ibiza blog

Are you one of many people who work out how much you’re going to need for a holiday, think you’ve got everything covered - and then halfway through your trip realised your financial planning was out?

You’re not alone.

Many people have found the amount of money they thought they would need for a trip overseas hasn’t been enough. And with airlines and holiday companies adding extra on to a lot of items that used to come as standard it’s not a problem that’s going to go away.

In their defence it’s not surprising that airlines and holiday companies do this - the recession has hit the travel industry hard, and they need to increase the amount of revenue per passenger they are carrying on the airlines, and hotels for each guest they accommodate.

But putting the full price on advertised rates could affect their business, as it’s the headline price that catches many people’s attention - and with travel portals searching for the lowest price more popular than ever travel companies have to get around the low prices offered by making money elsewhere.

As an example we looked for a holiday to Ibiza for next summer, June 2011, to see what the holiday companies were offering, based on 2 adults with a reasonable hotel for 7 nights and Ibiza flights included.

Thomson Holidays, one of the UK’s leading tour operators, have available return flights and a choice of two different Ibiza hotels for 320 a person, and they also include getting to and from the airport to either of the Ibiza hotels.

Their main competitor, Thomas Cook, are doing even better with flights, hotel and breakfast from 285 a person for 7 nights. Their main competitor, Thomas Cook, are doing even better with flights, hotel and breakfast from 285 a person for 7 nights.

Great deals from Britain’s two leading holiday companies - but extras available include choosing a seat on the flight, a meal and travel insurance. The first two can be missed for the budget conscious, but travel insurance should never be cut out and can be taken either with the holiday company when booking, or independently.

In some ways the hidden costs that only become apparent when booking a trip, in the above example Ibiza holidays, aren’t surprising given that the cost is often the first feature considered, and many holidaymakers expecting to have 5 star flights, hotels and holidays at 2 star prices - the most reliable companies have to compete at the headline prices offered by others.

Away from the booking itself, once people are on their Ibiza holidays or elsewhere, the cost of mobile phone calls are the biggest cause of complaint, despite the EU having ordered charges to come down in recent years.

Other charges that holidaymakers deemed to be excessive included the cost of a taxi - most commonly used to get from the airport to the Ibiza hotels where most people would be staying.

To keep costs down it’s possible to book a taxi online with an agreed price and a driver waiting for you rather than taking pot luck upon arrival. Keeping luggage weights within the airlines allowance will ensure no surcharges, and some airlines offer half price luggage costs when it’s booked online instead of doing it at the airport.

For more details about 2011 Ibiza holidays with news and articles visit youribiza.net

Malta Blog

The percentage of people who book their holidays and trips away via the internet increases every year, and with ticketless flights, reviews of hotels from previous guests and currency delivered to your home, the impression might be that booking a trip a few days before departure is the norm.

Not for UK tourists, according to research undertaken by leading online travel site Expedia.

In fact, many British people still book their overseas trips months ahead - but then they are the most organised tourists in Europe!

Before the recession, the trend was to book different parts of a holiday with different online travel firms, ensuring each part of the trip was done at the best price - but with some small companies going under Expedia note that more people are booking both flights and hotels at the same time.

And it’s not just the recession that’s caused the shift back to booking with the same company, the recent Icelandic volcano left many travellers stranded while those who had booked with well established tour operators such as Thomson and Thomas Cook were well looked after and alternative ways home organised on their behalf.

And it’s in times like this that tourists realise that cheap isn’t always good - but a resource like Expedia does allow money to be saved while booking all or some parts of a trip with one company.

Take Malta for example. There are plenty of different options for booking holidays in Malta available, and different parts of the trip can be booked seperately - or all with someone like Expedia.

Hotels can be viewed and reviews from people who have stayed there be seen, and a little extra research can be done to see which area might be most suitable. Valletta for history, Mellieha for a good beach for example. Both areas have a wide choice of accommodation and any of the Malta hotels can be booked with the one resource.

Flights are slightly different for the island. In recent years the low cost carriers have started to fly in and out of Malta, and not all of them are represented on travel sites that do the other components of a trip. Search Expedia for example for return flights and it might not bring up Ryanair who were the first budget airline to fly to the island, and provide flights from both Luton and Bournemouth.

So for the cost conscious it might be worth checking their site to see how much their Malta flights are.

But overall booking everything with one company does have its benefits, with hotels, car hire, flights, holidays and travel insurance all possible, and for Malta holidays Expedia is able to offer all these at a good price.

More details about the island are at yourmalta.com and there are other free to use articles

Tenerife has topped Cosmos Holidays sales chart with a 60% increase year-on-year, report traveldailyco.uk

Majorca, last year’s number one, is now fourth in the sales list with Florida and Turkey before it.

