behaves like it is a large French Alpine or Colorado Rockies town, because maybe it thinks it is.

The charm is greater, not just because it is small, but because of its trees and its snow dusted tundra atop the Gondola ride. The resort’s beautiful woodland setting gives a degree of Alpine-style charm. Borovets is developing a reputation for those looking for a party on the slopes, without losing its appeal to families

he Hotel Rila, where we stayed, was one such family haven. There is a large blockish (and cool) swimming pool, where wannabe Hasselhoff’s can practice lengths, glass wall surrounds keeping them I touch with the snowy mountain outside, and a spa with suitably under priced treatments.

A large wooden fire serves as the centre piece for the bar area where guests gather before scattering into the streets around. Stepping out of the hotel is magical. The floodlit slopes are like a five month-long Christmas decoration and the trudge through the

snow is punctuated by the greetings of the restaurant men. After two night, in Borovets, you are on first names with everyone.

Which means that every bar has to get a visit. In such a place, the moderate karaoke singer’s work is never done. Krassy Bonchev, a musician who plays Irish music, was doing a terrific Shane McGowan when we arrived in one hostelry. Peter Miltov opened the Green King restaurant in 1991, in the first throes of the downfall of communism, and has seen the resort grow

from brutalist government monopoly to one of the most diverse on the slopes. Reps Nevy Petkova and Ivaylo “Romeo“ Valnarov lead clients of the Irish tour operator Travel Solutions on a Monday pub crawl through Funky’s., Gum Linn, BJs, Frankos, Black Tiger and the Buzz Bar. There are more than 20 others and another 20 restaurants for those who wish to explore.

Travel Solutions use seven hotels in the town and fly their customers from Dublin to Sofia, an hour and 15 minute transfer away.

his being Bulgaria, the lifts are slow, and prone to queues. A chairlift is where the beginners are, taking the blue or the red here can be risky in the early part of the week where many skiers do not know enough of what they are doing. Escape, thankfully, is easy.

A long, slow gondola rises over 1000m in 25 minutes to reach both the short, easy slopes of Markoudjik and the longer, steepish Yastrebets pistes.

The runs are best for good intermediates, and include some longish reds. There are two terrain parks, with lines for all levels. There is also 35km of cross-country, for those with enough energy and clear enough heads to suggest they were not bar-crawling the night before.

Artificial snow machines more than doubled from 75 to 160 last season and now cover over 60pc of the slopes.

Night skiing is also available, typically from 6-9pm.

B

ulgaria’s fourth advantage is least obvious of all.

The people.

It is one the flight home that you get to think about the welcome that a resort like Borovets can give.

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

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

OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 19

V

al Thorens started a s a corner of the table project,” Stephane Spettel, our tour guide told us, when he had tired of trying to improve the Irish technique with constant pleases of “small goalkeeper position.”

It was a corner of the mountain project, more like. Pierre Schnebelen, Joseph Fontanet, and friends went on a big offpiste freeride one day and picked the spot for their project.

Schnebelen had taken over running the lifts at Tignes in the 1960s. He saw how Tignes’ financial situation depended on summer skiing on the Grande Motte glacier.

Plans for the new les Menuires resort in the Belleville valley were struggling.

His idea to build another head of the valley resort at an impossibly high altitude was regarded as foolhardy.

He got his planning permission and funding and hiked up the hill of ambition. They built what was then the largest cable car in the world, the Cime Caron cable car which ascended to an altitude of 3,200 metres.

By 2004 Val Thorens had a Michelin Star as well. Gastronomy and altitude combined to change the package. Val Thorens nowadays has, in Bar 360 and the Folie Douce, two of the Alps’ best mountain slope bars (the ski down from 360 is much easier, down a green), and in town one of the best resort night clubs, Malaysia, the highest Irish bar in the world and in the Frog, Roastbeef and Saloon the liveliest après on offer.

DESTINATION SKI

High end, High Alps Eoghan Corry in Club Med Val Thorens

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Val Thorens distinctive wooden architecture ith the pistes among the highest rated snow playgrounds in Europe, how do you design a resort to match them?

Club Med opened their Val Thorens resort three years ago. It is a classic split level building, the transfer arriving at the ground floor, the main restaurant and ski rooms, counter-intuitively on the second floor, the specialty restaurant on the third floor and the communal bar and night spot on the fourth floor.

Life, during your Club Med stay, corkscrews up and down a spiral staircase as the snow flutters against the large windows.

Club Med have a reputation for keeping the party going and that is what happens each morning as the skiers venture out on to the slopes, thimble fulls of Génépi and a pounding techno beat to keep you moving.

Ski in ski out creates a foundation for the week’s experience. The

return at lunch time is an adventure, along the path through the tunnel to the courtyard of club med where there is mulled wine, dancers, and characters in furry costumes giving free hugs.

Even Stephane is infected by the music. “Ski with the techno beat,” he says, and then, when conditions change “this is for motor music.. al Thorens is a huge intermediate playground, one of the best intermediate resorts in Europe.

Runs are manageably wide and snow sure thanks to their altitude.

Those on the Cime Caron side of the face north.

The town has access to a varied 140km of local slopes, the Orelle Valley. considered the ‘fourth valley’ of the Three Valleys area, and via six passes to Méribel and the rest of the 600km of linked pistes that extend to the far end of Courchevel. Very little of the terrain is rated black, although there are some

V

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

challenging blacks from the Pointe de la Masse and down into the Orelle Valley.

A recently added blue run, the Orelle Valley is a great option if you’re looking to escape the busiest areas.

For beginners the slopes in the heart of the resort are easily navigated, with magic carpet lifts and gentle green runs. Some greens bring you to in the Deux Lacs and Cascades sectors and some of the blues immediately above the village are good for progression.

A downside, this is way above the tree line.

When it whites out, it is hard to find your way.

Our week gave us a taste of good visibility and bad, like the weather wanted to let us know.

I

s it worth the extra cost to go all inclusive? Club Med’s Clarisse Chapolard has no doubt.

When you count the cost of the extras in a resort like Val Thorens, Club Med starts looking like very good value for money, she says.

“Ski pass is included for the bigger area for four Trident resorts. Ski lessons are always included. For a basic Club Med resort the savings against a DIY holiday without the extras are €1,000 per person, and even more during peak periods” “If you compare it with DIY for families, Club Med is saving them money. Lessons are included and rental is not.

Rental costs around €100, compared with

out of resort. Just three of their resorts are not ski-in, ski-out. We have corporate rates Sunday until Thursday with fantastic routes.”

Val Thorens is three hours form Geneva and Lyon, and an hour and a half from Chambery.

There is a rail option of coming by train to Moûtiers and transfer up the mountain. A terrific way to get there.

VALFACTS

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

Des Manning of Manning Travel, Mark Clifford of O’Hanrahan Travel, Tanya Airey of Sunway, Philip Airey of Sunway, Clarisse Chapolard of Club Med, Martin Skelly of Navan Travel,

OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 20

IRELAND'S PREMIER SOURCE OF TRAVEL INFORMATION

DESTINATION ASIA

N

ever has Ireland enjoyed so many connections to so many Asian destinations, through Istanbul, Dubai.

Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

Hainan Airways briefly flew direct to Beijing and Shenzhen, and Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong. But even as the direct services are pulled, the indirect options are impressive.

Etihad have upgraded their service to a daily Dreamliner. Emirates are considering a third flight.

Qatar say they intend to increase the service to double daily, joining Emirates, Etihad and Turkish Airlines who already have double daily services.

Over 200,000 seats each were filled by Emirates and Etihad out of Dublin.

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 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-

Singapore

The visa for Vietnam is now easier than ever to acquire

Record visitors to Asia and more easterlies Asia one stop options becoming ever more accessible

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 best known from its Badaling celebrity

stop, a short trip from Beijing, but Juyongguan and Mutianyu are also easily accessible from the capital, now a direct flight from Dublin, while Jinshanling and Sumatai are well worth the extra time spent in transit getting there. Other signatures include Xian where the terracotta army as located, the Yangtse river and the soaring skyscrapers of Guangzhou.

Wendy Wu has made inroads into Ireland as a high end tour operators selling luxury tours through the country.

INDIA Irish visitor numbers to India rose 10.5pc to 36,440 in 2016 and has been growing since the launch of the e-visa facility which has now been extended to Irish customers. 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 has increased its promotions in the Irish market with a roadshow in September.

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 World cup

under way and Olympics to come, Japan is in the news. Urban and rural culture in equal measure, stunning landscapes, crowded cities and amazing food.

Visitors congregate at Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area, Hime-

IRELAND'S PREMIER SOURCE OF TRAVEL INFORMATION

OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 21

DESTINATION ASIA

ji-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 wildlife fanatics to the lush states of Sabah and Sarawak. At Sabah you

Phuket beach 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.

PHILIPPINES

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.

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

HAILAND SINGAPORE T Famous beaches can be 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-

found on two separated coastlines of what is easily the most popular Asian destination with the Irish. Who travel in numbers (68,736 in 2018 and 41,501 to July 2019, up 6pc) 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

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

go overland to Pattaya or by short flight to Koh 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 Thailand as a destination has earned the nickname Teflon Thailand.

VIETNAM

Sig-

nature 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 2019 PAGE 22

DESTINATION THAILAND

Sean Mannion reports from TTM Plus Thailand

Thai High T

Bophut Beach, Koh Samui, he flight from Suvarnabhumi to Samui island was short and transformational.

Not long after landing we were strolling pleasantly through Zazen Boutique Resort, a pastoral gem of shrubbery, arches and pools until it yielded up its biggest jewel, beach-side villas that when you opened your door your decking trail to the sea quickly

lost itself under Bophut beach’s sands.

Equally pleasant was our conversation into the night on fine food and hospitality with Zazen’s MD and Belgian Alexander Andries.

Our home for the subsequent two days was the Santburi Beach Resort, laden with facilities from a fully-equipped gym and Thai boxing ring, a spa and wellness centre that included tap-

ping (hammering) your back with a mallet and wooden ‘chisel’ should you care to subscribe to it. Swimming pools were plentiful in the villas and a large swimming lake to the back of the hotel.

Paving stones were naturally decorated by fallen orchid petals.

This large and luxurious resort required calling buggies due to its spread.

GROUND HANDLERS

n * X2 Pattaya Oceanphere - hosted our stay during TTM https://x2resorts. com/resorts/pattaya-oceanphere/ n Oasis Spa - discounted our spa treatment in Pattaya https://www. oasisspa.net/en/destination/pattaya/

n Blue Voyage Thailand - yacht charter company hosted our yacht trip in Pattaya to island hop https://bluevoyagethailand.com/destination/pattaya/

W

e bid goodbye to Samui island the following day and headed to Koh Phangan.

