Leaving the EU a positive impact for the Isle of Wight

LEAVING the EU is having a positive impact on holiday island the Isle of Wight, according to Wight Coast Holidays who are the island's leading provider of self catering holidays.

Estimates vary but the company have seen a rise in holidays by over 20% for #IsleofWight holiday rentals in 2019 compared to 2018.

According to a spokesman from their office in Bembridge they have received multiple bookings from holidaymakers who normally visit Spain, France and Portugal worried about possible delays at airports after the UK leaves the EU - and the prospect of queueing for their flights with children in tow for hours on end has led to them considering the Isle of Wight in 2019, with some visiting for the first time in a few years.

For many in the UK the Isle of Wight ferry crossing separates them from a staycation on the mainland, and the crossing takes less than an hour with Red Funnel from Southampton and Wightlink from Portsmouth Harbour and Lymington.

While it's likely that other UK destinations will experience a holiday industry boost in Devon and Cornwall for example, the fact that to get to the Isle of Wight involves a ferry crossing for those used to going abroad could mean the island will benefit more from the uncertainty over Brexit.

Top attractions on the island include Carisbrooke Castle and Osborne House but for family holidays the beaches of Bembridge, Seaview, Sandown and Shanklin could mean tourists will return again in future years with a positive impact on the tourist industry, which is a major player in the island's economy.


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Best online travel deals provider

TRAVELZOO, a global publisher of exclusive offers and experiences for members, has been named "Best Online Travel Deals Provider" by the prestigious British Travel Awards organisation for the 7th year in a row.

Just a few weeks previously, Travelzoo won another award in the UK. Travolution named Travelzoo "Best Travel Deals Publisher" at the 2018 Travolution Awards. Travolution is the UK's leading digital publication for the online travel industry. The Travolution Awards are decided by a panel of industry experts. This is the 4th consecutive year in which Travelzoo has been recognised with this award.

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Celebrate the North East's Arts and heritage this Autumn

CELEBRATE 100 years since the Right to Vote; explore rural Wearside, and get involved in a whole host of festivals, all in the North East. The summer season might be drawing to an end, but the North East’s cultural offering is going from strength to strength, with an exciting programme of events planned for the whole of Autumn.

Twelve local authorities, the region’s five universities, the North East Chamber of Commerce, and individuals from Historic England and Arts Council England are working together under the North East Culture Partnership (NECP) banner – with the aim of championing, promoting and supporting the North East’s arts and heritage sectors.


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The revs keep rising

SUPERCAR Hire has added a brand-new Lamborghini Huracan Spyder to its fleet of supercars, which is now available for hire across the UK.

The company currently boasts a great number of supreme vehicles for motoring enthusiasts of all kinds to enjoy, including Bentleys, Aston Martins, Audis, Ferraris, Jaguars and much more.

Supercar Hire also organises a varied selection of driving experiences, from mystery road trips in multiple vehicles to circuit track days complete with expert tuition.

www.super-car-hire.co.uk.

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Industry News . . .

GLOBAL luxury travel network Virtuoso has revealed the hotels and hoteliers nominated for its coveted Best of the Best awards this year, winners will be announced in August. All nominees are part of the industry-defining Virtuoso Hotels & Resorts program, which boasts over 1,300 hand-selected properties worldwide and more five-star hotels than any other program. Nominees for Hotel of the Year:

• Adare Manor, Limerick, Ireland
• Berkeley, London, U.K.
• Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat, A Four Seasons Hotel, St. Jean Cap Ferrat, France
• One&Only Le Saint Geran, Post de Flacq, Mauritius
• Royal Mansour Marrakech, Marrakech, Morocco

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British Airways announces early-bird fares to the UK

BRITISH Airways announces early-bird fares on flights from Australia to the UK, Europe, Asia and beyond. These offers are available for booking from now until midnight of February 26, 2018 and are valid for travel until November 30, 2018. 

Customers travelling with British Airways have the added advantage of transiting through two of the world’s award-winning airports, Singapore Changi Airport and London Heathrow for onward flights within the UK, Europe and beyond.

