Jetsettersblog

A hot spot for travellers, customers can now tour Eastern Europe with Wicked Campers.

Perfect for those who prefer to venture off-the-beaten-track, the budget campervan company offers the required car insurance and relevant documents to cross the borders into the more remote parts of Europe.

What’s more, Wicked Campers have depots in Austria and Italy, only a short drive or ferry trip to Eastern Europe, where customers can pick-up and drop-off their campervan. It couldn’t be easier.

So for those who have always wanted to explore Croatia’s beautiful hidden beaches along the Adriatic coast, then Wicked Campers offers a budget option to travel and camp in style and comfort.

Or for intrepid travellers wishing to explore pastures new, try Slovenia and discover its lush green landscape with stunning national parks, awe-inspiring mountains, deep river gorges, enchanting waterfalls, thermal springs and dense forests, all interwoven with a rich cultural heritage.

Customers are covered in the following Eastern European countries: Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Turkey.

Prices for seven day’s round-trip hire in a two-seater van starts from £253. Valid for travel from 1 October 2010, the price includes pick-up and drop-off in either San Benedetto (Italy) or Verditz (Austria), insurance for one driver aged 25 and over, unlimited mileage and 24-hour roadside assistance. Prices in summer start from £453.

For more information, visit www.wickedcampers.co.uk  or call 0808 234 8461.

Isle of Wight locations that are loved by locals but hardly known to visiting holidaymakers are revealed in a new booklet featuring a range of challenges, designed for adventurous families with enquiring minds.

The closely-guarded Island secrets are unveiled by ferry operator Wightlink in SECRET WIGHT, a free 28-page colour booklet which takes as its inspiration the simpler family holidays enjoyed when today’s parents were children (0871 376 1000 www.wightlink.co.uk/secretwight)

SECRET WIGHT sets a range of discovery challenges for parents and children to conquer together on 10 different adventures. Using Ordnance Survey grid references to guide them, families can set out on foot to find miles of virgin sand, rocky ledges sheltering below towering cliffs, other-worldly monster vegetation covering huge expanses of rock pools, flora and fauna rarely found on mainland Britain and even dinosaur bones that have been hidden for millions of years.

With hidden locations all around the Isle of Wight, each of the 10 adventures has a different theme.

The ‘Towers of Adventure’ sets a challenge to find an old lighthouse and a centuries-old monument to a Russian Tsar that share a strange, other-worldly quality – one looking like a medieval rocket ship and the other like a homing beacon to attract aliens.

The ‘Road to Adventure’ leads families along a long-forgotten road to an area known by insiders as ‘Little Colorado’ in the southernmost part of the Island where there is a wildlife challenge to find the Glanville Fritillary, one of the UK’s rarest butterflies.

On the ‘Trees of Adventure’ the quest is to find a tree resembling one of the talking Ents from The Lord of the Rings and another known to local children as the Dragon Tree. This adventure also provides the low-down on the best places to find the elusive red squirrels that thrive in the safe grey-free environment of the Isle of Wight.

Kerry Jackson, Wightlink Marketing Manager said: “The Isle of Wight is well known for its beaches but many people visit the Island and never find the hidden gems that are treasured by local families. SECRET WIGHT provides parents with the inside track to find these special places so they can turn back the clock and give their children the type of holiday they enjoyed when they were young. Even better, these adventures don’t cost cash-strapped parents any extra money. Fresh air comes for free!”

SECRET WIGHT is the latest in a series of themed booklets produced by Wightlink to broaden the appeal of the Isle of Wight for year-round leisure breaks. Others include the Wight History Trail and the Wight Taste Trail. The booklet is now available to download from the Wightlink website at www.wightlink.co.uk/secretwight  and free printed copies can be obtained by calling 0871 376 1000.

To coincide with the launch, Wightlink is offering stays at one of the Isle of Wight’s secret gems: Gotten Manor, a romantic stone manor house hidden in deepest countryside below St Catherine’s Down. A footpath leads from the manor up to the Hoy Monument and on to the Pepper Pot, the two towers to discover on Secret Wight’s Towers of Adventure challenge.