At Panviman Resort a very genial group general manager Surasak Tharapatn joined us as we were entertained by a special beach dance.

Panviman Resort is unique, it is set on the side of a mountain or so it appears for the most part and a journey on the buggy steeply uphill would bring Percy French to your mind: “Are you right there, Michael, are you right?”

The room design

sometimes uses the massive granite as your backing wall, something not vi-able in colder temperatures of the west of Ireland.

Rising damp would spring quickly to mind.

T

he luxury was all to fleeting. It was replaced by a slight suffering on a bicycle ride down through south Samui’s coastline.

Our leader was professional cyclist Bundit Boontan who, mercifully, stuck with the pace of the peleton until we finished at a coconut farm around

15km later.

Seeing a farm full of coconuts might remind rural Irish of hayshed load of turnips.

The humble coconut, which this farm processes around 60,000 a month, has a myriad of beneficial uses, from food and drink to cooking and cocktail ingredient. The husks are converted into charcoal for fuel, some regions use them for building houses and artists make a living cutting them into beautiful forms

W

e bid goodbye to Samui island the fol-

n Sean Mannion travelled to Thailand as a guest of the Tourism Authority of Thailand. He flew with Emirates via Dubai

Clockwise: Tim Podger gets waterborne, Beach dance on Koh Phangan , Fishermen, Chumphon Market , Kupu Kupu

OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 23

DESTINATION

THAILAND

lowing day and headed to Koh Phangan. At Panviman Resort a very genial group general manager Surasak Tharapatn joined us as we were entertained by a special beach dance performance.

Panviman Resort is unique, it is set on the side of a mountain or so it appears for the most part and a journey on the buggy steeply uphill would bring Percy French to your mind: “Are you right there, Michael, are you right?”

The room design sometimes uses the massive granite as your backing wall, something not viable in colder temperatures of the west of Ireland.

Rising damp would spring quickly to mind

T

he island-hopping continued on to Chumphon and the Novotel. The following day was for many the highlight of the trip, a day’s trip snorkelling over the coral reefs of Ngam Noi, Ngam Yai and Koh Ga-Loke. But before that came another wonder, the size of Chumphon’s fishing fleet which we passed on our way to open sea.

There had to be thousands of these wooden vessels moored along the banks. Sea fishery patrol boats were also moored there. Vessels who failed to meet regulations were

Ngam noi fishing boats painted in red and white stripes to prevent them stealing out to fish. Fishing is still a major industry for Thai communities.

O

ut in open sea and courtesy of Siam Catamaran and a group of divers we were soon floating over a world as spectacular and unearthly in its design as a mysterious planet full of aliens.

Beneath us rose both round-shaped crusted or sharp flake-like coral.

Swimming around were shoals of glittering metal-

Sean Mannion of Travel Extra, Supranee Pongpot of Thailand Tourism and Chiravadee Khunsub of Thailand Tourism

lic-coloured small fish.

There were scissortail sergeants in blue and white stripes. Their cous-

L

ins in zebra-like black and white followed us, curious.

We had waterproof

manuals attached to our wrists for identifying these critters.

Our marine life had no

such aid in working us out. A magical world in a quite magical country.

Thailand.

SPREADING TOURISM

uring the visitor to Thailand’s lesser-known provinces equally as rich in heritage, beauty and culture was the clarion call of the country’s most important B2B travel trade show, the Thailand Travel Mart Plus (TTM+) 2019, which was held at the Ocean Marina Yacht Club, Pattaya, June 5-7 last.

Under the theme of “New Shades of Emerging Destinations”, the TTM+ 2019 attracted a total participation of 351 buyers, 371 sellers, and around 130 international and domestic media.

In his speech to the international media Mr. Tanes Petsuwan, TAT Deputy Governor for Marketing Communications said the theme’s application was well in place.

“Right now, the emerging destinations have expanded to 55 cities offered to both the international and domestic markets. In 2018, we have seen 6 million trips by foreign tourists to these cities, a growth of +4.95 percent over the last year. The emerging cities will be optional destinations for those who seek off-the-beaten-path holidays and repeaters who are looking for new products.”

In a direct interview with Irish

media, Khun Supranee Pongpat, Executive Director for Europe, Africa & Middle East, stated that 2018 saw a slight increase of 0.09% to 69,074 Irish visitors.

Revenue generated from Irish visitors in 2018 totalled 4.5 billion baht. 0.6% down YOY. January – April 2019 has seen growth of 0.86% with Irish visitors generating 1.5 billion baht in revenue, a slight decline of 1%.

When questioned by Travel Extra about the environmental effect the expansion of tourism might have Khun Supranee Pongpat said TAT had been working closely with other government agencies inncluding the Department of National Parks to ensure Thailand’s natural resources are well taken care of. Ms Ponpat instanced the closure of the iconic Maya bay on Phi Phi island since 2018 as a sign of intent. “The closure has allowed local ecosystems to rejuvenate and experts to plant and replenish new coral. Maya Bay will remain closed until at least June 2021.”

When asked what infrastructure has been put in place to support the increased numbers of tourists Ms Pongpat pointed to the new

terminal at Phuket airport set to increase capacity to 20 million passengers per annum, talks of building a new airport north of Phuket itself at Phang Nga on the mainland and plans to build a new light rail system on the island itself to ease traffic congestion.

Leisure and social activities surrounding TTM+ included a welcome reception at Alexa Beach Club, Wednesday and a Centara Grand “Luau” themed party at the Centara Grand Mirage Pattaya, Thursday night. Tom Thrussel, VP of Brand Marketing and Digital spoke on the 555-roomed Mirage hotel’s family focus being consolidated with the development of the “Lost World” theme and children’s clubs. Room fees were 4000 baht with children under 12 free. Mr Jakub Piwowarski, GM of COSI Pattaya talked about serving the millennial-minded concerns on affordability and a full embrace of the latest technologies including the godsend universal power socket for gamesters and computer addicts. In a further submission to modern ways no restaurants feature but instead 24hour food availability, be it coke, crisps or pizza.

OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 24

DESTINATION ABU DHABI

D

riving around Abu Dhabi you get a feel sometimes for how the place once looked.

Think of the time someone didn’t put the top on the salt cellar. And it needed a zealous shake to get the damp bits out.

And some of it landed in the good ladies’ eye. And now she is crying. There you have it.

Glaring white, dense salty sand. Not the fine stuff of the Hollywood movies with camels and handsome men in head scarfs. Blinding, unforgiving and poisonous.

And, this being Abu Dhabi, about to be built on.

It seems to work like this. They build another bridge from island to island. The concrete gets poured. The sky scrapers follow with their air conditioning systems like keffiyehs. Architectural statements comfort each other, one building is

PLACES TO SEE

n Yas Waterworld Abu Dhabi n Yas Marina Circuit n Observation Deck at 300 n Yas Mall n Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital, Who knew you could actually mend birds’ feathers - all you need is a stick and a bit of glue

Old, traditional and new meet at White fort, Qasr Al Hosn, Abu Dhabi, June 29 2019

Luxury where camels roamed Eoghan Corry in fast changing Abu Dhabi

designed to simulate the sand dunes of the desert, another to simulate a biplane, another the hugal used to tie a camel. The leaning tower of Abu Dhabi leans at 18 degrees

(pisa is a mere four) The lavish Emirates Palace with its 114 domes.

The public art, the highways and overpasses, and the mosque, always one within walk-

ing distance, with its minarets crying ancient prayers, echoing into the steel. The prophet of profit and loss.

How can you turn

somewhere that barely existed the last time Kerry beat Dublin in an All Ireland final into a cultural icon? You can try to buy it, of course,

and some would say that is what Abu Dhabi has done. But is more than that.

T

he story of how one family turned this into the centre of the known world, a new Byzantium of air miles, duty free shopping and lounges, is a remarkable one.

Where to start? To find out how they turned the city around the airport into a place for tourists, romantic couples, curious retirees and those ubiquitous instagrammers? The white fort, which, we are told existed when there

Clockwise: Karen maloney at the great Mosque, Great Mosque, quhwa coffee ceremony with Amran Al Ghassani and Ahmed Ali Alshamri, photographing in the Great mosque and the new Louvre.

OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 25

DESTINATION ABU DHABI

was nothing else here.

The door has spikes in it, not to scare us, but to keep the elephants from resting against it. This made sense in India, from whence the door, or its design came, it makes none here.

Behind the white tower of the fort are the skyscrapers. What little history there is, is overwhelmed by things that were built in the past ten years.

T

he Grand Mosque gets 25,000 visitors a day. It is new, but the star of the show, as are the competitors in Dubai, Kuwait, Bahrain and Doha., It is like a trip to Spain and Italy at the height of the cathedral building boom, except these got finished in time.

Between the calls to prayer you can hear the broadcast of the call to prayer, and the prayers being recited over the grave of Sheikh Zayed, as used to happen with European emperors.

They brought some of the finest European

Anne Marshall tour guide, White fort, Qasr Al Hosn, Abu Dhabi, and Asian art here too, magnificently displayed in the modern New Louvre building, each piece a symphony, each storyboard a poem from another perspective. Europe’s achievements are celebrated, but it matters less in a culture that invented astronomy and algebra.

The Warner Brothers theme park is all indoors, not a bad idea when it

THINGS TO DO

n Abu Dhabi Heritage Village, craft-making and a Bedouin camp showcase life before the oil boom. n Louvre Abu Dhabi. Saadiyat Cultural District, Pass under the museum’s silver dome, its pattern resembling interwoven palm leaves. The artwork inside includes artifacts from the Louvre in Paris, Palace of Versailles, and Musée d’Orsay. Browse

is 46 degrees outside.

The water park is more wet and windy than wet and wild, but it is open, despite the heat. Ferrari opened their first theme park here, soaring heights and screaming descents with the white desert in each direction.

N

ear the white tower is the folk village, a Bunratty of the desert.

exhibits displayed chronologically from ancient times to the present, and check out the children’s museum, if you like. n Ferrari World, the original F1 theme park with roaring roller coasters n Liwa Desert Safari tour packages offer dune bashing, BBQ, Camel Ride & Sandboarding

Two thobed gentlemen, Amran Al Ghassani and Ahmed Ali Alshamri, tell us about how the discovery of oil, how the sheikh’s dream was to help his people and he decreed that every family should get a lactating camel from the largesse.

The palm trees stand testimony to a time when everything was made from the palm tree, various uses faithfully

showcased at the artisan centre.

And we partook in a mystical ceremony, quhwa al bon, the wine of the bean. Here it is known as gahwa. The muqahwi, master of ceremonies, holds the dallah in his left hand and small cups on his right. The sound is used to summon the neighbours when the coffee is ready. Gahwa was accorded UNESCO

world intangible cultural heritage status in 2015.

