Madeleine McCann Blamed For Falling Euro
OFF to Portugal for your jolly holidays this year, readers? But be warned, the news is of the Madeleine McCann effect.
As the Mail says:
The ‘Madeleine McCann Effect’ is still hitting holiday bookings to Portugal more than two years after the little girl disappeared there.
The number of Britons booking holidays to Portugal this summer has plunged 30 per cent according to one British holiday company.
And it’s all because Madeleine McCann went missing.
Of course, the thousands of British holidaymakers going to Portugal are all going there to look for Our Maddy, having packed their Madeleine McCann T-shirts - and shame on you England’s rugby team for taking it off to play in plainer whites - and stapled the chidlren together.
In other holiday news:
Thomas Cook Group said its pretax loss for the six months to March 31, 2009 widened to Pounds 280.4 million but the tour operator is still confident of meeting expectations for the year and raised its dividend.
Holiday price increases will be pegged to 2-3% next year as negotiations with hoteliers offset currency fluctuations, according to the boss of Thomas Cook.
Or the Times puts it:
Portugal holidays down due to ‘Maddy factor’
British travel to Portugal still affected by Madeleine McCann disappearance while Spain hit by the euro
The disappearance of Madeleine McCann from an Algarve holiday resort in 2007 is still affecting demand for holidays in Portugal, according to Thomas Cook.
What was that about the euro? Why hasn’t the Maddie Effect taken hold in Spain?
Thomas Cook, Europe’s second largest travel company, revealed yesterday that package holiday bookings to Portugal are down by 30 per cent for this summer. Spain is also down 20 per cent…
The Maddie Effect accounts for a 10 per cent drop in tourism. Fact
“…and Italy by 35 per cent.”
Such are the facts.
Note: Might be time for Thomas Cook to look for new a PR if it really has blamed a downturn in business on a missing child…
Pictures Of All The Madeleine McCann Suspects
Hundreds Of British People Missing Overseas
Madeleine McCann: The Story In Pictures
Posted: 20th, May 2009 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann, Media Comments (29) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
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May 22nd, 2009 at 11:19 pm
Hello everyone - two years on and who would have thought it?
May 21st, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Percy
always watch Coast, even the repeats
May 21st, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Lyn
Those planes were dreadful, caused more spontaneous abortions in cows and sheep, and some flew so low…
Our house was a landmark where they used to turn right, but at least they were quiet then
May 21st, 2009 at 1:56 pm
I love holidaying in the UK however, this terrible business with Madeleine has not put me off my summer holiday in Italy. I do think that I will be keeping an extra close eye on my children but come to think of it I always did and still do. Never let them out of your sight, that’s my advice!!
May 21st, 2009 at 10:00 am
When living in Britain for a while many years ago, loved the Welsh coast for holidaying. Once we were doing the coast walk and there was a bang! Not to worry, it was a jet breaking through the sound barrier!
May 21st, 2009 at 9:37 am
…there’s lovely then, June…I see we have both been blessed by the almost heavenly beauty of the beaches of Cymru….
P.S. I just wish though that they had never bulldozed the Butlin’s at Barry….but at least I still have the happy memory of how it used to be…..lovely.
By the way…did you see Coast on BBC when it covered this part of the country?
May 21st, 2009 at 8:28 am
Morning Percy
We had Cardigan bay, Llangrannog, Tresaith and Ceibach
May 21st, 2009 at 7:40 am
Good morning June…I was also brought up in Wales …I have many fond memories of the beautiful beaches….particulary at Barry Island …where it seemed the whole of Wales would turn up for fun & frolics in the Summer Hols….Happy Days.
May 21st, 2009 at 12:25 am
…oops…forgive me…that should read “…. never be bored with the best of British…and a fair few foreigners too…”
….I nearly forgot that Butlin’s is fun for everyone…and even better with a bit of sun ..
May 20th, 2009 at 11:54 pm
loving our country is what being British is about…..and it never really rains on our parade……..it just pisses down …in between the showers.
Anyway…I hear rumour that it is going to be a red hot summer…..and besides…even if the weather does’nt turn out nice again….I will never be bored with the best of British at Butlin’s in Bognor….
May 20th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
At the risk of sounding a bit un-British… we spent two weeks in Scotland (west coast highlands and islands) last July and didn’t see a single midge. We did see a lot of wildlife and sealife, which was fantastic.
I think everyone who lives here in the UK is supposed to hate it or be thought a few cans short of a six-pack. Actually, I (transplanted American) love it and am also teaching my English husband to love it as well. It’s a shame how the English seem to hate their own country…. Many of our friends here take the mick because we are “not going abroad, to somewhere exotic.” Pure snobbery!
Oh, by the way… any news on the missing McCann child?
May 20th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
maria
We stay across the road from Loch Fyne, one morning it can be beautifully calm , the next the waves can be huge.
I was brought up in Wales and some fantastic beaches and scenery too
May 20th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
JUne
Yes, the midges are a summer menace, I think.
Cornwall’s much gentler, a lot of the time anyway, than the north, but I love those coastal walks and being able to swim in the sea quite often. Rarely possible in the Highlands for cowards like me!
May 20th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Maria
We go in the Autumn, last year the frosts came early, so the weather was mainly cold and sunny UNTIL we reached Argyll and Bute and the wind and rain were something else. Think the midge season ends in Sept?