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Discounts for domestic flights from Heathrow

UK fliers are set to save even more when flying from #Heathrow as the airport announced a 50% increase in the discount for domestic flights. From 1st January 2018, passengers flying to any UK destination from Heathrow will have a £15 discount on the airport charges they pay – the biggest discount in the airport’s history and resulting in #savings of nearly £40 million annually and over £750 million over the next 20 years.

Heathrow has been a long-time and ardent campaigner for boosting domestic flights at the UK’s hub and last year committed to keeping a discounted domestic passenger charge for at least the next twenty years as long as it is in the public interest. The further reduction in the domestic passenger charge announced today will save passengers even more money while making domestic routes more commercially viable for airlines – encouraging them to add more domestic services.

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Europe’s most convenient airports revealed

EURO travellers rejoice! GoEuro, the platform for comparing and booking trains, buses and flights across Europe, has analysed more than 70 European airports to rank the fastest and cheapest transfers to city centres.

Whilst air travel may be the quickest point-to-point travel option, getting from the airport to the city centre can be tricky and stressful, especially if it’s your first time at a new destination. GoEuro’s new research allows savvy travellers to begin their holiday sooner, assessing distance, duration and price from the terminal to the city.

The Ten most convenient European airport transfers:

1. Nice Côte d'Azur, five minute transfer from £1.59

2. Lanzarote, 10 minute transfer from £1.24

3. Birmingham, 9 minute transfer from £2.90

4. Málaga-Costa del Sol, 12 minute transfer from £1.59

5. Frankfurt, 10 minute transfer from £4.24

6. Nürnberg, 12 minute transfer from £2.65

7. Cologne Bonn, 13 minute transfer from £2.12

8. Prague, 15 minute transfer from £0.79

9. Leipzig-Halle, 13 minute transfer from £3.97

10. Amsterdam Schiphol, 14 minute transfer from £3.71

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New airline launches, opening up routes into heart of the Swiss Alps

NEW airline powdair has launched ticket sales through its website powdair.ski with a winter schedule that links Sion Airport with eight destinations in the UK, Germany and Belgium.

The skiers airline, based in Sion – the heart of Switzerland’s #wintersport region, the Valais, will offer skiers and snowboarders across the UK, Northern Germany and the Benelux Countries the chance to reach some of the world’s most famous winter sports resorts quickly and efficiently.

Flights commence from December 14, 2017 and will significantly cut transfer times to some of Switzerland’s most popular #ski resorts for winter sports enthusiasts including Zermatt, Verbier, Saas Fee, Crans Montana and Nendaz.

The eight airports that will be served by powdair are - London Luton, London Southend, Southampton, Bristol, Manchester and Edinburgh as well as Antwerp and Hamburg.

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Game, Set and Match

AS all eyes turn to the 140th instalment of #Wimbledon for the world’s best loved tennis tournament, Spabreaks.com has put together its pick of Britain’s very best spa resorts and packages for tennis enthusiasts. Whether you’re a wannabe Murray or more of a Cliff Richard, get yourself in shape with a break at one of these great spa hotels.

Best for serious players: Stoke Park, Buckinghamshire
The location for the annual ‘oh-so-British’ pre-Wimbledon Boodles tennis tournament, Stoke Park offers three indoor carpet courts, four clay courts and six Wimbledon specification grass courts – not to mention an award-winning luxury spa.

Best for fair weather players: Chewton Glen, New Forest, HampshireWith two indoor and two outdoor tennis courts, Chewton Glen is the perfect place to practice your volleys regardless of the changeable summer weather! 

Best for health enthusiasts: Champneys Tring, HertfordshireA bastion of health since it opened in 1925, Champneys Tring offers numerous spa treatments from the traditional to the innovative, as well as health facilities including two floodlit outdoor tennis courts.

Best for ladies who lunch: Crowne Plaza Resort Colchester Five Lakes, Essex
Deep in the Essex countryside, Five Lakes offers eight outdoor tennis courts, as well as badminton, squash, table tennis and a spa area with sauna and steam room – plus a relaxation room with three four-poster beds in which to doze or catch up with friends.

Best for groups: Carden Park Hotel, Cheshire
Set on a one thousand acre estate, complete with its own onsite vineyard, at Carden Park tennis is just one of the seemingly unending supply of great activities. The spa features a sauna, steam room, hydrotherapy pool, ‘chatty’ relaxation room and tepidarium beds, and other facilities include a full-size football pitch, golf course and mountain biking trails.

www.spabreaks.com

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Up in the air . . .