It is poured with religious reverence, and flavoured with cardamom and saffron, a reminder of the days before Starbucks conquered the world.

Coffee needs time.

The real stuff, not the overpriced stuff we consume without a ringing bell, blinding, unforgiving and poisonous.

n Eoghan Corry travelled to Abu Dhabi as a guest of Etihad on board the Dreamliner. Etihad fly to Abu Dhabi 11w

SAMPLE ITINERARY

n Day One: Arrive 20.20 on EY42 from Dublin, transfers to Saadiyat Rotana Resort & Villas, dine in Sim Sim Restaurant n Day Two: Innovation Centre., lunch Saadiyat Rotana within Si Ristorante Italiano & Bar,

n Day Three: Qasr Al Hosn Heritage Village, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Warner Bros. World, Yas Island, Dinner at Saadiyat Rotana – Turtle Bay Bar& Grill n Day Four: Fight EY41@ 09:45 to Dublin

Clockwise: Stuart Pierce and Karen Maloney of Etihad, Emirates Palace Hotel,, Indian door of White fort, Qasr Al Hosn, the spikes are designed to keep elephants form resting against the door, Emirates Palace Hotel and Warner Brothers Park

OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 26

AFLOAT CLIA have recruited a group of ten key

travel agents in Ireland who meet regularly to talk about how we, as an industry, can help grow the industry. Andy Harmer of the Cruise Line Industry Association says: “we have met a few times this summer. They will meet regularly to talk about how, as an industry, in the Irish market help travel agents to get confidence, education and engagement and all the stuff that helps us sell more cruises.”

VOYAGES to Antiquity -- the smallship line specialising in cultural cruises to Europe, Africa and Asia will cease trading at the end of next month following the cancellation of ten sailings this summer due to engine problems affecting the company’s sole ship, Aegean Odyssey.

SKY PRINCESS, the fourth ship

in Princess Cruises’ Royal Class of cruise ships, successfully completed sea trials near the Fincantieri Shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy.

Sky Princess will set sail on October 20 on its maiden week long Mediterranean and Adriatic cruise from Athens to Barcelona, and will sail a series of Mediterranean voyages before basing in Fort Lauderdale from December 1 for a season of Caribbean cruises.

NCL Kelly Clarkson will serve as god-

mother of Norwegian Cruise Line’s newest cruise ship, Norwegian Encore.

Helen Mirren christened Scenic Eclipse, a new luxury expedition vessel from Scenic, at Manhattan Cruise Terminal,

MSC Cruises will offer a full season of cruises departing Southampton in 2021 on the stretched and refurbished MSC Magnifica.

The cruise industry has pledged millions of dollars to aid relief and recovery efforts in the Bahamas, following Hurricane Dorian.

MSC Cruises is to include a stateroom adorned with Swarovski crystals within the luxurious MSC Yacht Club complex on new ship MSC Bellissima.

CUNARD musical production “Top

Hat” will play aboard Cunard ships Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria from this month.

DISNEY’s new cruise ship will be named Disney Wish, to set sail in January 2022. It will be the first of three new ships from Disney of 140,000 gross tons, with 1,250 cabins and fuelled by liquefied natural gas. Wish’s stern will feature beloved Disney character Rapunzel, Disney’s four existing ships feature stern characters Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy and Dumbo.

SILVERSEA Bookings are open for

Galapagos sailings by Silver Origin, Silversea’s newest ship, which will launch in July 2020. Silver Origin can accommodate 100 passengers per cruise and will include regionally inspired cuisine and informative lectures onboard.

SCENIC’s first ‘discovery yacht’, Scenic

Eclipse. maiden voyage is from Reykjavik in Iceland for a 13-day sailing, ending in Quebec.

The naming ceremony will take place in New York on September 10.

Royal Caribbean’s roadshow sets off

Royal roadshow

New head of sales arrives to launch blitz of agencies

M

artin MacKinnon spearheaded the annual Royal Caribbean roadshow, visiting travel agents throughout the island to promote the cruise line’s trade incentives and product.

Royal Caribbean International’s Ireland team are giving agents the chance to win a holiday for two to Royal Caribbean’s exclusive private island, Perfect Day at CocoCay. Now in its fifth consecutive year, the Ireland Roadshow saw Jennifer Callister, Head of Royal Caribbean in Ireland, alongside Michelle Ryan, Regional Sales Manager, and Holly Wilkinson, Account Executive take to the road for a four-day agency blitz, visiting 120 trade partners across the island of Ireland.

Starting off in Dublin, the trio travelled to Kilkenny, Belfast, Wexford and Sligo, and as far as Clonakilty, Bantry and Killarney, sharing information about offers for holidaymakers and initiatives for agents.

The focus for the 2019 agency blitz will be the amplification of

I

Royal Caribbean’s iconic Oasisclass ship Allure of the Seas which will receive a $165 million makeover ahead of sailing Western Mediterranean cruises from Barcelona, next summer.

Royal Caribbean say the refurbished Allure of the Seas will redefine family holidays in the Med next year, with all new features and activities including: the Ultimate Abyss, the tallest slide at sea; The Perfect Storm trio of waterslides, completely redesigned Adventure Ocean and teen spaces, the first Giovanni’s Italian Kitchen & Wine Bar, and Quantum Class original Music Hall which will take live music to the next level.

Other news concerned Perfect Day at CocoCay, Royal Caribbean’s private island in The Bahamas. Following a successful summer season at CocoCay, the cruise line has recently revealed new, 4-night itineraries that now tout two visits to the industry’s leading private island destination.

The Ireland team will share more in-

formation with trade partners on how guests sailing onboard Navigator and Mariner of the Seas, on select sailings can enjoy a double dose of adventure on the island or ultimate late-night island experiences, complete with extended hours on Perfect Day. Jennifer and her team will also be bringing trade partners more exciting information on Royal Caribbean’s all-inclusive drinks packages currently on offer on selected 2020 sailings. Guests can enjoy Deluxe Drinks Packages when they book an eligible stateroom on selected sailings before 30th September 2019.

What’s more, to celebrate the fifth year of the road trip, Irish agents will have the opportunity to win an extraordinary Royal Caribbean cruise for two*, including flights to Orlando or Miami with Aer Lingus.

Commenting on this year’s agency blitz, Jennifer Callister said, the agency blitz is an opportunity for us to meet agents face-to-face, show our appreciation for their support and inform them of upcoming offers.

BREXIT HITS FERRIES BOOKINGS

rish Ferries parent Irish Continental Group recorded revenue of €166.8m, up 6.1pc on 2018 H1. Cash earnings (EBITDA) before non-trading items were €30.0m compared to €26.1m Non-trading items before tax comprised

gains on disposal of vessels of €14.9m (2018: €13.7m). Profit before tax was €24.9m compared to €29.7m. in H1 2018.

The performance benefitted from the commencement of scheduled sailings of the €155m WB Yeats vessel in January. ICG re-

ported a 5.7pc decrease in the volume of cars on its ferries.

But the group reported increases in its roll-onroll-off freight, container shipping, and port lifts division. The planned suspension of fastcraft sailings in the off-peak season was

the primary reason for reduced tourism carrying in the period.

In addition, the proposed Brexit had some negative impact on British passenger bookings in the lead up to the proposed exit date of 29 March 2019.

OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 27

AFLOAT

ROYAL CARIBBEAN’s loyalty scheme for trade agents, Club Rewards is giving away five places to give away at the special event on Tuesday September 17th at Cliff House Hotel Ardmore to agents who send their favourite photos from their fifth or 50th birthday party, and tell why they should win.

The event is in celebration of Royal Caribbean’s 50th Birthday The full day event will consist of afternoon activities, Annual Trade Partner Awards and a Cocktail Party with evening entertainment. Entries to be submitted to RoyalTradeEvents@rccl.com before August 19. Winners will be announced August 23.

Marella Discovery 2

Marella goes east Dubai a base for TUI’s winter cruise programme

M

arella Cruises winter 2020 programme sees Marella Celebration return to Dubai, offering week-long “Arabia Awaits” sailings from the UAE; Marella Discovery and Marella Discovery 2 will switch, with Discovery spending the season in the Caribbean and Discovery 2 in South East Asia, sailing two-week “Flavours of the Far East” and “Wonders of the Far East” itineraries.

Explorer 2 will spend its second winter in the Caribbean, while Explorer will spend the season in Europe.

n Marella Celebration will sail two new itineraries from Limassol, Cyprus, and Dubrovnik, Croatia, while spending December 2020 to March 2021 in Dubai. n Marella Dream will sail out of Bridgetown, Barbados, from November 2020 until March 2021, then Palma, Majorca, in April 2021.

Marella Discovery will spend the season, from November 2020 through March 2021, offering sailings out of Montego Bay, Jamaica.

The ship’s new repositioning cruise is a 13-night itinerary from Malaga, Spain, calling at Turks and Caicos.

n Marella Discovery 2 will offer a mix of itineraries from Laem Chabang in Thailand and Langkawi in Malaysia. n Marella Explorer will sail out of Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, and Santa Cruz, Tenerife from November 2020 through March 2021, plus a new six-night “Magic of the Mediterranean” itinerary from Corfu. n Marella Explorer 2 will offer sailings out of Bridgetown, Barbados from November 2020 through March 2021, plus a new 14-night “Atlantic Explorer” itinerary from Malaga to Barbados.

ESTRID REPLACES STENA SUPERFAST NEXT YEAR

W

hen Stena Estrid, replaces Superfast X on Dublin Holyhead route in January, it may get a fifth rotation.

Currently there are four rotations on the route, which takes 3 hours 15 minutes with a two hour turnaround for the ship.

The new craft brings 50pc extra freight capacity, an enhanced passenger experience and considerable fuel savings.

Diane Pool says that fuel consideration will determine whether the extra rotation is added, as the journey team needs to be shortened

and possibly turnaround time. Turnaround times will likely be affected by the proposed Brexit of October 2019.

Stena are avoiding giving an exact launch date for the ferry on the route but Superfast X will remain on the route until it is ready.

HL TARGETS ENGLISH

H

apag-Lloyd’s luxury expedition ship, Hanseatic Inspiration, will take place at the Port of Hamburg on Friday, October 11, 2019.

The naming, which had previously been set two days later in the port of Antwerp, Belgium -- will

be attended by invited guests who will take in the naming ceremony from Zodiacs floating around the ship to reflect the ship’s expedition nature.

