Recommend January 2013 - (Page 128)

HOTEL PICK: The truly hip will love Design Hotels’ 38-room 101 Hotel, located in downtown Reykjavik, near government and cultural buildings, shops and nightlife, and next door to the Icelandic Opera House. This former ofﬁce building erected in the 1930s is now Iceland’s casual-chic hangout du jour. ireland EVENT PICK: The Gathering (year-round) This year-long celebration will offer up hundreds of festivals and events across the island, all while paying tribute to the country and her people, past and present. During the festivities, communities throughout Ireland will showcase and share the very best of Irish culture, tradition, business, sport, ﬁghting spirit and the uniquely Irish sense of fun. The focus: “for the country to open its arms to friends and family from all over the world, inviting them home to locally organized gatherings in villages, towns and cities.” TOUR PICK: Brendan Vacations and Avanti Destinations are offering special packages that allow travelers to take part in this year-long celebration. For example, Avanti’s 7-day Galway Oyster Festival features a combination of Dublin, Galway and Shannon with a 5-day compact manual car rental to travel between the cities. It features two nights in Dublin with entrance to Jameson Whiskey Distillery, two nights in Galway with entrance to the Oyster Festival, and two nights in Shannon with a visit to Kilkenny Castle and the Bunratty Castle Folk Park. Brendan’s suggested itinerary for an Irish St. Patrick’s Day includes four nights in Dublin; Dublin Hop On Hop Off City Tour; Guinness Storehouse Tour; and St. Patrick’s Parade Grandstand Ticket-The Gathering 2013 Event. colossal weight of elaborately decorated statues of the Virgin Mary as they parade through the narrow streets of the old town. HOTEL PICK: The 151-room Hotel Alfonso III, a Luxury Collection Hotel in Seville, is a 1929 landmark that was renovated in 2012. It shows off splendidly the city’s Moorish inﬂuences and provides access to the renowned Santa Cruz quarter and Guadalquivir River. QUIRKY PICK: La Tomatina tomato festival (last Wednesday in August). Yes, the one in which everyone hurls tomatoes at each other…taking place in the town of Bunol. Silly, but lots of fun…and its origins, even sillier: it dates back to a ﬁght amongst children in 1945. Who knew?! Sports Events Some tour operators offer tours to special events in Europe— case in point The Gathering—but in general it’s an FIT travel experience, which is where your expertise comes in. For sports enthusiasts, however, Goway Travel’s Special Events by Goway (goway.com or gowayagent.com) has created several sports-minded tour packages that will thrill sports aﬁcionados, especially if they are in search of atypical sporting events. Take for example, the company’s package to Italy for the World Masters Games (Aug. 2-11), an international multi-sports event held every four years, this time in Torino. There’s also the World Police and Fire Games in Belfast, Northern Ireland (Aug. 1-10), an athletic event open to active and retired law enforcement and ﬁre service personnel throughout the world Goway offers packages to these events for 10 or more passengers, customizing the itinerary to your clients’ needs. netherlands EVENT PICK: 400-year-old Amsterdam canals (year-round) This year the Netherlands is celebrating 400 years of the Amsterdam canals. Amsterdam’s famous canal ring, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is celebrating four centuries of existence and there will be a bevy of celebrations. As the canals in Amsterdam are a focal point of the celebrations, many events will take place right on the city’s famed canal district. The ofﬁcial kick-off for Amsterdam 2013 will begin in the second week of this month with a special concert series at the Concertgebouw. HOTEL PICK: The Dylan Amsterdam is located right on the Keizersgracht, one of Amsterdam’s most famous and picturesque canals. The 40-room hotel, with each guestroom individually designed, is set within a 17th century landmark and delicately blends its historical setting with a fabulous modern decor. Archived related articles (available on recommend.com): Europe Always Astounds (December 2012) contact information 101 Hotel: designhotels.com or designhotels.com/iata Atout France: us.franceguide.com/travel-trade Austrian National Tourist Ofﬁce: austria.info/us_b2b Avanti Destinations: avantidestinations.com Best Western Premier Hotel Villa Stokkum: bestwestern.com Blaue Gans: blauegans.at Brendan Vacations: brendanvacations.com CIE Tours International: cietours.com/us or travelagent.cietours.com The Dylan Amsterdam: dylanamsterdam.com German National Tourist Board: germany.travel/en/trade/trade_1.html Ghent Marriott Hotel: marriott.com Grand City Hotel Hessenland Kassel Zentrum: grandcityhotels.com Hotel Alfonso III: starwoodhotels.com Hotel Sacher: sacher.com Hotel ‘T Stadt: hotel-sandt.be Iceland Travel: icelandtravel.is/agents InterContinental Marseille: ichotelsgroup.com Martin’s Relais: martins-hotels.com Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions: holland.com/us/Trade.htm Tourism Ireland: discoverireland.com Tourist Ofﬁce for Flanders-Brussels: visitﬂanders.us Tourist Ofﬁce of Spain: spain.info VisitBritain: visitbritain.com recommend.com spain EVENT PICK: Holy Week (April) If ever there’s a perfect time to be in Spain it’s during Holy Week, when the country comes out in full regalia. In Spain, Easter week is celebrated to the Nth degree, with people coming out to ﬁll the streets all embraced by the beat of drums and masses of colorful ﬂowers. One of the best cities to send your clients to take in this fabulous spectacle is Seville. Here, visitors will see how the cofradias (religious brotherhoods) manage to withstand the 128 january 2013 http://www.goway.com http://www.gowayagent.com http://www.recommend.com http://www.designhotels.com http://www.designhotels.com/iata http://us.franceguide.com/travel-trade http://www.austria.info/us_b2b http://www.avantidestinations.com http://www.bestwestern.com http://www.blauegans.at http://www.brendanvacations.com http://www.cietours.com/us http://travelagent.cietours.com http://www.dylanamsterdam.com http://www.germany.travel/en/trade/trade_1.html http://www.marriott.com http://www.grandcityhotels.com http://www.starwoodhotels.com http://www.sacher.com http://www.hotel-sandt.be http://www.icelandtravel.is/agents http://www.ichotelsgroup.com http://www.martins-hotels.com http://www.holland.com/us/Trade.htm http://www.discoverireland.com http://www.visitflanders.us http://www.spain.info http://www.visitbritain.com http://www.recommend.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recommend January 2013

Editor's Note
Hotel Desk: The Westlake Village Inn
Tour Talk: Brendan Vacations' Boutique Journeys
Four Cheers for River Crusing
A-ROSA Silva
Delta Air Lines' 2013 Caribbean, Mexico and Latin America Travel Guide
China Remains a Time-Tested Destination
What's Hot in Vegas for 2013
Back to the Gulf
Authentic Morocco in An (Argan) Nutshell
Festive Europe

Recommend January 2013