No matter whether you’re holidaying at an exclusive villa or a popular resort complex, you’ll still need to sort out airport transfers – though possibly this is not such a problem for the Prime Minister.
David Cameron has eschewed a UK “staycation” and opted for a fortnight at a luxury Tuscan villa as he takes a break from the business of running the country.
He will stay in the 18th century property – complete with swimming pool and tennis court – situated near Mercatale Valdarno in Chianti. Mr Cameron, his wife Samantha and their three children will share their holiday with another two families, according to the Daily Telegraph.
With the villa coming in at 11,000 euro (£9,600) per week, the Camerons are expected to spend £5,800 as their share. They will also travel to Italy on a budget airline in the coming days, although it is not clear if they will take advantage of the transfers on offer.
The premier and his family will berth at the Petrolo estate, described as resting among “green olive groves, active vineyards and beautiful oak woods”, its official website says. Mr Cameron will follow in the footsteps of former PM Tony Blair, who took family holidays in Tuscany as a guest of Prince Girolamo Strozzi.
This is the first proper foreign holiday for the Camerons since the general election last year. Last summer, they stayed in Cornwall, where Mrs Cameron gave birth to the family’s baby daughter Florence. The little girl was given the middle name Endellion, after the village where they stayed – St Endellion.
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Despite the tough economic climate, a getaway firm has highlighted that there are still bargains to be had as the school holidays get into full swing.
Geoff Cowley, of Hoseasons Group, said: “We live such hectic lives now, so family time together is precious and important. We know it’s a tough economic climate, but there are some very low prices and exceptional value out there if people hunt around.”
Mr Cowley’s comments come as a study commissioned by the group found that more than a quarter of British teenagers do not have an annual holiday. YouGov found that 26% of 13-19-year-olds go on holiday less than once per year. Also, 37% of children nation-wide make some kind of financial contribution to their holiday, even if that’s for basic spending or overall costs, including flights and airport transfers.
And there was also a suggestion of a North-South divide, too: this figure climbs as high as 33% for people in the north of England, but falls to just 18% for teenagers in the South. However, at the other end of the scale there was less disparity, with 37% of children in the North holidaying two or more times a year, compared with 36% further south.
Region-by-region, the proportion of children who holiday less than once a year is:
- North 33%
- Midlands 31%
- East 31%
- London 20%
- South 18%
- Wales 12%
- Scotland 29%
- N Ireland 11%
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Japan’s massive earthquake and tsunami in March has failed to put off potential holidaymakers visiting the country, a recent survey suggests.
Tourists open to Japan holidays
More than 60% of those questioned across the world said they would be open to travelling to the country, according to the poll by website Hotels.
Japan is one of the top three countries that more than half of travellers from around the world say they would like to visit, with the majority keen to see the nation’s capital Tokyo the most. Around 86% of those surveyed said they would not rule out a trip to Japan in the next 12 months.
However, the cost of a holiday to Japan is a crucial factor for most of those surveyed, with 70% saying they would visit the country only if the price was right. Travellers may want to take advantage of a number of cheap flights to Japan from UK airports such as Gatwick.
Hideki Yokoyama, of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, said: “I am very encouraged that so many people in the survey indicated that they are willing to travel to Japan. I hope that everyone can visit Japan and experience the best of Tokyo’s fantastic hospitality which never changes. Moreover, I would like everyone to see that the whole of Japan is working together for a rapid recovery. Please feel free to visit Japan now or in the near future.”
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Research has suggested that women pack clothes for a holiday that they don’t get around to wearing.
The poll by Co-operative Insurance found that from the average 12 pairs of shorts or skirts women only wear six – meaning that many people travelling to airports like London Stansted may be carrying unnecessary luggage.
Backing up this claim are figures showing that out of the six bikinis taken for a two-week break overseas, just three are worn.
The survey questioned 3,00 women about their holiday clothing arrangements, finding that the average value of the clothes in a woman’s suitcase was £1,140.
Meanwhile, the research also showed that packing ’stressed’ up to 23% of women – with 21% finding the experience more stressful than work.
When it came to organising the holiday, nearly a third of women (31%) said they did it without the help of their other half. But for 8% of respondents, mum and dad still offered a hand in organising the holiday.
Lee Mooney, head of home and travel insurance at Co-operative Insurance, said: “Given that most people also pack high-value items such as iPods and cameras, the value of a suitcase contents can be quite staggering.”
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A new 109 billion euro (£95.9 billion) rescue package for the beleaguered Greek economy has been welcomed by the British travel industry due to its strong links with the country’s tourism industry.
The bailout, which includes a lower interest rate for Greece and more time to pay it off, is good news for the UK travel industry, which benefits from British tour operators sending customers to the country.
Cheap flights from airports like Stansted, Heathrow and Gatwick to Greece are popular with British tourists looking for a week or two in the sun.
However, there is no guarantee that the bailout package will be effective in the long term and holidaymakers have been warned to be careful when planning trips to Greece to ensure that their travel insurance covers them for anything that could potentially go wrong, such as not being able to get to a hotel due to a strike.
Commenting on the Greek tourist industry, a spokesman for Abta, the British travel association, said: “Their tourist industry is of fundamental importance as one of the key providers of employment in the country.
