Ideas, suggestions and recommendations that can help you choose from a more limited palette of options that we know — both from professional and personal experience.

Is Singapore the perfect city?

I’m an outdoorsy kind of person who is big into his mountains, forests and wide-open spaces but every now and then, I like to up gear a notch or three and spend a few days in a big city. It’s not just because of the change of scenery, shopping, nightlife or even the infinite choices available in which to eat or be entertained. There is an energy that such places generate and I’ve yet to

It’s all about context!

A phenomenon that has always intrigued me is that of the various travel lists that are compiled each year by such august publications as Lonely Planet, Conde Nast, National Geographic etc. The lists usually fall into broad categories such as ‘The world’s best beaches’, or ‘Top countries to visit in 2018’, ‘The ten most romantic cities’ and so on. The bit that intrigues me is what, exactly, is it that elevates such recipients to become

The reasons why we buy things are changing.

There was a time — not so long ago — when the decision-making process was straight forward, depending of course, on what it was you were purchasing. In the case of hotels abroad, people usually made their buying decisions based on a combination of some or all the following: location, facilities, price, reputation, brand. In the case of facilities, high amongst the requirements would have been a swimming pool and/or a sea view and whilst

WHERE TO GO IN 2018? — PART 3

‘Familiarity breeds contempt’, so the saying goes, and it is always a disappointment to me when people denigrate Spain as a holiday destination as it is still, in my opinion, one of the most amazing countries in the world and indeed that is one of the many reasons why it is still the most popular destination with Irish people. Ironically, the expression ‘Familiarity breeds contempt’ was never about places but about people — children in

WHERE TO GO TO IN 2018? — PART 2

Things are beginning to heat up in the China space in 2018 — at least as far as Ireland is concerned. On June 2nd, Cathay Pacific will start their new direct, non-stop service from Dublin to Hong Kong with flights on Monday’s, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, leaving at 00.50hrs and arriving in Hong Kong at 06.45 hrs. This will be the first time that Ireland and China have ever been linked by a direct service

WHERE TO GO IN 2018?

‘Let’s Talk Travel’ has become one of the most popular features of the Holiday World travel exhibition that is held at the RDS each year. At last weekend’s event, yours truly was one of the panellists asked to contribute to a session entitled ‘Holiday Trends’. The other two panellists were Paul Hackett, founder and managing director of Click & Go and Catherine Grennell-Whyte, MD of ATTS — a GSA (general sales agent) for companies such

HOW TO BOOK YOUR FIRST CRUISE!

In case you haven’t heard, cruising is, and has been, the fastest growing trend in travel in recent years and yet despite all the hype and the promotion, less than 2% of Irish travellers have experienced one to date, according to CLIA, the professional trade body that represents all the main cruise lines. There are many reasons for this which broadly fall into the following three categories, so this week’s blog hopes to bring some

Where to go in 2018?

  It’s that time of year again when everyone starts reading all the travel articles in the various Sunday papers, hoping they’ll be inspired by some report of an idyllic island paradise that has just recently been discovered and which doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. Chance would be a fine thing! The reality is that if you want somewhere idyllic that isn’t overrun by hordes of other tourists just like you, then unfortunately,

Snow, beautiful snow!

Given the challenge that we face in Ireland each year in trying to coax the sun to peek its head out from the impenetrable cloud cover that blankets this country from coast to coast, is it any wonder that given a choice, most inhabitants of this emerald isle of ours will invariably opt for sun over snow any day? It’s as if the art of sun-worshipping has been hard wired into our brains and we

The most sparsely-populated country in Europe is becoming increasingly crowded!

Now there’s an oxymoron if ever I heard one but it’s true! Iceland, that large Island that sits directly northeast of us (Reykjavik is approximately 1,473 kilometres from Dublin) is almost 103,000 square kilometres in area, making it roughly 25% larger by area than the entire island of Ireland and yet it boasts a population of just 332,000 citizens — two thirds of whom chose to call Reykjavik, the capital, home. The reference to crowding

Harry Potter and the Portuguese connection!

There’s no doubt about it. The Harry Potter Franchise has been a phenomenal success both in publishing and cinematic terms. Since the publication of the first novel in 1997 — Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone — J.K. Rowling has gone on to sell more than 500 million copies of all (as of 2013) making the Harry Potter series the most successful book series in publishing history. Of course, it is the film franchise where

Seattle, here we come!

The announcement by Aer Lingus earlier this week that they will start direct services to Seattle from Ireland next May is big news — at least in the Travel Centres household. Apart from being the home to both online and tech giants such as Amazon and Microsoft and the fictional home of the greatest TV comedy series ever made — Frasier — Seattle is also gateway to the Pacific Northwest, one of the least familiar

The art of getting a quote that is both competitive in price and relevant to your needs starts with gathering all the right information about what you want to do (or think you want to do!).