With only 14 days left to go, the build up to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver is reaching fever pitch, so we spoke to AITO Ski members to see if we could follow in the footsteps of previous medallists and take to the slopes in a resort that previously hosted a Winter Olympics. Here are some ski break from AITO members to some of the most famous Olympic resorts down the years, and some video links to relive the atmosphere from these great events.
St Moritz, Switzerland 1928 & 1948
Sleek St Moritz - 7 nights’ B&B from £899 pp
St Moritz, the birthplace of Alpine winter tourism, has hosted the Winter Olympics twice and has something for everyone with its 350 km of pistes. With an in-house confectioners, 3* Hotel Hauser in St Moritz is the perfect place for a ski holiday. 7 nights’ B&B in March at the centrally located hotel, with Swiss flights and rail transfers costs from £899pp. Call AITO member Ski Safari on 01273 224 060
Squaw Valley, USA 1960
4,000 acres of skiing in Squaw Valley - from £1,099 pp for 7 nights in January
Celebrating 50 years since holding the Winter Olympics, Squaw Valley offers fabulous skiing and snowboarding overlooking the beautiful high alpine Lake Tahoe. Non-skiers will enjoy a variety of other activities, from snow-tubing to spa treatments or a visit to the Olympic Museum. 7 nights from 10 February at ski in/out 3* Squaw Valley Lodge, including flights and 4X4 car hire from £1,050pp. Call AITO member Ski Safari on 01273 224 060
Grenoble, France 1968
Vaujany in the Alpe d’Huez, Grenoble - £649 pp
Perched on a beautifully scenic slope in the corner of the Alpe d’Huez piste map near Grenoble lies the pretty village of Vaujany. Relax in true Alpine style by the roaring wood fire whilst the finishing touches to the evening’s culinary treats are made at Chalet Lucette. A week costs £649 pp fully catered including flights and transfers. Call AITO member Ski Peak on 01428 608070
Calgary, Canada 1988
Banff in Canada’s Rocky Mountains - £893 pp
An hour and a half from Calgary lies the beautiful town of Banff amidst the towering Rocky Mountains. A stay at the comfortable Banff Inn this February costs £885pp based on two sharing, including scheduled flights and resort transfers. You can ski in Banff at Norquay or Sunshine and take in a visit to Lake Louise too or perhaps visit the Olympic Park in Calgary, where, amongst others Eddie Edwards and the Jamaican Bobsleigh Team, found fame. Call AITO member Frontier Ski on 020 8776 8709
Albertville, France 1992
Adrenalin in La Plagne - £599 pp for 7 nights
With a bobsleigh run built for the 1992 Winter Olympics which is within easy access to the slopes, La Plagne offers an exciting holiday for adrenalin seekers. Its extensive ski area offers opportunities for all ages and abilities. 7 nights at the traditional Chalet Marguerite, La Plagne 1800 (sleeping 10/11) costs £679 per adult, £629 per child, including flights, transfers and chalet board for 20th March. Call AITO member Ski Beat on 01243 780 405
Lillehammer, Norway 1994
Norwegian Olympic Lillehammer – from £698 pp for 3 night break
The dramatic mountains above Lillehammer, home of the 1994 Winter Olympics, make a fantastic destination for a Norwegian ski trip. Make the most of the local ski school, with a resident British ski instructor, and fill your days on the slopes or cross-country skiing. Later relax in front of a log fire in the inviting lounges of the Rustad Hotel in Sjusjoen, trying the Norwegian specialities in the excellent restaurant. From £698pp including flights (Heathrow), transfers and 3 nights’ half board with lunch packs. Call AITO member Inntravel on 01653 617000
Nagano, Japan 1998
A week in Japan combining the white slopes of Hakuba and neon lights of Tokyo from £622 pp
Stay for five nights in the Hakuba Valley, deep in the Japanese Alps of Honshu and home to eight resorts which hosted the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics. With the ski season running to the end of April, the seven-night holiday costs £622 pp including two nights’ hotel accommodation in Tokyo and five nights lodge accommodation in Hakuba with breakfast, airport transfers, transport between destinations and information pack. Flights with Swiss, with departures from Heathrow and Manchester, start from £475 pp. Call AITO member InsideJapan Tours on 0117 314 4621
Salt Lake City, USA, 2002
Park City, Utah - 7 nights’ B&B from £1,025 pp
Park City, within easy reach of other Utah top skiing areas Deer Valley and The Canyons, offers ideal skiing for all the family. With numerous ski schools, over 100 restaurants and bars and only 40 minutes from Salt Lake City, 7 nights’ B&B from 22 February at the popular family-run 3* Park City Peaks Hotel with flights and transfers costs from £1,135pp. Call AITO member Ski Safari on 01273 224 060
Vancouver, Canada 2010
Olympic spectator sports in Whistler - £2,680 pp for a week
Visit Whistler this March and enjoy the resort, its slopes and all the excitement of the biggest winter sports event on the planet! With the Peak 2 Peak gondola to Blackcomb, fantastic snow and a multitude of Olympic events, Whistler is bound to appeal to all. A week at the luxurious 5* Chateau Whistler costs £1,709pp, based on 2 sharing, including flights and transfers. Call AITO member Frontier Ski on 020 8776 8709
Was 2009 the year the British fell in love with holidaying at home again, or was it a blip on the radar while we tightened our belts before jetting off to the sun in 2010?