NORWEGIAN first launched transatlantic flights from Gatwick Airport to three U.S destinations in July 2014, with the aviation industry divided on whether the ‘low-cost long-haul’ venture would succeed.

Two years later, and Norwegian’s long-haul operation is already profitable and now plays a key role in the airline’s continued passenger growth. Norwegian is still the only airline offering UK passengers direct low-cost transatlantic travel - the airline’s long-haul network from the UK has now grown to 8 US destinations with over 650,000 UK passengers and more than 800,000 flights on sale this year.

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On the Runway . . .

BRISTOL Airport has held on to the top spot in the ASQ Survey in UK airports, an international airport passenger experience benchmarking programme, run by Airports Council International. 

The programme measures passenger satisfaction at leading UK airports, as well as airports from over 80 countries. Having been ranked number one for overall satisfaction in the UK, in the third and fourth quarters of 2016, the latest results reveal Bristol retained this position for the first quarter of 2017 (January - March).

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Norwegian unveils £69 flights to the USA from 5 UK and Irish cities

LOW-cost airline Norwegian today announced a series of groundbreaking new transatlantic flights from 5 cities in the UK and Ireland, offering passengers low-cost travel to the USA from just £69/€69.

In total, Norwegian will launch 10 new routes with 38 new weekly transatlantic flights this summer from Edinburgh, Belfast, Cork, Shannon and Dublin. The flights will serve three destinations on the US east coast, with a focus on smaller US airports – these airports offer good access into the New York, Boston and New England areas but carry significantly lower landing charges, allowing Norwegian to offer some truly affordable fares that will allow as many people as possible to fly.

Now on sale from www.norwegian.com/uk

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Increase in international visitors to the UK

DATA from the Office for National Statistics shows that in September the UK received 3.12 million overseas visits in September, up 1% year-on-year, a new record for the month of September.

The biggest growth was seen in the business travel sector with business visit numbers in the rolling 12 months to September 2016 reaching 9.11 million – equaling the best ever results recorded for this journey purpose.

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Brexit bonus for UK tourism

MOST of the ‘experts’ working in Britain’s tourism sector kept themselves busy during the country’s June referendum on its European Union membership issuing dire warnings of catastrophe and collapse if Brits voted the ‘wrong’ way – the wrong being to vote in favour of leaving the EU. Post-June statistics compiled by tourism bodies, however, suggest that in the short-term at least, the experts got it, er, wrong.

According to the Tourism Alliance – with members including the British Hospitality Association, the Association of British Travel Agents, and regional tourist boards – billions of pounds have flowed into the industry since the June 23 Leave vote.

There has been a substantial increase in visitors from abroad and in Brits opting for a staycation.

The extra takings in 2016 for staycations alone are estimated to be £2.4 billion. While £1 billion of that was spent before June 23, the total additional staycation income for 2016 is expected to be £1.4 billion. An extra £725 million has been spent so far across Britain’s popular tourist destinations. And hundreds of millions more are set to be spent thanks to the growth in foreign visitors.

The falling pound since the Brexit vote has made holidays more expensive for Britons going abroad and cheaper for foreign tourists coming here – giving Britain’s tourism industry a double boost.

Other factors adding to the boom are recent good weather, low interest rates and fears of terrorism across the Channel. .

Tourism Alliance director Kurt Janson said the additional £2.4 billion has the potential to create some 40,000 new jobs in the sector.

Businesses in Blackpool said the seaside town was having one of its best seasons ever, and Visit Cornwall said tourism across the county was up by more than four percent.

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Helpful Holidays expands in Cornwall and Devon

WEST COUNTRY agency Helpful Holidays has added 23 self-catering properties to its existing collection of more than 700 holiday homes.

Prices start from £275 (£138 per person) for an autumn week at Peony, a base for two in Exmouth. A the top end of the price range is Nirvana, a four-bedroom Georgian house in the Cornish fishing village of Kingsand – at £1,830 (£204 per person) for a summer High Season week. Grade II listed, it has out-to-sea views and access straight to the beach via the slipway opposite.