The 230-passenger ship is the second of three new expedition ships on order for Hapag-Lloyd and the

PRINCESS Cruises launched three guarantees to the trade: n ensure sales, guest services and contact centre teams, to be on hand for agents seven days a week via Princess call centre with online chat n to deliver profitable growth for its partners with additional incentives including free sailings, monetary rewards, gifts and experience days and n bring more agents on board to experience the brand during cruise calls to Ireland.

CARNIVAL Panorama successfully completed sea trials in the Adriatic after its construction in Marghera, Italy, and heads to its homeport in Long Beach, California.

ALLURE of the Seas will undergo a

58-day, $165m dry dock in late winter/early spring 2020 to install new top-deck amusements, including the Ultimate Abyss and trio of Perfect Storm water slides, a Music Hall, an expanded Giovanni’s concept and completely redesigned Adventure Ocean kids’ and teens’ spaces. This follows the news that Oasis of the Seas will undergo anidentical overhaul later

AURORA Expeditions has today an-

nounced the delivery of its newest ship, the Greg Mortimer. Named after Aurora Expeditions’ co-founder, the 104 metre ship is the first expedition vessel to feature the Ulstein X-Bow which allows for gentler sea crossings, improved comfort and reduced emissions.

CLIA’s president and CEO, Kelly

Craighead, and Dubrovnik’s mayor, Mato Frankovic, both signed a memorandum of understanding to manage the high volume of cruisers that visit every year.

Diane Poole of Stena

first of the trio to be dedicated both to the English and German-speaking markets year-round.

The first and third ships in this class, Hanseatic Nature and Hanseatic Spirit, offer voyages solely for German-speaking cruisers.

“Our ships may travel all

over the world, but Hamburg is and will remain our home port,” said Karl J. Pojer, CEO of HapagLloyd Cruises. “It is therefore a very special occasion for us to be naming the Hanseatic Inspiration against the backdrop of the Port of Hamburg.”

CARNIVAL are to add a Carnival Corporation to add a pier at Half Moon Cay Cruise Port. Carnival Vista has recently emerged from dry dock four days earlier than expected,

AMERICAN Harmony newest riverboat of American Cruise Lines, passed its sea trials and received its Coast Guard certification three weeks ahead of schedule.

AMAWaterways named its 23rd ship, the 156-passenger AmaMora, at a riverside ceremony in Lahnstein, Germany, in the heart of the Rhine Gorge. AmaWaterways president and co-founder Rudi Schreiner said AmaWaterways has four more ships in the pipeline, AmaWaterways earlier launched AmaMagna the 22nd river ship in its fleet. twice as wide as a typical river vessel, n Grein, Austria.

OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 28

THE FLYING COLUMN SHANNON Ray O’Driscoll has been appointed to the new position of Chief Operating Officer of Shannon Group, responsible for managing their property portfolio. Cork native O’Driscoll joined Shannon Group when it established in 2014 becoming Managing Director of Shannon Commercial Properties. Prior to that, he spent ten years as a Finance Director with Barry Group. The portfolio includes six business and technology parks amongst them the Shannon Free Zone and covers over 2m sq ft of building space and 1,500 acres of development land in Clare, Limerick, Tipperary and Kerry.

RYANAIR Chief People Officer, Eddie Wilson, succeeded Michael O’Leary as Chief Executive of the Irish-based airline, Ryanair DAC, on September 1.

EUROPEAN

governments have agreed to scrap restrictions on foreign airlines leasing aircraft and crews from US carriers under a deal reached with the EU, Iceland and Norway.

RYANAIR’s new 10,700m2, six-storey development will sit alongside Ryanair’s existing head office at Airside Business Park.

Eurowings has reduced Cologne-Dublin to summer season only.

WOW Air, the Icelandic budget airline which ceased trading earlier this year, is making a comeback and plans to resume Washington-Reykjavík flights in October.

EL AL daily service Dublin to Tel Aviv opened for reservation, subject to government approval. According to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, approx 11,300 Irish citizens visited Israel last year. n LY303 TLV1615 – 2015DUB 738 247 n LY304 DUB2130 – 0510+1TLV 738 247

RYANAIR ascribes a value of €99.6m to the slots acquired with Lauda.

A4E Airlines for Europe claimed the 2009

Airport Charges Directive does not tackle the risk of abuse of airport market power effectively, particularly for the largest EU airports.

The report finds that some airports can still “extract prices and terms that would otherwise not be achieved in a competitive market”.

FINNAIR is to discontinue its Helsinki – Chongqing, China,

AKO Holdings increased its stake in Ryanair from 4.04pc to 5.05pc. Capital Group reduced its stake from 4.09pc to 3.96pc.

AER LINGUS has moved forward

its A321neo LR Shannon – London service to mid-Feb 2020

VIRGIN Atlantic will begin its daily Heathrow-Sao Paulo flights on March 29 with B787-9. It has announced a new code-share partnership with GOL that will cover 37 destinations in Brazil.

NORWEGIAN Air is asking bond-

holders for up to two more years to pay back $380m of outstanding debt.

Happier times, Cathay Pacific Cabin crew Christine Wang and Winnie Phan with the airline’s Regional General Manager Europe, James Ginns and Dublin Airport Managing Director Vincent Harrison.

No-China syndrome Dublin loses Shenzhen, Beijing and Hong Kong

D

ublin is set to lose all three of its direct services to China over a short period.

Hainan Airlines China closed reservation for Shenzhen-Dublin route on August 30 2019 and Beijing to Dublin and Edinburgh from October 31 2019..

The Beijing service had been operating since May 2018 and Shenzhen since February 2020.

Shenzhen was a surprise, having been

announced suddenly and without extensive pre-publicity.

Cathay Pacific’s announcement comes after a period when the airline suffered the loss of four senior executives, including its CEO Rupert Hogg and chair John Slosar. All four senior roles in Cathay Pacific have been taken by staffers who held senior roles at Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company, Haeco Xiamen, which is also owned by the

publicly quoted Swire Group, which holds 45pc of Cathay. Qatar Airways owns another 10pc.

Days before the Dublin announcement, Cathay dropped its key JFK service.

Bloomberg, a financial news agency, said it was now inevitable that Air China would take over Cathay. The Dublin and Hong Kong non-stop flight will resume on 30th March 2020.

REVIEW FINDS PSO GETS LESS EXPENSIVE

A

Department of Transport Review of the Regional Airports Programme found that, as passenger numbers have increased, PSO subvention amounts per passenger and per seat have decreased over the duration of the current Programme.

Increased passenger numbers also mean higher revenue levels accruing to these services.

The review suggests that, if this trend continues, the subvention levels required to operate these services could be expected to decrease.

The review found

that the PSO delay rates and cancellation rates are both significantly below the maximum target performance levels set out in the PSO contracts and suggests that consideration should be given to reducing these thresholds in future PSO contracts.

Transport minister Shane Ross

BREXIT AVIATION DEAL RENEWED

B

ritish based airlines have been told they will still be able to operate flights between the Britain and the EU

until at least October next year after the European Commission extended the deadline in its unilateral contingency legislation.

Under previous legislation the deadline for this contingency was set for March 2020 This extension will now

allow customers to book their travel further in advance in the confidence that flight schedules will not be affected

OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 29

THE FLYING COLUMN

R

First in Europe

Ryanair tops Lufthansa with record August figures

yanair closed on 150m passengers a year when rolling annual passenger numbers reached 149.2m to end August.

Monthly passenger numbers for August grew 8pc to 14.9m. Of these 14.3m were Ryanair passengers and 0.6m Lauda.

Load factor was an industry record 97pc.

Ryanair figures for 2019 are running 4.6pc ahead of Lufthansa, Up to July Ryanair reported 87.4m passengers, Lufthansa 83.54m, IAG 67.88m, and AF/KLM 60.47m.

Ryanair is still planning to grow 3pc despite its Boeing 737MAX delays. Lufthansa Group is planning to reduce short haul capacity by 3pc.

Ryanair achieved its record month despite strike threats. In its recent results the airline said its business has been becoming more seasonal and more dependent on Q2.

RYANAIR The European Commission has found that the marketing agreements concluded between the local Association for the Promotion of Touristic and Economic Flows and Ryanair at the airport of Montpelier are illegal under EU State aid rules. Ryanair now has to return €8.5m of illegal State aid. The Commission is investigating further agreements at Frankfurt-Hahn and the Spanish airports of Reus and Girona.

SHANNON is the first airport in the country to take delivery of new High Reach Extendable Turret fire tenders. The two new fire vehicles were by Rosenbauer in Austria.

The new tenders reduce the risk to firefighters in aviation fires as they can extinguish flames by remote control from the cab. Shannon Airport has also recruited new firefighters after a process that saw applicants whittled down from 500 to 10.

High fliers: Kenny Jacobs, Lisa Cashin and new CEO Eddy Wilson

RYANAIR said it will increase its Maltese operation from 6 to 10 based aircraft over the next three years. Malta Air will also operate all the Ryanair French, German and Italian bases – 50 aircraft with 11 already in place.

Air Lease Corporation announced the up about 7pc. Revenue was up 11pc ALC delivery of one new Airbus A321-200neo LR to €2,312m, so average revenue per aircraft on long-term lease to Aer Lingus. This passenger was flat at €55.

Airbus aircraft, featuring CFM International LEAP-1A33 engines, is the first of eight A321RYANAIR MONTHLY PASSENGER NUMBERS SINCE 2014 200neo LRs scheduled to deliver to the airline through 2020 from ALC’s Airbus order book.

2018 2017 2019 2016 2015 2014 Dec 10.3m Dec 9.3m Dec 9m Dec 7.5m Dec 6.02m BELFAST City Airport signed an Nov 9.3m Nov 10.4m Nov 8.8m Nov 7.71m Nov 6.35m agreement with NI Department for InfraOct 13.1m Oct 11.8m Oct 10.9m Oct 9.68m Oct 8.4m structure which removes the seats for sale Sept 13.1m Sept 11.8m 10.8m 9.55m 8.5m Sep Sep Sept restriction and introduces new measures for Aug 12.7m Aug 14.9m Aug 13.8m Aug 11.5m Aug 10.4m Aug 9.4m controlling noise at the airport: July 13.1m July 12.6m July 14.8m Jul 11.3m Jul 10.14m Jul 9.1m n noise control contour June 11.8m June 14.2m June 12.6m Jun 10.6m Jun 9.5m Jun 8.3m n quota count system May 14.1m May 12.5m May 11.8m May 10.6m May 9.5m May 8.2m n departure noise limit April 13.5m April 12.3m Apr 11.3m 9.90m 9.0m 7.8m Apr Apr Apr n penalty system for late flights Mar 10.0m Mar 9.4m Mar 10.9m Mar 8.5m Mar 8.5m Mar 5.2m n approach descent approach landing aircraft.

