As we approach the high season for trans-Atlantic travel, it is becoming more and more apparent that Ireland is a top destination this year for European travel. Ireland suffered greatly from the financial crisis of 2008-09, the assets and earnings of the Irish people are badly down, and prices are therefore also down for lodgings, meals and sightseeing.
All that can best be seen in the prices charged by leading Irish tour operators for air-and-land packages to Ireland this summer. Though the very lowest warm-weather prices for Ireland are in June and September, and prices spike upward in July and August, even those peak season rates are less than travelers will be paying to go elsewhere in western Europe.
From June 1-15, and again from September 1-30, a payment of $829 (in June) to $839 (in September) for the Emerald Package of Sceptre Tours, that long-established company's most popular travel program, will buy you round-trip mid-week airfare on Aer Lingus between the U.S. and Dublin or Shannon, a night upon arrival in a four-star hotel in Dublin or Shannon, a car (stick shift) with unlimited mileage for a week, and five nights of accommodations with full Irish breakfast daily in your choice of farmhouse B&B's all throughout Ireland. You can extend the number of nights of your stay for only slightly more. Government fees and taxes add about $180 more.
That $829-to-$839 is considerably less than you would pay for airfare alone to London during similar dates. And even though the price goes up to $999 in the latter part of June, to $1,129 in most of July, and to $1,069 in the latter part of August, all those prices are again considerably less than you'd pay for trans-Atlantic airfare alone between the U.S. and England. Yet to Ireland, you receive not simply airfare but also accommodations with breakfast throughout and a car for the week.
It is possible that even these low costs may be further reduced as a result of a government announcement this week that Ireland will soon reduce the VAT tax on travel-related expenditures (hotels, restaurants, museums) from 13.5% down to 9%. It also announced that it will eliminate the air travel tax, thus reducing a great deal of the $180 in air taxes referred to above. These steps indicate the importance that travel has in the judgment of the present government of Ireland, and will surely do much to further reduce the cost of an Irish holiday.
If you haven't yet enjoyed the profound pleasure of a self-drive motoring vacation through Ireland, you might now consider doing so.
No comments:
Post a Comment