News - archive 2006
Brits lap up villa life
The number of Brits buying second homes in the sun has soared, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) which says British families have spent £23 billion on buying dream homes, 80 per cent in Europe. Spain is the most popular market, followed by France. Most homes bought in the US are in Florida. Other popular non-European markets include South Africa, Australia and the Caribbean. People looking for affordable second homes are also investigating Bulgaria, Egypt, Brazil and the Czech Republic, according to currency specialist HIFX. On average, British people spend between £150,000 and £200,000 on overseas properties. The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) estimates home ownership abroad will double in the next five to seven years. In France, villas in Provence and the Côte d’Azur are perennially popular, while the Association of British Travel Operators to France (ABTOF) reports increased year-round bookings to the Alps and the coastal resorts of the south-west. Oxfam weeksOxfam is asking holiday home owners to give a week’s rental income to support its programme of emergency relief and long-term development work in 70 countries. Villa and apartment owners who’d like to take part will be sent a form in which to specify the week they want to pledge, and its rental value (minus any charges). They can publicise the week as a ‘charity week’ to attract holidaymakers, but if it isn’t booked, no money is donated. Part of a national campaign called Valued at Oxfam, the scheme aims to bring the charity ‘high value gifts’. Oxfam’s Brian Harley, who came up with the idea said “People have only so much money to give, but if someone has a holiday home, this provides the chance. It’s an easy way of donating.” Call 0845 6033647; e-mail valuedatoxfam@btconnect.com; or go to www.oxfam.org.uk Smoking – who allows what?
A smoking ban in the UK’s bars, restaurants and workplaces gets under way from the middle of next year – but what about elsewhere in the world? Some countries, such as Italy and Spain, have adopted a compromise, while in France a ban in the workplace – including restaurants and bars – was rejected. Here’s a round-up of who allows what in popular villa destinations: Spain – banned in small establishments. Those with more than 1,100 sq ft of floor space can have smoking areas which must have ventilation systems. Italy – banned, although designated, sealed-off and ventilated smoking rooms are allowed. Florida – banned in restaurants. Bars which don’t serve hot food can allow smoking. Smoking rooms in hotels are exempt. Portugal – it’s up to individual bar, restaurant and nightclub owners to decide whether to implement a ban. France – allowed. A ban on smoking in workplaces, including bars and restaurants, failed to get through parliament. Cyprus – there are separate smoking areas in bars and restaurants, but no plans for a ban. Greece – specific non-smoking areas have to be provided apart from in traditional cafés and late-night clubs. Heritage Hotspots - SintraA ‘glorious Eden’ is how Byron described Sintra, a town on a coastal mountain range where Portuguese kings built summer palaces to escape the sweltering heat in Lisbon 16 miles to the east. The entire area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The 14th century National Palace dominates the old town. Its halls are decorated with the finest collection of ceramic tiles on the Iberian Peninsula, and its white twin towers are a distinctive landmark. Ten miles from town is the 18th century Queluz Palace – with its opulent interiors and neat gardens, it’s often compared to Versailles. Perhaps the most impressive is Pena Palace, on a mountaintop overlooking Sintra. With its bright yellow and red battlements, towers and turrets, it looks like an illustration from a fairytale, and is ranked as the most extravagant example of Portuguese Romantic architecture. King Ferdinand II had it built in 1840, along with a 500-acre park with pavilions, lakes, fountains and more than 2,000 species of plants. The ruins of a 7th century Moorish castle stand on a neighbouring peak, and there are magnificent views of Sintra and Pena from its snaking battlements. A tram (only at weekends between September-April) goes from town to Praia das Maçãs, nine miles away, where there are good fish restaurants overlooking a golden beach. Cabo da Roca – a mile further – is Europe's most westerly point. • Classical concerts are stages at The Sintra Festival in June and July. Venues include the National and Pena palaces, and the Olta Cadaval Cultural Centre. Tel +351 219107111 |