Feb Feb 9.6m Feb 8.6m 8.2m Feb 7.4m Feb 7.4m Feb 4.5m n fixed electrical ground power aircraft stands Jan 9.3m Jan 10.3m Jan 8.77m Jan 7.48m Jan 7.48m Jan 4.6m n Noise Insulation Scheme offering funding Traffic for Q1 was 41.9m passengers, up 11pc, 1.7m on Lauda. The like for like Ryanair comparison was

for sound insulation to residential properties

AT LAST: FINGAL MOVES ON NOISE MONITORING

F

ingal County Council has appointed a noise regulator for Dublin Airport following months of scrutiny over the decision to hand responsibility to the council.

The Aircraft Noise Competent Authority

S

will work on issues around aircraft noise, aviation, environment and planning.

Gilbert Power, Director Water Services and Environment Department Fingal CC, was appointed as the Director of the Authority.

He said the body will be “adhering strictly” to its remit. He has led the Planning & Strategic Infrastructure Department for the past 8 years and led the development of the current County Development Plan.

2007-2015

AER LINGUS

submission on the 2019 Draft Determination on levels of airport charges at Dublin Airport supports the treatment of the US Preclearance charge as an airport charge within the price cap rather than an unregulated commercial revenue.

RYANAIR expects high fuel prices and overcapacity in Europe short-haul to lead to further airline failures this winter creating growth opportunities for Ryanair’s 4 airlines.

Runway at Dublin airport

STAR ALLIANCE GETS FACIAL

tar Alliance has signed an agreement to develop a biometric data-based identification platform.

Working with NEC Corporation, the airline alliance aims to introduce the first biometric solution at a Star Alliance airport hub

by the first quarter of 2020.

Once installed, passengers who opt-in will be able to pass through check-in desks, bag-drop,

lounges, and boarding gates, which traditionally require both a passport and boarding pass, using facial recognition technology.

RYANAIR redesignated its B737 MAX 200 as B737-8200, echoing references to the B737-8200 in the FAA Type Certificate

AER LINGUS CEO Sean Doyle said IAG results represented a solid performance in a challenging market. “We continue to focus on delivering further cost efficiencies for the business in order to improve our competitiveness. The challenges being experienced throughout the European Short Haul market underline the need for Aer Lingus to focus on improved competitiveness.”

OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 30

THE FLYING COLUMN AUSTIN-Bergstrom International Airport TX is eyeing financial incentives to entice airlines to launch non-stop flights from Austin to Hawaii and Dublin, and also six other intercontinental destinations, Amsterdam, Beijing,, Paris, Seoul, Shanghai, and Tokyo.

THOMPSON Aero Seating has launched a bid to construct a new £40m industrial park in Craigavon. The Portadown company, which employs 1,500 people, makes business-class seats for airlines such as Aer Lingus, Lufthansa and Delta. It was acquired by state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China three years ago.

RYANAIR announced its first ever flights from Georgia, the 39th country in its network, with a new route from Tbilisi to Milan Bergamo and two new routes from Kutaisi to Bologna and Marseille, starting in November as part of Ryanair’s Winter 2019 schedule.

DUBAI Work on Dubai’s new Al Maktoum airport, designed to be one of the world’s biggest with an annual capacity of more than 250m passengers, is on hold as Gulf Arab economies falter.

KENYA’s government says it will take

at least 21 months to take back full control of Kenya Airways, buying out minority shareholders, including the 7.8pc stake held by Air France-KLM, and converting shares held by banks into Treasury bonds

DERRY PSO subsidy has been extended and switched from Stansted to Southend Airport.

DUBLIN Airport’s Community Fund will reopen for applications on 01Sep.

SHANNON Rose Hynes’s tenure as chairwoman of Shannon Group, the State company that owns the mid-western airport, was extended for another year.

ETHIOPIAN Airlines cancelled its planned Addis Ababa-Lomé-Houston route, due to begin on December 15 with B787-8.

BUDAPEST Airport said the airport will soon introduce ‘BUD:Connects’, a new service to facilitate self-connection processes and cater for a “growing number” of individuals and groups purchasing two tickets across airlines SHANNON An Bord Pleanála has

turned down a planning application by Shannon Airport for refurbishment works on flood protection embankments.

LUTON airport is to get a frequent fast link with London as part of a £600m package of rail improvements.

RYANAIR Licensing authorities in Austria, Ireland and Poland have confirmed that there is no risk to the airline licences held by the Company’s subsidiaries Laudamotion, Ryanair DAC and Ryanair pursuant to EU Regulation No. 1008/2008. In addition, the Company’s subsidiary, Ryanair UK, secured a British AOC.

Dublin airport: just three new routes planned for 2020, already cancelled by losses of existing routes

J

Growth halted

Capacity slows Dublin routes expansion for 2020

ust three new routes, the delayed Montreal service from Aer Lingus, Marseilles 3w, from Ryanair and Tel Aviv daily from El Al, are planned for Dublin airport in 2020.

This compares with .24 new routes opened in 2019.

Existing airline schedules for Dublin in Winter 2019/20 indicate marginal growth of less than 1pc versus

the previous year. Moreover, 2020 is a leap year and adjusting for this results in flat capacity.

DAA says “this is a clear indication that the strong growth rates that have existed in Dublin Airport are waning.”

Slot constraints on the runway will continue until the opening of the new runway in Summer 2022, while the stand and terminal constraints will

CORK CRIES FOUL OVER LOWER DAA CHARGES

C

ork Airport’s Kevin Cullinane says the length of the airport’s main runway is not a barrier to growth, proposed reductions in passenger charges at Dublin airport are a bigger threat.

The warning from air-

port management comes amid criticism over the failure to deliver on the long-term plan to extend its main runway north by almost 250 metres.

Mr Cullinane said airport management have undertaken “multiple analyses of aircraft type”

that can successfully fly direct from Cork to the US east coast and Canada and the Norwegian service was “proof positive” that the airport can support long-haul services without a longer runway.

not be alleviated until 2024.

There are no slots available for a new daily Summer service between the hours of 06:00 to 19:59 or additional Aer Lingus or Ryanair based short-haul services. DAA say CAR has voted against some or all of the slot growth proposed by Dublin Airport in two out of the three Summer season’s to-date, summer 2017 and summer 2019.

Kevin Cullinane

CAR PROPOSE MORE MOVEMENTS

T

he Commission for Aviation Regulation draft decision on coordination parameters for the summer 2020 season at Dublin Airport plans to allow an aggregate increase of four movements.

It proposes to increase the total movement cap by 1 in the hours 0800, 1100, 1400, and 1500, and 1800 hours and reduce the total

movement cap by 1 in the 0700 hour, a net increase of four and to increase the departures limit by one in the 1400 hour.

Peak 2019 daily average taxi-out time is reported as 18 minutes, rising to 33 minutes at around 0730 UTC. Average taxi-in time was 8 minutes, rising to 13 minutes at around 1100.

The simulation carried out for 2020 capacity is estimates departure ground delays increased by no more than about 2.5 minutes the 1400 and 1600 hours.

The proposals are to implement demand-led adjustments to the runway limits, and roll forward the other limits from summer 2019.

At the Coordination Committee, DAA and United Airlines favoured the increases, Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines and Iberia Express did not vote and all other parties including IAA, Ryanair, Aer Lingus, Stobart Air,voted against.

Retaining terminal stand and referral limits attracted no opposition

OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 31

THE FLYING COLUMN GATWICK opened a new £24m arrivals facility for travellers from Ireland and airprots within britain, providing what it calls a faster and more convenient exit from the aircraft through a new dedicated arrivals route..

Passengers will now be able to disembark their aircraft from a jetty, or via aircraft steps and straight into the terminal building. A new dedicated baggage reclaim belt has also been installed freeing up capacity for international passengers.

DERRY Winter 2019/2020 Provisional

Michael O’Leary CEO of Ryanair, Thomas Reynaert CEO of Airlines4Europe, Christina Foerster CEO of Brussels Airlines, Willie Walsh CEO of IAG, Airlines4Europe media briefing in Brussels,

The green debate

A

A4E comes out fighting on aviation emissions

viation is being unfairly targetted by environmentalists, Europe’s largest airlines have said in a collective statement devlivered at their media day in brussels.A opress conference led by Michael O’leary and Willie walsh outlined the fact that airlines pay high taxes and are working to reduce fuel emissions.

Europe’s biggest airlines will pay more than €5bn in national environ-

mental taxes and other payments this year – funds which could have otherwise been dedicated to support the industry’s decarbonisation efforts This includes €590 million in expected payments to the EU’s ETS, (+59pc vs 2018) which airlines have been a part of since 2013. Aviation is currently the only transport sector which participates in the ETS. A4E airlines remain focused on positive solutions with a high po-

FLY LEASING NOW HAS 98 AIRCRAFT IN FLEET

F

ly Leasing Ltd reported it had 98 aircraft (42 A320 family, 3 A330, 2 A340, 42 N737NG, 2 B737 MAX, 1 B757F, 2 B777LRF and 4 B787) and seven CFM engines on lease to 45 airlines in 25 countries.

Of the 98 aircraft, 12 (5 A320 series and &

B737NG) were classified as held for sale.

The first of 21 committed A320neo family sale-leaseback aircraft is expected to deliver in Q4, followed by 9 more aircraft at each of 2020 and 2021, with the last two aircraft in this program expected in 2022.

It reported

n Net income of US$54.1m, $1.68 per share n Adjusted Net Income of $61.9m, $1.92 per share n Sold seven aircraft for an economic gain of $18.9m, a 10pc premium to book value n Purchased two aircraft for $60.9m.

A

cater for significant forecast passenger levels and offer contingency planning for the use of M50/M1 infrastructure.

The plan proposes additional long-term parking facilities expansion in the

FRANCE’s second largest airline Aigle Azur was put into receivership

UNIVERSAL Asset Management in Memphis appointed Seamus O’Donnell, exGECAS, ALPEX and Aer Lingus as SVP of Sales.

ETHIOPIAN Airlines will operate its Addis Ababa-Dublin services via Brussels tential to lower emissions levels, via Brussels instead of Madrid from October investing more than €169bn in en- 28, 3w with B787. It is not yet clear if it offer vironmentally-friendly technologies fights on the Brussels-Dublin sector. until 2030.

This includes the purchase of 800 NOISE Almost 4,000 complaints have fuel-efficient aircraft, which have al- been lodged over noise from Dublin Airport in ready reduced emissions by 24pc be- the first half of 2019. However, the DAA has tween 2005 and 2017[2], and €1bn revealed that 3,147 complaints were from one in the set up of innovative partner- person, which makes up around 82pc of the ships designed to fast-track the pro- grievances. The person, who lives in Ongar, duction of sustainable aviation fuels West Dublin, made an average of more than 17 complaints per day about noise from aircraft. in Europe.

