Travel agents see drop-off in last-minute sun holidays
Irish-owned holiday company Sunway confirmed it was pulling its Kerry-Palma Majorca sun holiday well ahead of schedule.
The Kerry-Palma flight had started at the end of June and was Sunway’s first operation out of Kerry. It was due to cease on Aug 22 but is now to end on July 18.
Only a fraction of the seats have been sold. The few customers who had booked out of Kerry, mostly through travel agents, are to be offered a refund or a flight out of other Irish airports to Majorca.
The Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) said tour companies had put on extra sun holiday capacity in anticipation of a repeat of last year’s weather, but that was being left under-utilised.
It is also considering the withdrawal of its Knock to Majorca operation, also introduced this year.
A spokesman for Kerry Airport said naturally it was disappointed and it hoped to offer a sun destination in the winter with Sunway.
The package company was competing with flight-only runs from Kerry to Alicante in Spain and Faro in Portugal with Ryanair and these have been operating for a number of years and were “well-bedded” in, the spokesman said.
ITAA chief executive Pat Dawson said this year’s “freak weather” was certainly having an affect on business.
“People go away for nice weather. There is no doubt about that,” Mr Dawson said.
Tour operators would have increased capacity this year because of last year’s bad weather and demand for sun seats, he said.
Meanwhile, the extended period of exceptionally hot weather has impacted on water supplies.
Limerick County Council yesterday issued a water alert with reservoirs running low. The council warned supply may have to be cut periodically. There has been a 25% increase in demand in Abbeyfeale while the Newcastle West Public Water Supply saw a 15% increase since the weekend.
Areas affected include Kilteely, Kilbeheny, Herbertstown, Ardpatrick, Foynes, Kildimo, Adare, Croom, Oola and Doon.
Senior engineer David Keane said: “Conservation is being urged not only because of a shortage of a rainfall but additionally because of the surge in demand.
“In order to ensure a continuous minimum supply to all areas, watering of gardens and washing of cars in particular should be avoided.”
In West Cork, Cllr John O’Sullivan urged farmers and homeowners to conserve and manage water supplies. “Water supply staff are working around the clock monitoring and where possible augmenting water supplies.”
Junior minister Tom Hayes asked forest owners and managers, turf cutters and the general public to be aware of the high risk of wildfires.
Met Éireann says the high temperatures are set to continue until Saturday when a weak cold front will move in bringing a fresher, less humid air mass.
Leinster and Munster could still reach 24C over the weekend but the weather forecaster said while there could still be a good deal of sunshine, there will be significantly more cloud and, potentially, rain.
