Guernsey Donkey
Guest
This is a a copy of what was printed on the STORNOWAY GAZETTE web site today: www.stornoway gazette.co.uk
Tourists flock to islands in midst of recession
Published Date: 30 July 2009
By Michelle Robson
THE WESTERN Isles are teeming with tourists this summer with reports of fully booked accommodation and a record number of visitors touring with their own camper vans.
The influx of visitors is largely thought to be a result of the ferry fares reductions, but could also be the knock-on effect of the recession - which has meant many people are holidaying in the UK and overseas tourists are taking advantage of the we
ADVERTISEMENTak pound.
The volume of visitors choosing to tour the isles with a camper van is thought to be due, not only to the ferry prices, but to the majority of other accommodation being fully booked.
Local camp site owner Gordon Macleod of Laxdale Holiday Park, Lewis said they have seen as much as a 40% increase on visitors numbers from last year.
Commenting this week, he said: "We have noticed a marked rise in the number of campers and camper vans visiting Laxdale Holiday Park. I would say there is about a 40% increase in numbers from last year and we are getting a lot more advance bookings."
He added that the pattern of holidays had also completely changed this year.
"It has affected the whole nature of our tourist season, we were as busy at the end of May as we normally are in the middle of July."
Statistics across the UK have shown a rise in the number of camping and caravaning holidays and in the Highlands and Islands this has already been noted by VisitScotland.
A spokesperson for the tourist authority said this week that their early figures certainly suggested an increase in this type of holiday and that businesses across the Highlands and Islands had observed increases in both UK and European visitors.
Caledonian MacBrayne confirmed this week that they had seen higher volumes of all traffic, but particularly camper vans, on their ferries.
The gazette also have a on line poll and this week it is: SHOULD CAL MAC FERRY CHARGES FOR CAMPER VANS BE INCREASED?
PLEASE vote at Stornoway Today: "Letters to the editor at Stornoway Gazette Stornoway, Outer Hebrides.
I will be taking this up with our local MP ASAP and will publish any info as I get it.
Guernsey Donkey
(Living in the Isle of Lewis
Tourists flock to islands in midst of recession
Published Date: 30 July 2009
By Michelle Robson
THE WESTERN Isles are teeming with tourists this summer with reports of fully booked accommodation and a record number of visitors touring with their own camper vans.
The influx of visitors is largely thought to be a result of the ferry fares reductions, but could also be the knock-on effect of the recession - which has meant many people are holidaying in the UK and overseas tourists are taking advantage of the we
ADVERTISEMENTak pound.
The volume of visitors choosing to tour the isles with a camper van is thought to be due, not only to the ferry prices, but to the majority of other accommodation being fully booked.
Local camp site owner Gordon Macleod of Laxdale Holiday Park, Lewis said they have seen as much as a 40% increase on visitors numbers from last year.
Commenting this week, he said: "We have noticed a marked rise in the number of campers and camper vans visiting Laxdale Holiday Park. I would say there is about a 40% increase in numbers from last year and we are getting a lot more advance bookings."
He added that the pattern of holidays had also completely changed this year.
"It has affected the whole nature of our tourist season, we were as busy at the end of May as we normally are in the middle of July."
Statistics across the UK have shown a rise in the number of camping and caravaning holidays and in the Highlands and Islands this has already been noted by VisitScotland.
A spokesperson for the tourist authority said this week that their early figures certainly suggested an increase in this type of holiday and that businesses across the Highlands and Islands had observed increases in both UK and European visitors.
Caledonian MacBrayne confirmed this week that they had seen higher volumes of all traffic, but particularly camper vans, on their ferries.
The gazette also have a on line poll and this week it is: SHOULD CAL MAC FERRY CHARGES FOR CAMPER VANS BE INCREASED?
PLEASE vote at Stornoway Today: "Letters to the editor at Stornoway Gazette Stornoway, Outer Hebrides.
I will be taking this up with our local MP ASAP and will publish any info as I get it.
Guernsey Donkey
(Living in the Isle of Lewis
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