analysis
by travel advisories and tourist evacuations, following political and civil unrest, and the lingering effects will continue to be felt this coming season. Operators looking to capitalise on a desire for Red Sea alternatives to Egyptian resorts such as Sharm El Sheikh include Monarch which has kept its route from Luton to Ovda for the Israeli resort of Eilat this winter.
GOING LONG With a glut of tempting new direct long-haul routes having been launched lately, combined with travellers’ increased willingness to travel long distances for their winter sun fix, it’s the long-haul sector where the action is truly hot. Even the costly scourge of APD seems unable to dampen the appeal. ITC Luxury Travel’s head of product Mat
Rushbrooke says: “We have more passengers travelling in December, January and February than in any other months of the year. And while a lot of those are bound for the Caribbean those are also the busiest months for travel to the Far East, Indian Ocean and Africa. And there’s always strong demand to travel over Christmas.” New flight services continue to open up new
areas for winter sun. Thomson recently added direct flights to Vietnam’s Phu Quoc Island, plus Liberia for beach breaks in Costa Rica’s Pacific coastal resorts such as Tamarindo. With British Airways launching a direct service to San José in May 2016 and KLM adding its own service this
October, Costa Rica is set to be big this winter. The resorts of Brazil and Mexico, chiefly Cancún, also continue to perform well. South Africa is another winter sun classic
where self-drives remain big sellers for the likes of Kuoni. Crucially, Thomas Cook Airlines and British Airways both added new Cape Town services from Gatwick last winter, giving the region a big boost with UK travellers further drawn by nearby atractions such as the Cape winelands and the Garden Route, and it remains great value for money for UK visitors. The Indian Ocean also continues to shine, the
Maldives and Sri Lanka in particular having seen a glut of new resort hotel openings over the last two years. Family-friendly Mauritius continues to perform well, while operators noting strong demand for Seychelles include ITC Luxury Travel, with Rushbrooke noting “a huge year-on-year increase in bookings”. That said, ITC’s bookings powerhouse remains
the Caribbean and the region also features highly in its new, first ever luxury villa brochure. Caribtours notes strong early bookings for Barbados and Saint Lucia this winter while Trinidad and Tobago is up by 267% year-on-year. Such reports chime with figures from ABTA which show that bookings to the Caribbean were up 21% last winter. Bookings to Asia, home to perennial favourites such as Bali, Goa and the Thai islands, meanwhile, were up by 17%. ABTA members have also reported strong winter sales to affordable Cape Verde.
“IT’S THE LONG- HAUL SECTOR WHERE THE ACTION IS TRULY HOT”
countrybycountry.com | ABTA Magazine
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