British Summer Blues Boost Menorca (los angeles hotels)
No commentsBy Menorca
With clear blue skies and the sun shining it was all smiles in Menorca for the holidaymakers who visited the Spanish island this summer - but behind the scenes many in the tourist industry were worried at the drop of visitors who had chosen Menorca for their annual summer holiday.
High on the list of reasons why Menorca was experiencing a downturn this year was currency changes - Menorca like the rest of Spain is part of the Eurozone, while the UK where most of Menorca’s visitors are based has maintained her own currency - sterling - and the Euro has gained strength in the last 12 months, making Menorca holidays some ten per cent more expensive this year than last.
But some areas outside the Eurozone - notably Turkey - have gained popularity, with holiday spending money going further there during the week or two away, and allowing a full holiday instead of having to economise on luxuries such as dining out virtually every evening, excursions - and importantly for many Brits, time spent in the bars and clubs night-time.
And Britain’s top tour operators shifted part of their holidays campaign away from traditional popular areas like Menorca to the cheaper destinations such as Turkey in a bid to maintain market share, adding to the drop in tourists who booked their flights and accommodation independently of the package holiday companies.
Many in the travel industry, notably in Menorca itself, were widely predicting a drop in the number of people taking Menorca holidays of up to ten per cent, and with the Spanish economy in recession and Menorca’s two main markets - Germany and Britain - also in trouble, the outlook has looked bleak.
But the travel industry analysts and tourism experts predicting the drop in Menorca holidays for 2008 had forgotten one chilling factor that has cut that anticipated ten per cent drop to nearly half that figure - the appalling weather and summer in Britain.
The clouds of economic woe had been gathering before the summer in Britain, with warnings of a recession and higher unemployment, but to add to the gloom there were real life clouds over Britain - for nearly six weeks the country hardly saw any sunshine at all, to the extent that doctors in Scotland reported a marked increase in the number of patients they were seeing with depression and illness.
Prescription drugs were being handed out to alleviate the depression many people felt after weeks of poor weather - but others took the iniative and realised why they were feeling down - the lack of sunshine - and suddenly holiday bookings started to go up noticeably, with tour operators and holiday companies reporting increased bookings.
One leading Menorca holidays internet site noted a sudden surge in bookings for holidays and flights to Menorca in early September that lasted three weeks - not very long but enough to give the island’s tourism a late boost, and considering the season ends in early October it was both unexpected and welcome.
‘The weather in the UK certainly impacted the number of people booking a Menorca holiday for September’, say the travel site, ‘There’s normally quite a good number of people who take a week or two on the island once the schools are back - Menorca is quieter but still has all the benefits of an August holiday as everything is still open but the weather is still really good - and the cost of Menorca villa holidays and hotels in Menorca are less - but this was beyond the norm - there was a definite late surge in bookings directly due to the British weather being so poor in August.’
Overall, they believe the number of bookings in late August and through September could see the predicted ten per cent drop in tourism this year be cut. ‘Our estimate is that instead of a ten per cent fall this will be revised to six or seven per cent when it comes to announcing the official figures. It’s enough to turn it from a disastrous year to a poor year for tourism. Not a lot to celebrate and Menorca needs to do more to draw holidaymakers for the 2009 holiday season.’
As well as the number of tourists for Menorca being affected this year by the strength of the Euro, the Menorca property market has been hit too by potential British buyers of Menorca property waiting for their currency to improve from the lows they are currently experiencing.
Menorca will be hoping for more visitors next year, come rain or shine in Scotland.
A twelve month climate chart and a five day Menorca weather forecast are available with yourmenorca.net
Also online is Menorca property for sale.
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Travel to be Healthier
By Jerry Waxman
Everywhere you go, every time you turn on the tv or radio, you see and hear reminders that “These are troubled times.” Are these messages of any use?
The number one remedy: Travel
If you look around, you’ll see that stores are still open, and people are still going about their daily routines. And that’s how it should be. Part of the routine must include taking a vacation
We may not be able to do much about how our leaders handle the economy. But we do control how we react. Just because the government has said there is an economic crisis does not mean we all should have a personal crisis.
The best reactions to an economic crisis are either:
1. Find ways to make more money, or
2. Take a vacation, or
3. Both
I can’t show you how to make more money. I can tell you why taking a break is the best thing you can do for yourself and your family:
Think of it this way: A vacation is a short retreat from routine. Whether you have a great job or a dull existence, everybody gets stuck in daily and weekly routines.