Other Canary Islands have seen bigger rises in sales, particularly Fuerteventura (250%), Gran Canaria (100%) and Lanzarote (40%).

Menorca

The Algarve, Menorca, Shaem el Sheikh, Zakynthos and Mexico are also within the top ten.

“Whilst early booking trends indicated that this summer was all about the Eastern Mediterranean, the improved strength of the Pound against the Euro has resulted in a last minute surge of bookings to destinations throughout the Western Mediterranean and the Canary Islands,” said Monarch Travel Group Tour Operations Managing Director Hugh Morgan.

“After the challenges of the past 12 months, confidence has clearly been restored in the market and it’s great to see holiday durations lengthening from last year’s seven and 10 night durations to the traditional 14 night breaks.”

For the latest Menorca weather visit yourmenorca.net

The destinations UK holidaymakers choose could be changing more in the coming years ahead, according to one of Britain’s big travel agencies, who say:

Mediterranean resorts will no longer be the number one destination for UK holidaymakers by the end of this year.

New research by The Co-operative Travel has revealed that once popular resorts in the Western Mediterranean, such as the Costa del Sol and Algarve, are being shunned in favour of holidays in up-and-coming holiday spots.

The new number one area has been nicknamed ‘the Mett’ after its key destinations: Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey.

This year Mediterranean resorts have seen a cumulative fall in bookings of 11.6% compared to the Mett’s increase of 23.4%. If these current trends continue then the two areas will swap places by the end of 2011, with the Mett becoming the number one choice for package holidays.

This would mean that by summer 2012, the Mett would be receiving over 38% of UK package holidaymakers.

Trevor Davis, director of retail distribution at The Co-operative Travel said: “The growth of all-inclusive deals, which appeal to people wanting to fix the total cost of their holiday, has helped to increase demand for these fast-growing destinations.

“At the same time increased capacity and the high cost of the Euro have both contributed to a significant rise in bookings.”  For the full article at Yahoo! click here

For Menorca holidays visit yourmenorca.net and for Ibiza holidays visit youribiza.net

He added: “If these trends continue, it will represent the biggest change in bookings patterns since the boom of the package holiday in the 1970s.”

From the UK’s Sunday Sun comes this report:

THOMSON Holidays have apologised after a computer glitch led to a family losing their holiday.

Louise Barkes had tried to book a last-minute flight for four to Minorca on Thomson’s website.

Her money was taken – but a message popped up to say there were no seats left.

She could not get the money back immediately because it had been ring-fenced under an arrangement between the bank and tour operator.

And Louise, of North Shields, North Tyneside, did not have enough money to pay twice.

Louise had asked her mum Yvonne to talk to me on her behalf.

Yvonne said: “Louise went through the system, booked the flights, and then a message said there were no flights left.

“She was told she would get the money back in two days, then it was five days, and then it was 10 days.

“A further attempt to book ended with a message to say there were “technical difficulties”.

“She’s not going now because she could not get her money back in time to make another booking for the dates she was able to go.”

Louise – due to start a new job – had to break the news to her two children that they were not able to have a holiday.

A spokeswoman for Thomson said: “Thomson would like to apologise to Ms Barkes for the issues she experienced when booking flights on our website.

“We can confirm that her original booking automatically cancelled due to an error online and we are investigating as a matter of urgency.

“We’d like to assure customers that instances such as these are extremely rare.

“Ms Barkes’ funds are currently being held by her bank.

“Depending on the bank, cancellation refunds can take between three and five working days for the funds to be released and we envisage these funds will be in her account shortly.”

Louise won’t lose any money but, in situations like this, you have to ask why a refund can’t be done quicker.

It would have saved the family holiday.

Majorca

As reputations go, Majorca has a real mix of attitude from people who might be considering a holiday on the well known Spanish island that has proved so popular with tourists in the past.

On the one hand there is the image of Magaluf to consider. It’s a town that attracts some but is a definite turn off for others.

And for tourists who prefer peace and quiet to a walk on the wild side, Magaluf is set to become even more of a party magnet as ‘Mallorca Rocks’  has opened - sister hotel to the successful ‘Ibiza Rocks’ just across the water.

Fantastic for the young, and young at heart who can discover Majorca as well as Ibiza. For those who like their clubbing and nightlife Mallorca Rocks will be the centre of a Majorca holiday for many of them.

And the Majorca hotels could benefit as stag weekends and hen parties view Majorca as an alternative to Ibiza, bringing in good revenue year round from young Europeans with disposable incomes.