A family of four can stay one week in Gotten Manor’s self-catering Cart House barn and use it as their base for a SECRET WIGHT holiday.

The seven-night Wightlink Green Getaway package costs £166 per person (based on four sharing) and includes return car ferry crossings from either Portsmouth to Fishbourne or Lymington to Yarmouth.

Alternatively, two people can stay in the manor house on a bed and breakfast basis for three nights from 5 July. This Green Getaways ferry-inclusive package costs from £166 per person (two sharing). Either of these two package can be booked by calling Wightlink on 0871 376 0013.

FLY540 Africa’s Low Cost Airline Launches Safari Flights From Nairobi

Expanding low cost African airline, Fly540 has announced four new scheduled flights from Nairobi Wilson Airport, to popular safari park destinations within Kenya.

Fly540 has now begun daily scheduled operations to Mara, Samburu, Nanyuki, and Amboseli all small domestic airports close to world famous safari parks.

The start of the daily new flights, which will be operated, depending on demand with a Beech 1900, a Dash 8, or larger ATR 42-300, is in response to the expanding safari market and the growing demand for upmarket air safaris.

Fly 540 Tanzania has already pioneered this approach to route
development by providing services for connecting passengers,
who arrive from their daily Nairobi service from Kilimanjaro
International – located between Arusha and Moshi – to the parks of Manyara, Ngorongoro, and Serengeti on a scheduled basis.

Mara Serena Airport is the main airport for the Masai Mara National reserve featured on BBC TV’s programme “Big Cat Dairy*.

Samburu Airport serves the Samburu National Reserve, within the world famous Great Rift Valley, Nanyuki Airport is in Central Kenya with easy access to the Mount Kenya National Park and Amboseli Airport is used by tourists to reach the park of the same name which is renowned to be the best place in Africa to get close to free-ranging elephants.

Notes: Fly540 is backed by the giant 100 year old, UK based investment and mining conglomerate, Lonrho PLC and Fly540 plans to become the first pan-African low cost carrier operating to International safety standards.

The airline with its headquarters in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi began operations between Nairobi international Airport (Jomo Kenyatta) and Kenya’s second largest city and premier port, Mombasa on 24th November 2006. By summer 2009, Fly540 was already uplifting 20,000 passengers per month and operating to nine airports in Kenya as well as to eleven international destinations: including Entebbe in Uganda
and Zanzibar, Kilimanjaro, Arusha, Grumeti, Serengeti, Lake Manyara and Mwaza in Tanzania and Bujumburra in Burundi. In 2010 the airline has also announced plans to open new hubs
in Angola, Ghana and Zimbabwe.

Fly540 currently rovides daily domestic services to both the Kenyan Coastal regions of Mombassa, Malindi and Lamu as well as to the Western Kenya tourist circuits of Kisimu, Eldoret, Kitale and most recently Kakamega.

Daily flights from Nairobi to Zanzibar are becoming increasingly
popular and the Nairobi to Kilimanjaro route has been linked with daily services to Lake Manyara and Serengeti for the growing number of adventure seeking holidaymakers who wish to combine game viewing in the Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti with climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.

The airline has a fleet of six modern turbo prop aircraft plus one
regional jet, all offering an ideal mix of comfort, speed and economic operating costs.

Outrigger on the Lagoon’s newly launched nanny service now offers a childcare service that is focused on a one-on-one care.

Launched in April, 2010, the Meimei nanny service also introduces children to the beauty and warmth of the Fijian culture. Families are introduced to their Meimei (Nanny) during an introductory brief that helps the Nanny personalize activities for each child.

Daily activities include everything from playing in the Kid’s Club playground to learning Fijian arts and crafts, fishing with traditional Fijian poles and fun language lessons. Importantly, parents receive a daily summary of the child’s activities and each child takes home a complimentary gift to remind them of their Fijian adventure.

