Page 003 News r 19/02/2013 19:55 Page 1
MARCH 2013 PAGE 3
NEWS
www.travelextra.info
BUS ÉIREANN has introduced free
wi-fi at seven bus stations: Ballina, Busaras, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Sligo and Waterford.
FLORIDA’s law requiring motorists to have an International Driving Permit to rent a car in the state has been rescinded, but car hire companies are still confused over whether they can rent a car without one. The license is required in most countries outside the EU and the USA to rent a car. The AA still recommends that travellers get the permit and the form is downloadable from their website.
Reign of Spain
UNWTO announced at Fitur 2013 that Asia, Pacific and Americas were the most ‘open’ regions for travellers in terms of Visas. UNWTO figures show strong growth in tourism in some surprising destinations, up 8pc in central & eastern Europe tourism in 2012, up 10pc in the USA, up 6pc in England and up 5pc in Germany.
Canary Islands increase Irish market share Teide in Tenerife: big news in 2013 with extra charters
W
hile the Spanish Tourist Board reported 1,199,017 Irish visitors to Spain in 2012, virtually unchanged from 2011, there has been a seismic shift in where Irish people are going within Spain, with the Canaries and Catalonia the big movers in terms of Irish visitor numbers. While Irish residents spent 13.5m bednights in Spain last year, almost all of them in the four main honey pot provinces. The Canaries attracted 405,201 visitors from Ireland, taking an astonishing 34.5pc share of visitor numbers and 39pc of bednights from the Irish market.
SPAINBOUND All of Spain Canarias Andalucia Catalonia Balearics Other
(35pc) (22pc) (15pc) (12pc) (16pc)
1,199,017 405,201 263,784 179,853 143,882 206,000
Visitor numbers to the Canary Island market are more than Italy or indeed the tourist numbers travelling to Greece and Turkey combined. Lanzarote is the favourite island, and received 176,965 Irish visits (more than Greece), Gran Canaria 83.402, Tenerife 77,332 and Fuerteventura 54,308. Spain is Ireland’s second best connected destination after England. In 2012 there were 9,350 flights between Ireland and Spain with an average load factor of 83.4pc (Lanzarote 90.62pc, Canaries 87.31pc, Andalucia 86.12pc). Capacity was down marginally from 1.75m to 1.74m seats. Spain received 57.89m international tourists in 2102, up 2.9pc on 2011, third biggest in history after 2007 (58.6m) and 2006 (58m). Spend from international tourists was 6pc up at €55.7bn. The number of Irish visitors was 38.4pc down from the peak of 1,659,000 in 2008.
The market share of the Canaries was up eight points from 31pc in 2012, followed by Catalonia with 19pc (up from 15pc), Andalusia with 18pc (down from 21pc) and the Balearics with 10pc (down form 15pc). Bed nights in Catalonia were up 19pc and to the Canaries were up 18pc on 2011. The Balearics, Majorca, Menorca and Ibiza saw a spectacular decline of 37pc and Andalucía was down 20pc.
BEDNIGHTS All of Spain Canarias Catalonia Andalucia Balearics Valencia Madrid Gallicia Pais Vasco Other
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(39pc) (19pc) (18pc) (10pc) (6pc) (4pc) (1pc) (1pc) (2pc)
2,510,000 979,000 477,000 452,000 251,000 152,000 100,000 c25,000 c25,000 c50,000
IAPCO Delegates from 30 countries arrived in Dublin this month to attend the annual meeting of International Association of Professional Congress Organisers. BUNAWAN A village in the Philippines where the world’s largest sea water crocodile has died. CITIESCAPES Alan Lynch’s Citiescapes offer an unusual destination: North Korea, departing August 18. DUBAI has entered the battle to be the
biggest ferris wheel: 201-metre Dubai Eye will surpass the 165-metre Singapore Flyer. Dubai reported 41,237 Irish visitors, 191010 bed nights in 2012.
RUDE PLACENAMES Bath-
room browsers now have a map of the world’s rudest place names which was posted by Londoner Gary Gale.
BARBERSTOWN Castle launched Medieval Banquet in its Banqueting Hall on Saturday, Feb 23rd.
CYPRUS The long awaited Zening Resort opens on the Akamas Peninsula in Cyprus in May.