The Brits embraced the idea of a staycation last year, keen to do our bit to keep the economy afloat by spending money at home and saving on flights, but 2010 has started with murmurs of discontent amongst UK holiday providers. They believe that this year could be an “annus horribilis” as travellers are once again swayed by the lure of foreign travel. The increasing strength of the pound also makes visitors from overseas less likely to plug the gap in the market and the tourist deficit of £17 billion is certain to grow even wider.
We had a chat with Simon Tregoning, MD of Classic Cottages who represents over 600 cottages across the West Country. He takes the view that 2011 is the year when the UK will make a recovery for domestic tourism and has genuine concerns about 2010. Classic Cottages is a well-known accommodation provider with clever marketing, an award winning brochure and a loyal clientele, but there must be concerns for some of the more niche providers out there and Visit Britain must be worried too.
Nobody wants to see a repeat of 2009, the bankers threw our savings away, the government tightened the noose a bit more and the Met Office couldn’t tell a snowflake from a Cadbury’s (Kraft?) Flake. The year ahead should be a welcome return to form for tour operators offering overseas travel but let’s also give domestic tourism a chance, there is so much to see in the UK.
We dropped in on friends in Cornwall last week for the day (a nano-break!?) to take in some sights and have lunch at just one of the incredible restaurants near Newquay, another reminder of the reassures in our own backyard.
Each year in December, Rodney Bay - on the lush, tropical island of St Lucia in the Caribbean - is the finishing destination for the ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers), a 2,700 nautical-mile passage across the Atlantic from Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. The largest transocean sailing event in the world, it usually takes between 14 and 21 days to complete with over 200 yachts, from 29-112ft, making the crossing (along with numerous NARC (Non-ARC) vessels). My father was racing on Star Chaser, a beautiful Swan 51 vessel, and so it was only right that I, together with my mother and brother, flew over to greet him at the finish line!
The first two yachts to arrive crossed the finish line in Rodney Bay on the 4th December, separated by just 16 minutes and five seconds. Big One and Bagheera arrived after just 12 days at sea and an exciting gybing (turning) duel, one which intensified over the last 24 hours. That left over 200 vessels still at sea, however, and not all had such an easy crossing - in fact some unlucky crews didn’t complete the voyage at all. Auliana II was abandoned and the crew evacuated following the loss of her rudder on the 23rd November - just one day into the race. Further misfortune befell Pelican on the 1st December: following a rig failure, the crew had to be evacuated around 300 nautical miles west of the Cape Verde Islands. Others still had big decisions to make. The crew of Silver Bear took the brave and valiant call to slow their boat down and shadow another yacht, Star Fire, for over 1,500 miles after she got into difficulty - providing selfless assistance and delaying their own arrival by several days. Who said it would all be plain sailing?
My extremely-elated Dad and the rest of the equally-chipper Star Chaser crew arrived on the 8th December at 19:50 local time, after 16 days sailing (final results showed Star Chaser’s position as 28th out of 158 in the Cruising Division, and the crew won an award for the best photos taken at sea - not bad at all!). A warm St Lucian welcome greeted them in Rodney Bay Marina, with rum punches at the ready… Not that the crew needed anything in the way of pick-me-ups after the rally: they were all high as kites on the back of such a transatlantic achievement. It proved to be a full-time job to keep them from swaying around and falling off the pontoon into the murky-marina water below!
