Credit crunch fails to bite into holiday dreams
Holidaymakers are also taking longer to nail down their dream holiday with a deposit, said ITAA chief executive Simon Nugent.
Despite the recession , however, 50,000 people are still expected to explore the thousands of holidays in more than 80 countries that are on offer under one roof.
The event, in its 20th year, is organised on behalf of the ITAA by Business Exhibition, and is aimed at persuading people to splash out on the many bargain holidays now available.
Mr Nugent said travel operators could a expect a sales drop of about 10% this year.
“People are slow to commit this year and that is perfectly understandable,” he said. “Value for money is important in times when money is tight but people should always make sure that they book their holiday with a licensed and bonded tour operator.”
Waterford Mayor Cllr Tom Higgins said he remained hopeful, however, that more people will choose the “crystal county” for their holidays this year.
Mr Higgins and legendary cyclist Sean Kelly were attending the event to promote Waterford County Council’s new tourism website welcomewaterford.com.
“Waterford had lots of tourist attractions as well as the Waterford Glass factory — the fifth most popular tourist destination in Ireland and we want to let people know about them,” he said.
“We are getting lots of inquiries from people wanting to visit our county — the number of Americans who visited the region last year was down by 9% but we are hoping to keep it at that,” he said.
At another stand, nine-year-old American bald eagle Alaska, from Ireland’s sanctuary for birds of prey, the Irish Raptor Research Centre at Ballymote, Co Sligo, was doing her bit to promote the west.
Her minder Sarah Muschketat said Alaska was bred in captivity in a zoo in Germany and was bought by the centre when she was six months old. She has a life expectancy of up to 60 years.
“She likes being at the show because there is a lot going on to keep her interested but we do not encourage people to pet her because she might react in defence,” said Sarah.
Anthony Long, director of IRL Exotic, a Mexican tour operator based in Cancun, went on to reveal the number of Irish tourists choosing Mexico as their holiday destination had increased by 60% in the past six years.
“Nobody knows what we can expect this year but we have one advantage because you can now get 18 pesos for one euro — you can get a really nice six-day holiday in Mexico for around €900.”
Director of Dublin-based MAP Travel Marian Benton said people will still go on holiday even when times are tough.
“In a way, our bad weather is a bonus because at some point people will say: ‘To hell with it. Let’s go on holiday’. It might not be as extravagant but they will still look for a sun holiday.”
lAdmission to the event is €8 per adult and €16 for two adults and up to four children. Parking, at €6 a car, is extra.
The exchange rate between the euro and Turkish lira makes it an even more attractive destination this year. Holidays are good value. Turkish Airways are flying from Dublin to Istanbul every day from April 1.
There is increased capacity on flights from Dublin, Belfast and Shannon and an increasing number of operators are putting together packages to make holidays easier to organise.
Has been more focused on British market up to now but, with sales down because of weakening value of sterling, the Irish market is being targeted with tempting offers of flights to tropical destination from Britain.
There is a lot of hotel development going on in the country particularly with the World Cup being held there next year. Many of the hotels are keenly priced and the value of the euro stronger than the rand.
There are a lot of travel agents looking at new holiday products that they can offer — cultural trips and weekend breaks. London, for the first time in ages, is affordable with sterling almost at parity with the euro.
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