Los Almendros is Back !

We're really delighted to announce that the gay resort of Los Almendros in Gran Canaria is now back and on sale for bookings made either online at http://www.amroworldwide.com/ or through our call-centre on 01462 434663.

This popular gay owned and managed resort, formerly known as Respect Los Almendros, went straight for the winter but is re-opening as an exclusively all-male resort on Wednesday 29 April - that's just in time for Maspalomas Pride week.

As a welcome back gift, just book Los Almendros online before 30 November 2008 and enter promotional code GRAN. We'll then knock £25 off any booking over £500 as you make payment.

And remember, no longer are you locked into 7 night stays. With our daily flights, you can now enjoy a long weekend or mid-week break at a great price too.

World Travel Market

Wow - a month since my last post on here but what a week this has been. World Travel Market is over 5000 travel stands from destinations all around the world crammed into ExCel with 45000 visitors. It's manic but great fun !


I normally go just on Wednesday which has become known as GayDay as there is a masterclass given by Ian Johnson of OutNow Consulting. This attracts all the boyz and girlz from the industry plus a lot of our friends from IGLTA and we all decamp to Profile afterwards.

But this year was special. Monday is reserved for invitees only and I got four invites ! So here I was, with the good and the great of World Travel, mingling with Ambassadors promoting their countries and me, talking up gay travel. It's amazing that less than two months after starting to sell Gran Canaria holidays, I am welcomed by the Head of the Local Tourist Board and a queue is formed from accommodation owners wanting to work with Amro Worldwide.

But it's sad that even in mass market Spain, places like Torremolinos and even Sitges fail to recognise the size and spending power of the gay consumers at these difficult times. Contrast this with Barcelona and Sevilla - both of whom publish gay guides packed with information and readily available in local tourist information booths or from us.

But it's in our niche destinations that we are especially warmly welcomed. Martha from Peru, Carlos from Costa Rica and Merina from Buenos Aires all have great track records of giving the gay traveller exactly what they want and their party at the In & Out was wonderful again.

I suppose it's a reflection on changing trends that I spent less time on the US stands than at any time since I started Amro back in 2002. But here there was a huge optimism that a new president would revive the travel industry fortunes. Our New Orleans partners were particularlty keen to point out that the largest number of British visitors to the US was in 2001 when the pound bought just 1.40 dollars - so don't despair yet and with £199 fares to New York don't hold back either !

So busy was the week, I actually spent three full days in ExCel and judging by our enquiries travel is very much on everyone's mind as the winter nights set in.





Andrew

Iceland and The Financial Crisis

One of the interesting side effects of the Icelandic Financial Crisis is that their currency, the Icelandic Krona has devalued dramatically losing over a third of its value in the past few weeks. This once fabulously expensive destination is now back in the ranks of affordability.

That £6 glass of beer is now around £4 and we have 3 star hotel rooms from under £40 per person per night including breakfast. Plus we have direct flights from London from around £200.

It's a great destination for a winter weekend away. Visit the waterfalls and gushing geyzers, the volcanoes and glaciers or go snow mobiling or whale watching by day, before exploring Reykjavik's exciting night life with it's gay clubs and bars. Then chill out to recover in the Blue Lagoon - the world's largest hot tub! - before heading back to the airport after an exciting few days away.

Sydney Mardi Gras - 7 March 2009

Amro Worldwide is delighted to launch its programme for Sydney Mardi Gras 2009 with its world famous gay extravangaza parade on Saturday 7 March.

Our lead-in package is just £1499 per person based on two sharing. Depart on Sat 27 Feb and with flights to Sydney via Hong Kong - why not stop off the buy your party outfits ? Then stay 9 nights at a 3 star hotel within walking distance of Oxford Street, Darling Harbour and Circular Quay for the Opera House and Ferries before returning overnight on 10 March.


This package also includes the Mardi Gras Party Pack of tickets for the Gay Harbour Cruise on Fri 6 March , a reserved Grandstand Seat overlooking the Parade and a ticket for the Closing Party - both on Sat 7 March. This pack of tickets is also available as an add-on to hotel bookings through our website or as a stand alone pack direct from us at £209.



