Before the days of the internet, as soon as Christmas Day was over the advertising campaigns for summer holidays would appear on British television.
Millions would book their holidays in January, and many would pay weekly or monthly to their local travel agent so by the time it came to take their summer holiday, it had been paid off and it was just spending money to take care of.
Old habits die hard it seems, as despite late deals and instant access on the internet to hundreds of thousands of holidays, nearly half of the British population still book their holiday in the first two months of the year.
‘It’s a habit the country got into over a couple of decades’, one UK based group of travel sites try to explain, ‘And it continues today despite the fact that the cost of an average holiday compared to salaries is way down on when the internet wasn’t around for the mass market to access.’
How long the January and February frenzy continues is anyone’s guess, but as even more of the population gets online and time online increases, the holiday bookings Brits make should become more spread out over the year, and with late deals often available the booking peak might shift from early in the year to the early May and June summer months.
Interesting statistics have been released by one of the UK’s leading holiday companies for the bookings they took in the first weeks of 2008, and it suggests the British love affair with Spain shows no sign of slowing down.
Top searched destination was the Spanish island of Majorca. Majorca is one of the longest established tourist destinations in the world, and has had a tourist board for over a hundred years. Their tourist board has helped ensured the island has remained a British favourite for generations.
Today Majorca receives more than six million visitors annually, yet ninety five percent of her tourists concentrate in only five percent of its territory. Less developed areas of this elegant island are ripe for new development and prime property commands a great premium. Majorca is now also successfully selling holidays away from the coast in traditional areas not known for tourism.
Ibiza, well known in Europe for younger tourists and night clubs which feature visiting and resident British DJ’s, is a neighbouring island of Majorca and also makes the top five most booked holiday destinations in the early weeks of 2008.
The Spanish Canary Islands also feature among the most booked holiday destinations, with Tenerife and Gran Canaria being the second and third most popular areas.
Another Canary Island, Lanzarote, was the fourth most searched holiday destination, but Lanzarote is a popular winter getaway and as well as summer bookings would have benifitted from Britons looking for a winter holiday.
Lanzarote maintains relatively constant temperatures and sees low annual rainfall. Few days are lost to weather-related problems due to this environment, which offers the premium atmosphere for technical improvements and beneficial training. In addition to these benefits, the winds are good and steady in the Canary Islands due to the north-east trade winds, which also bring cooler air in the summers to Lanzarote.
If bookings continue in similar patterns throughout the year, Spain and her islands will be again the destination of choice for the British.
November 28, 2009
Spain Leads 2008 Tourist Race
November 27, 2009
Strikes In Spain Hit Holiday Resorts
With a strike in Spain over rising fuel costs hitting hotels and supermarkets in popular holiday resorts in June, the Spanish holiday industry could be releived that the British often book their holidays months in advance.
Before the days of the internet, as soon as Christmas Day was over the advertising campaigns for summer holidays would appear on British television.
Millions would book their holidays in January, and many would pay weekly or monthly to their local travel agent so by the time it came to take their summer holiday, it had been paid off and it was just spending money to take care of.
Old habits die hard it seems, as despite late deals and instant access on the internet to hundreds of thousands of holidays, nearly half of the British population still book their holiday in the first two months of the year.
‘It’s a habit the country got into over a couple of decades’, one UK based group of travel sites try to explain, ‘And it continues today despite the fact that the cost of an average holiday compared to salaries is way down on when the internet wasn’t around to the mass market.’
How long the January and February frenzy continues is anyone’s guess, but as even more of the population gets online and time online increases, the holiday bookings Brits make should become more spread out over the year, and with late deals often available the booking peak might shift from early in the year to the early May and June summer months.
Interesting statistics have been released by one of the UK’s leading holiday companies for the bookings they took in the first weeks of 2008, and it suggests the British love affair with Spain shows no sign of slowing down.
Top searched destination was the Spanish island of Majorca. Majorca is one of the longest established tourist destinations in the world, and has had a tourist board for over a hundred years. Their tourist board has ensured the island has remained a British favourite for generations.
Today, Majorca receives more than six million visitors annually, yet ninety five percent of her tourists concentrate in only five percent of its territory. Less developed areas of this elegant island are ripe for new development and prime property commands a great premium. Majorca is now also successfully selling holidays away from the coast in traditional areas not known for tourism.
Ibiza, well known in Europe for a younger tourists and night clubs which feature visiting and resident British DJ’s, is a neighbouring island of Majorca and also makes the top five most booked holiday destinations in the early weeks of 2008.
The Spanish Canary Islands also feature among the most booked holiday destinations, with Tenerife and Gran Canaria being the second and third most popular areas.
Another Canary Island, Lanzarote, was the fourth most searched holiday destination, but Lanzarote is a popular winter getaway and as well as summer bookings would have benifitted from Britons looking for a winter holiday.
Lanzarote maintains relatively constant temperatures and sees low annual rainfall. Few days are lost to weather-related problems due to this environment, which offers the premium atmosphere for technical improvements and beneficial training. In addition to these benefits, the winds are good and steady in the Canary Islands due to the north-east trade winds, which also bring cooler air in the summers to Lanzarote.
If bookings continue in similar patterns throughout the year, Spain and her islands will be again the destination of choice for the British.
November 11, 2009
Island Lights In Real Estate Darkness
At times of poor economies property prices more often than not fall, and the property market in itself is sometimes enough to cause a recession in the rest of the economy as home owners see their top asset slashed in value, and cut back on spending as a direct result of feeling less wealthy.
2008 has already seen the world’s financial markets in turmoil with a rogue trader in France losing billions of Euros for his bank, and the Federal Reserve aggressively cutting interest rates to try and stave off a recession in the US.
But among the gloom, those involved in real estate markets around the world can often point to areas where property bucks the trend, and is on an upward move despite all that is happening to property elsewhere.
A prominent UK real estate site predicts that France will see a rise in property values for 2008 of between 5 and 8 per cent.
The advantages France has compared to some European markets is that the British buy there extensively, and have done for over twenty years now. The recent upgrading of the channel tunnel could ensure interest remains high in Northern France, easily accessible from London and her Home Counties.
Two countries who share borders with France are also likely to be areas where property prices will increase in 2008 – the tax havens of Andorra and Monaco, which have similar tax benefits.
Monaco because tax havens are in demand whatever is happening to the economy, and the supply of properties is short with new supply not coming on stream for another three to four years. Andorra will continue to enjoy the overspill from Monaco, where studio apartments start at around a million Euros, while in Andorra the same million Euros will buy a house.
Further into Southern Europe the UK property site suggests both Mallorca and Tenerife could see property price gains, and with local populations on both Spanish islands becoming restless about the amount of future developments to be allowed the supply of new apartments and villas could be limited.
Mallorca – often known as Majorca – is the main island of the Balearic Islands, which also includes Menorca and Ibiza. Located in the Mediterranean off the east coast of the Spanish mainland, Mallorca is the largest of the Balearic Islands and sees most tourists – some of whom ultimately buy a holiday home on the island or move there full time. According to the 2005 census, the population of the city of Palma was 375,048. The population of the entire area was estimated to be 517,285; the 12th-largest urban area of Spain. Approximately half of the total population of Mallorca lives in Palma, but many newcomers steer to the coastal resorts such as Alcudia.
And while 2008 may appear to be gloomy for the real estate sector, there will no doubt be some light among the darkness of falling prices in some areas of Europe.