In the South Hams village of Loddiswell, there’s the The Cottage, a picture-perfect thatched Devon cottage for four. Prices from £351 per week (£88 per person).

www.helpfulholidays.co.uk

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Corrie cobbles head out on UK tour

THE COBBLES, sets, props, costumes, and memorabilia from Coronation Street will start a UK tour this month (August 27). Coronation Street On Tour will premiere in Glasgow before relocating to Belfast next year, subject to full planning permission.

A purpose-built inflatable showdome – the largest touring structure in the UK – will feature the authentic sets and memorabilia from the soap’s set in the fictional north- west town of Weatherfield.

Alison King, who plays Carla Connor in the show, will welcome groups in a virtual reality format, before visitors take the tour of settings such as Roy’s Rolls and the Kabin.

Visitors can also step through the doors of the Rovers Return pub for a souvenir picture behind the bar.

ITV, in partnership with Continuum Attractions, unveiled the plans following the ‘unprecedented’ success of Coronation Street: The Tour in Manchester, which welcomed almost one million visitors during its 18-month run.

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UK tourism boom following Brexit vote

THE TOURISM ALLIANCE has released the results of a survey which show an increase in in-bound and domestic tourism bookings after Britain’s vote to leave the European Union. 

The survey of more than 500 tourism businesses throughout the UK found that 18% of in-bound tourism businesses and 21% of domestic tourism businesses have experienced an increase in forward bookings since the referendum on June 23.

The results also revealed that almost 20% of domestic tourism businesses are looking to increase their current investment levels in the expectation of increasing domestic tourism numbers.

Bernard Donoghue, the Tourism Alliance chairman and director of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions, welcomed the findings. ‘These result show the strength and responsiveness of the UK tourism industry and our ability to provide employment and growth for local economies throughout the UK,’ he said.

But he cautioned that ‘while the industry was expecting a short-term boom in both domestic and in-bound tourism over the next two years, the long-term prospects of the tourism industry are dependent on the UK securing a deal with the EU that will protect the ability of UK and EU residents to easily travel.’

He added: ‘We will also want to ensure that our industry, which is heavily dependent on workers from the EU, has the opportunity to recruit and attract the workers we need’.

To help achieve this, the Tourism Alliance will be presenting a draft Tourism Exit Strategy to culture secretary Karen Bradley. The document will identify the main tourism-related issues that will affect the UK tourism industry. It will also present the industry’s view on what actions the government should take in order to maximize the future potential and growth of the sector.


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US interest in travel to the UK spikes post-Brexit; 25% increase in flight bookings

#TRAVEL DATA specialist ADARA has reported a 25% increase in flight bookings to the UK in the wake of Brexit, with American customers taking advantage of sterling’s fall.

There have also been sharp rise in London hotel bookings by American travellers, and a 15% increase in US flight searches to the UK.

The research from ADARA analyses and compares post- and pre-Brexit travel trends, and is based on 450 million monthly unique travellers from 2016 prior to June 23, compared to searches since the June EU referendum.

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UKinbound urges government on Brexit negotiations

UK TRADE BODY UKinbound has welcomed the new prime minister, Theresa May, in a letter which included four key ‘asks’ for her to consider in the country’s exit negotiations with the European Union.

They are:

1. A strong narrative promoting the UK as a welcoming destination. At a time of great uncertainty for the UK economy, UKinbound has emphasized the importance of demonstrating that Britain remains an outward-facing nation open for business and which will continue to welcome visitors from around the world. 
2. Continued, tariff-free access to the Single Market to ensure the free movement of goods, finance, and people around the EU. 
3. Continued access to the EU’s Open Skies Agreement. 
4. An assurance regarding residency for its members’ employees. UKinbound’s latest Business Barometer survey revealed that more than 30% of its members’ workforce are EU migrants. 

UKinbound CEO Deirdre Wells OBE said: ‘Although the negotiating blueprint is far from clear for the pending Brexit, we hope that these four key ‘asks’ to the government will support and ensure the maximum growth for our industry.

‘These are issues our members feel are important in maintaining a relationship with the EU. We are a resilient industry and I am confident that our vibrant industry can overcome these challenges we face.’

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