Tourism

[GI James]

In a grumpy mood today, yet still, how naff is this?

 

Hop, skip and jump?

 

Reminds me of the fat ladies with rosy cheeks school of text.

[Stavros]

I think you have to be logged in to see it.

 

Stav.

[Mission]

Yup, I got the same too.

[Carter]

Don't see much of a welcome in Douglas

 

There's more people wandering around Chenobyl this evening, than Douglas...oh and they thought it a good idea to shut the hotel bar at 11.20pm...might really worry them and ask for room service.

 

Pretty xxxx for £94..and hardly the peak season.

[access55]

Did they get the Jacuzzi fixed yet? Broken when I was there and I think it was £96 and that was about 2 years ago!!!

[Carter]

Did they get the Jacuzzi fixed yet? Broken when I was there and I think it was £96 and that was about 2 years ago!!!

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I its fixed to a fashion, for some reason they have got an hospipe running into it.

[access55]

Removed just ranting and going off topic.

[Carter]

Me flight was £185 + £94 hotel. for 48 hours in douglas in November...bargain.

[P.K.]

The bar shut at 11:20! Well that's just outrageous. How are you supposed to go back to your room to watch some bird with a wig and dark glasses and some bloke with a dodgy moustache unless you have enough alcohol on board that you have to cover one eye to get a single picture?

 

The standard of service is definitely on the slide.........

[Rog]

Me flight was £185 + £94 hotel. for 48 hours in douglas in November...bargain.

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I’ve just finalised aranging our Feb Tenerife trip.

 

Flight - £135 ea. Including taxes and fuel surcharges.

Accommodation - £160 for a self catering flat in a 4 star hotel complex in Costa Silencio for 10 days.

Booze? £3,50 per litre for local but very good gin.

Fags? Don’t smoke but if I did around £10 per 200.

Eats? Good meal out for £20 for two including drinks. Passable meal out with a beer – about £10 for two.

Pizza to eat in the apartment? – about £4 for a really big ‘un.

Takeaway Chinese? About £10 for two BIG meals.

Weather? Sunny and warm.

Car hire? £128 for 10 days (Renault Clio about 1 year old, CDW included)

 

Total – budget for about £850 plus odds and sods as souvenirs and presents to bring back.

Now, how much would I pay to come to the Island for a 10 day self catering holiday with appartment maid cleaning service every other day?

[manxman8180]

Me flight was £185 + £94 hotel. for 48 hours in douglas in November...bargain.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I’ve just finalised aranging our Feb Tenerife trip.

 

Flight - £135 ea. Including taxes and fuel surcharges.

Accommodation - £160 for a self catering flat in a 4 star hotel complex in Costa Silencio for 10 days.

Booze? £3,50 per litre for local but very good gin.

Fags? Don’t smoke but if I did around £10 per 200.

Eats? Good meal out for £20 for two including drinks. Passable meal out with a beer – about £10 for two.

Pizza to eat in the apartment? – about £4 for a really big ‘un.

Takeaway Chinese? About £10 for two BIG meals.

Weather? Sunny and warm.

Car hire? £128 for 10 days (Renault Clio about 1 year old, CDW included)

 

Total – budget for about £850 plus odds and sods as souvenirs and presents to bring back.

Now, how much would I pay to come to the Island for a 10 day self catering holiday with appartment maid cleaning service every other day?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

And the Isle of Man.....

 

Flight - £36 ea. Including taxes and fuel surcharges. (Emirald)

Accommodation - £210 for a b/b in a 3 star hotel for 14 days.

Booze? same as the UK.

Fags? same as the UK.

Eats? Good meal out for £30 for two including drinks. Passable meal out with a beer – about £15 for two.

Pizza to eat in the apartment? – about £5 for a really big ‘un.

Takeaway Chinese? About £10 for two BIG meals. (same)

Weather? Cold and Wet

Car hire? £140 for 14 days (Micra, about 1 year old, CDW included)

 

Total – budget for about £700 (for a full 2 weeks), plus odds and sods as souvenirs and presents to bring back.

 

So what's your point?

 

Yes, getting here can be pricey sometimes, however, there are good prices available. I got these from booking my partners family to come over next year. Could be even cheaper maybe, if they went on a self catering basis. Car hire is also available at a good rate nowadays.

 

Now, start comparing the potential catchment area for tourists to the Isle of Man, with that of Spain. Haven't got a clue myself , but lets say 200,000 want to come to the Isle of Man. I think that Spain gets somewhere in the region of 10 million tourists a year.