For further information, please see contact executiveoffice@outriggerfiji.com.fj  or visit www.outriggerfiji.com

When travelers book an Awesome adventures package 5 Days/4Nights to 12/days/11 nights (Ultimate Lei, Tropical Awegasm, A Lazy Threesome, A Great Pair and Beach Bum Packages) between now and March, 2011, they will receive a free Welcome Package.

The package includes meet and greet at the airport, transfers to Nadi accommodation, first night accommodation, Awesome cooked breakfast and transfers to Denarau Marina to embark on an Awesome Adventure.

The company also recently announced at the 2010 BFTE the launch of a new look for its Coconuts and Coral brands.

Information: www.awesomefiji.com

Matangi Private Island Resort has recently upgraded all it’s bures, making these all fully air conditioned.

New upgrades have also been made to the bathroom’s and vanity area in addition to the four-poster-beds and i-pod docking stations.

In celebration of the new enhancement program, the resort is offering their “Essence of Love” Package which includes:
• 1 x Private Picnic for 2 adults at Horseshoe Bay (listed in the book ‘1000 Places to See Before You Die’) including 2 x 30 minute massages in the Bay

• 1 x Private Candle-lit Dinner for 2 adults in a romantic location
• 1 x Intimate Romantic Breakfast in bed, served in the couples bure
• 1 x 60 minute Couples Massage at the Resort Spa
• Matangi Signature Honeymoon Gift
Cost is $330.00+taxes and is commissionable to agents.

Information: Debora Roberts, Roberts Representation, Debora@RobertsRepresentation.com

Tokoriki Island Resort welcomed their first guests to the new Sunset Pool Villas.

In May, Mr. and Mrs. Giglio were lucky enough to be the first to enjoy the new rooms which were converted from existing Deluxe Beach Bures.

“We are very excited to be welcoming our first guests.

“Although the project took longer than expected, the rooms are beautifully finished and complement the existing Sunset Pool Villas,” said General Manager Andrew Travers.
“The additional room inventory now available for this room type will also assist in meeting the demand for these popular rooms.

“The new rooms maintain the characteristics of the original Sunset Pool Villas and feature a private plunge pool and cabana along with a separate living area.

“The additional Villas provide the resort with a new total of eight Sunset Pool Villas available for sale.

Information:

Marina Musumeci, marketing@tokoriki.com

InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort and Spa has been included in the 2010 Conde Nast Traveler Hot List, one of only three South Pacific hotels and resorts to make the definitive list of the world’s best new hotels. Its position on the Hot List coincides with the opening dates for the resort’s new Club InterContinental. Once unveiled, InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort and Spa will be the only resort in Fiji to offer a Club product for its premium guests.

For more information please contact Mr Marika Lucas at marika@starrpr.com.au  

or visit www.intercontinental.com/fj .

Tourism Fiji has also launched revised versions of its Dive Me guide – in print and digital formats. The resource materials are a “must have” for all scuba diving enthusiasts of all levels and contains practical information on how to discover Fiji’s best kept secrets as the “ soft coral capital of the world”.

While the full color guide contains a pictorial guide and testimonials to Fiji’s best dive experiences, the revised website (www.fijime.com/diveme)  details information that includes Fiji’s marine reserves, dive operations, videos, blogs and other consumer-friendly features.

For your complimentary copy, please contact Tourism Fiji office for your supply today on email: Kathy@tourismfijius.com

Tourism Fiji has launched revised versions of its popular ROMANCE ME guide and website targeting the international romance market.

The 18-page full color guide offers comprehensive details on Fiji’s available romantic experiences and includes product and package details from popular getaways, mainland resorts, wedding service providers, inbound tour operators and cruise companies.
The revised website on

www.fijime.com/romanceme

can also be accessed as a useful resource tool while planning a Fiji vacation for soon-to-be weds, newlyweds and the romantics at heart.

For your complimentary copy contact Kathy Koyamaibole on email: Kathy@tourismfijius.com  Or call 310 568 1616.