Dublin Airport passenger profile 2018 shows increasing travel by skilled workers and the 50-65 age group. Two-thirds of transfer passengers are North American residents.

RYANAIR told investors that the Boeing 737MAX would return to service January 2020 at the earliest, pending approval

by European aviation safety regulator EASA. Delays in relaunching the 737 MAX will result in fewer aircraft being delivered to Ryanair in 2020 with the original target of 58 aircraft, now adjusted o 30. As a result, Ryanair reduced its projected passenger growth rate from 7pc to 3pc. Ryanair’s high-density 737 MAX configuration allows for 4pc more seats than its current 737s, and burns 16pc less fuel.

Colm Barrington of Fly leasing

CAR PARK ROAD LINK PROPOSED

western access route has been proposed for Dublin Airport from the M2/ N2 corridor The Draft Dublin Airport Local Area Plan 2020 to 2026 claims this would

Schedule as of 27/08/19. consists of n Loganair n GLA - 4 Weekly. (3x SF3, 1x ER4) n MAN - 5 Weekly. (ER4) n SEN - 13 Weekly. (ER4) n Ryanair n EDI - 5 Weekly. (738) n LPL - 4 Weekly. (738)

west,”regardless of where any possible future third terminal is provided.”

The Western Access would provide access to the car parks only, with the final leg of the trip, from the car parks to the

terminal building, being completed by shuttle bus.

It says this would improve public transport outcomes in terms of access to the Airport.

IAG Results for Quarter 2 reported Group capacity up 5.4pc, traffic up 6.6pc and a solid increase in operating profit in Q2 to €960m (14.2pc margin, down 0.4 pts). Aer Lingus margin was 18.4pc, down 1.6 points on last year. Employees was up 0.2pc, suppliers up 2.8pc, assets down 0.2pc, fuel up 12.4pc. Return on Invested Capital increased slightly to 15.6pc from 15.5pc, Aer Lingus was 24.4pc.

For the year 2019, planned capacity growth is now 5.0pc, compared to 5.3pc previously. Aer Lingus growth is expected to be 3.2pc in Q3 and 4.7pc in Q4.

OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 32

THE FLYING COLUMN RYANAIR added 167 flights a day to European airspace in July - the most of any airline according to figures from Eurocontrol.

ROUTES Las Vegas has been chosen

as the host and destination for the 27th World Routes Development Forum in 2021. The world’s largest commercial aviation event is scheduled to take place on 13 – 15th September 2021.

AEROMEDICAL The new aeromedical service operating from Rathcoole Aerodrome was launched by Tánaiste Simon Coveney. Additional resources of €250,000 have been made available to the National Ambulance Service to fund the additional manpower capacity required.

RYANAIR is planning a significant ex-

pansion in Poland in Summer 2020. It plans to increase the number of aircraft from 24 to 35, and open 27 new routes. This came a day after WizzAir announced adding 15 new routes in Poland and 4 more planes.

RYANAIR routes to be cut from January include: n Arrecife: Berlin–Schönefeld, Knock, Newcastle, Valencia. n Faro: Berlin–Schönefeld, Bremen, Bristol, Weeze. n Las Palmas: Bologna, Charleroi, Eindhoven, Hamburg, Oslo–Sandefjord, Stockholm– Skavsta, Treviso. n Tenerife South: Barcelona, Belfast, Cardiff, Cologne, Copenhagen, Eindhoven, Knock, n Liverpool, Milan–Bergamo, Milan– Malpensa, Newcastle, Porto, Santander, Santiago de Compostela, Treviso, Valencia, Vitoria.

RYANAIR Group aims to use its Buzz Poland subsidiary to operate charters from the Canary Islands to avoid wage increases in Spain.

DELAYS The average delay per flight departure in July19 in the Eurocontrol area was 17.3 minutes, down 3.7 minutes on July 2018.

For flight arrivals, the average delay was 16 minutes, down 3.2 minutes.

RYANAIR said that 93pc of its flights arrived on time (within 15 minutes), compared to 89pc in Aug18. It claimed that air traffic control staff shortages delayed 18,785 Ryanair flights in August the highest amount in any single month so far this year.

NORDIC Aviation Capital Limerick reported another record year and announced its 23rd consecutive year of increased profit AER LINGUS

passenger numbers are up 1pc to 1.24m in August19. RPKs were up 3.4pc and passenger load factor was 88.4pc, up 0.4 points. Cargo (RTK) was unchanged.

For IAG as a whole, passenger numbers were up 4.4pc to 11.9m.

CAR has appointed consultants Centrus

(Dublin & London) to examine how the capital programme to expand Dublin Airport can be financed if the CSR proceeds with its proposal to cut maximum passenger charges.

Refuelling beside the original Dublin airport: airlines say infrastructure is inadequate.

Underpass woes New location required for west apron underpass

A

er Lingus says Dublin airport needs to find an alternative location for the west apron underpass which is currently proposed by DAA for Pier 3.

The point was raised among 37 submissions on the 2019 draft determination on the maximum levels of airport charges at Dublin Airport published by the Commission for Aviation Regulation.

Aer Lingus notes that US CBP operations will continue to grow to over 50 daily departures over the

five-year regulatory period.

Thee Helios model assumed these to have been almost wholly confined to piers 4 and 5.

Aer Lingus says this assumption undermines efficient hub operations and is clear that US CBP departures will also need to operate from Pier 3 and remotely.

Aer Lingus believes that further independent analysis is required to determine the appropriate location of the West Apron underpass.

Aer Lingus requests that the CAR engages external expertise to review the issue of financeability.

It is disappointing that only one potential runway mix plan was considered in the modelling and the report has solely modelled the DAA preferred operating model.

The single operating mode modelled, mixed mode between 0600 and 0800 and segregated the remainder of the day, disproportionally increases taxi times for airlines utilising Piers 4 or 5.

HEADLINE HEADLINE HEADLINE HEADLINE

T

he annual IAA Annual Safety Performance Review 2018 records that there are 884 aircraft on the Irish aircraft register between the Irish lease fleet and the Irish AOC holders, engaged in CAT operations on De-

cember 31st 2018.

This is the largest number of aircraft in this category over the fiveyear period considered.

Eight of these aircraft are operated under recently developed Part-NCC regulations (non-commercial oper-

ations with complex aircraft) for private business jet activities and although such operations are not commercial, they are included within this section, as they are subject to similar risk exposure as commercial operators..

Peter Kearney fo the IAA

DATALEX SEEKS CASH AFTER LOSS

D

atalex is to raise more cash to keep it afloat and is taking legal advice on whether it should take action against former executives in relation to the 2018 dividend payment made by the group.

Datalex said it will need a further US$10m of funding over the next 12 months in order to ensure it’s able to stay in business.

Financier Dermot Desmond has agreed to participate in the funding round,.

As part of the $10m

funding Datalex needs, Mr Desmond will procure $5.5m to enable the group to continue trading over the remainder to the current calendar year.

Datalex made a $50m loss after tax in 2018.The auditors (EY) say “we

were unable to determine the nature, timing, and extent of any adjustments which might have been found necessary in order for the Group and Company’s financial statements to present a true and fair view,”

CORK

1st April 2020 The Imperial Hotel

DUBLIN

76 South Mall, T12 A2YT

EXHIBITOR PROFILE • Health Resorts & Spas

• Airports

• International Hotels/Resorts

• Attraction Tickets

• Insurance

• Bed Banks

• Media

• Car Rental

• National/Regional Tourist Organisations

• Destination Marketing • Ferries • Financial Services including Credit Cards

Hotel Riu Plaza The Gresham 23 O’Connell Street Upper, D01 C3W7

VISITOR PROFILE

• Airlines

• Cruise Companies

2nd April 2020

• Technology and Communications Companies • Theme & Leisure Parks

Travel Agent Proprietors, Managers and Frontline Travel Professionals.

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

FREE EXHIBITOR & VISITOR CAR PARKING

• Ticketing Agents

• Golf Resorts and Related Services

• Trade Associations

• Ground Handling

• Tour Operators

• Travel Agents

BOOK YOUR STAND NOW!

ORGANISERS

CONTACTS

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

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

www.irishtraveltradeshow.com 126311 TRADE SHOW SEPTEMBER 2019_V2.indd 1

02/08/2019 13:10

OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 34

GLOBAL VILLAGE

Inside the Travel Business

THAILAND Expert teamed up with Qatar Airways to offer agents the chance to win a holiday to Thailand for two. Agents who complete the Thailand expert training course modules and make a booking on Qatar Airways to Thailand to enter. A Qatar Airways economy booking will be entered into the competition. Make a business class booking and agents will be entered five times.

WORLDCHOICE

Ireland will be launching a 3 night fam trip together with Croatia Airlines & Zagreb Tourist Board from the 5th – 8th December of this year. Worldchoice agents who make a Croatia Airlines booking between September 1st and November 15 inclusive can win a chance to sample the excellent product and services provided by Croatia Airlines as well as experiencing all that Zagreb has to offer.

CELTIC Horizon Tours David Buckley celebrated 21 years in business at and event in Leixlip. Celtic Horizon Tours are a family owned and operated travel company with owner David Buckley at its helm. They began their operation from Celbridge, Co. Kildare in 1998 selling Sports tours including premier and championship league, La Liga, Horse racing, F1 and more. In 2005, due to a steady growth in business they moved to a larger premises at the Maynooth Business Campus, located just off the M4 and currently have 10 employees.

Now in its 21st year of business Celtic Horizon Tours has expanded its portfolio of product offerings to include group travel to the UK for schools, social clubs, and soccer clubs and of course their ever popular Soaps Tours and Christmas Shopping trips. They are also very well known for providing superb guided Motorcycle tours to the UK, Europe and the USA, often guided by David himself a highly qualified and keen motorcycle enthusiast.

Over the past 3 years CHT has changed its business model bringing in performing arts groups and organisations to Ireland to perform at spectacular venues and festivals.

CSO figures support a steady growth in travel from Ireland, citing a 7.3pc increase in overseas travel from January – July 2019 compared to the same period last year.

EXPLORE launched three family trips for 2020, Cappadocia and Turkish coast adventure, Peru in depth and Costa Rica highlights.

CLAIMS The ITAA have written to the Law Society complaining about a solicitor who is inviting claims from holiday makers who have been injured on holiday so they can open proceedings against travel agents.

TIGRE WEB Greyce Inacio of Club Travel won pair of return tickets to any long-haul destination on the Air France KLM Network in their incentive for group bookings made through the online group tool Tigre Web on AgentConnect.biz.

