18 | INDUSTRY Travel news
NEWS IN BRIEF Turkish ski-resort launch
INDUSTRY By Amit Katwala
A brand new ski-resort has been opened near the Mediterranean coast in Turkey. It has three slopes, one for skiing and two for snowboarding, as well as a cable car and a hotel. Suleyman Akbay, MD of Oceanwide Properties, said: “The opening of the ski resort will inevitably bring an even greater interest in the region which is why we are now marketing some brand new detached villas from £165,000.”
Bi-weekly Albania route ALBANIAN airline Belle Air has launched a bi-weekly service to London Stansted, which will run on a winter timetable until March 2011. Ravin Maharajah, sales director at Albanian resort Lalzit Bay, said: ““These fl ights reinforce Albania’s growing position with the UK market in terms of both tourism and property purchasing. Albania is also celebrating this week as it has offi cially joined the Schengen Area Agreement allowing visa-free travel for residents throughout the 25 member states.”
Exotic routes planned TURKISH Airlines is expanding its off ering this year, with some of the more exotic destinations including new routes to Guangzhou, China, Los Angeles, USA, and Shiraz, Iran. The airline is also planning new routes to Spain, Greece, France and Italy this year, as well as expanding its Singapore/Jakarta service to 6 or 7 fl ights a week.
Hungary hullabaloo
GLOBAL vacation services provider Interval International has added a Hungarian resort to its network of destinations. The Aurum Vacation Club in Hajdúszoboszló is located in one of the regions most popular spa-areas and includes a mixture of studios and one- and two-bedroom units.
COMO ties up property
SINGAPORE-based COMO Hotels and Resorts is to develop and manage a new property on the Yamu peninsula of Phuket in Thailand. The 9th property in COMO’s destinations group, it is scheduled to open in September 2012.
TRAVEL website Skyscanner has published its travel hotspot predictions for this year. The site, which allows consumers to fi nd cheap fl ights, has named Orlando as the place most likely to rank highly in terms of visitors. This is because of the new Harry Potter theme park, which opened late last year. The report said: “The city is well known for its theme parks, and searches for fl ights to Orlando already rank number one on Skyscanner for travel in 2011 as holidaymakers plan ahead.” Also on the list are the Philippines and
Indonesia, which “offer excellent value for money and are attracting budget-conscious backpackers” and a number of Eastern European countries. The latter are expected to see a rise in interest from British tourists “as they become more aware that they
www.opp.org.uk | FEBRUARY 2011 This year’s hottest holidays
Wizard world | Tourists will be stupefi ed by the magical park and fl ock to Orlando
offer a range of high quality holidays but at much lower prices than Western Europe,” according to Skyscanner. The site has reportedly seen a 130% rise in winter searches for Serbia. The Rugby World Cup will bring visitors to New Zealand, and this is
expected to have a knock on effect on Sydney and the rest of Australia. Finally, the end of a 25 year civil war in Sri Lanka last year will put the island back on the map, and it is set for strong growth throughout 2011 according to Skyscanner.
Pacifi c island hotspot Rental rise
PACIFIC NATION VANUATU has featured in Lonely Planet’s top ten places to visit in 2011 at the same time it as being identified by overseas property portal
Homesgofast.com as a potential investment hot spot. Vanuatu consists of a string of more
than 80 islands and is located 1,750 kilometres (1,090 mi) east of northern Australia, near Papua New Guinea. Lonely Planet’s infl uential guides
named several other off-beat places to visit in 2011. Among the top destinations were Cape
Verde, Bulgaria, Vanuatu and Syria. Overseas portal
Homesgofast.com
has launched a dedicated section on its website to promote real estate on the archipelago. The islands present several advantages for overseas property investors and those seeking a new place to consider for a second home abroad. It is considered tax friendly with
no personal income tax or corporate tax, no death duties and no land tax. Investors are welcomed to Vanuatu and may apply for residency. Vanuatu is an independent republic, and a full member of the UK Commonwealth, having been a
British and French colony until 1980. It has a population of about 225,000. The main international airport is at Port Vila, and a new real estate development is at Pacific Haven Resort. This is a 20 mins drive from the airport and a 13 mins drive from downtown Port Vila. The American government has just
supplied Vanuatu with a $60 million grant to build a tar-sealed road all the way around the island. The Chinese government has
provided grant of US $66 million for the upgrading of the tour ship wharf with over 181 nights a year of visiting ships cruising the South Pacific. With the introduction of Virgin Air
and Air New Zealand flights, Vanuatu has seen a 7% increase in tourists over just 36 months, and 100,000 visitors now arrive by air every year.
THE availability of appliances such as fridges, washers and dryers are the factors considered most important by holidaymakers when looking for accommodation, according to a survey. Wyndham Vacation Rentals surveyed 1,000 Americans, and found that 55% wanted these appliances, which are traditionally not found in hotels, but in condos and vacation rental homes. The survey also revealed
the importance of holiday accommodation providing a “home away from home”, with more than a third of respondents saying they would take their living room on the road if they could, and more than 60% saying they would spend more time in their hotel room if it included a living room. This is good news for the $25 billion
Heavenly | for both tax and investment
vacation rental industry, according to Wyndham Vacation Rentals. The company is a vacation exchange and rental business that provides access to over 85,000 vacation properties in 100 countries. Its brands include RCI and the Registry Collection.
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