Things are looking sunny for family holidays this summer. There are excellent deals, discounts and value-added products across the board, providing agents with plenty of scope to sell everything from budget self-catering breaks to single-parent deals and luxury family-friendly packages in far-flung destinations.
Jody Clapham, product and commercial manager at Cosmos, says: “We’re seeing a lot more child deals from our hoteliers and suppliers, such as first child free, second child 75% reduction, free kids’ board upgrades, entrance to kids’ clubs and free drinks, which helps us offer far more competitive family packages to the market.”
Olympic Holidays regards families as its number one target market and has added more products for 2011 in addition to offering some holidays at lower prices than summer 2010. Commercial director Photis Lambrianides says: “The budget sector is set to do well as people look more closely at their bottom line.”
He predicts budget family holiday sales will be strongest in higher volume destinations, such as Turkish resorts, Greek islands and Ayia Napa and Protaras in Cyprus, and free or reduced-price child accommodation will attract families to four-star properties. A typical lead-in is £1,063 for seven nights’ self-catering in August for two adults and one child at the Pafian Sun Holiday Village in Paphos, Cyprus, including flights.
Close to home
For 2011 Hoseasons has introduced 18 European parks in Germany, Belgium, Holland, Austria and Switzerland. Accommodation ranges from timber lodges to bungalows, villas and apartments, and park facilities include ‘subtropical’ activity swimming pools, entertainment programmes and a children’s farm.
Northern Europe is ideal for families who want to load up their cars and take a ferry rather than fly. Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands, offers the same option. Premier Holidays, which reports a 32% rise in summer bookings to the islands, offers a four-night Jersey break from £889 for a family of four in June with sea travel, or £1,159 by air.
Self-catering specialist Pierre & Vacances has resorts throughout France and Spain and is offering 15% off seven-night holidays booked four months in advance. Offers include a one-bedroom apartment sleeping up to five people at Resort Port Bourgenay on the French Atlantic coast for £764 in July, reduced from £899.
Short and mid-haul
Red Sea Holidays is featuring Egypt’s new Sunwing Waterworld Makadi. Commercial director Jason Hilton says: “The five-star property has been built with families in mind and has extensive water park features and beautiful family rooms as well as a wide range of child-friendly offers.”
In Portugal, Design Holidays is offering a 35% early-booking discount and free kids’ club at the Algarve’s five-star Monte da Quinta Resort, leading in from £1,171 for a week’s B&B for a family of four. And in Turkey there are children’s discounts of 50% and free accommodation for youngsters up to six years old at Fethiye’s Hillside Beach Club, which has a children’s village. Thomas Cook leads in at £597 for a week’s full-board with flights.
Football-mad youngsters will love the children’s park at Lanzarote’s Princesa Yaiza Resort (below) with sessions run by coaches who played for Leicester City and Glasgow Rangers, plus an array of activities to keep all children amused. Sovereign Luxury Travel is offering a 15% early-booking discount and free child place from £1,689 half-board per family of three for travel in July, with flights, a saving of £879.
Foodie parents will savour L’Andana in Tuscany, which boasts Alain Ducasse’s first restaurant in Italy and is featured by operators including Kirker and Abercrombie & Kent. There’s even a cooking class for children so youngsters can make their own treats. In Majorca there are supervised children’s meals and a free summer children’s club at Hotel Bon Sol. Classic Collection offers seven nights’ half-board from £4,454 for a family of four in July.
Long-haul
Steel-pan playing is among the fun activities at Anancy Children’s Village at Half Moon resort in Jamaica’s Montego Bay, while the cool Hype Zone is aimed at teenagers.
Also in the Caribbean, all-inclusive Curtain Bluff in Antigua is offering 50% off rates for a second room. Elegant Resorts leads in at £2,510 per adult and £1,430 per child for seven nights from May to July, with flights.
Heritage Resorts in Domaine de Bel Ombre, Mauritius, recently added its C Beach Club, with a dedicated teenagers’ area. Kuoni offers seven nights’ all-inclusive from £5,566 for a family of four in July with flights.
Travel 2 has launched a deal with Six Senses and Evason Hua Hin Thailand, where kids stay, eat and play for free, while Dubai’s Jebel Ali Golf Resort & Spa, sold through operators such as Kuoni, lets kids under 16 stay free and offers unique activities including swimming with horses.
Also in Dubai, Gold Medal can offer free half-board for adults and free child stays at the five-star Atlantis, The Palm, leading in from £769 per adult and £389 per child in June and July with flights.
Thomson Tailormade has a raft of deals at the Jumeirah Beach Dubai, Heritage Resorts, Veranda Paul and Virginie Hotel in Mauritius, and Club Hotel Dolphin in Sri Lanka, ranging from free half-board to 14 nights for the price of seven. Prices in Dubai lead in at £1,299 including flights.
Update: Family-friendly hotels
First Choice has added Holiday Villages in Tunisia and Tenerife, bringing the total number to 10, while Thomson is launching 16 Family Resorts, available from May 2011.
The four-star Palm Beach Hotel & Bungalows on the outskirts of Larnaca, Cyprus, celebrates its 30th anniversary this year with special events for adults and children.
Planet Holidays is offering early-booking discounts, plus free adult and child half-board. Seven nights for a family of four in July costs from £2,979 with flights.
Jet2holidays.com is continuing its £60 per person low deposit, along with savings of up to £150 on family holidays.
Prestige Holidays has introduced breaks at La Manga, Spain, where sports facilities include a junior golf academy.
The Sheraton in Fuerteventura, Spain, is now marketing itself as a five-star family-friendly hotel. Cosmos has free places for children on accommodation-only holidays or a seven-night B&B family package for £1,589 in June, including flights.
Tobago’s Grafton Beach Resort, sold through operators including Tropical Sky, Thomas Cook and Virgin Holidays, has opened a new children’s swimming pool and upgraded its Kidz Club.
For families that want to get away from it all, unspoilt Calabria in southern Italy is new to Citalia’s 2011 programme and the operator has family holiday discounts for regions including Puglia and the island of Sardinia.
Offers and fams
Anatolian sky fam trips
Anatolian Sky is holding two, week-long fam trips to Turkey in May, one departing Gatwick on May 2, the other from Manchester on May 9. Properties to be inspected include the Hotel Meri in Oludeniz (pictured), one of the family-friendly properties where the operator is offering discounts of up to 18% in the summer half-term.
A week at the four-star, all-inclusive hotel now costs a family of four £2,075. The price, for a shared family room, includes flights and transfers and is based on a May 30 departure. To find out more contact marketing@anatoliansky.co.uk
More for less with Haven
Haven is offering Travel Weekly agent readers 50% off all bookings for three and four-night half-board holidays in one-bedroom accommodation at Hafan y Mor Holiday Park in Wales for departures between July 29 and August 26. Bookings must be made before March 30, using the booking code TRAVEL_WEEKLY
