2 CONTENTS CONTENTS 15


4. ‘Among the Very Best’ for Service: Airline and Tour Operator Lauded


5. Safest Flying Year in History: No Commercial Airline Accidents Recorded in 2017


7. Travel Companies Must Meet Data Protection Law: Less Than Four Months To Go Before Legal Deadline


10. Put Hong Kong on Your Bucket List: Ciaran Mulligan reports from South East Asia


12-13. Somewhere Completely Different! Brian Ogle takes a City Break in Kiev, four years after the Maidan Protests


21-27. A Life on the Ocean Waves: Eight Pages of the Latest Cruise News


12


February 2018 Travel News


February 2018 ABOUT US


Editorial Brian Ogle


Brian@nitravelnews.com


Kirsty Johnston Kirsty@nitravelnews.com


Advertising Jonathan Adair


Jonathan@nitravelnews.com


Shauna Broderick Shauna@nitravelnews.com


Jordan McCluskey Jordanm@nitravelnews.com Events


Paula Breen


Paula@nitravelnews.com Unit 1,


Windsor Business Park, 16-18 Lower Windsor Avenue, Belfast, BT9 7DW


Tel: 028 9066 6151 News Extra Package holidays make a comeback ... continued from Page 1


through to the fourth, but we found that this year it started frantically in the first week, then slowed down in the third week, but then got very busy again in fourth week. So it’s been a very busy January for us, everything kicked off quickly.


“Top destination for us, by a mile, is still North America, but it always tends to be with the variety it offers.


“We also have some great deals on offer at the minute. For instance, we have eight nights at a four star hotel in Koh Samui in Thailand for £999 with a pay for four nights get four free offer as well as seven nights at Heritage Villas in Mauritius for £1,500 with a 25 per cent discount and complimentary villa upgrade. Now is definitely the time to book and bag a bargain.” Jonathan Millar, Bryan Somers Travel said: “We have been ridiculously busy this year, selling plenty of short hops to Europe as well as long haul and long stay holidays to India and Australia. We had a booking for a 44-45 day stay in January, which adds plenty of diversity to the business. Long-haul is our speciality and we


have had a lot of requests for exciting and bucket list adventures.


“The amount and type of enquiry is extremely encouraging for the rest of the year and allows us to share our in depth knowledge of these travel destinations,” he added.


Trevor Ardies of Rosetta Travel said: “Business has been really strong this January. Las Vegas has been particularly popular with holidaymakers as well as our tailor-made packages to the Far East and Thailand, both of which are doing really well. Shorter breaks have also been high on the list of demands. Likewise skiing in Bulgaria has really taken off and we already have people booking for next year. As always, the Canary Islands are still very popular. “I think this year we have seen a real surge in early bookings, people are realising that it’s the early bookers that get the best deals now. “Years ago it would have been late-bookers getting the better deals, but that’s definitely all changed.


“There are still some great deals to be had for this year, so I would encourage anyone considering a holiday to get in quick and check out the great deals on offer.”


Tunisia goes back on the UK tourist radar


TUI UK and Ireland is selling packages to Tunisia for summer 2018, offering three hotels. The programme starts on May 1 and marks a return to Tunisia for the company after three years, since the UK Foreign Office issued guidance against all but essential travel to the country.


The guidance against all but essential travel was lifted in July 2017 and some operators announced they would be reintroducing programmes in 2018. A TUI UK and Ireland spokesperson said: "We


TYRONE reader Whilomena Robinson is the winner of a seven night holiday to Florida courtesy of American Holidays and United Airlines.


have reintroduced Hammamet, Tunisia as a destination for summer 2018 starting with four flights per week into Enfidha from Bristol, Manchester, Gatwick and Birmingham.


"We follow the FCO advice for all destinations we operate to as well as referencing the FCO Travel Aware campaign across our website, customer documentation and in our stores and encourage everyone to check the FCO website regularly for the latest travel information."


Winner of American Holidays Florida Competition


Whilomena correctly ansered the competition question featured in the January 2018 edition of Northern Ireland Travel News.


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