Wales lures Irish tourists

honesttravelguy.com

TOURIST chiefs in Wales are launching a major drive for visitors from their nearest neighbours across the water - Ireland.

+Visit Wales  is targeting a 10 per cent rise in tourists from the Emerald Isle in the next five years.

Ireland is Wales’ largest and most important international market for tourism. In 2011, a total of 148,000 visits to Wales from Ireland were recorded, with a total expenditure value of £33million. 

Wales is very accessible from Ireland - in addition to ferry links; +Aer Lingus  flies daily to Cardiff from Dublin and Flybe operates daily flights from Belfast to Cardiff.  Daily flights from Ireland to Manchester and Birmingham also mean that North Wales is within easy reach by air.

The Welsh Government wants to see more people from Ireland opting for Wales as their holiday destination where they can visit breathtaking scenery like Snowdonia, pictured above.

First Minister Carwyn Jones  said, “Wales has so much to offer our Irish neighbours. From our ancient history, much of it shared with Ireland, through to our food, literature and our great outdoors, Wales is a nation waiting to be discovered by Irish visitors who will find a warm, Welsh welcome.

 As well as promoting Wales’ beautiful landscapes and coastline, the campaign will showcase the many spectacular events taking place in 2013. In Cardiff, the National St David’s Day Parade takes place in March; May sees the first anniversary of the opening of the 870-mile Coast Path.

The +The Hay Festival  of Literature kicks off on 23^rd May, while the Cardiff Singer of the World Festival takes place in June, along with the Gregynog Festival, the oldest extant classical music festival in the world. 

Thousands will flock to Wakestock, Europe’s largest wakeboarding music festival in July, with the World Bog Snorkelling Championships taking place in August. Dylan Thomas will be remembered at the annual festival in October and November and rugby will remain a key tourism driver with Ireland playing Wales at the Millennium Stadium next week.

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London to Jakarta non-stop

NON-stop flights from London to Indonesia are to be launched later this year, it has just been announced (Friday night).
National airline +Garuda Indonesia  has chosen Gatwick to operate the flights from London to Jakarta.
In the last three months of 2013,  there will be six flights a week aboard new Boeing 777-300 aircraft. The planes come with WiFi and a chef for First Class passengers.

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Daily service Dublin to Adelaide

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EMIRATES is introducing three extra flights a week, ensuring a daily service between Dublin and Adelaide.

The increased volume comes  just three months after Emirates commenced its four time a week service to its fifth Australian gateway in November 2012. It will see an additional 1,062 seats operate in and out of the state per week, carrying an expected 200,000 passengers on the route each year.

Emirates operates its 354-seat Boeing 777-300ER on the popular 13 hour flight between Adelaide and Dubai, offering eight First Class Private Suites, 42 Business Class lie-flat seats and 304 spacious seats in Economy Class.

Don't panic

Tips to grab a Nice holiday bargain

honesttravelguy.com

OK I know Christmas is barely over but it is worth giving a thought to your summer holiday in 2013. With a bit of planning and research you can save a fortune on last-minute prices - and you can have the fun and excitement of being in total control of your holiday.

My advice is to first decide on a location that you would like visit - maybe a couple. Then get an idea of how much flights are likely to cost. Does your nearest airport offer the cheapest flights? Also keep an eye on new routes. I predict a lot of interest in Ryanair flights from Knock to Malaga and from Stansted to Kefalonia.

Now pinpoint places online that you might want to stay - hotels, guesthouses, campsites.

GOLDEN RULE: Find the website for the hotel itself rather than a booking site. This can be quite a tricky exercise as search engines tend to draw you to agents. Some hotels will tell you it is cheaper to book through the other sites - but this is NOT always the case and big savings can be made and you won't have to pay any money up front..if at all. And you can always check for variations in rates.

NOW JUGGLE: This is where you can get a great deal with a bit of flexibility.  Start playing with potential hotel dates and corresponding flight times and costs. Spend some time on this exercise. You might find, as I have, that the overall cost of extending a break from seven days to ten is marginal as air fares tend to be cheaper. This means you can stay longer at the hotel rather than paying more to the airline to go home earlier.

The only major upfront payment is the airfare but, again, you can get good deals with early bookings.
Package deals give you the option of spreading payment of the whole holiday. But, if you have the cash available to book flights, you could have a great time.

Here is what I did four years ago.

I decided I wanted to take my family of six to the south of  France from Dublin. After a lot of digging, I found the website for the Seaside Park Hotel in Nice www.seasidepark.fr and found  a family room for ten days self-catering in July for €1,000 and airfares with +Aer Lingus for €1,200 - that's €200 each return.  The hotel rate was initially higher but just a week after booking I noticed that the discount on the other family room had increased from 40 per cent to 52 per cent. The hotel were happy to offer the same reduction when I called to query.