Flights are inexpensive to the island, and with airlines operating from many regional airports from the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe, for students and other young people the cheap flights could see visitor numbers in this age group rise considerably this summer.

Majorca Holidays

But for couples and families who don’t want 24 hour partying, and are looking for a good relaxing sunshine holiday, is Majorca a good destination for them this year?

The answer is a definite yes, there’s another side to the island that’s ideal, and if they choose the right location it would be hard to imagine they’re on the same island as party loving Magaluf - but they would still get the good deal for their Majorca flights.

When looking at a map, on the north-west side of the island is Soller. And it is here that holidaymakers can escape to another world, and it’s quiet enough to enjoy while having a good amount of activities going on, to be enjoyed year round.

A tram connects the port to the town, and Deia - another village ideal for family holidays - is closeby, and there is a train that runs through the wonderful Majorca countryside to the capital Palma - a great day out enjoyed by many staying in Soller either in one of the hotels or Majorca villa holidays.

The port is a wonderful place to while away a few hours, with yachts calling in from all over Europe. The harbour area has a good amount of restaurants and cafes serving a variety of food including local dishes all day, and there are also apartments to rent with sea views here for holidaymakers.

For a good family holiday this summer, Soller could be the answer for a quality trip.

For a profile of Majorca including travel information visit yourmajorca.net

Eyjafjallajokull

With the banking crises and subsequent recession in Europe and the U.S. over its worst (hopefully) this year had all the signs of being a good one for the Menorca holidays industry.

Tourist arrivals to the island has been down in the last couple of years, in common with most Mediterranean islands, as a direct result of the bank failures and subsequent recession that hit consumer spending on things like overseas holidays hard.

But a turnaround was definitely on the cards with good early bookings, and a sense of optimism was in the air among the hotel owners and flight operators.

But then came along Eyjafjallajokull - or as it’s become better known in Europe and the wider world, the Iceland volcano - which after erupting continuously for over a month caused an ash cloud that grounded planes, left holidaymakers stranded, and caused a lot of people to reconsider their Menorca holidays for this year.

The direct consequence has been that instead of booking a few months ahead many tourists have held off and are booking their Menorca holidays much closer to their intended arrival dates - leaving some tour operators and villa holiday companies with excess accommodation and reducing prices.

And airlines lost out big time as those based in the EU had to pay for accommodation for those passengers they couldn’t fly home, even though insurers often got away with paying out. The airlines industry feel that as the governments stopped them flying, they should now pay their bills without some will run at a loss this year.

It’s not just Menorca that has been affected by the volcano among the Mediterranean islands where tourism forms an important part of the local economy, and is reliant on flights to bring the tourists in to their hotels and for their villa holidays for a week or two.

Malta for example saw a sharp decline in visitors in April and May, and local media have reported that the national flag carrier Air Malta could have lost over 3 million Euros in April alone as their planes were effectively grounded and flights to their important UK market halted altogether for some time.

Unlike Malta, Menorca doesn’t have an airline to speak of that it can call her own, but Mahon Airport is well served with both low cost airlines and tour operators from both the UK and Germany have regular flights to Menorca at various times of the day, with scheduled flights available out of the holidays season.

But there is some good news around, despite the awful start to the year. While there were plenty of Menorca villa holidays available for June and July to be booked when looking for availability in early May, a month later a lot of them had gone by early June, showing that potential visitors were gaining confidence as the volcano quietened down.

And the price cuts that were showing are now back to something like their normal level. But for those thinking of taking a villa holiday in September when the weather is still normally good, there are some available for under UK 700 - it’s quiter then with the schools back and if Menorca villa holidays are something to be considered it could be worth investigating further and booking ahead to get a good deal.

More details about Menorca, including a forecast and today’s Menorca weather are at yourmenorca.net and for independent comments visit social media like jumptags

The summer holidays are nearly here, and people are set to head off for their favourite or sometimes new destinations.

What should people expect of Menorca who haven’t been before?

Smaller than Majorca, and definitely quiter than Ibiza, of all the Balearic islands Menorca is best known for family holidays.

Menorca is well known for her quiet fishing villages and resorts, and is geared more towards holidaymakers seeking relaxation as opposed to hard partying. The island also has a variety of attractions and sights to keep any visitor engaged.

Part of Menorca’s appeal rests on the fact that overdevelopment has been strenuously resisted. Its numerous green spaces make it a refuge for tourists who like to enjoy nature’s unspoilt beauty. The towns of Mahon - the capital - and Ciutadella offer numerous sight seeing opportunities.

Menorca holidays offer a wide array of outdoor activities including horse riding, cycling and golf. Due to the good weather, quite a few tourists play golf. Club Son Parc is a large resort featuring an eighteen hole golf course. This family-friendly resort is home to the only golf course on the island with a practice range and instructors for new golfers.

