Recent News
3rd March 2010 Santander Bank UK research shows that almost half of the total 25 million British holidaymakers (47 %) cut out the middle man in 2009. The average saving on holiday costs was £423 according to the bank researchers.
Booking direct and online was the most popular method of organising these holidays.
Escapevillas predict that this trend will continue into the future leaving package holidays even less attractive in both terms of cost and amenities.
18th December 2009 Ryanair flights direct to the island are now available on their website starting on 3rd April 2010 from Bournemouth, Liverpool, Glasgow and Dublin. Other European cities are also listed.
3rd December 2009 officially announced that Ryanair are running 15 new routes to Fuerteventura starting in March 2010 (to be published on their website in the near future). This means cheap flights to the island will be available all season from a variety of Northern European cities for a contract that will last for at least 5 years.
1st December 2009 Liverpool Echo feature by Frank Corless:
Fuerteventura – the island that is full of surprises
Fuerteventura – the second largest island in the Canaries was shaped by volcanic eruptions millions of years ago, giving it a stark, dramatic, lunar landscape.
In parts, there is even a Martian ‘Red Planet’ feel as black rock merges with copper coloured rock, reddened by geothermal heat.
It’s a strange mixture that occurs all over the island. Yet, looks are not everything. Fuerteventura definitely grows on you.
Families, in particular, will find lots to see and do. Attractions range from a water park, and a zoo, to camel riding, golf, whale and dolphin watch cruises, submarine trips, and boat rides. There are also golf courses, top quality restaurants and loads of shops.
Culture vultures can turn to museums, craft centres, old windmills, churches, historic villages. Tindaya, a hauntingly beautiful mountain, regarded as saced by the island’s original inhabitants, is well worth a visit.
Caleta de Fuste, a rapidly developing resort, has everything any holidaymaker could want – and plenty of room to expand. We stopped for lunch at the Puerto Castillo restaurant on the harbour and, with the sun on high, and a busy chatter all around, it was difficult to drag ourselves away.
Corralejo, on the northern tip of the island, is built around an old fishing village, but now boasts the liveliest night life with a mixture of bars, restaurants, live music venues and shops.
It has a tree-lined main street, alleyways stretching down to the beach, and a busy harbour where you can catch ferries to Lanzarote, or take a trip to the uninhabited island of Los Lobos.
A short drive away is El Cotillo, a delightful fishing village, which is a must see. Its beaches and beautiful sheltered lagoons, are favourites with swimmers. Enjoy a value-for-money meal at La Vaca Azul (The Blue Cow) occupying a wonderful setting on the old harbour wall. You can sit back and enjoy the view as waves crash on to the rocks just yards away.
If you don’t mind testing your driving skills, head into the mountains to the island’s former capital, Betancuria.
There is no escaping the fact that the jewels in Fuerteventura’s crown are the stunning beaches, more than 150 of them, all of which owe their quality to sand blown in from the Sahara. Water sports enthusiasts just can’t go wrong.
Then, there’s the sunshine, three thousand hours of it every year.
If you want to be pampered, the hugely hospitable Riu Palace Tres Islas Hotel would make an excellent choice. Flanked on either side by dazzling white beaches, its location ranks among the best in Europe.
The hotel opened in 1974, before the area became part of the protected dunes. It is now so popular, mainly with German and UK guests, that 70 out of every 100 of them return, again and again.
RIU have set the benchmark for top quality food and service, and the Tres Islas is right on the button for both.
Just a word on our scheduled Monarch flight to Manchester. Despite having to battle terrible UK weather, the pilot made up 30 minutes to get us home only a few minutes late.
We complain when things go wrong, so when they go right let’s give credit where it’s due.
Travel Facts
MONARCH offers flights to Fuerteventura from Birmingham, London Gatwick, London Luton and Manchester airports with fares, including taxes, starting from £52.99 one way (£90.99 return).
Be there myself soon
four weeks today and counting
12th July 2009 low cost carrier Monarch Airlines commenced a winter and summer schedule starting on 21st October 2009 to Fuerteventura from Manchester, Birmingham, Luton and Gatwick airports.
2nd July 2009 Easyjet announced direct scheduled flights to Fuerteventura from Liverpool and Stansted on Wednesdays and Saturdays commencing November 2009.
Both these airlines have ticket prices that are highly competitive and this is further evidence that the island is gathering a reputation for becoming one of the top all year sun medium haul destinations from Northern Europe.
Summer 2009
The statistics for the most popular holiday destinations for 2009 were discussed on BBC Radio 2 on 23/6/09. 5 million UK citizens were choosing Greece, 5 million Turkey and 22 million Spain as a holiday destination this year. Commentators noted the popularity of Turkey as a non Euro country compared to previous years and this was largely attributable to the adverse sterling/ euro exchange rate at the beginning of the year. It was also mentioned that last minute deals to the Canary Islands had seen a surge in demand as the main tour operators cut prices nearer to the holiday dates in order to sell existing holidays.
It is apparent (from research carried out by Escapevillas), that flight only charges are being reduced to their keenest prices approximately 3 weeks prior to departure dates and one recent example for a 4th July to Fuerteventura flight saw the return flight reduced from £258 down to £220. It finally settled at £165 three weeks before departure.
Moneysupermarket.com show prices for hire cars in mainland Spain have almost doubled in recent months. Alicante for 2 weeks in August is £456 for a small car. In Fuerteventura the same car for 2 weeks rental is £230. This is a saving of £226. Flight costs to the mainland may be lower, but their hire car rates are considerably higher at present.
Holiday finances under the spotlight
Most observers consider that European holidays are becoming more expensive when electing to eat and drink out. Where the real benefits remain are in the comparatively lower cost flights and increased availability of more competitively priced accommodation. At certain times (notably Winter Sun holidays to the Canaries) of the year a family are now able to book flights in the price region of £80 - £160 per ticket (less with the low cost airlines) and a villa to sleep 6 for little more than £500 per week. This makes it possible to take a week's villa holiday for less than a total of £1000 for a family of 6 leaving plenty of room for a generous shop at the local supermarket.
The cost of 10 items including a cup of coffee, suntan cream, a 3 course meal and a bottle of house wine has recently been surveyed in almost every worldwide destination. The Post Office’s Holiday Barometer taking these items into account discovered that Thailand was the most competitively priced at a total cost of the items at £25.58. Australia was found to be the highest at £88.97.
The most competitively priced within the Euro zone was found to be Spain, with a total cost for these items at £59.24 which is significantly less than the highest cost destinations such as France, Italy and Portugal.
Accommodation and Flights
On the island of Fuerteventura, which is part of Spain, the opportunity to rent an independently owned apartment or villa has never been more varied or accessible. Sites such as ownersdirect.co.uk and fuerteventura.com carry 100+ adverts in the North of the Island alone.
In general it is entirely possible to halve the cost of a package deal by taking a little more time to find the right flight and accommodation combination. Being flexible with your holiday dates helps the most when choosing flights, being prepared to reserve accommodation up to one year in advance also helps both spread the cost and secure the best deals .
