Mission: Holidays with a purpose 18th September 2008
A recent American Express Travel study has identified a growing trend for travel plans being based upon the holidaymakers' personal interests and not just on the basis of climate or location - and there are significant indications that this will increase over the next two years, despite ever-growing fears about the economy.
Our 2008 bookings record reflects the findings in the Amex survey. Ski-ing holidays are still as popular as ever and sporting events are now certainly in the spotlight. Perhaps the greatest upturn has been in the cruise sector with more exciting on-board facilities such as climbing walls, zip-lines and surf-riders.
Julie Fenlon, Manager of Club La Costa Travel
Of the 500 travellers in the survey, 87 per cent opted for travel experiences that enabled them to indulge in their favourite pastimes  ranging from cookery courses to hang-gliding - and some 28 per cent said the number of 'activity' holidays they take is likely to increase in the short to medium term. This is potentially great news for Club La Costa Resorts & Hotels, Europe's largest holiday ownership company with 22 fully-owned resorts in UK, Spain, Tenerife, Austria and Turkey, almost all of which offer ideal facilities or bases for single-minded members and holidaymakers 'on a mission'!
However, the Amex survey results also offered another pleasant surprise for the holiday industry in that, although 90 per cent of respondents felt the economy is slowly edging towards recession, almost two-thirds (60 per cent) of them said that travel is so important to their lifestyle that they will not let any latent fears about the economic downturn impact negatively upon their holiday plans.
By no means immune to the weakening economy, this particular group is apparently taking much more care with travel planning, looking to offset costs by tapping into rewards points or 'air miles' already earned (66 per cent); visiting more affordable, especially self-catering, destinations (58 per cent), and taking shorter, but more frequent holidays or breaks (24 per cent). In line with this trend, Club La Costa's resorts offer superb self-catering accommodation for holidays ranging from 3-day weekend breaks upwards.
Holidaymakers demonstrate a broad array of passions for which they are prepared to travel far and wide with 57 per cent of the Amex response claiming that 'distance is no object' for holidays where their special activities and interests are involved.
Food, in all its forms, appeared to inspire a growing number of travellers, particularly 18-34 year-olds, who were motivated by the desire to expand their culinary horizons. In the Amex survey, 42 per cent stated that the opportunity to try and even learn to cook authentically exotic cuisine would be extremely important to their travel choices.
Some 28 per cent of the respondents in the survey regularly built their holidays around attendance at a major sporting event. Club La Costa's Alpine Centre in Austria saw first-hand this interest in 'sports-travel' when the country co-hosted the European Football Championships in June 2008, and their Duchally Country Estate in Perthshire, only 5 minutes from the world-renowned Gleneagles golf course, also witnesses the huge interest from travelling spectators whenever the venue stages a PGA Tour event.
Adventure seekers featured strongly in the survey, with 25 per cent of respondents having recently taken a holiday in pursuit of the thrills associated with outdoors activities ranging from hiking to whitewater rafting. Duchally Country Estate (walking, fishing, shooting, mountain-biking) the Alpine Centre (ski-ing, tobogganing, climbing) and the Club La Costa Yacht Club (luxury catamaran sailing) are particularly well-placed to take advantage of this latent demand for 'action-centred' holidays, as well as continuing to buck the general holiday market trend in the face of growing economic uncertainty.
Holidays that include attending a concert or music festival appealled to around 1 in 5 people (21 per cent). Club La Costa's resorts on the Costa del Sol and in Tenerife experienced the incredible pulling-power of music this summer as members on holiday in these ever-popular locations flocked to some exciting local events which featured, among others, Julio Iglesias, Simply Red, Gloria Estefan, James Blunt and Lou Reed.
Travelling on holiday to delve deeper into the history and culture of a particular destination or to learn/develop new skills such as languages or conservation techniques was a key feature for more than 15 per cent of those surveyed. Turkey always remains high on the list of preferred countries for history buffs everywhere and Club La Costa has two resorts perfectly situated on the country's southern coastline. Lorymar Resort and Hotel is ideally located for culture-vultures, situated right in the heart of the region's rich history and the new beachfront Appolonium Spa and Beach Resort, opening soon near Bodrum, is also a mere stone's throw away from some of the world's oldest and finest archaeological sites.
Julie Fenlon, Manager of Club La Costa Travel said, "Our 2008 bookings record certainly reflects the findings in the Amex survey. Ski-ing holidays are still as popular as ever, and we are seeing an increasing diversity in holiday styles. Booking flights for golfing parties has seen an upturn and sporting events in general, even if they involve a 2-3 hour flight, are now certainly in the spotlight. Perhaps the greatest upturn has been in the cruise sector which are now being sold as 'action-centred' with more exciting on-board facilities such as climbing walls, zip-lines and surf-riders. Traditional sightseeing excursions have also been expanded to take in such experiences as safaris in Africa and scuba-diving, particularly when linking it to a holiday on one of the Club La Costa 60' catamarans that will be sailing in the Red Sea this winter."
Our 2008 bookings record reflects the findings in the Amex survey. Ski-ing holidays are still as popular as ever and sporting events are now certainly in the spotlight. Perhaps the greatest upturn has been in the cruise sector with more exciting on-board facilities such as climbing walls, zip-lines and surf-riders.