 

Puts it into perspective somewhat?

[Rog]

Firstly the costs that I quoted are not the cheapest of the cheap. I could get a flight for less that £75 if I would accept restrictions that I don’t want to. Next, I’ve seen the standard of the 3 star b & b place on the Island – no thanks. A closer apples to apples comparison would be with The Cherry Orchard (if it’s still in Port Erin) and even then the Cherry Orchard would fall short in a number of factors.

 

Then there’s the booze. Not a massive issue for me but nonetheless something to take account of.

 

Next – the service that we will get, including maid cleaning service. That includes a change of bed linen every other day.

 

Then most important the weather. Cold and wet even describes a sizeable portion of the Summer months when the costs on the island are VERY much higher.

 

So what’s the point. The point is that to present the ‘mixture as before’ and expect holiday makers to keep on coming back – or even to come in the FIRST place – is dammned silly if there is any real wish to establish a tourist industry on the Island.

 

I like the Island, it is where I grew up and it will always be my home But it si not a home that I will ever return to. Nor would I for a single moment think about the Island as a holiday location nor would I ever recommend it as such.

 

It is my opinion that today the Isle of Man has NOTHING WHATSOEVER to offer the average holiday maker. Unless and until that situation changes then throwing even the miniscule amounts of money away on promotion of the Island as a tourist resort is like farting against a thunderstorm.

 

There IS an opportunity for the Island to be developed as a tourist resort, but it will need some pretty significant changes in attitudes by everybody there. There is no doubt that a number of big – time casinos could be established on the Island making it a sort of Las Vegas in the middle of the Irish Sea – especially if the legislation on the Mainland fails as it well might. There is an opportunity to attract crowds with a massive reduction in excise duties on booze and fags.

 

Or the conversion of somewhere like The Curraghs into a theme park such as the Centre Parcs affair at Elvedon in Suffolk.

 

There is even an opportunity presenting itself by establishing a relationship with the EU that is the same as the Canaries have. It’s there for the taking but it needs people to think outside of the box.

 

Will it happen? No chance. “It’s been good enough fer me Daa, yessir” and “If you don’t like it there’s a bo-at every mornin’ yessir”. That’s why the Island is wasting its time looking towards a tourism future.

 

Give the people what they want, don’t just tell them what you’ve got and get a surprise if they don’t want it..

 

What’s the point? If you really have to ask then you don’t even recognise the problem let alone have the first idea of how to fix it.

 

And 200,000 people want to come to the Isle of Man? DREAM ON, SUNSHINE, DREAM ON.

 

.

[GI James]

I am pleasantly surprised at some of your quoted prices, manxman8180. "Good meal out for £30 for two including drinks"! I'm amazed.

 

Maybe time for a new thread to post places, prices and menus?

 

But, I have to agree with Rog on many things that he says here. The walkers, stag weekenders and family researchers are not going to create or save a tourist industry on the island.

 

There doen't seem to be any new thinking at all. If there is, they're keeping it secret.

 

Time for a new vision from completely new administration heads at the department of Tourism and Leisure.

 

Sorry David Cretney, but your approach is tired and your vision narrow.

[Alex]

Working in an area where I meet tourists - we DO get a lot. Obviously there are more in the summer, but they come all year round, and many of them are tourists who come every year - of all ages.

 

Quite apart from the events like the Irish Weekend, the racing, the sports weekends we get just normal tourists from all over the world - every day I meet some.

 

So you may not want to come here Rog, but don't assume that everyone feels that way.

 

Of course we could do with improving our services - especially restaurants and hotels, but also places of interest - but don't for a moment assume no-one comes here, they do.

 

200,000 sounds about right too.

[When Skies Are Grey]

I am pleasantly surprised at some of your quoted prices, manxman8180. "Good meal out for £30 for two including drinks"! I'm amazed.

 

Try Blue water bistro...spot on food, fresh and not the usual burger and chips rubbish! But I digress.....

 

Lets be honest, the Isle of Man is a niche tourism industry. Always will be as they just cant compete with package holidays who can benefit from bulk discount and larger catchment areas.

 

So why keep flogging a dead horse (no reference to horse trams meant or inferred ). Lets play to those niche markets - OK motorpsort might not be to everyone's taste but the days of packing the prom with ice cream eating tourists are long gone. Why not plough some of the budget in to creating a proper international motor circuit. We can offer tax breaks to teams and competitors and I am sure our cigarette advertising legislation can be bent (freud!) accordingly....