Going Cruising

There are still winners in the travel business today; domestic holidays are on the increase and caravanning has now overtaken Spain as Britains favourite holiday!

Another winner, it seems, is Cosmos Tourama who announced plans to increase it's share of the European river cruise market.

Cosmos' demographics fit the bill perfectly of course, with an older clientelle less vulnerable to economic recession, their clients traditionally enjoy the escorted touring provided on four (or is it 16?) wheels.

Having stayed on a number of the elegant ships that cruise the Rhine and the Danube, I can see the attraction; the cabins are spacious, there is plenty of room for stretching out on deck and the resturants and bars are usually first class.

Cosmos is owned by international touring giant Globus, who already own the Avalon cruise business so extending the brand is a relatively risk-free venture for them.

A Sustainable Montenegro?

We've been fans of Montenegro ever since we first visited three years ago. This small country has some of the most beautiful coastlines, a spectactular interior and delightful, friendly people. Ok, the food needs a little attention, but the red wine and Slivovitch is fantastic.

There's a lovely piece in the Guardian this weekend about rafting down the Tara river. The author describes staying in the new Hotel Lipka a 'boutique' hotel, deep in the heart of the Durmitor National Park.

Until the declaration of independance from nearby Kosovo, Montenegro was Europes newest state, recently separated from it's neighbour Serbia. With new independence, Montenegro adopted the Euro and applied for full EU membership, although the memebrship is still some way off, the country has succeeded in utilising many of the grants provided by the EU in reparation following the war.

Consider this; Montenegro has one of the worlds most photographed historical sites in Sveti Stefan, Europes only fjord at Kotor, the second deepest Canyon in the world after the Grand Canyon, a brand new airport in Podgorica and miles of under developed beaches..

If you're looking for an investment opportunity - then Montenegro is the country to consider. At the moment all the smart money is coming in from Russia with a view to making the Montenegrian Coast reminiscent of the Costa Del Sol in the 70's, but there are many hotels and tourism organisations that are trying to avoid this particular disaster and are looking fore the opportunity to develop sustainable tourism with suitable partners.

Slumdog Millionaire..?

On my last visit to Mumbai, I stayed at the Taj Mahal Palace, the scene of the atrocities last last year, I'd stayed there previously and I was anxious to see how the the hotel had recovered. The hotel reopened 268 rooms in the main tower at the end of December with the rest of the hotel to open in phases over the course of the year.

The Indian Governement have plans to try and double the number of international arrivals over the next two years from 5m to 10m and are looking to fill an identified shortfall in rooms. With the Governments help, hoteliers seem bullish about their plans for the future and are confident they can overcome fears of the security and recession.

India hosts the Commonwealth Games in Dehli in 2010 and tax incentive schemes have been devised to encourage hotel projects in Dehli and other cities. Several of the larger hotal groups have announced ambitious growth plans; in Mumba, Sofitel, Westin and Oberoi are building, the Marriott Renaissance is adding an additional 300 rooms.

And in September, Kingfisher (yes, as in the beer) launched a Heathrow-Bangalore service alongside the existing services from Air India, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Jet Airways.

Slumdog Millionaire may have cleaned up at the BAFTA and may succeed in the Oscars, but India will be the real winner.

Poland - The place to be

There was a time when the idea of a holiday to Poland seemed frankly absurd but recent years of relative fast growth has meant the country is no longer the economic backwater it was regarded as.

After WWII, nearly 90 percent of Warsaw was reduced to rubble and the city was rebuilt on a centralized Soviet scheme. This resulted in the construction of dour and drab block-shaped housing structures and unimaginative architecture. But rapid economic growth following changes in the Governmental system havecreated a demand for more exciting designs that have, over the past decade, resulted in a steady growth of attractive building works.

Tourism became a key beneficiary of the redesigned Polish capital. The Warsaw Tourist Office registered an all-time high of 9m tourists in 2008, of which 3.5m were from overseas. This is an increase of almost 50% in foreign arrivals since Poland's integration with the European community four years ago. And in 2012, as Poland co-hosts the UEFA championships, with new builds for football stadia and other infrastructure, Poland promises to be a destination to watch.

Viva la Revolution

As capitalist markets around the world struggle, there's a certain hubris in the news that one of the last great bastions of communism is thriving. It seems tourists are flocking to Cuba despite hurricanes and global recession and the sickness/retirement of Fidel.

The Caribbean republic's ailing Marxist leader, Fidel Castro, handed over power to his brother nearly two-and-a-half years ago, leading to a downturn in the island's growing tourist industry. The trade, a major source of hard currency for Cuba, peaked in 2005 with the arrival of 2.3 million visitors, but dropped to 2.1 million in 2007.

But last year Cuba recovered and received more tourists than in any season since it opened up to foreign investment and tourism in the mid-1990s with 247,386 visitors.

There are no reported cancellations of tours booked for the December-March peak season and it is believed an increase in Canadian visitors will offset any reduction in Europeans put off by rising air fares and other economic worries.

All of this is good news for a country still recovering from Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, which struck within ten days of each other, causing extensive damage.

Cuba's ministry of tourism has actively sought new business, offering tour operators better deals than rival Mexican and Dominican destinations, and last year the country cut the price of aviation fuel.

American tourists are barred by US law from visiting Cuba, but many hope that with a new administration in Washington, restrictions on US nationals visiting the island may be relaxed soon.

Three & Four Star hotels get back to basics

A new report by the Economist Intelligence Unit entitled 'The Austere traveller' highlights some of the trends hotels will face over the next 12 months. Namely, that business people will make fewer, shorter and cheaper business trips in 2009 and prefer basic efficiency and good service over 'frills' and ancillary services.

The good news here is that there will be a move towards established brands with a reputation for levels of good service, no matter where they are in the world.

With nearly a half of all respondants planning to take fewer trips in the next twelve months, over a quarter expect to downgrade from 4 and 5-star hotels.

What a great opportunity for three and four star hotels! Ensure you provide good services levels and you will pick up business - just get the simple things right!

• be flexible to changing arrangements
• have an efficient check in-check out
• remember you customers
• resolve any problems quickly
• provide internet connectivity!
  

More Good News

With so much negative news around, we've decided there will only be good news here. And so from now on it will be good news only.

Good to see there's the launch of a new scheduled air service between Zagreb and Madrid. This service, offered by Iberia, will operate twice weekly from July 4 until September 20, 2009, using an Airbus A320 aircraft.

This new services comes in response to the growing market demand between Spain and Croatia and signifies an increasing growth in tourism and commerce between the two countries.

Good News Amid the Gloom

Hats off to Tom Jenkins at the European Tour Operators Association. Tom is always worth listening too and his recent comments in eTN is no exception. Amid the gloom, Tom finds some good news, "The good news – and there is good news" he adds, "is that both the euro and sterling has dropped spectacularly against the core inbound currencies of dollar and yen so that for the first time in ten years, a trip to Europe looks – not a bargain – but it looks genuinely affordable to a lot more people in North America and Japan; that was the case even three months ago."

He has an encouraging view for the future, "when the dust settles, you will look out over a landscape where you have lots of hotel availability, you have a strong dollar, you have a strong yen, you have plenty of people with money in your origin markets, there are plenty of people with money in Europe even after all these financial problems, you are looking at lower oil prices with lower airfares – you’re really looking at a potential boom time for European inbound tourism at the moment."