No frills to FloridaFlorida villa owners say they’re delighted the low-cost revolution is reaching the Sunshine State. Thomsonfly now has flights to Orlando Sanford, Florida, from Doncaster, Sheffield, Manchester, Newcastle, Cardiff, Birmingham, Belfast, Glasgow and Gatwick – with one-way prices starting at £119. And start-up carrier Flywho aims to start a weekly service from Birmingham to Sanford on 8 July and to St Petersburg-Clearwater on 27 July, with return tickets from £391 excluding tax. In-flight phone fears
Yet another piece of research shows mobile phones, laptop computers and handheld game consoles can disrupt a plane’s cockpit instruments. “We found the risk posed by these portable devices (when they’re switched on) is higher than previously believed,” said researcher Bill Strauss, of Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University in the USA. “They can disrupt normal operation of key instruments, especially Global Positioning System receivers, which are vital for safe landings.” DIY boomMore British holidaymakers than ever are creating DIY holidays abroad this summer, attracted by low direct booking prices and an ever greater choice of no-frills flights. Research by the Civil Aviation Authority shows a 21.3 per cent increase last year in the number of passengers taking cheap flights from British airports, rising from 16.7 million in 2004 to 20.3 million in 2005. Budget guideWant to know where you can fly to from Coventry? Or which low-cost, no-frills airlines go to Barcelona from Exeter? WhichBudget.com is an easy-to-use website which will tell you which carriers go where. Listing routes that tend not to show up on other sites, it was voted ‘Best of the net’ in 2005 by the Guardian. TRAVEL SHORTS• Travellers to the USA must now tell airlines – at check-in or before – the address of their first night’s accommodation as well as their country of origin before they can receive a boarding pass. British Airways says it is collecting transatlantic travellers’ data before check-in, either by phone, online or through agents. • easyJet passengers carrying only hand luggage on board are now allowed to print off their boarding pass at home at the time of booking. This means they don’t need to arrive at the boarding gate until only 15 minutes before the scheduled departure time. It’s been successfully trialled on easyJet routes from Stansted, Gatwick and Edinburgh, and it’s now available to 90 per cent of passengers in the UK. • From 1 January 2007, air passengers arriving back in the European Union will be entitled to a £340 duty-free allowance – triple the current limit set in 1994. Those travelling by sea or road are limited to £150. • Nottingham East Midlands airport plans to double the destinations that can be reached from the airport. By 2016 it aims to offer 200 places to fly to – and at the same time double airport jobs to 14,000. The airport says a second runway will not be needed. Car hire newsTax plan dropped Plans to tax tourists driving hire cars £3.50 a day in the Balearics – Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza – have been ditched following pressure from UK travel companies. Eduardo Gamero, the Balearic tourism director, said the tax was intended to stop scams in which cars are imported and sold without VAT being paid, under the pretence that they are hire cars. Holiday Villas insurance tip Car rental companies charge up to £10 a day for the extra insurance needed to cover the claims excess which could see hirers paying the first £500 or more for any damage to the car, and the whole cost of tyre damage, even if it’s a blame-free puncture. Buy the same cover yourself for as little as £2 a day – or get an annual policy from around £49 – from a broker such as www.insurance4carhire.com Contract clean-up Avis has produced a ‘transparent’ rental agreement in response to customer feedback which demanded greater clarity in the car hire process. Available across Europe, the agreement ‘is simply laid out, uses clear language and contains everything the renter needs to know,’ says managing director Stuart Gent. Chill-out zone for 5th terminalHeathrow’s fifth terminal – due to open in April 2008 – will feature an open-air plaza between the passenger arrival points and terminal, complete with trees, fountains, cafés and shops. Designed by Lord Rogers, who created the Millennium Dome and Pompidou Centre in Paris, the terminal will be used for British Airways flights. Terminal 2 – Heathrow’s oldest passenger building, opened in 1955 – will shut at the same time. The British Airports Authority plans to build another terminal – estimated cost: £1.5 billion – on the site, which could be ready in time for the 2012 London Olympics. |