The hotel is based in Villeneuve Loubet just to the west of Nice. The rooftop pool gives you fantastic views of the coast. The beach is just a few minutes away the other side of the coastal road and railway - but don't let that put you off as you don't hear any noise and, by bus or train, you have access to the creme of the Riviera stretching from Monaco to Nice (of course), Antibes, Cannes and St Tropez. You also have Marineland nearby - Europe's largest marine park. www.marineland.fr

We tried to guess which celebrities were bathing on the multi-million euro yachts and cruisers that dotted the beautiful coastline as we took the tourist train rides in Antibes and Cannes.

One of the things I love about France - and Italy - is the all-round high standard of food at a good price. For lunch or breakfast, you can pop along to the nearby supermarket and buy wonderful fresh bread, pastries and other delicious treat. A bottle of wine for less than €5 has a purity in its taste that you don't find for that price back. We also loved the Chez Rosy cafe - three minutes from the hotel.

Hotels like this are little havens. You can savour the delights of  these millionaire playground resorts without the expense.

It just goes to show that you can't beat a good bargain hunt.

Aer Lingus raises the steaks

honesttravelguy.com

HERE is one to read just before eating. Be warned - it is yummy.

+Aer Lingus  has launched a premium three-course meal choice,  Sky Dine,
available to pre-order  for customers travelling in economy class on transatlantic flights
between Dublin, Shannon and the USA from February 14.

Head chef James Keaveney has created a number of three-course meals with a choice of red or white wine for just €17.50.

The Steak House meal consists of fillet of beef, sautéed potatoes with onion, spinach,
mushrooms, topped with tomato tartar and served with peppercorn sauce. Chocolate
mousse or cheesecake, by Lily O’Brien, is served for dessert.

The Cod with Salsa Verde meal option is a fillet of cod topped with salsa verde crust,
served with baby potatoes and steamed fresh vegetables. Dessert is a delicious seasonal
fruit salad.

A third option is Chicken stuffed with Irish black pudding, wrapped in bacon, served
with colcannon mash potato and steamed root vegetables. Chocolate mousse or tasty
cheesecake, by Lily O’Brien, is served for dessert.

Customers travelling on long-haul flights who wish to enjoy their quality meal on board can
now pre-order up to 90 days in advance of travel while making their booking or by adding it
to an existing booking via the Manage Booking facility on aerlingus.com


The launch follows the Sky Deli Pre-Order Meal Service on flights to UK and
Europe.

Terminal decline

JUST watching Sky News and I'm wondering how Colin Matthews, boss of Heathrow Airport,  can keep a straight face as he tries to justify higher charges. His argument is that Terminal 5 was like taking out a higher mortgage to pay for an extension to your house. It was now time to meet the higher payments. They also need to make further investments totalling £5bn. No argument with that last point  as Terminal 1 is a dump.

But why do we have to pay?

It is reckoned that passenger numbers have been overestimated. But Heathrow Airport is the third busiest airport in the world. Charges have tripled over the past 11 years. The cost-effectiveness of any expansion is calculated on the basis of increases in business to recoup the outlay. Over the next five years, they want to raise charges from the equivalent of £19.33 per passenger now to £21.96 next year and up again to £27.30 in 2018-19.

So, if I understand the argument, Heathrow Airport want to expand to make more money and want passengers to foot the bill. Do we get shares for our investment or maybe lower charges later? Don't hold your breath.

The latest proposed rises smack of a business that knows its customers have few alternative options. So bosses go cap in hand to those customers like a nationalised industry expecting someone else to bailout business decisions if they get their sums wrong .

I wonder why, despite the opening of Terminal 5 (remember that fiasco?), passenger numbers have not risen as much as expected?

Could it be that the place is still an overcrowded dump that most air passengers do their best to avoid?

The last time I used the London Underground station there it was like entering a grim undersized dungeon - not the gateway to one of the world's most exciting cities.

London Mayor Boris Johnson describes the airport as a cul-de-sac. He prefers a new airport to the east of the capital.

He has a point. I love flying into the new Southend Airport with +Aer Lingus. You are through the airport in minutes and can enjoy a hassle free train journey into the heart of London. And, if you are flying to the States, it is a hell of a lot easier to fly from Southend and then onwards from Dublin.

+British Airways and +Virgin are furious  at the plans - calling for a reduction in charges.

The Heathrow plans have to be approved by the Civil Aviation Authority.

Let's hope they put the interests of the passengers first.