Ideas, suggestions and recommendations that can help you choose from a more limited palette of options that we know — both from professional and personal experience.

Water Babies — Cities that live in, by or on the water!

When one thinks of cities that are dominated by water, the place that almost instantly comes to mind is that unique piece of history that is Venice — one of the most successful city states that ever existed and where, unexpectedly, the concept of assembly lines in manufacturing originated from. The Venetian Arsenal was Europe’s first and largest military-industrial complex prior to the arrival of the Industrial Revolution, when Venice was a major maritime power

And you thought it was all about the destination?

  For many travelers, travel decisions are largely determined by the destination itself. Prague or Budapest? Australia or New Zealand? The USA or Canada? We choose places based on a multiplicity of criteria such as proximity, accessibility, cost, uniqueness, safety and a whole host of other qualities. Increasingly though, travelers (and experienced travelers in particular) are choosing destinations based more on what they can do when they get there. The destinations themselves still must tick

Why does it take a hurricane for consumers to appreciate the value of service?

Or an erupting volcano? Or an air traffic control strike? Or a computer systems failure (remember the infamous BA glitch earlier this year?) We’re all familiar with the old phrase ‘You get what you pay for’ and never has that cliché been more relevant than over the course of the past few weeks when Ryanair began its ‘drip drip’ release of announcements regarding sweeping flight cancellations across its entire network. The headlines have declared that

Buy cheap, buy twice.

Clichés become clichés because there’s always a large dollop of truth in them. We’ve all heard this one before and we usually associate it with buying cheap clothes that disintegrate after the first or second wash or the piece of gear or tech that was made in China and stops working after relatively little use. But did you know that those words of wisdom can also apply to the purchase of nearly anything — including

Who should pay for whom — The long-running joke that is Irish travel legislation!

The current legislative landscape that regulates both travel agents and tour operators in Ireland was introduced into law in 1982 following the spectacular collapse of Bray Travel the previous year. Bray Travel had been the largest tour operator in the state at that time and the financial fallout from that event which was estimated to be in the region of €1.5M was largely the reason why the subsequent legislation was introduced. Under the new scheme,

Without a travel agent, you’re on your own!

The title of this week’s blog is a tag line that was introduced some years ago by ASTA, the American Society of Travel Agents, to reinforce the point that when travelers organize their own travel arrangements, there is no back-up when things go wrong, whereas when you make them through a traditional travel agent as opposed to an OTA (online travel agent — different beast altogether!) you enjoy all the service benefits of that eco-system.

So you think you know the Canaries?

The Canary islands and Tenerife, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura in particular are amongst the most popular destinations for Irish travelers given their year-round climate. Located just 100 kilometres at their most easterly point off the west coast of Morocco, this autonomous region of Spain is the most southerly extent of Europe. What some people may not know though is that the archipelago compromises three further islands — La Palma, El Hierro and La Gomera

How you save money as soon as you pick up the phone to a travel agent!

There is a vocal cohort of consumers out there who believe that they save money by not using a travel agent and whilst there are certainly certain, limited scenarios where that might be true, such claims tend to be somewhat disingenuous since they don’t compare like with like and what I mean by that is that they rarely factor in the time and effort that they expend in searching all the multiple websites that they

Is anywhere safe anymore?

After the tragic events that took place last week in Barcelona, Cambrils and Turku, that surely must be a question that more and more people are asking themselves nowadays. We live in an increasingly dangerous world it would appear but according to academics such as Stephen Pinker in his 2011 bestseller ‘The Better Angels of our Nature’ the statistics would suggest otherwise. Indeed, if you look at the accompanying graphic to this week’s blog you’ll

Where do you go next when you’ve been almost everywhere?

There was a time, not so long ago, when travelling to someplace like Australia was seen as a big deal or when a holiday in Mauritius was looked upon as something only the rich and famous could afford to indulge in. Not anymore! Nowadays, your average consumer is pretty well traveled and whilst not everyone will necessarily have visited Jamaica, The Maldives or Antigua, nor will they feel as if these destinations are so off

These numbers may surprise you!

When people find out that I work in the travel industry one of the questions that I invariably get asked is ‘What’s popular this year?’ When I always reply ‘Spain’, they seem visibly disappointed as if they had expected me to cite someplace far more exotic like Mexico or Mozambique! The reality is that most people don’t like to move too far outside their comfort zone and so the hardy annuals such as Spain, Portugal,

The same, but different — on Safari in Kenya

Anyone who has ever visited New York will recall the very first time that they walked through downtown Manhattan, taking in all the sights and sounds. It felt like walking through a movie set, didn't it? Not only that but it simultaneously felt very familiar because of all the movies and tv shows in which it has acted as backdrop yet also was very different but it was difficult to put your finger on what

The art of getting a quote that is both competitive in price and relevant to your needs starts with gathering all the right information about what you want to do (or think you want to do!).