Hadrians Wall in autumn sunshine….
The Dales in Winter are fantastic - the daytime in snowstorms and the evenings in front of roaring fires and snoring dogs.
Haven’t tried Cornwall yet
May 20th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
June and Elvera
Nowhere to beat Scottish mountains for beauty. That is, when you can see them……! Otherwise, you just beam and say admiringly,
“Just look at that fabulous Scottish mist! Fantastic!” and you carry on beating the midges off……….humanley, of course! Lovely Scottish holidays.
LOVE the Dales as well, and Cornwall.
Excuse me while I get my brolly and put my wellies on; I’m just nipping out to the shops.
“I’ll get me coat..” as someone here used to say!
May 20th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Elvera
Agree absolutely about holidaying in the UK, this year will be our 3rd to Scotland and 2nd to North of England and too numerous to count to Yorkshire. Granted the weather isn’t always ideal, but for travelling with dogs, we don’t need it too hot, but sometimes drier would be nice.
May 20th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Everyone booking a holiday in the UK is to be admired….saving the planet, supporting home industries whilst no doubt having a jolly, fun filled ‘traditional’ time. I hope all families take good care of their offspring no matter where they choose to holiday.
May 20th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Sorry, folks. My post should really be in earlier thread in reply to one of Garth’s. Nothing to do with euro! I just thought he might have moved on to a later thread.
Agree, cool, about the comparative value thing. Euro/pound almost the same! Help! A lot of people have moved to other venues anyway, but I expect PdL will still be suffering in comparison with other Iberian resorts.
If only the Madeleine mystery could be cleared up, it would help enormously, I guess.
Any new books out soon?
May 20th, 2009 at 11:43 am
It’s totally the euro! Two years ago, we went to Disneyland Paris for £660. This year it’s nearer £900. So we’re going to glamourous Windsor instead (legoland). Same kinda holiday, for about £200.
May 20th, 2009 at 11:11 am
Butlins Percy? according to one of the rags today Europeans are booking for Butlins because the pound is rubbish and they also want to have a taste of the 1950’s holiday camps that they think we Brits all love so much.
I would rather stick hot needles in my eyes but even I can see they’ve moved on from the HiDeHi era. .
Tourism to Portugal and Spain… Could it just be that we are sick of the poor value of Iberian holidays compared to Egypt, Turkey and the US?
May 20th, 2009 at 10:36 am
The penny has dropped - they are coming to Australia on the cheap airfares!
May 20th, 2009 at 10:32 am
Garth
Going back to the earlier thread and you saying that “something is not quite right” in Praia da Luz. I agree it is bizarre that Amaral was, and is, so hell-bent on proving the Mcs’ guilt. I think you’re suggesting it may be a smokescreen on his part, to hide something unsavoury? I’ve no idea. And what? I thought he might just have been incompetent and maybe a bit vindictive against a foreign couple, nothing more sinister than that. Plus it would be natural if he wanted to rescue his own reputation after being thrown off the case. Humiliating for him and his family. And later…..the MONEY!!! He’s rich for life.
But you didn’t comment on what I’d said about Rebello. The whole point is that Amaral was thrown off the case by his own superiors and they proceeded to give one of their best the job of heading the case. I also agree with you that Government interference, as suggested by Amaral, is highly unlikely (!!!) and probably just desperation on his part. But what about Rebello? Don’t you think that, in the end, the PJ did as good a job as they could? Right from the beginning he seemed to be adopting a very thorough approach, once he’d cleared the chaos left by his predecessor (by all accounts at the time…though that might just have been the media). I see no reason to discount his conclusions, do you?
Of course, he found absolutely nothing whatsoever, in favour of any theory. BTW, I’d imagine that the final conclusion of the Portuguese authorities that there was no case against the Mcs (or anyone else) must count in their (Mcs’) favour in the coming libel action?? Amaral continues to propagate theories discounted by the police authorities of his own country, the very ones who threw him off the case in the first place.
Everyone seems to focus on Amaral, whose theories as given in his film do seem ridiculous or desperate. (BUT, as you know, I think he may have other things up his sleeve.) But why are we all ignoring the official police enquiry and their conclusions? Why doubt the sincerity and thoroughness of Rebello and his team?
May 20th, 2009 at 10:31 am
and 35% down in Italy
May 20th, 2009 at 10:00 am
Anyway, it is not Madeleine that caused it but her inattentive parents
May 20th, 2009 at 9:38 am
People will think twice holidaying with children in case the spotty man, and the rest of the could have been abductors are still in the area. Probably cheaper places to visit nowadays though.
May 20th, 2009 at 9:34 am
….I can’t wait to try out the new Tapas Bar too…..I hear they do a cracking Karaoke & cocktails night.
May 20th, 2009 at 9:31 am
..I have booked my holiday at Butlin’s, where, I hear, business is booming….Bognor Regis is going to be bursting at the seams this summer season…partly due to the fact that Eohan Quigg is appearing in a star studded X- Factor Show. ….
You can’t beat the family fun of a traditional English Summer holiday….who needs the sun when you’ve got Eohan?
May 20th, 2009 at 9:30 am
Kind of obvious really, I mean who after all wants to be ‘disappeared’ ?
May 20th, 2009 at 9:28 am
Surely it is the falling pound - the euro has strengthened