SKAL Dublin’s 2019 calendar is: October 8th. Herbert Park Hotel Nov 12th. Guinness Storehouse, Dec 10th. President’s Lunch, Fitzpatrick’s Castle Hotel Meet 12.00 Noon.

ITAA CEO Pat Dawson, Commissioner Cathy Mannion, and ITAA president John Spollen

The IATA model

Does the TPF have to be replenished immediately?

I

rish travel agents have turned their attention on the Traveller Protection Fund, asking why there is a need to top up the fund?

They are proposing a version of the method adopted by IATA t”o evaluate travel companies worldwide and is accepted as working most effectively.”

In order to set an acceptable Bond level, they re suggesting that CAR work with the ITAA to discuss and define the criteria for increasing a bond and to do this in the same way as IATA did with the airlines and travel trade.

The result of this will be that those high-risk firms would have a higher bond level appropriate to their risk and avoid any potential call on the Traveller Protection Fund.

The suggestion is in response to Europe Economics’ proposal that the TPF be increased to €5.2m to withstand two large collapses in the same year, a levy of €1,200 per million on top of the existing bond.

The ITAA says this is totally unjustified .

Arguments made to the Commission claim that CAR can now assess the potential risk of a company failing more quickly than in the past.

In a submission to the Commission of Aviation regulation, travel agent Tom Randles argues:

n Would it not be more prudent for CAR to adjust the applicable individual bond levels if they deemed a company as high risk depending on certain agreed criteria? n The Traveller Protection Fund which currently stands at €1.3m has been largely depleted by the collapse of Lowcostholidays where a total of €3.26m had to be paid out of the TPF to the 4,200 customers who lodged claims. Lowcost holidays were just bonded for €79,243 at the time. n The Commission were entirely responsible for reviewing and licensing Lowcost holidays and failed completely to adequately protect the Taxpayer and now the Travel Trade and travelling public are been asked to pay for the Commission’s failures by way of topping up the fund. n Since the collapse of Lowcost holidays, CAR is to be commended for more actively monitoring Travel Agents/Tour Operators by requesting monthly/quarterly figures. This has resulted in a better understanding of the risk of a travel company failing. n Per CAR’s figures, between 6070pc of failures have been within the bond level and if we exclude Lowcost holidays, any failures since 2010 have all been under or just at the applicable bond level. n Excluding Lowcostholidays, we must go back to 2010 to find where

the bond level was exceeded, and this was just for one company. n The majority of failures occurred in 2009 which was as a result of Ireland’s economy crashing. The lessons learned and with more regulations now in place on banks has resulted in a more stable economy and the level of failures has dropped dramatically. n This along with the recent more effective monitoring of travel firms by CAR does not warrant the TPF to be increased whatsoever.

Pat Dawson, CEO of the ITAA said; “CAR’s argument that they expect the costs incurred by the introduction of a levy to be passed on the public is unsubstantiated.

“Our experience in the travel industry is that firms will only pass a charge where it is reasonable and that the public are prepared to pay, any potential extra charge will lead to (as CAR agrees) to more people moving away from packaged travel to self-organised travel and this puts the viability of smaller firms at risk with the knock on effect of job losses.”

“So far, the Commission have received 46 submissions on the bonding system and nothing has changed,” Dawson said.

Travel agents are currently bonded for €1.3bn and tour operators for €180k.

OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 35

Inside the Travel Business

GLOBAL VILLAGE EMIRATES Holidays, which recently launched to the trade in Ireland, is recruiting for a sales & commercial executive on a one year fixed term rolling contract. The successful candidate will be part of the commercial team driving results for Emirates Holidays within Ireland through both trade partners and direct channels. This role will be home based but with regular visits to our key trade partners across Ireland.

AER LINGUS

corporate help desk is now being routed through to the Philippines.

Agents have raised concerns about average wait times.

Rubén Lopez Director of the Spanish Tourist Board office in Dublin

Ruben arrives

New director of the Spanish Tourist Board in Dublin

T

he new director of the office of the Spanish Tourist Board in Dublin says that he is looking forward to promoting his country here and raising his family in Dublin.

“I am a village person,” Rubén Lopez says. “I come from a small town, and I feel that gives me a special understanding of Irish culture.”

“Ireland and Spain are complementary. Ireland is a wonderful country, full of nature. The things you do not have in Ireland, we have in Spain. There are many reasons for Spanish people to come to Ireland, to such a friendly place. And there are many reasons for Irish people to go to Spain. We are two of a kind.

“This will be exciting for my family, too. I have two boys 6 and 8.

When you spend part of your childhood here you become Irish in a way.

When you have moved to a country for a time you take something back with you. They will be half Spanish and half Irish, which will be very exciting.”

Ruben was born in Aranjuez in 1978. His career specialising in transport and communications as well as tourism included spells as Deputy Director General for Tourism and head of global marketing at Tourspain, Director of Communications of the Spanish Aid Agency, author of a book on ship hydrostatics and

stability and jury member of the San Sebastián International Film Festival and the ASEAN film festival in Manila.

He worked for the United Nations for many years, at also the International Maritime Organisation and FAO. His background is in transport and shipping, with naval architecture and philosophy degrees and. a Master of Arts in strategic communications and international relations.

He is also an accomplished diver.

Spain is Ireland’s most popular outbound destination with over 2m visits in 2018. Dublin has 271 summer flights a week to 19 Spanish cities.

ECTAA SECRETARY FOR CORDOBA

E

ric Drésin, the secretary general of the European Travel Agents’ and Tour Operators’ Association is the latest to join the line up at the Irish Travel Agents Association conference in Cordoba, on October 18 ECTAA was founded in 1961 at Bad Kreuznach

(Federal Republic of Germany) by the national associations of travel agents and tour operators of the 6 founding Member States of the Common Market.

Other national associations joined ECTAA with the successive enlargements of the European Union.

ITAA CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

THURSDAY Golf FRIDAY ITAA conference/ Dinner at the Bodega de Sociedad de Plateros de Cordoba.

SATURDAY Viana Palace and patios walking tout

Mercado Victoria Banos arabes Alma de Cordoba mosque visit Gala dinner at Cordoba palace and convention centre SUNDAY Departure for airport or Post fam tour

HK TO THOMAS COOK’S RESCUE

T

homas Cook Group said has agreed the main terms of a rescue package that will see Hong Kong’s Fosun Tourism take over its tour operations and creditor banks

and bondholders acquire its airline. Fosun - whose Chinese parent owns all-inclusive holiday firm Club Med - will contribute £450m of new money in return for at least 75pc of

the tour operator business and 25pc of the group’s airline.

Thomas Cook’s lending banks and bondholders will stump up a further £450m and convert their

existing debt to equity, giving them in total about 75pc of the airline and up to 25pc in the tour operator business, the group said.

TRAVEL CENTRES will be returning to the recently refurbished Killashee Hotel for their 15th annual conference on November 8th and 9th with a yet-unnamed keynote speaker for Friday afternoon and Royal Caribbean as headline sponsor.

TRAVELPORT appointed Alistair

Rodger as Global Vice President, Agency Sales Europe and Phil Donnelly as new Chief People Officer based in Travelport’s global headquarters in Langley, Berkshire, England.

STUBA has added 900 hotels to its English and Scottish portfolio in destinations such as London, Aberdeen, St Ives and Yarmouth

USIT Oliver Rynne is heading up the USIT travel operation following the departure of Dearbhla O’Brien to WTC.

TRAVELPORT signed a landmark 10-year deal with Edwardian Hotels London

AMADEUS Content from 16 airlines, such as Finnair and Qantas, have been integrated into the backend, TRAVEL TRADE SHOW

The ITAA’s Irish Travel Trade Show will double up in 2020 with an exhibition in Cork on Tuesday, April 1 and a new Dublin venue, the Gresham Hotel on O’Connell St on Wednesday, April 2. Business Exhibitions says that the Dublin show will totally revamped as a result of consultation with exhibitors. Pat Dawson, CEO of the ITAA, said, “the Munster trade found it difficult to attend the Dublin show. With this in mind, we have decided to bring the show to them to save time.”

TOBAGO Tourism Agency, represent5ed in Ireland by Clem Walshe hosted key travel agents media to publicised eco-tourism initiatives to promote Tobago’s green credentials and international appeal. n Tobago Tourism Greening Initiative focusing on the amalgamation of several initiatives aimed at environmental sustainability. n Phasing Out of Styrofoam Cups. n Introducing Green Key Programme n Blue Flag certification for clean, safe, environmentally responsible beaches, marinas and sustainable boat tour operators.

In Tobago, the process has started for two beaches working towards Blue Flag certification, Pigeon Point Heritage Park and Store Bay. This process will be on going for approximately three years.

OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 36

WINDOW SEAT Last month in numbers

$100bn Value of Boeing sales worldwide.

149.2m Number of passengers carried by Ryanair in the twelve months to August.

33.4m Number of

passengers to pass through Dublin airport this year if +6pc trend continues

14.9m Number of passengers carried by Ryanair in August, a record 1,278,167 Number of

visitors from Ireland to Spain in the seven months to June, up 5pc.

10,000 Number of

Irish passengers affected

by British Airways pilots strike.

18 Number of aircraft delivered by Boeing in August, down from 481 last year.

0 Number of Ryanair flights which were cancelled as a result of the British pilots union strike.

I

FOOTSTEPPING LIT-LOITERERS

n an upbeat preface, Peter Fiennes sets out his hopes for this book.

He wants to use a series of journeys undertaken by writers from Wilkie Collins to Boswell and Johnson as the blueprint for his own travels (at a stretch, his first “companion”, Enid Blyton, doesn’t really journey anywhere, but leads to the recreation of a childhood in the Isle of Purbeck).

Along the way he passes from one author to the next “like a baton in a relay”. Fiennes appears genuinely fond of the writers whose footsteps he follows, illuminating his reflections on English life with

Footnotes: A Journey Round Britain by Peter Fiennes published by Oneworld

well-chosen snatches of literary biography, quotations and some glorious passages of natural history.

His Britain nuanced and temporally layered, attempting to show how the country and its writers have lived in deep and fruitful symbiosis over the 800 years from the earliest writer Fiennes invokes, the notoriously anti-Irish Gerald of Wales in the 12th century, to the present.

His most regular companions, predictably are Collins, Charles Dickens, Beryl Bainbridge and JB Priestley. He intrudes on the

story himself, being butted by a wolfhound in a Welsh forest, on a hungover tour of the Cadbury’s chocolate factory, or creeping nervously along the cliffs down to Tintagel Castle “hanging on to the fence with sweaty hands”, Fiennes is brilliantly self-deprecating, The book finishes with to the ‘endless process of construction and destruction’ that Beryl Bainbridge witnessed He hopes that this will help “to bring modern Britain into focus”, in these “restless times”. Some hope.

