Great deals in Greece
Troubles mean cheaper hotels; also, Air Canada improves ads
These reports appeared earlier this week on travel editor Jim Byers blog: www.thestar.blogs.com/travel.
If you’re dying to see the Acropolis or check out one of those beautiful Greek islands with great beaches, blue-painted roofs and doors and seaside cafés, now looks like a good time to book that vacation.
According to a study by Tripadvisor in the U.K., hotel prices in Greece have fallen as much as 20 per cent. The company looked at nine popular Greek destinations and found that all but two (sadly, two of the most popular spots for tourists) have seen hotel rates fall significantly in the past year.
The biggest fall was in Corfu, where hotel rates have dropped by 20 per cent on average. Rates in Zakynthos dropped 12.4 per cent, while rates in Athens dropped 7.9 per cent and prices in Crete — another lovely part of Greece — fell 7.7 per cent.
Prices in Santorini, however, were up 0.1 per cent and rates in Mykonos rose 0.7 per cent.
“While the Greek economy has experienced a traumatic year, the silver lining for tourism could be an increase in visitors due to the lower prices in many of its popular destinations,” Tripadvisor spokeswoman Emma Shaw told the Los Angeles Times.
This being Greece, experts also warn of potential strikes, especially in Athens.
ALL-IN PRICING A GOOD MOVE
Kudos to Air Canada for embracing all-in pricing on their ads. If you checked out the Air Canada ads in the Star this week you’d have seen one-way fares listed for a large number of cities as part of the airline’s 75th anniversary celebrations this year. The big change, however, is that they put the taxes, fees and surcharges in good-sized type right below the base fare, then added them up so folks saw the “true” cost of a one-way ticket, instead of having to read the fine print.
It’s a major change for the better for Canadian consumers. Westjet said it started a similar policy in January, and good for them.
Porter says it has changed to all-in pricing and was the first airline in Canada to lump together the fees/taxes/surcharges and the base fare and thus present one single fare for would-be travellers to check. That policy was to take effect Friday, Feb. 10, officials said.
Gee, did the threat of legislation from the Harper government — announced a few weeks ago — have anything to do with this? ROMANCE IN KINGSTON?
A study by amazon.ca says Kingston is the most romantic city in Canada. The survey looked at sales of romance novels, sex and relationship books and, wait for it, sales of Michael Bublé CDS. Must be all those at RMC and Queen’s University, I guess. Second prize went to Guelph, then Kelowna, B.C., and Oakville, followed by Victoria, B.C.