Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
British travelling public. A fairly recent introduction to
package holidays has been the 'all inclusive' concept,
where holidaymakers enjoy all their activities, food and
drinks for a one-off price.
Weblink
Check out these websites for more
information on the facilities offered by
Butlin's and Center Parcs.
www.centerparcs.co.uk;
www.butlins.com
Today, traditional package holidays are under threat
from the growth of low-cost airlines and the internet,
which allow people to make up their own holidays and
bypass travel agents and tour operators.
Growth of package holidays
Vladimir Raitz of Horizon Holidays is credited with having
organised the fi rst modern-day package holiday by air
when he carried a party of holidaymakers to Corsica
in 1949. The holiday consisted of travel in a 32-seater
DC3 aircraft and full-board accommodation in tents!
From a modest start with just 300 passengers carried in
its fi rst year of operation, Horizon repeated the formula
in subsequent years with increasing success. The 1960s
saw the beginning of the rapid increase in the number
of package holidays sold. Destinations such as the
coastal areas of Southern Spain, the Balearic Islands and
Greece became favourite locations for British and other
European travellers. The convenience of a package
arrangement, coupled with the increased speed which
the new aircraft brought, caught the imagination of the
Destination development
The rapid growth of package holidays since the
1960s led many entrepreneurs to build holiday
accommodation quickly, and often with few planning
restrictions, in a number of Mediterranean resorts to
'cash in' on the infl ux of tourists. This resulted in many
high-rise hotel developments that were a blight on the
landscape in these previously unspoilt areas. Today,
planning controls are tighter and the governments in
tourist destinations are aware that their visitors often
prefer smaller accommodation units that blend into the
surrounding countryside.
High-rise hotel development in Benidorm
