Tinsel and turkey

With the second Eid break falling the week prior to Christmas this year, savvy travel professionals are already foreseeing pressure on airline seats as well as accommodation, perhaps forcing a rethink on the destinations that are traditionally big players during this time of year.

According to managing director of The Travel Collection, Jacqueline Campbell, potential for travel will be huge, with school holidays, Eid, and Christmas and New Year taking place in quick succession, but the fact that this regional peak coincides with traditionally busy travel times could prove a problem.

“Elsewhere, people book a long time out during this period and we are already hearing that the Maldives as a destination is nearly full for New Year,” she says.

“There will be a need to plan for alternatives, perhaps the Christmas markets in Europe or Asia where the weather is very good now.”

Far and wide, this message is reiterated. Top end safari specialist Wilderness is one operator with the ‘full’ sign up on its luxury camps in southern Africa during this peak season, and Africa Beckons also confirms that most of the Botswana Delta camps are fully booked, as well as Cape Town hotels.

Oberoi’s regional director of sales and marketing Lincy Isaac stresses the point: “Typically our resorts in India, Mauritius and the Red Sea are booked in advance for this period from almost all other source markets except for the Middle East -we are almost sold out for this festive period with the top suites and rooms the first to be booked, especially for special occasion days,” she says.

“We would certainly recommend that bookings be made earlier rather than later and that agents try and educate the customer by mentioning that an early reservation means the possibility of getting a better choice and higher quality – last minute bookings often mean a compromise on some aspect from the customer’s end.”

This view is endorsed by Six Senses, whose luxury resorts in the Maldives are booked well in advance for the festive season according to area director Ryosuke Yakuwa.

“Due to the proximity of the Maldives to the Middle East, bookings from this market come with the shortest lead time of less than one week,” he says, pointing out that customers looking for specific accommodation can be disappointed since in the peak Christmas period – villas with one or more bedrooms that can accommodate families sell out fast.

One solution is put forward by Emirates Holidays, whose solid reputation has served to persuade many resorts to keep allocations for longer than normal to accommodate Middle East travellers.

“Christmas is difficult as places like the Maldives are getting full, often booked a year out, but we do have allotments and this is the benefit of booking through a big operator such as ourselves,” explains destination development manager for the Americas and Europe Marco Heinrich.
One Eid at a time…

But while the festive spirit is sweeping other parts of the world, interestingly those operators that made an effort to put together products well in advance faced a blanket apathy with autumn focus from the trade purely on the October Eid.

Wholesaler Tempo dipped its toes in the icy waters of European festive breaks and has hopes that this will eventually incite some interest from the region’s trade.

“We had no immediate feedback to the launch of our winter brochure in September,” concedes senior consultant Dean Hopkins. “The trade is always bemoaning late bookings but even in September they could not focus on December. There are plenty of options for a pre-Christmas break with the festive markets, seasonal trimmings, scenery, possibility of snow and a choice of gateways to Frankfurt, Vienna or Prague to overcome any seat availability problems.”

The company is offering tours of Munich, Salzburg and the Bavarian castles; Christmas market tours in Germany; short breaks in Prague, Salzburg or Vienna; and rail tours taking in Budapest, Vienna and Prague, or Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck and Graz.

Or, for something completely different, Tempo also offers short breaks in Tuscany with the bonus of local cookery classes and market visits. Prices start from $1015 per person.

But, it is the combination of shopping, twinkling lights and snow in authentic surroundings that is tipped to succeed this winter, appealing perhaps to all nationalities.

According to Emirates Holidays’ Heinrich, the most upscale option is Switzerland.

“While our ski brochure kicks in from December 1, most ski fans would consider February or March for guaranteed snow and it is the winter wonderland and nature that sells earlier on – we have local families booking ski packages at fancy hotels to enjoy the winter atmosphere, even if there isn’t snow and they don’t ski,” he says.

And, in his view, there’s definitely a market for a break in Europe at this time.

“For Eid and pre-Christmas, the romance of the season is typified in central Europe and this is enhanced by the Christmas markets, shopping with atmosphere and not the usual mall names – while a big buy for all nationalities is traditional decorations, which are extremely popular.”

Heinrich’s colleague, Davinder Kaur, product development manager for Asia and Australasia, also makes the case for looking for the festive spirit in other destinations.

“Another consideration could be a break in the tropics where Hong Kong, for instance, goes big on Christmas with a huge tree, processions, decorated buildings and laser light shows, as well as the shopping,” she says.
For those who want to explore more than one destination in Asia, a cruise could be the answer, with several of the major operators now positioning ships in the Far East as well as the Caribbean during the winter months.

Royal Caribbean, for instance, has Rhapsody of the Seas based out of Singapore, and during the festive season has a number of short cruises that can be combined with city stays.

“There’s reasonable availability on sailings in December with Grand Suites and staterooms in most categories, although balcony cabins are heavily booked and waitlisted on these sailings,” says RCCL regional marketing manager Debbie Summers.

On offer is five nights out of Singapore visiting Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Phuket on December 21 and 29, as well as a three-night itinerary visiting just Kuala Lumpur and Penang on December 26. Rates start from $1078 double occupancy for the latter and $2038 for the five-nighter, while a Grand Suite on the New Year sailing breaks all resolutions at $5598 for double occupancy.

Demand for short break options in Asia fits in well with one trend observed by Emirates Holidays.

“We are seeing long haul becoming medium haul,” reveals Heinrich. “Formerly, during Eid and other short holidays, four hours was considered the maximum flying limiting customers to destinations such as the Maldives and Cyprus.

“But now, Vienna, Istanbul and Munich are seen as perfect for a four- to five-day break, and that’s up to more than five hours’ flying time, while generally people are looking for more unusual destinations.”

His advice is to look at off-season destinations such as Cyprus or Malta, new gateways such as Venice or even Sao Paulo, perhaps a regional option like Jordan – following the nomination of Petra as one of the new world wonders – or Australia for those with more time to spare.

“Another option is Sri Lanka, which is real value for money at the moment,” he adds.

Although not on the Emirates’ radar, the return of SAS Scandinavian Airlines to the region with its Copenhagen-Dubai flights offers another market option, bolstered by Qatar Airways’ launch to Stockholm later this month.

With initial offers of free transfers onwards from Copenhagen to either Oslo or Stockholm and launch return fares staring from $542, Scandinavia in winter could be a welcome break pre-Christmas.

Meanwhile, Budapest is going large this winter with a comprehensive ‘Winter Invasion’ campaign running from December 1, supported by the oneworld alliance in addition to 50 of the capital’s hotels and Hertz.

Offers include one free night’s stay for every three booked at participating hotels, special fares from Malev and other promotions at tourist attractions.