With media economists venturing opinions cautioning the traveling public to stay home and pointing to poor currency rates of exchange for the US dollar as well as reduced air seat capacity, travel expert Stephanie Abrams (left) plans to end the year demonstrating how this is the best time in more than a year to head for Europe.Abrams, who broadcasts more than thirty shows each year from remote locations, heads for Ireland later this month where she will broadcast Travel WITH Stephanie Abrams and Traveling Feet. The programs will broadcast live from the Falls Hotel in Ennistymon during the Clare Tourism Conference where Abrams is expected to speak at the gala dinner ending the conference. The following weekend Abrams will broadcast from the new Lough Erne Golf Resort in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland where a Nick Faldo golf course is expected to be completed in early 2009.
“So many news broadcasts provide platforms for faux-economists who make irresponsible recommendations regarding travel, a subject that they clearly know little about!” Abrams states. “Since a statement was made on CNN on October 8th that the euro was going through the roof, air seats would be unavailable and travel to Europe was out of the question, the euro and the pound sterling are now at low levels we haven’t seen in eighteen months! I have devoted a significant amount of broadcast time to advising my listeners to buy their euros and pounds now, buy more if the currency exchange goes lower to average the cost, and thereby protect themselves and their next European trip from the potential of a sharp increase. As for the cost of air travel, we’re in low season which is a great time to go! I paid less than $500 roundtrip Newark/Shannon on Continental, an airline that still remembers how to treat a customer, for a journey of about 6000 miles. When I was in college, the same trip would have cost more than twice that!”
Abrams notes that this trip will also serve to finalize decisions for two group trips she plans to lead in March and June 2009. These trips will combine the intimacy and freedom of independent touring with the value and benefits of group travel. “These trips are designed for the luxury market and are planned on the fly-drive concept. Travelers will be armed with booklets that I have personally developed outlining the route, sights, shops, culturally and historically rich places along the way to visit and the location of the unique castles, manor houses, historic lodgings and charming hotels where we will meet along the way. That will give travelers an opportunity to travel at their own pace, spend as much or as little time at sites that interest them and strike out on their own in directions of individual interest. Evenings will include visits with local people, historians, artists, musicians, and dignitaries such as mayors, councilors, authors, chefs and lovely friends of mine in Ireland who have so much of value to share with visitors. I want to create the kind of trip that provides exactly what each participant is looking for knowing that each person is looking for something different. And they’re going to have a uniquely Irish experience starting with when they land and pick up their car from Dooley Car Rental, the only independent car rental company in Ireland, a family business owned and operated by Irish people whose rates include everything except the gasoline and who know the lay of the land!”
During this trip, Abrams also plans to revisit Glin Castle and Desmond FitzGerald, the 29th Knight of Glin, and inspect several new golf resorts including Lough Rea Resort in County Clare, Glasson Hotel and Golf Resort in Westmeath, Lough Erne Golf Resort in Enniskillen, now home to Executive Chef Noel McMeel, formerly of Castle Leslie in Monaghan where he oversaw the wedding dinner and other culinary delights at Paul McCartney’s wedding reception in June, 2002, and Rathsallagh Country House in County Wexford which is surrounded by golf courses and is close to the site of the last Rider Cup.
