The summer holiday booking season is in full swing this month with many people rushing to book their annual break in the sun. The three largest tour operators, Falcon/JWT, Budget and Panorama are offering the usual round of sun, sand and sea and some competitive prices for early season dates. Direct Holidays, a Scottish company, has entered the Irish market this year and is offering commission-free holidays to the traditional sun markets. Not to forget the Irish tour operators: Topflight will launch its summer brochure at the Holiday World Show and Sunway's will be available from the end of the month.
MOVING back to the present and the winter season skiing is in full swing all over Europe and good snow has been falling for the past month or so. Topflight has some great value for dates this month to Andorra and Italy. A week in Arinsal or Livigno will cost from £259. Seat-onlys are available from £129. Seat-onlys are also available from Panorama for sun destinations in the Canaries, Morocco, Madeira and Tunisia. See your local ITAA travel agent for details.
TAKING your car on holidays gives you the freedom to see more of your destination and places on the way. DFDS Seaways (formerly Scandinavian Seaways) will again be offering some great value holidays to the Irish market in Holland, Germany, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. If you just want to travel to northern Europe they have return fares from £288 for a car and two passengers from Ireland to Kristiansand, Gothenburg, Hamburg and Esburg via Newcastle or Harwich. Details from your local travel agent.
BET you never thought you could fly three times a day to Blackpool from Dublin, but using Comed Aviation you can be there in a hop, skip and jump. The Blackpool service gives you access not only to the home of sticky rock but also the Lake District. You can book flights through your local travel agent.
THE children of Fatima are being beatified by the Pope in Fatima on May 13th. If you would like to be there for this historic event then MAP Travel have six-night packages departing Dublin on MAy 10th. The cost is £509 per person sharing for full board, plus tax and insurance.
BETWEEN now and February 12th you could spend four nights in Prague for as little as £189 including flights and accommodation. Take in the sights of this Baroque city, the Charles Bridge, Wenceslas Square, Prague Castle, or visit the opera or a concert. Citiescapes have put together some excellent packages for the quiet time of the year, you can get details from (01) 677 5533 or your local travel agent.
TOMORROW is the launch of the new Ryanair on-line booking site, any bookings made on it between then and February 13th will receive £5 discount. The address is www.ryanair.com
Joan Scales can be contacted at jscales@irish-times.ie