Ciara Mooney’s French favourites: Perpignan and Collioure

Busman’s holiday: Ciara Mooney

Every month we ask a leading travel professional to write about their personal holiday experience. This month: Ciara Mooney of Freedom Travel.

Perpignan enchanted me. It was a last minute trip, booked on Saturday, and I flew out first thing on Sunday morning with Aer Lingus.

The flight times are perfect to make the most of the day. You arrive at about 9.30 and the beauty of Perpignan is

I

the airport is only 10 minutes from the city centre.

The city of Perpignan has the remains of the tower that is beautifully lit up at night. There is a canal which runs through the centre separating the old part of the town from the new, where you will find a small selection of high street shops.

The empty cobbled streets of Perpignan’s old town are deserted on a

Sunday so I headed to the beach which stretches on for miles and is dotted with beach bars, I stopped by La Cala for a gin and tonic watching the ocean. It was idyllic.

Break out to the beautiful town of Collioure. It is very easy to get to on the train which goes every 20-30 minutes and takes 20 minutes to get there.

There you will find beautiful pastel coloured houses and the bell tower in the centre which used to act as a lighthouse and the dynamic Fort Saint Elme.

There are lovely areas to sit with a coffee and people watch, I would rec-

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

t sounds like a super jumbo of an existential crisis.

Boeing disclosed delivered just 18 airliners in August, bringing the total to 276 planes in the first eight months of the year, compared with 481 in the same period last year. Max deliveries have been halted since March.

It is not just Boeing that is ailing. Ryanair’s growth plans are hanging by a regulatory tread.

With 135 maxes on order, Finan-

cial journals unapologetically used Michael O’Leary’s swear word when he told Boeing to “get their shit together”.

Gus Kelly over at Aercap has 100 on order. Domhnall Slattery at Avolon has 148, Outside of North American and Asia, Ireland is most exposed to Boeing woes.

Boeing has said it expects FAA approval in the fourth quarter.

US airlines do not expect to use the plane until at least December,

and the wait could be longer in other countries because of signs that international regulators will take a slower approach than the FAA. Disunity looms too.

The US Transport department is being advised by a review panel that includes international regulators and by a special committee, but the FAA would not wait for those reports before deciding whether to approve the Max for flight, Not time to fly yet.

ommend a visit to the market which is housed in the most eloquent building.

Take the train to Carcassonne. Stroll up to the castle on the other side of the river, along the little cobbled streets thronged with tourist bustling about in and out of the quaint little shops selling handmade items. It is like walking into a fairy-tale, ivy growing up the walls of the beautiful 5* Hotel De La Cite There is so much that his part of France offers and it really took me by surprise. It is a beach destination a city break and a journey of discovery with so many places being so accessible.

IN YOUR NEXT TRAVEL EXTRA: Available to Travel Agents or online October 12 2019

CRUISE ISSUE Royal MSC Princess NCL BATTLE FOR CUSTOMERS

OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 37

MEETINGâ&#x20AC;&#x2C6;PLACE

reerica and Michael Wa Alex Kane of Tour Am rs at Las Vegas roadpte ham of Papillon helico Hotel, on show in Dublin, Morris

Karen Maloney of Etiha d guide, Sheikh Zayed Gr and Anne Marshall tour and Mosque, June 29 2019

cchi , Aoife Reidy and Emer Peel, Filippo Ro , Emirates event at the Merle Seller of Emirates Irish Open in Lahinch,

William Tervo of Westg ate Resorts and Godfr ey Lydon of Club Travel, La owners/managers, Me s Vegas CVA event for rrion hotel, Dublin,

urs, Warr of Wendy Wu To John Booty and John ch, hin La in en Irish Op Emirates event at the

Louise Finnegan of To uri Brannigan and Aoife Fe sm Ireland with Terence e event at the 148th British of TourismNI TourismNI Open in Portrush,

Out and about with the Travel Trade

Carol Anne Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Neill of Clare Dunne of The Travel Broker and Paula World Jen ny Rafter of Aer Lingu choice Ireland and Coughlan of Dawson Travel, Visit California event s, TIGSevent at Beaverstown, at the Alex

Fiona Cunningham, John McGrillen, Aine Kearney and Andrew Kennedy, Andrew Kennedy of TourismNI, Pictured at the 148th British Open

Christine Glynn and Laura Egan Magriguez of Visit Santa Cruz , Visit California event at the Alex

el wedding chapel and Ed Brandon Reed of Bliss Vegas roadshow in s Ward of Best4travel, La tel, Ho on rris Mo , Dublin

Kristin Skinner of Ameri can Holidays and Sean Dent of American Sky, Visit California event at the Alex

Marian Benton of Map Travel, Emer Farrell and Audrey Headon of Headon Representation, TIGS event at Beaverstown,

tes n of Ask Susan, Emira Tom and Susan Kierna Lahinch, in event at the Irish Open

Merle Seller, Anita Thomas and Aoife Reidy of Emirates, Emirates event at the Irish Open in Lahinch,

Maureen Ledwith and Ed ness Exhibitions, Bastil mund Hourican of Busile residence of the French day celebration at the ambassador,

Andrea Schneider of MGM Resorts, Bernard Nolan of Cassidy Travel and Susan Farkas of Cosmopolitan Vegas, Las Vegas CVA event

Dana Point and Helen Jonny Weston of Visit Visit California event at , vel Kelly of Platinum Tra the Alex

OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 38

MEETING PLACE

d with Fiona Dobbyn an Emer Peel of Emirates ssic Resorts and EmirCla of Ann Marie Durcan Open in Lahinch, ates event at the Irish

Gerry Headon of Head on Tobin of FCM, TIGSeven Representation and Jim t at Beaverstown,

Joy of Oscar travel Simon Sagal and Anish x Ale California event at the

Visit

Percy Tevens of San Fra Kelioholokai of West Ho ncisco travel, Sean of Greater Palm Sprin llywood and Gary Orfield gs, Visit California eve nt

ma Valley tourism and Birgitt Vaughan of Sono ort beach, Visit Califorwp Ne Colleen Costello of nia event at the Alex

Adrienne Keogh, Bladh an tin Skinner of American a Richardson and KrisDay event at the US EmHolidays, Independence bassy,

Out and about with the Travel Trade

Linda Byrne and Elaine Massey of Killiney Travel, Brian Hughes and Martina Coogan of United Airlines and Tony Lane of Visit California event at the Alex Vis Day event at the US Em it USA, Independence bass

Michaela Gray of Seaworld and Aisling Gray of Travel Counsellors, Visit California event at the Alex

Clareanne Phillips and Aoife Gregg of United Airlines and Independence Day event at the US Embassy,

David O’Grady of E-travel, Dominic Burke of Travel Centres and Dave Hennessy of Tropical Sky, Celebrity Reflection in Dublin June 14 2019

nn Salisbury of Santa Mo Brian Wright and Laure at the Alex nt eve ica , Visit California

Laurie Baker of Upsta te Hunter of Aer LIngus, California and Andrea Visit California event at Alex the

n Visit California and Jea liAnette Kaiser-Rott of Ca it Vis gs, rin Palm Sp Paul Zapata of Greater x fornia event at the Ale

Michael Walsh and Dermot Merrigan of Irish Fer- Fiona Cunningham and ries, TIGSevent at Beaverstown, TourismNI at the 148th Andrew Kennedy of British Open in Portru sh, July 18 2019

Cormac O’Connell of Dublin Airport with Karen Maloney and Shannon O’Dowd of Etihad, Dublin airport, June 27 2019

lit and Teresa Gancedo of Jim Vaughan of Justsp Tourist Board Opening ish an Sp Director of the National Gallery, Sorolla exhibition at the

OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 39

Out and about with the Travel Trade

MEETING PLACE

of Ashley Johnson of lag Travel and Robert Graff , Adrienne Keogh of American Holidays, Frank niapp Godfrey Lydon of Club blin Ea Du stman of San Diego an e Beach, Benjamin in ow McCaffrey of AF/Delta/KLM and Kristin Skinner of dsh roa s ga Ve s d Deleyse Langdale La rs, tou f Bindlestif Sonoma county, Visit American Holidays, Independence Day event California event at the of Morrison Hotel, Alex

Sharon Harney of Cassi Croft of Visit California, dy Travel and Brendan Visit California event at the Alex

ura Maloney of Dublin Dave Cromwell and Ma ow in Dublin, Morrison dsh Airport, Las Vegas roa Hotel,

Aoife Reidy of Emirates , Travel President of the John Spollen of Cassidy ITAA and Merle Seller Emirates, Emirates eve of nt at the Irish Open

ir of tourism NI, Fiona Terence Brannigan cha Grillen CEO of TourMc Cunningham and John en event at the British Op ismNI, and TourismNI

Theresa Williams and Mic Visit Mammoth, Visit Ca hael Vanderhurst of lifornia event at the Ale x

Bladhana Richardson of American Holidays and Maureen Ledwith.of Business Exhibitions, Independence Day event at the US Embassy,

d annon Development an Nandi O’Sullivan of Sh Day event at the US Pat Talty, Independence Embassy,

Sophia Kearns and Aisling O’Carroll of Oroko Travel, Visit California event at the Alex

Cheryl Clewprth of Tro pical Sky, Sean Dent of American Sky and Ch eryl Clewprth of Tropic al Sky, Visit California eve nt at the Alex

Katie Kirkland and Sarah Winston, Visit California event at the Alex

g ilfinders with Aoife Greg Dave Hayeems of Tra Day nce de en ep Ind , ited and Brian Reilly of Un ssy, event at the US Emba

Jim Tobin of FCM with James Fleming and Jamie Rachel Mc Anaspie of Cli Airey of Sunway, TIGSevent at Beaverstown, Hynes of The Travel Co ckandgo and Brian rporation, Visit Californi event at the Alex a

Will Walsh of Atlas Travel/Gohop with Kevin Chaney and Wesley Kelly of Clickandgo, Visit California event at the Alex

TourismNI and Fiona John McGrillen CEO of the Dublin office of Tourof Cunningham director at the 148th British Open nt ismNI, TourismNI eve

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EXHIBIT! 123821 TE APRIL_ HWS 2020 FP_V3.indd 1

Maureen Ledwith Sales Director

Paulette Moran Sales Manager

Angela O’Rourke Business Development Manager

t: +353 (0)1 291 3700

t: +353 (0)1 291 3702

t: +353 (0)1 291 3705

e: paulette@bizex.ie

e: angela@bizex.ie

e: maureen@bizex.ie

3/13/19 1:23 PM