I have been in Cyprus for the last three days. There is nothing like finding out for yourself as to exactly what is going on and how the current economic situation will affect our clients. The economic bombshell that hit the island 10 days ago was completely unexpected and has shaken the population. However, the [...]
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Over the last week, the newspapers have been full of articles extolling the virtues of ‘flight-plus’ and how it is no longer necessary to book with a traditional, full-service tour operator or through a travel agent because the protection available through ‘flight-plus’ is identical. Well, that’s not exactly true! It should not be forgotten that [...]
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Luis is a Cork Oak farmer. He farms a total of 900 hectares near Grandola in the Alentejo, that’s 2,223 acres or 3.47 square miles of cork trees. He is the vice president of the Cork Growers Association of Portugal, an expert in his field and the fifth generation that has cared passionately for this [...]
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We stumbled upon the existence of the Revival of the Nemean Games through a throw-away comment from an archaeologist, Heinrich Hall, who has lived in Athens for 10 years. Having featured the Peloponnese since 1974 – in fact, that is where Sunvil’s programme to Greece originated – I was unaware that there had been such [...]
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Tourism is a fashion business and its clients are rather like lemmings in that they all want to go to the same place at the same time. This year, for those who can afford to go there, it’s Burma. The mass market, at the other end of the league table from those who follow the [...]
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There is always a price at which the mass-market books late holidays (two to three weeks before departure) and currently that seems to be at around £150 to £180 per person for one week including flights, transfers and self-catering accommodation. These prices do not only apply to Greece but also to Turkey, Spain and Portugal. [...]
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I haven’t flown on either Ryanair or easyJet for quite some time. I always avoid Ryanair because I object to the way its passengers are treated. As far as I am concerned, this airline makes a sport of demeaning its clients and of using every trick in the book to extract every last penny by [...]
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Our overseas representatives are the vital front-of-line, client-facing staff for Sunvil and its sister company GIC The Villa Collection. Many have been with us for years. Linda on Crete has worked in Chania for Sunvil for over 25 years – Monty Don was filmed doing her job with her commenting on how well or badly [...]
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February 2012 I have always been a little nervous of dog sledding; I have visions of the dogs taking control and rushing off in the direction they want to go rather than where I want them to take me. In fact, the hardest part of it is putting on all the gear you need to [...]
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I have a friend who advertises several properties that he rents out privately on some of the well-known European villa owners’ sites. He is retired so has plenty of time to reply to enquiries and to monitor exactly where enquiries are coming from and how his – and competing – villas are selling. He tells [...]
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