HAPPY NEW YEAR: Celtic Tours, which pays up to 17%
on land for groups booked on scheduled departures, detailed its
2004 lineup of Ireland packages. Offerings include the new
six-night Heart of Ireland, priced from $969 [land only], which
features one night in a deluxe castle; visits to Kylemore Abbey and
Rathbaun Farm; dinner five evenings; and full Irish breakfast
daily. And Celtic goes a little bit Italian with its new 12-night
Treasures of Italy and Ireland, priced from $2,198 [land only] and
combining the best of the traditional highlights in the two
nations. Also, with its Self-Drive Go-As-You-Please Ireland deals,
Celtic now offers the option of rates that include commissionable
car-rental insurance. For more information contact Celtic Tours at
(800) 833-4373; www.celtictours.com or [email protected].
CIE'S ABC'S: CIE Tours also unveiled its 2004
offerings, including four new escorted programs, including the
budget, six-night Irish Spirit, priced from $1,038 per person with
land and air, and the eight-night Irish Gold, offering four- and
five-star accommodations across Ireland starting at $1,784, with
air/land. The CIE 2004 program also offers a new Irish Hotels
vacation option, with 34 hotels that are pre-bookable on an FIT
basis from $40 per person, per night, if clients buy car or
coach-tour arrangements. CIE Tours pays 10% on land, but commission
on air varies. For more information, call (800) CIE-TOUR or visit
www.cietours.com.
HORSING AROUND: Add an equestrian element to
clients' FIT programs with commissionable horseback-riding jaunts
and horse farm B&B stays at Horse Holiday Farms in tiny Grange,
Co. Sligo. The hilltop farm, which boasts views of Donegal Bay,
claims to be the only horseback riding outfit in Ireland to let
clients take off on their own, offering self-guided, equestrian
tours from four days to one week in length. Nights are spent at
area guesthouses of the client's choice. Or, for the less
adventuresome, the farm offers daily guided rides and
accommodations on site. Land-only pricing for 2004--for one-week
programs including horse rental and seven nights'
bed-and-breakfast--ranges from $925 per person in the low season to
$1,190 in the high season. Horse Holiday Farms pays agents 17% on
programs and stays. For more or to book, call (011) 353-71
916-6152, visit www.horseholidayfarm.net or e-mail [email protected]. Horse
Holiday Farms--along with other Irish equestrian product--is also
available through U.S. horseback operator Equitours at (800)
545-0019 and www.ridingtours.com.
PUBS LIFE: Sceptre Ireland is offering its
four-night Sight and Sounds Pub Tour to nightlife capitals Dublin
and Galway from $499 per person, double occupancy, for stays
starting Jan. 31 and Feb. 2, 4, 6 and 8 when booked by Nov. 5. The
tour includes roundtrip airfare; two nights' four-star
accommodations in both Dublin and Galway; full Irish breakfast
daily; private coach with guide; portage of one suitcase per
person; and all tips, taxes and service charges [except for
driver/guide]. Sceptre pays 10%. To book, call (800) 221-0924 or
visit www.sceptreireland.com.
ONWARD FROM IRELAND: Aer Lingus will expand
operations across Europe next year, bolstering onward options to
the Continent via Ireland with new routes from Dublin to nine
European cities. Services to Berlin; Venice, Italy; Bilbao and
Valencia, Spain; Lyon, France; and Zurich will start at the end of
March, while services to Dubrovnik, Croatia; Warsaw, Poland; and
Copenhagen, Denmark, start at the end of May. For more, visit www.aerlingus.com.