Why not follow the crowd to Cairns for the Post-Mardi Gras Recovery week in one of our exclusively gay resorts ? Prices start at just £449 per person for a five night stay and really low-cost flights from Sydney can be added to your international fare.


Or travel more widely in Oz to see Ayers Rock or Melbourne - both readily accesible from Sydney and with Amro Worldwide's local knowledge, you'll have a great trip, created to do exactly what you want, at a bargain price.

A Reflection on the Last Two Weeks for Gay Travellers

Sadly, I haven't been able to keep this blog up to date over the last two momentous weeks for gay travellers as life has been very hectic indeed.

As I last wrote, we lost Aspire - a small upmarket brand and brought down in the overall demise of XL Airways and the whole XL group. What I did not know then was that Throb and Respect also had large parts of their flying programme with XL Airways and have now ceased trading. The future of Sensations a brand merged with Respect in January 2008 is currently in doubt.

From our perspective at Amro Worldwide, the old holiday company model of pre-buying and paying for flight seats and accommodation before selling it was well past its sell-by date. Online booking and demand for tailor-made holidays of variable duration had taken over from the once traditional 7 or 14 night holiday package with fixed departure dates. I'm surprised it took XL to push these brands over the cliff especially in the light of all the recent rumours and blogs on the subject. Amro has never followed this model and will not do so.

Gay Travellers are entitled to expect their travel arrangements to be financially sound and backed by the Civil Aviation Authority ATOL scheme, to provide knowledgeable advice, feature a wide range of flexible holiday options plus excellent service as well as great value either through online internet booking or a promptly answered call-centre. Over the past six years, Amro Worldwide has striven to meet these objectives and I believe we are well placed to serve the community of which we are members into the future.

Andrew

Gran Canaria

The last week has seen a flood of enquiries for Gran Canaria from people who two weeks ago had never heard of Amro Worldwide. This is terrific news for us so its perhaps worth explaining how we fit into the GC gay travel scene.

Until this year, Amro never had a GC programme - this was a very deliberate choice. Respect, Sensations, Throb etc had good product and Amro could offer very little that was different. But around a year ago, our established clients, suffering under the credit crunch, asked us about holidays in Europe. We appointed a local agent on the island and introduced a small programme of 3/4 star hotels. It far exceeded our sales expectations.

To cope with those whose holidays were cancelled, we have now expanded this programme to include many of the self-catering properties previously featured by those companies - apartments such as Valaparaiso, Carmen and Barbados are all now searchable and bookable online or through our call-centre. We also have a deal into Los Almendros over the next few weeks - the former exclusively Respect property - although don't expect the cute staff you fancied on your last visit to still be there! Phone our call-centre for more information.

In addition, we're off shortly to review and expand our range of places to stay, ensuring they fit within our brand values of Gay Travel: Tried and Trusted. So look out for a great new gay travel programme.

ATOL and all that !!

I make no apology for plugging time and time again, at this difficult time, that Amro Worldwide holds ATOL5826 issued by the UK Civil Aviation Authority for your holiday protection. Nearly seven years ago when I was planning the launch of Amro, I decided that we should aspire to provide the very highest standards and levels of financial protection for our holidaying travellers. It was simply nothing more than I expected when I travelled and I failed to see why the gay community should expect anything less.

Getting an ATOL isn't easy. All the Director's of Amro Holidays Ltd were personally vetted by the Civil Aviation Authority Consumer Protection Group. I was interviewed for over an hour about how I would run the business and my background. A financial bond was taken meaning if Amro failed, I would loose my home - not an easy thing to agree to! To cap it all, I had to find £50,000 in cash.

With those sort of financial penalties around, I don't take chances with Amro and that's why I believe we remain and prosper in the business of gay travel. Our holidays are no more expensive than any others and in a lot of cases far cheaper, so I often wonder why anyone takes a chance and books their precious holiday with any holiday company which does not hold an ATOL.

Andrew