Some of the best known holiday areas are:

S’Algar - a small resort located on the southeast coast of Menorca, a short distance from Mahon and Sant Lluis. This is a ‘purpose-built’ resort, and it is very well cared for and offers a good selection of accommodation, including two of the largest Menorca hotels, several apartment buildingss and some privately owned villas. You’ll also find a fair number of bars and restaurants along with a variety of shops. If you want to be active during your Menorca holiday and not just lounge around, S’Algar has a host of sports facilities for you to enjoy. There is no beach here, however. You’ll have to travel to Cala Alcaufar, about a 15 minute walk.

Punta Prima boasts several hotels, apartments and villas to rent and a good selection of bars and restaurants for the convenience of its visitors. Unlike some of the other resorts in Menorca, Punta Prima also has two supermarkets and car rental facilities. If you are looking for a beach, you’ll find a beautiful one at Punta Prima, but be wary of the currents - they can be very strong at times. Take note of the warning flags that will alert you to the safety conditions of the water.

Binibeca Village is a beautiful, quiet resort consisting of Cala Torret in the east and Binebeca Vell to the west. The village consists of all low-rise apartments and villas and offers no high rise accommodation, and is popular for Menorca villa holidays. The area around Binibeca has a variety of high-quality bars, restaurants and convenience stores.

Son Bou is home to the largest and, for many visitors, the best beach on Menorca, accessible via a tunnel down the road from Alaior. This resort has two hotels at the eastern end. For the more bashful holidaymaker, note that the further west you go on this beach, the more scantily dressed the beach-goers are. It is perhaps not a good choice for a family holiday, but an ideal spot for couples or a group of friends.

Cala en Porter is one of Menorca’s oldest resorts, sitting high atop cliffs that overlook a picturesque and safe beach. This resort is situated on the eastern side of a deep gorge that opens onto the beach and features a small stream running alongside during most of the year. This resort features just about everything you could want for fun family Menorca holidays. A full range of shops, restaurants and bars are conveniently located in the centre of the resort. Be sure to check out the cova d’en Xoroi, which are caves set into the cliffs, now made into a nightclub, but open to visitors for the caves during the day.

The holiday resort of Arenal d’en Castell sits on the rustic northern coast of Menorca, about twelve miles north-west of the country’s capital city, Mahon and the international airport. Although the distance from the airport to the resort is short, the roads along this route are not particularly good, so the journey can take up to about 40 minutes. It’s the perfect opportunity to enjoy the scenery!

Cala’n Bosch is located a short, 15 minute drive from the former capital city of Ciutadella, and  is home to one of the two five-star hotels in Menorca.

More information about the island including the weather in Menorca is available at http://www.yourmenorca.net where they also have a map and travel information.

A good article appeared recently at madeformums.com where they reviewed a family holiday in Menorca, and commented:

“The Insotel Club Punta Prima stretches down a hillside to the coast and is the complete family hotel holiday with everything you need on site, so it was perfect for me and hubby David, 34, and our 3-year-old daughter, Olive.

“Its two large outdoor pools both have shallow children’s pools, with plenty of room for everyone and no mad scramble for sun loungers in the morning.

“Each apartment had a balcony or terrace for a bit of private outside space, and the inside was spotlessly clean, with a little kitchenette that had all the utensils we needed for the week. Olive loved the playground and we used the kids club for a bit of a break – it had a whole host of activities and was clean with friendly staff.

“The beach was a three-minute walk down the road, which has a scattering of good local restaurants if you fancy a change of scenery. One of the best things about the resort was the friendly atmosphere. We met another family on the flight over and saw them a few times at the pool and at dinner, which was lovely for us and Olive as she had other young children to play with.

“And we loved how helpful the staff were with any questions. We had a fantastic rep who took care of everything and nothing was too much trouble. Having never done all-inclusive before, we’d go back in a flash based on this week.”

Spanish holidays, including those on Menorca, offer something for everyone, according to a recent article at travelbite.co.uk, who say about the Balearics:

Another popular choice of destinations in the summer is the Balearic Islands. There are a total of four islands that make up the Balearics and they are Ibiza, Majorca, Minorca and Formentera.

All provide perfect settings for all types of holiday makers from families to couples. The beaches on all of these islands are truly fabulous with beautiful white sandy beaches and clear blue seas proving a popular choice with many families with the safe and shallow waters.

You will find a typical Mediterranean climate here with beautiful hot and sunny summers and mild pleasant winters. To read the full article click here

For holidays in Menorca visit yourmenorca.net and for the Majorca weather visit yourmajorca.net