A vacation reduces stress. That is the greatest value of a vacation. Stress causes illness; mental illness and physical illness. When you take away stress, you become healthier.
Scientists have found that workers become more productive after a break from routine. Not only laborers, but also managers, executives, and creative professionals notice a surge in productivity after they take a vacation.
The reason is linked to stress and health. The more stress you’re under, the less healthy you feel. The less stressed you are the better you feel. When you feel good, you do good work.
There may, indeed, be harder times ahead, due to the economy and world problems. They should not keep us from taking vacations
The worse thing that we can do is allow these difficulties to cause us undue stress. Stress will only make things worse; worse for our emotional and physical health. And worse still for our financial health.
The best thing we can do is take a break. Get away for a while. Improve our health by taking away anxieties from our lives for a while. Then we can go back to our routines healthier and more productive people.
Everybody on this planet ought to go on vacation together. That would not only remove everyone’s anxieties, it might solve all the world’s problems.
Travel for health, for the health of your family, and for the good of your country and the world.
Jerry Waxman is a world traveler and a writer. He would like everyone to enjoy the world he has seen. Discover how you can get the best domestic and international vacations.
“Everybody should open their eyes, minds, and hearts, and see the world for all its beauty and freedom.”
Where To Find The Best Premium Vacation Memberships And Specials Worldwide
By Kristi Ambrose
Of course if your wanting a nice vacation you could just go to travelocity or to expedia but what if you want a really superb vacationing experience? What if you want the best of the best and you won’t take no for an answer? Well lucky for you there are websites online that offer premium memberships to some of the top 4 and 5 star resorts on the planet. It’s true!
These are NOT budget accommodations they are prime time, premium choice, grade A quality, and what’s better is some of them even offer wholesale prices, which means you the buyer doesn’t have to pay a huge chunk of change for a property. Listed below you will find three of the best memberships out there. These are in ranking order so number one is the ultimate number two is second ultimate and so on and so forth!
Network Resorts -
Access to more than 5,000 choice resorts worldwide, it also offers admittance to luxury resorts that usually require a timeshare purchase. These are not budget accommodations! Members enjoy access to some of the most highly sought after destinations in the world, starting at just $298 for an entire 8 days and 7 nights. Now remember these are quality high class 4 and 5 star properties, so just by looking at the starting prices, I’m sure you can already guess that even the highest ranking property is still going to be dirt cheap.
I’m sure your wondering how this company in particular defines luxury so here are a few small examples; High-end resorts with gorgeous bedrooms, big living rooms, full kitchens, and spacious balconies overlooking the ocean. Resorts that face world class golf courses, or breathtaking views of the mountains, many of which are only available otherwise through a timeshare purchase are available through this membership!!!
Smart Share Vacations -
All privately owned properties, luxury Resorts are not open to the general public. Normally, they can only be utilized by their owners. These fabulous resorts are located in the world’s most desired vacation destinations and owned by people that can afford a 2nd home. SmartShare’s luxury resort accommodations include spacious areas designed for an extended stay, more room than a hotel room, sized for a family with multi-bedrooms, cost for a week is less than what you would pay for a hotel.
Luxury resorts are fully equipped condos with options such as 1-3 bedrooms, 1-3 bathrooms, family rooms, kitchens, hot tubs, laundry facilities, swimming pools and much more. Fun and relaxation can be accompanied with on-site or nearby amenities
Exclusive Resorts -
This is a membership for people who love to travel! Like with a country club, members pay a one time membership fee and in exchange receive access to a stunning amount of private residences, five star services and amenities. You will not only have a lot of fun with this membership but you will also save yourself some major time.
The website is very user-friendly, in that you can see all the properties available right then and there, full color photos, with all the trimmings Destinations are from A-Z; they do offer less properties than the Network Resorts option but still beautiful properties nonetheless! The one major con with this site is that the fee is.. very large. I have mixed feelings about this one.
Awesome properties, but not really efficient money wise, for middle class people. In fact, the membership alone could possibly buy you a car in the Ferrari range. Great membership options, terrific sales page, very straightforward and to the point. But again, not inexpensive at all!
Tuesday, October 28th, 2008 at 8:50 am and is filed under travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