The following day, the partying at the marina intensified as over a third of the fleet had docked safely in St Lucia. The consistent winds meant that average passage times were reduced by nearly three days compared with 2008. Rodney Bay buzzed with a unique atmosphere created by the coming together of hundreds of people from around the world united by a common accomplishment.
The fog horns, sirens, screaming and whistling continued even as the last yacht, ErasmosI, arrived on the 19th December after a string of nautical difficulties. Camaraderie was high and the rapturous ovation was unparalleled. ErasmosI may have taken her berth in the marina but for the pontoon-side celebrations with steel bands and fire dancers, this was just the beginning…
Welcome to St Lucia and the distinctly Caribbean pleasure of island time!
AITO represents quality, variety and expertise – exactly what AITO seeks from its Travel Writer of the Year awards. Says AITO Chairman, Derek Moore: “The judges are mandated to mark the articles submitted against three key criteria – we look for articles that are interesting, informative and inspirational.”
AITO has announced the results of its 13th Travel Writer of the Year awards with two additional new categories being awarded for the first time.
AITO Travel Writer of the Year
In third place, Anthony Peregrine’s ‘Gift of the Gab’ article written for The Sunday Times is a fresh take on Paris with “excellent word-play and flashes of Wildean humour.”
In second place is Ian Belcher with his ‘A slow boat to the refuge of the last dreamers’ article, written for The Observer, described as “a joy to read for those tied to their armchairs and giving a clear picture of life along the Mekong River in Thailand and Laos.”
The winner of the AITO Travel Writer of the Year 2009 award is Minty Clinch, writing for the Financial Times’ How to Spend It magazine. Clinch’s piece, ‘High Plains Drifter’, was an account of the first commercial riding expedition through Tajikistan’s High Pamirs. It resonated with the judges as having “exciting and adventurous content, where the style sweeps you along” in addition to being “an honest, scholarly and amusing portrayal of life on the tour.”
AITO Online Travel Writer of the Year
This new category was introduced to recognise much of the excellent work that appears exclusively online. The winner is Chris Leadbeater writing for Mail Online with his article ‘Africa holidays: Mountains, manes and meeting Mr Cheetah in sensational South Africa’. The judges liked its “clearly lively writing” that had “some style” and “carries the reader along easily.”
AITO Young Travel Writer of the Year
The winner of this inaugural award is Matt Bolton writing for Lonely Planet Magazine and his piece ‘The people’s Carnival’ on the Mardi Gras in Salvador, Brazil. It was described as “a joy to read from start to finish” with “lots of delicious detail” and “an electric feature that crackles with all the exuberance of the carnival he describes.”
AITO Chairman, Derek Moore comments: “As always, there was an incredibly high standard of entries in addition to a record number of submissions. We are delighted to have Minty Clinch claim the top spot, a new name for the roll of honour, but also to see the online travel writing community and younger journalists being recognised for their efforts”.
Viking Hellas Airlines (www.flyviking.gr), the Greek airline associated with Viking Airlines AB of Sweden, is pleased to announce the launch of a new three-times weekly scheduled service from Manchester to Athens, Greece, with effect from 1st February 2010, with convenient onward connections to three Iraqi cities.
Passengers from Northern England are set to be served with a new direct service to Athens from Manchester. With fares starting from as little as £59 one-way, inclusive of taxes and charges, Greece has never been more accessible. Current flight routes to Athens from the North West require at least one change of aircraft with other European carriers. Viking Hellas has established agreements with Olympic Air and Aegean Airlines to provide convenient connections to their Athens flight networks. This provides passengers with the opportunity to connect in Athens to and from other Greek cities, the Greek Islands, the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East.
Also on 1st February, Viking Hellas will commence weekly scheduled services from Athens to the cities of Erbil and Sulaymanyiah in the Kurdish Government Region of Iraq and the Iraqi capital city of Baghdad. Flights are scheduled to provide seamless connections to and from Manchester services, providing passengers from the north of England with the fastest possible journey times between the north of England and Iraq. Fares from Manchester to Iraq, connecting in Athens, start from as little as £545 return, inclusive of taxes and charges.
Roger Gatt, Commercial Director of Viking Hellas, announced the services, commenting: “We are delighted to be launching our first scheduled services from Manchester and expect the Athens route to be a great success. Manchester Airport has welcomed our new services and they are supporting us as we prepare for launch. We also look forward to working with travel agents to improve travel options from the north of England to Greece and beyond.