Tax dodgers – look out!British people dodging rental tax on second homes in Spain are being targeted by the local collectors. Owners are meant to pay 25 per cent tax on rental income, but Spanish authorities have been slow to collect it, seemingly satisfied to collect just the wealth tax – between 0.2 and 2.5 per cent of a home’s value. This relaxed attitude is disappearing as taxmen now use more effective methods to track dodgers, including studying websites which show holiday rates and availability charts. “Landlords have been taking chances and getting away with it, but now the Spanish tax authorities are very efficient,” says John Howell, of London solicitors John Howell & Co. “The economy is under pressure and you don’t lose votes by taxing foreigners.” The French are also clamping down on tax dodgers. Earlier this year, the country opened its first tax office with English speaking staff, in Bergerac, to boost tax incomes from British home owners. An island again
Mont-Saint-Michel – France’s biggest tourist attraction after the Eiffel Tower and Palace of Versailles – is to be a proper island again. The waters surrounding it have become silted up, but now the French government is spending £160 million on a five-year scheme to remove the silt. Topped by a ninth century abbey, the 500 foot rocky outcrop – linked to the Normandy coastline by a causeway since the 1800s – is visited by four million people a year and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In future, there will be a 1.3-mile light bridge to the island, under which tides can flow freely. Visitors will be taken across by a shuttle bus – or they can walk. Jazz in the sun
Socrates Efstathiou – known locally as Soc – and his wife Andrea have completely transformed the Paradise Bar in the village of Pomos on the north-west coast of Southern Cyprus. It used to be a coffee shop with no electricity or telephone connection. Then it staged live gigs and DJ nights. Now it hosts the Paradise Jazz Festival. This year’s three-day festival runs from 8 to 10 September. “The idea of setting up a jazz festival was very organic, and took root simply from my love of listening to jazz in the sunshine with brandy sours,” says Soc. www.paradise-jazz-festival.com or e-mail paradiseplace@cytanet.com.cy Guide update• Michelin has revised 20 titles in its range of tourist guides, previously known as Green Guides. Among the updated titles are Provence; Normandy; the Atlantic Coast of France; Tuscany; Italy and Spain. Eighty years after the first Michelin Green Guide was published, the books still bring readers a selection of a region’s most beautiful sites with star ratings, accurate town and site plans, and suggestions for driving tours, weekends away, and places to eat. • Berlitz has expanded its range of combined holiday maps and guides to cover a further nine destinations. The concertina map and guide will appeal to holidaymakers who want to travel light when travelling off the beaten track or visiting the top sights. As well as the Spanish regions already available, the series now includes the Algarve, Croatian Coast, Florida, Tuscany, Cyprus, Madeira, Malta and Gozo, Lake Como and Lake Garda. New flightsRyanair to – Pisa, three-times weekly from Bournemouth. Started 8 June, from £9.99 excluding taxes. Flybe to – Paris, daily from Norwich. Started 25 May, from £29.99 single. Zoom to – Toronto and Vancouver, from Belfast. Started May, from £99 and £129 respectively. easyJet to – Alicante, weekly from Edinburgh. Started 20 May; Air Transat – Halifax (east Canada), weekly from Gatwick, from £243 return including tax. British Airways – Izmir (Turkey, Aegean coast), three times weekly from Gatwick, from £149 return. Monarch to – Faro, from Gatwick, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 31 July and 1 September. Ryanair to – Alghero and Ancona (Italy), Santander and Santiago (Spain), three times weekly from Liverpool. Start 3 October. Biarritz and Carcassonne (south France), Faro (Portugal) and Venice, from Shannon in County Clare, west Ireland. Start 12 October. Jet2.com to – Lanzarote, from Leeds Bradford. Start 2 November from £61 one-way. |
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