“Bookings to Greece are up on last year. Images of demonstrations in Athens did have a negative impact, but tourist resorts were unaffected by the protests.”
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British holidaymakers are being hit in the pocket by stealth currency conversion charges and costly ATM withdrawals, a report has shown.
UK tourists are employing a number of tactics in a bid to save money, including finding cheap flights out of airports such as Stansted and Luton, opting for self-catering vacations, and walking to more places rather than paying for taxis.
Despite this, British holidaymakers are still being hit with a collective total of £1 billion in hidden fees, according to the Holiday Planner Report by foreign currency specialists Caxton FX.
The most common ways Britons abroad are being stung financially include hidden bank charges, ATM withdrawals and by using debit and/or credit cards overseas. Around 13 million British tourists are expected to be stung by such hidden charges while on holiday this year.
Travellers have been warned not to cut back on the wrong things such as travel insurance and sunscreen and instead try to plan ahead in order to save money. Ways to make a saving include uploading a pre pay card before going on holiday and opting to pay for items in the local currency, rather than taking money out of an ATM.
A holidaymaker who withdraws £300 in three separate ATM transactions, for instance, could end up having to pay an extra £16.50 in charges.
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Stansted is one of two UK airports that must be sold by operator BAA, competition chiefs have ruled.
The Competition Commission’s (CC) final ruling states BAA must sell Stansted Airport followed by either Edinburgh or Glasgow.
The airport operator, which owns six sites including Heathrow, will start the sale process in three months.
But the CC added that this could take place “sooner if undertakings are accepted from BAA in the meantime”.
The latest announcement follows a provisional ruling on the sales of Stansted and other airports in March.
It will also bring to an end a two-year long saga over BAA’s airport ownership, which began in March 2009.
In the 2009 ruling BAA was told to sell Stansted Airport, either Glasgow or Edinburgh, and Gatwick, which has since been sold.
But the CC findings were disregarded by BAA after the firm set out a string a legal challenges to the ruling.
The commission then had to look into whether any material changes in circumstances may have taken place since 2009.
The CC found that the airport sales were justified after considering the latest ruling and the provisional findings in March.
It said that passengers visiting Stansted, Gatwick, Edinburgh or any other airport would benefit from added competition under the separate ownership.
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Britons are planning to spend more money when they go on holiday this year, a survey has suggested.
Some 32% of people said they would be spending more cash when they went abroad in 2011 compared with last year.
The extra spending amounted to an average of £326 per person.
The poll of 2,011 people by M&S Money found that 44% said they would spend the most money on eating out, while 12% planned to splash out on excursions.
Some 17% of holidaymakers said they would spend less while on their break this year, and 42% planned to fork out the same amount as they did in 2010.
Almost a third of those who expected to part with more money blamed the rising cost of living for their extra spending. Those who are worried about the cost of their holiday spending might be looking to save money on their travel cost this year, by searching for cheaper flights or using convenient airport transfers services rather than taxis.
Another survey has revealed that Britons will take an average of £451 spending money for a two-week holiday this year.
The poll, carried out by currency company Moneycorp, found that 23% of respondents were planning to take less cash with them than they did last year.
Rupert Bedell, of Moneycorp, said: “Disposable income for consumers is at a 10-year low and this has led to a smaller budget for many Brits going overseas.”
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The holiday season is upon us, and while people are busy organising their trips away, it appears that many do not want to venture too far from home.
A survey conducted by travel agent Sunshine found that 34% of holidaymakers from the UK have not gone on a break outside Europe.
Many of the people who choose to take a short flight abroad from airports such as Luton and Stansted said they liked how familiar European countries were.
Some 22% believe that a trip to Europe is cheaper, while 13% said they like to keep the amount of time they are on a flight to a minimum.
But 11% of those surveyed admitted they had never gone on a break in Europe, with 32% of these revealing they thought trips outside of Europe were cheaper, and 24% saying they were now familiar with certain long-haul places.
Around 4% of those who travel to further-off places said they thought going on holiday was pointless unless it was to a destination which you could only get to on a long-haul flight.
Sunshine co-founder Chris Brown said: “I think when many people imagine a holiday, they immediately think of destinations like France, Spain and Portugal and stick to European places.
“However, people shouldn’t be afraid to look a little further afield for a holiday.”
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Research claims that more people are taking less luggage abroad in a bid to avoid airline baggage fees.
The Co-operative Travel company said there has been a rise in the number of travellers embarking on a trip with just hand luggage.
The firm said that around 26% of passengers were packing light in a bid to save cash – figures that suggest there will be less waiting at checking-in queues in the major UK airports such as Gatwick and Stansted this year.
It was also estimated that 16,000 families flying on budget airlines have got by on just one case between four people.
The claims suggest that people taking a Luton to London bus will be taking much less luggage with them than they were a few years ago.
In light of the research the firm said families taking just one case when flying with budget airlines could save more than £233.
The Co-operative Travel retail distribution director Trevor Davis said: “Budget airlines have been around for quite some time now and people are getting smarter and minimising the cost of their flights.
”While not everyone will want to go to the extremes of holidaying with just carry-on baggage, it does allow people to decide exactly what they’re prepared to pay for.
”For the airlines this is probably the desired outcome, lowering the weight of the flight and time spent handling people’s luggage.”
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