There is considerable demand for Iraqi services from the UK due to the sizeable expatriate community that currently has very few options to return home; this new service is a lifeline for them. Viking Airlines AB has operated flights from Sweden to the country for a number of years without incident and we are pleased to be providing another option for travellers to Iraq.”
Andrew Harrison, Manchester Airport’s Commercial Director said, “It’s great news that Viking Hellas Airlines are starting their first scheduled service from Manchester Airport, complementing the extensive charter programme already operated. Athens is a strong destination with high year round demand. Viking Hellas will offer a variety of connections ranging from the Greek Islands to several points in Iraq thus giving the North West region an even greater choice.”
Flights will operate from Manchester on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and from Athens to Manchester on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Viking Hellas is planning to increase frequency to four flights weekly by adding a Tuesday departure from Manchester and a Wednesday departure from Athens with effect from March 2010.
All routes can be booked at www.flyviking.gr
Fares include a 20kg baggage allowance, allocated seats and complimentary in-flight meals. Passengers will also be able to purchase snacks, refreshments and duty free from an extensive in-flight bar. Extra legroom seats will be available for a small supplement.
Viking Hellas was established in Greece in Autumn 2009 and has headquarters in Athens.
Viking Airlines AB was established in 2003 and has headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden
Viking Airlines AB operates Boeing B737-800 Next Generation and B737-300 which will be used to launch Viking Hellas scheduled services until its own Airbus A320s are delivered in Spring 2010
Fares from Manchester to Athens start from £59 one way, including taxes and charges
Fares from Manchester to Iraq, connecting in Athens, start from as little as £545 return, inclusive of taxes and charges
Special, low price add-on fares are available with Olympic Air and Aegean Airlines to/from destinations served from Athens
Viking Hellas Manchester Flight Schedules
Manchester - Athens
Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays
Depart Manchester VQ701 at 1330 hrs Arrive Athens at 1930 hrs
Athens - Manchester
Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays
Depart Athens VQ702 at 0930 hrs Arrive Manchester at 1130 hrs
Viking Hellas Connections to Iraq
Athens – Baghdad
Mondays
Depart Athens VQ753 at 2100 hrs Arrive Baghdad at 0100 hrs*
Baghdad - Athens
Tuesdays
Depart Baghdad VQ754 at 0300 hrs Arrive Athens at 0500 hrs
Athens – Erbil
Fridays
Depart Athens VQ717 at 2100 hrs Arrive Erbil at 0100 hrs*
Erbil - Athens
Saturdays
Depart Erbil VQ718 at 0300 hrs Arrive Athens at 0500 hrs
Athens – Sulaymaniyah
Wednesdays
Depart Athens VQ735 at 2100 hrs Arrive Sulaymaniyah at 0100 hrs*
Sulaymaniyah - Athens
Thursdays
Depart Sulaymaniyah VQ736 at 0300 hrs Arrive Athens at 0500 hrs
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Is the British staycation facing the perfect storm?
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010Was 2009 the year the British fell in love with holidaying at home again, or was it a blip on the radar while we tightened our belts before jetting off to the sun in 2010?
The Brits embraced the idea of a staycation last year, keen to do our bit to keep the economy afloat by spending money at home and saving on flights, but 2010 has started with murmurs of discontent amongst UK holiday providers. They believe that this year could be an “annus horribilis” as travellers are once again swayed by the lure of foreign travel. The increasing strength of the pound also makes visitors from overseas less likely to plug the gap in the market and the tourist deficit of £17 billion is certain to grow even wider.
We had a chat with Simon Tregoning, MD of Classic Cottages who represents over 600 cottages across the West Country. He takes the view that 2011 is the year when the UK will make a recovery for domestic tourism and has genuine concerns about 2010. Classic Cottages is a well-known accommodation provider with clever marketing, an award winning brochure and a loyal clientele, but there must be concerns for some of the more niche providers out there and Visit Britain must be worried too.
Nobody wants to see a repeat of 2009, the bankers threw our savings away, the government tightened the noose a bit more and the Met Office couldn’t tell a snowflake from a Cadbury’s (Kraft?) Flake. The year ahead should be a welcome return to form for tour operators offering overseas travel but let’s also give domestic tourism a chance, there is so much to see in the UK.
We dropped in on friends in Cornwall last week for the day (a nano-break!?) to take in some sights and have lunch at just one of the incredible restaurants near Newquay, another reminder of the reassures in our own backyard.
Ian Bradley
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