| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 25/09/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 57 |
| Copyright: Other |
Going for gold with new destinations for winter
Specialist broadens long-haul selection
Olympic Holidays is preparing to boost its number of passengers for next year with its expanded flights programme.
The Greece and Cyprus specialist has increased its choice of destinations and level of departures from all its 13 UK airports, with most growth at Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, Newcastle, Glasgow and Belfast.
The number of flights from Glasgow and Belfast have been doubled.
A three-hour Belfast to Corfu flight will depart on Mondays and flights from Belfast to Crete and Rhodes will depart on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Commercial director Photis Lambrianides said Cyprus and Ayia Napa had been selling very well over the summer.
He predicted a surge of passengers next year, rising from 170,000 this year up to 220,000.
“Demand will almost certainly be there as sterling remains very strong against the Greece and Cyprus currencies, and our prices have only been increased by an average of 3%.
“There’s a 10% boost in the number of hotels and apartments on offer, plus increased allocations in many of the most popular properties,” he added.
The operator is also launching a range of new destinations this winter in a bid to broaden its appeal.
From November, Olympic will offer Dubai, Egypt, Kenya, the Maldives, Goa and Sri Lanka.
Lambrianides said:”This is a new stage in our development and expansion programme.
“We have always been synonymous with Greece and Cyprus and we want to offer our customers more choice of destinations.”
Included in the new Olympic brochure are additional hotels and apartments such as the all-inclusive Louis Zante Beach Hotel on the Greek island of Zakynthos and the Lisa Mari Hotel in Crete. These additions bring the total number of all-inclusives to 13 in Greece and 10 in Cyprus.
Prices for seven nights at the Louis Zante Beach Hotel range from £445 to £699 per person, departing from Gatwick. Also new is the Tasiana Hotel Apartments near Limmasol in Cyprus, priced between £295 and £409 per person based on three sharing a studio.
To boost pre-Christmas sales, Olympic is offering an early booking discount of up to £150 per couple and an early flight savers offering a price cut of £100.
Among the new features for 2001 is the introduction of pre-bookable guaranteed seats on flights, at a cost of £7 per adult and £2 per child, and available on flights with Air 2000, Helios, Monarch, Sabre, Airtours and JMC.
Kilmanjaro, Kenya: by adding extra long-haul winter destinations, Olympic hopes to broaden its appeal
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